The Han and Persians, both cavalry, surrounded themselves on all sides, encircling Artaban IV and his Praetorian Guard in the center.

The royal hunting ground was a gentle plain with only a few small hills a few feet high, and it was impossible for Artaban IV to defend at all.

He had no other choice but to break through, to break through in the direction of Ctesiphon, and he couldn't sit still.

Although the Praetorian Guard is elite and equipped with the best equipment of the rest army, it is extremely difficult to break through the encirclement of the Haotian army.

The Han army resisted with rifles layer by layer, and in order to break through, the Praetorian Guards could only charge with cavalry, facing layers of resistance from rifles, mortars and grenades, and suffered heavy casualties.

When they approached, the brave Persian cavalry would swarm forward for a final fight.

Han troops and Persian cavalry from other directions were also surrounding, gradually compressing the space for the resting people.

At this moment, a trumpet sounded from the direction of Ctesiphon, and the 10,000 Praetorian Guards who stayed in the city heard the fierce gunfire here and came out of the city to help.

Under internal and external attacks, they broke the encirclement of the Han army and the Persians, and took the remnants of the Praetorian Guard, who had already suffered more than half of the casualties, out of the encirclement.

Artaban IV managed to blend in with the Praetorian Guard and break through.

However, he did not dare to return to Ctesifon, and he was left with only the little army around him, and he had to flee to his native Armenia.

The failure to completely annihilate and capture Artaban IV alive was a great pity for the Han army and the Persians.

But then they captured Ctesiphon, which was already undefended, and took the capital of the Sabbatarian Empire, which was also significant.

When the news of the occupation of Cessiphon by the Han army came out, the various local provinces of the Rest Empire were in chaos, and there was a feeling that there was no leader.

Lü Bu agreed to Sima Yi's plan to no longer support Vologis VI and the rest of the royal family, but instead support the emerging Persian power.

Lü Bu moved Vologis VI and his family to live in the Western Regions of the Great Han Dynasty, far away from the rest, and the Han government gave them preferential treatment, but they could not return to rest in peace.

Fa Zheng also immediately set off for Ctesiphon and signed a treaty of alliance with Ardashir I on behalf of the Great Han.

The two sides announced the news of this alliance to the world, and the Han Dynasty clearly stated its position, recognizing that the Persians had inherited the legitimate rights and interests of the royal family and the vast territory.

And with the fall of Ctesiphon and the flight of Ardaban IV back to Armenia, Dhamgan's defense had lost its meaning.

The Romans quickly retreated from Dhamgan, and the resting rebels fled back to Armenia, but before leaving, the Romans seized their muskets.

The resting people, who had no intention of fighting, did not have much objection to the actions of the Romans, let alone fiercely resisted, but cooperated and handed over their muskets.

The Roman legions retreated to Mosul, an important town on the upper Tigris River, where they stopped to recuperate.

The Roman army that had retreated to Mosul had no way to retreat, and any further retreat would bring the war to the lands of Rome's own eastern provinces.

For the Romans, they could fight any kind of war on other people's land, but on their own land, they were not so free.

Immediately after the Persians formed an alliance with the Han army, their power swelled rapidly like a balloon blown.

Their Persian cavalry struck on all sides, recovering one province after another that had once belonged to the Sabbatical Empire.

Unlike the loose rule of the Sabbats, all the local provinces occupied by the Persians had to owe allegiance to the Persian leader, Ardashir I.

A unified Persian army grew stronger, arming them with large quantities of munitions from the far east, and a large number of Han officers served as instructors in the Persian army, teaching them the tactics of the firearms age.

The remnants of the Sabbats were gathered around Artaban IV, and they controlled the vast lands of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea.

The Han army continued to advance westward, and they soon gathered under the city of Ctesiphon, and new reinforcements came to the territory of the Rest Empire from China.

Lu Bu's attitude towards the Romans was that since he wanted to fight, he would beat the other party until he didn't dare to make a mistake at will in the future.

However, as the war continued to develop westward, it was getting farther and farther away from the Han mainland and closer and closer to the Roman mainland.

The difficulty of the war is also increasing, and for the Han army, which relies heavily on logistics and supplies, the shortage of ammunition seriously affects their ability to continue the war, as well as the impact of water and soil adaptation.

Therefore, the Han army began to vigorously support the Persians, hoping to use the Persians who were more suitable for the geographical environment and climate environment to serve as the main force in the battle against the Romans, or at least a strong helper, to share the burden of the Han army.

The Roman Emperor Caracalla arrived in Mosul, accompanied by eight Roman legions and their respective auxiliaries.

Lucis captured a large number of muskets from the Sabbatarians, which he equipped his auxiliary legions with greatly increased combat effectiveness.

Caracalla brought with him some of the new forces transferred from the mainland, and some of them were the Roman emperor's guards.

However, in any case, the presence of so many regular Roman troops greatly strengthened the power of the Romans, and half of the forces of the Roman Empire were already gathered here.

Caracalla was confident that he would teach the arrogant Han Chinese a good lesson in Mosul, and he even stretched out his claws in front of his door.

Especially the latest successful imitation of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, the big guy is enough for the Han army to drink a pot.

He did not take the initiative, but held out in the city of Mosul.

This time, due to geographical conditions, if the Han army wanted to march westward, it had to take Mosul, and a tragic offensive and defensive battle was inevitable.

Therefore, the Han army made preparations for a long time under the city of Mosul, and had to stock up on enough supplies before launching a siege battle.

The Han army had assembled 15 divisions of troops under the city of Mosul, and the 2nd Division of the Haotian Army, the 1st Infantry Division and the 3rd Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht, which had suffered heavy casualties in the early stage of the battle, had all been transferred to the rear to rest and replenish their troops.

Several divisions that had just been transferred to the front line from China joined the siege sequence, including the special warfare division and the Rongyi division, which had strong combat power.

The Persians, who were allies, also sent 30,000 infantry to assist in the battle, with equipment provided by the Han army, of course, while their cavalry units were busy recovering and occupying the vast old territory of Anxi.

Artaban IV also sent an infantry force of 30,000 men to assist the Romans in defending the city, a battle that was even more important to the Sabbats, and if Mosul was lost, the Persians would have no obstacle to attacking Armenia.

Now that the Persians were attacking everywhere and seizing the resting lands, the Persian cavalry would have been able to drive straight into Armenia without the barrier of Mosul.