BXBX NOVEL Chapter 136 The Third Persis-Cilician War
Chapter 136 The Third Persis-Cilician War
In other words, the Third Persis-Cilician War.
It all started with the invasion of Cilicia by the Persian Emperor Xerxes, who called himself the King of Kings.
Emperor Xerxes swept into the Cilician Peninsula with 400,000 troops and a large fleet of over 700 ships.
The goal is to suppress the independent movements of the Cilician cities in the Persis Empire.
Another reason was to gain control of the East Tethys Sea.
In response, the Cilician cities formed the “Grand Alliance against Persis” with the four leading cities of the time, Alto, Terbai, Claris, and Reim.
They have 130,000 infantry.
The two armies faced each other on the Great Plains.
“What do you think? Xerx, do you think you can win?”
“Against 130,000. Do you think we can’t win?”
Persis military headquarters.
There, a middle-aged man with blond hair and a beautiful woman with blond hair and brown skin were intertwined.
They were both completely naked.
They were in the middle of making a baby.
Ayesha, the female chief of the desert people, traces her finger across the breastplate of Xerxes, the King of the Kings, Emperor Persis.
“But… your father and grandfather lost even with this difference in strength, right?”
“That’s because our soldiers were weak.”
The First Persis War and the Second Persis War.
In both wars prior, the Persis Empire had been defeated by the Cilician Union.
They lost because of two reasons.
One is the difference in morale.
The soldiers of the Cilician Union were determined to protect their homeland.
On the other hand, the soldiers of the Persis Empire were peasants and mercenaries forcibly brought in by the Emperor.
This difference caused a huge difference in morale.
The second reason is language.
The official language of the Persis Empire is Persis, but only a third of the soldiers could speak it.
The inability of the junior officers to communicate with each other led to confusion in the chain of command.
“Well, are the soldiers stronger this time?”
“No, they haven’t changed.”
Xerxes shook his head.
Ayesha tilted her head.
“So, what makes you think you can win?”
To which Xerxes replied with a grin.
“Diplomacy, and weapons, that’s the difference.”
The sound of gongs echoed across the battlefield.
The sound of the soldiers’ footsteps and the scraping of their armor drowned out the noise.
A total of five hundred and thirty thousand troops from both sides have gathered here.
Every time the soldiers of both armies moved, the earth shook.
The first to move was 50,000 chariots, the pride of the Persis army.
It was a huge four-headed chariot with three riders: a guard, an archer, and a spearman.
The wheel has a huge sickle attached to it.
Time and again, it was the strongest trump card that crushed the enemies of the Persis Empire and expanded its territory.
“Hahahaha! You will bow down before the strongest chariot corps of my Persis army!”
The general leading the chariot squad smiled broadly as he led the way.
He was followed by fifty thousand chariots.
With a roar, he charged at the Cilician infantry.
The wheels of the chariots trampled the Cilician and the scythes tore at their flesh.
The formation of the Cilician army seemed to crumble in no time at all.
“Push them over the side!”
“Huh? What’s that?
The chariot the general was riding on began to tilt.
Once it tilted, it was a matter of seconds before it fell over.
“Wait! I am the Emperor’s brother.”
“Die!”
The general died easily.
Starting with the general’s death in battle, the chariot corps was overthrown one after another.
After two wars, the Cilician side knew that the trump card of the Persis Empire was the chariot.
Naturally, it is only natural to have countermeasures in place.
“Ha-ha-ha! Look, Ayesha! He’s dead!”
Xerxes laughed and giggled as he drank his wine.
Ayesha smiled bitterly.
“Isn’t he your brother? I mean, isn’t that the Tiger’s chariot corps?”
“I am pleased because he is my brother. Now my son’s throne is confirmed. Congratulations! He deserved to die, that incompetent bastard. I’ve been saying for a long time that you can just knock a chariot over from the side and be done with it, but he’s been talking so much about their usefulness. Chariots are old-fashioned!”
“You’re so happy about your ally’s death, isn’t that why you lost? Twice.”
Ayesha gave him a dumbfounded look.
The Cilician army’s morale rose after defeating the chariot corps.
