"Your Excellency, we have found out that these people were locked out because they went out to work and were unable to enter the city in time."

However, the situation inside the city is quite interesting. According to the local people, the city's garrison has colluded with local thieves to rob people outside the city and plunder them extensively. The people inside the city have completely lost their support..."

Inside the temporary tent, a staff officer explained the situation to Chu Qian in detail.

Daruk, who was standing to the side, spoke up: "Envoy Chu, this matter began several years ago. At that time, I led the Parthian navy, defeated the Roman navy, and controlled all the ports in the Parthian sea area."

So the Romans kept trying to regain their face on land.

The king and his ministers had no choice but to deploy heavy troops near the border. The annual military expenditure was becoming unbearable for the capital, so they turned their attention to these coastal cities…

Chu Qian frowned: "Parthia controls the land trade routes between Rome and the Han Dynasty. The annual tax revenue must be astronomical, right? How could they not afford those military expenses?"

"Your Excellency may not know this, but most of the tax revenue went into the pockets of those ministers. How could they possibly take the money out to subsidize military expenses?"

Even my 30,000-strong navy relies entirely on port revenue for sustenance; we have never received a single copper coin from the capital!

"Heh, these guys have actually done us a huge favor!"

Upon hearing Daruk's account, Chu Qian smiled slightly.

Before coming here, Chu Qian had been thinking about what kind of preferential policies he should introduce to win over the hearts of the people and make these Anxi people serve the Han Dynasty.

Now, however, there's no need to worry. These Parthian people have been driven to the brink of despair. All I need to do is give them a little benefit, and they will be grateful to the Han Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Chu Qian immediately looked at the staff officer beside him and instructed, "Immediately gather all the staff officers and instructors in the army, send some food to those people, and tell them that our Great Han army is passing through this area and has heard of their hardship, so we have come to rescue them..."

"I understand!"

Upon hearing Chu Qian's instructions, the staff officer smiled confidently and then turned to walk outside.

"General Daruk, please take on the task and lead the men of the army to follow behind those staff officers and instructors, acting as translators!"

"yes!!"

Daruk respectfully agreed and quickly got up to follow.

For instructors and staff officers in the army, appeasing the people and winning their hearts was already second nature.

Especially for the Parthian people who had been oppressed for a long time and had just experienced being slaughtered and turned away by their own people, the food in the hands of the instructors and staff officers alone was enough to move them to tears and make them kneel down to express their gratitude.

With the assistance of Daruk and the naval soldiers, the Parthian people quickly turned to the Han Dynasty, regarding them as a righteous army that had come to save them.

The next morning, as the rapid drumbeats sounded, the army, which had rested overnight, quickly assembled.

Chu Qian personally led two thousand Imperial Navy soldiers and six thousand sailors as guards in the center, Commodus and five thousand Roman soldiers on the left wing, and Daruc and six thousand Parthian Navy soldiers on the right wing. The three armies moved together and advanced directly to within four hundred meters of Linhai South City.

The three thousand garrison troops inside the city also gathered on the city wall.

Upon seeing the nearly 20,000 troops outside the city, the soldiers guarding the city walls couldn't help but tremble, their faces filled with fear.

In particular, the two thousand tall, well-armored naval soldiers outside the city instilled a sense of helplessness in the defending soldiers who didn't even have leather armor.

"These Parthians aren't very good at fighting, but their city-building is quite interesting!"

Looking at the city wall in front of him, which was about two zhang high and built of huge stones, Chu Qian couldn't help but chuckle.

The city before us is a formidable fortress, even compared to the county towns within the Han Dynasty. Under normal circumstances, three thousand garrison soldiers are fully capable of withstanding an attack from an enemy ten times their size.

However, the three thousand defenders on the city wall were clearly not within that normal range.

Just as Chu Qian was observing the city, a guard approached him with an official document in his hand.

"Reporting to the commander, according to the observations of the operations staff, the defenders on the city wall have fewer than two hundred men armed with bows, fewer than three thousand arrows, and not a single defensive weapon such as logs, rolling stones, kerosene, molten metal, spears, or crossbows."

Moreover, the soldiers guarding the city all looked fearful, clearly showing no determination to resist.

Therefore, based on the operational staff's simulations, our army can capture this city within half an hour!

As he spoke, the guard handed Chu Qian the siege plan devised by the operations staff.

After reviewing the siege plan devised by the operations staff, Chu Qian immediately ordered, "Order the entire army to act according to this plan and attack the city immediately!"

"Here you go!"

Since the staff officer system was popularized in the military, all military affairs, including combat, marching, and setting up camps, are deployed and simulated by the military's operational staff, and finally the final decision is made by the military commander.

These combat staff officers all came from the Imperial Guard and had all received systematic military training. Individually, they might not be as good as those famous generals, but when put together, their role is not to be underestimated.

Before any battle, the staff officers would repeatedly simulate and refine the battle situation, taking into account factors such as weather, geography, equipment, and the quality of the troops, and formulate corresponding battle plans.

Therefore, Chu Qian was very confident in the capabilities of these operations staff officers.

Soon, Chu Qian's orders were relayed, and the army's combat staff were dispersed to various units to command the upcoming battles.

Soon, a staff officer led three hundred soldiers, pushing fifteen crossbows, and advanced to a distance of three hundred meters from the city gate.

"Prepare!"

At the staff officer's shout, the soldiers behind each crossbowman quickly sprang into action.

They quickly adjusted the firing angle, aimed it at the defenders on the city wall, and loaded the fifty-pound stone projectiles onto them.

"That's a ballista...?"

The officer on the city wall, watching the Han army's movements outside the city, couldn't help but shrink his pupils.

"emission!!"

Just as the city guard was stunned, a loud shout reached his ears, followed by a series of crisp "creaking" sounds.

Under the watchful eyes of the defending officer, fifteen stone projectiles pierced the air and hurtled towards the city walls...