Three Kingdoms Eschatology

The sound of horseshoes behind them like summer thunder made the Roman soldiers gallop towards the mountains. In order to run faster, they even discarded their large shields and weapons.However, they cannot be faster than four-legged war horses, not to mention the heavy ring armor on their bodies.Rows of lances picked off their bodies, and countless iron hooves trampled their ring armor and their bodies into pieces.In the end, only a few Roman soldiers escaped the massacre and managed to escape into the mountains of Mount Lebanon.

To the north of Beirut City, Caracalla stood in the open space in front of the camp, behind which were thirteen huge Roman infantry phalanxes.Everyone stood silently in the night like sculptures, waiting for the surprise attack of the Roman soldiers in the south of the city.

But there was no movement in the city for a long time, and Caracalla's heart gradually sank.The sand in the hourglass was turned upside down again, and when it leaked halfway, a few Roman soldiers who escaped by chance finally came back.After Caracalla knew the truth, she became angry and said coldly: "Tomorrow morning, the whole army will launch a general attack!"

At dawn, hundreds of Roman ballistas fired stone bombs, and the city of Beirut once again crackled like hail.Tens of thousands of Roman soldiers formed more than ten phalanxes and pushed towards the southern city wall of Beirut side by side.In addition to the ladder carts, there are also tall building carts in the phalanx.

At this time, in addition to stone bullets, the Roman ballista fired a fireball.These fireballs are wooden barrels containing Greek fire.This was the first time the Roman army used Greek fire. The reason why it was not used before was because the army did not bring much of this kind of material, and the rear supply transport team was slow, so Caracalla had to save it.

Soon, a raging fire ignited in the city of Beirut, and thick smoke billowed out.Clusters of flames also rose from the top of the city, and from time to time Sasanian soldiers who were scorched by the flames could be seen rushing out from behind the walls, screaming fiercely.At the same time, hundreds of ladder vehicles and building vehicles of the Roman army approached the city wall one after another.

The Roman soldiers lined up in a phalanx began to orderly, and row after row rushed up the climbing ladder and climbed to the top of the city.There are also a large number of Roman soldiers lined up in an orderly queue at the entrance of the staircase of the building, ready to rush to the top of the city from the building.

The rolling stones at the top of the city arrived as scheduled, and they rolled down the ladder carts one after another.All the catapults of the Roman army started to bombard the wooden barrels filled with Greek fire, and they concentrated on the top of the city wall where the ladder cart was approaching.

A Sasanian soldier suddenly stood up from behind the crenel. He held up a thick log full of iron nails with both hands, and threw it fiercely towards a ladder truck.But just as the wood was out of his hand, a burning fireball fell to the top of the city not far from him.With a detonation and muffled bang, the soldier was engulfed in flames in the blink of an eye, and there were flames on the left and right behind him. In desperation, he screamed and jumped directly from the top of the city.

Two Roman soldiers successfully climbed to the top of the city, but there were raging flames on both sides of them.The two of them were about to pull their legs out and rush to the depths, when suddenly two people emerged from the sea of ​​flames slightly behind the left and right sides.

When the two Roman soldiers found them, their spears had already stabbed the two Roman soldiers mercilessly.The latter was pierced through the ring armor by the opponent's spear in extreme shock, and fell into a pool of blood.They were not shocked by the sudden appearance of Sasanian soldiers behind them, but that these two Sasanian soldiers came out of the sea of ​​fire.In fact, the two Sasanian soldiers wore fireproof clothing made of fire cloth.

Although Ardashir did not generally provide the Sasanian defenders in Syria with Greek fire and fire protection clothing, he still gave some.At this time, these special materials were all used intensively by Musil in the Beirut defense battle.

The two Sasanian soldiers who got out of the sea of ​​fire hadn't been proud for long before they were stabbed down with short swords by a new wave of Roman soldiers rushing up.

On the city wall where the Roman siege locomotives were approaching, the ladders of the locomotives had already descended with a bang and landed on the battlements.The Roman soldiers in the building rushed out, and the javelins in their hands were thrown out like a torrential rain.Some of the Sasanian warriors who tried to intercept them fell in pools of blood with javelins pierced through their bodies in piles.The Roman sword and shield soldiers stood upright with their large shields, waving their daggers, jumping over their corpses, and killed them deep in the corridor of the city wall.

