sweeping the world

Chapter 978: Rome's Attack

The state displayed by the Han Empire is truly terrifying.

From the point of view of Wai Guoren, they felt that the Han Empire seemed to be a country that would suffer from depression after a year of truce. They didn't know what to do if they didn't fight, and they seemed to be looking for someone to go to war all the time.

"For any country, if you have just expelled and exterminated the enemy, shouldn't the most important thing you should do is to cultivate your health?" Xias continued with his own wry smile: "As far as I know, the Han people did not do that. They did it from From before the restoration of the country to after the restoration of the country, there was at least one major war going on every year."

The same is true of Julian's understanding, for which he has great admiration.

For thousands of years, the Romans fought small battles every day on some border of their territory, and every five years a large-scale military campaign was inevitable.

They firmly believe that if a country wants to be strong, it should continue to conquer the outside world. If they wait for a day when Rome stops fighting abroad, that day will also be the moment when Rome will fall into weakness.

Foreign conquest is a process of plunder, grabbing enough people as slaves, and freeing more Romans to invest in a new round of foreign conquest.In addition to population, every step forward is to gain resources. The more places opened up, it means that the Romans have more resources.

The rise and growth of Rome was based on its continuous conquests. They acquired an exaggerated number of slaves and used those slaves as various labor forces. For a time, ordinary Romans did not need to participate in labor. Officials distributed food every day.

The continuous plundering of the outside world not only made Rome stronger, but also made Rome the most powerful country in the known world for a period of time. Looking up, it was considered a worthy opponent in West Asia.

"That's why the Han people are strong. They continue to conquer their enemies, gain population, wealth, and resources, and they will continue to grow stronger." Julian didn't mind revealing one point: "We are consolidating the sea frontier, and we have already found a target for war. "

"Britain, or central Europa?" That was all Xeas could guess.He said firmly: "You will fight Britain first."

The Romans once went to the other side of the strait and occupied most of the island of Britain. However, with the chaos in the Roman mainland and challenges in other directions, and the resolute resistance of the barbarians on Britain, the Romans gradually did not pay so much attention to it. Britain is gone.

The current situation is a bit special. The Romans have increased their emphasis on the sea to an unprecedented height, and they desperately need to accumulate enough sailing experience.

Not a Mediterranean sailing experience.The Mediterranean Sea is actually an inland sea. Compared with the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, the sea conditions are not the same at all.

Of course, there will be waves and ocean storms in the Mediterranean Sea, but to be honest, the waves in the Mediterranean Sea are nothing compared to the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, let alone the level of ocean storms.

Although the Romans ruled the Mediterranean, they could not control the weather. Even storms of the level in the Mediterranean had destroyed the Roman fleet more than once. Thinking about the harsh sea conditions in the Atlantic and Pacific, it is unbelievable. Do not let the Romans feel intimidated.

"We have purchased 87 ships in stock from the Han Empire." Julian knew that he couldn't hide this from anyone, mainly because the Han Empire didn't mention the need for the Romans to keep it secret: "Once they return to Europa, after necessary maintenance , and we will use them in the campaign against Britain."

In the long history, because the Romans have always been the most powerful and dangerous opponents of the Persians, the Persians have often spied on Rome's intelligence, and they will have a basic understanding of the terrain even if they cannot know it well.

"Do you want to use the purchased ships in the North Sea?" The North Sea that Xeas called was named by the Romans. Seeing that Julian did not refute, he continued: "You want to imitate the Han Empire's raid on Gupta. Like the Empire, choosing to launch a landing operation from the waist of the British island?”

"Sure enough, it's easy to guess!" Julian really didn't think it was a big surprise to be guessed: "Both the North Sea and the Strait will land on both sides."

The central part of Britain is a relatively narrow terrain. In other words, except for the southern part of the island, which is a little open, the entire island is actually an irregular long shape.

"We will use a pincer offensive. After landing in two directions, we will then connect with each other from the land." Julian was sure that the Persians knew the general situation of Britain. Since they had guessed how they would fight, there was no need to hide the rest: "Saxons, Celts, Angles and Picts, they weren't all that friendly to each other, but they always united whenever we marched."

The Celts were now the most powerful in the British Isles, occupying all the western territory in the southern part of the British Isles.

The Saxons and the Angles are allies. One occupies the southeast territory in the south of the British Isle, and the other occupies the northeast area in the south of the British Isle.

When the Romans had no military action, the Saxons and the Angles were fighting against the Celts together.

But if the Romans make any military moves, the Saxons and Angles will immediately make a truce with the Kate to deal with the Romans.

The Picts are a tribal confederation entrenched in the northernmost part of the British Isles. They are only willing to stay in their own territory all year round and have a neutral relationship with the Kettles, Saxons and Angles.

However, the neutrality of the Picts was limited to the civil war within the British Isles. Once the Romans showed any signs of going north, they would send warriors to go south, usually joining forces with the Celts to fight against the Romans.

"If it's just for simple military training..." What Xeas knew was that Rome was very poor now, so he asked suspiciously: "Can your nobles agree?"

"We found a super large iron mine over there." What Julian didn't say was that he didn't know who spread the news first, and it was later confirmed that what he said was true: "The associated silver mine reserves are also large. few."

iron ore?Or extra large?Xeasias was for a moment extremely Roman.

The current World Island, except for some extremely uncivilized ethnic groups, as long as it is a well-established country, even if it does not have mature smelting technology, it has basically entered the era of contact with iron.

Since this is the Iron Age, the value of iron ore goes without saying.

For some countries, especially regional powers and hegemonic empires, more iron ore is always better, and no country will be too little.

At present, the Romans said that it is super large, and the storage capacity will not be less than 2000 million tons.

