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Bo Tune's sentence is very correct, whether they are willing to come to war or not, they will not be unmoved by the reward, the Han people came all the way for the peace of the whole world, and Bo Tune and Quintus are not here to save the Sassanid people in dire straits, their goal is actually very consistent, to kill Ardashir, rob him of his money, and divide his land. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

If how to divide it up in the past is just to take it, then how to divide the fertile land between the two rivers now is the most important thing, no matter who it is, will not be unimpressed by such wealth. Isn't it because of the fertility of this crescent-shaped land between the Euphrates and Tigris that there were important powers such as Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Seleucidus, and Antipas?

No matter who it is, they will not watch others occupy this land, in order to have enough strength to share the spoils, Bo Tuo secretly considered whether he should save a little strength, so as not to suffer losses in the future. He didn't expect Sun Shao to raise this issue now, if you want to divide it, everyone will share it together, whoever has a big credit will take more, and whoever has a small credit will take less, and more importantly, not only the three of us will share, but those generals who have made meritorious contributions will participate in the dividends, no matter which country, as long as they have made meritorious contributions in the process of destroying Sasanian, they have the right to share a piece of land. What if you don't take Ctesiphon? Then there is nothing. Not only was there no loot, but there was also a revenge waiting to meet the Sassanids. How to do it, you can see what to do.

At this time, whether it was Quintus or Bo Tuo, they all put the idea of preserving their strength behind them, and they were thinking about fighting for the initiative and making more contributions. Even Cao Zhang and the others were moved, looking at each other one by one, and no one said a word.

"Since everyone is not against it, then it is decided." Sun Shao waved his hand with satisfaction: "Please tell your subordinates about this decision, and then everyone will use their brains to see how they can capture Ctesiphon." When the time comes, we will get together again to discuss, and whoever has the wiser idea will be the main force and take up the task of the main attack. ”

Quintus and Bo Tune have no objections, and while they have motivation, they also feel a lot of pressure. Sun Shao threw out a big piece of fat, even if they didn't want to, the news would reach the ears of his generals, and if those generals knew that they wouldn't share the benefits with them, there would be no need to fight this battle. According to this plan, I am afraid that every general will compete for the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, and how to arrange each person's tasks has become a difficult problem to test their wisdom, and whether or not they can coordinate the cooperation among the generals and prevent them from having disputes or even tearing each other down because of the struggle for merit is also a rather thorny issue.

Quintus and Bo were transferred away, but Cao Zhang, Li Yan and others came around, Li Yan was still a little reserved, and he was embarrassed to ask directly, but Cao Zhang was very familiar with Sun Shao, and he asked unabashedly: "Is the king just to mobilize their positive surnames, or does he really have this plan?" ”

Sun Shao glanced at him, avoided answering, but teased: "Don't forget, you are the general of the Luoyang court, after this battle is over, you will be promoted to general when you go back, do you still want to occupy a piece of land here and be the owner of the village?" ”

Cao Zhang was a little embarrassed, but refused to back down: "King, whether to go back or not, that's my business, whether the king is really willing to give this land to everyone, this is what we are most concerned about now." He pulled the others in without modesty: "Li Zhengfang is embarrassed to say, but I can see that if possible, he is very willing to be a city lord or something here." There are probably not a few other people who think like this, even the generals of your country. ”

"Am I going to lie to you?" Sun Shao took a sip of tea and said seriously: "I said when I asked you to send troops that I would not let you suffer. Do you think I've ever done a loss-making business for so many years? Who has worked with me? ”

Cao Zhang nodded again and again: "That's right, the king is refreshing, every time we cooperate with the king, we have a lot of gains." ”

