It is said that on this day, Pompey was drinking water in the Zhizhi City mansion.

Due to the severe shortage of water, drinking water has become particularly important. Fortunately, Pompey, as the supreme commander of the Roman expeditionary force, had plenty of water.

Pompey sat on a chair with his legs crossed in his robe and a golden sword, picked up a glass of water, and drank it. He drank as he pondered the future, "The messenger hasn't returned yet, and I don't know if the Empire's reinforcements are on their way...... ”

"Your Excellency, Commander, something is wrong!" Pompey's tribune, Unes, came at a hurry.

Pompey's thoughts were interrupted, and he was shocked to hear that something was wrong. But as the commander-in-chief, he must always remain calm and said lightly: "Don't panic about anything, say it slowly." With that, he took a sip of water.

"There's no water." Tribune Unes couldn't calm down and said quickly.

Poof, Pompey squirted out a mouthful of water.

When the tribune Unes saw this, he smacked his dry lips and said in his heart that if I knew this, I would go over and take a bite. He was exaggerating, but he could also see that the Romans were really short of water, and even high-ranking officials such as the tribune did not have enough water to drink.

Pompey wiped his mouth, he couldn't calm down at the moment. This comes from the fact that there is everything in Zhizhi City, there is plenty of food and treasures, but there is a lack of water. And water, a resource that is available everywhere, is at some times more precious than gold, silver, and grain.

If there was no water, the Romans would never be able to hold the city of Zhizhi, and they would not need others to attack, just ask others to collect the corpse, or dry the corpse.

Pompey spat and shouted, "How can there be no water?" This commander also made an inspection just now, the water condition of the well in the city is good, and the water line is extremely high, how can there be a wood all of a sudden? Could it be that you drank it all? ”

The tribune Unes was startled, and said in his heart, Your Excellency, the commander, is confused, I have that ability. He hurriedly defended: "Your Excellency, commander, it's not that there is no water. It's because the water source is polluted, it's all black, and it's undrinkable! ”

"Contaminated?" Pompey forced himself to calm down and said, "Take Commander Ben to see it right away." ”

Less. Pompey led his guards to the public well in the street outside the mansion.

"My stomach hurts......

"The water is no longer drinkable."

"Dodge, disperse, the commander is here."

The guards drove away, and the Roman soldiers who had gathered around the well to argue and quarrel dispersed.

The centurion, who was in charge of the well, saw Pompey coming. hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, "Your Excellency, the water source is polluted, and some soldiers can't help but try to drink it, and they immediately have abdominal pain and ....... ”

"Oops, it hurts......."

Screams were heard.

"Hit a bucket of water and take a look." Pompey's face was ugly, he flicked his cloak, grabbed the red brush on his head and ordered.

Squeak twist ~ squeak twist ~.

When the barrel was lifted, it was completely black on the outside, and black liquid was constantly dripping.

Pompey stepped forward to take a look. I saw that the liquid in the bucket was as black as ink, and it would never be water. His face changed drastically, and he exclaimed, "This is the 'devil's sweat bead', the source of the evil fire. It must be a demon, cursing our expeditionary force! ”

Beads of devil's sweat! The Roman officers and soldiers were shocked and looked terrified.

There are flames that emerge from cracks in the earth all over the world, all year round, and are produced by pitch-black water, which is regarded as the opposite of the sacred fire, that is, the evil fire of the devil.

Successive monarchs of the Roman Empire focused on the revitalization of traditional religions. That is, Romanism. Augustus, in particular, built 82 temples in Rome alone, supported the Alvalis community, and restored traditional religious festivals and celebrations.

Therefore. The Romans were very religious in God, which can also be understood as the Romans were very superstitious.

So when Pompey discovered that the evil source of the cult had inexplicably appeared here and affected the survival of the soldiers. He was shocked, believing it a curse.

Pompey's face was extremely ugly, and he vigorously stroked the red brush on his head. "This must be ...... It is the devil who is cursing our expedition ....... What about the priests? Get him to see me right away! ”

After a while, the Roman priests arrived. The priest wore a traditional Roman robe with a hood and held a book of Roman doctrine.

The priest, who was as well-informed as Pompey, recognized the black liquid as "beads of the devil's sweat."

So, as a priest with the army, he had the responsibility to dispel evil.

So, the priest found the holy Aquarius, the Aquarius-like bottle. He scooped up the black water over and over again, recited "mantras" in the ancient language, and poured the water back into the well.

But a day passed, and to no avail.

There is not much water in the city, and Pompey, as the supreme commander, in order for his army to hold on for a long time, usually suppresses the drinking water of the soldiers as much as possible. As a result, the Roman soldiers were always in a semi-thirsty state that did not die of thirst.

Now there was no water at all, and at night, the Roman soldiers could not resist it. They asked Pompey for water, but if they didn't, they wouldn't be following his commands.

Zhizhicheng Mansion.

Inside the council chamber, Pompey sat and a dozen senior officers stood.

