Mythical Three Kingdoms

After Vologases V had stationed in Armenia for a period, he prepared to lead his troops southward as per the previous plan, to jointly attack Rome with the Sassanid Fars.

However, unlike before, this time, when the Kalan family led their troops, there were other figures among them.

Upon seeing those hidden among the Kalan family, Vologases V couldn’t help but show a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth, but then it vanished; anyway, this was a good beginning.

If you don’t want the Kalan family to dominate alone, fine, join me Vologases V, and I guarantee you won’t be suppressed by the Kalan family.

Nothing proves capability more than military achievements, especially exterminating Armenia, which is a strong stimulant for the Parthians who have been somewhat powerless in external wars over the past few decades.

And similarly, nothing builds prestige faster than military achievements; after all, the Seven Great Parthian Nobles are not a monolith, and if one strengthens, another weakens. The overt actions of Vologases V cannot be missed by the other five nobles.

Vologases V did not meet with those people, and after the nobles arrived, he led those truly loyal to him south.

Armenia is important, but no matter how important, it is not as important as Rome. If Rome can be defeated, many Armenias can arise, but if Rome cannot be defeated, what is gained now is sure to be lost later.

"Omzada, you act as the vanguard, advance with the shield!" The aura exhibited by the Sassanid Fars is truly terrifying; this old general always commands reverence, and the momentum of fighting to the last soldier if necessary without retreating is indeed daunting!

Upon hearing this, Omzada immediately ordered his troops to don thick armor, take up large wooden shields that could cover most of the body, array ranks orderly, then insert many archers into the formation, while the other soldiers pushed wooden rafts made of large logs into the Tigris River, intending to rush to the river’s opposite bank in this manner.

"Rushing across like this?" Lyu Meng looked stunned; trying to cross this way could cost Parthia thousands of lives, is this madness necessary?

"If we don’t rush across like this, we will only waste time, and wasting time poses too much danger for the Parthians." Zhuge Liang explained, slightly tilting his head.

"Although rushing across is risky, charging forward at full speed could deal a significant blow to Rome and notably boost our morale; however, looking at the preparations on the opposite side, it seems challenging." Chen Gong reviewed the densely packed dots on the river’s opposite side and shook his head, realizing this river was difficult to pass.

"I see the opposite side is full of archers and javelin throwers." Li Jue rubbed his chin, commenting, "Zhongming, unless you surprise the other side, the truly dangerous part is the last hundred steps, and the opposite side seems to consist entirely of barbarian archers."

Duan Wei looked at Li Jue disdainfully, then carefully observed, discovering the other side indeed primarily consisted of archers.

With Omzada’s roar, countless Parthians pushed rafts into the Tigris River and started rowing with tremendous effort, meanwhile, Rome dispatched numerous small boats rushing toward the Parthians.

The two sides soon collided in the middle of the Tigris River, with archer volleys wildly shooting toward one another. Both sides suffered losses in their rapid exchange, yet as their boats drew closer, the Romans soon forced the Parthians into a rout.

The Sassanid Fars was nearly furious, akin to how Guo Jia faced Zhou Yu across the Huai River in previous times, clearly having superior strength but unable to cross the river, and this immediate confrontation awakened the Sassanid Fars instantly.

"The gap between the two sides is too large." Sima Yi commented, slightly embarrassed.

The Parthians inherently lacked naval combat skills and hadn’t prepared much; initially, if more preparation time was available, and a full-scale assault occurred, denying the Romans sufficient defense power, forcefully breaking through might have been possible, but now it’s glaringly apparent they are underprepared.

"General of Fars, immediately lay a pontoon bridge, we will help block the arrow rain." Zhuge Liang glanced at Duan Wei, realizing they couldn’t just stand idly by, they needed to do something within their ability, moreover the Military Spirit Iron Cavalry by nature wasn’t vulnerable to arrow rain, perfectly suited to blocking them.

Of course Zhuge Liang knew that all the current noise was essentially to attract Rome’s attention, so the greater the commotion, the safer Ardashir’s stealth crossing would be.

The originally furious Sassanid Fars, upon hearing Zhuge Liang’s words, hesitated initially but then did not ask how Zhuge Liang planned to proceed.

He directly ordered the troops to repush the rafts, nail giant logs as the pontoon’s stakes; after chopping down so many trees, if the rafts couldn’t cross, following Zhuge Liang’s guidance to construct a pontoon bridge was worth a try.

In any case, the so-called forced crossing was merely an idea by the Sassanid Fars; he wasn’t unaware of the difference in his homeland’s naval skills compared to Rome’s vast naval capabilities.

Given this, losing to attract attention wasn’t a bad idea, shifting to Zhuge Liang’s approach wasn’t impossible; even if the other side was merely trying, the Sassanid Fars would agree, and the Han Dynasty as an ally was worth such endeavors.

Zhuge Liang summoned Duan Wei and the others, over 500 Military Spirit Iron Cavalry, blocking the arrows posed no issue, since they were immune to ranged attacks, standing on the pontoon to block arrows, attracting attention, making the opposite side realize their intention to force the crossing was not a joke, but had reliance.

Subsequently, as the Sassanid Fars watched Duan Wei and others ride up onto the broad pontoon, the pontoon continuously extended, the Iron Cavalry steadily progressing, with no hindrance from the Romans, as the Parthians worked through the night to complete one-third, the Romans rowed forward, launching arrow volleys toward those on the pontoon.

Nonetheless, Duan Wei stood there unemotionally, all arrows were distorted by Military Spirit Attributes into powerful defenses, for the Military Spirit was not a rigid entity.

The Romans, shocked at this sight, quickly understood these troops were impervious to arrow rain, and upon receiving this news, Benito immediately ordered Elklan upstream to release floating logs; Zhuge Liang, already prepared, adeptly managed these aggressive logs.

The following developments unfolded as Zhuge Liang had told Sassanid Fars, with small swift Roman boats bearing a foul-smelling kerosene capable of burning on water, rushing downstream; the burning kerosene lit the entire river like daylight.

Yet, in the face of such an assault, Zhuge Liang remained experienced; the Han Dynasty had dealt extensively with water and fire, their experience unbeatably rich.