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Volume Two: Set Sail Chapter 165: Release the Water

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    Chapter 165: Release the Water

    Lu Xun frowned and patted the armrest gently. He was excited about Sun Shao's ambitious plan, but also felt that the burden on his shoulders was very heavy.  Although Sun Shao hasn't said it clearly yet, he has already revealed his intention to keep him here to assist Sun Feng. Now he is asking him if he is sure to capture Ctesi Feng. If he nods and says yes, then the mission of attacking Ctesi Feng is certain.  It will fall on his shoulders. He will be the first to take down Ctesi Feng, and the city of Ctesi Feng will be his place of governance.

    This is an opportunity that anyone would be jealous of, and Sun Shao left it to him.

    But, he was not sure.  Lu Xun is not an impulsive person. He will weigh everything before doing anything. Just like the last time he ambushed Aldashir, he has already analyzed the psychology and strength of Gordian and Aldashir. Only then can he  make such a decision.  Otherwise, is it really such a coincidence?  It has never been Lu Xun's style to place his hopes on luck.

    Lu Xun believes that it is not impossible to capture Ctesiphon. As long as he is given time, he can integrate the nearly 200,000 troops and finally capture Ctesiphon.  The problem is that what Sun Shao lacks is time.  To support such a large army expedition, the consumption of food, grass and baggage is definitely not a small amount.  Although the Romans and Kushans had used their utmost strength, why not the same for Yue?  After more than a year of fighting, the accumulation of the previous few years has been almost exhausted. The Tianzhu people know that the Yue Kingdom is at war, and the price of food has been raised several times, almost three times that of the year before.  Merchant ships took on the main transportation tasks, and all of this had to be paid for. Vietnam's treasury was deflating at an incredible speed.

    Sun Tzu said that an army of one hundred thousand marches thousands of miles and spends thousands of gold every day. This is roughly the situation in Yue State now. If it were not for the solid financial resources accumulated over more than ten years, this war would have been impossible to fight long ago.

    "If I have one year, I will be sure to win Ctesiphon." Lu Xun was silent for a long time, then turned his head, raised his hand, and pointed to the east.  Sun Shao thought for a moment: "Water attack?"

    "Yes." Lu Xun nodded and said slowly: "The Diyala River originates from the Zagros Mountains. It has a lot of water and releases water every summer. This is the estuary where the Diyala River joins the Tigris River. Ctesiphon  The third part of the city faces water, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. However, if a dam is built here, Ctesiphon will suffer from it. Ctesiphon is an earthen city and will collapse if it is flooded for three months.  It's just" Lu Xun smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This is not a small project, and the manpower and material resources required are even more staggering. I doubt whether it can be supported until that time."

    Sun Shao nodded, then shook his head.  Most of the cities these days are earthen, so water attack is of course the most effective method. Taixi Fengcheng is between two rivers, making it a good place for water attack.  But water attack also has the weakness of water attack, that is, it takes a long time and requires huge manpower and material resources. If you don¡¯t have enough strength, don¡¯t even think about this move. If you think about building those dams to block the water first, it will make you crazy.  What's more, the Tigris River has to be cut off here.  Even if preparations start now, there is a question whether the project can be completed before the hearing period next summer.

    "Don't think about this method. It won't work. We don't have that much time." Sun Shao turned back to look at the raging battlefield and raised the corners of his mouth slightly: "Do you think those people will have the patience to fight for a long time? Two months.  If they don¡¯t break the city, they will go home.¡±

    Lu Xun sighed helplessly.  How could he not have thought of this? It was precisely because of this that he was so worried.

    "If there is no way to win quickly, then we have no choice but to capture Seleucid and then make peace with Ardashir." Sun Shao said, "Don't be anxious, think about how to capture Seleucid first.  Well, I don¡¯t have much confidence in the Romans or the Kushans. Their courage is commendable, but their siege methods are a bit inferior."

    "It's not a bad thing to let them suffer a little bit." Lu Xun said in response.

    "Hahaha" Sun Shao, who was already walking forward with his hands behind his back, looked back at Lu Xun, and the two of them smiled knowingly.

