Chapter 2449: Everyone Strives to Grow Stronger (Part 2)

If similarly, a leader with the Three Talents led three Dual Talent units, it might be even worse.

It would roughly turn into a Military Spirit Legion leading three Elite Legions, fighting against four Dual Talent Super Elites. Alright, even though one of the Super Elites is very strong, it’s still ineffective.

Precisely because of realizing this point, Zhuge Liang completely understood why the Sassanid of Fars would say that drawing away the Dual Talent Legion of Taysi Sealed for an internal war back then was an extremely foolish move.

Though Parthia’s warfare style may indeed seem a bit rigid, you must admit that beneath this rigidity lies formidable combat power, especially this method of maximizing our advantages, weakening the enemy, and then storming through with a strong strike, proving to be highly effective.

At least, until Rome brought out both of its Military Spirit Legions to battle against Parthia, it was absolutely impossible to conquer Parthia, and bringing out both Legions would mean Parthia would certainly marshal all its national power to confront Rome, dragging the situation out to the end.

Such a war didn’t carry any meaningful victory for Rome.

This explains why, a hundred years ago, Rome could win but didn’t gain any significant benefits; even the Emperor of Armenia required consensus from both sides for choosing the successor.

One could say, if not for Parthia’s internal strife at the time, removing a unified Dual Talent Legion, and Trajan seizing the opportunity without even mobilizing troops from the homeland, directly leading four stationed Dual Talent Legions from Syria to assault Taysi Sealed, and Trajan’s legion making a breakthrough during battle, slaying Parthia’s Military Spirit Legion, the wars of the following century might have been just as grueling as before.

Based on this, Zhuge Liang actually connected all the clues, even guessing what Vologases V intended to do.

Vologases V did not lack experts, nor did he care about compromises, and he probably didn’t even hold the capital city too dearly.

What Vologases V needed was a Military Spirit Legion; once Parthia gave birth to a Military Spirit Legion, Zhuge Liang believed that Vologases V might simply abandon the ongoing war, migrate east like nomads to west of the Caspian Sea, regroup for ten years, then return to fight again.

Zhuge Liang had many talents; he could explore others’ thinking like Xun Shen, stand in others’ shoes like Liu Ye, discern future trends like Jia Xu, understand human nature like Fa Zheng, clarify matters like Zheng Du, and be as decisive as Wang Lei regarding the future.

Utilizing such capacities, the choices Vologases V would make, as deciphered by Zhuge Liang, exceeded even Zhuge Liang’s imagination, causing him to doubt his judgment. Yet Zhuge Liang had sufficient talents to confirm whether his judgment was wrong.

For instance, by taking away Sima Yi’s Jade Pendant, his intelligence could be raised temporarily; or stepping outside the situation to view it from a third-party perspective; or judging from innumerable possibilities for the most probable outcome.

The final conclusion shocked Zhuge Liang, and also made him understand Sheni Pei’s reasoning: this was indeed Empire warfare, and only having one’s people guarding one’s own back is the most appropriate.

For Vologases V, the capital of Parthia, the territory of Parthia, the citizens of Parthia, and the nobles of Parthia were all secondary to a Military Spirit Legion.

Taysi Sealed has been attacked three times, so what’s the big deal if it’s occupied again? Shame? A joke. Without power, not being able to retake it is the real shame. Rome has its slaughter of Rome City, and the Han Dynasty has the Siege of Baideng, yet aren’t they still empires? Just take it back.

The territory of Parthia, what a joke. When Asasis was born, it was but a duchy spanning a hundred miles; it took southward and northward expansions to grow to this 5 million square kilometer expanse. Lost today means reclaimed tomorrow; hasn’t Rome been conquered? Didn’t the Han Dynasty get occupied?

Citizens, nobles, to be frank, if they can’t provide value to the country, they’re merely consumables. They’re gone if they’re gone, and there’s no need to be hung up about it. Moreover, Vologases V’s resolve to execute the Seven Great Nobles never wavered, lacking mostly in strength; his resolve, Vologases V never lacked!

