Chapter 3524
Parthia's Elite Force
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Shapur withdrew his gaze from Vologius V and turned to look at the first colonel and minister in the front row.
Originating from the Geupatlan family, and having experienced numerous bloody battles, the Geruyan Legion revitalized heavy cavalry, making up for the lack of heavy cavalry strength in Parthia. It can definitely be called a sharp blade on the battlefield.
There is also the Undead Guard Legion from the Esvandal family, a heavy infantry legion that Parthia once lacked, and a Ranger Legion to accompany it. The commanders of these two legions, Pal and Shaniye, are both seasoned veterans.
Similarly, there is the Zek Chariot Legion and the Upar Legion, which can fill the gap in the positioning of the Parthian Legion.
Although the future of the chariot legion was not of great significance at the suggestion of the Han Empire, in the spirit of helping its allies, the Han Empire still put forward corresponding development suggestions for this legion, especially suggestions on the chariots themselves.
For a tank legion to unleash its full potential, in addition to the soldiers' skillful handling, the tanks themselves play a crucial role.
With the help of Sima Yi and others in the Han army, the combat power of Upar's chariot legion increased significantly, the difficulty of operating the chariots was reduced considerably, and the weight of the chariots was also increased considerably.
This change at the physical level directly led to a significant increase in the capabilities that the tanks could exert.
While tank corps may not be very effective in conventional warfare, in flat terrain, tanks are the undisputed kings in terms of destroying formations and charging into battle.
Other armies also originating from noble families include the Kirkuk Milan Guard from the Milan family and the Milan Raiders from Fonno Cloud.
It seems the nobles still have a considerable army, but the real battlefield is far more brutal.
From the beginning of the war in Mesopotamia until now, Shapur is well aware that the number of troops that have disappeared from the nobility is equally large.
Our army consists of troops from the Suren family and troops from the Karen family.
The most unfortunate of them all was the Mihran family of Parthia.
Originally stationed to the east of the Parthian Empire, they responded to the call of the nobles to confront the Roman army. However, they were not vigilant enough against the Roman army and were directly attacked by a force several times their size, suffering heavy losses.
The Michalan family, which relied on light cavalry in combination with lancers for offensive operations, was inherently weak defensively, leaving them powerless against Rome.
The regular output of light cavalry was simply no match for the massive Roman heavy infantry legions.
The lancers, who dealt extremely high damage, had no choice but to accept their fate and fight back against the Roman heavy infantry when they were surrounded.
The seven noble families of Parthia, each with its own elite troops, are no longer the same as they once were.
Some noble territories were captured, and some of the noble elites were directly destroyed. The noble elites who are still inside the city of Taisifeng are not a single unit that is a full-strength force.
Even though the seven noble families had secretly prepared a considerable number of reserve soldiers in order to maintain the fighting capacity of their legions.
However, the number of reserve soldiers prepared for routine power struggles is insufficient to cover the costs of high-intensity imperial warfare, and the legion is no longer able to replenish its ranks at any time.
Shapur may have had complex thoughts and judgments about these nobles in the past, but now that everyone is united and working together, past prejudices and stubbornness have long since disappeared.
The nobles, with their swords, their armies, and unprecedented support, proved their stance and their position. And this time, it was again these noble legions that spearheaded the breakout and covered the rear.
It was not someone else's arrangement, but the choice made by these noble officers themselves, based on their military roles and positions, making the most correct choice.
Without any calculations of self-interest, setting aside the desire to survive, they planned from the most rational and likely successful perspective.
Even with such rational planning, most people would become stepping stones to be crushed, but no one cares.
When everyone becomes a stepping stone, it can be considered a kind of fairness in a sense, treating everyone fairly.
There is no difference in status, no difference in class, only right and wrong, only whether it is appropriate or not.
Besides these elite troops remaining from the noble families, there were naturally other elite troops within Ctesiphon as well.
This included Shapur's main legion, Vologus V's guard legion, the royal family's all-out effort to build the Burning Cavalry Legion, and two Burning Infantry Legions.
Besides that, there are only seven legions left: Datis, Orwald, Atabaros, Malé, Wald, Atratome, and Babak, which together number just over 30,000.
Even with the existence of oversized legions like the Vologis Guard Legion, the combined size of the eighteen legions was just over 80,000.
These elite troops were, in Shapur's view, the last remaining elite forces within the city of Ctesiphon.
As for the elite troops outside Taisifeng City, they were not absent.
Farssasan was still outside the city of Ctesiphon, and with such a person, there would naturally be a large number of elite troops outside Ctesiphon.
As a fellow commander of a legion, Shapur was well aware that there had been calculations involved in the previous war with Rome, and that the result was that his strength had been outmaneuvered.
With Rome deploying its forces to launch a special offensive, Shapur and Farssasan had no choice but to split their forces to counter it in order to ensure the stability and security of the Parthian Empire.
While combining forces can indeed result in greater combat effectiveness, if one side combines forces, the Roman army will also combine forces.
When both sides had amassed large armies for battle, Shapur could feel the overwhelming pressure from the Roman commander. Although he didn't think the pressure was that great, it was definitely stronger than what they had.
Given this situation, Shapur and Farssasan opted for a strategy of one playing as the main force and the other as a secondary force, supporting each other.
However, due to the importance of Ctesiphon and Vologius V, Shapur had the largest and most elite army.
In reality, the elite forces under Farssasan consisted of only three or four legions.
One force consisted of the elite troops of the Fars-Sassanid headquarters, another of the elite troops under Ardashir's command, and the elite units of the Omzada Legion.
In terms of numbers, Farssasan still had 20,000 elite troops under his command; if auxiliary troops were included, the army could be called 100,000. (End of Chapter)