Byzantium was an important city in the east of the Roman Empire and the gateway of the Roman Empire in the east. For the Roman Empire, Byzantium was very important in terms of geographical location and military status.
But——
In such an important border town, the Roman Empire assembled a total of nine regiments with a total of 160,000 troops. This has never happened before.
Moreover, the commander in chief was Galienus, who defended the Germans.
It can be said that this time the Romans took the invasion of the Eastern Han people very, very seriously. They wanted to keep the Eastern people away from the Byzantine city.
But——
The fighting between the two sides lasted only one day and one night, and the Ming army occupied Byzantium. Prince Galienus finally escaped from Byzantium at night with a bodyguard of more than a hundred people.
That's right, he escaped.
If it hadn't been dark, perhaps Gallienus would have become a prisoner.
Orientals are terrible.
Galienus is such a waste.
In an instant, the entire Roman Empire was in shock. You must know that in the hundreds of years since its founding, the Roman Empire had never suffered such a disastrous defeat or such a humiliation.
When news of the fall of Byzantium reached the city of Rome.
It soon caused an uproar.
First, the people in the Senate began to make moves. They wanted to use Byzantium's defeat to put pressure on Emperor Valerian.
The Senate has always been the real say-do in the Roman Empire. However, in the past few decades, the newly ascended emperors have begun to exclude the Senate, intentionally or unintentionally. To this day, the Senate is completely invisible in the Roman Empire.
Same decoration.
This time the opportunity has come.
The prince personally led the army, but was defeated by the Easterners. The 160,000-strong army was unable to stop the attack of 100,000 Ming troops. The Ming army occupied Byzantium, the gateway city of the Roman Empire, in just one day and one night.<
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What is particularly important is that after this battle, 160,000 Romans suffered nearly 70,000 casualties, and more than 20,000 people surrendered to the Ming army.
But what about the Ming army?
There were only three to four thousand casualties.
The people in the Senate hoped to use Byzantium's defeat to put pressure on Emperor Valerian and take back some of the power that should have belonged to the Senate.
Just——
Just when they were about to put pressure on Valerian, another urgent report came from the border.
After the Ming army occupied Byzantium, they did not stop there. They only rested in Byzantium for three days, and nearly 100,000 troops came westward.
Because the Ming army showed great power in Byzantium, some towns west of Byzantium took the initiative to send people to ask for the surrender of the Ming army before they saw the flag of the Ming army.
In just three months, the Ming army was overwhelmingly powerful. Although some Roman towns resisted, most of them chose to surrender without fighting.
It should also be mentioned that in order to win over the people, the Ming army chose to reuse those Roman city-states that surrendered, and the Han Emperor Liu Chan chose to reuse them. That is, as long as you surrender to the Ming army, the city lord is still the city lord, and the treatment you enjoyed before remains unchanged.
.
Faced with such generous treatment, some towns along the way almost did not choose to resist. Even those towns that rarely resisted, under the fierce attack of the Ming army's artillery fire, ultimately failed to stop the Ming army's advance.<
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What to do?
At this time, the Senate gave up putting pressure on Emperor Valerian, because they knew very well that this Easterner was too scary. Even at this time, they ousted Valerian and let their senators from the Senate rule.
.
But——
Who among them can stop the terrifying Easterners?
...
April 19, 259 AD.
Roman Palace.
Nearly a hundred senior officials of the Roman Empire were sitting in the main hall. Emperor Valerian's face was ashen, but no one spoke at all. The scene seemed a bit strange.
Valerian was anxious.
In front of him were battle reports one after another.
Starting on May 28 last year, almost a year ago, the Han Emperor Liu Chan led a hundred thousand Ming troops to invade Rome.
In a total of eleven months, the Ming army successively occupied Byzantium, Thrace, Macedonia, Sparta, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Norik, Lycia, etc. Now the former army has entered the Alps.<
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This can be fatal.
The Ming army will soon reach the Apennine Peninsula after leaving the Alps.
"Everyone!"
Valerian glanced at the civil and military ministers in the main hall, suppressed the anger in his heart and asked: "Now is the critical moment for the survival of our Roman Empire. Tell me, how should we deal with it now."
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"If there are no countermeasures, we will all become slaves of the Han people when they come to Rome."
