April 24, 259 AD.
The first moment of the hour——
Fifty Han warships advanced slowly. The person in charge of commanding these fifty gunboats was Li Feng, the commander of the Han Navy.
Li Feng was in high spirits at the moment. Ever since he joined the army, he had been studying naval warfare, because when he was young, he assisted his father, the Han Dynasty Minister Li Yan, in garrisoning the Jiangzhou defense line.
Jiangzhou is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and is a strategic location for guarding Soochow's attack on Yizhou.
After Li Yan's death, Li Feng was ordered to take over his father's responsibilities and continue to garrison Jiangzhou.
In the previous war against Wu, Li Feng took on the main offensive task, because it was more convenient to go down the river than the three-pronged army of the prime minister.
Later, with the arrival of King Liu Tan of Qin, Li Feng, the naval commander, was changed from the commander-in-chief to the deputy commander. However, it was also because of the war against Wu that King Liu Tan of Qin admired this naval commander very much.
During this Western Expedition, Liu Tan personally appointed Li Feng to be the vanguard of the Western Expedition, responsible for commanding fifty gunboats.
‘Rome!’
‘Rome!’
‘Rome!’
Li Feng stood on the flagship of the gunboat, looking coldly at the city of Rome in front of him. This was the stage where he became famous.
Early this morning, King Qin Liu Tan sent an order.
"Before the first quarter of the hour, if the Romans do not open the city and surrender, the gunboats will immediately move forward 500 steps and bombard the city of Rome."
Li Feng kept waiting and waiting. When the first quarter of the hour came, the city of Rome was still calm and there was no sign of opening the door. He originally thought that when the Han army came to the city, the Romans would be unable to resist. Maybe they just wanted to wait until the end.
moment, then open the city gate and surrender to the Han army.
If so, this Western Expedition will be over.
Forcing the Romans to surrender seemed like a great victory, but what Li Feng wanted to see more was for the Romans to fight back and refuse to open the door to surrender. In this way, he could command his gunboats to directly blow up the Roman city.
Gate.
The warship is advancing slowly, but the city of Rome in front remains calm.
‘Haha!’
‘The Romans seem to have some backbone.’
Li Feng thought about it in his heart, but he was in a good mood, because the Romans did not open the city, and he could show off his power next.
"Report!"
While Li Feng was deep in thought, the junior high school student next to him shouted loudly: "Reporting to the Grand Governor, all the gunboats have moved forward five hundred steps!"
As soon as the principal finished speaking, Li Feng raised his eyes to confirm again.
"Okay!" He said coldly: "Since the Romans do not care about life and death and are unwilling to accept the opportunity given to them by our Han army, then we will attack the Roman city ourselves."
As he spoke, Li Feng slowly pulled out the long sword from his waist.
The messengers on the side have been staring closely at Li Feng's gestures. The drumstick in his hand has been raised high, ready to deliver orders at any time.
Suddenly——
Li Feng pointed his sword and immediately shouted: "Fire!"
Winter, winter winter, winter winter winter!
As soon as Li Feng's cannon fire came out, several rapid drum beats immediately sounded, and this burst of drum beat also broke the silence over the city of Rome.
Bang, bang, bang.
One hundred and eighty Hanwang cannons fired almost simultaneously, and nearly two hundred shells roared out at the same time, heading straight for the Roman city ahead.
"Oh, my God!"
"Hide quickly!"
Hundreds of black spots appeared in the sky in the distance. The black spots moved from far to near. The Roman defenders at the top of the city were shocked and screamed. They had all seen the power of the Han Dynasty artillery. The Han army had fired one three days ago.
The shell blasted a large crater directly outside the city.
Hugh, Hugh, Hugh.
The cannonballs were about to fall on the top of the city. The Roman soldiers on the top of the city felt despair for a moment, thinking that if so many cannonballs fell on the city wall, although they were already hiding under the battlements of the city wall, when these cannonballs fell,
They are bound to be in bad luck.
But——
When the cannonball approached the city, it did not fall, but flew forward hundreds of steps.
Bang bang, bang bang, bang bang bang.
Hundreds of artillery shells flew into the city, and then made loud noises.
The Roman soldiers on the top of the city were somewhat hopeful. They were glad that these cannonballs did not fall on them, because now they could see with the naked eye that many houses in the city had been blown down.
The streets in the city are now in chaos, filled with people running for their lives, as well as people who were blown away while running.
‘Oh my God!’
‘The Han army is too scary.’
The Roman soldiers on the city had expected that when the Han army attacked the city, it would be very tragic, but they did not expect it to be so tragic.
