Mythical Three Kingdoms

“Mm, with you saying that I’m not worried anymore. Compared to Kongming and Zhongda, I’m still more at ease with your brains and experience. As for myself, I’m better at planning on the battlefield.” After confirming Chen Gong’s words, Sheni Pei felt much more at ease.

There was no helping it. Right now the Yuan Family had little capital, and Sheni Pei himself was really unwilling to fight the Romans to the death. If there were not enormous interests involved, even the Yuan Family needed to profit from this, and perhaps Sheni Pei’s current thinking wouldn’t be about how to pin down the Romans, but about how to run.

On the other side, Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang had a good talk, the two sides thoroughly exchanged their thoughts, and in the end successfully reached a consensus.

“Fine, if you want to play it this way, I don’t care. This kind of Military Formation requires extremely high command ability. Are you sure you have that ability?” Sima Yi looked at Zhuge Liang, fell silent for a while, then spoke.

“We have to fight one battle. Otherwise, even if Chen Gongtai and the others have kept a fallback plan, it will still be difficult for us to step down safely. We must drag things out until Parthian reinforcements arrive, otherwise relying solely on the Parthians’ dispositions in Mesopotamia, they absolutely won’t be able to hold.” Zhuge Liang said solemnly, his expression grave. “The gap in hard power between our sides is far too great.”

“That is indeed a fact.” Sima Yi tapped the tabletop lightly. Having witnessed the military might of the Roman grand army, he understood Zhuge Liang’s thinking very well. “It’s just that relying on us alone, it’s very hard to achieve the result we want. Moreover, if my guess is not wrong, compared to Mesopotamia, what the Parthians more want to defend is Armenia.”

“Yes, I think so too. And I don’t believe the generals Parthia has left in Armenia can hold Armenia. The Parthian Emperor will definitely go there in person.” Zhuge Liang said with a bitter smile. “Rome’s military momentum is too strong, so strong that I can hardly see any possibility of victory for Parthia.”

In fact, the biggest problem right now was one Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi had not voiced. There were actually quite a few places the Parthians needed to defend, and the two core defensive circles were Armenia and Mesopotamia. Both of these belonged to positions of strategic significance.

Relatively speaking, even after the defense of Mesopotamia is pierced, Parthia can still rely on the Zagros Mountains to defend the western part of its homeland. But if Armenia is breached, the Romans can come down from the Northwest, directly invading Taysi Sealed and Media, those Essence Zones deep in Parthia’s heartland.

Thus, for Parthia, the importance of Armenia is in fact higher than that of Mesopotamia. Holding Mesopotamia is icing on the cake; having Armenia is equivalent to an extra layer of protection for its life, and can be said to thoroughly prevent the war from occurring on its own national territory.

This point is known to the Han Dynasty, to Rome, and to Parthia alike.

“And yet Parthia must defend.” The black-robed shamaness pushed aside the tent flap with her hand, walking in as she spoke.

“What superior insight do you have, sir?” Sima Yi looked at the other, and the more he looked, the more familiar the figure seemed, but that icy aura made it completely impossible for Sima Yi to match her to anyone he knew.

Zhuge Liang also looked at her. Because of what she had once shown them, Zhuge Liang’s trust in her was quite high. On top of that, when erasing Spiritual Talents, Zhuge Liang had once sensed that she possessed a Spiritual Talent, which meant she was definitely one of their own that Jia Xu had arranged to insert.

“I wouldn’t call it superior insight. Put the other way around—how do you think Rome will strike?” The shamaness looked off to the side with a mocking smile, muttering as though she had seen through everything.

“Simultaneously attack Mesopotamia and Armenia. And if I were a Roman, I would put a massive amount of troops into Armenia, and enough troops to suppress Mesopotamia into Mesopotamia, then keep the remaining reserve forces waiting for the chance to deliver a lethal blow.” Sima Yi fell silent for a while, then spoke.