"That'll do." Sun Shao smiled: "As you know, I don't build a country based on agriculture, I don't have any other requirements, I just hope that after you become the lord of the city, you don't set up cards to grab money, don't raise prices, thousands of businessmen will rely on you to supply food in the future." He patted his thigh and said contentedly: "You have also seen what happened just now, in fact, it doesn't matter to me whether I fight this battle or not, anyway, I have gained a lot of benefits." I'm here to create an opportunity for you to make meritorious contributions. Otherwise, even if you go back to China, you will not have face. ”

Cao Zhang smiled silently, at this time he was not interested in gossiping with Sun Shao, since Sun Shao said that he was not a Mengren, but really planned to do so, then they had to think about it. With military exploits, of course, the soldiers have benefits, but the biggest benefit is still the main general, so who is the main general has become a very sensitive issue.

Who doesn't want to make great contributions, it's so boring to make a wedding dress for someone. But then again, it's not something you can do if you want to be the master, if you don't have the ability, it's better not to be embarrassed as soon as possible. Thinking of what Sun Shao had just said to Quintus and Bo Tiao, he was in no mood to sit down any longer, and hurried back to gather the generals to discuss and see if there was any good way to take Ctesiphon. After all, although this piece of fat is tempting, Ctesiphon is not easy to attack, if he is not well prepared, it is very likely that his efforts will be in vain, and the loss of troops will be in vain.

Cao Zhang and Li Yan exchanged a few words of gossip and retreated.

It didn't take long for the news to spread among the army, and almost all the generals were red-eyed, and they all wanted to get a piece of the pie, how cool it was to be the lord of a free trade zone. The king of Yue asked for the place north of Armenia, and if he could take Ctesiphon, then the merchants who landed from the Persian Gulf would go up the river, and the cities in this area would be able to profit from it, which was a treasure land.

Almost everyone used their brains and racked their brains to think of a way to break the city, and their morale was extremely high for a while.

The army then advanced steadily, crossing the Euphrates and advancing all the way to the west bank of the Tigris, first besieging the Seleucid. Seleucid is a relic of the Seleucid Dynasty, it has been more than 500 years, after many wars, although Seleucus has been repaired many times, after all, it can not be compared with Cessian, but the two cities are similar in structure, so Sun Shao suggested that first take Seleucid and take Seleucid, which is equivalent to cutting off Cessifon's foreign aid, which can not only train the army, but also can deter the morale of the Sassanids. What's more, if you don't take Seleucus and cross the river to fight, it is not very reassuring after all.

There was no objection to this proposal, and there was a disagreement over who would be the main commander of the attack on Seleucus. Bo Tune and Quintus both wanted to make this first contribution, they both knew that Seleucus was much easier than Ctesiphon, and Bo Tiao felt that he might not have the opportunity to compete with Sun Shao for this main general when attacking Ctesiphon, and he should make a merit at this time, and it would be better to rely on the reward for meritorious deeds in the future. Quintus had 80,000 soldiers in his hands, and he was very ambitious, and he very much hoped to make a meritorious service and be long and majestic in front of the generals.

Both of them refused to give up, and in the end they could only ask Sun Shao to make a notarization. Sun Shao did not participate in this contest, and he did not take sides, suggesting that they attack at the same time. To the east of the Seleucid is the Tigris River, so it is impossible to attack at all, one of you from the northwest and the other from the southwest, attacking at the same time, whoever enters the city first will be counted as the first meritorious, as for the Han Chinese, he will serve as a reserve to deal with emergencies, and at the same time monitor the city of Ctessipho on the other side of the river, so as not to prevent the Sassanids from supporting the Seleucid and attacking the soldiers who are besieging the city.

Bo Tiao was very satisfied, the strength of the Kushan army was the weakest, and there were not many opportunities to fight for the main battle, Sun Shao did not favor the Romans, it was enough for him. Quintus was a little disappointed, he originally thought that Sun Shao would help him speak, and the Romans would be the main attacker, but he didn't expect such a result. I was resentful in my heart, and I couldn't help but complain twice.

"Are you sure you can take Seleucus?" Sun Shao said unceremoniously.

