They lined up in formation, and did not travel far, when they met the Thracians and Pannonians who had retreated, and the auxiliary legion of more than 3,000 men was still about 2,000 men left.

Macrinus issued an order for the defeated troops to pass through the flanks of the formation and regroup behind their own legions.

The auxiliary cavalry, in accordance with the banner of the military order, immediately fled to the flanks, giving way to the front, so as not to storm their own front.

The cavalry of the 1st Brigade of the Han Army, who had already caught up, suddenly saw a strict military formation in front of them, and it was mainly infantry, so they immediately stopped the pursuit and began to arrange their formations.

Ma Chao and Zhang Xiu, who were following behind, soon led two other brigades to catch up, and they also saw the Romans who were waiting for them.

Ma Chao ordered three cavalry brigades to also meet the enemy in three columns, the left, the center and the right, with the first brigade on the left, the second brigade in the center, and the third brigade on the right flank.

Each brigade was divided into three rows, one in front and one in each regiment, so the Han army sent a very wide formation, with more than 4,000 horsemen.

Of course, they were divided into three phalanxes very clearly, corresponding to the three legions of the Romans.

When the Romans saw that the Han army had also begun to arrange their troops, they did not stop, but continued to advance by the beat of the drum, hoping to disrupt the rhythm of the Han army.

However, this loose horizontal formation is still very easy to arrange, and the rifles of the Han army have high shooting accuracy, so they do not rely on dense formations.

And all the Roman infantry, dressed in bronze armor, held a large shield in his left hand, a bronze dagger in his right hand, and a flintlock pistol behind his back, marched in a neat pace.

The Han army was also slowly advancing, all on horseback, waiting for a suitable range.

The two sides were advancing, so they quickly entered each other's range, and 200 zhang was a suitable range for both sides.

The Han army was fully equipped with rifles and could all participate in shooting, while only two Roman legions on the Roman side were equipped with muskets, and the two auxiliary legions were not equipped with muskets, so they bypassed the main army in front of them and rushed towards the Han army from both flanks.

Both the light cavalry and the infantry of Smyrna and Macedonia shouted battle trumpets and marched forward quickly.

The Roman infantry of the 2nd Augustan legion, however, stood their shields in front of them when they reached range, while they hid behind their shields for aimed fire.

The Han army's protection was inferior to that of the other side, and all it could rely on was the numerical superiority, accuracy superiority, and rate of fire superiority of the rifle.

However, the Han army also has a sharp weapon, that is, mortars, and their investment largely marks the direction of the battlefield.

Although the Romans had long heard that the Orientals could build artillery, the large ones needed to be pulled by horse-drawn carts, and the small ones were carried by themselves.

Hearing is better than seeing, and the Romans were impressed by the power of mortars.

Neither galloping light cavalry nor heavy cavalry could effectively protect the shell fragments of mortars.

Except for the second brigade in the middle and the Romans, the Han troops on the left and right flanks ushered in the Romans' charge.

The Romans, with the cover of large shields and the protection of armor, rushed to the front of the Han army, but there was still a grenade feast waiting for them.

There was nothing to say about the soldiers of the Roman auxiliary legion, who had finally rushed to their front, and the saber was raised high and slashed hard.

The scene of the two sides in the middle was evenly matched, the number of both sides was equal, the number of firearms was equal, the rifles of the Han army were more powerful and the rate of fire was higher, but the protection of the Romans was better, and the rifled guns were enough to kill the Han army wearing only leather armor.

The Romans were different from the Han armies in the past, and they were much more determined and courageous than the Kushans.

Rigorously trained and disciplined, the Roman infantry could engage the Han army face-to-face, ignoring the fall of their allies without flinching.

The two sides fought until the sun began to set, and then they slowly separated, each retreating to their own rear.

After an afternoon of fierce fighting, the Han army suffered more than 3,000 casualties, while the losses of the Romans were greater, about 5,000 casualties, but most of these 5,000 were servant troops of the auxiliary legion.

The real loss of the Romans was only seven or eight hundred Roman cavalry and a similar number of Roman infantry, and in the first encounter, the two sides could be regarded as evenly divided, which was also the closest casualties between the enemy and us in the field battle of equal military strength in the history of the Han army.

After this battle, the Romans stopped their march to the city of Mulu, and they did not send many troops on the battlefield of the Sabbath Empire, with only twelve legions in total, six Roman legions, and six auxiliary legions.

They stayed at Dhamgan and sent a letter of distress to the Roman Emperor Caracalla, who was still in Angela, not believing that these legions alone would be able to defeat such a powerful Han Chinese.

As for the armies of the Sabbats of Ardaban IV, they were not at all put in the eyes of the Romans, except for the firearms they provided, and the fighting power was just scum.

Yes, because Rome did not have enough production capacity, Artaban IV gave a lot of firearms produced in peace to the Romans, and who made him have to rely on the Romans to fight?

Caracalla kept Damgan's Roman legions on standby, and he brought in not only Roman legions from other fronts, but also a shipment of arms from home, which would give them great support.

And Ma Chao, who had a bad career, also returned to Mulu City with the first division of the Haotian Army, and introduced his experience to Fa Zheng and Sima Yi in detail.

When the two of them heard about the course of the battle between the two armies, as well as the final casualties, they couldn't help but sigh that it seemed that the Great Han had finally met its fateful opponent.

The armies of the two great empires were fighting in foreign lands thousands of miles away from their homeland, and they were equally brave and good at war, and the military discipline was strict, which was a true professional soldier.

The Roman Empire wanted to gain a say on the Silk Road, and it also had to help its allies occupy the entire territory of the Rest Empire.

The Han Empire, on the other hand, wanted to ensure the smooth flow of its silk and obtain better benefits from the farther European continent, and at the same time to help its allies and regain control of the entire Empire.

Therefore, the interests of the two sides are in conflict, the contradictions are irreconcilable, there is nothing to say, only to speak with iron and blood.

With the footprints of the caravans on the Silk Road, the forces of the Ministry of Intelligence have already set foot on the European continent, and there is an increasingly large intelligence network within the territory of the Rest Empire.

Therefore, the specific number and strength of Dhamgan's Roman legions have long been sent to Fa Zheng and others.

In addition to the twelve Roman legions, Damgan also had 50,000 rebels under Artaban IV, all so-called elite divisions armed with muskets.

They just couldn't hold out, and with the current strength of the Han army, it was a little difficult to capture Jiancheng, so Fa Zheng was not in a hurry, he was determined to wait until the reinforcements of the crown prince Lu Kang arrived, and then make a decision.