Chapter 31: Detour

Even if it was just for a moment, Elena forgot the pressure——and the disgust that should have existed.

The evening breeze brought a strong fishy smell, and the horse's hooves trampled over the fresh blood, trampling the last bandit into the mud.

Elena turned her horse around and looked around with emotion: the corpses left by the bandits were everywhere. They had the advantage in numbers, but they were still no match for the army and none of them escaped.

The bandits' original choice was not bad: they would hide in the valley and be ready to raid the valley at any time. However, they never expected that the army would come up from behind and block them in the mountains.

Crackling, the horse's hoofs crushed a piece of armor. Elena frowned and examined it carefully: there were iron armor and sharp knives. These bandits were no ordinary bandits; they were likely affiliated with a nearby city-state.

Either they held several city-states hostage to collect protection fees, or their soldiers changed their clothes and went out to plunder.

The rulers here are really unreasonable. If these bandits expand without restriction, they will sooner or later turn against the nearby city-states.

After she finished her round on horseback, the noble lieutenants had already found a few survivors and dragged them away for interrogation.

Melia's performance was also much better than she had imagined - she had thought that this guy would be in a panic, run away and vomit since it was his first time on the battlefield, but unexpectedly, his cheeks only turned slightly pale.

"Hey, Melia." Elena called out her name. "Before, we were outside the mountains, so far away. How did you know there was an ambush?"

"...Hmm? You called me."

"What else?"

Melia shook her head, her eyes clear. "Nothing, it's very simple... When we got closer to the valley, not only did I stop hearing birdsong, I even saw the reflection of weapons."

Reflections from weapons? Can they be seen at that distance?

But Melia had no reason to lie... Maybe she was too nervous and the sun glared at her eyes? It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Her doubts quickly vanished, and Elena nodded modestly. "Yes, your prudence is commendable. If you had a different background, you might have made an excellent scout."

Haha, have you seen the answer, scout? Melia laughed dryly: "Thank you, let's go quickly, there are still Persian soldiers in the mountains ahead."

"What?!" An adjutant walked around Elena, dragging a half-recognizable prisoner behind his horse. "How did you know there were Persian soldiers in the mountains? They refused to tell us!"

Because I saw it with my own eyes, and I was defeated with you.

Melia brushed her hair back wearily and let out a long sigh: "I see you guys don't understand at all~"

The well-rehearsed and fine-tuned speech flowed smoothly from his mouth: "Caesar hasn't returned in such a long time. Think carefully, why? It can't be that all the people were wiped out. If not, someone would have come with a letter to trade prisoners. Why didn't they come?"

The question stunned the adjutant. How did he know? He never thought about it that much. Caesar was the strongest, the Roman legions were invincible, and they hadn't returned yet... Hadn't they left Rome to find out why? What did the Persian soldiers in the mountains have to do with it?

After a few seconds, Elena spoke hesitantly: "You mean, Caesar is trapped somewhere, and the Persian soldiers are not staying in the city, but are out of the city to guard against our Roman legions?"

"That's right~"

Melia breathed a sigh of relief. It was convenient to talk to smart people. They would deduce the answers based on the results and help you find reasons.

She sat on her horse and pointed toward another hill. "We haven't been able to find any information about Caesar yet. Even with your majesty and the legions' strength, it's impossible for the Persians to completely defeat us. Therefore, two locations are crucial. The valley outside the city, where it's easy to get lost and the armored soldiers can't play their advantage. Or the city itself. Caesar has fallen for a trick and is trapped from both sides."

Seeing everyone's expressions, either pensive or enlightened, Melia felt a little guilty. Half of her intelligence came from "The Rose Princess," which clearly stated that Caesar suffered a hard time, but he was not captured. It was a long time before he returned to Rome with his remaining troops. He personally admitted defeat and expressed admiration for the enemy's strategy of luring them deep into the enemy's territory.

The other half comes from personal experience.

God knows what it felt like to be ambushed by bandits, relying on Elena's leadership to defeat the bandits and run into the valley, and then be faced with Persian soldiers.

When the lieutenant spoke again, his tone was already asking for instructions: "In your opinion, are Caesar and the legions in the city or in the valley? Should we go to the valley first? Killing some of the Persian soldiers for Caesar would surely help, right?"

"No, absolutely not." Melia shook her head sadly. "Do you have any experience fighting in the mountains? The moment you step into the dense forest, you have to be careful to see if there are archers overhead."

It’s better not to add to the memories of being shot into a sieve by a rain of arrows in the valley!

The adjutant immediately fell silent, and the noble soldiers looked around sheepishly. Only the slave hunters brought by the Melia family showed no reaction, simply beating whoever their master told them to.

Elena also noticed the reactions of the people around her and wanted to laugh: She didn't expect that the only two people here who were willing to use their brains were her and Melia, the two people who were kidnapped in the name of God's favor.

She raised her hand and pointed at a cavalryman. "Take two men to Markaspan and change your clothes. If you encounter Persian soldiers, remember to take a detour. Whether there are soldiers surrounding the city or not, do not approach. Return directly to rejoin us."

"Yes." The scout immediately took two people from his team, most likely brothers or family slaves, and the three of them went away around the mountains.

