A conspiracy against Caesar is quietly underway.

At this time, Yakurius, who had high hopes from Pompey, was finally able to lead his troops completely satisfied, and for the first time under the command of Hawkham, he stepped onto the real battlefield.

His enemies were the greatest enemies of the Roman Republic, the Sabbatians, the Parthians!

The Parthians were a formidable force, and they even far surpassed the Persians of yesteryear. They also managed to defeat the Roman invasion and kill their commander Crassus!

It is true that the Parthian kingdom was completely different from the Persian Empire of the past. Alexander's conquest of Persia was an ancient civilization dominated by agrarian peoples, and the Persian army at that time was not much different from Greece except for a few novel weapons, such as war elephants and chariots. The previous Battle of Gaugamela was a European-style battle, with both sides facing each other in neatly arranged phalanxes. It is true that the Roman army represented the highest level of infantry warfare of that era, and any nation would not have much chance of winning a battle with the Romans.

The Parthians, who replaced the Persian Empire, were nomadic people who would show the Romans a completely new tactical concept, the highly mobile light cavalry tactic, which would become a nightmare for the Huns and Mongols many years later.

Crassus would pay with his life for his greed and arrogance, and tens of thousands of Roman soldiers would have to bury him......

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In the Syrian province of the Roman Republic, the coastal mountains that run parallel to the Mediterranean coastline act as a strong barrier. The ridge stretches from north to south, protecting the narrow coastal plain and wealthy cities, leaving only three passes through which to pass through: the Amanya Pass, the Pillar of Yora, and the Syrian Pass.

In the far north, at the Amanya Pass, a massive stone wall snaked like a long snake across the horizon under the cover of darkness. Roads are scarce after the closure, and many roads are dead ends. As the winding path spirals upward, the crops become scarcer and the land becomes more and more barren. Hers, an elite soldier of the 1st Battalion of the 6th Legion of the Roman Republic, was walking on this rugged road, and the strange stones that stumbled reflected the enchanting moonlight, and the shadows of people suddenly rose on the stones, showing all kinds of wonderful shapes......

As an elite soldier under the Legion, Hulse was not supposed to be on duty. Today, however, the centurions of the first battalion were called to a military meeting, so he, an experienced veteran, took the place of the centurion to check the outpost.

Hulse was pleased to see the sentries on the stone wall holding their posts like pillars. As the day dawned, the vast plain unfolded before him: the fertile land outside the pass, and the cypress trees protected the growth and prosperity of the orchards and flower beds. The citrus is meticulously cared for. The irrigation of crops and vegetables is guaranteed by the canals. The wheat fields and sunflowers are alternately layered, and it is a thriving scene. To the south of this rich plain is the flat Gobi Desert, dotted with only a few oases.

A cool breeze blew gently, and the smell of earth came from the wind, which also brought a crisp string of horses' hooves.

"Damn, it's here again!" Hulse cursed indignantly, spitting out the thick stone walls.

A small group of Parthian rangers appeared in the sight of the defenders of the pass, the Parthians were a people on horseback. The Parthian horses under their crotch were not as tall as the Spanish and North African horses of the Roman legions, but they were strong and powerful. Fast speed, good endurance, trained to run in small steps since childhood, and running fast and steady. As a result, the Parthians were able to shoot their bows and arrows with great accuracy when galloping their horses. What frightened the Roman soldiers the most was that the Parthians were able to turn around on their horses and shoot arrows without compromising their accuracy. The Parthian arrows became a nightmare for the Roman legionnaires. So, as usual, they could only watch as the Rangers came to plunder the grain.

"That's it, it's almost harvest now, and these guys are coming more often! Same as fucking locusts! A sentry spoke nearby.

"I can't wait to go out and fight them! Where, but with us, where would the Roman soldiers suffer from this kind of? Another Roman soldier said in a huff.

No one said anything now, and the previous battle of Calle really scared the Romans. Crassus, one of the three giants of Rome on a par with Caesar and Pompey, led seven legions of 40,000 Roman heroes to conquer the Parthian kingdom, but was annihilated by the Parthian general Sulena with only 20,000 cavalry.

"Have you heard of it? We have a new commander. Hulse saw that the atmosphere was a little dull and wanted to change the subject.

"What if you change it? The previous commanders were also unconvinced, and every time they took us out of the army, they weren't beaten by those barbarians and fled back? Even if you get the upper hand by luck, you can't catch up with them. If it weren't for the barbarian cavalry, the cavalry was not good at attacking the city, and this place would not have been able to be saved. The sentinel who had spoken earlier said listlessly.

"I heard that this new commander has also appointed a chief centurion, who seems to be a young master of a big family in Rome, who looks like a little girl, will such a person command the battle as a commander?"

"It is estimated that we are here to fish for oil and water, who made us so fat here, and it is a silver mine and a fertile field."