"It's a slave!"
In the end, Valerian was furious.
During this year, he also sent many troops to stop the Ming army, but what was the result?
Without exception, they were either defeated by the Han army or surrendered to the Han army.
Now the Roman Empire is really at a critical moment of life and death.
Once the Ming army leaves the Alps, the Roman Empire may soon perish.
But——
At this moment, the civil and military ministers in the main hall were still silent. It was not that they did not want to make suggestions for the empire, nor that they wanted the Roman Empire to fall, but that they really could not think of how to deal with it.
"Do you all want to be slaves to the subjugation of the country?"
Valerian couldn't bear it anymore. He slapped the table and roared: "The Han people have reached the Alps, and they are only a month away from Rome."
The emperor was angry.
The civil and military ministers in the main hall were so frightened that they all panicked.
"Your Majesty!"
Gallienus suddenly stood up and said: "The matter has come to this, we have no way out, the Han people are going to destroy our Roman Empire." As he said, he looked around at the civil and military ministers present, sneered, and then said:
"Let me, a defeated general, be ordered to go on an expedition."
Gallienus was the son of Valerian. He was defeated by the Ming army in Byzantium last year and escaped from Byzantium with more than a hundred bodyguards. Later, he was impeached by many high-ranking Roman officials, so Valerian had no choice but to impeach him.
Recall.
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For more than a year, Gallienus resigned from all his posts and became a powerless prince.
To this day, no one in the entire hall dares to stand up.
Gallienus, he stood up.
He is a prince of the Roman Empire. His defeat in Byzantium last year made him very upset. The once best warrior in Rome was beaten by the Easterners and fled in panic.
He has been holding his breath, he wants to prove himself again.
As soon as Gallienus finished speaking, the civil and military ministers in the hall all looked at him strangely. Some people felt that you, a defeated general, dared to lead the army again; some people felt that at this time, only the number one in Rome
If the warriors take action, they may be able to resist for a while.
However, none of them spoke.
People who felt that Gallienus was the defeated general kept silent because if they opposed Gallienus' expedition, they had no better candidate to recommend.
Now——
In fact, many people no longer have any hope in this war.
In their view, the Roman Empire was probably going to end this time.
Why?
Because the weapons of the Han people were too advanced, they could never be stopped by the Romans.
Seeing that in the entire hall, only Gallienus stood up, Valerian was a little desperate, but also a little happy.
As the saying goes, father and son go into battle, but in this most critical time, you have to rely on your son.
"Okay!" Valerian said with satisfaction: "I will give you 50,000 fine cavalry and immediately go to Modena to resist those Easterners. This time, the Easterners must not be allowed to cross Modena."
"Yes!" Galienus immediately responded.
Fifty thousand elite troops are indeed a bit small. Last year, 160,000 people were unable to stop the 100,000 Ming army. This time, there are only 50,000 people. Can they stop the Ming army?
But there is no way. During this year, Valerian has sent many groups of troops to stop the Ming army. At this time, he can only mobilize 100,000 troops. He does not dare to mobilize 100,000 troops.
All fell out to resist the Ming army.
If all the last 100,000 soldiers and horses are mobilized, and when the Ming army comes to kill them, the city of Rome will have no choice but to surrender.
...
April 23.
It’s just dawn.
Valerian was not ready to get up, but a guard hurriedly came to the palace to ask for an audience and woke Valerian from the bed.
"Your Majesty!"
"The Han army is coming!"
As soon as the guard finished speaking, Valerian turned pale with fright and asked the guard in panic: "Have you investigated clearly?"
He felt a little incredible.
He received the news three days ago that the Ming army led by the Han Emperor had just entered the Alps. It had only been three days. Unless they flew, it would be impossible for them to reach the city of Rome.
The guard said with great certainty: "It's absolutely true, there are hundreds of warships on the sea, with a huge flag with the Chinese character hanging on the bow."
"Warship?" Valerian even doubted his ears.
Did I hear it wrong?
"The Han army came from the sea?" Valerian asked.
"Yes!" the guard answered with certainty.
Valerian was really panicked now. He put on his clothes haphazardly and ran out in a hurry.
On the sea southwest of Rome.
Hundreds of large warships were neatly arranged, and on the leader of a huge warship, there was a word "汉" written clearly and eye-catchingly.
