Daqin Engineering Corps

"Now!" Antiochus III raised his head and said confidently: "We have enough troops. The city of Babylon has gathered a hundred thousand troops, and another fifty thousand are on their way. Tell me, Akaif Si, what else can stop us from recapturing Homusang and trampling those silk people under our feet?"

"Your Majesty." Acaevus said, "If Silk Country is defeated so easily, then Ptolemy, Macedonia, and Rome...would they think they were cheated?"

"So we will make this battle look more difficult." Antiochus III replied: "We want to preserve our strength, Acaevus, and let them first see the power of the Chinese firearms. If we can seize those firearms , that would be even better!"

Chapter 5: The Mind of Rome

Antiochus III thought so and did so. He persuaded the kings of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, the Macedonian Kingdom, and the consul of the Roman Republic.

They are Arsinoe III, Philip V and Lucius.

"We need a unified command, otherwise this battle will go wrong!" Antiochus III said.

"Then, who should command the coalition forces?" Arsinoy III asked sarcastically, "Is it up to you? We all know that you have just been defeated by the Silk Army!"

The other two also let out a few contemptuous laughs in cooperation.

Antiochus III was unmoved, he replied with a smile:

"Yes, I think I should indeed be in command."

"Because we are the only country that has fought against the Silk Country, and General Akeves even almost defeated them!"

Speaking of which, Antiochus III raised his hand to Akaifus, and Akaifus bowed slightly to show his respect.

"What's more, Akaifus is more familiar with the terrain, and we also control the transportation of most of the grain and grass."

"If the command is given to any of you, can you rest assured?"

In this way, the other three people have nothing to say.

Although they didn't like the face of Antiochus III, they had to admit that what he said was the truth.

"What's more!" Antiochus III added: "The victory or defeat of the coalition has direct interests for Seleucid. If the coalition loses, Babylon will be the first to be attacked."

Antiochus III glanced at the two countries and a consul, and said, "But you don't have skin pain, don't you? So only Seleucid is the most suitable commander-in-chief. What do you think?"

This is also true.

This is especially true of Rome, whose territory is located in the west, and Lucius is not even willing to send troops for this, because in his opinion this is a war that has nothing to do with it.

If the command power is handed over to Lucius, what he hopes most is to exhaust the troops of the other three countries.

So the three of them met their eyes for a while, then nodded slightly to express their agreement.

However, Arsinoy III put forward a condition: "If your command is unreasonable, the three of us have the right to deny it!"

"Of course!" Antiochus III nodded without thinking.

Then the allied forces set off from Babylon after a little preparation.

The [-] coalition forces consisted of [-] Roman infantry, [-] Ptolemaic infantry, [-] Macedonian troops, and [-] Seleucid troops.

After that, a total of [-] troops were rushing to Babylon. They were used to protect Babylon and transport logistics. Although most of them were recruits and lacked equipment, they were more than enough to deal with the silk army's harassment of logistics.

The army of Arcaevus was cut off for logistics before and could only rely on Parthia, and of course it will not make the same mistake now.

Akeves put the Seleucid infantry in the middle, the Roman legion and the Macedonian army on the left and right flanks, and the Ptolemaic infantry in the rear... The Ptolemaic army belongs to the light army of Egypt, and they have the characteristics of strong mobility , suitable for use as mobile units.

So an army of one hundred thousand marched mightily to Huomusang.

Because of the large number of troops and sufficient food and grass, and the fact that the [-] troops are elites from various countries, the morale of each army is high, and they even have the mentality to compete with other countries.

The only exception was General Marcus of the Roman Legion.

General Marcus, wearing a red curved mane helmet and over half armor, rode on the back of a white horse and followed the infantry forward. The red cloak fluttered in the wind, giving him a sense of calm and dignity.

However, Marcus's attention was not here. His expression was stiff and his eyes were blank, and he was recalling the debate at the elders meeting in his mind:

"The Seleucids are right. If we don't defeat the Si people, then sooner or later, the Si people will attack Rome."

"We should send troops!"

"But who can guarantee that the Seleucids are not using us?"

"Look at that cannonball! Do any of us have the technology? So, so what? We have no choice!"

General Marcus couldn't speak, because that was where the elders and consuls discussed.

But Marcus believed from beginning to end that some of their elders were bought by Seleucid or Macedonians, otherwise they would not have sent [-] Roman soldiers to participate in this meaningless battle.

