The Roman Emperor Constantius II, staring at Ctesiphon in the distance, opened his mouth and said softly: "General Barbatio, from now on, you are no longer a general, be the captain of my own army!" ”

"Yes, His Majesty Emperor Xie. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info" said the Roman general Barbatio, who bowed down.

Obviously, in front of Emperor Constantius II, the general Barbatio appeared very obedient and willing to accept any appointment from His Majesty the Emperor, which was enough to show the prestige of Emperor Constantius II.

"The Spartan Legion has suffered a lot of losses, let them withdraw! This is the end of today's siege. Constantius II looked at one of the generals and ordered softly.

"Yes, Your Majesty the Emperor." The Roman generals accepted the order and immediately conveyed the order for the Spartan corps to immediately retreat and prepare to return to the main camp.

A Roman minister looked at Emperor Constantius II and said softly: "Your Majesty the Emperor, Ctesiphon's defenders are already insufficient, and they have already begun to use the common people to defend the city. ”

Constantius II nodded lightly, and said with a straight face: "Attacking Ctesiphon is naturally a must-win, but today, the Spartan warriors have suffered a lot of losses, and they must return to the camp to rest and recuperate, and formulate a more effective siege plan, not to break Ctesiphon, and let our army lose too much." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty the Emperor." The Roman minister hurriedly answered.

As the Roman Spartan legions slowly retreated, there were huge cheers on the walls of Ctesiphon, and the Persian soldiers and the young and middle-aged people who had just joined the defense of the city all howled excitedly to vent their joy and depression.

"General, it's really exciting that the most elite Spartan legion in Rome has been repulsed by us!" A Persian general looked at Pratt and said happily.

Naturally, Pratt was also very happy, he looked at the corpses of the Spartan soldiers piled up under the city, and said: "In this battle, the Spartan soldiers lost at least 3,000 men and horses, and the Roman Emperor Constantius II must be very heartbroken!" However, it seems that our army has lost more soldiers and horses! ”

"General, our army has lost no less than five thousand, but most of them are civilians with no combat experience, and it is completely worth losing these five thousand men and horses to be able to destroy three thousand Spartan soldiers." The general said affirmatively.

Pala nodded and said: "You are right, to be able to destroy three thousand Spartan soldiers, our army's loss of five thousand men and horses is nothing, however, the people in the city are limited, and the loss of any one of the people is a great loss for us, half a month later, the Jin army reinforcements will arrive, and our army is so lost, how can we hold out until half a month?" ”

"Why do you bother to think about it so much, just take one step at a time, if you fail to hold Ctesiphon in the end, it's a big deal to die in battle." The ministry will be very open-minded.

Pratt smiled and nodded: "You are right, Ben Jiang has just thought about too many problems to become so worried, today's big victory, we should be happy, by the way, immediately send someone to the palace to tell His Majesty the king the good news." ”

"Yes, General." The general hurriedly received the order and immediately went to carry it out.

Later, the Persian general Pratt and his soldiers celebrated the victory on the city wall.

"Your Majesty, good news! Good news! The Persian vizier Paus strode into the hall and shouted with joy.

When Shapur II, the king of Persia, heard this, he hurriedly looked at Paus and asked, "Is it possible that the Roman army has been repulsed?" ”

Paus nodded hurriedly and said happily: "Yes, Your Majesty, the most elite Spartan legion in Rome was repulsed by our army, and they lost three thousand men. ”

"Oh, great, the Spartan legion lost 3,000 men in the first battle, Constantius II must be very disappointed, General Pratt did a good job! Praise must be given, by the way, Paus, you have done a good job, if you had not fully mobilized the people in the city to garrison the city, Pratt might not have been able to annihilate the three thousand Spartan warriors so smoothly. Shapur II said happily, and praised both Pratt and Paus.

Paus hurriedly thanked: "Thank you, Your Majesty, these are what I should do, by the way, our army has achieved such a victory, we should celebrate it, so as to encourage the people of the city to continue to hold on to Ctesiphon." ”

"Okay, Paeus, the celebration is completely up to you, remember, it must be done in a grand way." Shapur II said.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I'll leave this matter to me." Paus opened his mouth to receive the command.