Valerian stood on the tower, staring blankly at the warship in the distance.
"When did they come?"
"Where did they come from?"
Valerian couldn't believe his eyes. Did these Han troops fall from the sky?
The guards around me also looked confused.
They also saw a large number of warships suddenly appear on the sea early this morning, and they were a little panicked. Fortunately, there were a few people in the army who knew Chinese.
Han——This is the name of the country of the Han people in the East.
Wait... Valerian was suddenly confused. For more than a year, he knew that the person who invaded Rome was the emperor of the Han Dynasty, named Liu Chan, but the army he led was the army of the Ming Kingdom.
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This... Han?
He suddenly felt a little scared.
Just when everyone was panicking, a loud noise suddenly pulled everyone back from the panic.
This loud noise came from the Han army warship.
Just in the blink of an eye, a black spot moved from far to near, and finally landed at the city gate.
Bang——
The violent explosion shocked the Roman defenders on the city into panic. Even Valerian hurriedly hid under the wall.
"What?"
"What is this?"
Valerian has also been emperor for several years and can be considered a man who has seen the world, but at this moment he is really confused.
What is this?
The Han warships were at least a thousand steps away from the city of Rome.
But that thing just now?
"Bazooka?"
"Thunderbolt?"
Several nearby officials almost blurted out that the Han people have advanced weapons, especially rocket launchers and thunderbolt cannons. This is no secret. As early as last year when the Byzantine War broke out, the Romans knew about the weapons of the Han army.
"No!" A bearded man said: "The range of rocket launchers and thunderbolt cannons is not that far?" He suddenly paused and said in a panic: "It's the Hanwang Cannon of the Han Empire."
This person has some knowledge about Eastern Han people.
A few days ago, he heard a businessman say that the most advanced weapons of the Han people were not rocket launchers or thunderbolts, but a weapon called the 'Hanwang Cannon'.
The Hanwang Cannon has a range of up to 1,500 steps, while the rocket launcher and thunderbolt cannon have a range of only 500 steps at most.
The power of the Hanwang Cannon is astonishing. It cannot be compared with thunderbolt cannons and rocket launchers. However, the Hanwang Cannon is too bulky, so the Han Emperor did not bring it with him during this Western expedition. Only the Han Empire in the Central Plains has this kind of weapon.
"They are the real Han army!"
"They are the real Han army!"
The bearded man roared in fear.
Everyone was squatting under the wall, a little baffled by the shouts of the bearded man, thinking about the real Han army or the pretended Han army.
Just when everyone was hiding under the wall and falling into panic.
A soldier looked out through the gap and said doubtfully: "They are coming... They are coming."
I originally thought that the Han army would continue to launch such explosive things.
But——
They only fired once and then stopped.
At this time, when they heard the soldier's shouting, everyone raised their heads slightly and looked out at the sea, only to see a small boat approaching slowly.
After all, Valerian was the emperor of the Roman Empire. When he saw this small boat, he suddenly became calm and said with a smile: "Don't be nervous, the Han people want to give us a kick in order to negotiate with us."<
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Just fire one cannonball and then send the boat over.
This purpose is too obvious.
The Han people are coming to negotiate.
Valerian felt at ease. As long as the Han people wanted to negotiate, there would still be hope for the Roman Empire. He was afraid that the Han people would not negotiate with the Romans at all and would bombard the city of Rome unscrupulously.
Through the explosion I just saw, if this thing is allowed to break into the city of Rome, the city of Rome will soon be blown into ruins.
"Scott!" Valerian turned to a young man and said, "Go to Modena immediately to see Gallienus and ask him to lead his troops back to Rome immediately."
Scott is Valerian's captain of the bodyguard and the most trusted by Valerian.
Scott asked in confusion: "Your Majesty! No need for Prince Galienus to resist the Ming army?"
"The Ming army is not important anymore!" Valerian said: "This is the main force of the Han army. The main force of the Han army has already arrived at the city of Rome. What do you care about the Ming army now? Let's save the city of Rome first!"
"Yes!" Scott agreed immediately, then turned and left the city. After fulfilling his obligation to remind as the captain of the guard, he only needed to complete the emperor's order.
......
......
This chapter has been completed!