The army of the Seleucid Empire was already gathering continuously, and there was a tense atmosphere everywhere in the city of Antioch.

The new emperor Antioch III sat on the throne, looking at the many governors in front of him, and was obviously dissatisfied when he spoke.

"Everyone, our speed of gathering troops is too slow! If this continues, we may still not be able to set out from the city of Antioch by the entire Persia after being occupied by the Han Kingdom!"

The two core areas ruled by the Seleucid Empire were the Mesopotamia and the Persian region. Among them, because they are located on the plateau, they are usually regarded as the best defense line to resist attacks from the East. This is no wonder Antioch III was so anxious and angry.

But the emperor's anger was also very angry, and the ministers also had reasons.

The Persian Governor said helplessly: "Your Majesty, there have been a lot of rebellions in Persia for some reason recently, which has greatly affected the speed of our troops' assembly.

Although we have accelerated as quickly as possible, it is indeed difficult to get rid of their influence for a while."

What the Persian Governor said is also the fact that in the territory of the Seleucid Empire, many rebels suddenly emerged during this period. They either under the banner of the eldest prince or under the banner of the previous emperor Antioch II. In short, they do not recognize the current emperor Antioch III.

After the Persian Governor finished speaking, the other Governors spoke one after another, and what they said was basically no different from that of the Persian Governor.

After hearing these words from the Governor, the young Antioch III frowned.

If it were in normal times, these so-called rebellions would not be taken seriously by Antioch III. As long as a few troops were dispatched to clear them out, the so-called rebellion would not be a problem.

But the problem is that these rebellions were just stuck at the time when the Han Kingdom attacked the Seleucid Empire. At this time, Antioch III had to devote all his thoughts to resist the Han Kingdom, and there was no way to deal with these rebellions.

After a moment of silence, Antioch III gritted his teeth and said, "Continue to command all places to ignore them and concentrate on gathering their troops.

Also, our troops in Antioch City can’t wait any longer. We set off in three days and gathered forces while heading east!"

Antioch III realized that this war was different from the previous war that was fully prepared before. Whether the Seleucid Empire was willing or not, they had to fight against the Han Kingdom in such a passive situation.

Time is endless! Three days later, Antioch III led a army and set out in a mighty manner.

For the Seleucid Empire, many people have realized that this war is a war that concerns the life and death of the Seleucid Empire.

But can the Seleucid Empire win?

At least at this time, no one can come up with a positive answer.

However, what Antioch III never expected was that his troubles were actually more than that.

After half a month of advance, Antioch III's troops had arrived at the city of Ekebatana, which was also a stronghold of the Seleucid Empire on the west side of Central Asia.

It was also here that Antioch III received news that not only the Eastern Governor's District, but also the Parthian Governor's District had basically fallen.

"So fast?"

Even though he had been mentally prepared, Antioch III could not help but be surprised.

The Parthian Governor's District is actually the southern part of Central Asia. This area has deserts and is rich in good horses. It is a Governor's District with relatively strong combat effectiveness in the Seleucid Empire.

But such a governor's district was conquered by the Han Kingdom in just half a month, which undoubtedly gave Antioch III an extremely strong psychological pressure.

The bad news didn't end there.

A little later that day, the news came again, but this time it was not from the Han Kingdom in the East, but from the West.

"Your Majesty is not good. The Ptolemaic dynasty has begun to attack our western border while taking advantage of the emptiness of our army's destiny."

After hearing this, Antioch III's face changed drastically.

The Ptolemaic dynasty is located in Egypt, which is very close to the core area of ​​the Seleucid Empire.

It took less than 10 days for the Ptolemaic dynasty to reach the city of Antioch, which was absolutely a fatal threat to the Seleucid Empire.

But the problem is that the current Antioch army is far away from Central Asia. Even if we return in time, how should the troops and horses of the Han Kingdom be handled later?

There is no doubt that the Ptolemy's robbery caused a huge problem to Antioch III.

Antioch III quickly summoned many generals to discuss this issue.

Faced with this question, everyone present looked at each other and could not think of any good answers for a moment.

But someone made a proposal soon.

"Your Majesty's biggest trouble now should be the Great Han Kingdom, so we should find a way to stabilize the Ptolemaic dynasty first and cut some land for them, so that we can concentrate on dealing with the Great Han Kingdom."

But this plan was soon opposed by others.

"We have been fighting with the Ptolemaic dynasty for so many years, and we have long been mortal enemies. This time, the Ptolemaic dynasty took advantage of the situation and obviously wanted to directly destroy our Seleucid Empire. At this time, we must never give in to the Ptolemaic dynasty, but should resolutely attack the Ptolemaic dynasty."

So a quarrel broke out quickly.

"You are the real nonsense. How can the Ptolemaic dynasty attack?

Are we going to turn around and fight the Ptolemaic dynasty now?

If that is the case, how can you deal with the soldiers and horses of the Han Kingdom from the East?"

"What the Han people want is nothing more than land. We can completely cede the eastern Governor's District and the Parthian Governor's District. After we deal with this damn Ptolemaic dynasty, the soldiers of the Han Kingdom should also be withdrawn to the Central Plains, which are thousands of miles away. At that time, we will send troops to recover the land ceded to them."

After saying these words, Antioch III's heart suddenly moved.

To be honest, this sounds like a good idea.

The Han Kingdom itself actually has one disadvantage, that is, the Central Plains, the core area of ​​the Han Kingdom, is still very far away from the territory of the Seleucid Empire.

This means that every time the Han Dynasty sent troops was an absolute expedition, and it also means that it was basically difficult for the Han Dynasty to respond to these wars that broke out in the West in a timely manner.

