Aristonos became a veritable new emperor, and he held a seven-day grand funeral for the emperor throughout the empire. A small village in Gaul outside the mountains was slaughtered by the Hawkeye secret police for refusing to perform the ritual. The whole village became funeral goods.

The Sith king was heartbroken by the death of his brother. Weeping all day. The two of them have survived to this day, and they are really the closest people to each other.

Aristonos was worried about his uncle's health, so he temporarily left his military post and recuperated in Alexandria, so that he could return to his kingdom if he wished, and become king in peace and recuperation. The Sith said that he really needed a few days off, but he would not leave the army, and that he would fulfill the last wish of the emperor and take Jerusalem himself.

"Uncle Huang's sincere loyalty to the empire is greatly appreciated. It's up to you.

The 24th Expeditionary Force, the 2nd Roman Legion, will follow you as your personal guard. ”

"Thank you for the emperor's grace. I would only like to enter Jerusalem as the commander of my own legions. Please return the command of the Southern Theater to Your Majesty and let someone more capable take over the position. I'm too old to do it. ”

"I have my own arrangements for this, uncle, please take care of your health."

"Very good."

Regarding the division of the theater of operations and command, the Aris brothers had already discussed it, and now that all the concerns are gone, they will implement it immediately.

Further military action against Pontus will be accelerated. All the armies that participated in the invasion were collectively referred to as the Crusade Army.

In the Northern Theater of Operations, Army Group Asia Minor was renamed the Crusade Corps, which was unified under the command of Pergamon;

In the Southern Theater of Operations, the Eastern Mediterranean cluster was renamed the Templar Corps, unified under the command of Alexander.

The establishment of the landing raid corps was completely abolished, and the personnel were assigned to the current unit.

The original corps retains its establishment and official position, but in future military operations, it will no longer use the corps as a free combat unit. Changed to the position of the rear guard of the vanguard of the Crusade Army, which was filled by one or n suitable legions. According to the combat situation, it can be divided into task positions such as flanker reconnaissance and infiltration.

The Navy withdrew its convoy or troop transport missions and went all out to blockade maritime trade, immediately annihilating any Pontus ships it found.

Hearing that the Aris brothers divided the empire between Greece and Rome, King Hanover of England became even more ambitious. He dreamed that after the death of Podare Ríos, the empire would be divided into two halves; The generals of all walks of life supported their own troops and did not listen to Rome; The enemy country took the opportunity to counterattack and returned. At that time, the world was in turmoil, and he Hanover could completely break with Rome and complete its independence.

But the truth shattered the purple dreams of his careerist. No one or force in Macedonia dared to oppose Aristonos, whose means were even more ruthless. The front-line military system became more rationalized, and the other enemy countries were frightened by the defeat of the Pont army, and they could not live in fear.

The Parthians were overwhelmed by the tremendous economic pressure, and the military frustration and hopelessness kept them in limbo and only defensive. After Macedonia took Tarsus and took control of Silesia, Parthia sued for peace. Brick simply ignored it.

Armenia was left with only the last city in the Assyrian lands, Hatra. Already surrounded by Brick. But having gathered all the last of Armenia's elite soldiers, Brick did not dare to act rashly.

But on the whole, there is no major threat in the Far Eastern theater of operations, and it has become the end of a strong crossbow. Peace in the Macedonian Empire was coming.

Capture of Silesia

Apalos laid down the pass, did not stop at all, and advanced towards Tarsus. While his cavalry commander was still reprimanding his men for not completely defeating the enemy, Apalos reassured him that it didn't matter. Because these frightened deserters happen to be excellent weapons for psychological warfare. They can bring panic to Kannai.

As expected, the deserters returned to the city in embarrassment, scaring the common people. They told their friendly brethren that the Macedonian army had broken through and was very vicious.

As soon as this rumor came out, not only did the people in the city panic, but even the soldiers stationed at the eastern entrance of Silesia were shocked to inquire about it. There is a debate about whether we should retreat to the Syrian defense. The importance of Silesia lies in the mountain passes, and once lost, there is a flat river, which is difficult to defend.

The general of Pontus, Aspgus, asked the king for instructions to withdraw his troops back to Syria and defend the city of Antioch. Before Mira III could agree, he and Hingis withdrew to Syria with their troops.

Antioch is stuck in Asia Minor's gateway to the Middle East, by the sea. The city is surrounded by the Olentis River in the north, south and east, and faces the sea in the west. The special location gives him the function of a natural fortress. In particular, attacking the city from the north was simply unattainable. The north wall of the city was built along the south bank of the river.

Now that Aspugus is stationed at the bridge, with the megacity of Antioch behind him, there is no doubt that Macedonia has set up a barrier to the chasm. But the price came to largely abandon Tarsus, and it wasn't the only land access to the Middle East. The Macedonians decisively captured Tarsus.

Before the start of the war, the intelligence and reconnaissance of the two sides were in the fiercest contest. As it has become a zone of military control, the movement of people is strictly controlled. Apalos bets that his opponent will leave, and Aspgus originally intended to retreat, but he wants Tarsus to become a city of fog, and bets that his opponent will not dare to attack.

In the end, at the cost of Hawkeye's blood, the real information was obtained. Tarsus has become an "empty city".

After obtaining accurate information, Apalos decisively marched and carried siege engines to directly break the city.

There were 30,000 soldiers in the city. Among them, 12,000 are old, weak, sick and disabled, and there is almost no combat effectiveness; Six or seven thousand newly recruited militiamen are very weak in combat; There are more than 10,000 main forces, almost all of which are lightly armed. The fortifications of the city are rudimentary, the walls are wooden, and many defensive towers have been added. But under the powerful firing power of the stone crossbow, it is useless.

Siege warfare is crisp and clean, without dragging. Twelve stone crossbows in a double row, throwing countless stones and fire bombs into it, flattened and burned the first half of the city. All defensive arrow towers, wooden walls were bulldozed. Later, the arrows and crossbows were dumped into the city, and the defenders suffered a fatal blow and suffered heavy casualties.

The siege echelon attacked the city in an orderly manner, the Macedonian spears were dense like a forest, and the eastern infantry and hill soldiers of Pontus could not stop it. Advance all the way, like entering a no-man's land. Apalos personally led the escort and light cavalry, encircled from the other flank, and soon rushed to the square to clear the remnants of the enemy.

Capture Tarsus.

The Templar Legion also sent left and right vanguards, marching to Jerusalem and Petra, respectively.

Reconnaissance and intelligence spies are deep in the Middle East, and the capital has become short of military strength.