Just as the Han army attacked the Arab provinces, the Governor of the Egyptian provinces, Iolian, also received a letter from Horik for help. Like the situation in the Arab provinces, there are not many garrisons in the Egyptian provinces. Whether or not to organize a new army has left Yorian entangled for a long time. But within a few days, the news of the fall of Arabia came. The Han army's fierce offensive surprised Yolian and stood in the room in a hurry.
Suddenly, the guard outside the door hurriedly walked in, bowed and said, "Respected sir, a letter from the Han Chinese."
This letter was written in Daqin script, and it also conveyed Liu Xin's order to request Egypt to declare independence, so that Jorian could be the king of Egypt, otherwise Horrick's fate would be his tomorrow.
Jolian's hand holding the letter kept trembling, and it took a long while to ask left and right: "What do you think of me?"
The bloody slaughter carried out by the Han army in the Arab provinces has long caused these people to sleep and eat, and their treatment is far inferior to the regular army regiments of the Great Qin Empire, and they are not guilty of working for Karakala and Getta. I heard that the Han army was about to fight, even if Jolian wanted to resist, they would not. Now Jolian asked, everyone persuaded: "My lord, let's surrender."
In fact, Yolian had this thought a long time ago, but he still couldn't let go of the dignity of being a Daqin noble. Seeing that everyone supported the surrender now, he no longer hesitated, pretending to be reserved and said: "It's just that, who wants to negotiate with the Han Chinese."
But his subordinates couldn't wait any longer, and one of them stood up and said loudly: "The Han people have all been killed at the door, where is the room for us to negotiate slowly. No need to say anything, just offer the city directly!"
The others also agreed. Jolian also had a thick-skinned face and waved his hand and said, "Well, you will depend on you, surrender, surrender."
The Han army drove into the Egyptian provinces without a single arrow. Liu Xin did not break his promise. He did not commit any crimes against the governors, nobles, civilians, and slaves of the Egyptian provinces. He also held a coronation ceremony for Yolian. In return, and to please Liu Xin, Jolian offered to take part of the Han army's food and grass. Liu Xin was not hypocritical and accepted it with pleasure.
Both the Egyptian and Arab provinces were independent, but the outcome of the two provinces was very different, and news spread quickly. The cavalry of the Han army marched westward, and in just half a month, like dominoes, the provinces of Cyrenaica, Africa, Numidia and Mauritania successively declared their independence. The entire southern coast of the Mediterranean was completely out of the control of the Great Qin Empire.
The independence of these four provinces did not require the use of a single soldier by the Han army. Except for Mauritanian Governor Valen who refused to surrender and was killed by his subordinates, no one wanted to end up like Horlick.
In fact, making these provinces independent is only Liu Xin's attempt, and he did not expect things to go so smoothly. In order to consolidate the achieved results, Liu Xin personally came to Alexandria, the capital of Egypt. At this time, the new kings of Syria, Asia Minor, Cyrenaica, Africa, Numidia and Mauritania, following Liu Xin's order, also came here. After a cheerful feast, Liu Xin issued the Alexandria Declaration, and these countries have become parties to the declaration.
In the Declaration of Alexandria, Liu Xin reiterated that the Han Dynasty will respect the territorial and sovereign integrity of the contracting states, will not interfere in the internal affairs of these countries, and establish free, equal and fair trade relations with these countries.
At the same time, in order to prevent the situation of the weak and the strong among the contracting states, the contracting states will only maintain a standing army of up to 8,000 in the future. In the event of foreign aggression, they can request the Han Dynasty for military support. In return, the contracting states should allow the Han army to pass and station freely within the territory, and bear part of the supplies needed by the Han army.
This declaration seems to stipulate civil rights and obligations for both parties, but in fact it is still an unequal treaty. But for the kings of the contracting states, their status is confirmed and protected, which is enough.
The independence of major provinces allowed Liu Xin to find a new magic weapon against Daqin. Soon, the Han light cavalry all withdrew back to Syria and began to attack the provinces of Silesia and Cappadocia to the northwest of Syria.
These two provinces, as well as the capital province in the north, are both the resident of the capital army. Although this legion does not belong to the sequence of the Imperial Forest Corps, it is also a veteran legion of the Great Qin Empire, and its combat effectiveness is quite strong. They built many fortifications in these three provinces, and recruited a large number of free people and slaves, and put on a posture of a decisive battle with the Han army.
The Han army is still led by the thunderbolt, but this time it is not stones that fall, but various cartoons. The cartoons depict the different treatments suffered by the Arab provinces and the Egyptian provinces, and the enslavement and enslavement of the Daqin people over the years. Exploitation, calling them to give up resistance and choose independence.