Subsequently, the Persian minister Paus led a group of his men to celebrate the victory over the Roman Spartan legion in the city of Ctesiphon, and encouraged the soldiers and civilians in the city, so that the soldiers and civilians in the city could definitely hold Ctesiphon.

Celebrations are taking place inside the city of Ctesiphon to boost the confidence of the army and civilians, and the Roman army camp is a few miles outside the city. The Roman Emperor Constantius II, however, had a serious expression and discussed with his generals a better siege strategy in order to break Ctesiphon as soon as possible with minimal losses.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, the scouts have just sent back the news that the main force of the Jin army is about to arrive in Mulu City, it is estimated that it will not be long before it will converge with the soldiers and horses of Mulu City, and then, they are very likely to send troops to rescue Tai Xifeng, if our army cannot break through Tai Xifeng before the Jin army rescues, we can only retreat." A Roman general analyzed softly.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, the soldiers and horses of the Jin army will not arrive in Taixiphon until ten days later, we have enough time to break through Taixifeng, not only that, after we break through Taixifeng, we can also wave our army to the east, occupy Khorasan, break through the Mulu City where the Jin army is stationed, and completely drive the forces of the Jin State out of Khorasan." Another Roman general said confidently.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, we failed to break Ctesiphon, and lost 3,000 soldiers, this is the shame of our Spartan army, we will definitely break Ctesiphon, and kill everyone in the city, to avenge the warriors who died in battle." A Spartan general said angrily.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, the Spartan Legion will not give up until it breaks the Tessie." The future of another Spartan legion, loudly stated.

The Roman Emperor Constantius II nodded slightly, and said with a straight face: "Ladies and gentlemen, the despicable Persians are celebrating their victory in the city now, and they are rejoicing in repelling the attack of our army, but we will not let them rejoice for long, and we must break through Ctesiphon in a few days." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty the Emperor, we will obey your orders in full, kill Ctesiphon, and destroy all the Persians." The Roman generals said excitedly.

The Roman Emperor Constantius II smiled happily, and according to the defensive characteristics of the Persian army, formulated a more effective offensive plan, this time, the Roman army should use all the soldiers and horses, continue to attack Ctesiphon, so that Cessifon's Persian army did not have the slightest respite, and when the Persian army was exhausted, it broke Ctesiphon in one fell swoop.

In the following days, all the main armies of Rome continued to attack Ctesiphon, and caused great losses to the Persian army defending Ctesiphon, especially the young and middle-aged people who had just joined the defense of the city, almost all of them were killed, of course, the Roman army also paid tens of thousands of losses of soldiers and horses, however, Ctesiphon was even more crumbling, as if the Roman legions could smash Ctesiphon to smash it with a single effort.

has been holding on for five full days, and the number of troops and horses under his command is decreasing day by day, the Persian general Pratt feels a huge pressure, he knows that if this continues, Ctesiphon will definitely not be able to hold out until the Jin reinforcements arrive, and the city is breached in a blink of an eye.

"General, our army lost 3,000 soldiers and horses in today's battle, and now our army has less than 20,000 soldiers and horses, and there are only 5,000 Changsheng Army left, and the people who have just joined the army have suffered heavy losses, only more than 5,000 people remain, so calculated, all the soldiers and horses of our army are only 30,000, and Tai Xifeng is afraid that he will not be able to hold on to the arrival of Jin army reinforcements." The general looked at Pratt and said.

Pratt nodded lightly, and said, "You are right, the fire oil in the city has been exhausted, and the people have begun to demolish their houses to obtain stones and wood, and if the Roman army continues to attack, the city will be breached in three or five days at most." ”

"General, in today's situation, we can only give up Ctesiphon, and only by giving up Ctesiphon can we have a chance of survival, so that we will have a chance to make a comeback in the future." The general whispered.

