In the long-term external expansion war of the Great Qin Empire, four legions have the longest history and have made great achievements many times. In the era of Putimius, these four legions were given extremely high honors and were collectively called the Royal Forest Legion. These four legions became the most trusted army of Putimius: the Roman legion, the Sicilian legion, the Greek legion and the Macedonian legion. Among them, the Roman legion was the only legion named after a city in the Qin army sequence.
After the death of Putimius, Caracalla and Geta announced their accession to the throne at the same time, but the Qin Empire did not split and there was no civil war. This is a very strange phenomenon, just like the Senate and Putimius, the autocratic emperor, could co-exist. Same situation
The marching army based on the Xianjun strategy has become a force that cannot be underestimated within the Qin Empire. Their influence on the situation has even exceeded that of the nobles. Therefore, neither Caracalla nor Geta gave up on wooing the army.
When Putimius was alive, both Caracalla and Geta, who were princes, directly controlled a legion, namely the Gallic Legion and the Germanic Legion. These two legions were also elite troops of the Qin Empire, but they invaded Parthia last year. was severely damaged by the Han army and has not fully recovered until now.
In order to gain enough say as soon as possible, Caracalla and Geta unanimously set their sights on the four royal guard legions. These four royal guard legions were all loyal to Putimius. After the death of Putimius, they should be loyal to the new one. The Emperor of Qin just now suddenly had two Emperors of Qin, which made them a little bit comfortable. As a result, the four imperial guard regiments that were originally monolithic also had splits within them [
Caracalla and Geta also tried their best, sending money, beautiful women, and generous treatment. In the end, Caracalla, as the eldest prince, gained the upper hand. The commanders of the Roman legion, the Sicilian legion and the Macedonian legion successively declared their allegiance to Caracalla. Geta only managed to win the support of one Greek legion
The choice of the Royal Guards Corps became a weather vane, which also directly led to Geta being at a disadvantage in the subsequent fight for other legions. Of the sixteen legions in the Putimius era, he only won four, including those originally under his command. Although Caracalla and Geta each controlled four of the eight newly formed German legions, Geta was already at a very disadvantageous position in the battle for the throne.
There is only one way for Geta to reverse the unfavorable situation, and that is to fulfill Putimius' last wish with a victory over the big man. Of course, Caracalla also understands this truth. He now has strong troops and horses and is definitely not willing to let the victory fall to Geta. This time Tower mobilized thirty troops to wait for work in the province of Asia Minor. This was Caracalla's masterpiece.
Although the 300,000-strong army is not that large, they are fighting at home, are familiar with the surrounding terrain, and are waiting for work. They have the upper hand. However, just as the Han army does not understand the movements of the Qin army, the Qin army does not understand the movements of the Han army, let alone the dispatch of the Han army. How many troops did Caracalla have? Just in case, Caracalla still sent the Macedonian legion, one of the three royal legions loyal to him, to the battlefield in Asia Minor.
The Macedonian Army has always been known for its bravery and ferocity. It has played the vanguard role many times in the wars of external expansion over the years and has rarely failed. However, in today's fierce battle, the Macedonian Army suffered heavy losses. There were 50,000 warriors when they set off in the morning. When we returned to camp at night, there were less than 15,000 people left, and all of them were injured, as many as 8,000 were seriously injured.
In this era, the medical conditions are very backward. The Qin Empire does not have as complete a medical school system as the Han Dynasty. It will be an extremely difficult time waiting for these seriously injured patients. Whether they can survive it depends on their own luck. Many of them will suffer from wound infection and illness. He died of deterioration, which means that the Macedonian army was completely disabled by the Han army in this battle.
This news caused quite a shock among the Daqin Army.
In the encounter in Parthia, the Gallic and Germanic legions, which were also elite legions, were crippled and even wiped out by the Han army. However, the situation was completely different from this time. That time, the Gallic legion and the Germanic legion did not know the Han army at all. The army was caught off guard when they entered the battle, and the Han army did not fight them head-on. They were defeated by the trebuchets and the cavalry of the Han army. The Qin army was somewhat unconvinced.
But this time it was different. The Han army engaged in hand-to-hand combat with them. They fought for each inch of the Macedonian legion with swords and guns. Some of the soldiers of the Macedonian Legion were injured or killed under the iron hooves of the Han army's crossbows and heavy armored cavalry. But at least some More than 20,000 people were directly killed and injured by Han infantry, and this was done when they had the superior strength.
