Chapter 1155: The Empire's Pride

Unlike ordinary soldiers, the greatest strength of the Western Liang Cavalry lay in their exceptional combat experience. They were almost never countered, and most importantly, they were fast, with long-range mobility that gave them a vast area of operation.

Once this thought took root, countless ideas began to sprout in Li Jue’s mind. After all, it was Li Ru they were dealing with—Li Ru, the strategist who had led the Western Liang Cavalry in countless battles, almost undefeated. How could it be that Li Ru hadn’t given them any orders?

"Zhirang, now that you mention it..." Fan Chou tapped the table, pondering deeply. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Li Jue was right. It made a lot of sense—Li Ru wasn’t an ordinary strategist. How could he have sent them just to sit around doing nothing?

"So, Zhirang, what do you think our strategist sent us here for?" Guo Si, having caught onto the idea, asked. Li Jue’s words had indeed been a wake-up call. Did the post of 戊己校尉 (Wu Ji Colonel) really require such elite forces like theirs?

"The role of the Wu Ji Colonel is to maintain control over the Western Regions. However, the Han Court hasn’t had actual control over these regions for a long time. In my opinion, we’re probably here as the vanguard, mainly to assess the strength of the opposing forces," Li Jue explained his guess.

"This also explains why our titles weren’t stripped, and why we still have legitimate authority to lead military campaigns," Fan Chou added, having fully entered into Li Jue’s line of thinking.

Fan Chou, upon realizing that Li Ru was still backing them, grew excited. As long as that support remained, no matter how big of a mess they made, they would be fine. Besides, throughout history, the vanguard has always been the easiest way to gain military merit.

Likewise, historically, the positions fought over the most have always been those of the commander and the vanguard, precisely because they were the quickest paths to glory. And now, they were in the role of vanguard.

"So, are we going to do it or not?" Li Jue asked, looking at Guo Si and Fan Chou.

The three of them knew very well that if the Han Empire were to rise again, their days would become difficult. The reason was simple: in this timeline, it wasn’t Lü Bu who desecrated the imperial mausoleums, but the three of them. Although Dong Zhuo had been the one to give the orders, they were the ones who carried it out.

There was no way to erase that stain. If they hadn’t desecrated the mausoleums, the plan that Zhong Yao devised for Li Jue could have allowed them to switch allegiance to any other warlord. After all, they had performed quite well in Yong and Liang regions.

Despite everything, Li Jue had never given up hope, largely because Li Ru was still alive, and they had successfully retreated to the Western Regions without being intercepted. Even more crucially, they still held military command and titles.

What gave Li Jue the most confidence was the promise made by Li Ru’s servant, Li Fan, who assured them that Li Ru had promised to keep them safe once the world was unified. Li Ru also promised to look after their descendants and families.

It was this guarantee that had allowed Li Jue to remain calm in the Western Regions. In his mind, there was almost nothing Li Ru couldn’t resolve.

"Let’s do it! The strategist once said that even with support, we must demonstrate our own abilities." Guo Si laughed heartily as he extended his hand. Fan Chou and Li Jue did the same, and together, they shouted, "Victory is ours!"

Once the decision was made, there was nothing left to say. Being the vanguard offered the quickest route to glory, but it also posed the greatest risk of heavy casualties. As the vanguard of the Han Empire against another empire, Li Jue, Guo Si, and Fan Chou were fully prepared for the possibility of defeat.

Even in defeat, they intended to gather as much intelligence as possible for the strategist. Whether the Roman Empire was strong or weak, someone had to test it out, and it would require lives to gather that information.

Li Jue, Guo Si, and Fan Chou had long been prepared for the possibility of dying in battle. The promise Li Ru had made to care for their descendants and serve as their spiritual pillar was enough to make the three of them face death without fear.

"There’s nothing more to say. On the plains, we are invincible!" the sturdy Fan Chou declared confidently as he stood up.

Li Jue, Guo Si, and Fan Chou quickly gathered all the Western Liang Cavalry. Luckily, due to the language barrier, most of the cavalry hadn’t wandered off and were soon assembled by Li Jue.

Their sudden mobilization caused panic among the nobles in the city of Ctesiphon, and news quickly reached Vologases V. However, by the time Vologases arrived to inquire, the barracks were almost empty, with only a few tall horses left behind.

"Where did they go?" Andragoras, one of the Parthian nobles, angrily grabbed the arm of Li Jue’s translator, demanding answers. He then turned to Vologases V and said, "Your Majesty, we must send troops to capture these rebels who disobeyed orders!"

Before he could finish, An Yue slapped Andragoras’s hand away and straightened his own clothes. As the translator for the Han forces, he carried himself with pride, no longer seeing himself as a mere servant of Wusun, but as an official of the Han Empire.

Although his rank was low—only a seventh-ranked translator—An Yue fully embraced his role. He wasn’t a nobody anymore; he was an official of the Han Empire, someone who could converse with the Parthian Emperor himself. Who was this Andragoras to him? "Get out of my way!" he thought.

After slapping Andragoras’s hand away, An Yue approached Vologases V and bowed slightly. Unlike the last time, when he had been terrified, this time he was full of confidence.

Andragoras was dumbfounded. He was one of Parthia’s seven hereditary nobles! Never had he been treated with such disdain. However, seeing An Yue bowing slightly to Vologases V, Andragoras quickly backed down.

"Your Majesty, the generals have gone to defeat the Romans for you," An Yue explained in his broken Parthian.

"How did this happen?" Vologases asked in Parthian slang, visibly surprised that the Han army had taken it upon themselves to help Parthia to such an extent.

An Yue, confused by the local dialect, tried to interpret. "Did he just ask how the cows and horses ended up there? Hmm, it has nothing to do with livestock... He’s probably asking where the generals went," An Yue thought, struggling to understand the question fully.

"The generals are confident and capable," An Yue replied, sticking to standard phrases. As a translator, sometimes you just had to keep things simple.

Vologases V didn’t suspect that the translator had misunderstood him. Instead, he found An Yue’s response thought-provoking. "No wonder they defeated the Xiongnu Empire," he thought. "Confidence, ability, and such commanding presence are truly admirable. In contrast, after Rome retreated, my own people only celebrated—they didn’t even think to pursue the enemy, much less make such bold declarations."

"Send orders: dispatch half of the royal guard cavalry to follow the Han generals and attack Rome!" Vologases V decided boldly.

"Your Majesty!" A crowd of officials rushed forward, attempting to dissuade him.

"Hmph!" Vologases V snorted coldly and handed his royal staff to Frotrat, ordering him to mobilize the troops.

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