"He's a true warrior." After the battle, several Roman soldiers surrounded the unrecognizable body of the Messiaro and exclaimed.

The 10,000 Armenian foot soldiers behind them, who did not dare to come forward and fight from beginning to end, saw that Misaro was killed in battle, and some of them were scattered and disappeared into the mountains; More of the people retreated and camped farther away, waiting for the arrival of their main support from the King of kings.

Sektilius also came to the corpse of Misaro, and at this time, Appis and his retinue came down from the nearby high ground, and the two exchanged fists in greeting, "Commander, you have successfully captured Sophini, what is the next order of Governor Lucuras?" ”

"That's the end of my mission, the next step is probably to build a camp! Prepare to fight the main forces of the Armenians. So said Sekdilius, and so ordered, and all the soldiers crowded around a river that crossed Sophini and divided it in two, and even as twilight came, they waved their pickaxes and dug ditches to bring in the water to form a defensive circle, and then set up camp in it.

This is the Romans' tradition of warfare, once they decide to stay in a certain place, no matter how late it is, they must first repair the fortifications, which is a tradition established with countless defeats and blood.

"Look at this brave young man, he is a true samurai, a true nobleman - wash his body and incense, I am willing to return him to Tegrenys, and do Zuihou peace efforts." Appis looked at the body of the Messio and said.

"Just what I want." Sekerius agreed.

Around nightfall, Tegrenys, with 2,000 Praetorian Guards, plus 20,000 soldiers recruited from the Araks Valley, arrived on the other side of Sophini, where he saw 10,000 soldiers who had been defeated in the Vanguard and learned of the death of his favorite Mizaro.

Tegrenice was furious and executed seven of the chieftains who had previously been afraid of the battle, blaming the cowards for killing the Messiaro. Then he wept again, sometimes resenting the Messiaro for abandoning him, and sometimes angrily scolding the Romans for their cruelty.

Naissa, who was with the army, was on the sidelines to persuade her to drink, and she was also worried, because Mithridates had indeed asked her to tempt Tegrenice and instigate Armenia to make enemies of the Romans. But along the way, the king of kings seems to be thinking about the rekindling of his old relationship with her all day long, only caring about drinking and having sex with her, and neither caring about military affairs nor listening to the advice of his subordinates, this kind of decadence even Naissa can't stand it.

"My king, just now the staff has come to make a suggestion to withdraw the 10,000 foot soldiers from before to the rear of the whole army, because they have suffered a crushing defeat before, and they are all a flock of frightened birds, and if the Romans attack, these people will only bring harm to the whole army." Naissa poured another glass of wine and explained.

But Tegrenice didn't listen to any of the words, and wept and cursed angrily until Apis returned the body of the Messilo, the king of kings, who was holding back his grief and gazing at the corpse of his young lover, but not being too emotional in front of the enemy envoys and losing the dignity of the king, "O my personal friend Appis, how was the Messizaro when he was dying? ”

"He died like a true warrior, like the reincarnation of Hercules, and his death earned the respect of all the men and men of our legion. So, we washed his body with fragrant soup, put laurel flowers in his shroud, and returned it to you. ”

"I thank you privately for your kindness, but Apass, your public identity is an envoy of Rome, and you will not do it purely in private emotion."

Appis replied in a calm voice: "Please stop being an enemy of our commander Lucuras, I have received reliable information from the Senate that Luculas may soon be removed from his position as governor of Silesia and commander of the army in the East." In other words, the war may soon stop, and you don't need to get involved in it anymore and lose the lives of more loyal and lovely courtiers like Misaro, which I believe is the real reason for Misaro's death. ”

Hearing Appis's words, Naissa became flustered, and she raised her glass to watch Tgrenice's reaction intently, and the king of kings said in a disgruntled tone, "Not necessary? Didn't I first plead for peace with the Romans? ”

"Yes, you do, but Rome does need peace, but Rome only needs peace under its own leadership. You can continue to be king of Armenia, but you may have to be vassal to the fathers of the Senate and hand over the prince as a hostage. Appis's tone, though harsh, was full of sincerity.

"My king, Tergre, it is a mercy to the Romans that you are not willing to shed more blood, but these barbarians will not be grateful in the slightest, so you must let them shed blood, a lot of blood, to pay for the blood of the Messis." Naissa took the opportunity to provoke.

Tegrenis, red-eyed and full of alcohol, slammed his fist on the dining table, "That's right! If the army is stopped now, will the king of kings not become the laughing stock of the world? ”

Appis didn't say much, he just lifted the hem of his robe, looked at Naisa coldly, and said to Tegrenice: "Before leaving, make a small suggestion, if you have a woman on the side of the military formation, it will only bring you misfortune, please allow me to take my leave!" After Apis had gone, Tegrenice wept bitterly over Misaro's corpse, and then gulped down a drink until he was unconscious, before being carried to bed by Naisa.

On the other side, Appis, who was hurrying up, had returned to the camp of Sektilius, and all the horses of Luculas did not make any stop at Calabi, but drove straight to meet the advance party of Sektilius.

In the commander's tent, Lucuras listened to the report of today's general, and Appis entered, and Lucuras immediately asked: "How do you think Tegrenice is preparing for battle?" ”

"It's terrible that they put the defeated soldiers of the day in the front defensive position of the camp. As for the king of kings, I found that his main camp was surrounded by a band of Arab herdsmen and cavalry. Apis replied.

The personal slave brought Lucuras a hot drink, and Lucuras said xiexie, then sat down in his chair, put the hot drink to his lips, and muttered for a long time, he was making up his mind to fight, and finally commanded slowly and coherently:

"The Alliance Auxiliary Legion stayed in the camp to defend, and the Seventh Legion 'Bacchus' and the Eleventh Legion 'Eight-Eyed Eel' all attacked;

Sekedilius led all the cavalry and squeezed the enemy on the right flank; Pomponius led the central army and attacked head-on; Murilla drew three brigades of men and horses from the Seventh Army Corps as the Biedong team on the left flank, marched around the mountain pass on the side of Sophini, and then dispersed the attack in units of 100 men, cutting off the connection between the Armenian tribes; ”

At this time, Lucuras's gray eyes looked at the senior centurion of the third wing of the sixth brigade of the "Bacchus" legion, who also came to the meeting, and this one with an eager expression on his face, added: "Murila, your Biedong detachment will let Uterus's wing act as the picker, and they will rush to the front line. ”