Even the Macedonian army suffered heavy losses from the Han army. All the Qin troops who heard the news had to put away their contempt and even began to have a little fear of the Han army. At the same time, the battlefield was brightly lit with Han soldiers. Holding lamps and fire torches, they were cleaning the battlefield. This was the best opportunity for the Qin army to launch a surprise attack. However, the surviving legion commanders all chose to turn a blind eye. Just now, they felt nothing on the battlefield, but now they looked at the lack of arms around them. When the comrades with legs think about those opponents who are more desperate than them in fighting, their hairs stand on end, and they are afraid that they will not even dare to give such a great opportunity a try in front of them.
Zhang He organized soldiers to clean the battlefield, of course not to test the courage of the Qin people, nor to covet the property of those Qin soldiers, but based on the tradition of the Han army. Before each expedition, Liu Xin would repeatedly emphasize that he should bring everyone back and not let them go. Casualties are unavoidable in wars when one is left behind, especially when the journey is far away. The remains of the Han soldiers who died on the battlefield cannot be transported long distances back to the Central Plains, but the surviving comrades will try their best to collect their remains and cremate them. Some of the warriors with outstanding military exploits will be buried in the Heroes Cemetery on the outskirts of Chang'an with the consent of their families. The Ministry of Rites will host a grand ceremony and enjoy the four-season sacrifices of the Han Dynasty.
This battle was so tragic that more than 8,000 soldiers were killed. Seeing the souls of these brothers who had been together day and night wandering to a foreign land, the Han soldiers almost held them back one by one with tears in their eyes, and then held a grand cremation ceremony. The whole process lasted until dawn. Their ashes were gradually collected into earthen jars and labeled with their names, ages and places of origin.
Zhang He and Pang De didn't sleep a wink the whole night. Together with other soldiers, they collected the hero's body with their own hands because Liu Xin kept emphasizing to them that it was not a hard and fast rule to love soldiers as sons. People like Zhang Fei It can't be done, but Zhang He did a good job at this point. The third army under his command is not the most elite unit, but it is definitely the most desperate unit in the war.
The battlefield was finally cleaned up. Zhang He bowed deeply to the dozens of carts filled with the bones of his sons, then waved his hands and said in a deep voice: "Send them off."
Pang De glanced at the piles of corpses on the battlefield and frowned and asked, "General Zhang, how do you deal with these?"
These are the corpses left behind when the Qin army retreated. Most of them died at the hands of the Han army. Some of them committed suicide because they were unwilling to be captured. In such a large-scale battle, the Han army did not capture a single prisoner of war in the end. The battle was so tragic that many people who participated in this battle will still sigh when they recall it many years later.
Zhang He was silent for a long time and suddenly bowed towards the pile of corpses, waved his hands and said, "They are all respectable opponents, let's set them on fire."
Soldiers had already followed the order and set up firewood and poured pine oil over the entire battlefield. Suddenly, thick smoke billowed across the battlefield. Different from the corpses of their colleagues who had just been cremated, the corpses of these Daqin soldiers were randomly piled together and burned. After that, it was impossible to distinguish one from another and became a pile. Coke
Zhang He also ordered people to dig a big pit and bury all the remains of the Qin soldiers. He also erected a stone tablet next to it and personally wrote down the situation of the battle and asked the craftsmen to carve it on it as a commemoration.
No one expected that Zhang He's inadvertent move would have a very significant impact on the future of the war.
Although the sky is not bright yet, yesterday's battlefield was blazing with fire. At this time, an east wind blew, and a burnt smell from the burning corpses floated straight into the Qin Army's camp. The exhausted Qin Army was awakened by this smell from his sleep. Choking and waking up, they all got out of the tent and looked around. Finally, they discovered something strange on the battlefield. Soon, the agents sent out came back with news that the Han army was burning the corpses they left behind.
Since ancient times, there has been a saying that kindness should not lead to war. The people of the Qin Dynasty took this to the extreme. In all the wars, they were extremely brutal, killing, setting fire, raping, committing adultery, and looting. They did not commit evil wherever they went, but they never burned them. The practice of corpses would not be done even to enemies, because people in Daqin must be buried after death and are not allowed to be cremated. They believe that only in this way can people return to the name of God. This is the so-called dust to dust to dust.
The incident of the Han army burning the corpses of Da Qin soldiers soon spread wildly in the military camp. An atmosphere of terror filled the sky above the Da Qin military camp. The Han army was also described as the most brutal army in the world. They were all barbarians who ate human flesh and drank human blood. The thugs also had two completely different opinions among the commanders of the Daqin Army.