Julian's 100,000-strong army immediately launched a fierce attack on Constantinople after preparing for the siege, but because Constantinople was extremely strong, Julian's army advanced very slowly, and failed to cause too much damage to the soldiers and horses defending the city for a whole day. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Caesar, Constantinople is stronger than we imagined, our army has suffered heavy casualties, but we can't move a single bit, and if we continue to fight like this, our army's casualties may be even greater." The henchman said Bynobades Masaki.

Julian looked at Baiobades with dissatisfaction and teased: "Baiobades, it was you who suggested that our army attack Constantinople, why did you have fear when you encountered a little difficulty, you disappointed me too much. ”

Bainobades looked a little embarrassed, paused, and quickly explained: "Caesar, maybe we can attack from other directions. ”

"Except for the front, the other three sides are sea water, and you mean to let our army attack from the sea." Julian's eyes lit up.

"That's right, Caesar, we can attack by sea, so that if we attack from multiple sides, the effect must be very good." Bainobades hurriedly said.

Julian smiled and said softly, "It is indeed a good idea to raid the flank of Constantinople from the sea, but we don't have enough ships, so do we want our soldiers to swim forward to attack?" ”

Obviously, Julian's men and horses were all coming to Constantinople by land, and there were few soldiers and horses coming by sea, and there were not many ships, and without a sufficient number of ships, it was impossible to break through the interception of the warship forces of the defenders of Constantinople, so that the intention of attacking from the flanks could not be realized.

When Bainobades heard this, he was stunned for a moment, he actually forgot that the soldiers and horses defending the city had many warships, and if he wanted to attack from the flank, he had to defeat the warship troops of the defending army, so that he could further attack the flank of Constantinople.

"Caesar, in this way, we have only one way to attack from the front, such casualties are really too great, according to the current situation, within three or five days, I am afraid that we really can't attack Constantinople!" Bainobardes said helplessly.

Obviously, he regretted it a little, and felt that he should not risk coming up with a plan to attack Constantinople, so as to inflict huge losses on his soldiers and horses, but even if they did not attack Constantinople, it would not discourage Emperor Constantius II from trying to lead their troops eastward, and would also try to weaken them, and eventually put them to death.

Julian looked at the besieging troops, and then at the troops defending the city on the city wall, and ordered: "Immediately abandon all siege equipment, and the whole army is ready to evacuate." ”

"Caesar, why evacuate immediately?" A general asked puzzled.

"Don't ask more, carry out the order!" Julian said.

Julian then led his men and horses to evacuate the foot of Constantinople and run westward.

Severus, who was commanding the defense of the city, was very surprised when he saw this, and immediately sent several scouts out of the city, asking them to closely monitor the movements of Julian's soldiers and horses to see what their intentions were.

"General, I think this must be Julian's conspiracy, he wants to retreat under the pretense of letting our army relax their vigilance, and then suddenly come back and catch us off guard, just look at the siege equipment left outside the city, you know, they will come back." A subordinate general said.

"General, whether Julian really retreats or has a conspiracy, we should immediately destroy all the siege equipment outside the city to prevent Julian's soldiers and horses from returning suddenly." Another general hurriedly suggested.

When the Roman general Severus heard this, he nodded approvingly, and said: "Yes, the siege equipment outside the city must be destroyed immediately, they always have a lot of threats to the city, immediately lead a team of soldiers and horses out of the city, and all the siege equipment that will become will be burned." ”

"Yes, General." One of the generals received the order and immediately went to carry out the order.

Soon, the general led a group of 1,000 men to rush out of the city, smashed all the siege equipment left behind by Julian, and then set it on fire to prevent Julian from returning and continuing to use them to attack Constantinople.

The scouts sent out to reconnoiter returned to Constantinople one after another, and confidently reported what they had found to Severus.

"General, we followed all the way, and found that Julian's soldiers and horses had been galloping westward at the fastest speed, and had no intention of stopping, as if they were going to retreat to the west." One of the scouts said guessingly.

"Yes! General, Julian's main army has left at least forty miles, and since they have all traveled so far, they should not return. A subordinate general hurriedly said.

Severus frowned cautiously and said, "Even if Julian looks like he is really leaving, we can't lose our vigilance, let the scouts continue to investigate, and always keep an eye on Julian's soldiers and horses until His Majesty the Emperor returns to Constantinople." ”

"Yes, General." The scouts hurriedly answered.

Fifty miles west of Constantinople, Julian and his main army stopped, where they were to camp for the night, and the next day they continued their march to Milan, the seat of governorship in the west.

"Caesar, why did you suddenly give up attacking Constantinople?" One of the generals looked at Julian and asked puzzled.

Julian paused for a moment, and said helplessly: "Constantinople is much stronger than we imagined, the soldiers defending the city are also resisting fiercely, the emperor and his soldiers and horses will return to Constantinople within a few days, and our army is not sure of breaking the city in a few days, so it will be very unfavorable for our army to continue to attack the city, once the emperor and his soldiers and horses return to the city, our soldiers are very likely to defect, so it is better to return to Milan as soon as possible, in addition, it is very important to control the Gallic army and the British army." We quickly returned to Milan in order to quickly control the remaining Gallic and British armies, so that the Gallic and British armies would oppose the emperor and support our ascension to the emperor. ”

"Caesar is right, our power is in the west, and only by relying on the west can we compete with the emperor, with the connections and prestige that Caesar has accumulated over the years, he is fully capable of controlling the entire western Rome, so as to compete with the emperor in the east." The henchman said Bynobades Masaki.