Although the Sassanian soldiers at the head of the city fought desperately, the Romans' strength and combat power were far superior to their opponents.After two or three quarters of an hour of fierce fighting, an eagle flag of the Roman Legion was already flying over a certain city.On the four or five li long north wall, at least thousands of Roman soldiers successfully climbed to the top of the city.The Roman soldiers under the city continued to rush upwards along the ladder carts and building carts, against the rolling wood, stones and hot oil.

On the watchtower at the corner of the city, the Sasanian governor Mushir, who was directing the defense, had beads of sweat on his face.The general next to him urged: "Your Excellency, you can't wait any longer, let it go!"

Before he could finish his words, Musil swung his arm fiercely and shouted, "Let go!"

A moment later, Caracalla, who was watching the battle outside the city, saw dozens of fire dragons erupting from the wall of Beirut's northern city wall.In an instant, the ladder cars and building cars of the Roman army will be burned into balls of fire.The muscles at the corners of Caracalla's mouth twitched, and she said in horror: "Greek fire..."

Chapter 891 Willing to go alone

The North Wall of Beirut.The Roman soldiers on the ladder turned into fireballs and jumped down from a high place screaming and wailing.The scene in the siege locomotive was even more appalling. Everyone in the stairway of the lorry let out heart-piercing yells for a short while and then fell silent.At the lower part of the stairway of the building, the Roman soldiers who survived the flames swarmed towards the exit of the stairway, which inevitably caused a stampede and caused more casualties.

In addition, there were a large number of Roman soldiers stranded at the top of the city. They were cut off from their retreat, and they could only fight desperately as a lone army.In the end, most of the Roman soldiers were beheaded at the head of the city, and only a small number of soldiers were captured by the Sassanian army.The Sassanids did not spare the captured Roman soldiers, killing them on the spot at the head of the city.

Below the city, Caracalla has issued an order to withdraw troops, and the Roman army that had gathered under the city receded like a tide.Caracalla counted the number of people, including the 3000 soldiers who went around to the south of the city, and lost nearly [-] people in this battle.

In the military tent, the atmosphere seemed extremely dull.All the generals under Caracalla's command seemed to be dumb, not saying a word.

Rome's military system was completely different from that of Sasanian, and all its soldiers were recruited from among the citizens.The financial resources spent on each Roman soldier are quite huge.Luma also cannot recruit slaves to supplement the army source like Sasanian.A loss of more than [-]% may not be a big deal to Sassan, but it is a considerable loss to the Roman army.Therefore, it is not surprising that the generals are so downcast.

Finally, a voice broke the silence in the military tent. "Your Majesty Caracalla. The current fortified city is difficult to conquer, and the supply transportation in the rear is slow. It is obvious that someone in the rear deliberately does not cooperate with us to fight in the front. If this continues, it will take a long time and the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, I suggest that our army should withdraw. Bar!"

Everyone looked at the reputation, but it was Caracalla's bodyguard chief and head of the Guards Corps, Makrinus, who was speaking.In fact, what he said was also what everyone thought.When everyone saw that someone was taking the lead, they followed up one after another and persuaded Caracalla to retreat.

Caracalla, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly slapped the table, stood up and said: "How can our Roman legion think about retreating when we are frustrated for a while. There are more than ten thousand soldiers in Beirut, and we can't even take down this city." , what face do you have to return to the city of Rome?"

Seeing him getting angry, everyone fell silent again.Caracalla glanced at Macrinus again and asked, "Macolinus, if you don't have the confidence that we will win, I will allow you to retire early and return to Rome to retire."

When Macrinus heard this, his face became hot. If it weren't for his black skin, he could see that his face was as red as a cockscomb.He stood up quickly, put his legs together, raised his arms high in a salute, and said: "Dear Your Majesty Caracalla, Macrinus, who is loyal to you, is willing to follow you wherever you go, facing any Enemy. What Makrinus said just now was only out of concern for His Majesty's safety and future, not fear of the enemy. Don't care about His Majesty Wanwang."

