Not long after Zhang Bao returned to his tent, Li Boming also came looking for him.
After taking their seats, Li Boming said, "Master Zhang, everything is proceeding according to plan. We should discuss the next steps!"
Zhang Bao smiled and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, after this battle, Marcus Aurelius will completely break with the Senate and the various provinces, and those fifteen gladiator legions will become his last resort!"
Li Boming nodded, then asked, "How are those gladiators that the Celestial Master planted doing?"
Zhang Bao shook his head: "This Roman emperor is very meticulous. Most of the officers in those gladiator legions were his slaves. The people I sent in were only a small number of mid- to low-ranking officers; most of them were just ordinary soldiers."
However, thanks to their propaganda, many soldiers have begun to believe in our Lord!
Li Boming narrowed his eyes: "Then let's take this opportunity to eliminate Marcus Aurelius's men as well. These gladiator legions must be under our control!"
Zhang Bao nodded and said solemnly, "The specific plan will require your assistance, sir!"
"no problem!"
Li Boming nodded and said solemnly, "If nothing unexpected happens, the legions under the Senate and the legions of various provinces will soon come together."
I will persuade Marcus Aurelius to lead his army to attack Xilin Pass again. Then, the Celestial Master will arrange for someone to secretly eliminate his officers…!
Subsequently, Li Boming explained the specific details of the operation to Zhang Bao.
...
That night, just as Marcus Aurelius and the legions from the various provinces were leaving their camp under cover of darkness, a lithe Roman soldier also slipped out of the camp in the dark and hurried toward Xilin Pass.
Soon, the soldier arrived at Xilin Pass.
Seeing the burning torches being extinguished, the soldier took off his large bow from his back, took out an arrow with a white cloth tied to its fletching, then nocked the arrow and aimed at one of the torches.
With a "whoosh," a sharp arrow shot out and struck the target torch directly.
Immediately afterwards, the torches were shot down, and then a sound was made.
"Who goes there!?"
The Parthian garrison, who were closing the gates for the night watch, shouted and rushed toward the fallen torches.
Hearing the sound of the gate closing, the Roman soldier quickly left the gate and ran towards the Roman camp.
Soon, the Parthian garrison at the gate discovered the arrow on the torch and the strip of cloth attached to it.
Since these soldiers were all under the command of the garrison commander of Xilin Pass, they handed them over directly to their own general.
Upon seeing the contents of the cloth strip, the dazed Xilin Pass garrison commander was immediately jolted awake.
After calming down, the garrison commander did not go directly to inform Camerin, but instead sent someone out of the pass to investigate the situation of the Roman camp.
Before long, the Parthian soldiers who were responsible for scouting the situation returned to the pass.
"Reporting to the General, according to my investigation, we have indeed discovered that the Romans are mobilizing a large army, numbering at least one hundred thousand..."
"Hmph, what a cunning bunch of Romans! In that case, our plan to launch a surprise attack has failed."
Upon hearing his soldiers' report, the garrison commander couldn't help but snort coldly, and his face turned extremely ugly.
The adjutant stepped forward and said, "General, do you think this could be a trap set by the Romans? They want to deliberately lure away our reinforcements and then launch an attack on Xilin Pass?"
The garrison commander narrowed his eyes: "That possibility cannot be ruled out, but Linma Pass is also a formidable pass. The reinforcements only need to send 30,000 troops over there, which is enough to hold it. Therefore, the Romans' plan will not work at all."
Therefore, I think the other possibility is more likely!
"Oh? What's going on?" the lieutenant asked as he stepped forward.
"That's infighting among the Romans; someone wants to use it to strike at their rivals!"
In the end, the garrison commander couldn't help but sneer, revealing the messenger's intentions in a single sentence.
As a long-time adversary of the Romans, this commander was quite familiar with the internal situation within Rome.
In the past, the Parthians were able to repel the Roman attacks time and time again mainly because of internal strife within Rome.
Then, while ordering his men to continue keeping an eye on the Romans' movements, the garrison commander also took the white cloth to the sleeping Camorin.
"My lord, my spy planted among the Romans has sent back an important message!"
The Romans have amassed an army of over 100,000 and are launching a night raid on our Linma Pass!
Believing he had guessed the Romans' intentions, the garrison commander attributed the source of the information to himself.
"What?"
Upon hearing the report from the garrison commander of Xilin Pass, Kemolin immediately realized, "Is your intelligence accurate?"
"Absolutely true! This is a message sent back by a spy I planted, risking his life!"
As he spoke, the garrison commander of Xilin Pass handed the strip of cloth that the Roman soldier had shot onto the city wall to Kemorin.
"Good, you've done a great job this time!"
After reading the contents of the cloth strip, Kemorin couldn't help but praise the garrison commander highly.
But his joy was short-lived; Kemorin's face fell again.
"Commander, what's going on...?"
Seeing that Kemolin's expression was off, the garrison commander of Xilin Pass asked with a puzzled look.
"Alas, since the Romans have decided to divide their forces, our plan to raid their camp can no longer be implemented."
"Our army is currently short of supplies. Even if we send troops to defend Linma Pass, we won't be able to hold out for long..."
Kmollin sighed and shook his head with a bitter expression.
The garrison commander of Xilin Pass stepped forward and said, "Commander, in my humble opinion, the Romans must be so eager to open a pass because they are short of food supplies."
Therefore, I believe that we can retreat in batches during these few days of holding out, and then relocate the people of the surrounding cities and towns as well, giving them a scorched earth policy.
Even if the Romans enter our Parthian territory, they will suffer internal strife due to a lack of gains and will eventually withdraw!
He couldn't guarantee whether the Romans had enough food, but he was certain that the Romans were fighting amongst themselves. Moreover, even if he was wrong in the end, he could still lead his remaining brothers to evacuate the area.
Therefore, he concealed the source of the intelligence from Kemorin. In his eyes, while making meritorious contributions was important, what was even more important was protecting his own life and that of his soldiers.
As for whether he would be punished in the end because the matter was exposed, he couldn't be bothered to think about it anymore.
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