If we can really use the method of ceding land and seeking peace, if we can first lure the Han Dynasty to withdraw its troops, we will probably be out of reach when the troops of the Han Dynasty retreat to the Central Plains and hear the news that the ancients of Seliu regained the two governors in the East.

After thinking for a while, Antioch III immediately made up his mind.

"What you said makes sense, let's do it like this. First, send an envoy to meet the emperor of the Han Kingdom, and tell him that we are willing to ced the two governors in the East and give him a witness to peace between the two countries. If he agrees, then the war will be over."

For the people of the Seleucid Empire, this was actually an absolute conspiracy.

However, in this situation, the Seleucids felt that only by using conspiracies could the difficulties that Seleucid was currently facing.

So soon, an envoy from the Seleucid Empire came to the camp of the Han army.

At this time, Zhao Kuo had already led the troops of the Han Dynasty to occupy a city called Susia, which is also the core city of the Parthian Governor's District.

Considering that the army would be a little tired after long-term rushing and fighting, Zhao Kuo also ordered a temporary rest here for five days before fighting.

"messenger?

It was really interesting to send envoys to the Seleucid Empire at this time.”

Zhao Kuo soon received the envoy.

The messenger's attitude was very humble. He immediately knelt on the ground after seeing Zhao Kuo: "His Majesty, the great Emperor of the Han Kingdom, the insignificant messenger of the Seleucid Empire, to express our highest greetings to you."

After so many years as emperor, Zhao Kuo has been accustomed to others' flattery, so he is naturally immune to the Seleucid messenger's trick. He said calmly: "What news do you want to tell me when you come to me?

Could it be that Antioch III had figured it out and planned to surrender to me?"

After hearing the translator Zhao Kuo's words, the cheeks of the Seleucid Empire's envoy blew clearly, and then he said, "Your Majesty the Emperor misunderstood. The reason why I came here is because our Seleucid Empire hopes to continue to maintain peace with the Han Kingdom.

If the Han Kingdom wants, we can ced the Eastern Governor's District and the Parthian Governor's District to your country as the price of peace."

After listening to the Seleucid messenger, Zhao Kuo also showed a somewhat surprised expression on his face: "Are you sure?"

The messenger hurriedly said, "Confirm, this is the will of His Majesty our Emperor."

For the peace between our two countries, Seleucus was willing to make some sacrifices and efforts."

Zhao Kuo pondered for a while, looked around the ministers present, and said lightly: "What do you think?"

As the most senior official present, Li Mu was naturally the first to speak: "Your Majesty, these Seleucids are obviously afraid, but we did not come this time to cut their flesh, but to eat them all! So I believe that we will definitely not agree to such conditions."

After Li Mu, Sima Shang, Xiang Yan, Wang Jian and others spoke one after another, and everyone felt that they should continue to attack the Seleucid Empire instead of agreeing to this so-called peace talks.

After listening to everyone's opinions, Zhao Kuo turned to look at the messenger of the Seleucid Empire: "You have also heard that my generals think that now is the best opportunity to destroy the Seleucid Empire, and of course I will not miss this opportunity.

Go back and tell you the young emperor that I will continue to move westward in three days. If he wants, then let us have a real decisive battle on the Persian plateau!”

The messengers of the Seleucid Empire did not get the desired result in the end, so they could only leave in great depression.

Looking at the back of the messenger of the Seleucid Empire leaving, Zhao Kuo said calmly: "It is obvious that there are major problems in the internal or external aspects of the Seleucid Empire, otherwise they would not have been able to seek peace at the cost of cede so much land."

Li Mu said excitedly: "Your Majesty said very well. I want to say that we should approach the core area of ​​the Seleucids at a faster speed and force them to fight us in a decisive battle. Only in this way can we achieve the best of our efforts as soon as possible and make the entire Seleucid Empire completely surrender under our command!"

Zhao Kuo smiled slightly and said, "Don't hurry, take your time."

You should know that the current Seleucid Empire has a vast land of more than three million square kilometers. This area is second only to the Han Dynasty in the world, and it is the second largest country in the world.

If you want to annex such a country, it is the most unsatisfactory to worry about it. You must take it slowly and accurately. This is the best strategy.

On the other hand, when Antioch III received the reward from the messenger, his mood became worse and worse.

"Did the emperor of the Great Han Kingdom refuse our conditions for peace?"

Antioch III's brows became more and more tight, and it seemed that they were about to twist.

To the east is the powerful 200,000 Han soldiers and horses, and to the west is the 80,000 Ptolemy soldiers approaching the capital of Seleucid. For Antioch III, he was really in a dilemma now.

Not only Antioch III, but also his generals were in a huge quarrel.

One faction believed that we should go back to rescue the old nest of Antioka City, while the other faction believed that Antioka City had some defenders who were enough to defend, and we should first have a real decisive battle with the Han Kingdom. If we win, we would return to Antioka City.

Finally, after a quarrel, Antioch III made a decision.

"Okay, don't say anything. I have decided that all the troops will set out eastward tomorrow. We will have a real decisive battle with the Han Kingdom this time!"

Antioch III also figured it out. Since the Han Dynasty was aiming to destroy Seleucid, then the war between the two countries would break out sooner or later.

Since it will explode sooner or later, it is better to take advantage of the fact that the Seleucid Empire's troops are now in the strongest state to make a wave with the Han Kingdom. This is the real hope.

Since Antioch III had made a decision, no matter what other generals of the Seleucid Empire had thoughts, they would know to do so.

So, after gathering 300,000 troops, Antioch III directly chose to continue advancing eastward.

Seven days later, the two sides met on the outskirts of a city called Hakatonbil.

The war is about to break out.
Chapter completed!