The soldiers were talking about it, and there was nothing more concerning the soldiers than the ability of the commander-in-chief. A clever commander can make his soldiers win the victory at the lowest cost, and the soldiers will naturally be brave enough to go on the battlefield with a commander they trust, and vice versa, they will be demoralized.

As a veteran, Huls certainly understood this truth, and listening to the soldiers' comments made him feel irritated in his chest.

"Okay, shut up for me, and be optimistic about your positions!" Hulse roared, and the sentinels obediently stopped judging the new commander and focused on their own duties.

Hulse looked at the sentinels wistfully, and then at the Parthian rangers swaggering and looting outside the walls.

It seems that he can only survive here until he retires, and his original desire to become a Roman citizen through meritorious service is estimated to be in vain. Come to think of it. He was not in the mood to stay on the stone wall any longer, and turned and walked towards the Legion camp with a straight face.

Returning to the station, Huls was surprised to see a different scene: the newly returned centurions were each sweating profusely, and a new set of weapons and armor was piled up in the middle of the camp like a hill.

"Huls. Come here! A centurion caught a glimpse of Huls, who was standing there stunned.

"Try these armors and shields, our new consul is going to war with the Parthians, this time our sixth legion is in the first column, our battalion is in the first row of the legion, and the consul has given us some new guys."

Huls picked up a new shield and weighed it, the weight of which made him immediately aware that the new shield was different from the one he had used before. He carefully observed the new shield.

In the past, legionnaires used rectangular wooden shields, which covered most of their bodies, and the surface was first covered with canvas. A second layer of leather is fastened with metal strips, and the upper and lower edges are wrapped with iron edges to increase the strength of the shield to protect it from slashing damage from the top down and wear and tear when resting on the ground. It is also inlaid with a piece of iron in relief. This can keep aside rocks, throwing guns, and the powerful blows of all kinds of heavy throwing weapons. This time, it was actually made of stainless steel. The area is also larger, but there is a semicircular gap on the four sides of each shield, I don't know what the road is for.

"I'm not afraid of Parthian arrows now!" There was a burst of joy in Goryon's heart.

Hulse looked at the new armor with interest, and the new armor was made of stainless steel, and a pair of chain armor strung with metal rings, but the style had not changed, and it was composed of a helmet, cuirass, and shin armor as he wore now.

But. When Huls's eyes fell on the weapons that the soldiers were receiving, he was immediately taken aback.

"Centurion. What's going on? Are we going to use spears this time? ”

Since the Roman legions defeated Alexander the Great's phalanx of pikes in the Second Macedonian War, the Roman dagger has dominated Europe for nearly 200 years. Since the pikemen were broken through and the pikemen could only fight with daggers without the protection of shields, the pikemen were now basically eliminated, and each Roman legion was only equipped with about three hundred pikemen to disperse the opponent's array when attacking, and they were usually placed in the second and third columns, and rushed out through the passage between the phalanxes to attack during the battle.

"Looks like it was intended to be used against the Parthian cavalry." The centurion said with a frown.

"The Parthians can shoot us like rabbits from outside the range of our guns! People don't stupidly come to our phalanx, even if they attack us and are defeated by us, how can we catch up with these stupid guys? Have you reminded the new consuls? ”

"You still use you to say that you are all idiots when we are? You've been at war?! The centurion of the first battalion replied angrily.

Hulse closed his mouth, a Roman legion had a total of sixty centurions, that is, sixty centurions. The powers of the sixty centurions were in order, with the centurions of the first battalion having more power than the centurions of the second battalion, and so on, with the last battalion, the centurions of the tenth battalion having the least power.

The promotion of Roman centurions was also in this order, from low-ranking centurions to high-ranking centurions. There were six centurions in each battalion, and the centurions of the first battalion were called "first centurions", and they had more power than all the centurions of the later battalions.

The first centurion of the 1st Battalion was promoted by the most experienced veterans, and the most powerful of them was the centurion of the 1st Centurion, known as the "Chief Centurion". This was the highest-ranking centurion in the entire legion, and sometimes he could even command the military operations of the entire legion. For the sake of the safety of the soldiers, if the commander has an unreasonable arrangement, he will definitely fight for it. Now that he has said so, it is only for the execution, and the military law of the Roman legions is no joke.

"Huls, familiarize yourself with the new equipment, the war will start soon." The new chief centurion, young Yakurius, admonished him again, after all, he still liked this experienced veteran.

"Yes!" Hers, who knew the power of the Parthians, replied weakly.

Three days later, in the early morning, Hulse put on his cleanly cleaned linen underwear and a short-sleeved wool tunic that reached his knees. Then put your foot into a military boot called "Caligu".

Such military boots are made of leather, the sole has the thickness of four layers of leather, and the rivets with the empty end are nailed. Hulse tied the strap halfway to the height of his shin and stomped twice on the ground. Be satisfied that the boots are secured. Then, after the legionary slaves had helped him put on his armor, Huls walked out of his tent, outside where the Roman soldiers were coming out of the tents.

