"Hebaatar, Sabri's greatest hero, he was once alone, killing a lion!"

In the mountains north of Parthia, reinforcements from King Orodes are on their way. Reinforcements to the Armenian border. Along the way, this army of peasants, who were dressed in beautiful clothes and almost varied, stopped and stopped, their army was huge, reaching 50,000 men, but the pace of the march was slow, the soldiers marched together, speaking their different languages, and the ranks were scattered as if they were armed marches.

In the tent, the eunuch of the army commander made a word of praise on the left and a flattering word on the right, which made Hebaatar, king of Sabri, complacent. They have been marching in this mountainous area for almost a month, and as long as they walk for another half a month, they will be able to reach the front line.

However, for the proud Hrbato, he did not want his army to go too fast. Because the sooner his army arrives at the front, the sooner his army will have to fight. Each lord ostensibly supported the war, but after Ctesiphon was taken, many of the Parthian lords were still afraid of war, and they did not want to consume too much of their strength in the war.

"A lion! Hahaha, this joke is too big, I bet, King Sabri, you don't even have to kill a wild boar. ”

Inside the tent, the new leader of Lucummans, Sehele, laughed under the influence of alcohol.

"How dare you question the great King Sabri?"

Seeing that his master was being ridiculed, Hebaatar's servant angrily accused.

"Then let him try it for himself and see if he dares."

"You'd better shut your foul mouth, Sehail, and don't forget who got your place."

Sehel, the wine stick, was very upset at the dinner, much to Hirbatore's displeasure. He even did not hesitate to tear his face and tell the little lord of this place to close his mouth.

At tribal dinners, such jokes and mutual taunts abound. In fact, this is a large eastern coalition, a coalition of kingdoms and tribes from the Persian Gulf and the Iranian plateau. Therefore, they speak their respective languages, wear the costumes of their respective kingdoms and tribes, and even the customs and folk customs are different, most of them are composed of infantry and bow infantry, and a small number of elite knights are the children of some nobles, so they can afford to buy war horses and complete sets of ironclad horse harness.

"King Sabri, have you seen the team that passed us a few days ago? Could it be that Orodes was defeated at the front, and at this time he asked us to block the sword of the Romans? ”

Then, a chieftain from the Persian Gulf stood up and asked aloud.

"You mean the unmistakable, uniformly armored army?"

"Yes, it's that army, they don't have many people, but they are uniform, and even the pace of walking is the same."

The chief then added.

"I've never seen such a strange army, but I guess it's probably the elite main force of the Orodes, and their equipment is much more expensive than ours."

Hurbaatar said contemptuously as he enjoyed the servant's service.

However, they did not know that the army they had encountered on the mountain road a few days earlier was the sworn enemy they had to face on this expedition, the Roman legions.

Before his expedition, Apis ordered Publius and Cytius to make a big move in Armenia, attracting Orodes to drive the main army to the Armenian-Parthian border. As for himself, he led two elite legions all the way south along the mountain road, and once again aimed at Ctesiphon.

Three days earlier, they had encountered the huge army on the mountain road, and at first Apis had ordered everyone to be ready for battle. However, seeing that the other party did not seem to be able to read his flag and uniform, he ordered everyone to continue the march with a normal mind and at the same time remain vigilant.

It turned out that Orodus launched a national war this time, recruiting various small kingdoms and clans in the Far East as well.

In the general war, the eastern tribes sent a large coalition army, but the people of these tribes had never seen the Romans, nor had they seen the Roman legions, so they did not know what their enemies were like, and they could only see them when they arrived at the front battlefield in Armenia. Apis let them see it in advance, but this group of mountain people in the Far East did not know what the Roman legions looked like.

So, a strange scene appeared, this team passed by the mountain road, but they passed by their enemies.

Two days later, Apis, with the regular Roman army, reappeared on the plain on the banks of the Tigris, causing panic among the local noble lords......

"We have failed again, say it, Appis, Roman consul, great general. What are your requirements? Is it to give up the town or to give wealth and hostages? ”

Macolani, the noble lord of the town upstream of Ctesiphon, led the family to the military camp of Appis. He got straight to the point and talked directly about the conditions. Orodus was out on a campaign and would not be able to come back for a while, and his own army was also sent to assist Orodus in the battle, so there were almost no defenders in the city. No one expected the Roman legions to suddenly appear here.

However, in the next moment, Appis's answer was even more unexpected than they expected.

"No, you don't have to give up your city, you don't have to give up your wealth and your hostages. My request is simple, and it will do you and your subjects no harm, and that is to refuse to recognize Orodes as your king, and to support the new king, Gesbis, to rule Parthia. ”

"The new king?"

Lord Macolani asked with a look of astonishment.

"Yes, the new king Ghisbis, he is the son of Parisia. He was also a Parthian nobleman of pure blood. ”

Sitting in an ornate chair, Apis replied leisurely.

"Your Excellency, asking us to give up our power and accept the new leader of Parthia?"

"No, on the contrary, your rights are protected. As long as you recognize Gesbiz as your new king, you will have absolute autonomy within your realm, and you will no longer have to pay tribute to Ctesiphon, and you will not have the obligation to send troops or pay taxes. ”

Appis said with a smile. The next moment, High Lord Macolani had a strange expression on his face. He quickly reacted and understood what Appis meant. Rome would give up the land and set up a puppet king there, ostensibly supporting the independence of the Parthian lords, but in fact dividing the Parthian kingdom. This time the troops were sent more to solve this matter than to simply conquer.

However, in this way, it is indeed a good thing for oneself, which means that in the future, the affairs of one's own territory will be decided by oneself, and the king will not have real power, so he will not be able to gather troops and wage war, so he will be safe. There will be no more tragedy like Sulena's. Because if it was under this system, Sulena would have been able to return to his own territory, gather his own army, and support himself. There is no need to worry about King Orodes gathering the armies of other lords to besiege and crusade against him.

But even though he knew that this was the case, Lord Marcolani was not willing to agree so easily. He wanted to make things difficult for Apis in order to gain greater good.

"I think I understand, Lord Apis wants to set up a nominal king, and then split the whole Parthian kingdom?"

Macolani asked with a sly smile.

"Split Parthia? That's not at all. You're just taking back the power that is rightfully yours. ”

"Decentralization, in fact, is division. What if I don't say yes? ”

"Don't be stupid, Lord Macolani. In fact, I am not here today to discuss with you, but to inform you. Look at it, there are no defenders in the city behind you, you have no choice, and I can ransack your town whenever I want. Let's put it another way, even if you don't admit it, and you don't want to accept my terms, the other lords, they will rush to accept my terms. There are so many lords who want to be kings, and I don't lack you, Lord Macolani. ”

The conversation between Apis and the lord Marcolani quickly unfolded, and the Roman officers on the side all looked at the uninteresting Parthian lord with disdain. The knife was on his neck, and he also talked to Apis about conditions......