Chapter 189 Secret Mission
After the meeting, the officers under Theodosius II walked out of the tent one by one. Looking at the officers' backs as they walked away, Luca couldn't help but sigh and silently lamented in his heart: "It seems that this is another meeting that will end in vain."
"Luga, Andrew! You two come in!"
This was Marcus' call from inside the tent. This was no joke, and instantly made Luca and Andrew's hearts rise to their throats. Luca was still wailing in his heart: "No way, what do you want from us?"
With uneasy hearts, Luca and Andrew turned and entered the tent. The first person they saw was Theodosius II, who was sitting upright on a soft cushion made of thick fur. In front of him was a map of this generation, which was filled with flags of the Eastern Empire and Sassanid Persia. The divisions were very clear, and various cities in the Empire and Sassanid were marked in detail.
"Sit down!"
Theodosius II pointed to the empty seats on both sides of the table, and Luca and Andrew randomly chose a seat, which was where the officers sat before they left. Not long had passed, and Luca could still feel the residual warmth under his butt. This made him very uncomfortable, but Augustus was indifferent, so he did not dare to act rashly and had to endure it silently.
"Oh, Luca, Andrew, as you know!" Theodosius II said, pointing to the downed Sassanid flag on the map, and then said: "As you just heard, our Nisibis has already fallen, but the Sassanid army is not in a hurry to come west to besiege Edessa. We are advancing so slowly, and they have the patience to wait? Moreover, such a large army of ours will naturally be discovered, but with more than 10,000 people, they still advance slowly, without making any choices between advance and retreat!" Theodosius II held up his robe with one hand and pressed the other hand on the table and kept drawing circles on the blank map between Nisibis and Edessa. Yazdegerd's behavior made him very distressed. Luca knew that Theodosius II was thinking hard. This is indeed a headache. Let's not talk about what the Sassanid army fears. After so many years of truce, the Sassanid army could not maintain an army that is evenly matched with the Eastern Empire. Besides, the transition between the old and new emperors of the Sassanid Empire had just ended, and the new emperor must have great military achievements to consolidate his absolute ruling position. Among the surrounding countries, only the Eastern Roman Empire could rival the Sassanid Empire. Of course, who among the Sassanid emperors did not want to become the next Shapur, the hero who captured Augustus of the Roman Empire?
"So what does Caesar mean?" Luca was not sure what the Sassanid emperor named Yazdegerd I was thinking. What was roughly certain was that the Sassanid Persians did not seem to be keen on conquering cities and territories. Perhaps Yazdegerd knew that there was no point in capturing the cities of the Eastern Empire.
"First, we don't know the intentions of the Sassanid Persians yet. Maybe their King Yazdegerd is seeking a decisive battle with us outside the city of Edessa. Second, they have no intention of going to war. Instead, they are using Nisibis as a bargaining chip to negotiate with us. Of course, if I am not mistaken, the general situation of the negotiations is to make us surrender and sign a humiliating contract with them. But these are just a show of force!"
"So, what Caesar means is..." Luca knew that he should not have any objections at this time. Since Augustus said so much, he must have thought of a solution.
"Luga, you know!" Theodosius II gently kneaded the golden ring on his left hand and said to me seriously, "If we want to defeat the Sassanid army, we must get the support of the armored cavalry brigade, so that we can have enough counterattack power to fight back against the Sassanid heavy cavalry."
"I understand what Caesar means!" Luca understood it immediately. The legion of Theodosius II urgently needed to confront the Sassanids head-on, but it was suffering from the lack of support from the armored cavalry. That's why Theodosius II did not move his troops. It was not because the armored cavalry could not fight, but because the Sassanid cavalry without the heavy cavalry was a big threat. Then he was a little excited in his heart. Could it be that Luca felt that Theodosius II was going to entrust him with an important task? What was that? It must be to let him lead the armored cavalry team! It was not difficult to hear from Theodosius II that it must be a very large cavalry regiment, and it was well-equipped and relied on by the empire. If he could lead them, it would naturally be an absolute honor!
"Caesar, if you have any orders, just tell me!" Luca couldn't hold back any longer. He couldn't wait to hear Theodosius II tell him the military order he was about to issue: You, go find them, and, lead them, defeat Sassanid! "Oh, the guide I ordered before is ready to go." Theodosius II said slowly, and took the ring he was rubbing from his finger and held it in his hand. "You should also get ready, and go with him when the time comes to help him complete the work, of course." Theodosius II put the ring on Luca's table and told Luca, "Don't show this ring unless it's absolutely necessary. This special thing is useful, don't take it away secretly!"
"Until it's absolutely necessary?"
Luca's eyes turned from Theodosius II to the ring placed on the table in front of him. The ring was half a centimeter long and inlaid with a red gem. The whole ring looked nothing special, just an ordinary ring. Luca picked up the ring and looked at it carefully. Finally, he saw a string of letters engraved on the inner wall of the ring. Luca tried to spell it out, and the general meaning was: Power belongs to Caesar.
Luca didn't know what the ring was used for. In his opinion, it was nothing more than a ring engraved with a sentence that every Roman Augustus wanted to say and prove. Looking at how mysterious Theodosius II was, Luca couldn't help but wonder what the ring was used for. If it was a tiger talisman or a scepter, Luca couldn't think of any other use for it except selling it for some money.
"Okay, Orius Luca!" Theodosius II looked at him with a smile and said, "If there is nothing else, then go back and pack up and get on the road!"
"So, what about Andrew?" Luca asked.
"Andrew will follow me. This is just an errand. You two don't need to act together!"
"Okay!" Luca had no choice but to nod. He really had no idea what Theodosius II was up to. A stinky errand boy was talking nonsense for a long time!
"Well, go away!" Theodosius II waved to Luca, and Luca had to stand up, nod to him, and leave the tent.
"And you, Andrew, you have nothing to do here!" Theodosius II pointed at Andrew again, and Andrew naturally obeyed.
After the two of them left, Marcus, who had been silent, could not help but ask, "Caesar, is he really trustworthy?"
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βI hope so.β Theodosius II sighed, looked at the empty sky outside the tent, and said slowly: βHe may not understand what the ring means, but I still wish him good luck. I hope he can wake up!β
(End of this chapter)