The Persis army was significantly demoralized.
But Xerxes doesn’t care.
Xerxes orders the true Tiger corps to mobilize.
“I’m counting on you. King Parthodia.”
“Let’s present the Emperor with a pile of dead Cilicians.”
King Parthodia - the King of the equestrian nomadic tribes on the frontier of the Persis Empire - bowed to Emperor Persis.
Then he saddled his horse and raised his bow.
“Let’s go!”
The Parthodial cavalry moves around the flank of the Cilician army.
This is because the weak point of the Cilician army, consisting of typically heavily armed infantry, is the right flank.
The Cilician army was aware of this.
Thirty thousand cavalrymen of the Cilician army intercepted the Parthian cavalry.
“Kill the barbarian Barbaroi!”
The Cilician cavalry shouted and charged the Partodian cavalry.
On the other hand, the Parthian cavalry greeted it with a cold attitude.
“All troops, open fire. Show those idiots how to handle a horse.”
The King of Parthodia’s command was the signal for the arrows to rain down on the Cilician cavalry.
“What the hell! While riding a horse, guuuhhhh”
A Cilician cavalry captain takes an arrow in the chest and falls from his horse.
One by one, the cavalry of the Cilician army were shot by arrows and fell.
The momentum of the assault was cut in half.
“It’s a thousand years too early to try to fight us Parthodians with horses!”
As soon as he shouted this, King Parthodia, switching from bow to sword, charged the Cilician cavalry.
The other Parthodian cavalrymen followed suit.
One by one, the Cilician cavalrymen were cut down.
The Cilician cavalry would be destroyed in no time.
“See, these are the days of the cavalry, right?”
“But that’s not the Persis army, is it?”
“Don’t worry about the details. The Persis Cavalry Corps will be built after this war is over. We’ll use the horses used in the wasted chariots to build it!”
Meanwhile, in the center, the infantry of the Persis and Cilician armies were about to clash.
The Cilician army is heavily armed infantry, armed with long spears and round shields.
They rush into the Persis army, forming a Phalanx.
“Ready the crossbow! Fire!”
The bolts fired by the crossbow troops of the Persis army penetrated the round shields of the heavily armed infantry.
Heavily armed infantrymen fall to the ground in a flurry.
“Huh? I’ve never seen that weapon before. What is that?”
“It’s called a crossbow. It’s a weapon I got from the Far East. It’s not very famous around here. The advantage is that even women and children can shoot arrows that can kill people, but the disadvantage is that it takes a long time to load, and above all, it costs a lot of money to get enough of them.”
Xerxes explained to Ayesha.
It was a weapon that I arrived at after thinking about how to compensate for the weakness of the Persis army.
It is a weapon that could only be put to practical use with the industrial strength of the Persis Empire.
“But that’s not going to be enough.”
“Because the Cilician army’s skill level is frightening.”
The heavy infantry of the Cilician army, stepping over their fallen comrades, headed straight for the Persis army, without losing their momentum and in no hurry.
“Hold your long spears!”
Under the General’s command, the Persis army slowly began to prepare to intercept the Cilician army.
With their large numbers and uneven chain of command, the Persis forces were not moving fast enough to be flattering.
The heavy infantry of the Cilician army made contact with the Persis army at the same time that the Persis army was getting ready to intercept them.
The formation was greatly distorted by the assault of the Phalanx.
Despite the three-fold difference in strength, the brave Cilician citizen soldiers skewered the Persis soldiers.
In the past two battles, the Persis army had been defeated by being broken through the vertical depths in this manner.
But this time it was different.
The Persis army was slowly beginning to push back.
“What the hell? What is happening, Xerx?. If it was the usual weak Persis army, we would lose.”
“It’s the difference in weapons. We’ve got weapons that even small fry can fight with.”
The weapon of the Persis army is the long spear made of iron.
On the battlefield, the longer the spear, the greater the advantage.
But it is not so simple.
As a matter of course, the longer a spear is, the heavier it becomes.
In other words, extending it to a certain length would require a higher degree of skill.
In addition, they are vulnerable to flan attacks, and cannot withstand a flan attack by cavalry or other units with superior mobility.