Caracalla nodded, and then changed the subject to cheer up the generals and said: "Although our army has suffered this setback and suffered heavy losses, we have received sufficient supplies from the rear, especially more ballistas, siege vehicles, towers, etc. The city of Beirut was still captured after the chariots and the Greek fire. Although they got the Greek fire, they were not in large quantities, and probably almost used up. Most importantly, I had my nephew Alexander Severus lead the Egyptian legion from the Depart from Alexandria and head towards Beirut along the coast. After a while, the Egyptian Legion will be able to reach the northern city of Beirut."

When Caracalla said this, she stopped talking for a long time, and then said meaningfully: "I think all of you here should know how the respected status of our knights in the Roman Empire today came from. That's all The credit of my father Septimius Severus. It was he who used iron and blood to unite the Roman Empire, which was originally disjointed, and made us knights equal to the senators of the senate. If we go back like this The city of Rome, then the status and prestige of our Roman soldiers in the empire may return to the previous state. Even I may lose the position of emperor."

The meaning of his words is naturally understood by everyone present.His father, Septimius Severus, was a knight.Step by step, he became the elder and consul of the Senate with his military exploits.Then he was crowned emperor for ending the Roman civil war and defeating the foreign enemy Parthia.During this period, he continued to improve the treatment of soldiers and completely relied on soldiers to rule.At the end of his life, the ruling decision left to his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, turned out to be: "Let the soldiers get rich and leave other people alone."

Caracalla saw that the crowd stopped talking, so she waved her hands and said, "That's all for today's discussion, the meeting is over!"

……

South shore of the Dead Sea, Judean desert.There was a rustling sound behind a stretch of sandstone, mixed with the snorting of camels and horses.Hundreds of Bedouins with their heads wrapped in white cloth and white robes are hiding there.

From time to time, a chief or something drove his camel up a ledge and looked to the other side of the sandstone.Another young man came up to him and said, "Father, isn't it too risky for us to attack the Romans? Are the Romans so nice? It might bring disaster to our tribe. The Shan people are usually our targets for harassment and looting, so why should we work for them? Whatever you want, just grab it from them."

The chief frowned and said, "You know what! Do you know how big this deal is? Sasanian Emperor Ardashir promised us that if the attack on the Romans is successful and effective, then they will give me countless gold and silver In addition to jewelry, they also agreed to allow our tribe to monopolize the slave trade in Amman. Do you know how much money our tribe can bring in that year?"

Before he finished speaking, a Bedouin on foot jumped off the sandstone and said in a panic: "Report to the chief, the Romans are coming, coming!"

The Bedouin chief was too lazy to talk nonsense with his son, so he got off the camel in a hurry, climbed to the high sandstone, and looked into the distance.Sure enough, I saw an army winding like a long snake coming.Dozens of eagle flags of the Roman legions fluttered in the wind.Needless to say, this is the Roman Legion that I am waiting for.The chief immediately issued an order: "Get on my mounts and get ready to attack. Everyone remembers that no matter what the battle situation is, after a quarter of an hour of confrontation, everyone should retreat and not get entangled with the Romans. Then prepare for the next attack. As long as we entangle them, we will complete the errand that others entrusted to us!"

Chapter 892 Harassment in the Desert

In the scorching sun, Alexander Severu looked at the vast desert, hoping to see the snow-white salt flats of the Dead Sea soon.But his eyes were still full of the monotonous reddish yellow of the Judean Desert, not even a trace of the dark green of a camel's thorn.

He is only 17 years old now, but he is already the supreme commander of the African Egyptian Legion, and he is stationed in the coastal city of Alexandria all the year round.Severus inherited his grandfather's surname, and the name Alexander was given to him by his grandfather.The intention of his grandfather, who advocated force and power, to give him this name is to hope that he will become a famous figure like Alexander the Great in history in the future.

Half a month ago, he received a request for help from his uncle, the current Roman Emperor Caracalla.Ask him to lead troops into Syria for reinforcements.Alexander did not hesitate to use up his army and headed towards Beirut along the Mediterranean coast.But when he visited the Isthmus of Suez, he was repeatedly harassed by Bedouins.

