Chapter 3525
Elite Troops Outside Taisi City
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Theoretically speaking, the Farssasans, who were outside Ctesiphon, had a greater chance of replenishing their army and food supplies than the army inside the city walls of Ctesiphon.
However, the actual result was completely different. Farssasan did not take advantage of this location to expand the size of the army or train more troops.
Judging solely from the intensity and obedience demonstrated by the trained troops, the soldiers trained by Farssasan in a short period of time were not even as formidable as those trained by the Han Empire. At least the soldiers trained by the Han Empire had decent weapons and armor.
Moreover, the Farssasan were very clear about the thoughts of their monarch, Vologius V, and knew what kind of troops Parthia needed.
What Parthia needs is a Legion of Military Spirit, a Legion of Military Spirit that can be passed down, a Legion of Military Spirit that gives Parthia a future, not a large elite force that can be replaced at any time. Moreover, an army trained in a short period of time cannot reach the level of being elite.
From this perspective alone, Farssasan faced a choice from the very beginning, and made a very decisive one.
Training more soldiers does indeed make it easier to produce elite troops and offers more possibilities and room for error in creating a military-spirited legion, but these are only possibilities and room for error.
To truly elevate a legion into a legion with a strong military spirit, it is not only necessary to look at the soldiers themselves, but also to consider the abilities of the legion's officers and soldiers, and they also need to have extremely high talent.
Instead of choosing or selecting talented individuals from among the masses, Farssasan directly gambled on his young legion commanders.
Even if his own grandson was among them, Farssasan did not shy away from recommending relatives and was fearless.
Although from a long-term perspective, Farssasan's ideas and actions had their flaws and shortcomings, Parthia at this time simply did not have the mind or ability to think from a long-term perspective.
Everyone knows this behavior is problematic, but if you can't survive until tomorrow, you have to drink it even if it's like drinking poison to quench your thirst, especially since the problem with this kind of choice isn't that obvious.
By placing their hopes on a few elite legion commanders, Farssasan treated the other auxiliary troops as mere healers.
In normal military operations, these troops can be used as front-line forces, or, after the war, elite soldiers can be drawn from the army to replenish the losses of several elite legions, thereby ensuring the size of these elite legions and giving them the combat power that a legion should have.
This is also why the legions under Ardashir and others have been able to maintain near-full strength despite numerous wars.
Especially for Ardashir, the frequency and intensity of the war were extremely high from beginning to end, and the soldiers who died were constantly being killed. Without the Farssasans drawing on elite soldiers to replenish their ranks, the entire legion would have been wiped out long ago.
Since Ma Chao led his cavalry away, Ardashir, without the competition from his peers, felt even greater pressure and a heavier burden.
In particular, before Ma Chao left, he helped Parthia severely damage the Roman Seventh Legion, forcing the Roman Seventh Legion to never appear on the battlefield again, which made Ardashir have extremely complicated feelings and thoughts.
Ardashir harbored no resentment towards Ma Chao, nor did he blame Ma Chao for his actions. However, as a Parthian, he felt a deep sense of injustice. Faced with Ma Chao's obedience to orders to retreat, there was little Ardashir could do. In the end, he could only personally lead his legions into the war against Rome.
Like a war fanatic, Ardashir participated in one war after another, defeating one opponent after another.
They are either at war or on their way to war. Even if there are casualties in the war, they will be quickly replenished with the best of their ability by Farssasan.
It can be said that after Rome crossed the Euphrates River, Ardashir was involved in wars that never stopped.
It was under such intense warfare that Ardashir knew fewer and fewer soldiers, his legions became more and more silent, their coordination became more and more excellent, and their combat power became stronger and stronger.
When his fighting strength reached a certain level, Ardashir realized something. After consulting with Farssasan, he began to restrain his corresponding power, store up reserves, and at the same time continue to annihilate the Roman legionary soldiers.
Compared to Ardashir's progress and improvement in this area, the other legion commanders under Farssasan's command have improved much slower.
Even though it has experienced a considerable number of wars, in terms of intensity, it is completely incomparable to Ardashir.
For Ardashir, the intensity of war was completely unpredictable. Today he might run into a hawk cavalry legion, and tomorrow he might run into a barbarian legion. He had no idea who his next opponent would be. The only thing he knew was to defeat his opponent, win the battle, or survive.
Most of the time, the other legion commanders under Farssasan faced only barbarian legions as their opponents.
Even when they encountered the Roman Eagle Legion in rare instances, they tried their best to preserve their strength and, with the coordinated efforts of their respective units, carried out a covered retreat.
Even with such a conservative strategy, many legion commanders, after encountering the Eagle Banner Legion, had no chance to retreat and their entire army was wiped out on the battlefield.
The information that could be heard every now and then put pressure on the Parthian Legion to some extent, but it also increased their indifference.
When the number of casualties exceeds a certain level, the death toll really becomes just a number.
With the war dragging on to this point, and no one able to guarantee they'll live to see tomorrow, the so-called pressure will only transform into the motivation for revenge, and the idea of revenge will continue to grow.
"The time is finally approaching, but I wonder which direction we'll take this time?" Omzada stared into the distance, as if he could see Tesseón through the horizon, and asked Ardashir, who was already getting dressed.
Ardashir, whose hands hadn't stopped moving at all, replied without a second thought, "The direction Your Majesty is in is the direction we should go. As for where that direction leads, it doesn't matter!"
Omzada was silent for a moment, then nodded. (End of Chapter)