Julian smiled slightly, looked at Ranobades, and said softly: "Byenobades, we have now officially broken with Constantius II, and we don't need to call him emperor in the future, understand?" ”

Bainobadus was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Yes, Caesar, there will only be Constantius II in the future, and there will be no emperor." After saying that, he smiled.

A few days later, Constantius II and his remaining army of 50,000 or 60,000 arrived in the capital city of Constantinople and entered the city.

"Severus, you're saying that Julian hastily retreated after only one day of attacking." Constantius II asked with a frown.

"Yes, His Majesty the Emperor, Julian and his soldiers and horses launched a fierce attack on the city for a whole day, but all of them were repelled by our army, and our army's losses were not large, perhaps Julian felt that it was impossible to break through the city quickly, and His Majesty the Emperor was rushing back, so he hurriedly retreated." Severus said guessingly.

Constantius II nodded, and said angrily: "This Julian really has a rebellion, this bastard must be severely punished, I must kill him, just like he killed his brother Gallus in the first place." ”

"Your Majesty the Emperor, now there are 200,000 soldiers and horses under Julian's command, and our army is less than 100,000, and the strength of our army is no longer able to match Julian." A Roman general said helplessly.

Constantius II shook his head and said confidently: "No, I am the only emperor of Rome, and the entire army of the Roman Empire is mine, as long as I give an order, many people will stand up against Julian and tie Julian up to me for disposal." ”

Obviously, Constantius II believed that he was the only leader of the Roman Empire, and Julian was just his subordinate, and as soon as he raised his arms and declared Julian a traitor, all the Roman soldiers, including Julian's generals, would immediately denounce Julian, and even tie Julian up and escort him to Constantinople.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, Julian has ruled Rome in the west for five years, and he has defeated the Germans, Alamans, and Sarifacs, establishing his prestige in the army, and at the same time, he has also reduced the taxes in the west, so that the burden of the common people has been greatly reduced, so as to win the hearts of the people, so I am afraid that the soldiers in the west will not obey the emperor's orders and support Julian!" A Roman minister said worriedly.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, when Julian attacked Constantinople, he told several major crimes of His Majesty the Emperor, among them, the biggest crime was the failure of the Eastern Crusade, the loss of more than 100,000 Roman troops, the disgrace of the empire, and the persecution of his family. Another Roman minister said.

When Constantius II heard this, he was furious, and angrily rebuked: "Julian, this bastard, should have killed him and Gallus in the first place, and he was so angry with me, he was really angry with me." After saying that, he paced impatiently.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, now Julian has taken the initiative to retreat to Milan, his intention is already very obvious, that is, to dominate Rome in the west, and to confront His Majesty the Emperor for a long time, and we do not have enough strength to go to the west to conquer, the Jin army is still threatening us in the east, and it is possible to launch an attack on Constantinople at any time, and we only have the inherent prestige of His Majesty the Emperor to call on the generals of the western armies to oppose Julian, and escort Julian to Constantinople, if all the generals in the west are surrendered to Julian, Then we really have no choice but to maintain the status quo for the time being. Marcellus said helplessly.

Constantius II nodded, and said, "Immediately tell all the people of Rome that Julian is a traitor to the Roman Empire, and all Romans have the right to arrest Julian and send him to Constantinople." ”

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

Subsequently, Constantius II began to study a variety of plans to deal with Julian, the easiest plan is naturally to order the western soldiers to oppose Julian in the position of emperor, and has begun to implement, the second set of plans is in the case of the western soldiers being bought by Julian, how to mobilize troops and horses to attack Julian, what are the odds of victory, etc., of course, they more or less have to consider the factors of the Jin army, after all, after the Jin army defeated Persia and Tianzhu, the soldiers and horses already have are very large, And this was naturally a great threat to the Roman Empire.

Just when the Roman Emperor Constantius II was discussing with his generals how to deal with Julian, Julian was also taking countermeasures.

He constantly sent his subordinates to preach the incompetence of Constantius II, so that the main army of more than 100,000 people of the Roman Empire was annihilated by the Jin army, and at the same time, he shook out all the ugly things of Constantius II's persecution of Julian's family, so that the people of Rome would be disgusted with Constantius II, so as to support him Julian.

In order to control the entire army of Western Rome as soon as possible, so that all the generals of Western Rome would submit to him, Julian gave up the main force and led only a small number of cavalry to return to Milan quickly.

A few days later, Julian and his cavalry arrived in Milan, and upon arrival in Milan, he immediately gathered most of the generals of western Rome, especially the Gallic army and the British army, because these two armies were not only strong, but also in the westernmost part of the Roman Empire, they had the least identification with Constantinople and the most favorable control.

Soon, all the Roman generals in the west arrived in Milan and met Julian in the basilica.

Julian was very happy to see that all the generals were coming, and said: "Generals, I have to tell you a big bad news, Emperor Constantius II fought a great defeat in the East, only 50,000 or 60,000 horses remained in the 200,000 army, and the rest were all wiped out by the Jin army, in order to turn the tide of the war, I specially led an army of 100,000 to reinforce the emperor, but he refused for no reason, he would rather lose to the Jin army than trust his brother, for this incompetent and suspicious emperor, I was so disappointed, he let me down so much. After speaking, he looked at the generals and checked their reactions.

When the generals heard this, they all looked at each other, they had been staying in the west, and Julian had returned to Milan on light horses, so naturally they had not yet received the news of the defeat of Constantius II, and could not give a clear judgment on whether what Julian said was true or false. (To be continued.) )