They are also helpless against scattered enemies armed with long swords and other weapons.
In the history of the earth, the Roman Phalanx was defeated by the Celtic Barbarians who adopted scattered army tactics, and then the Romans who switched to scattered army tactics defeated the Macedonian Phalanx that was popular in Greece.
There is no such thing as an invincible tactic.
So how did Xerxes turn the Persis army into a usable army?
First of all, he abolished the shield.
And the armor was kept to a minimum.
By doing so, he was able to make the soldiers very long spears.
In addition, the flanks were entrusted to a reliable Pathodia cavalry to eliminate the threat of the flanks.
The problem, though, is the increased damage caused by lowered defenses and the resulting fleeing of soldiers.
“If they escape, our elite army, Immortals that is behind them, a large number of crossbow troops, and large crossbow ballista will kill them.” (Note: The elite group of the Persis Empire is named Immortals.)
“Using the army’s best and brightest to maintain escaping soldiers! What tyranny!”
Ayesha blatantly deprecates Xerxes.
Xerxes doesn’t care. It is probably because he is aware of it.
The infantry of the Persis army is pushed back, but they withstand the assault of the Cilician army.
And gradually encircle the enemy.
The Parthodial cavalry, having defeated the Cilician cavalry, moved in behind the Cilician army.
The siege is almost complete.
That’s when it happened.
The infantry units of the Persis army began to be pushed back heavily.
“That’s…”
“Cilicia’s elite… Sacred Holy Knights and Reim Heavy Infantry?
Both the Sacred Holy Knights and the Reim Heavy Infantry are two of the strongest units in the Cilician Peninsula.
The general on the Cilician side played his last trump card in this critical situation.
Saving it any further would have been a big gamble.
There was a chance that the Cilician side would be crushed and defeated before they could make their mark.
However, the Cilician side won this bet.
The Persis infantry faltered at the sudden appearance of a powerful enemy.
Until now, the Persis infantry had been able to fight thanks to the security of knowing that their opponents were outnumbered and the tension of the soldiers behind them.
This balance has been shaken.
Once it falls apart, it falls apart fast.
The Persis infantry threw their spears and began to run away.
Many arrows rained down on the fleeing soldiers, and the spears of the Immortals pierced their bodies.
However, once the water flows, it cannot be recovered.
“…Haa”
Xerxes held his head.
This time, Xerxes was defeated.
“I was hoping to beat Cilicia at least once.”
“It couldn’t be helped. You did your best! It’s thanks to you that those weak soldiers were able to fight so well. If it was an ordinary Emperor, he would have been defeated long ago. It’s a great thing. That’s why…”
Ayesha held a spear made of Dragon Damascus steel in one hand.
The spear was as thick as an adult’s foot.
She smiled as she waved it around.
“I’ll take care of the rest.”
“I really wanted to make Persis win on my own. It was unavoidable. Please.”
Xerxes used his strongest trump card, The Monster.
“They are just savages, after all.”
Reim, one of the leading cities in Cilicia.
The King stabbed a fleeing Persis infantryman with his spear and muttered as he killed him.
A dissatisfied look crossed his face.
I guess I’m not rampant enough.
All those born in Reim undergo rigorous military training from an early age.
It is no exception, even for the royalty of Reim. …No, it is because they are royalty that they are subjected to even more rigorous training.
The skills of killing and the fighting spirit were instilled in him from an early age.
This made Reim the strongest power in Cilicia.
“No, not at all. Running away from the battlefield is unthinkable from our point of view.”
The captain of the Sacred Holy Knights also agreed with King Reim.
The Sacred Holy Knights is a special unit, made up of homosexual couples only.
The members of the Sacred Holy Knights fight desperately to protect their lovers and to show their strength.
Never run away.
In the Cilician Peninsula, only this holy squadron can stand against the Reim Heavy Infantry.
“Let’s keep up the momentum and attack up to the Imperial Capital Jamshed.”
“That’s good. A lot of Persis beautiful boys. …… gobbled up.”
The two of them bloomed with color in their conversation.
Victory was at hand, and the entire Cilician army was loosening up.