Pratt nodded lightly, and said: "You are right, since Ctesiphon can no longer hold it, it is better to give up and continue to hold on in order to preserve the existing strength, however, our army may be able to evacuate, but the old and weak women and children in the city have no chance to escape, and the fate waiting for them may only be a dead end." ”

"That's what the general said! The Roman army has been attacking for months, paying a lot of casualties, and once the city is breached, it will definitely be slaughtered to vent the resentment in his heart, so that the people in the city will be finished, but if our army does not withdraw immediately, it will be slaughtered along with the people in the city, and the most important thing is that His Majesty must leave Ctesiphon as soon as possible, otherwise my Persia will be destroyed. The general spoke.

Pratt sighed and said, "When the Roman army is dusk, it may attack again, and you command it here, and you will go to the palace to discuss countermeasures with His Majesty." ”

"Yes, General." The ministry will respond to the road.

Later, the Persian general Pratt rode his horse to the Persian palace and consulted with King Shapur II of Persia on how to deal with the immediate crisis.

"General Pratt, it's been a long time since you've been to the palace." Shapur II said weakly.

Pratt stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, our army has suffered heavy losses, and now all the soldiers and horses are less than 30,000, and the Roman legions are continuing to attack, it is estimated that in three or five days, Ctesiphon will be lost." ”

When Shapur II heard this, his brows moved, and then he said softly: "Why, has our general Pratt lost the confidence to hold the city?" With that, he looked at Pratt.

"Your Majesty, the strength of our army is here, even if Pratt is full of confidence, he can't change the situation that the enemy is strong and we are weak, and he can't change the fact that our army suffers thousands of casualties every day, so, no matter what, Ctesiphon really can't hold on to the day when the main force of the Jin army rescues." The Persian general Pratt said truthfully.

Shapur II was silent for a moment, and then said softly: "General Pratt, do you mean to give up Ctesiphon?" ”

"Your Majesty, the main force of the Jin army will arrive in Mulu City in a few days, if we want to preserve our strength, our army must abandon Tai Xifeng and go to Mulu City to join the main force of the Jin army, this is our only hope for survival, I hope His Majesty the King will think about it." Pratt said.

"Ctesiphon is the capital of my Persia, do you know what it means to lose Ctesiphon?" Shapur II said softly.

Pratt naturally knew that losing Ctesiphon would mean the loss of face of the Persian Empire and would greatly damage the image of the Persian Empire, but at this time, the strength of Persia had been greatly weakened, so what could he do if he didn't bow his head and admit defeat?

"Your Majesty, we really can't hold on, if there is a glimmer of hope, I Pratt will not say the words of giving up Ctesiphon, but, no matter what, I Prat will stick to the city wholeheartedly, but His Majesty the King must be ready to evacuate at any time as soon as possible, once the city is broken by the Roman army, His Majesty the King can quickly evacuate, as long as His Majesty the King can leave Ctesiphon, there is still hope for my Persian Empire." Pratt said with a frown.

Shapur II nodded slightly, looked at Pratt, and said, "As long as the general holds the city with all his might, he doesn't have to worry about the safety of this king." ”

"Yes, Pratt is going to defend the city." When Pratt had finished speaking, he took his leave and left.

After Pratt left, Paus looked at Shapur II and said softly: "Your Majesty, General Pratt is a strong man, since he thinks that Ctesiphon can no longer hold it, it proves that it really can't be held, why does His Majesty bother to defend Ctesiphon?" I still have a lot of lands and cities in Persia, and it would be wise to evacuate Ctesiphon for the time being. ”

When Shapur II heard this, he was a little displeased, paused, and said: "Paus, you must know that this king is the king of Persia, the king of kings, the companion of the stars, the brother of the sun and the moon, since he ascended the throne, he has fought in the north and south, defeated the Arabs in the south, relieved Persia of many years of trouble, occupied Armenia in the north, expanded the territory of the empire, blocked the invasion of the Huns in the east, and let him fight against the Roman Empire with me, and in the west, although we have never really defeated the Roman Empire, But it has never been defeated by Rome, the king's life is victorious, and now, first by the Jin army wiped out 60,000 horses, and then let the Roman Empire take advantage of the void, if you lose Ctesiphon again, what face does this king have to live in this world, it is better to die in battle. (To be continued.) )