However, it wasn't long before Marcus changed his mind.

Because at this time Marcus received a letter from the consul Lukibus.

The letter was written in cloth. Marcus looked at it, his expression changed from initial confusion to surprise, and then he suddenly realized and nodded slightly.

Marcus carefully put away the letter, looked around, suddenly seemed to be a different person, raised his fist and ordered to his subordinates: "Accelerate!"

"Speed ​​up!"

"Speed ​​up!"

……

The Roman legion was like a sea of ​​red, rolling towards Huo Musang in the cool morning wind.

It turned out that it was the Consul Lukibus who solved Marcus' doubts.

His letter to Marcus said: "We must not let other people get the weapons of the people of Silk, and would rather destroy them!"

Marcus was a wise man, and when he saw this, he knew that the consul was right.

There is no suspense in this battle for the coalition forces, and they have no reason to lose.

On this basis, the only thing to consider is who gets the terrifying firearm... It can launch a few kilograms of iron ball hundreds of meters away. This weapon is definitely a nightmare for the Roman legion.

Seleucid, Ptolemy, Macedonia... Any country getting this kind of weapon is not good for Rome.

Therefore, Rome wants to destroy it, and if possible, capture one and bring it back to Rome...

This may be the real reason why Rome entered the war.

General Huomsang's Mansion.

It didn't take long for Shen Bing to receive the news that the coalition forces were dispatched... After knowing that Babylon had formed a coalition force, Shen Bing of course sent rangers to monitor Babylon 24 hours a day. Whenever there was any movement, the rangers would immediately send back signals and actively prepare for battle.

Shen Bing immediately summoned Wang Ben and others to discuss the war.

Wang Ben, who has always been fearless in the face of danger, frowned when he learned of the situation:

"We may have seven days to prepare."

Shen Bing shook his head and said:

"No, our preparation time may be much shorter!"

Wang Ben asked:

"Why did the general make such a statement?"

Shen Bing replied:

"If I were the commander of the coalition forces, I would worry about the enemy fleeing in this situation!"

Wang Ben said "oh", and then a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth:

"The general said that the enemy will send cavalry to hold us back first?"

The last thing Qin Jun worried about was the enemy's cavalry. If they did this, the cavalry would be hit immediately.

Chapter 5 Surrounding but not attacking

Shen Bing didn't care about the cavalry battle and handed it over to Wang Ben.

Because cavalry battles are the least of our concerns, from the moment the enemy's army walks out of Babylon, the Seleucid coalition forces are under control everywhere.

The main thing is reconnaissance... Almost all countries use cavalry for reconnaissance, but since the cavalry of the Qin army with hundreds of cavalry can easily defeat thousands of coalition cavalry, the coalition forces basically cannot do reconnaissance, but use infantry with black eyes The phalanx advances.

This is not a big problem for the coalition forces, because the Seleucid army is very familiar with the terrain from Babylon to Homesang, and at the same time, the terrain is flat and it is difficult to set up an ambush... In fact, even if you can set up an ambush, it will not help. Even if the pikemen surrounded them, there was nothing they could do.

Therefore, Akaifus simply canceled the reconnaissance ranger and ordered the troops to advance towards Homusang at full speed.

However, because there were no rangers, the coalition forces hardly knew about Huo Musang's situation, and Antiochus III worried whether the Qin army would escape.

"We can't go on like this!" Antiochus III said anxiously to Akaifus: "We don't know anything about Homusang, and it is very likely that by the time we arrive at Homusang, the people from the Silk Kingdom have already left. !"

"So what?" Akaifus replied, "Isn't what we want to drive away the Si people and take back Homusang?"

"Do you think it's just like that?" Antiochus III retorted angrily, "When we have [-] troops, my general only wants to take back Homusang!"

"But what can we do?" Akaifus spread his hands: "Silk's army is cavalry, and we are infantry. They can leave whenever they want, and we can't catch up!"

"Why don't we send cavalry to stick them?" Antiochus III suggested: "Send ten thousand cavalry!"

"That's death!" Akaifus cast doubtful eyes on Antiochus III: "Your Majesty, you know how powerful the cavalry of the Silk Army is!"

"Yes, I know!" Antiochus III insisted on his own thoughts: "But general, why don't you think about it, what choice does the Silk Army have? They only have more than 3 troops in Homusang, maybe even less. If They leave behind the cavalry who beat us, and then they will be surrounded by our infantry who come after us, otherwise our cavalry will be safe, won't they?"