“You haven’t even won yet, but have already started loosening up?!”
They heard such an elongated voice from beyond the dust.
As King Reim and the Captain of the Sacred Holy Knights looked on, a woman astride a camel appeared from the other side of the dust.
She had wheat-colored skin and golden hair.
She is a beautiful woman.
She wore clothes made of bright red fabric …… no, she wore clothes that were stained red with blood.
The reason for this was that she had been advancing while cutting down every Persis infantryman that escaped.
“I see you two are very well-known generals. I am Ayesha, the chief of the desert people, the Alarm Tribe. And behind me are five hundred of the world’s strongest warriors, the pride and joy of our desert people, the Alarmists.”
Ayesha pointed behind her with her thumb.
From the other side of the dust, a camel rider, also dyed red, appeared.
“Well, well, well, Lady Chief. Thank you very much. …… Even so, I didn’t expect a woman to be on the battlefield. The Persis army seems to be very short on talent.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You’re not going to tell me your name? I told you my name. You’re so rude.”
Ayesha showed King Reim how to do it.
“I have no name to tell you. Ayesha, is it? You’d better get out of here. The odds are already stacked against you. I don’t know what will happen to you if you stay on the battlefield any longer…”
The captain of the Sacred Holy Knights also didn’t identify himself to Ayesha, and acted like a fool.
Ayesha smirked.
“Oh, you worry about me.”
And then she was gone.
“Where did she go?”
King Reim looked around in panic.
“I’m here.”
He heard a voice behind him.
King Reim turned around in a panic and saw Ayesha there.
She was holding something in her left hand.
By the time he realized that it was the head of the captain of the Sacred Holy Knights, the head and torso of the Reim King had already been separated alive.
Ayesha exclaimed.
“Come on! It’s time to hunt! Kill them all!!!”
Thanks to the efforts of the Alarmists led by Ayesha, the battle situation began to lean heavily in Persis’ favor.
First, the Holy Corps and Reim heavy infantry instantly turned into warm, raw flesh which shook the Cilician army.
The heavy infantry of Cilicia were greatly confused as they saw their comrades being processed into raw meat in an instant.
The formation disrupted and gaps were created.
In the gap formed, the Alarmists cut in, and the wounds spread.
Desert People Alarmists.
They are a nomadic tribe that migrates through oasis, a commercial tribe, a hunting tribe, and a fighting tribe.
Its population is only 50,000.
However, the warrior class of 500 people, which is equivalent to one hundredth of the population, all have a combat-related blessing called the Hunter’s Blessing.
Hence, the strongest in the world.
It would be impossible for any army to defeat them in battle.
…But, there is no match for strength in numbers.
Therefore, they have succumbed to the Persis Empire. They also can’t destroy the hundred thousand Cilician troops alone.
All they could do was confuse the enemy and stop their movement.
But that’s enough.
This was because Xerxes had led the Immortals to plug the gap formed.
Once again, the Cilician army was surrounded by a sea of Persis troops.
The Sacred Holy Knights and the Reim heavy infantry were destroyed.
Persis infantry on the flank.
Ayesha and the Immortals in the front.
The Parthodial cavalry behind.
The situation was impossible to resolve.
In this way, 100,000 Cilician troops were destroyed.
Two days later.
Off the coast of the city-state of Claris.
There, four hundred battle ships from all over Cilicia were waiting for the seven hundred ships of the Persis Imperial Navy.
The Persis army needs to fall on the city-state of Claris in order to land on the Cilician Peninsula.
Claris is a coastal city.
In order to attack, control of the sea is necessary.
Also, the Persis army is a large force of over 400,000.
It is impossible to cover the logistics of the war by land transportation alone.
It will always need to be transported by sea.
A loss on land cannot be reversed.
But a loss on sea can be recovered.
And the Cilician people are maritime people.
They use boats instead of roads to go shopping in the neighboring towns.
The Persis, on the other hand, are a genuine land tribe.
Most of the soldiers had never seen the sea before, and most of the marines could not swim.
The sea is different from land, where the difference in skill level and performance of the ship can be significant.
The chances of winning for Claris was great.
“I see them! General! It’s the golden eagle flag!”