These cartoons are not very useful for the Daqin soldiers of the Pontus Legion, but the freedmen and slaves who were temporarily conscripted have become nervous. The commander of the Pontus Legion thought that enlisting these freedmen and slaves could make up for the lack of strength, but he did not expect it to become an unstable factor. He was at a loss for a while, so he had to send someone to ask the governors of the three provinces to discuss countermeasures. .
I didn't know that the governor of Cappadocia province took the initiative to come to ask. The commander of the Pontus Legion happily went there, but he was ambushed and was sent to Syria with his head cut off. The Pontus Legion was also disintegrated. It turned out that the three governors knew that it was difficult to withstand the attack of the Han army with a legion, and Karakala had been slow to send reinforcements. Once broken by the Han army, their fate will be extremely miserable. It is better to borrow his head in exchange for everyone's safety and keep the glory and wealth in front of him.
The Han army advanced steadily, and soon arrived in Asia and Bithynia. When the weather is fine, the shadow of Athens can be vaguely seen across the sea. Various provinces along the way also announced their separation from Daqin and the establishment of an independent nation. Liu Xin declared that the provisions of the Alexandria Declaration also apply to these newly independent provinces.
After these provinces became independent, in order to show their friendship with the Han Dynasty, they took the initiative to provide food and grass, and contributed money to help the Han army build a position. In fact, they are now firmly tied to the Han army. If the Han army is defeated, they will be punished the most severely by Caracalla. Therefore, when they help the Han army, they are helping themselves. Otherwise, they will not. No effort was spared in this way.
With the help of these emerging countries, the problem of the Han army’s lack of food and grass was easily solved, and it no longer needed to implement the strategy of relying on war to support war. It also won a good reputation locally and laid a good foundation for future exchanges with these places. .
In just over a month, these many provinces have declared their autonomy one after another, and almost half of the land has become independent from the territory of the Great Qin Empire. This was a huge blow to Caracalla, and he had to reconsider his own. For combat thinking, send someone to get Getta over. Although Karakala does not understand the principle of "brothers are of the same heart, the profit cuts gold", but he also knows that now is not the time to argue over who will inherit the throne of the Great Qin Empire. It is meaningless to say nothing without defeating the Han army.
Although Getta has a violent temperament, he is not confused, and he knows that this is not the time to get angry. After receiving the invitation of Caracalla, he immediately rushed to the Daqin Palace.
Caracalla smiled all over his face, pointed to the opposite position, and said, "Getta, you and I haven't sat face-to-face like this in years."
Getta grinned and said: "Big brother, I know everything about the situation. Don't say anything now. When the Han army is repelled, we brothers will make good use of our wrists!"
Caracalla took a look at the cases before him and said loudly: "Okay! Brother, I will wait for your words. Only by uniting can we repel the Han army!"
The two brothers are much smarter than Ardaban and Arshak. Although they are inevitably fighting over and under, they will not hold back each other, and at the critical moment, they will be able to get rid of their premonitions and join hands.
The conversation between Caracalla and Geta was not harmonious, but at any rate they reached an agreement and decided to concentrate the superior forces of the eleven legions and fight the Han army in Asia and Bithynia.
The total strength of the Great Qin Empire now totaled 750,000 in 15 legions, but Rome had to be fortified, so four legions needed to be left. The four legions were the Roman legion, the Greek legion, the Gaul legion, and the German legion. Caracalla and Getta each accounted for two. Of the eleven regiments that entered the front line, Caracalla accounted for seven, including another Sicilian regiment, the Imperial Forest Corps. This arrangement is also a huge concession that Caracalla actively made in order to show his sincerity for cooperation. The two men remained at the rear with equal strength, avoiding the suspicion of using the war to consume Getta's strength.
There was a strait tens of miles wide between Asia and Macedonia. It was because of this strait that the Han army could not continue to advance westward. However, this strait could not stop the Da Qin army's footsteps, because the Da Qin Empire had a powerful navy.
Just look at the territory of the Great Qin Empire. A large land spanning Europe, Asia, and Africa encloses the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea has almost become the inner sea of the Great Qin Empire. In the long-term expansion war, it was because of the powerful naval fleet that the army of the Great Qin Empire was able to successfully project to various battlefields.
Liu Xin also formed a powerful navy. Although he has not gone through several actual battles, Liu Xin is confident that he can defeat the navy of the Great Qin Empire. It's just a pity that this navy can't come here with his army, otherwise Liu Xin would have swept his army across the sea and went straight to Rome.
More and more Daqin warships began to gather on the coasts of Macedonia and Thrace, and their sails covered the sea like dark clouds.