“Yes. Their military momentum is so vast that their splitting their forces, for us, does not mean they become weaker, but that they are even better, even more superb at harnessing their strengths.” The shamaness spoke with a certain desolate tone. “They are already strong enough to launch two campaigns at once and win both!”

Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi’s faces both sank. After a while, they both nodded.

“Parthia must go to relieve Armenia, because once Armenia is lost, then Parthia’s entire Essence Zone will lie beneath the Romans’ spearheads. In contrast, in Mesopotamia, further east there are still the Zagros Mountains. Even if Mesopotamia is lost, they can rely on the terrain to defend, just like a hundred years ago.” A mocking color tinged the shamaness’s face.

“We think so as well.” Zhuge Liang nodded as he heard this. “So we believe the pressure of defending Mesopotamia will not be too great. Though the Romans do have the ability to launch two wars simultaneously and win them both, relatively speaking the pressure we will bear will also be somewhat lighter.”

“I will not be affected by external matters, nor will I waver because a side is strong or weak, nor will I make a one-sided judgment based on the intelligence in my hands. I will only think about the simplest method.” The shamaness sighed and spoke.

“Perhaps the simple method has this or that drawback, but as the simplest plan, it is the most direct and effective, the most able to resolve the problem. If I were a Roman, I would only commit enough troops in Armenia to compel Parthia, and then strike Mesopotamia.” The shamaness said blandly.

“That isn’t reasonable. If Rome attacks Mesopotamia with full force, they can indeed decide victory in little more than a month, but beyond that are still the Zagros Mountains. The Romans and Parthians have fought far too many wars there, and the Parthians have built far too many defensive works there. Moreover, His Majesty Vologases V is extremely attentive to the Defense there.” Sima Yi argued, brows tightly knit.

“In the past, Parthia’s internal problems were severe, and the fortifications in the Zagros Mountains were more decoration than substance. With Armenia also in Roman hands, Rome could repeatedly launch attacks on Parthia from there. But now…” Zhuge Liang likewise frowned as he explained what he knew. After Vologases V came to power, the Parthians had become much more cautious in all respects.

The Zagros Mountains themselves were garrisoned by more than forty thousand defenders, and all the defensive works were built clinging to the mountains. Add in those kinds of perilous passes where one man guarding can hold off ten thousand, and with the Parthians defending at full strength, it would not be easy at all for the Romans to break through.

“You are still confined within conventional thinking. Do you remember Sheikh Mountain in Eastern Rome’s Syrian Province?” The shamaness half-closed her eyes and spoke slowly. At her words, Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi both felt their hair stand on end.

“It seems you already understand. If I were Rome, I would certainly attack Mesopotamia, then use Legion Attack to open a broad highway through the Zagros Mountains. After that, there will probably be no such country as Parthia anymore.” The shamaness tilted her head and spoke slowly.

“Once a gap is blasted open in the Zagros Mountains, Parthia is basically doomed. Compared to the detour through Armenia, if the Zagros Mountains are truly opened up with a gap, then no scheme can compare to the Roman grand army driving straight in.” Zhuge Liang said, his expression grave.

“So the defensive line of Mesopotamia is very important. If the Romans truly intend to annihilate Parthia, then I think going via Mesopotamia to carve out a straight line onto Parthia is far more reliable than going via Armenia. Of course, by then Parthia’s main forces will likely all have been drawn to Armenia.” The mocking look on the shamaness’s face grew three degrees heavier.

“On this basis, Parthia is doomed.” The shamaness said darkly. “Even if a Military God were to appear in Parthia, there would still be only one path—death.”

“So should we now notify Parthia of our speculation?” Zhuge Liang fell silent for a while, then asked.

“No. Next, I will first return to Taysi Sealed. Vologases V is a good emperor for Parthia, but not for us. Among the Seven Great Parthian Nobles, there are quite a few who want to take his place. I will give them a chance.” The shamaness softly voiced her scorn for Power Scheme.