"Warriors, break through Xilin Pass! High positions, generous rewards, gold, silver, and beautiful women are within your grasp! Charge!!"

"kill!!"

At the commander's order, the Roman soldiers roared excitedly and charged toward Xilin Pass, carrying ladders and pushing ballistae.

The reason these Roman soldiers were so highly motivated, besides the rewards promised by their commander, was mainly because the physicians of the Church of the Peace had treated their wounded comrades the previous night.

Therefore, in the eyes of these Roman soldiers, as long as they were not unlucky enough to be directly crushed or hacked to death, they could charge forward with confidence.

Seeing the Roman army charging towards them, the Parthian commander on the city wall couldn't help but change his expression.

He never expected that the Roman army, which had been defeated in yesterday's battle, would still be able to maintain such high morale.

Soon, under the cover of ballistae, the Roman army advanced to the foot of the Silin Pass, and the fierce battle of attack and defense began again.

Compared to their timidity yesterday, the Roman soldiers responsible for the siege today have become much braver. The soldiers at the front are willing to risk injury in order to launch a fatal blow against the Parthian defenders.

The battle escalated into a fierce stage right from the start.

As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense!

Faced with the fearless and valiant Roman soldiers, many Parthian defenders were intimidated and retreated in fear.

In just a quarter of an hour, nearly three hundred Roman soldiers successfully scaled the city walls.

Although the Roman soldiers who climbed the city walls were quickly driven back, they at least gave people hope of breaching the city.

In the following waves of attacks, more and more Roman soldiers successfully scaled the city walls and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Parthian defenders.

If it weren't for the Parthian commander leading from the front, constantly boosting morale and leading the Parthian army in a desperate resistance, Xilin Pass would probably have changed hands long ago.

On a temporary high platform in the Roman camp.

Marcus Aurelius frowned as he watched the siege unfolding in the distance.

"Sigh, if I had known, I shouldn't have let Master Zhang send people to treat their wounded!"

Looking at the soldiers who had become unusually fierce, Marcus Aurelius couldn't help but sigh in frustration.

"Your Majesty, the Taiping Sect firmly believes in the equality of all beings and that they are all children of God. It is impossible to stop them from healing the sick and saving lives."

Now, the only thing we can do is try to force them to retreat. We cannot allow them to take away the credit for breaching this city!

While covering for the Taiping Sect, Li Boming, standing to the side, also watched the battle in the distance with a solemn expression.

No one expected that those noble commanders would actually fight so desperately. It was completely unexpected, and even the provincial legions responsible for supervising the battle from the rear could not find any reason to target them.

Marcus Aurelius turned to the messenger beside him and said, "Pass down the order that, to avoid excessive casualties, the soldiers attacking the city should retreat and rest for the time being!"

"yes!"

The messenger agreed, then ran down the platform and spurred his horse toward Xilin Pass.

"What? Xilin Pass is about to fall, why does His Majesty want us to withdraw our troops?"

"That's right. They didn't mention the many casualties before, but now they're bringing this up. They're clearly afraid we'll make a contribution and steal their limelight!"

Upon hearing the order to withdraw troops delivered by the messenger, the noble leaders found the commander and began to grumble indignantly.

"Heh~, it seems this is going to be a fight to the death!"

Looking at the provincial legions that were already in full battle array behind him, the commander couldn't help but sneer, his eyes flashing with a cold light.

"Let them retreat. They'll pay the price for their actions sooner or later!"

As he spoke, the commander also gave the order to retreat.

The Roman soldiers who were fighting the Parthian army on the city walls heard the horns signaling a retreat. Although they were puzzled, they still followed the orders and withdrew from the city walls.

However, during the retreat, several Roman soldiers took parchment scrolls from their pockets and secretly slipped them into the arms of the body of a Roman soldier dressed in guard attire.

Soon, the noble commanders led several legions of soldiers, carrying the wounded back to the main camp.

Marcus Aurelius himself came before the crowd and said with great pride, "I have seen your performance today, and it was excellent. Although you failed to breach the city, you have terrified the Parthian army and enhanced the military prestige of Rome. When we finally conquer the city, you will be credited with the greatest merit!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty. It is only what we should do!"

Seeing Marcus Aurelius's hypocritical demeanor, the noble leaders, though resentful, still politely bowed and greeted him.

Marcus Aurelius smiled and waved his hand: "Alright, let's take the wounded warriors to the rear for treatment first. I've also ordered some meat to be prepared to celebrate the victory of all the warriors who fought in the siege!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After the noble commanders agreed, they led their troops toward the rear of the camp.

Meanwhile, Parthian garrison commander, who had been keeping a close eye on Rome's movements, breathed a sigh of relief and began directing his soldiers to collect the corpses on the city walls.

While cleaning up, the Parthian soldiers also stripped the Roman soldiers of their clothes, armor, and other protective gear from their corpses.

After two days of defending the city, the Parthian garrison had exhausted its supplies, so they had to make do with the corpses.

Soon, the Parthian army discovered several parchment scrolls hidden in the bodies of the Roman soldiers and handed them over to the Parthian commander.

"This is... a topographical map of the Roman army camp?"

Upon seeing the contents of the parchment scroll, the Parthian commander's expression shifted, and a hint of joy flashed in his eyes.

Subsequently, the Parthian commander inquired carefully about the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the map.

After glancing at the body of the Roman soldier dressed in his personal guard uniform, the Parthian commander had no further suspicions.

The Parthian commander looked at the soldiers in front of him with a serious expression and said in a deep voice, "The contents of this document are our brothers' opportunity to make a name for ourselves and get rich. If anyone asks, you must say that the brothers risked their lives to get it from the Roman army. You must never say that it was found among those corpses!"

"General, don't worry, we know what to do!"

Upon hearing the commander's order, the soldiers nodded in agreement.

This is, after all, a secret about the Roman camp's layout. If it were found by chance, at most a couple of words of praise would be given. But if it were said to have been obtained at great risk, then it would be a great achievement.

The difference between the two is like night and day; anyone who isn't an idiot knows what to do.

At the same time, a messenger also ran quickly up the city wall.

"Reporting to the General, Commander Mokra is leading 70,000 reinforcements, traveling day and night, and is only a hundred li away from Xilin Pass. They should arrive first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Haha~, great, great, the reinforcements have finally arrived!"

Upon hearing the news of reinforcements, the Parthian commander couldn't help but burst into laughter.