554 Epilogueception 8 300 Years East-West War Part 3 (2/2)
Hannibal then used Severus as a bait to draw Zhang He out in the open. He disguised his emperor as a general and led a small searching party of 1,000 men.
Zhang He bit the bait. Hannibal ambushed him and his force with elite cultivators with 6 wings and 8 wings.
Zhang He might have been terrified as the ghost of battlefields, but he and his vice generals were killed by Severus and Hannibal.
Still, the casualties of back-to-back battles against Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, and Zhang He crippled Roman's military might. Severus even coughed blood when he learned about the death of his elites.
After the battle in the British Isles, Hannibal suggested that they should recruit barbarian tribes and give them Roman citizenship.
Anicius Faustus disagreed immediately as it went against Roman's principle, which only native Romans were the superior to the nomadic tribes, aka the German People of ancient times. They didn't need to lower themselves to ask beggars for a favor.
Surprisingly, Severus accepted Hannibal's suggestion and employed all local tribesmen to fill his ranks.
A few months after the death of Zhang He, Xu Huang, who had failed to keep Hannibal and Severus in check, pursued after their trails and found Severus' main forces near Colonia Agrippinensium in the modern world Germany.
During the same month, Pu Jing and Wei Han Legion already burnt Rome to the ground and destroyed Roman's pride heartland.
Using the intel that the Wei Han unit was doing, Xu Huang didn't engage against Severus and Hannibal.
Xu Huang returned the favor with a similar trick. He blockaded Severus Army from marching south toward Rome. Xun Yu, the strategist of Silver Axe Legion, intentionally leaked the news of Rome's destruction to the western emperor.
Anicius Faustus flew into a rage and wanted to challenge Xu Huang Army.
However, Severus and Hannibal didn't lose their cool. Both of them had the same idea that Rome was a lost cause since the Han Dynasty came prepared.
Severus wanted to regroup the Romans in Burdigala, aka Bordeaux, but Hannibal insisted that Constantinople had better strategic advantage points that could defend any invader, as long as they never invited them in.
The emperor didn't listen to Hannibal this time. He force-marched southwest to Burdigala and avoided confrontation with Xu Huang.
When they almost arrived, Xun Yu intentionally leaked more intel to Severus again. He told them the fact that Sun Quan and Sun Shangxiang's Wu Han had landed on Africa Continent, and allied with the African tribes, promising them about freedom and liberty.
African people grew up living as slaves for the Egyptians and the Romans. Upon hearing that they could live free, they joined forces with Sun Quan.
While Severus was busy with Zhang He, Sun Quan and Sun Shangxiang annexed Egypt, Alexandria, and got access to the Mediterranean Sea. Their fleets were ready to storm any city of the Roman, which concentrated around this water.
Severus was distressed. He changed his mind and accepted Hannibal's advice.
However, Hannibal advised Severus to rest in Burdigala and recuperate from their losses. Otherwise, their entire army might perish.
Severus questioned Hannibal's words since the latter flipped their tongue.
Hannibal explained that it was Xun Yu's ploy that he wanted them to move around and wore down their psyche. Once they were mentally exhausted, Xu Huang would strike, and that would be their end.
Severus had a scare and believed in Hannibal.
It was just like Hannibal had predicted. Xu Huang had already set up ambush and traps on the way toward Constantinople.
Xu Huang discovered later that their ploy had been found. He changed his battle policy and began recruiting nomadic tribes, who were hostile against the Romans.
The Silver Axe Legion ignored Severus Army and plundered nearby roman settlements, which crippled Roman's economy forever.
Cao Mengde and Pu Jing also coordinated with Xu Huang's movements. They marched along the Mediterranean shoreline and plundered every city they found. At the same time, they pressured Severus to migrate from the Bordeaux area, or they would be cornered in Western Europe.
Severus and Hannibal saw that Xu Huang and Wei Han attempted to corner them. Although they had enough strength to fight back, they gathered their able troops and flew to Constantinople. As for the rest of the weak cultivators, Severus ordered them to retreat on foot.
Of course, all of them never reached Constantinople because of a certain girl.
Wu Han also splitted their forces into two units. Sun Shangxiang led 20,000 men west. She annexed towns along the southwestern Mediterranean shoreline.
Unlike others, Sun Shangxiang was more merciful to the local Romans. She even taught roman scholars about medicines and cured many deadly diseases for the townspeople.
Sun Shangxiang Army ended up being called, the Saint Army. Some local men even mistook her as an apostle of Hestia, the Goddess of Health.
As such, Sun Shangxiang's journey was peaceful as native Romans opened their city gates to surrender to her and treated her as a goddess. Sun Shangxiang ended up pilgrimaging from Libya to Spain, and from Spain to France. However, she stopped after realizing that she was supposed to destroy the Romans.
Sun Shangxiang deserted the troops and returned to Ye by flight afterward. As for the rest of the men, they either flew home or sail from West Europe to China Sea.
But the seed had been planted. Many Romans admired Sun Shangxiang and accepted her as one of their goddesses. Many troops who were supposed to regroup with Severus switched sides and joined the cult, living in the west roman forever.
As for Sun Quan Army, they fought a long difficult campaign east against Severus and Hannibal, who flew to the eastern roman area to support the local troops. They eventually came to a stop at Constantinople.
By the time that they got to Syria, Zhuge Liang already got into a prolonged-war with the Sassanid Empire. Severus tried to ask for their help, but they were too busy getting trolled by the turtle Shu Han.