    At the same time, Ardashir stood on the top floor of the high palace, squinting at the ancient city of Seleucid. Naturally, the warships on the river did not escape his eyes, although these warships looked like just black dots.  , but he seemed to be able to imagine that Sun Shao must be on the ship, and he must be thinking about how to conquer Ctesiphon.

    However, Ardashir was very confident. He believed that Sun Shao and the others would collapse before they could attack Ctesiphon.  He arranged 20,000 garrison troops in Seleucus, with enough food and trusted generals to guard them. In order to stabilize people's hearts, several priests from the temple went there.  Although the coalition forces are fierce, it is not easy to capture the ancient city of Seleucid.  When they spend too much time under the ancient Seleucid City, even if they finally capture the ancient Seleucid City, I'm afraid they won't have much strength to attack Ctesiphon.  When they were exhausted under the city of Ctesiphon, they could onlyWhen they leave, the Sasanian cavalry, which has been holding back for several months, will dispatch their entire army to hunt down these bandits who dare to come to the Sasanian mainland, making them bleed into rivers and stay in this fertile land forever.

    The final winner will definitely be me, Ardashir said to himself.  To overcome strength with softness, to overcome strength with weakness, and to strike later is what the sages of the Han people taught me, but I can also use it to defeat these Han people in turn.

    How can we know who is the winner until the end?  Ardashir looked up to the sky and sighed.  He has been leading military conquests for nearly thirty years. During these years, he has been going smoothly. He first became a famous general in the Parthian dynasty, and then defeated the Parthian king, established the Sassanid dynasty, restored the glory of his ancestors, and established the East.  He had always been victorious in defeating Guishan and breaking through Rome in the West, but this time he was beaten to a disgrace and almost died in the canyon.  This was a major setback for him. Not only did he lose the battle and lose two of his sons, but he also destroyed the prestige he had accumulated for thirty years. No one thought that one day an enemy would attack Ctesiphon?  The Sassanid cavalry was invincible and always took the initiative to attack others. How could they be attacked by troops?

    However, Ardashir did not remain depressed. He felt that for him, this was simply a rebirth. He realized more in this defeat than in all previous victories.  He felt that he had suddenly broken through his original realm, risen to a new level, and was one step closer to Ahura Mazda.

    He is eager to compete with Sun Shao again and prove by victory that he is an invincible king blessed by the God of Light.

    Under the ancient city of Seleucid, the shouts of killing were loud. In the northwest corner, the Roman phalanx was lined up three hundred steps away from the city. The soldiers were resting on the spot and watching the battle ahead.  The commander of the fifth legion, Menofelus, commanded the soldiers to attack the city. Three siege vehicles were each pushed by two hundred strong slaves with bare upper bodies. The siege vehicles, which were as high as the city wall, braved the rain of arrows pouring from the city.  forward.  On the siege vehicle, the archers hid behind the wooden wall and kept suppressing the archers at the top of the city with long arrows. The soldiers holding spears and shields looked uneasily at the approaching city head, waiting to jump onto the city.  Head-to-head fight.

    As the distance continued to shrink, the attack on the city head became more and more fierce. The archers on horseback protruding from the city wall also turned their direction and fired fiercely at the slaves hiding behind the siege vehicle.  The slaves were strong, but their naked bodies could not withstand long arrows. Although they were protected by shield soldiers, the Sassanids were condescending and shot arrows down from above, leaving the shield soldiers unable to defend themselves. One after another, slaves fell.  Hit by an arrow, he let out a shrill scream.  The officers supervising the battle waved their long whips and whipped the slaves who howled in pain from being hit by arrows. They roared loudly and told the slaves to speed up and get closer to the city wall as quickly as possible.

    The slaves had no other way to survive. They could only grit their teeth and use all their strength to push the heavy siege vehicle. Almost every step cost several lives. Blood was spilled on the already blood-stained battlefield. New ones  The bloodstains covered the old bloodstains, and then were trampled into a ball by messy feet. It was no longer possible to tell which was new and which was old.

    At the cost of the lives of the slaves, the three siege vehicles were getting closer and closer to the city wall. The soldiers on the siege vehicles were overjoyed. They raised the bridge ladder and were ready to put it on the city wall at any time. The soldiers behind also put it down.  He took off his face armor, held his weapon tightly, and hunched his body, ready to charge to the city.

