"The Parthians have withdrawn?"

"Yes, the information just obtained this morning that our cavalry entered their abandoned camp and did not find a single weapon or bag of food. Moreover, the bonfire has been extinguished for a long time. ”

In the legion camp, Klein gave a detailed report. But even this latest information is not time-sensitive, for the Parthians had already left camp the previous night. It's just that Apis didn't know if they really wanted to bypass their camp and attack the cities in the rear, or if they were just luring their troops out of the camp and then annihilating themselves on the plain.

From here to Antioch, almost all of them are large plains, with few peaks in between, and this kind of terrain gives the Parthians an advantage in field battles.

"Appis?"

Seeing that Appis didn't react, Klein asked a little more reminder.

"Oh, I'm thinking, what does Sulena mean? What is her purpose? Lure us out of the camp and then kill us halfway? Or do you really not want to suffer with us and drive directly towards the rich city of Antioch? ”

"It's hard to say, but I guess it's possible to ...... both."

Isn't that nonsense...... Apis muttered to himself. Out of caution, Appis immediately ordered the whole army to continue repairing, except to transport the wounded back to the towns in the rear, and to stay in the camp for another two days.

The actions of the Roman legions disappointed the Parthians, and Appis was like a black ghost, cowering in his camp, refusing to come out. But Sulena is not at a loss. Since it is impossible to lure the enemy into attacking, it is better to attack Antioch directly.

On the contrary, the large depth of the cut, the soldiers have no way to retreat, but will be more brave to attack the city, take the city to get supplies, this tactical strategy Caesar and Pompey tried many times back then, as the commander of the Parthian army, Sulena also wanted to try.

As a result, two days later, the Parthian army galloped all the way to the city of Antioch, a large city on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean and the capital of trade. Even after several wars, it was still a transit point for trade between the East and the West, and the city's residents accumulated abundant wealth, which has always been the focus of contention among countries.

And the news that Sulena led his troops all the way west finally made Apis unable to sit still, even if Apis sat still, his soldiers couldn't sit still, compared to the civil war, these citizen soldiers under Apis, more eager to fight with the army of the alien race, they can not only get the opportunity to plunder in the war, defeat the alien race is also a symbol of glory. At this moment, the morale of the legionary infantry was high, and he forced Appis to fight.

Early in the morning of the fourth day, in such a state of euphoria, all the men took up their weapons and went out to chase the Parthian army at a tight pace.

However, even though the speed of the Roman legion's march was unmatched by that of the Parthians, the Parthians were able to cross an unknown river and set up a defensive line on the other side of the river, having been pulled away for two days.

The river was not wide or deep, but the infantry could not cross it easily, and the water level would at least drown their heads, in which case the Roman legions would have been killed or wounded if they were forced to cross the river and the men on the other side would have been shot with bows and arrows and spears.

An eternal conundrum confronted Appis and his Roman legions. Since ancient times, the army's battle of crossing the river and crossing the sea has been one of the most difficult problems to solve. But, who is Apis? A crossing dog who reads the art of war. Well, even if you are not familiar with all kinds of military books, you can still be familiar with some classic battles in history.

The situation reminded Apis of the famous Battle of the Hydaspes River during Alexander's crusade, the Parthian army was not an Indian army, there were no war elephants, but there were many cavalry, as long as these cavalry ran and patrolled on the bank, they could easily block the Roman heavy infantry from crossing the river, and even after crossing the river, once ashore, the enemy's cavalry could easily crush the Roman soldiers who had not yet formed a formation. Therefore, how to distract the attention of these Parthian cavalry became the key to the battle of crossing the river at hand.

Fortunately, Alexander the Great 300 years ago left a valuable experience for Appis.

The cavalry returned in the evening of the same day and reported on their investigations, and the river, known to the local population as the Herubee, was small in volume but meandered long and winding until it joined the famous Euphrates. Of course, this was not what Apis cared about, but what Apis cared about was where the cavalry found the river crossing. Perhaps all rivers have the same geographical characteristics, and when the river passes through a bend, the bank often forms a protruding area similar to a headland, which is called a convex bank in the topography, which is the best place to cross the river, because it is the closest to the opposite bank and the terrain is gentle. Moreover, due to the accumulation of sediment and fertile soil, there were dense woods on the banks of the river, which were enough to cover the infantry to cross the creek. Of course, the situation at this time was different from the situation when Alexander crossed the river, there was no island in the center of the river, which could not be used as a pedal. But the waters of the Herubee River were not as deep as the Hydarspes River. The current is not turbulent, even in the summer when the water is at its highest.

After determining this tactic, Appis began to meet and relay orders, and every day the cavalry of the Gallic Legion and the Germanic cavalry had to complete the task of dragging a long branch of a tree and running wildly along the riverbank, rolling up the dust. to create the illusion that the army was about to cross the river. There was only one purpose, to confuse the Parthian cavalry on the opposite side by repeatedly running back and forth, until finally paralyzing them, and when the Parthians saw that the Roman army was still indifferent to the wild running wild, then it was the best time to cross the river. And the tool needed to cross the river, Appis, had already prepared, that is, the improvised water tool that the army carried along the way—a sheepskin raft.

"***, Lao Tzu will never run around like that Apis again! He's a madman, who only bluffs, three times a day, yelling, and making a lot of dust, but not once does he actually cross the river. It's exhausting my riders, and if I continue like this, I'm going to be driven crazy by him. If you want to pursue, you go and pursue it yourself, I'm resting for a few days, although this river is not wide enough, it is not so easy to cross! ”

After days of running, the bravado finally had an effect, and on the fifth day Frela, the captain of the Parthian cavalry, could not stand it anymore, and his mood tended to collapse, and he felt like a ploughing ox, led by the nose, and wherever the cavalry of the Roman legions went, they followed, but not once did they actually cross the river. Even his soldiers began to complain......