Upon receiving the sentinel's notice, Brick immediately retracted his line and rallied his troops.

The defenders of the city came out, and the actions of the ironclad cavalry were very fierce, all gray and white armor, and the armor was shining, and it was terrifying to watch them line up out of the city.

Brick realizes that his troops are about to be flanked in front and back, and the situation is unfavorable. So he retreated into the mountains behind him. The Eastern Legions, for the most part, were archers and cavalry, and the retreat was fast. The city defender Tigris gave up pursuit. But Armenian reinforcements were in hot pursuit and drove all the way to the valley.

Pulling away, Brick turned to respond. The two armies fought in the mountains. This is exactly what his teacher taught him the rules of war:

The enemy will follow it.

To get the first opportunity, one must try to create a situation in which the enemy has to react. This can disrupt their original plans, which is the priority of battlefield strategy.

Brick adheres to his teacher's teachings and is able to use them wisely. So he can be handy in battle.

This reinforcement was not a new Armenian regiment, as Brick could see, and the enemy formation was quite scattered and infantry-heavy.

The battle went fairly easily.

Scythia hired archers to shoot at will, and the only cavalry they had was expelled from the battlefield. The Armenians rushed to the position of the Macedonian phalanx, rushing forward despite their losses. The ironclad cavalry also did not break through the pikemen line head-on. Because these are specially trained pikemen.

Moreover, the Macedonian cavalry has been taking the initiative, looking for weaknesses in all directions to strike. The Armenian forces were gradually disintegrated.

They retreated in an orderly manner, retaining part of their combat strength and withdrawing to the city. The rest of the soldiers who had made sacrifices were exterminated.

Brick defeated another breakout of the enemy and re-encircled Kutaisi. But his siege force was still insufficient. He was now in an awkward position where he could rely on cavalry archers to defeat the enemy in distance battles in the field, but he didn't have enough stun troops to enter the city to fight.

So the Eastern Front is again at an impasse.

When Podarerios learned about the situation at the front, he realized that he had misjudged the direction of the enemy's main forces due to insufficient intelligence when forming an army group. Originally, it was planned to defeat the main force of Pontus in Minor Asia, so the heavy troops were deployed in the north. Now the enemy's main army is in the southern Nile Delta.

If the Pontic were aggressive, they would have been able to eat the unentrenched Eastern Mediterranean military group in Northeast Africa. They had no strong stronghold there, and they were outnumbered.

He immediately contacted his brother and authorized the Sith to build more legions, and gave them a large amount of material support. These were delivered to Carthage through his newly formed undefeated fleet.

The Undefeated Fleet is a large-scale cruiser fleet composed of advanced warships that Podare Ríos has carefully built for many years, and its combat effectiveness is incomparably strong. It was a surface force designed to counter the Egyptian Navy, and now the Emperor has put it into the Eastern Mediterranean Theater to strengthen his combat power in Pontus.

With the strategic direction biased and the war at the beginning, it was too late to adjust this large number of troops. We can only turn favorable factors into victory facts as soon as possible and expand our superiority over the enemy. Make up for the weaknesses with the strengths.

At the same time, the emperor issued an order to march into the Asiatic army, advancing at a rapid pace and attacking the city. Combat the enemy's ability to fight.

He made a second strategic plan, and after taking the peninsula of Asia Minor, he would establish a defensive line in Silesia head-on. Then a large number of fleets were sent to escort the landing regiment, breaking through the enemy's sea defenses, and attacking the enemy's flanks by water: Sidon, Jerusalem, Acre. Straight to the important base of the capital.

Through annexation and occupation, Pontic acquired the three richest and most advanced regions in the East, the Asia Minor Peninsula, the Middle East Crescent Zone, and the Nile Delta. The Pontus kingdom could thus compete with Western Macedonia. However, Macedonia made a quick move, and launched a full-scale fast attack before Bendu had just completed the integration and had not yet taken a breath.

"Pontus" means "sea" in Greek. It belonged to the Hellenistic Persian state. The state was founded in 281 BC by Mithridates I. He claimed to be a descendant of Darius I, the monarch of the Achaemenid dynasty. The majority of the people are Persian, Greek and Persian are spoken, and Greek culture is the mainstream.

In the earliest days, Pontus was a province of Persia. It was later conquered by Alexander's crusades. By the time of the Succession Wars, the Pontic were even subordinate to the Macedonian Antigonal dynasty. With the support of Greece and Seleucus, it became an independent kingdom.

The small new country of Pontus was economically advantageous, and its territory: fertile land, abundant cereals, and abundant mineral resources, it quickly became a wealthy country.

Politically, however, it is on the back foot, trying to survive between the great powers. Not to be outdone, the ambitious Mithridates I worked hard to develop his military power and waited for an opportunity.

Mithridates I was one of the lucky ones, and when everything was ready, the east wind blew violently.

In the battle for hegemony in the East, the Pontus people established themselves in Asia Minor and became an Asian power. His successor, King Ario Balzan, further promoted his expansion, turning all of Asia Minor into Pontus' sphere of influence in just over a decade. He advocated drawing closer to the Hellenistic League and protecting Seleucid. Suppress Armenia, confront Egypt.

For a time, Pontus became the backbone of northern Asia, and even neighboring countries were willing to submit to him. But Riobarzan's life, like his political achievements, was short-lived. In only a dozen years. Then his son Mithridates II ascended the throne. This is a cynical king.

Not satisfied with the status quo in Asia Minor, Mira II began to send troops to occupy the vassal states, Greece and Seleucid. Through such iron-blooded means, the kingdom of Pontus is even larger.

It was also he who ignored Macedonia's relationship and destroyed the Seleucus in one fell swoop.

This also led directly to the Egyptian War.

Mira II spared no expense to send spies to Egypt to sow discord and intensify infighting. When the time came, he united with Armenia and Parthia to wage war against Egypt.

Mira II has a quirky personality, and the most bizarre thing is that he likes to tease and ridicule his son, often calling him weak and incompetent, and easy to bully. But his son is not as simple as it seems, but he is pressed under the dual identity of his father and monarch, and he is forced to be helpless and submissive. But Mira II did not abandon this unsightly child.

He gave the throne to this son. This is Mithridates III. The repressive first half of his life made Mira III infected with the habit of greedy for women. He can only release the pressure in this way.

So the king of sex addiction, naturally not very well, always seems weak. But he was still promiscuous.

Inheriting his father's business was not tempting for him, and dabbling in the beauty of the world was the motivation for Mira III to continue the war.

(End of chapter)