Chapter 2435: They're Not Stupid Either!

“Sulinarari?” Chen Xi scratched his head, the names of the Ancient Romans were very complex. Even Chen Xi could only remember a very small portion of them, but those he remembered were monster-level individuals, such as Perennius, Papinian, and Severus. Pure warriors, Chen Xi really didn’t remember many, but as for commanders-in-chief, he did have some impressions.

In fact, the reason Chen Xi could remember these three guys was mainly because each of them was a bit abnormal. Severus, needless to say, a genius in warfare; he exhausted the country with wars, but his combat power surged. Nevertheless, he stepped down peacefully, and the whole country’s soldiers, in view of the victory he brought them and more than five times the salary they used to get, held him in considerable respect.

Incidentally, Severus is among the few in Roman history who marched to attack Rome, and there were Romans on the way who welcomed Severus’s royal teacher troops with food and drink.

Papinian, all right, also known as the Chief Justice, a Roman Parliament Member, a grand noble, and a heavy silk enthusiast. Of course, these weren’t the most important things; what’s important is that this guy later transferred to become a legion leader of the Roman Guard.

During the classical warfare era, Roman art of war was quite reliable. Whether it was Carthage, the Punic Wars of Rome, or Rome sweeping through the North, one could clearly see the classic strategic and tactical decisions within.

Hannibal’s Punic War, with its grand envelopment, was a classic tactic still referenced in WWII. However, later on, Rome knelt, and Europe’s strategies and tactics began to center on barbarian methods. This is also why from the fifth to the fifteenth century, Europe did not produce a renowned general.

During the Middle Ages, Rome was no longer Rome’s. It had become Europe’s barbarian Rome. The level of strategic and tactical proficiency declined straight to the level of the early Spring and Autumn period in China, where royal teachers fought royal teachers, and heavy cavalry faced heavy cavalry.

That’s why, among the four war gods of Europe, except for Napoleon, the other three were all from the classical period because in the Middle Ages, they blissfully courted death; tactical skills were entirely out of place.

Therefore, during the classical era, those who could become legion leaders of the Imperial Guard Corps were quite formidable because the Roman emperor always went to the battlefield, the guards often fought, and Papinian seemed to have no trouble adapting after his transition from Chief Justice to legion leader, even going abroad to fight!

“This name, I really don’t know, very good at fighting?” Chen Xi scratched his head and said. In ancient cold-weapon warfare, personal bravery was important, but in truth, personal bravery was just an auxiliary.

Back then, Xiang Yu could crush mountains and cut through peaks, using mountains as weapons against Hann Xin, finally defeating him. It wasn’t because Hann Xin couldn’t defeat Xiang Yu, but because Xiang Yu swallowed the Divine Stone, and the Heaven and Earth Essence was insufficient. Even the Cloud Qi formed by hundreds of thousands of troops couldn’t suppress Xiang Yu.

If it were now, one Cloud Suppression later, a flightless Xiang Yu, no matter how invincible, could still be filled to death with enough manpower.

Of course, back then, there was a very serious problem with the quality of the weapons; most weapons couldn’t even scratch Xiang Yu’s oily skin. This was the major problem. Nowadays, though, if Xiang Yu were brought out, Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing’s little knives could definitely slice him up for research.

“It should be very capable of fighting, the Marquis Wenn wouldn’t dare to claim sure victory against that kind.” Zhao Yun thought about it and said. Hearing this, everyone present had a slight toothache. Lyu Bu’s combat power was universally acknowledged, yet even he found it somewhat challenging to kill the opponent; indeed, a top-level powerhouse from another empire.

“I see.” Chen Xi thought for a moment, then quickly drafted something with pen and ink from the side and handed it to Zhao Yun. “Zilong, you can take this to Lord Xuande; when it comes to troop allocation, the Parthian side is relatively more important.”

Actually, Chen Xi’s intention was clear: Parthia needed help and troop deployment was necessary, so he planned to let Zhao Yun personally go over to assist.

“Sure, and besides, I also want to witness Rome’s top-level strongmen.” Zhao Yun nodded, in fact, he just wanted to meet Sulinarari.

“Yes, once there, inform Kongming that Parthia won’t survive this year, so he should prepare in advance.” Chen Xi smiled and said, though with Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang’s talents, such words didn’t need Chen Xi to say; he was just worried they might be too focused.

Relatively speaking, these two guys were very smart, but they were too young. Chen Xi was concerned they might center their strategy on holding Parthia, waiting for Han Dynasty reinforcements to arrive.

“Okay.” Zhao Yun nodded, then took Chen Xi’s document to Liu Bei to mobilize troops. This matter required Liu Bei’s approval; even if Chen Xi could do it, he wouldn’t overstep the rules he set for himself.

