"What happened, General?" an officer asked cautiously.
Miser Mazanis did not answer, but instead carefully observed his surroundings.
The dense jungle surrounding him gave him a feeling of gloom, as if countless armies were hiding within it.
At that precise moment, loud trumpets sounded, and a large number of troops emerged from all directions.
"Damn it, we have been ambushed! Charge! Charge right now!" Miser roared with all his strength.
Unfortunately, it was already too late for them to act; the Roman army had already surrounded the Armenian army and launched an attack.
Miser Mazanis felt as if he were surrounded by Roman troops, as if he were trapped in a vast ocean of enemies.
"General, let us run!" one of his personal bodyguards said in panic.
Miser Mazanis nodded. It would be foolish not to flee now, so he retreated under the protection of his personal guards.
But the clone army, arranged in orderly formation, brandished their short swords and quickly and efficiently massacred his soldiers; his personal guard was decreasing at a visible rate.
By then, many Roman clone troops had already spotted him; his exquisite armor and the large number of personal guards indicated his status and position.
"Capture him quickly. He is a high-ranking official of Armenia, the favorite of the King of Kings, Miser Mazanis," Julius Caesar said loudly to the clone soldiers.
"It is you, Caesar."
Miser Mazanis quickly recognized the messenger sent by Septimus, whom he had already received previously.
"Those who defy Rome have only death as their destiny," Julius Caesar said proudly.
A group of one hundred clone legionaries advanced against the group of guards protecting Miser.
The Armenian horsemen fought desperately to protect Miser Mazanis, and both sides clashed fiercely, but they were unable to stand against the clone legionaries, who possessed an overwhelming advantage in numbers and combat skills.
As the number of soldiers around Miser Mazanis decreased, he let out a bitter laugh.
"Your Majesty, I have been loyal to you. I hope my death will make you reconsider."
After saying this, Miser cut his throat with a sword and fell to the ground.
Upon observing Miser, Caesar felt a pang of regret; without a doubt, he was a fearless man.
The battle ended quickly; apart from a few who escaped, almost all the soldiers died or were captured, and the ambush that Septimus had anticipated did not materialize at all.
Septimus discovered the reason after interrogating the prisoners.
This left him with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, wondering how Tigranes had managed to obtain the title of King of Kings.
Immediately afterward, he ordered the army to continue setting up the camp and summoned the generals of the allied forces for a meeting.
Addressing the generals of the allied forces gathered there, Septimus said, "Now that we have penetrated deep into Armenia, I hope everyone will remain alert and avoid making mistakes."
"According to my information, to saturate the local population, Tigranes has forcibly brought a large number of Greeks, Cappadocians, Assyrians, and Gordynians. We must treat these people differently from the Armenians and Arabs loyal to Tigranes."
Septimus did not forget that in the original history, it was the Arabs who betrayed the Romans and led them to their downfall during Crassus's expedition to Parthia.
Previously, Pompey had granted the Arabs vast stretches of land, which could be interpreted as a sign of their ingratitude.
Furthermore, when Crassus attacked Parthia, the Arabs firmly sided with Parthia.
In short, the Arabs are not trustworthy, and Septimus decided to use bloody repression.
"Right now, we do not have much food, so food supplies are our highest priority. The only way to obtain it is by taking it from the enemy. We must take all the food from the Armenians and Arabs, without leaving them a single grain. If they resist, we will kill them. If they refuse to hand over the food, we will bring their families here."
"We need to gain the support of those ethnic groups that were forcibly relocated. Tell them that after this battle they will be able to return to their homeland, and that we will also collect their grain, but only 20%," Septimus said calmly.
The generals of the allied forces nodded in approval.
Septimus did not trust the discipline of this group of savages. Fortunately, the clone soldiers were mixed among the allied army and could make decisions and keep watch over them.
The strategy was simple, and the Armenians and Arabs, whose food had been looted, would naturally resent the Greeks and Cappadocians, and might even demand that they hand over part of their food. This would only increase the loyalty of the Greeks and Cappadocians toward Rome.
"The Galatian horsemen, together with the Roman horsemen, will be responsible for collecting grain from the surrounding areas."
"As for the others, tomorrow you will follow me on a large-scale march against Tigranocerta," Septimus said calmly.
"Yes, General."
"Yes, General."
"Yes, General."
"…"
---
"What did you say? That an entire army of ten thousand men was annihilated and that Miser Mazanis died in battle?"
Upon hearing the news, Tigranes was startled, and even his drunkenness diminished somewhat.
How had the Roman army managed to penetrate so deeply into Armenia and even annihilate 10,000 of his soldiers?
Were all the defenders of Mesopotamia so incompetent?
"Yes, the Roman army is far too numerous, at least 100,000 men. We are no match for them," said a general covered in blood.
In fact, he felt a great deal of resentment toward Tigranes. The Roman army was so powerful, and yet they had only sent 10,000 men into battle, which was equivalent to sending them to their deaths.
However, he did not dare to reveal his true thoughts. Now everyone knew that Tigranes was a man who killed innocent people indiscriminately. If he said something inappropriate, they might expel him and behead him.
On the other hand, Tigranes could no longer sit idly by; he would never take the death of ten thousand soldiers lightly.
The mere thought of Septimus's army of 100,000 men made Tigranes swallow with difficulty. He looked at the ministers surrounding him, whose eyes also reflected fear.
"Are there really 100,000?" Tigranes asked again, unable to completely accept the information he had received.