At first, Alexander thought it was just a Bedouin tribe who didn't know what to do or what to do.But by the third time, Alexander knew that this would never be accidental, otherwise it would not be so frequent.Although these three attacks were easily repulsed by Alexander's army, he wasted a lot of marching time.According to the normal speed, he should have bypassed the Dead Sea and reached the upper Jordan River by now.

At this time, his heart was anxious, and Alexander, who was in a hurry, felt thirsty, so he took out a water bottle from the leather pouch in front of the saddle and drank it.

Before he had taken two sips, he heard a whoosh in his ears, and then his hand holding the kettle trembled, as if someone had knocked a heavy object on his kettle and almost dropped his hand.Then he discovered that it turned out that an arrow had been nailed to the kettle and shot the kettle right through.The water in the kettle has been gurgling out.

Alexander immediately reacted and shouted: "Damn it, those Bedouins like flies are coming again!" The Roman soldiers in the queue had already shouted, and the voices of "enemy attack" and "formation" were endless.A large number of Roman soldiers held their shields and quickly built a shield wall and defensive formation.The rest of the soldiers assembled behind the shields, row after row.Alexander also jumped off his horse in a well-trained manner and hid behind the shield wall.

In the distance, hundreds of Bedouin warriors wearing chain mail, or wielding scimitars, or bending bows and arrows rushed towards them screaming.These Bedouins were divided into more than ten rows, with dozens of riders in each row. Some rode war horses, while others rode camels.

Alexander shouted loudly: "Javelin ready! Three rounds!" Nearly a hundred Roman soldiers who had gathered behind the shield wall raised their javelins over their shoulders.The shafts of these javelins are a little thinner than ordinary spear guns, and they are nearly five feet long.In addition to being used as javelins, they can also be used as spear guns for hand-to-hand combat.

At this time, the dozens of Bedouin war cavalry in the front were only more than ten battles away from the front of the Roman army.With Alexander shouting "Let go!" Half of the Roman soldiers threw their javelins fiercely.Amidst the howling and neighing of the horses, among the dozens of Bedouin war cavalry, except for seven or eight cavalry who survived through the gaps of the javelins by chance, the rest were either people or their mounts were pierced through the body by Roman javelins, and fell down amidst people shouting, horses neighing and camels screaming. .Alexander then gave another order, and the second wave of fifty or sixty javelins flew out again, but the targets of these javelins were not the seven or eight remaining Bedouin cavalry.It was dozens of Bedouin cavalry in the last row.

The Bedouin cavalry in the second row were no different from the first row.Only the remaining seven or eight Bedouin warriors in the first row were still rushing towards the shield wall of the Roman army.But now there are three-foot javelin heads protruding from every shield gap in the shield wall.If these war horses charged forward, they would naturally be able to knock Roman soldiers into the air with their shields, but they themselves would inevitably be injured by spears.

This is a competition of wills. Facing the cold and shining sharp blade, the Bedouins dare not fight with their lives in the end.Less than a battle away from the spearhead of the shield wall, they hurriedly tightened the reins and turned their mounts.At this moment, the speed of their mounts was zero compared to the Roman soldiers. It was also at this moment that more than a dozen Roman soldiers rushed out and stabbed their spears into their thighs and ribs at a very fast speed. Or the buttocks of a mount.The Bedouin immediately fell off the horse while the horse neighed, and more than a dozen Roman soldiers retreated at an extremely fast speed, and the shield wall was intact again in the blink of an eye.At the same time, another wave of javelins flew over the shield wall.

At this time, more Roman soldiers gathered behind the shield wall, and more than a hundred Bedouins fell under the torrential rain of javelins.Seeing that the situation was not good, the Bedouins in the rear turned around under the leadership of the chief, and galloped towards the rear of the Roman queue, giving up attacking the head.

Alexander's queue stretched nearly two miles long, and the Bedouin chief's plan was to take advantage of the speed and only choose the weakest point to attack.

Sure enough, the Bedouin finally found an opportunity in the middle and back of the road, more than a mile away from Alexandria.The Roman soldiers had no time to gather into formation.The thin five rows of Roman soldiers were quickly pierced by the Bedouin cavalry, losing three or forty people.When these Bedouins were about to attack the Roman formation repeatedly, a large number of Roman soldiers had already arrived at the front and rear ends, including hundreds of cavalry and Egyptian light infantry from the rear.