A golden hawk on red fabric.
This fancy flag is the flag of the Persis Empire.
The tribes of the Eastern Orient tremble at the mere sight of this flag.
But the courageous Cilician were never intimidated.
“Huh, you think a hawk can win at sea? Make it a seagull.”
The general’s words were met with a round of laughter.
“If it’s a sea battle, we will never lose.”
Ships are the feet of the Cilician people, and the sea is the road.
“We can’t afford to lose to Persis.”
“Hmm? General. I see a different flag. That’s the Crescent Moon… Pofenia! It’s the flag of Pofenia!”
“What!”
The general stared into his eyes.
With the passage of time, it became clearly visible to the general’s eyes.
Definitely.
The crescent moon flag, the flag of Pofenia.
This could mean only one thing.
It means that Pofenia is allied with the Persis Empire.
Pofenia is a republic with its home country straight south from the Adernia Peninsula.
Like the Cilician people, the Pofenians are a people engaged in maritime trade, using ships as their feet and the sea as their road.
Their ship-handling ability was equal to that of a Cilician.
“…How many ships?”
“I’ve lost count. I think there are at least three hundred.”
Cold sweat trickled down the general’s cheeks.
The Battle of Claris.
400 ships of the Cilician Navy vs. 700 ships of the Persis Navy & 300 ships of the Pofenian Navy.
As a result, the entire Cilician Navy was destroyed.
From the Battle of Claris.
Two days later, Claris falls.
Ten days later, Alto falls.
Twenty days later, Terbai falls.
Forty Reim later, Raym falls.
Thus, the entire Cilician Peninsula was conquered by the Persis Empire.
The control of the East Tethys Sea will be held by the Persis Empire and the Republic of Pofenia.
The Third Persis-Cilician War ended in victory for the Persis Empire.
Needless to say, the outcome of this war will have a major impact on the politics and economy of the Adernia Peninsula.
Xerxes III
The fourth Emperor of the Persis Empire. He brought the Persis Empire to its peak.
His first battle was when he was twelve years old, during the Misrule expedition.
He led a combined army of infantry and cavalry to capture the King of Misrule, and achieved spectacular results.
At the age of fifteen, the Persis Empire took control of the entire Kingdom of Misrule, and achieved the unification of the Eastern Orient. At the same time, the King of the Persis Empire died.
He won the five-year battle for the succession to the throne and ascended to the throne as Emperor.
In contrast to the oppressive rule of the past, the government adopted a more tolerant rule, hiring competent people regardless of their status or race and drastically lowering the tax rate in the provinces, while at the same time implementing a carrot and stick policy, killing all ethnic rebels and reforming the local feudal lords.
The provincial lords of each region were gathered in the center, and governor satraps were sent to the provinces. And the King’s eyes and ears were dispatched to each region to monitor the provinces.
He also strengthened the Immortal Corps, the imperial guards, which reported directly to the Emperor, in an effort to centralize power.
He created the King’s Road, which crisscrossed the country and enabled the army to move quickly through the country.
He also protected the economic activities of the desert people, the Alarmists, who were nomadic, and carried out numerous public works such as the construction of capitals, roads, and temples, which greatly enhanced their economy.
On the foreign travel front, he made frequent expeditions.
He made two expeditions to Bharat and seized the trade route for spices. (Note: Old name of India.)
They forced the nomadic tribes in various regions to pay tax and ruled over the Parthodians and other mounted nomads.
He successfully completed the expedition to Cilicia, which had been his long-cherished dream since the beginning of the Persis Empire, and gained control of the East Tethys Sea.
Through these expeditions, Xerxes III built an unprecedented empire that straddled the Orient in the east and the Occident in the west, stretching from Cilicia in the west to Bharat in the east.
He was the literal embodiment of the “King of Kings”.
The unification of the East and West, the construction of roads, and the unification of the Scarlet Empire with the Tian Hua region in the Far East at the same time formed a great trade route across the continent.
Then, Cilician architectural technology and natural philosophy flowed into the Persis Empire.
The Persis Empire was at its peak in terms of culture, economy, territory, and military.
But … (to be continued)