"Appis, I have heard that you are going to lead the legion to Parthia again, and I beg you here, do not hurt Tretus, you know, he is my only relative in this world, he is my son, and I cannot afford to lose him. Even if he was a fool, he made the unforgivable mistake and became an enemy of Rome. ”

As the expedition was imminent, Octavia came to Appis's mansion and pleaded with Apis, hoping that Apis would spare his child, who was ignorant. Her eyes were filled with tears, and as a mother, Appis was moved by the affection of her son.

"I will try to protect him, keep him safe, and if I meet him on the battlefield, I will ask the soldiers not to hurt him, take him as much as possible, and bring him back to Rome. But, Octavia, I can't promise, you know, war is cruel, javelins and arrows don't have eyes, I just hope that doesn't happen. Alas, if Tretus can return home safely this time, I think you should tell him about the events of the past, from beginning to end, I think, he will understand you, and he will understand us. Many things could have been avoided. ”

Sitting across from Octavia, Apis sighed heavily. Anything, when it comes to feelings, becomes complicated. Especially this two-generation feud. Although Apis was selfish and did not like Teretus, he was the only flesh and blood in Octavia, a woman who had once been his love, and it was not easy for him to see her in such misery.

It used to be simple, but now it was very difficult for Teretus to get involved. As Levius said, it is possible that Orodes wanted to use Teretus against Appis, and this is the reason.

…………

"Brother, the Parthian war has started again, this time, what are you going to do?"

By the time they arrived at the barracks, everyone had already arrived, waiting for Appis to give the order.

"Putting aside pure war, I have been pondering the question all this time, why did we conquer Parthia, only to be overturned in such a short time? The local lords who had supported us in the war were soon to take refuge in the Orodes. Why is that? Now, I think I understand why. Parthia was a people, an independent people, a conscious people. And a civilized nation with its own civilization is bound to have national pride, even if their pride is not as strong as ours. To put it bluntly, although the Parthian kingdom seems loose, in essence, the local nobles still identify themselves as Parthians, not Romans. They were not the same as the Germanic and Gaulic peoples. And we neglected this at first, and we regarded them as barbarians, and tried to rule them in the same way as they ruled Gaul and Germania, with the result that the Parthians were frustrated with national pride, and they became second-class subjects of Rome, of course, against them. Actually, and more importantly, by adding Parthia to the Roman province, we touched on the interests of the local aristocracy. When the Roman legions did not arrive, the local lords were ostensibly subordinate to the Parthian king, but in reality, they had absolute power over their lands. And after the conquest of Parthia, we actually deprived the local lords and nobles of this power, and on their heads, there was an additional Roman governor. They could no longer do whatever they wanted in their own territory, so they wanted to oppose Rome. This is also crucial, and it is one of the reasons why the Parthians rebelled and supported Orodes. Thirdly, the establishment of the Parthian province was very far away from Rome, and there was anything that could hardly be managed by Rome, and all was left to the local governors, and after a long time, there would be problems. For various reasons, Orodes quickly revived and formed the Restoration Army. ”

After Apis finished speaking, the scene was silent, obviously, many people did not expect Apis not to talk about military strategy, but to talk about these first......

"You must be wondering why I don't talk about strategy and tactics first, but about these things that don't seem to concern you. In fact, it is precisely because of these reasons that our next actions will no longer be based on conquest. After quelling the Parthian rebellion, I will support a new candidate as king of Parthia. Rome would abandon plans to add Parthia to the province. ”

As soon as Appis finished speaking, the audience was stunned. Even the officers who had followed Apis for many years did not understand the decision of the commander-in-chief, Rome had finally conquered Parthia, and now it was going to abandon it?

"No doubt, brothers, you must be saying that it would be a pity to abandon Parthia. Yes, I used to think so. But the truth is that the process of bringing Parthia into Rome as a Roman province was stressful, time-consuming, and could bring down Rome. If we do not rule Parthia by the means of a puppet regime, even if we conquer them this time, it will not be long before another large-scale revolt breaks out in Parthia. This country is located in the inland area of the desert, and every time the legion goes out, it will consume huge financial and material resources, and if there are several more wars like this, Rome's national strength will not be able to consume, and the enemy will fight in his own territory, and we will lose more than we gain by supplying sufficient troops and food and grass. Moreover, in order to maintain regional stability after the conquest, it was necessary to send a large number of legions to station, which further increased the burden on the empire. You must know that for various reasons, I finally decided to solve the Parthian problem in the way of a puppet regime. ”

Before using the legion, it must be said that he must convince the generals that although Apis knew that with his own power, he could mobilize the army without solving the problem, but in order to prevent everyone from complaining and misunderstanding, Apis still announced his ideas in advance. With the support of your men, the campaign will be smoother.

However, the meeting became extremely heavy because of Appis's open-heartedness, after all, many of the generals present were not so mentally prepared, they originally thought that the purpose of gathering legions was to conquer Parthia again, so that this alien race, the enemy of Rome, could taste the bitter fruits of rebellion against Rome.

"Appis, you've decided, and we'll support you."

In a heavy mood, Klein first stood up and said that no matter what decision Apis makes, he will firmly stand on Apis's side.

"But if the Parthian lords are unwilling to recognize this new king?"

At the long table, Maximus questioned.

"No, my policy will be to support them in managing their own territory, and no longer have to pay regular tribute to the central government and support the army. What is beneficial to the local nobles and lords, they will naturally support. To put it bluntly, the purpose of the puppet kings was only to rule them better, and the new Parthian kings would be only in name only, with no real power. Our real goal is to divide the vast Parthian kingdom into small independent states, so that it will no longer be a threat to Rome. ”

Faced with Maximus's question, Apis answered with a smile.