The Bedouin chief hurriedly shouted: "Withdraw!, withdraw quickly, don't fight any more, it will be too late if you don't withdraw." Fall off the horse.It turned out that a flying Egyptian sling shot him in the head with a sling.His body was then trampled by several Roman warriors.The chief's son yelled "Father!" sadly, and fled out surrounded by several Bedouin chief's bodyguards.

Alexander quietly waited for the soldiers to clean up the battlefield, take care of the wounded, and then rearranged the queue and set off again.After a few quarters of an hour, the sun set again.Alexander sighed and said secretly, if this continues, he doesn't know when he will be able to march to the city of Beirut, and he doesn't know if this delay will have a major impact on the battle in Beirut.Fortunately, before it was completely dark, Alexander saw the white salt flats and sparkling water of the Dead Sea.

Alexander originally wanted to march overnight and rush to Beirut day and night, but after seeing the exhausted soldiers who had traveled long distances during the day and fought one after another, he finally ordered the army to camp at the Dead Sea for rest.

Chapter 893

Beirut City, the northern suburbs of the city.In the vast Roman army camp, groups of soldiers were lazily leaning against the wall or chatting while standing in the shade of trees.

Macrinus also sat down with a group of generals under a tall olive tree, drinking and chatting.Macrinus picked up the flagon and poured it into the glass, but the dark red wine was only half filled, and the flagon was already empty.

Then Macrinus shouted to the soldiers to fetch wine.The soldier spread his hands and responded: "General, the wine is gone. The whole battalion is gone. We need to wait for the next batch of supplies to arrive."

Macrinus had no choice but to wave his hand to let the soldiers go away, and drank the last half glass of wine in one gulp.At this time, another general at the same table complained: "Why is our supply team moving so slowly? Logically, there should be one wave every week. But now it has been more than a month from beginning to end, and we have only replenished once."

Another person answered: "It's not that the marching speed of the supply team is slow, but that someone is obstructing it."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"As you know, the Achaia Province in the south of Greece and the Asia Province in the north of Syria are the two provinces responsible for providing supplies. And these two provinces are Senate provinces. Their governors are all senators People in the Senate. Many people in the Senate did not support our expedition, and some people may even hope that our failure in this expedition will change the entire political map of Rome. In this way, they naturally have the motivation to deliberately delay the supply of supplies. "

"I see, this is infuriating. We're bleeding and sweating, and these guys are still dragging their feet."

"Let me tell you, we shouldn't be fighting this battle at all. They, the veterans who control the center of the empire, are not in a hurry. Why should we, knights and warriors who are paid by the army, be in a hurry?"

"Yes, but His Majesty Caracalla must come to fight this battle. What can I do?"

Seeing that the topic was talking about Caracalla, Makrinus wanted to remind everyone to pay attention to their words and deeds, and prepared to change the topic to other places.At this time, the nearby soldiers suddenly became commotion, and those soldiers who were squatting and standing at the foot of the wall suddenly ran towards a side door of the camp.

And there were faint shouts from outside the side door.Everyone immediately stopped the previous discussion, and the topic quickly changed to the present.

A centurion under the command of Macrinus said: "Don't ask, it must be another caravan. These profiteers from Greece or Persia really know how to do business. Knowing that we have two dollars in our pockets, they will all The business came to the gate of the barracks. It happened that those in our army who were short of food and clothing took advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune."

Macrinus didn't take this seriously, and only ordered to the soldiers behind him: "See if they have wine, and if so, go and buy a few barrels back. The rest is your tip." He took out wine from his pocket He opened his purse, and took out a handful of Roman silver coins from it.When the soldier saw this large handful of silver coins, he happily took them and ran towards the gate.

Not stingy with money is the general impression given by Macrinus in the army. In fact, this is also related to his racial background experience.He was originally a black slave from the Mauritanian tribe in the province of Numidia, and his tribe had no concept of money.

In the future, his life will be mainly active in the arena and on the battlefield.In these places, money is of no use to him.What he values ​​is power and power.

