Xilin Pass.

The Parthian garrison on the city walls, looking at the endless Roman camps outside the city, were so frightened that their legs went weak.

In the past, the Parthian garrison would not have been so afraid, after all, they also had 400,000 troops behind them.

However, since last year, when 200,000 of our comrades perished on the road to the south, the Parthian defenders' confidence has also vanished.

Furthermore, the actions of those comrades on their way to the expedition had greatly disappointed the local people, who no longer provided them with any support, and many even fled the surrounding area.

Furthermore, the Parthian king and his ministers, due to the defeat, focused all their energy on defending against the Persians within their country and on building a new army.

Nowadays, the Parthian border troops often cannot get their supplies.

Take Xilin Pass for example. The 30,000 soldiers guarding the pass are now surviving on a bowl of thin porridge every day, and this situation has been going on for half a month.

Even walking is difficult enough, let alone fighting!

Therefore, none of the defenders at Xilin Pass were certain whether they could hold the pass.

Meanwhile, inside the Roman camp, the eleven legions under the Senate began preparing for the upcoming siege.

Upon noticing the movement of the Roman legions, the commander of Xilin Pass ordered his men to prepare for the defense of the city while simultaneously having food served.

Originally, if only thin porridge were provided, the grain supplies in the pass could last for another half a month. However, with a major battle imminent, the soldiers must be well-fed first.

Now, all the edible things in the interior combined can only last for three days.

Seeing the soldiers wolfing down their food, the general in charge of guarding the pass immediately summoned one of his personal guards and gave him an order:

"You should also have a hearty meal, and then immediately ride a fast horse to report to the commander, telling him that our army's food supplies can only last for three days at most, and that reinforcements must arrive as soon as possible!"

"yes!"

The guard agreed and then turned and ran towards the interior of the pass.

Just after the garrison at Xilin Pass had eaten and drunk their fill, the eleven legions under the Senate also set out from their camps.

The Roman army's initial operation went very smoothly, advancing directly to within 300 paces of the Xilin Pass and stopping at the edge of the moat outside the pass.

Due to the limited time available, the Roman legions had only about twenty ballistae and a little over two hundred ladders for siege warfare.

One of the noble commanders in charge of the siege immediately ordered his men to push the ballistae to the edge of the moat and aim them at the defenders on the city walls.

"emission!!"

At the command of the noble commander, twenty stones the size of human heads flew whistlingly toward the top of Xilin Pass.

Unfortunately, the walls of Xilin Pass were over five zhang high, and the Roman army's ballistae had limited power; they could not launch stones at the city walls from a distance of three hundred paces.

Moreover, the walls of Xilin Pass were built of huge stones, so the stones that hit the walls did not cause much damage.

After one round of firing, the Roman ballistae had achieved virtually nothing.

Upon seeing this, the Roman commander immediately ordered his men to begin digging and filling in the trench.

Meanwhile, the Parthian soldiers on the city walls began to draw their bows and shoot at the Roman soldiers filling the moat.

Due to their superior vantage point, the Parthian army's arrows could inflict damage on targets within a range of 300 paces.

Therefore, after losing several hundred men, the Roman soldiers responsible for filling the trenches dared not approach them again.

The Roman commander immediately gave another order: "Place the ladders side by side across the trench and charge forward with shields!"

Soon, two hundred long ladders were laid out side by side on the trench, and then each legion sent out a thousand swordsmen and shieldmen, who raised their shields and charged toward Xilin Pass on the ladders.

Although there were occasional casualties, most of the swordsmen and shieldmen successfully crossed the trench, while also drawing a large number of arrows from the Parthian army.

"Fill the ditch now!!"

Seeing that the attacks from the city walls were all aimed at the swordsmen and shieldmen, the Roman commander once again ordered the Roman soldiers to move forward and continue filling the trenches.

"Hmph, cunning Romans!"

Upon seeing the Romans' actions, the Parthian commander on the city wall cursed angrily and shouted, "All archers, aim at those Romans filling the trenches!"

The rest of you, wait until the Roman swordsmen and shieldmen get close to the city walls, then attack with rolling stones!

"yes!"

The Parthian soldiers responded loudly and immediately began to aim their bows and arrows at the Roman soldiers filling the trenches, following the command of their commander.

As several volleys of arrows rained down, the Roman soldiers who were filling in the trenches abandoned more than four hundred corpses and retreated.

On the other side, the swordsmen and shieldmen near the Parthian city walls also faced a barrage of falling rocks from the city walls. After losing nearly a thousand men, they retreated in disarray.

A single probing attack resulted in the loss of over two thousand Roman soldiers.

The Roman commanders had clearly anticipated this outcome; siege warfare is never a simple matter.

"Second batch, let's continue!"

After a short rest, the Roman commander dispatched another group of Roman soldiers to continue the attack on Xilin Pass.

After half an hour of tug-of-war, the Roman army, having lost four thousand men, finally managed to clear a passage about two zhang wide.

"Shieldbearers in front, provide cover, and pull all the ballistae forward!"

The Roman commander then ordered his soldiers to push the ballistae across the trench.

It turns out that the previous tug-of-war was all to create a passage so that they could put pressure on the defenders on the city walls at close range and make it easier for Roman soldiers to climb the walls.

This tactic was also a common method used by the Romans when besieging cities.

Although the Parthian troops on the city walls continued to fire arrows, they had little effect and could only watch helplessly as the Romans pushed the ballistae across the moat.

As stones hurtled out, the Parthian soldiers on the city walls scrambled for cover, while the Roman soldiers behind them seized the opportunity to carry ladders and charge toward Xilin Pass.

Soon, long ladders were firmly placed against the city wall, and Roman soldiers quickly climbed up them.

The Roman army's ballistae also ceased firing.

After all, their ballistae were not yet capable of accurately controlling the projectile accuracy, and if they continued firing, they would inevitably hit their own men.

Meanwhile, the Parthian army took the opportunity to leave their shelters, and launched attacks on the Roman soldiers who were climbing the city walls, either by drawing their bows and arrows or by rolling logs and stones. The Roman soldiers below the city walls also retaliated with their bows and arrows.

The fierce battle of attack and defense has officially begun.