Quintus rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything.

"Although this city is not as good as Ctesiphon, it is also an ancient city, and when it was first built, it was built in the style of a fortress, and it was fully fortified. Don't you think that with an army of 80,000, you can easily take this city, your two legions that 80,000 people can really fight can be in the hands of little Gordian, he will really help you? ”

When Quintus heard this, he understood.

"Don't worry, take this opportunity to familiarize yourself with the mode of the big war, and let those generals take turns to see which ones can really fight and which ones are just lip service. Having the Kushans on the other side to contain the Sassanids will do you only good and no harm. If you can successfully take Seleuc, you still don't enjoy it, and it's okay, and Ctesiphon. ”

"How dare I rob Ctesiphon of the first credit." Quintus rubbed his hands in embarrassment.

"There's nothing polite to be polite, if you don't want to fight, it doesn't mean that your subordinates don't want to fight. If you are too generous, I am afraid that you will leave people with a handle. Sun Shao smiled faintly: "What's more, the reason why we are a country of brothers is because of my friendship with you, you really have the ability to take Ctesiphon and sit firmly on your emperor's throne, I can't ask for it." ”

Quintus laughed, happy in his heart, and the original trace of resentment suddenly disappeared. He said to Sun Shao gratefully: "You still have more experience, okay, I'll do what you say, let them take turns to fight, don't favor one or the other, and save them from complaining about me at that time." ”

"That's right." Sun Shao smiled and nodded, stood up and walked in front of Quintus, patting him on the shoulder: "Quintus, fight a good fight, let them see who is the real emperor of Rome." ”

"Hmm." Quintus clenched his fists confidently.

After half a month of preparation, the Romans attacked from the northwest and the Kushans from the southwest. There were only more than 20,000 people under Bo Tiao, and he took 5,000 elites as a reserve, and the rest of the people were divided into two groups to take turns attacking the city, while Quintus relied on the large number of people and sent eight army commanders at once to attack in turn, not giving the defenders in the city a chance to breathe.

When the Kushans and Romans stormed the ancient Seleucid, Sun Shao arranged for Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi and Li Yan to guard behind them, but he himself took Chen Hai, Zhuge Zhi and others to patrol the Tigris River. Although the surface of the Tigris River is still quite wide, but after entering the plain, the water volume plummets, and the water level is very shallow in many places. In terms of water warfare alone, the Sassanid warships were ordinarily not strong, and even medium warships were enough to cope with them. But for the siege, without the help of the large number of ballistas on the ships, it is really inferior.

The Tigris River between Seleucid and Ctesiphon is not wide, and most of the river is within the range of the ballista attacks above the two cities, even if the Yue warship is strong, it can't withstand such an attack, so when there is no need to attack, Sun Shao just ordered the warship to monitor the river, and did not give the Sassanids the opportunity to cross the river by boat to rescue Seleucus, but refused to let the warship attack Seleucid on the water - with the ballista ability on the medium-sized warship, even if he participated in the war, it would not help much, such work, Only a building ship can do it.

Escorted by ten warships, Sun Shao carefully stayed out of the range of the ballista cannons on the city, holding his clairvoyance to look at the city of Tessie on the left bank. Lu Xun and Sun Feng were standing beside him, each holding up their clairvoyance to look at the nearby terrain, and Zhuge Zhi and Chen Hai stood behind, discussing something softly together. Zhuge Zhi's warship was in the Red Sea, and he couldn't follow him this time, but only participated in the battle as a foot soldier, and he didn't have too high expectations. Chen Hai was the main force of the sailors this time, but he couldn't bring a boat to reduce his combat power greatly, and after hearing that this land would be a reward for meritorious personnel, he regretted it, and from time to time he had to shout a few words of injustice.