Of course, the Persians have their own mineral resources, but hearing that the Romans have discovered a new iron mine with a reserve of at least 2000 million tons, they still want to go crazy.They use so much iron ore, but basically they are large, medium and small types, there are really no super large iron ore.

"I don't know why, but the Han people are very interested in collecting silver, and they seem to be more obsessed with it than gold." Julian did not say how much silver mine reserves there are in Britain. He guessed: "The territory of the Han Empire does not seem to be There are not many gold and silver mines, and silver used to be worth more than gold, but that has only changed in the past decade.”

It is true that there are not many gold and silver mines in the land of Zhuxia, especially the number of silver mines is relatively small, and most of the gold mines are concentrated in the south and southwest.

Perhaps it should be said that in addition to coal mines, Zhuxia Land has some minerals of all kinds, but in terms of the size of the land and the amount of reserves, the quantity is really not large.

No matter before or after, in fact, the land of Zhuxia is in a state of extreme shortage of precious metals. That is, with the continuous development of science and technology, more and more elements are discovered, and the types of applications of elements also increase. Those who have not been originally Only the rare earths, manganese, and other minerals discovered have their due value.

Xeas understood that the Romans felt that the Han people liked silver, and the Romans were unwilling to send too much gold to the Han Empire. The Romans did not pay much attention to silver, and they would definitely not choose to use gold to trade with the Han people with silver.

In fact, the Persians have long discovered that the Han people prefer silver. Fortunately, Persia has a large amount of silver, and when it trades with the Han people, it also prefers to pay with silver.

Do the Han people really like silver more than gold?To some extent, both the Romans and the Persians were right.

For a long period of time, perhaps it should be said that it is necessary to carry out trade with foreign countries in the Ming Dynasty, and continue to obtain silver from the trade between Japan and Europa. Otherwise, the gold on the land of Zhuxia was actually much more than silver.

Anyone who, before the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, would have been considered a fool would have preferred silver over gold or copper in transactions.Or that person has just traveled through time and doesn't know the market yet.

Based on the premise that rare things are more valuable, the amount of silver owned by the Han people is scarce. Although the value of silver is far lower than gold in the known world, the Han people really prefer silver.

"Now the Han people basically have the final say." Julian said the value definition of precious metals: "They like silver, but they still adopt a gold-silver ratio of ten to one. See if they are more willing to charge silver. Is there something wrong?" Is the place in urgent need of silver?”

The Persians also made similar guesses, but they didn't even think about what they needed to use a lot of silver.

"Could it be related to the things they invented?" Julian was more willing to guess from this aspect: "For example, silver is used in the processing of gunpowder, artillery, and guns?"

"That's what we guessed too." Xeas patted the snow on his shoulder and said uncertainly: "It's very likely, but it can't be confirmed."

What kind of imagination is this?Even if silver is used in industry, based on the current level of technology, it is only in some anti-rust coatings.We need to wait until we enter the era of electricity before the use of silver in industry will surge. After all, silver is an indispensable raw material for electroplating.

"Absolutely." Julian said with great certainty: "Their Japanese island provinces continue to transport silver to the mainland, but they still give priority to silver in foreign trade. There must be a big use for such a thing to happen, otherwise how could it happen? Can't explain it."

At this moment, both of them came up with an idea, should they make a suggestion to the country and start to reserve silver, so that it can be used in the future?

There were snowflakes in the sky, and the ground was white at first glance. If there was enough sunlight, no one would stare stupidly with wide-eyed eyes.

In fact, no matter if it was Julian or Xcias, or anyone else, they all chose to wear a thin blindfold, and would rather see through the blindfold rather than take it off.

People are like that, and so are war horses and other livestock. Otherwise, if you suddenly become blind one day, you are asking for it.

They were already in the territory of Xigaoche, but it wasn't too deep. They only entered more than sixty miles, and they didn't even meet a tribe along the way.

"That Highness is over there."

Julian reminded that he was already approaching with his horse.

Ksias was not willing to fall behind at all, and he also patted his horse and leaned forward.

Living in a world of ice and snow, Liu Shen wrapped himself up tightly, his eyes were not directly exposed to the air, and he didn't know how Julian saw him.

The three of them have been in contact many times. From just greetings before, to chatting a few words later, they are now able to ride horses together.They may not be friends, but they can get together and chat.

"Is His Highness patrolling again today?" Julian didn't care that he was blocked by the Han army knights when he came over, and was even happy that his weapons were not taken away this time: "Dingling is so good at hiding, I don't know where to hide .”

In the past few times, Julian, Xyas and the others were disarmed whenever they came within ten meters of Liu Shen.

It's not that everyone who approaches Liu Shen will be disarmed, only the crooked nuts are targeted.

"Our scouts have explored the surrounding area for fifty miles, but have not found even a single herdsman." Liu Shen's mouth and nose were wrapped in cloth, and he spoke in a muffled voice: "This is not a good sign."

"That's right!" Julian of course agreed with Liu Shen's statement: "If you don't find Dingling, you can't eliminate them."

The season has actually entered the late spring, but there is no sign of melting ice and snow in this area. Although the Han army had expected this, they still felt a little confused.

It's not that I'm confused about why I came here, but I'm confused that one day this land will become part of the territory of the Han Empire, and what's the use of this place.

According to modern regional divisions, their current location should be at the junction of Central Siberia and Western Siberia.

The terrain of this place is extremely flat, and it is difficult to find a mountain. What they are facing now is a piece of ice and snow. If they wait for the ice and snow to melt, they will face an even worse environment.

"I heard that after the ice and snow melt here, swamps will appear one after another." Liu Shen said distressedly: "As soon as the ice and snow show signs of melting, we should withdraw our troops."

(End of this chapter)