"Legion Commander!"
Suddenly a guard asked in panic: "What should we do?"
The Han army had already begun to attack, but they moved the battlefield to the city of Rome. Originally, they were the first line of defense, but the range of the Han army's artillery fire was too far, and they directly passed them and began to attack the city.
Sass, the commander of the fifth Roman legion, also had a sad look on his face. He glanced at the continuous flames in the city and the wailing Romans fleeing, and said with a sullen face: "Stand where you are, stay where you are."
Saslian said he would stay put for two seconds, but there was nothing he could do now. He could not fly into the sky to block the shells that kept flying into the city.
He is the commander of the fifth Roman legion, and his task is to guard the city wall and prevent the Han army from breaking through him.
But——
He seemed to have seen the purpose of the Han army. The Han army had no intention of entering the city from him, or in other words, they had no intention of entering the city.
If the Han army did not attack the city, they Roman soldiers could only watch the cannonballs wreaking havoc in the city of Rome, and they could do nothing.
...
Roman Palace.
The violent explosion outside can be heard clearly from any corner of the palace.
Roman Emperor Valerian couldn't help but tense up when facing every explosion.
‘It’s over!’
‘It’s over!’
‘The Han people kept their word and agreed that if the Romans did not surrender within three days, they would start bombarding the city of Rome.’
‘They are starting to deliver on their promises.’
Valerian looked at the gloomy civil and military ministers in the hall. He was really angry. Aren't you all pretty good at talking on weekdays?
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What now?
All mute?
Just when it was so quiet in the main hall that you could hear the sound of a pin dropping, suddenly there was a burst of rapid footsteps approaching from far away, and everyone instinctively looked outside.
Not long after, a guard trotted in from outside.
"Your Majesty!"
As soon as the guards entered the palace, they reported to Valerian: "The Han army is attacking Xicheng fiercely. More than a hundred houses have been blown down. The residents of Xicheng district are retreating to the east city."
"I know, stand down!" Valerian said coldly.
After the guard left, Valerian looked at everyone in the hall. He had a sullen face and said angrily: "Everyone, pick up your weapons immediately and join me to resist those Han people."
He no longer discussed with these ministers. He was the emperor of the Roman Empire, and the Roman Empire did not belong to him alone.
Since everyone agreed to resist the Han army to the death, he had nothing to say. In order to protect Rome and protect their respective property and interests, they must fight to the death with the Han army, because only by repelling the Han army's attack can they save themselves.
net worth and life.
After Valerian finished speaking, he immediately stepped down from the throne, and then led more than a hundred civil and military ministers to leave the hall. The enemy had already reached the door of their house, and now they had no other choice.
But——
When everyone arrived at the Municipal Center Square, a large number of residents from West City had already blocked the way. Of course, these people, who usually have good food and clothing, do not want to go to the battlefield to fight, and they are now forced to have no choice.<
/p>
If they surrender to the Han army, they can still keep their property and their aristocratic status. They should have opened the west city gate by now.
Just——
The policy of the Han army is very clear. In the country ruled by the Han people, there are no aristocrats. What they emphasize is that everyone is equal.
Valerian looked at the Roman residents gathered in the square. He stepped onto the podium that he seldom went up to. He wanted to make the final mobilization.
Today, the city of Rome still has 50,000 to 60,000 garrison troops and nearly 300,000 residents.
Although the Han army's artillery fire was fierce, they were not invincible.
If the army and people of Rome were united, they might be able to defeat the invading enemy.
On the high platform——
Valerian looked at the subjects below and shouted loudly: "Subjects, residents of Rome, our Roman Empire is now at a critical moment of survival."
"The Han people outside the city are wolves, and they are tigers and leopards."
"The Han people want to invade the land that belongs to us Romans."
On weekdays, he can speak eloquently, but at this time, artillery fire was raging in the distance. As the emperor of the Roman Empire, Valerian's speech was also somewhat incoherent.
The Roman Empire was at a critical moment. No one would deny this, because the Han army's artillery fire had exploded in the West City, as evidenced by the collapsed houses and the civilians and soldiers killed.
If the Han people were allowed to bombard so unscrupulously, this Roman city that had lasted for hundreds of years would probably be in ruins before long.
As for the Roman subjects under the city, they might all have to be killed.
"Subjects!"
Valerian added: "Now we need to unite as one to protect our city of Rome and our home."
"We must defeat the hateful Han people, they are invaders!"