"Alas, Ji Gong, our luck is not as good as that pirate." Chen Hai sighed: "That pirate is now crisscrossing the Mediterranean, not to mention, he is still the king of the Black Sea, and he has opened a mansion in Byzantium, and he has a lot of territory under his jurisdiction than us, and only the rough legs and Deng Ai's kid can compare with him, a few of us...... Alas, the gap is getting wider and wider. ”

Zhuge smiled and said nothing. At the beginning, the four generals who followed Sun Shao to establish the country, Yuehai has been guarding Funan, there are not many opportunities to go out, although he is not called a governor, but he is a governor with the most real power, Su thick legs in the East China Sea to show his strength, Lianke Sanhan, the Japanese country, expand the land for thousands of miles, is a well-deserved hegemony in the East China Sea. Deng Ai went out of the South China Sea with 1,000 men, and after several years of conquest, he has now become the supreme governor of the South China Sea, the youngest of several important generals who have been released, and his future is limitless. Cui Qian has also been proud of the spring breeze recently, first broke the Roman rebels in the Bosphorus, and then ambushed the Sassanids with Lu Xun, and made two achievements in a row, before the war ended, he was appointed by Sun Shao as the governor of the Mediterranean, and was also in charge of the Black Sea, and also opened a mansion in Byzantium. And Chen Hai, one of the four generals, has not yet been crowned governor, which is inevitably a little sour in his heart.

"Why should the general be frustrated, the Arabian Sea is the general's territory, after taking Ctesiphon, the trade volume of the Persian Gulf will definitely rise sharply, and it is expected to surpass the Red Sea, and the general is also an important town in my country, so why bother to be arrogant."

Chen Hai grinned, embarrassed to say anything more. Although it seems that the rights are about the same, after all, he is not called a governor, as if he is a dwarf, and he has no face to see people.

Gan Pi, Cheng Zhi and Han Zong stood at the other end of the boat, Gan Pi leaned on the side of the boat, squinted his eyes and looked at the city of Taixi in the distance, and said indignantly: "I really didn't expect that Ardashir, the hero I, actually made a turtle with a shrunken head and hid in the city and didn't come out." Lao Tzu didn't have a chance to compete with him in terms of knife skills, which was really frustrating. ”

"I think Ardashir is scared, so I can only avoid you, General Gan." Han Zong said seriously: "I'm afraid that you will chop it up with a knife to receive the reward, and then I'm afraid that Taixi's closure of the city will be your General Gan's." ”

"It's not just Tessie's closure of the city, I think the whole of Sasanian is possible." Cheng Zhi added fuel to the fire and said: "Maybe the priestesses of those temples will become the warm quilt slaves of General Gan at that time." ”

"And!" Gan Pi spat angrily and funny: "Are you two vertical sons uncomfortable if you don't entertain Lao Tzu?" ”

Han Zong and Cheng Shi couldn't help but lower their voices and laughed. Gan Pi is an old minister of the Yue Kingdom, they are later, and the situation was very embarrassing when they first came, which is equivalent to being driven out by Sun Quan, so they have been laughed at by Gan Pi, but I didn't expect that this time the salted fish turned over, followed Lu Xun to defeat Ardashir, and became famous in a battle, not only harvested a lot of loot, but also was promoted to a miscellaneous general because of his merits, and Gan Pi was on an equal footing. However, Gan Pi failed to ambush Ardashir with Chen Hai this time, and ran for thousands of miles, undecided, and naturally scratched his stomach. As soon as they saw Gan Pi's hair scratching, they joined forces to anger him. If Sun Shao hadn't been in front, they might have laughed much more happily.

"Damn, I must be the first to kill the head of Taixi Seal at that time, and let you vertical people see how powerful I am." Gan Pi spat indignantly again. Cheng Zhi was just about to say more, but Han Zong tugged at his sleeve and motioned him to pay attention to the front with his eyes. Cheng Zhi looked at it, and happened to see Luo Tong's gaze, signaled them not to be too loud, and quickly closed his mouth.

