Mythical Three Kingdoms

At this stage, for Benito, there was only one thing left to do: withdraw to the capital of the Syrian Province, Antioch, and defend the city.

If Antioch is not lost before the Roman reinforcements arrive, everything Rome has lost before will come back sooner or later. However, if Antioch is already lost, recapturing the Eastern Province will be a significant challenge for Rome. Of course, the current situation is not considered too dire.

"Fabio, are you sure our reinforcements will arrive soon?" Benito, noticeably thinner, asked his chief of staff.

"The demigods of the Mediterranean, who else could they be but our own people? And with this level of power, the entire country can perceive it. Even if the Duke of the Eastern Border County is not present, someone should have gone to congratulate them, and since we have sent no one, and they have not sent anyone to investigate, there can only be one possibility," Fabio said, slightly breathless, as he sat on a stone platform.

"Moreover, based on our analysis, the reinforcements should have been dispatched when Parthia made strange movements. From this, it appears that the Emperor encountered significant difficulties in the war in England and had already secured victory by the time we received the news." Fabio sipped some wine, looking at Benito.

"So, we just need to hold on for a few more days?" Benito inquired.

"Yes, we arranged the defense there in Antioch even before retreating from the west of Two Rivers, and it is a giant city, so there’s basically no difficulty in holding out," Fabio said, putting away his lead cup with a smile.

"I wonder how I will be dealt with, sigh!" Benito already knew of Armenia’s fall, and the entire Syrian Province, Lower Armenia, and Kari were basically finished. While holding the capital of Syria means that as long as Rome has enough power, reclaiming these places isn’t difficult, but this alone is far from his goal.

Fabio looked at Benito, withdrew his gaze, face pale, appearing like someone about to succumb to heavy metal poisoning. He hadn’t told Benito about the possibility of Giuseppe causing a major shift in Rome’s grand strategy.

It is said that Roman citizens consumed a lot of lead, either becoming stronger through constant damage and Inner Qi strengthening, or growing more and more emaciated due to heavy metal poisoning, ultimately turning into waste.

The emaciated ones naturally didn’t qualify as citizens, but the wasted ones had more time to think and learn, resulting in philosophers, mathematicians, artists, strategists, and other unusual individuals.

Rome still valued these rare talents very highly, especially since some of them were particularly strong, able to connect their thoughts through their Spiritual Capacity.

The saying "three cobblers make a Zhuge Liang" turned out to be more than a metaphor in the Roman Empire, where people used their Spiritual Capacity to connect their thoughts, resulting in unexpectedly comprehensive insights.

Thus, the Romans rightfully integrated these people into the Empire General Staff, with the main role of orchestrating foreign wars and solving various difficult problems, bringing to reality Chen Xi’s old idea of surrounding Zhuge Liang with a heap of ordinary strategists.

It’s mentioned that back in the day, Chen Xi had thought of creating a bunch of second-rate civil officials to deal with super first-class individuals. It later proved to be an unreliable idea; having too many people and methods led to more problems and no integration that matched a single person, thus rendering wisdom and strategy useless.

However, the Romans truly turned it into one person, and even without the aid of Spiritual Talent, the Roman Advisory Group expressed that they absolutely didn’t fear any other country.

Even though the Roman Advisory Group lost members daily to lead poisoning, and due to limitations, couldn’t connect nearly a hundred people at once, this didn’t matter. The key was that in terms of strategic acumen, the Roman advisory had no shortcomings.

Can you imagine the kind of enhancement that would come from the thought connection between Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi, with their thoughts complementing each other?

Of course, these figures had already reached their limits, and the boost from such Thought Connection wasn’t substantial. But at that level, every little enhancement was astounding.

After the Romans withdrew to the capital of Syria, the Han Army and the Parthians regrouped, and once their wills were unified, Vologases V began summoning his Parthian generals for a meeting.

At the same time, the Han Army gathered together, also for a meeting.

"Can someone explain to me why such a thing happened on the left flank?" Zhuge Liang said with a grim expression. The Xiliang Iron Cavalry had suffered losses of over seven hundred, the Elite of Danyang over five hundred, while they had killed only a mere four thousand Romans. He couldn’t believe Sheni Pei couldn’t see the situation clearly.

"I gave the order, but they did not listen," Sheni Pei said calmly, with his eyelids lowered.

"General Li, General Sun, did Military Advisor Sheni inform you?" Zhuge Liang’s gaze swept coldly over Li Jue and Sunx Quan. In fact, without asking, Zhuge Liang knew that Sheni Pei had certainly informed them, but Sheni Pei surely hadn’t tried his best.

Just by thinking, Zhuge Liang knew that Sheni Pei likely intended to use Li Jue and Sunx Quan as bait, then counterattack to devour some Romans.