Although crossing the mountains can enjoy the shortest straight-line distance, after listening to Melia's story, even the dumbest person would know that they cannot rush headfirst into the mountain.

Whether it was to guard the gold mine or to intercept the Roman legion, as long as the Persians were stationed there, they could shoot and kill the Romans under the cover of the woods.

However, they were not without hope of victory. If Caesar's legions were trapped in the city, they could form a pincer attack from both sides once they successfully bypassed the mountains and arrived outside the city.

At that time, by joining forces with Caesar, we can quickly destroy the defenders.

"Let's go, don't be stingy with food, and speed up to bypass the mountains!" Elena made up her mind and headed towards the river.

Taking a detour will consume more supplies, and if the city-state is not captured, subsequent supply will become a problem.

The Persians must have considered that Rome was far away and thought that the Romans would not make such a stupid move, so they stayed on the mountain - now it was their turn to be disappointed!

…

Three days later, Elena and Melia were staring at Markasbon not far away.

"At least I wasn't wrong." Melia wiped the sweat off her face. The Persians had indeed surrounded the city of Markas and trapped the Roman legions inside.

They successfully avoided the Persian soldiers in the mountains and surrounded Caesar inside, but things went slightly wrong.

"Damn it! These Persians have mobilized troops from the surrounding city-states, and now there are Persians everywhere outside!" The adjutant, who had just heard the scout's report, cursed.

It's no wonder that he lost his temper. The current situation is probably like this: everyone, everyone, everyone in the city, everyone. They are surrounded, but it's basically the kind of encirclement that's like wrapping a chicken leg with a dumpling skin.

"This city... is a trap set by the Persians in advance." Elena gritted her teeth.

No wonder Your Majesty fell into trouble. Who would have expected that in order to stop the Roman advance, the Persians would prepare food and fodder in advance and secretly transfer troops, just to devour the elite of Rome here?

Ever since the gold mine was discovered a few years ago, not only had they not suppressed the news, but they had spread rumors of their wealth everywhere and even allowed bandits to circumvent their tracks. Even if spies discovered their small group's march, it wouldn't have been a problem... Caesar's defeat was well deserved.

She had figured out the Persian strategy in a flash, but figuring it out didn't mean she could solve it.

The elite army was trapped inside the city. This inexperienced army of a thousand men was like a drop in the bucket against the attackers. If they dared to launch an attack, they would soon be wiped out at the city gate and would be of no help at all.

From a rational point of view, as a commander, she should lead the team back to the nearest Roman city, request the mobilization of the surrounding garrison legions, and then come to support Caesar.

However, this correct idea is also wrong.

First, she is a person favored by God, not an ordinary legion commander. To put it bluntly, she is a princess who came to find Caesar and is not qualified to lead soldiers to avoid war.

Retreating when she knew Caesar was under siege would not end well. If Caesar were killed, she would most likely be hanged by the Senate.

Secondly, given her status, how many garrison troops could she muster? Even if they responded to the call for Caesar's life, they wouldn't be able to arrive in time. By the time they arrived to avenge Caesar, they would at best bully the deserted city, which would be completely meaningless.

"Your Highness, what should we do?"

Elena came to her senses. The surrounding noble cavalrymen all stared at her. They were so young and hot-blooded, without any experience, and they only trusted their commander.

She took a deep breath and stood on the slope, looking down at the numerous figures below:

A solution... I must think of one immediately. Is there any way to open a gap for the soldiers besieging the city...

"Why don't we burn their food supplies? With so many people gathered near the city, and the mountains behind the main road, transportation would be very inconvenient, right?"

Hearing the words beside her, Elena responded subconsciously, "Good idea. How about burning their food supplies? Send a soldier to quietly cross most of the battlefield, go around to the back and knock out an entire row of guards?"

"Leave it to me. I can do it."

A soft hand gently patted her shoulder. Elena turned around and saw Melia's smiling eyes.

Can you do it, what? Sneak, charge, and snap your neck.

Perhaps because of the adventures they had encountered along the way, Elena didn't quickly refute her remarks. Instead, she pressed on, "Even if you could burn their food supplies and cause the Persians to freak out for a while, and Caesar would have noticed their confusion... look at their front phalanx."

Following her arm, everyone could see the Persian soldiers blocking the city gate tightly. They held up huge wooden shields to protect their bodies, and after a while, they would exchange positions with the people behind them.

It can be imagined that even if there is chaos in the rear due to the fire, they will continue to be meticulous in preventing the people inside from rushing out and will not leave easily.

“Hmm…”

"So think carefully and don't waste your life unnecessarily—"

"Great! I happened to bring some useful things~"

Under the shade of the tree, the girl's slightly curled hair swayed gently: "Remember Sura? He donated some magic potion~ Hey."

Her emerald eyes sparkled, and even if only for a moment, Elena forgot the pressure—and the disgust that should have existed.

The author has something to say:

Thanks to Tan Tianyang, Shiqi, Kuo Tai Tai Sen Sen, and Yuel's Lei Lei~

Thanks to Lily Knight, Lobster Express, Feng Xue Lian Mei, Seventeen, Yi Yi Xi Bi, Cai Ziyou, and Kai Dong for their irrigation~