Protector Unes said anxiously: "Your Excellency, Commander, there is no water, the soldiers are very emotionally unstable, and there is a possibility of mutiny at any time, especially adult soldiers. ”

The soldiers of the Roman regular army were divided into four categories, the first was the young soldiers or light infantry, the youngest, the most agile and agile, but lacking in training; The second category is young soldiers, who are slightly older and more experienced; The third category is the middle-aged soldiers, with an average age of about 30 years old, who are mature, tenacious, and experienced, and are the backbone of the entire army; The fourth category is adult soldiers, the oldest, and the old and steady.

Adult soldiers can't stand it, let alone others.

Pompey was in a state of frustration.

The tribune Unes said, "Your Excellency, commander, can you send someone out of the city overnight to fetch water from the Talas River?" ”

The water source outside Zhizhi City, the Talas River, has long been controlled by the Huns. Pompey once tried to fetch water outside the city, but the people sent out were killed by the Huns, and the water was not obtained. Now the Romans are facing an absolute water shortage, and if they don't get water from the outside, the army can't hold out.

Therefore, knowing that it was very dangerous to get water, Pompey also had to give an order to send people out of the city to steal water.

When the moon is full, the Huns are on the side.

"Father......." The eldest prince on duty, Yu Fuluo, came to Qiangqu with excitement.

Qiang Qu woke up from his deep sleep, knowing that if there was no major event at this time, his son would not come to disturb him. Therefore, instead of being displeased, he immediately got up and went to Fro.

"What?" Qiang Qu asked.

"Father, the Romans have come to steal water again. Most of them were caught by the children, and only a few ran away, but not a drop of water was taken with them. ”

Just catch the one who stole the water, and Yu Furo will not disturb the Qiang Canal overnight. Huvro came here because he was stealing water from the Romans, and he thought of other things.

Qiang Qu also thought of it, and he suddenly lost his sleepiness, and got up and said in surprise: "The Romans have no water!" ”

Yu Fuluo hurriedly said: "Father is wise, and the child thinks so too. ”

Qiang Qu immediately said: "Immediately call everyone to my king's tent, and bring a few prisoners who steal water to interrogate." ”

After they learned about it, they understood that the reason for Qiangqu's interrogation of the prisoners who stole water was nothing more than to understand the specific situation in the city.

Qiang Qu said to the crowd: "After careful calculation, it is impossible for the Romans to cut off the water so quickly, and they will definitely interrogate the prisoners strictly. ”

The Roman captives were brought up, and at first, no one answered Qiangqu's questions.

Qiang Qu brutally killed a few, and ordered the prisoners to be questioned separately. The captives were afraid of Qiangqu and their companions first, so they all knew everything.

However, although Qiangqu was wise, he did not know the Roman language, and none of his men knew Roman.

Fortunately, Qiangqu was still wise, he chose to use body language, and simplified the problem. He took out a bowl of water and simply asked why there was a shortage of water.

When the Roman captives understood, they replied with body language. The captives were surprisingly unanimous, first gesturing a well and then imitating the drawing of water. He picked up the water bowl of Qiangqu again, and after taking a sip, he vomited.

Qiang Qu was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized, and said in surprise: "This must be something wrong with the water source in the Roman city, and the water can't be drunk." ”

Others thought of the captive's body language, and it also dawned on them.

Hu Chuquan immediately couldn't help but say: "Father, when you look at the spirit of the Romans during the day, they are all in a state of lack of water. Now that the water is no longer drinkable, they will be weakened. The Roman generals were afraid that our army would attack the city, so they stole water overnight. ”

Qiang Qu nodded, and said calmly in excitement: "This must be the protection of the Immortal Heaven, tomorrow, we will attack the city with all our might." After capturing Zhizhi City, he will be able to use the wealth in the city to recruit Kangju people. From now on, don't be afraid of Guishan, this land will become the second hometown of my Huns! ”

He made the decision to attack the city tomorrow, both out of concern that the Romans' water might be restored, and because he feared the Kushans.

The next day, amid the rumbling of war drums, the Huns launched a frantic attack on the city of Zhizhi, which was garrisoned by the Romans.

However, the Xiongnu, a nation on horseback, did not know how to attack cities. The Romans knew that they would die after the city was broken, and they rose up one by one. Therefore, the Huns did not break the city when it got dark on this day.

"I didn't expect the Romans to be so tenacious, but tomorrow, they will not be able to stand up due to lack of water!" In the night, the besieging side was even more unfavorable, and the Xiongnu king Qiangqu could only look forward to the sun rising again with hatred.

After all, the Romans defended the city in a state of thirst, and although they had the advantage of garrisoning the city, they suffered more losses than the Huns. The combat attrition was more than forty percent, and less than three thousand remained.

Han army side.

Qin Feng, who got Qiangqu's all-out attack on Zhizhi City, was happy and worried. The good news is that the first half of the strategy was a great success, and Qiangqu does not care about attacking the city, but is worried that the Romans will not be able to hold the city. Fortunately, the information came that the Romans held it today.

Qin Feng breathed a sigh of relief, but he began to worry again, he was worried about whether the Romans would come to ask for support. If the Romans did not come for help, they would have lost all their efforts. (To be continued.) )