Li Jue looked gloomy but made no attempt to hide, speaking directly. Sunx Quan, however, hesitated and ultimately did not speak.

"You mean the Romans were stronger than estimated?" Zhuge Liang withdrew his gaze from Li Jue and Sunx Quan and looked at Sheni Pei.

"Actually, it was possible to win, but it wasn’t worth it. Of course, I admit, I didn’t try my best. But I’d like to ask, why should I? Zhuge Kongming, if you’re not qualified, leave sooner rather than later!" Sheni Pei said coldly, looking at Zhuge Liang.

Seeing Zhuge Liang only planned to address Li Jue and Sunx Quan later and generously reward the fallen soldiers, Sheni Pei knew Zhuge Liang wanted to find fault with him, though it wasn’t unexpected.

Suffice it to say, by this point, Chen Gong, Zhuge Liang, and Sima Yi all understood Sheni Pei’s point. A mere seventy thousand Roman troops—if it were in the Central Plains, fighting for the Yuan Family or the Han Dynasty, given the last situation, Sheni Pei wouldn’t hesitate to launch a direct assault.

Sheni Pei was ruthless and had an accurate self-awareness, meaning he could unleash the army’s full potential.

Everyone knew whose man Li Jue was. In such a situation, if Sheni Pei dared to act this way, claiming no confidence was ridiculous. Yet the end result, though boasting triple the enemy losses, clearly showed Sheni Pei hadn’t given his all.

Even if the Roman troops included fully-staffed Fourteenth and Fifteenth Legions, and over fifty thousand well-equipped Roman Citizens, if Sheni Pei fought to the death, he could open up and destroy a large part of the Roman force.

He didn’t even need to go to that extent. If Sheni Pei showed the will to fight, the Romans would have hesitated over whether it was worth it. Yet, Sheni Pei chose to retreat without a second thought.

But what’s the point of striving with all your might? To leave Parthia half-crippled? Is it necessary? Parthia is an ally; alright, that isn’t exactly wrong. But we Han came to help, not to be cannon fodder.

Sheni Pei’s mindset was clearly aligned with the Han Dynasty and the Yuan Family. It was apparent that Sheni Pei was willing to participate in the war, but all he did was for the Yuan Family, questioning the worth if it cost the Han and the Yuan Family’s strength.

Open Spiritual Talent, call back the Vanguard, have the Iron Cavalry and Danyang Elite cooperate, along with Ardashir’s main force and over ten thousand Parthian elite infantry and cavalry to fight Rome’s seventy thousand troops.

Sheni Pei stated that even if all the Romans were fully armored, estimating Parthian elite would be annihilated, half of Ardashir’s main force would die, half of the Iron Cavalry and Danyang would die, a third of the Yuan Family elite would die, and that would basically crumble the Romans, but why should he do that!

We Han troops came to aid, not to be cannon fodder. You, Li Jue, and Sunx Quan, can’t tell primary from secondary. My mind isn’t muddled; why would I fight such a hard battle? Allies? A joke, they don’t share our language or culture; if they were in the Han’s north, they’d be wiped out already.

"I appreciate your teaching us military formations, but if you think that will make me recognize you, you’re mistaken. You no longer know the difference between personal and public matters!" Sheni Pei looked at Zhuge Liang coldly.

From the moment Sheni Pei spoke, Gao Lan began to isolate the main tent’s voice. Chen Gong almost instantly relayed a voice transmission to Gao Shun to use the Military Spirit to block the main tent.

Zhuge Liang remained silent for a long time, "Indeed, it is my problem."

"Your stance has become problematic. There’s definitely someone advising what Fars Sasanian is doing; haven’t you noticed? You’re now completely treating Parthia as one of us in your considerations. But why should Parthia be considered one of us?" Sheni Pei tore apart all pretenses and asked coldly.

"They don’t use our writing, they don’t speak our language, nor present offerings to our court. The reason for their current deference is because we are stronger, and Rome too is stronger than they are. They need to show us respect, require our protection. What if they became stronger?" Sheni Pei looked at Zhuge Liang and retorted.

"They have that potential; they are more dangerous than the Huns. Have you considered the range in which they can expand? From what I see, Rome’s power is not inferior to ours. But do you understand the Mediterranean at Rome’s center?" Sheni Pei laughed coldly at everyone present, confident no one knew better than him.

"Probably none of you here understand better than I do. Do you know that with that sea, as long as Rome remains a whole nation, no similar strength country can defeat it? In two months, all military forces can convene at any location. How do you fight against that?" Sheni Pei’s eyes were cold as he looked at everyone, his gaze filled with ridicule.