    The Sasanian counterattack seemed a little weak. Although the horns from the city were blown loudly, they could not stop the Romans from approaching. They could only watch the Romans lower the bridge ladder.  As soon as the bridge ladder was hung at the top of the city, a group of Roman soldiers rushed over with shields, daggers and shouts.

    "Block -" a centurion roared loudly, commanding his spearmen to rush forward, pointing the spears in his hands at the Roman soldiers rushing over from the bridge ladder.

    "Kill¡ª¡ª" the Romans shouted wildly, huddled behind their shields, and rushed over without hesitation.

    "Pfft!" "Gah¡ª¡ª"

    ¡°Pfft!¡± ¡°Bah¡ª¡ª¡±

    "Poof!"

    The sound of spears piercing breasts and the sounds of hitting shields and armor were mixed together and could not be heard without interruption.  The few Roman soldiers who rushed at the front used their spears to break away the Sasanian spear array. The soldiers behind rushed in, wielding their short swords and slashing hard, trying to occupy a position at the top of the city and kill the Sassanids.  People squeezed aside to make room for the comrades behind to climb the city.  When the Sasanians saw the Romans ascending to the top of the city, they frantically intercepted them. Under the command of the trumpet sound, more and more Sasanians came over and formed a thick formation in front of the Romans.  Due to space constraints, the Romans could not help the soldiers behind them, so they could only worry and watch their comrades one after another being killed by the Sasanians on the city wall.

    Three siege engines approached the city wall one after another. The Romans rushed over in a steady stream and started fighting with the Sassanids on the top of the city. No one of them would give in. Their shouts of killing were deafening. There was no hatred at all.The resentful strangers risked their lives to fight for a foothold for a reason that they themselves could not explain.

    Blood flowed down the crenellated walls of the city, smearing the ancient city of Seleucid over and over again.

    The siege engines leaning against the city wall greatly stimulated the morale of the Romans. They roared loudly and hit their shields with their daggers to encourage their comrades in front. Menophilus was even more excited. He had been sieging the city for three days.  , this is the first time that three siege engines have approached the city at the same time. If they can break the city in one go, the Romans will have the upper hand, and he will be the first to do so. Not only does he have the right to choose the spoils first, but he also provides  Future promotions will increase the stakes.  Stimulated by fame and fortune, he issued an order to strengthen the attack and asked the remaining soldiers to carry the ladder and rush to the city, preparing to use the most primitive method to climb the city and capture the ancient Seleucid city in one fell swoop.

    Another two thousand people rushed to the battlefield, carrying more than a dozen ladders and rushed towards the city wall. Quintus, who was watching the formation from behind, was also excited. He seemed to have seen the dawn of victory. After three days of hard work,  Finally seeing the results, the Sasanians could no longer hold on.

    "Blow the drums and cheer for Mennolufis!" Quintus gave the order loudly.

    The drums soaring into the sky suddenly exploded, echoing above the noisy battlefield.  In the distance, the Kushan people who had just suffered a setback in their attack on the city and were resting felt very uncomfortable after hearing this. Bo Tiao cursed and slashed the railing of the command vehicle with his knife.  He felt that he was at a disadvantage. There were 80,000 Romans and he only had more than 20,000. Thousands of them had just arrived and their physical strength had yet to be recovered. Their attack power was far inferior to that of the Romans. If he wanted to  It was not easy to break through the city before the Romans. In this way, he became a auxiliary attack to contain the Sasanians, and no matter how hard he tried, he was also helping the Romans.

    "Pull the army back." Bo Diao shouted impatiently: "Let the Romans attack the city, let's take a good rest."

    The Kushan people's retreat relieved the Sasanians at the top of the city, and they immediately strengthened their defense in the northwest.  The ancient Seleucid city is a relatively common circular city. After running along the curved city wall for a quarter of a week, the defenders from the southwest rushed to the northwest and joined the blocking battle group.