"Now, by the command of the Emperor of the Roman Empire, I command you, men, women, and children, immediately and immediately, all of you to take up arms and come with me to resist the hateful invaders and drive them out of the city of Rome and out of the Roman Empire.
, driven out of our homes."
Although these words are somewhat incoherent.
But the effect is still good.
Even these days, there are many Christians in the city spreading propaganda, saying that the Han people treat the common people well and advocate equality for everyone.
But at this moment, the Roman people in the square only know one thing, and that is whether the Han army will treat civilians well in the future. They don't know now. Now they only know that the Han army's artillery fire is attacking their homes.
, are bombing their relatives and friends.
"Protect Rome!"
Suddenly, I don’t know who took the lead and shouted first, and then tens of thousands of Roman subjects followed suit.
"Protect Rome!"
"Protect Rome!"
The roars of tens of thousands of people suddenly sounded out, drowning out the explosions in Xicheng District. They could no longer hear the terrifying explosions.
Seeing that the blood of the people had been ignited, Valerian suddenly shouted: "Warriors of the Roman Empire, you are the most heroic warriors in the world. Now is the time to prove you. Please bring your weapons and kill us.
enemy."
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
More than 20,000 Roman soldiers have also arrived at one side of the square. They responded in unison to His Majesty the Emperor. They are warriors of Rome and they represent the Roman Empire.
After some mobilization, Valerian led more than a hundred officials from the Roman Empire and took command in the Municipal Center Square.
Just——
The Han army has not yet entered the city, so they have no way to fight the Han army.
Valerian was the emperor, and he also knew how to deal with it at this time. Han warships were on the sea outside the West City, and they relied on artillery fire to bombard the city of Rome.
However, the city of Rome was very large, and it was still difficult to bomb further areas from the sea, so Valerian immediately ordered that all residents and slaves in the Xicheng District evacuate the Xicheng District, and the Xicheng City was allowed to be bombarded by Han artillery fire.<
/p>
As for the towers in the West City, Valerian sent an order, and all the defenders were hiding in the fortress under the city wall. No matter how fierce the Han army's artillery fire was, it was still not that easy to blow up the fortress made of huge rocks.
p>
Now that the Han army is unwilling to land, the defenders, except for a small number of people to keep watch, will hide first and then wait for the Han army to attack the city.
On the first day of the battle, the Han army did not land, but used Hanwang artillery to bombard the city of Rome from a long distance. In the next few days, Liu Tan remained the same, asking Li Feng to arrange the gunboats to move forward, and then use artillery shells to
Go bomb the city of Rome.
On the sixth day after the Han army bombed the city of Rome, Gallienus, who led his army from Modena to aid Rome, arrived in Rome. However, he did not enter the city immediately. Instead, he divided 60,000 people into two groups at night.
The teams were stationed in the west and northwest of the city.
Before Gallienus arrived in Rome, he had already received the news that Han warships were firing cannonballs at the city of Rome from the ships, but no Han troops came ashore.
Gallienus was also a good general who fought against the Germans for more than ten years. Therefore, facing the Han army's strategy, he quickly guessed what the Han army was thinking.
Want to rely on powerful weapons to scare the Roman army and people.
If they were allowed to bombard the city so recklessly for more than ten days, the soldiers and civilians in the Roman city would be frightened without even fighting. Once the Han army attacked the city, the Roman soldiers and civilians would not be able to surrender to the Han army one after another.
Because no one is not afraid of death.
Faced with such a fierce bombardment, even the Romans could not resist.
Because he saw the Han army's strategy, Gallienus also postponed his return to Rome. Originally, he had to travel day and night, and it only took three days. However, it took Gallienus six days to arrive.
Because he chose to march at night and hide during the day.
He knew very well that the Han army in the Alps would soon reach the city of Rome. Counting the time, if the Ming army led by Liu Chan traveled day and night, it would take at most half a month to reach the city of Rome, because there were no Roman troops along the way.
Block.
The path forward for the Ming army is already clear.
Defeat the Han army——
Gallienus felt that he still had a chance to defeat the Han army. He quietly deployed 30,000 people in the west city and hid in the dense forest on the side of the city gate. Once the Han army landed, they could take the opportunity to break out.
No matter how fierce the Han army is, it will be difficult to resist them.
As for the other 30,000 people, Gallienus placed them on the northwest side, which was also the only way for the Ming army to attack the city of Rome.
‘Orientals!’
‘Orientals!’
Gallienus turned around and glanced at the city of Rome, thinking secretly: 'This time I will definitely defeat you, I will definitely defeat you completely!'
......
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This chapter has been completed!