Antiochus III's words made Acaves fall into deep thought.

There is some truth to this statement, that is, the use of cavalry as bait prevents the Silk Kingdom's army from getting out.

In particular, the cavalry actually has another option, that is, when they meet the enemy of the Silk Kingdom, some of them dismount immediately and transform into spear shield soldiers to cover the cavalry... This is the tactic that Acaevs has been considering to deal with the Silk Kingdom cavalry. At that time, Acaves was also eager to try it.

After some hesitation, Acaeves agreed.

At the beginning, Acaevus's tactics did work. When he saw the silk cavalry coming up from a distance, the Seleucid cavalry immediately dismounted and formed a square formation, holding a spear in one hand and a shield in the other. If the enemy cavalry dared to attack close by, they would immediately Fight back with javelins and crossbow bolts.

As a result, the Si National Army really had nothing to do with them.

This strengthened the confidence of Acaevus, and the countries of the coalition army also cheered, thinking that victory was waiting for them ahead.

How could Akaifus have thought that this was actually Wang Ben showing weakness to the enemy, and his purpose was to separate the Seleucid cavalry from the infantry.

Then, when the Seleucid cavalry was three days away from the main force, the Silk Country cavalry suddenly surrounded the Seleucid cavalry.

This encirclement was not difficult for Wang Ben, because as soon as he saw the Seleucid cavalry of the Qin army, he would immediately turn into infantry... This indeed increased the defense, but at the same time it also lost its mobility.

Then, Wang Ben was not in a hurry to attack. He just divided the [-] cavalry into three groups and took turns to circle around the Seleucid cavalry, and another [-] cavalry camped on standby.

Then the Seleucid cavalry understood what they were facing. They had to stand and maintain a defensive posture. As long as they relaxed, they would be attacked immediately, even if there were only a few thousand enemy cavalry in circles.

The Seleucid general Ferdo, who commanded the ten thousand cavalry, persisted for more than two hours and asked his subordinates loudly: "How long will it take for our infantry to come up?"

The subordinate replied in a voice trembling with fear: "At least three days, General!"

But in fact, it took four days, because at this time the Qin army's harassment of the enemy's main force also began... The cavalry appeared from time to time in front of the coalition army and shot a batch of arrows, and then disappeared like the wind before Seleucid organized a defense. In their sight, or at night, a group of rockets suddenly shot their tents on fire.

The result of weak cavalry is that they have to endure endless harassment from the enemy.

For the coalition forces, these cavalry were like a swarm of flies making noise around them all the time, chasing after they couldn't beat them and then driving them away, not to mention the continued decline in the morale of the troops, and the marching speed also slowed down significantly.

But in fact, there is no need to harass, and the cavalry trapped in front can't hold on.

Because the cavalry led by Ferdo had only two options when surrounded: either keep the defense for three days, or get on the horse and flee.

It's almost impossible to hold out for three days, but it's also not a good idea to get on a horse and run away.

During this period, Ferdo even thought of a way, that is, the phalanx moved to the middle safe area in turn to eat and rest.

But it didn't do anything.

Because 1 people can barely set up a primary phalanx with only about 2000 people on each side, this primary phalanx cannot enclose a large "safe area" at all.

Once the Seleucid cavalry began to rest or eat, the Si Kingdom army would rush up and shoot a large number of arrows towards the center.

This is true both day and night.

Antiochus III also thought about sending reinforcements to the [-] cavalry army, but if the reinforcements wanted to arrive quickly, they could only send cavalry... Thinking that the cavalry would still be besieged, Antiochus III dismissed the idea. idea.

Akaifus complained distressedly: "We underestimate the enemy too much, I said earlier that this is not possible!"

"This at least proves that the Silk Army didn't escape!" Antiochus III replied: "Don't worry, Acaevus, we will double the losses soon!"

When Antiochus III and Acaves said these words, Ferdo's cavalry had collapsed.

They desperately rode their horses to break through... Riding a horse to break through was not a good choice, because the Qin Army's heavy cavalry was already waiting for them on the way to escape.

The exhausted Seleucid cavalry were defeated as soon as they fought, and only a few hundred people managed to escape in the end. Even Ferdo became a prisoner of the Qin army.