Sun Shao and Lu Xun were talking. Lu Xun was very worried about Sun Shao's arrangement, so far, they were not sure to take Ctesiphon, even if they used heavy rewards to stimulate the morale of the Romans and Kushans, they might not be able to succeed, after all, the difference in strength was not obvious enough. The Romans seem to have 80,000 men, but most of them are recruits, and they need a lot of actual combat training, and training is to the death, and to take Seleucus, their losses are at least about 10,000 people, and the Kushans are not much better. If the damage is too great, then the forces attacking Ctesiphon will be even less sufficient.

"Bo Yan, are you sure to take Ctesiphon?" Sun Shao smiled and said: "If you are sure, I will appoint you as the chief general of the attack on Ctesiphon, and all the men and horses will be handed over to you to command." ”

Lu Xun was noncommittal, put down his clairvoyance, and was silent for a moment: "King, if you don't take Ctesiphon, will Armenia be able to occupy it?" Does the Caspian Sea still make sense? ”

Sun Shao blinked his eyes and smiled quietly: "Why is it meaningless?" ”

Lu Xun glanced at Sun Shao and said to himself: "If the minister's guess is correct, the king intends to use Cui Qian's sailors as the backing, Rome as an ally, and the Teutons as the basis to manage a large area of land north of the Mediterranean Sea. However, although the land is fertile, the population is small, and the tribes are numerous, so that they can plunder but not produce, and it is impossible to unify them without thirty or fifty years. Thirty or fifty years of operation requires a lot of manpower and financial resources, which have to be transported from Rome, Kushan and even the Yue country, and our Yue people are dominant at sea, but the road from the sea is far away, whether it is from the Persian Gulf or the Red Sea, it has to pass through a piece of land. Although the king occupied Axum, there was still an Egyptian province of the Romans in the middle, and the east bank was Xiahou Rong's sphere of influence, so it was not so convenient after all. Ideally, we would take Sassanid and go straight from the Persian Gulf to the Tigris River to Armenia. ”

Sun Shao nodded frequently, although Lu Xun didn't know the inside story of Sun Shao and Philip becoming brothers, it was difficult to estimate that as long as Philip succeeded to the throne and became emperor, Rome would actually be part of the Yue Kingdom, but the situation he analyzed was relatively close to his expectations. Being able to win Ctesiphon is, of course, the best result.

"We don't have the strength to conquer Ctesiphon alone, so the king retreats to the next best thing, hoping to use the power of Rome and Kushan to destroy Sassanid and build it into a free trade zone full of princes, so as to alleviate the obstacles in the future as much as possible. But the king, all this is based on the premise of conquering Ctesiphon, if it doesn't work, then the king's deployment will be greatly reduced, and the prince's difficulties will be even greater. In the event of another conflict with the Romans, we will be unable to rescue them. Isn't this too risky, King? ”

"Risking or not depends on whether you can take Ctesiphon." Sun Shao smiled slightly: "If you can take Tai Xifeng, this place will be controlled by my Yue Kingdom." Coupled with the Arabian Peninsula controlled by Xiahou Rong, we have a few roads to go north, so what is the risk? What's more, I also plan to arrange some Huns on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. It is a good pasture, and controlling it in the hands of the Kushan people is a hidden danger after all. ”

"Brother Adi?" Lu Xun's eyes lit up. Cai Yan, the mother of the Adi Gui brothers, and Yang Hu's mother are sisters, and Yang Hu is Sun Feng's cronies, and there are even rumors that Yang Huiyu is also Sun Feng's intended person, and she may become a woman in the womb in the future. With this relationship, coupled with the credit that Sun Feng gave to the Adi Kui brothers, letting the Adi Kui brothers occupy the pastures in the Caspian Sea and the East China Sea is obviously a help for Sun Feng, and the Adi Gui brothers are nominally from the Wei State, presumably Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi will not object.

"If possible, I do have the intention of doing so."

(To be continued)