Chapter 3595
The Legion's End
...
"How much time we have to develop depends not only on us, but also on Rome, and even more so on any opponent who might interfere with us." Shen Pei shook his head slightly, showing little confidence in this regard, nor did he use words to describe anything absolute.
Although there was no affirmation in his words, Shen Pei was in a relatively good mood.
At this point on the battlefield, Rome indeed held the upper hand, while Parthia was at a disadvantage. For Rome, it was only a matter of time before Parthia's army was completely overrun.
However, Rome, having won the war, could indeed legitimately plunder the resources and wealth possessed by Parthia. Yet, even with the plunder of these resources and wealth, Rome could not replenish its lost strength in a short period of time.
Perhaps after a few years of development, Rome could become stronger than it is now with the help of these abundant resources and wealth, but during those few years of development, Rome's own strength would be insufficient to carry out further territorial expansion.
The Roman legions, which were mainly composed of heavy infantry and lacked a large cavalry force, were not even capable of occupying Parthia for an extended period, let alone undertaking a long-term expedition.
It can be said that, in the next few years, as long as Rome doesn't have a problem with his head, the Yuan family will have a window of opportunity to develop for several years.
From this perspective, Sima Yi, who used this to plot against the Parthian Empire and to drain the blood of Rome, did indeed do a good job in this regard.
Even if Rome, having embarked on this path, becomes stronger and more difficult to deal with after plundering vast amounts of wealth and resources and developing over several years, it can at least provide them with a few years of development vacuum, allowing them to weather the most dangerous period.
"After this war, I wonder how many legions Rome will be able to bring back after mobilizing such a large force." Taking a deep breath and looking at the still large number of eagle banners of Rome, Shen Pei said thoughtfully, "I once heard Sima Zhongda say that Rome only had thirty-three eagle banners, and now more than half of them have appeared on the battlefield. Of those, more than half can be considered to have suffered significant losses."
Even the simplest and most rough estimate would be that Rome, which completely annihilated the Parthian army, would have suffered a devastating blow.
Thinking about it that way, it's actually a good thing.
Regardless of whose perspective Sima Yi was on or what interests he was planning, the situation he created was still very favorable for the Yuan family.
"It's almost over. Tell the soldiers to pack their things and prepare to retreat." Looking at the battlefield where the battle line was gradually shrinking, Ju Yi knew that there wasn't much time left. He then gave the order to tell the soldiers to prepare for the retreat.
With the war between Rome and Parthia still ongoing, they deployed their troops in the outer areas, and indeed, there was little to no one to manage them.
But if the war between Rome and Parthia ended and the army remained here, they would only be asking for trouble.
Although he was not afraid of Rome's powerful army, Ju Yi knew how weak the Yuan family's resources were, so he naturally wouldn't waste his own manpower on this aspect.
"Military Advisor Shen, let's prepare to retreat!" Reminded by Ju Yi, Yan Liangcai remembered his main task and quickly went to Shen Pei's side, asking softly.
"Let's leave after we've finished observing the battlefield..." Shen Pei nodded slightly, continuing to scan the distant battlefield, watching everything that was happening and trying to remember it all so that the Yuan family would not repeat the same mistakes in the future.
...
"Another powerful army is about to meet its end." Zhang Liao, who was also paying close attention to the battlefield, sighed as he looked at the enormous projection created by Lü Bu. Ever since Sima Yi developed the secret technique of long-range projection with the help of the Parthian Empire, Lü Bu had successfully spent a quarter of an hour innovating and creating an even more dazzling and larger version with the ability to magnify local areas.
Although all of this was based on Lü Bu himself, it was still very effective in spying on the battlefield.
"That's the meaning of the army: to protect the country and defend the homeland, to be loyal to the emperor and love the country. It has always been so." Gao Shun, who also witnessed all of this, described the image of the army inside the projection with a tone of great agreement.
Even when a legion is on its last legs, if it can still live up to the great cause, not go against the people's will, and be true to its beliefs for its country, what is there to fear in death!
Unlike Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, who focused on the top legions, Lü Bu, who stood between the two, kept an eye on every expert on the battlefield.
Perennis, Sulinarari, Platius, Alessandro, and so on.
This is a level-breaking expert from Rome, an expert whom Lu Bu has not fought much before, so he is quite interested in him.
As for the experts within Parthia, Lü Bu also challenged them.
Even if they are at the same level, the difference in strength is still vast. Especially for Lu Bu, who is not even at the level of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, there is not much excitement in fighting him.
Even if several people ganged up on him, it would be difficult to put any pressure on Lü Bu.
Therefore, after spending a day in Parthia, Lü Bu returned to the north, leading the entire Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry to plunder the barbarians who were nominally Roman.
Most of these plundered Roman barbarian tribes were unable to even communicate the news of their looting.
Even if a few powerful barbarian tribes were able to pass on this information, because Rome's focus was on Parthia, very few people paid attention to the Eastern European barbarians at this time.
Therefore, this period was the least stressful time for Lü Bu.
There were neither any outstanding masters who could impress anyone, nor a super army that could stop the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry from running rampant.
It wasn't until the start of this decisive battle that Lü Bu and his men stopped their plundering and calmed down to take a look.
However, while the generals' actions ceased, the Bingzhou barbarian soldiers continued their plundering, carrying out orders to gather as much barbarian as possible.
Besides plundering the barbarians to increase the labor force and population, it was also to artificially create a blank area, forcibly creating a scorched-earth zone.
This meant that those in the West who wanted to travel to the East faced greater logistical and wartime pressures.
When the pressure is immense enough, and when war is no longer worthwhile, most rational people will not start a war.
This arrangement will buy us more time. (End of Chapter)