The Three Kingdoms began with island farming

Chapter 717 Battle Stalemate
"Rome has already fallen into the trap."

In Chang'an, Jia Xu presented the latest intelligence to Tian Ze with a smile.

Tian Ze couldn't suppress his excitement.

"I never expected the plan to proceed so smoothly. Zhongda has done a great job!"

Although they formulated the overall strategy, Sima Yi was in charge of the specific operations.

"Sima Zhongda is indeed a rare genius, especially in politics, where he is extremely shrewd," Jia Xu said in a deep voice.

Tian Ze was extremely grateful that he had not dismissed Sima Yi because of his bad reputation in history.

No one was more suitable to do this than Sima Yi, and perhaps no one could have done it as appropriately.

"Zhongda is preparing to hold out to the death to tie down and wear down the Roman army. What do you think of this strategy?" Tian Ze asked.

Cheng Yu replied without hesitation, "Winning without fighting is the best strategy."

The situation in Mesopotamia was clear to everyone present.

The longer this battle drags on, the more they will benefit.

After all, Rome wasn't as wealthy as them, so they didn't have to worry about money, supplies, or logistics.

To eliminate any worries the seven kingdoms might have, Tazawa even dispatched 200,000 naval troops to continuously escort large quantities of supplies to the front lines.

"With hundreds of thousands of troops tied up in Mesopotamia, and millions of logistical support personnel in the rear, Rome's economic system simply couldn't handle it," Chen Gong stated confidently.

Although he didn't fully understand Rome's economy, he had been able to deduce its general extent through various clues.

He was well aware of how costly such large-scale expeditionary operations were.

The seven kingdoms were able to hold on solely because of Tian Ze's extraordinary abilities and the financial support from the Great Qi.

Rome, despite its large population and the Mediterranean Sea as a "little booster," was absolutely unable to sustain itself.

"If Severus does not withdraw his troops within six months at most, Rome will inevitably descend into internal strife."

Tian Ze nodded in satisfaction.

What he wanted was not to defeat Rome, but to occupy Rome.

Temporary victory or defeat is meaningless; dragging things out like this is the best option for them.

"I have secretly sent people to contact the Roman Senate, as well as the southern Scots and Germanic tribes, preparing to dismantle Rome at any time," Jia Xu said.

"Moreover, Severus was in poor health, and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, were not powerful rulers. Caracalla, in particular, was even more brutal than Severus."

"If handled properly, Rome will be torn apart in less than a year."

The strongest fortresses are often breached from within.

Compared to the Central Plains, which had successively undergone the ideological baptisms of Qin Shi Huang's unification of the six kingdoms, "standardization of writing and cart axles", and Emperor Wu of Han's "great unification", Rome's ideology was still relatively divided.

The empire's rule was not unbreakable; it was more like a product of the alliance of various forces, and a large number of people were excluded from the ranks of citizens.

In Jia Xu's eyes, this was full of loopholes and could be easily dismantled with a little manipulation.

In fact, this was true not only for Rome, but also for the Kushan and Prussian regions.

Jia Xu secretly used many tricks to make Parthia and Kushan seem to be destroyed so easily.

However, all of this was carried out quietly, concealed by the overt actions of the seven kingdoms.

In truth, Jia Xu's contributions in these events were absolutely no less than those of the Seven Kingdoms. Tian Ze naturally trusted Jia Xu completely, allowing him to freely display his talents without any reservations.

In matters like this, what's needed are ruthless and cunning "poisonous strategists" like Jia Xu and Sima Yi.

Although Tian Feng and others were skilled in diplomacy and strategy, their efforts were relatively slow to yield results, and they were not very effective against empires with low political sophistication, such as Rome and Parthia.

Overt strategies are the most powerful weapon against clever and strong people, but against fools, you should cut through the Gordian knot and resort to underhanded tactics.

If Jia Xu's methods had been used to deal with the alliance of the Central Plains lords in the past, they would most likely have been a waste of effort, or even be used against him.

Because the advantages and disadvantages are too obvious. Anyone with even a little foresight would not fall for it.

However, Rome and the surrounding countries were extremely lacking in such visionary people.

Having received Tian Ze's orders, Sima Yi became even more "prudent".

When it comes to fighting a war of attrition, Sima Yi was a master, using his tenacious defense to torment Severus to the point of near ecstasy.

It must be admitted that Severus truly lived up to his reputation as a king who came from a military background.

With a deep understanding of warfare, he further reformed and improved the already well-established Roman military system.

It retained the core advantages of legion discipline, formation tactics, and engineering technology, while strengthening the status and offensive capabilities of cavalry.

In combat, light infantry first suppress the enemy with arrows and catapults, while legionary infantry advance to within thirty paces of the enemy and throw javelins before charging; cavalry flank the enemy to prevent them from collapsing and regrouping.

After the victory, they prepared to build a permanent fortress to consolidate the occupied territory.

This tactic is very similar to the tactics of the Han Chinese. In a real battle, the Seven Kingdoms Alliance might only be able to gain the upper hand despite their superior weaponry.

After all, the Roman legions were also elite, with nearly twenty of the thirty-three standing legions of the empire sent, their strength not much inferior to that of the Han army.

Unfortunately, the seven-nation coalition held a firm advantage in both numbers and logistics.

Most importantly, Sima Yi held absolute initiative; he could afford to drag things out.

This battle is quite similar to the historical duel between Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi in Liangzhou.

Even against the almost supernaturally intelligent Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi could hold his own, let alone against Severus, whose strategic and tactical abilities were not particularly outstanding.

While relying on fortified cities and defensive siege weapons to inflict heavy losses on Severus, Rome was also able to make full use of its large cavalry and navy to launch surprise attacks and harass the Roman legions from all sorts of unexpected locations.

Moreover, Sima Yi even held back, not cutting off the Roman legions' supply lines.

Otherwise, Sima Yi might have even left behind most of the 300,000 Roman legions.

Another six months of stalemate.

In the past six months, neither side has made any progress on the front lines, and the number of soldiers lost has not been significant.

Because Sima Yi defended so well, relying on a large number of engineers, ballistae, catapults, and other equipment, he created a defensive line that Severus could not shake.

Although Severus was a hardened soldier, he also valued the lives of his soldiers greatly.

He would not hesitate to send his troops into battle if he could see any hope of victory.

But Sima Yi didn't give him any chance at all.

Each attack is met with a comprehensive, three-dimensional long-range strike.

The ballistae and catapults alone were enough to keep the Roman soldiers from raising their heads; charging forward would only result in their deaths, and the battle line could not be pushed forward even an inch.

(End of this chapter)