    The Sasanian reinforcements were unable to withstand the Romans, who were already struggling to support them. They were squeezed back step by step, and their foothold at the top of the city became smaller and smaller. Some people were constantly being squeezed by the Sasanians and fell off the city wall.  Go down and let out a scream of despair.  Mennoluphes was in great distress and urged his men to rush to the city to provide support for the soldiers at the top of the city.

    At this moment, the Sasanians shouted slogans, carried a huge log to the edge of the city, and smashed it towards the bridge ladder.  There was a loud "bang", and the bridge ladder made a series of groans and broke suddenly. The soldiers who had no time to retreat to the siege vehicle fell down, and the soldiers who had already attacked the city were also cut off.

    The Sasanians cheered, and more people rushed forward, killing the desperate Romans one by one at the top of the city.

    In less than a moment, the bridge ladders of the three siege vehicles were broken by the Sasanians, and the soldiers who had rushed to the city were slaughtered. Then a large number of archers rushed to the edge of the city, facing the people carrying the ladders and preparing to attack them.  The Romans in the city concentrated their fire, leaving them in a panic and suffering heavy losses.

    The victory that was already beckoning to the Romans was like a seductive prostitute. After seducing the Romans into madness with one look, she drifted away again.

    Mennolufis looked at the cheering Sasanians at the top of the city and was furious, but he had no choice but to do it. After the siege vehicle was destroyed, it was impossible to climb the city with only the ladder. If he did not withdraw, he would only increase casualties in vain.  .  Reluctantly, he issued the order to retreat, and the soldiers who had been shot everywhere by the Sasanians were removed from the shooting range to rest and recuperate.

    In this attack, Mennolufis lost more than 700 people.  He sent a signal to Quintus, asking him to retire and rest while the other legions attacked.  Quintus was extremely disappointed, but had no choice but to put up a legion and prepare to attack, allowing Mennolufis to retreat temporarily.  Mennolufis asked his lieutenant to lead his men to withdraw from the battlefield. He and his personal guards rushed to Quintus's command vehicle. Holding his sword, he strode onto the command vehicle and saluted Quintus. He felt ashamed.  Said: "Your Majesty"

    "Okay, okay, don't be sad." Quintus said magnanimously: "You have made progress this time. We finally have three siege engines on the city wall at the same time. Next time there may be five.  , Shitai, the Sasanians can¡¯t support it for long.¡±

    Mennolufis bowed gratefully again and said: "I found some Sasanians on the city wall who came from the south. I suspect that the Kushans have stopped attacking."

    Quintus frowned and said unconvincingly: "Is there such a thing?"

    "We have to be on guard." Little Gordian said lightly: "They may have heard the news that we were about to break the city and were unwilling to let us Romans take the lead, so they deliberately withdrew from the battlefield and let the Sasanians come over.Get reinforcements.  He paused and then said: "This is easy, just send someone over to see what they are doing."  "

    After hesitating for a moment, Quintus took Gordian's idea and sent a cavalryman to the Kushan battlefield to see what the Kushan people were doing in the name of reporting the news. The result was quickly reported back.  The people were resting. They said that attacking the city would be unfavorable and decided not to attack today.

    Quintus was furious and had agreed that we would attack the city together. But now the Kushans actually let go, and the victory they had already achieved was lost again. The Romans lost hundreds of people in vain. Is this what allies should do?  He immediately rushed to the Kushan people's position in person and angrily criticized Bo Diao for being unethical.

    Bo Diao looked innocent: "How do I know that your side is about to attack the city? I have been attacking for three consecutive days and have suffered heavy losses, which is only a lot more than you Romans. Why don't you withdraw to rest and drink water? You guys?  If we didn't attack, what does that have to do with me? Why are you still falsely accusing me of deliberately letting the enemy go?"

    The two had a disagreement and started to quarrel. Quintus was so angry that he walked away and ordered a retreat. I stopped fighting and rested for two days.

    Cao Zhang and others who were watching the battle from the rear saw that the front had stopped before the time came. They originally thought they would take a break, but later they saw that both sides had returned to the camp. They were a little surprised. After asking, they found out that the two sides were having a conflict and were angry to stop fighting.  Cao Zhang and Li Yan were both dumbfounded and shook their heads in unison.

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