As long as there’s a Military Spirit Legion, as long as the unified elite is brought under national control, as long as when departing, the Seven Great Nobles are exterminated and the remaining few Dual Talent Legions are held in hand, then even if leaving the country like nomads for refuge in the Caspian Sea, ten years later, ten years later, gathering two hundred thousand mighty soldiers to fight back is perfectly feasible!

This is what Zhuge Liang discerned from Vologases V’s mentality—a somewhat helpless reality. All Vologases V’s goals centered around the birth of a Military Spirit Legion; for this goal, aside from that unified Dual Talent, he didn’t care if everything else was wiped out!

Since saving it is impossible, one may as well conserve one’s power, retreat to a corner, accumulate strength, and wait for the opportunity to come.

Sadly, based on the current circumstances Zhuge Liang encountered, Vologases V isn’t the hero of Parthia, he is simply an ambitious overlord; moreover, being a usurper, no matter how one sees it, he can’t be counted as a hero.

[Parthia needs a Military Spirit Legion, and anything can be sacrificed in this process. If a Military Spirit Legion can’t be born, Vologases V knows well he’s merely waiting for death, and then would likely choose a heroic path, fighting to death in Taysi Sealed without retreating.] Zhuge Liang contemplated silently, having grasped Vologases’ pulse, Zhuge Liang fully understood his purpose for coming.

It would be strange if Zhuge Liang didn’t know the meaning behind Li Youu letting him take charge here, because this kind of complex situation in Empire warfare can only be handled by him, using a large number of talents to quickly predict the course of events to avoid capsizing.

The matters involved are indeed too many, so much so that even Zhuge Liang took several months to grasp the appropriate response of Vologases V. As for others, unfortunately, probably no one else could accomplish this.

[Should I inform others that the current situation is a bit dire? If Parthia can’t produce a Military Spirit Legion, Vologases V would certainly courteously invite us to join the final battle. If one awakens, Vologases V would surely flee, so I need to make some preparations in advance.] Zhuge Liang’s eyes were clear, confirming that hope cannot depend on so-called allies.

On the other hand, Guo Huai was studying Military Strategy, feeling that he was about to achieve Inner Qi Manifestation, probably needing a few more fierce battles to break through on the battlefield. Recently, during combat, he often unconsciously executed extremely sophisticated techniques.

Lyu Bu remarked, actually, my techniques have nothing to do with finesse; all those Spear Techniques I taught you were made up on the spot. They should probably work…

But this grandpa referred to the Spear Techniques of weaklings like Ma Chao, Zhang Fei, Sunx Ce, Sunx Jian, Zhang Xiu, Zhao Yun, Zhang He, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and Wen Chou as a joke. I genuinely feel this Spear Technique is poisonous, exuding the aura of a weakling from the inside out. Even if practiced for a lifetime, its power probably couldn’t surpass my normal strike.

After Lyu Bu taught Guo Huai, son-in-law of the Wang Family, this Spear Technique exuding the aura of a weakling, he completely forgot about it. Of course, this technique that Lyu Bu forgot about, exuding the weakling aura, and that couldn’t be practiced to the power of Lyu Bu’s normal strike, was recalled move by move by Guo Huai, preparing to pass it down as a family heirloom.

To have a Spear Technique that can be used at Breakthrough Level! It is simply the utmost in Spear Technique…

“Practice this direct thrust three thousand times today!” Guo Huai encouraged himself. This move seemed like Zhang Fei’s Serpent Spear technique, a direct thrust that claimed to deal with whatever is in front by stabbing it to death, but Lyu Bu’s evaluation was that based on memory, after hard reception, the hands felt a bit numb. Its merit lies in simplicity, suitable for beginners.

Guo Huai believed it, yet, in actuality, he couldn’t accomplish even the first point, bursting Essence, Qi, and Spirit to the utmost, merging with the weapon, and then executing it with full force. When Guo Huai managed to truly execute it, he couldn’t even stand steadily, or he pulled back at the last moment, failing to achieve the effect.

In any case, Lyu Bu’s so-called basic moves suitable for beginners, the Spear Technique exudes the aura of a weakling and seems like learning it would even lower one’s luck, etc. In Guo Huai’s view, this was merely a divine being jokingly teaching him Spearmanship; he never considered that what the other said was true.