Chapter 3557
Enemy Commander Receives Execution
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Perennis's sudden burst of speed seized the opportunity, causing Shapur, who hadn't noticed this direction before, to immediately shift his gaze from the battlefield to Perennis, who was at the forefront.
Looking at Perennis and the other Roman city-state guardians around him, Shapur snorted coldly.
"Concentrating top experts to break through, and still resorting to this tactic, is already useless!" Shapur, unaware that the tactics had changed drastically, relied on his battlefield experience to directly issue relevant military orders.
On the battlefield, experts are indeed very strong, especially when multiple experts are gathered together, they can form an extremely sharp spearhead with the ability to quickly destroy formations.
But Shapur, who was quite familiar with this tactic, certainly had corresponding preparations.
Having issued the countermeasures and orders that had been prepared in advance, Shapur turned his attention back to the front lines of the battlefield.
However, the temporary opening created by this troop movement was seized upon by Perennis, who had been waiting for a long time. He then led his core elite troops to force their way in and quickly closed the distance between the two sides to within thirty paces.
The rapid advance made Shapur realize that something was wrong.
However, at such close range, Shapur didn't have many options.
One option was to lead the core elite troops in a direct retreat, while the other was to take their place.
After briefly reviewing the situation in his mind, Shapur led his personal guard directly to the front.
This was no ordinary war; it was a war that would determine Parthia's future.
As the commander-in-chief of the large army, he absolutely could not retreat, no matter what dangers or situations he faced.
Once the central command flag begins to retreat, the resulting chain reaction will completely bury any possibility or hope of a successful breakthrough for the Parthians, and may even wipe out Vologus V along with him.
Therefore, under the current circumstances, Shapur has no choice but to retreat and can only do his best to hold on.
Perennis was naturally very satisfied with Shapur's choices and actions.
Only by launching an attack and repelling their offensive could the Parthians have a chance of survival; once they chose to retreat, Parthia would have no possibility or hope of a successful breakthrough.
As for the idea of stopping their attack, Perennis can only say that Shapur is indeed indulging in wishful thinking.
Shapur's elite troops were indeed very strong, but against the Emperor's Guard Legion, an almost omnipotent military force, they were easy prey.
Once Shapur's elite troops are eliminated, the gap left by the Romans will be completely exposed to the Parthian Emperor's guard.
Whether they wiped out this resurrected legion and completely destroyed Vologius V, or forced him to surrender, it would end this war, end the Parthian resistance, and allow Rome to regain its glory. Perennis, with this idea in mind, naturally showed no mercy. After locking onto his target, he launched an attack with all his might.
Shapur, himself a master of breaking boundaries, originally intended to rely on his strong personal strength and lead his core army to forcibly stop the Roman army's advance.
Little did he expect that after leading his army to the front, Shapur discovered that Perennis's strength was only slightly inferior to his own, and that a few skilled fighters could easily hold him off.
In order to protect Vologis V, Shapur could only focus on the immediate battle, doing his best to hold off these experts, and had no spare time to observe the battlefield or the exchange ratio of enemy and friendly soldiers.
"It's over!" After the Emperor's Guard Legion quickly suppressed the Parthian soldiers surrounding Shapur's main guard and surrounded the entire core area, Perennis no longer held back and unleashed his full power.
To avoid Shapur realizing that something was wrong, Perennis first concealed his strength, making it seem like the two were evenly matched and that he could hold his own on his own.
During this sustained operation, the Imperial Guard Corps could rely on its formidable strength to infiltrate and penetrate from multiple directions, forcibly surrounding Shapur and his core soldiers, thus preventing Shapur from discovering that the number of his personal guards had drastically decreased and thus creating the possibility of a direct retreat.
Upon hearing these words and feeling the power that Perennis unleashed during the clash of their attacks, Shapur instantly realized that he had been outmaneuvered.
Realizing he had been outmaneuvered, Shapur didn't even have time to explain his escape route or future plans before directly manipulating his body to engage in a life-or-death struggle with Perennis.
Unfortunately, the vast difference in strength between the two sides caused Perennis to deflect Shapur's attack, and he took advantage of this opening to kill Shapur on the spot with minimal cost.
“We are both generals walking the same path, but unfortunately, there is a gap between us in every aspect.” Looking at Shapur, who died with his eyes wide open, Perennis wiped the blood off his short sword with the silk from his sleeve.
Both sides possess formidable individual strength and command capabilities, but whether it's identifying battlefield weaknesses, seizing opportunities, individual skill, or even the overall strength of their armies, Perennis completely dominates in every aspect.
"The enemy commander has been beheaded!" After Perennis killed Shapur, the Roman city-state defenders who witnessed this scene immediately mobilized their inner energy and, disregarding the consumption of their inner energy, shouted this out loud.
This sound, capable of sweeping across half the battlefield, instantly affected both sides still engaged in combat, impacting both Parthia and Rome.
For Parthia, the loss of his own army commander had a devastating impact on morale and caused chaos in command.
In particular, the Parthian Legion commander, who was in charge of the dispersed breakout and infiltration, immediately stabilized the army's fighting will and morale, but also sent people to find out whether the matter was true or false.
After confirming the truth of this matter, almost every Parthian legion commander realized something even more terrifying.
Shapur, as the commander of the Parthian army, certainly had a significant impact when he died on the battlefield. However, the actual commander of this Parthian war was ultimately Vologius V, so on the surface, the commander did not die.
As the last line of defense before Volognes V, Shapur's death meant that Volognes V and his guard would face the most elite Roman forces. (End of Chapter)