Chapter 3613
Strength is the Foundation
...
However, this choice also meant that Rome at this point could no longer make the choice and act of nurturing an enemy to enhance its own prestige.
Without rivals, there is naturally no pressure.
As for the Roman Empire, Severus had no idea what the future held.
Without a clear objective, one can only manage the country normally, allowing it to continue to exist for a long time.
However, the war is over now, and in the coming years, Rome will continue to climb to new heights, surpassing one's former self after another, and becoming stronger and stronger.
It is only when they reach this peak state, without any rivals or pressure, that they begin to decline.
Rome, destined for the pinnacle, naturally doesn't care about temporary confusion.
Given the current situation, there is still a lot of work for them to complete in the next few years.
Whether it's training the army, expanding its size, ensuring the existing command system and combat effectiveness, or strengthening trade communication, these are all things that need to be accomplished.
...
Meanwhile, Ardashir, who had chosen to retreat along with Farssasan, calmly escaped the Roman army's pursuit and entered the Yuan family's territory under the cover of the Yuan family.
Although it is not yet the actual territory ruled by the Yuan family, the members of the Yuan family have already tacitly designated this area as their land.
At least when they were drawing this area, no one stood up to object, and even the few Slavs who lived in this area agreed with it.
Therefore, based on the existing position, the area nominally ruled by the Yuan family is extremely vast, and the area they can actually intervene in is also vast.
However, with such a vast area, it basically lacks core resistance capabilities, and when faced with an invasion by a slightly stronger enemy, it is easy to cause a complete rout on the front line.
"Omzada, I didn't expect you to be so fast!" Ardashir exhaled softly, releasing the fatigue of the past few days, and looked at the general who came to greet him, his words filled with surprise.
As an infantry-based force, Omzada was able to reach the Yuan family's territory at this time, set up camp, and even come to greet them after completing basic defensive fortifications.
Especially seeing the mud on Omzada's clothes, which hadn't been washed off, Ardashir felt a greater sense of approval.
As per the initial notification and orders, once the war began, Omzada was able to advance with the army's supplies and logistics toward the area where the Yuan family was located, thus avoiding being overtaken by the Roman army and suffering greater losses.
If the Parthian army manages to break out, the supplies escorted by Omzada will allow the breakout army to recover quickly.
If the breakout fails, the military supplies that Omzada is protecting will become the logistical support for their troops.
The losses of cavalry units are enormous, especially for such a large force as theirs, which represents an extremely terrifying drain.
However, based on this, there is both good news and bad news. The bad news is that their cavalry forces have suffered heavy losses, but the good news is that with such massive losses, their daily expenses and consumption of food and military equipment have also decreased significantly.
The original reserves were enough to supply the army for three months, but now they can only supply these troops for one or two years.
Having such a long period of survival naturally provides more room for thought and also gives them room to negotiate with the Yuan family.
In the past, their relationship with the Yuan family wasn't particularly good, but it was still easy to tell who was better and who was worse.
In the past, whether it was negotiation or communication, when dealing with the Yuan family, we were able to have equal exchanges, regardless of the basis.
But things are different now. Without the Parthian Empire behind him, without its immense power, Ardashir isn't sure if he can still have an equal exchange with the Yuan family.
As a legion commander, Ardashir shouldn't be thinking so much while his grandfather is still alive and commanding the entire army.
Whether it's to reduce his grandfather's stress or because he has to consider related political issues in the current situation, Ardashir needs to understand more in order to make the right actions and choices.
As the commander of this Parthian army, Farssasan, whose army had suffered heavy losses, needed to assess the remaining fighting strength and deterrent capability of his troops in order to better evaluate his own strength and understand his bottom line during negotiations.
The only fully-equipped and elite legion that can be considered elite is the one under Omzada's command.
As for the legions under Ardashir's command, their strength far exceeded the limit. Even if the army suffered heavy losses, they would still be an extremely important force.
Besides these two legions, the other legions also suffered considerable losses.
Fortunately, after experiencing such a war, the remaining soldiers were able to regroup and become an elite force after a period of calm.
However, after going through this level of reorganization, it is questionable whether the original army of more than 50,000 can still muster 20,000.
Farssasan had no real confidence in the extent to which an army of this size could negotiate with the Yuan family of the Han Empire.
During the war, Farssasan came into contact with the Yuan family, and their contact lasted for a considerable period of time.
However, even after this period of contact, Farssasan still couldn't figure out the Yuan family's true strength, and didn't even know where their core territory was.
The assessment of the Yuan family's strength was based on both internal assessments within the Han Empire and actual communication and exchanges within the military.
At least along this march, judging from the armies under Ju Yi and Yan Liang, the Yuan family of Farssasan is quite powerful.
The Yuan family, who were driven out of the Han Empire, had no way of knowing how much power they actually possessed in the past, but this time, they should be able to find out.
The true extent of the Yuan family's power will completely determine their attitude towards the Yuan family and what they will do next.
Ultimately, strength is the foundation of all actions... (End of Chapter)