When he was liberated from a slave to a free man by virtue of his excellent record in the arena, when he ordered all civilians in the Roman Empire to be granted citizenship in Caracalla, or when he was promoted by Caracalla to the head of the Guards, He has tasted the value of rights and power.Of course, with his cultural knowledge, he can't tell the difference between the two, since they are both rights anyway.And the source of power, he believes, depends on people—people who support him and are willing to work for him.This is the reason why he always "generously donates money" in the army.

After a quarter of an hour, the soldier returned empty-handed and depressed.Macrinus asked: "Why? They don't have any goods? When these merchants come to the military camp to sell things, don't they often bring wine to sell?"

The soldier replied with a sad face: "They brought a few barrels of wine, but they said that these wines were ordered by generals in other camps. So..."

Before he finished speaking, Macrinus stood up and strode toward the gate of the camp, saying, "I see who would dare not sell us wine." Behind him, he followed a group of relatives Soldiers, as well as centurion commanders, thousand commanders and other generals under his command.

Macrinus went out of the gate, and found that the caravan's temporary stalls and small camps were all on the edge of the camp's security zone—a place a hundred battles away.Many Roman soldiers were returning to camp with purchased goods.He came to the booth without saying a word, and saw several wine barrels piled up behind him at a glance.Then he threw a large handful of silver coins on the chopping board and said in a low voice, "Man, I want those barrels of wine!"

The guy in Greek clothes smiled and said, "Sir, I'm really sorry, we have five barrels of high-quality wine. But these are reserved by the officers in other camps, so they cannot be sold to you."

Makrinus' face suddenly darkened, and he pulled out his sword with a clang, and shouted, "Do you know who I am? If you don't sell this wine today, you have to sell it!"

Unexpectedly, the Greek trader didn't frighten him at all, and retorted: "Sir, I don't know who you are. But no matter who you are, even His Majesty Caracalla himself, you must abide by the laws of the Roman Empire. You can't buy and sell by force." When he was speaking, other people in the caravan had already noticed that the atmosphere was not right, and surrounded him with a hush, some of them were holding wooden sticks in their hands, and some were carrying swords and other things still in their sheaths.

Macrinus sneered, and then his face turned cold and he said: "You guys, do you think that I am a black man and look down on others? To tell you the truth, I am Macrinus and I am Caracalla The chief guard next to His Majesty. Of course I will abide by the laws of the empire, but you are hoarding your goods, so I can use this reason to confiscate your goods and punish you!"

The merchant didn't take it seriously, and continued to speak stubbornly: "Even if you are the chief guard of His Majesty Caracalla? We are law-abiding merchants who provide supplies for the Imperial Army and are protected by the laws of the Empire. How can you make an appointment for us with just a word?" Sin? In addition, let me tell you one more thing, the chief elder of the Senate is the major shareholder of our caravan..."

The personnel on both sides showed their weapons while arguing, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense...

Chapter 894 Assassination

As the two sides were at war, Makrinus smiled coldly and said, "How dare you show your sword against the emperor, I think you are tired of living!" He raised his sword while speaking.The moment he was about to give the order to act, a voice came: "Stop!"

When the armed traders heard the sound, they immediately stepped aside and took two steps back.An old man with gray beard and hair and wearing a Persian brocade robe and satin came out from the opening.It was the same Greek who said respectfully to the old man, "President, this warrior wants to buy our wine by force..."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by the other party's scolding: "Shut up."

Then the old man came to Makrinus, covered his heart with his hands, and said with a standard Persian etiquette: "This sir, I am the president of this chamber of commerce. Dare I ask you, sir, is it really Mr. Makrinus?"

Macrinus proudly raised the red-tipped helmet on his head and said, "Of course. You should know that there is only one black man in the Roman army who can wear such a red-tipped helmet, and that is me, Macrinus."

After the Persian old man confirmed his identity, he laughed and said: "It turns out that I am really respected General Macrinus. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am also a person who loves gladiators. When the general was in the arena in the early years, the general's name It’s like thunder to me..."

When he said this, Macrinus was already impatient, and Macrinus was not happy that others mentioned his slave life in the arena, so he shouted: "Stop talking nonsense, are you going to sell it or not! ?”

The old man chuckled and said, "In business, the most basic rule of our business is to keep our promises. These barrels of wine are indeed pre-ordered by others, and it is impossible to sell them to you..."