Hulse and his comrades of the Sixth Army were about to walk a third of the way along the main road on the Syrian plain when a small hill suddenly came into view. A red ray of sunlight shone on the hill ahead, and the dew on the leaves of the treetops beside the road shone like jewels, and the trees were like blazing torches. The whole plain is bathed in bright sunshine. In a moment there were sounds, and the Parthian cavalry came rushing towards them in twos and threes from all directions.

"The 1st Battalion stops advancing! Stand in the front row! The majestic voice of Yakurius came from behind.

Huls, who was standing in the first row, grabbed the handle of his shield and held it on the ground. The shields of his companions immediately clasped together his shields. Almost at the same time, the arrows of the Parthian cavalry began to rain down on the Roman lines.

"The first battalion, form a turtle formation!" Yakulius calmly gave the order.

The first battalion quickly closed its formation, and Hulse and the first row of Roman soldiers immediately held their shields to the ground in a crouching position. The second-row soldiers placed their shields on top of the front-row shields. The soldiers in the third row and in the back raised their shields above their heads, stacking them on top of each other, so that, in units of each hundred, six airtight shield arrays were formed, which looked like fish scales from a distance.

While the 1st Battalion was well-trained and quickly formed a turtle formation, the 2nd and 3rd battalions to its left and right also formed a turtle formation, but because they were only half the number of the 1st Battalion. The scale of the turtle formation is much smaller. Behind these three battalions were the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh battalions, and the remaining three battalions, the eighth, ninth, and eleventh, were in the third row of the regiment.

This time the Romans sent three legions. The whole army did not line up the legions as in the past, and the whole formation was like a huge "product", starting with the Sixth Legion where Hulse was located, the left flank was the Roman Third Legion known as the "Rose Legion", and the right flank was the Roman Twelfth Legion, known as the "Electro Thrower's Legion", and the interval between the three legions could only accommodate four or five horses riding together.

More and more Parthian light cavalry appeared from all directions, and it was not at all possible to see what formation they had. Dressed in light leather armor and with a long knife at the waist, these skilled horsemen held the famous Parthian recurve bow, which curved gently from the back of the bow to the ends, and then bent in reverse to attach the bowstring at the last point, held in place by horns at both ends and concave in the central grip, and the whole bow was shaped like the outline of the back of a Bactrian camel. The bow was unusually powerful, with a range of up to 300 meters, and was able to shoot through scale armor at a distance of 50 meters, which was unmatched by the straight sticks of the Roman legions, both in terms of range and penetration.

A rain of locust-like arrows fell on Huls' shields, and the ears of the soldiers were filled with the sound of arrows cutting through the air and the sound of striking their shields. The Parthians carefully kept a distance of about fifty meters from the Roman line, and they fired their arrows as quickly as they could, not aiming at all, but trying to shoot them with maximum force.

"Thankfully, a new shield!"

Huls's gratitude to the new commander is now indescribable, and the wooden shields of the past could not stop the arrows fired by the Parthian combined bows at such close range. On more than one occasion in previous battles, Parthian arrows pierced through shields and pinned Roman soldiers' shield-holding hands to them. That being said, they are still in a situation where they are being beaten and have no chance to fight back at all. Soon, Hulse's gratitude was replaced by resentment:

"Damn, how long is this going to last? Thought we would be able to win the battle with some shields against the Parthians' bows and arrows? What a boy who has never been in a war! Hulse cursed inwardly.

"Woo, woo", a new loud sound that had not been seen on the battlefield overwhelmed the cacophony of arrows, and Huls, who was hiding behind his shield, could not see what was happening, only heard the screams of humans and the neighing of horses, and soon, the dense rain of arrows falling on the shield began to become thin. As the sound of "woo, woo" continued to sound, after a while, there were no more sharp arrows flying towards them.

"The 1st Battalion resumes the queue! Each team of 100 widens its distance from each other. ”

Hearing Yakulus's order, Huls finally breathed a sigh of relief and straightened up. He moved his numb arms and knees, and looked forward, and the sight before him and his companions was shocked:

Stone bullets larger than coconuts were still whistling over their heads, and in front of them were covered with Parthian corpses, some of whom had their heads smashed by them, and the white brains and red blood were mixed together to look like a large bowl of flesh and blood; Some people only have the lower half of their body squirming there, and they don't know where they fly above the waist; There are also people who are embedded in their chests with stone bullets, and can only exhale with little difficulty; In the distance, several camels loaded with bows and arrows were screaming with their tenacious vitality after being hit...... Overwhelmed by the sudden blow, the Parthian light cavalry avoided the Romans far away and regrouped at a distance.

There was a deafening cheer from Hulse and his comrades, the first battalion had suffered very little losses in the previous encounter, and only a few soldiers had been wounded by bows and arrows that had come in through the gaps in their shields. Amid their cheers, the four battalions of the second column quickly passed through the gap between them to form a new first column, allowing the three battalions to recover and care for the wounded. (To be continued......)