“Well, now we can say it, we all know Rome can’t possibly take all of Parthia. If we stall, the plan for dividing it between us seems quite sincere.” Guo Jia slowly said after Zhao Yun left.

“That’s true, but how to put it, the Romans are actually in an overextended state now. You don’t think the Romans keep hundreds of thousands of troops without spending money, do you?” Chen Xi said unkindly.

“Of course, it costs money.” Li Youu nodded, not minding Chen Xi’s tone.

“How do you think Rome will divide Parthia with us?” Chen Xi drew the map of Parthia in a few strokes, pointed at Parthia, and asked.

“Probably here; if it’s really as you say, with roads so bad after Rome’s capital, then this place is basically their limit.” Li Youu drew one easily, pointing west of the east-west centerline of the Parthian Empire.

“That’s what I think too.” Guo Jia and Fa Zheng nodded, indicating that this was also their thought. “Even if Rome gave it their all and took down Parthia, the territory they could occupy is still so small. Even if we don’t care, later on, once we recover, we could also take such a large area. Accepting Rome’s sincerity seems quite good.”

“Do you think the Romans are stupid?” Chen Xi asked in return.

“On an individual level, there might be differences in qualifications and intelligence, but on a national level, even if there are differences, they wouldn’t be too large.” Fa Zheng thought and said.

“Yes, if Romans aren’t stupid, why would they do this, spending so much manpower and resources only to get a quarter of the land, while the rest goes cheap to onlookers like us?” Chen Xi looked speechlessly at Guo Jia and others.

“Even if there is an Empire Ultimate Wall, why would Rome do the work themselves, yet let us take the big head?” Chen Xi glanced out at the snow outside the window, “Romans aren’t idiots, if we’re taking the big share, why would they rush to be at the forefront?”

Hearing this, the others were stunned. It’s not that they were dumb or something; it’s a matter of thinking mode here at the Han Dynasty. For the Han Dynasty, nothing could surpass vast lands in value.

Rome, with a grand gesture, suggests working together, with them doing the work, and after winning, they take this part, the remaining millions of square kilometers are given to you Han Dynasty. Anyway, even if we reach this position, it’s our limit, we can’t extend further, if you Han Dynasty have the ability, you can take it.

This involves the problem of the Empire Ultimate Wall too. If Chen Xi can’t solve the road problem, even with the current Heaven and Earth Essence speeding up marching and horse charges, the Han Dynasty wouldn’t possibly reach close to Western Asia.

Therefore, Guo Jia, Li Youu, Jia Xu, and Shenpei inwardly ridiculed the Romans while secretly thinking this plan was reliable.

Weren’t the Romans bullying our Han Dynasty for not being able to reach this place, so they offered it to us, just like that rogue Kushan, saying if we win, we’ll share the Baisheng State with you. In reality, they just bully us knowing we can’t occupy it, right?

But now, we can occupy it. Since we can, this kind of justified, advantageous situation, where we don’t need to intervene and can fill ourselves to satisfaction, why not participate? That’s why Shenpei, Li Youu, Jia Xu, Guo Jia firmly recognized the plan to divide Parthia in half.

In essence, in their thinking, this wave was Rome pretending to be grand and failing. When the opportunity for free benefits arises, they’re naturally eager.

However, once Chen Xi put that question forward, Guo Jia and others really felt something wasn’t right. If it were them, even if they couldn’t occupy it, they wouldn’t give it to another. Why create enemies?

Even considering the Empire Ultimate Wall’s reason, creating an enemy seems unreasonable, are Romans so desperate or in a hurry?

“In my impression, all of Parthia’s Essence Zones are within the range marked by Rome.” Chen Xi tidied his hair and said.

“Oh, isn’t that even better? For us, some money and grain have no value; land is fundamental.” Guo Jia’s eyes suddenly shone with a glint, “This way, each gets what they need, we don’t worry, and they don’t either, it’s beneficial to both parties.”

“That’s the saying, but do you think if a power slaughtered all the aristocratic families in our country, maxing out all the funds and supplies…” Chen Xi made a comparison.

“Our country wouldn’t need taxes for probably over ten years.” Lub Su’s eyelids twitched wildly; this comparison was kind of awful.

“This has nothing to do with us. If Romans want to do this and they’re not our people, they can mess around freely. We only want land, even places they looted; if they don’t want them, we can buy them. That’s fine.” Li Youu said plainly. Money’s easy to grab; just grab it. As long as the land is ours, we’ll reap more benefits than Rome.

Chen Xi had nothing to say about this. This disparity in thought processes seems like something Rome and the Han Dynasty need to explore.

However, speaking of this, Roman agricultural technology seems particularly bad, caught barbarians said to farm better than Roman citizens, simply wasting the Mediterranean climate, which suits farming.