After hearing this, Macrinus was about to get angry again, but the old man continued unhurriedly: "However, we have a few barrels of fine wine that are of better quality than this. These are not for sale, and are reserved for ourselves. Drink it. Now that the general is in urgent need, I can give it to the general. It’s just that this wine is different from ordinary wine, and has a peculiar taste, but I don’t know if it suits the general’s taste.”

Macrinus felt relieved when he heard the room, and replied: "It's so difficult, let me taste it."

The old man immediately said: "Then invite the general to taste wine in my tent, and I can have a chat with the general about fighting skills." After finishing speaking, the old man made a gesture of invitation.

Macrinus turned his head twice quickly, and his intuition told him that the matter would not be as simple as tasting wine and chatting.He pondered for two or three breaths, then strode towards a large tent in the caravan camp.His personal soldiers and generals were going to follow him, but he signaled him to wait outside.

After Macrinus entered the tent, the old man followed closely.After a while, a caravan guy brought a jug of wine.Macrinus took a sip, and then repeatedly praised: "It is indeed a good wine. How much is it? I want it all."

The old man chuckled and said, "The general is laughing, this wine doesn't cost money."

"No money? Did you give it to me?"

"It can't be considered a gift, as long as the general agrees to the next condition, in addition to this wine, there will be countless gold and silver treasures and a super gift."

Maklinus suddenly became alert and said, "Oh, tell me, what's the condition?"

The old man's face suddenly became solemn and said: "Assassinate Caracalla!"

Hearing this, Makrinus jumped up as if stepping on a branding iron. At the same time, he drew out the dagger from his waist and shouted, "Who are you? How dare you plan to assassinate His Majesty Caracalla!"

The Persian old man still said calmly: "Don't get excited, general, sit down and listen to me. This will affect your future. Even if you want to kill me, it's not too late to kill me after I finish speaking."

Macrinus sat down again, but the sword he was holding in his hand did not return to its sheath.The old man continued: "The big gift I'm talking about is the throne of the emperor of the Roman Empire! Yes, as long as Caracalla is dead, it is guaranteed that the Legion will support you as the emperor of the Roman Empire. The Senate can also pass it."

Hearing this, Makrinus can be said to be surprised, happy, afraid and angry.Although he had never dared to think about the title of Roman Emperor, he, who was with Caracalla every day, thought it was something worth giving everything to get.

Seeing that he was silent, the old Persian man knew that he had a way out, so he calmly told the whole story.

Only then did Makrinus know that the so-called president of the chamber of commerce was actually a spy of Sassan.He came here to contact people in the Roman army and assassinate Caracalla.It's just that the people he contacted at the beginning were not Caracalla's confidantes, and there was still a great risk in asking them to complete the assassination mission.Today he met Macrinus by chance, and he planned to take the risk to win over the latter.

Finally, the Persian old man said: "As long as Caracalla dies, with the general's connections and prestige in the army, plus our people in the army, it will not be a problem to be proclaimed emperor of Rome. In the Senate of Rome, there are also several people who were killed by us. The elders who have been bought. They will also respond to the general and try their best to get the Senate to recognize your status as emperor."

After the old Persian man finished speaking, he tightly grasped a porcelain wine bowl from the East.As long as there is a change in Makrinus, he will throw the cup as a sign. At that time, Makrinus will be shot into a hedgehog by the crossbowmen ambushing around the tent.Of course, he and all the caravan members could not escape death, but they were able to cover up this secret.Let those Roman generals who have been bought continue to assassinate the coup plan.

Fortunately, the worst situation didn't happen. In the end, Makrinus said to him: "There will be news in these two days!" After that, he left the tent without looking back.The voice of the Persian old man came from behind: "Go, send these barrels of fine wine to General Macrinus."

The next night, the drowsy Caracalla was woken up by a sip of urine, turned over from the bed and went to urinate outside the tent.

He had just finished peeing, and through the reflection of the moonlight, he noticed a black shadow flashing across the ground.Caracalla was startled, and just as she was about to call out, a spear stabbed at him.Caracalla, who reacted quickly, narrowly avoided the shot, but the spear still pierced his nightgown.