Chapter 3534
Victory in Hand
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On a plain, the best way to stop a chariot's advance is to ram it with another chariot.
As for the methods used to block the advance of cavalry, in most cases, they had no effect on chariots.
In terms of impact force and impact area, chariots completely crushed cavalry, absolutely crushing them.
Even a single-talented chariot legion would have a greater impact than most heavy cavalry.
This impact force also applies in the clash of tank legions.
With adequate tank quality, even a single-talent tank legion, or even a tank legion without any talents, can still achieve good results and maintain a good kill-loss ratio when facing an elite tank legion.
Because of the extension of cavalry mobility and talent, cavalry developed rapidly, and chariots directly withdrew from the stage of conventional warfare. As a result, chariot-to-chariot collisions have not appeared on the battlefield for many years.
This was something that had never happened before, neither for Rome nor for Parthia.
Based on the intelligence gathered in advance, Perennis made ample preparations and directly adopted the most prudent method in an attempt to stop the Parthiazek family's chariot legion.
However, as one of the commanders of a large army, having experienced several bloody battles and frequently commanded the Parthian army, and having even learned a lot about command from Sima Yi, a wise man of the Han Empire, Shapur combined his knowledge and experience from his youth and further felt the differences, thus greatly improving his command experience.
Shapur was not surprised that Rome knew about his chariot legions; on the contrary, he thought it was quite normal.
After all, the unique nature of the tank legion meant that it was difficult to hide.
Their massive size, fixed structure, and the sounds and vibrations they made when moving were completely different from those of a cavalry legion.
If Rome, with its diverse intelligence gathering capabilities, couldn't even notice this, would it still be Rome?
Given this condition, Shapur still agreed to let the tank legion be the vanguard, which was actually a move made out of necessity.
After all, only in this way can the chariot legion exert its greatest value; it can't be allowed to follow behind the cavalry.
So, was the tank corps attacking the enemy or its own forces?
Even in this situation, Shapur did try to find a way to act as a vanguard when forced into it.
Besides borrowing some cloud-based secret techniques from the Han Empire, what else could be done was to adjust the direction and target of the chariot legion's charge.
According to the thinking of a normal general, in the case of a city breakout battle, if one's own side has a chariot legion, the option to maximize the benefit is naturally to have the chariot legion charge into the enemy's central army, destroy and crush the enemy's central army's defenses. If the chariots are blocked or even destroyed, the wreckage of the chariots can be used to block the advance of the enemy's central army and achieve the effect of disrupting the formation.
Then, by attacking the flanks of the Roman army with cavalry, the Romans could be dealt the greatest blow and damage in the shortest amount of time.
However, with his command experience greatly increased, Shapur directly abandoned what seemed to be the most effective way to command chariots, and gave up the idea of having chariots charge directly into the center of the Roman army.
On the one hand, the Roman army would certainly know their intelligence and would make targeted deployments and arrangements. With its large army and abundant manpower, it could prepare to contain the chariot legions in all directions.
However, no matter how many people or how much preparation is made, the defensive strength of each direction will ultimately be different. Rome's main defensive focus will inevitably be on the central army, leaving the flanks relatively weaker.
This single factor alone would not be enough to make Shapur make the decision to undermine the most correct choice.
Another factor in deciding to order the chariot troops to attack the flanks was that the Roman army was besieging the entire city of Ctesiphon, rather than launching a siege from one side.
By broadening the command's perspective beyond the southern side of the city walls to encompass the entire area surrounding the city, Shapur made the decision to have the tank units attack the flanks.
Regardless of whether the tank units succeed or fail, they can still play a role in the overall situation.
If the tank assault is successful, it will inevitably draw away enemy troops, creating gaps and weaknesses in their ranks. At that time, we can then make arrangements and deployments to exploit these weaknesses.
If the chariot charge failed, the wreckage left behind would damage the Roman army's encampments on both flanks, slowing down the speed at which troops could assemble and move through the area.
At that time, whether it was the Roman army in the far west or the east, or the Roman army in the west, it would take much longer to reach the south and support the main Roman forces in the south.
Even though this action wouldn't buy much time, Shapur chose to accept it.
On the one hand, choosing to launch a surprise attack would increase the success rate of the chariot legion's assault; on the other hand, it would also delay the arrival of Roman reinforcements, increasing Volognes V's chances of breaking out.
By reducing the potential ceiling of some of the gains, Shapur gained a higher margin for error and a greater ability to fully utilize his strengths, which he was quite satisfied with.
Just as Shapur had thought, Perennis had also considered the issue of the Parthian chariot legion's attack direction changing, but based on the actual situation, he ultimately chose to significantly strengthen the central army's chariot defensive capabilities.
In order to effectively contain the Parthian army's chariot legions, Perennis directly equipped the central and flank forces with chariot legions driven by barbarian soldiers.
The difference in buildings is essentially due to a simple reason.
Perennis's decision was also the result of considering many factors.
If Parthia were to attack the central army, the central army's ample preparations would be enough to cause the chariot legion to be routed before inflicting significant losses, thus preventing it from achieving its intended effect.
However, if Parthia chooses to disperse the chariot legion's forces to attack the flanks, Perennis can eliminate Parthia's chariot legion without harming the main force in the center, at the cost of sacrificing a significant number of elite barbarians.
In this way, if the right choices are made, the elite barbarian troops can be depleted, the enemy's chariot legion can be destroyed, and the wreckage of the chariot legion can be used to create special terrain obstacles, directly weakening the cavalry's ability to move.
This would largely deter Parthia's idea and behavior of breaking out from the flanks.
The final result will be a head-on clash.
Perennis, who had absolute confidence in his own army, felt victory was assured. (End of Chapter)