Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 658 Guo Kang is also Melchizedek
After instructing everyone, Guo Kang wanted to get up and go to work. After all, it was still wartime and there were still many things to do.

But Tuohuan and others said that there was no urgent work on the battlefield. He should take a good rest first.

The commander of the 33rd Corps was Guo Kang's uncle Guo Zhaowen. He told Guo Kang that when the victory or defeat of the main battlefield was decided, Tuohuan had already issued an order to immediately organize a pursuit flag team. Under the personal command of the 8th Corps, Zhang, the Corps Commander, it was imperative to completely crush the remaining enemy field forces and not give them a chance to regroup. Therefore, while Guo Kang and others were still intercepting the enemy, the pursuit preparations had already begun.

After the battle on the main battlefield ended, Tuohuan ordered a part of the remaining combat units to be drawn out to form a siege flag team, commanded by Lu Yong, the captain of the first battalion of the 33rd Corps, to capture the Damanhur County. The combat arrangements of Guo Kang and others were issued at this time.

At this time, Tuohuan was still there with the headquarters. After the battle, the headquarters became even busier. He had to lead the officers and staff of the headquarters to focus on cleaning the battlefield, receiving prisoners, and counting and placing the wounded. Other matters, including the replenishment of supplies and personnel, also needed to be coordinated by the headquarters, so he had no time to spare for other things.

Guo Zhaowen was not on the siege battlefield at the time. As the highest-ranking officer among those who stayed behind, he was ordered to be on guard, protect the headquarters and transportation routes, eliminate large-scale rebellious soldiers, and be on guard against other possible enemies.

The battles of the two flag teams were entrusted to the commanders themselves. Therefore, everyone did not know each other's progress, and the headquarters did not pass on information to them in time.

In fact, when Guo Kang was injured, the pursuit battle was almost over. The Egyptian army was originally quite loose, and under the resolute pursuit, it soon completely collapsed. Most Egyptians lacked the enthusiasm to fight, and when they saw that they could not run, they laid down their weapons and surrendered in groups. Many Mamluks also chose to surrender or wait and see, while others scattered. The Sheikh and several Emirs could only lead their personal soldiers to escape.

Egypt's terrain is a trumpet-shaped with a long neck. Once the foreign enemies invade the hinterland, the local forces may seem to have a rich and fertile hinterland, but in fact there is no defense at all. If you want to find a place that is geographically convenient for defense, you have to go south along the Nile River to the first waterfall. But if you go there to resist the enemy from the north, it is more like defending Nubia than defending Egypt...

Historically, the ownership of Egypt has often been determined by a decisive battle - and this decisive battle is often not fought within Egypt.

Historically, the Eastern Roman Empire was the most resilient force here. After the defeat in Syria, the Romans were able to defend themselves in Lower Egypt, relying on multiple fortresses, and fight against the Arabs. After the defeat in Lower Egypt, the remaining Roman forces regrouped in Upper Egypt, and in the following years, they fought a new round of battles with the Arabs. However, this was mainly because the Nubians in the south came out to arm themselves to defend Rome, otherwise, there would probably be no second round of battles.

The Mamluks themselves are of course well aware of this. They may not know history so well, but every time the Sultan changes, they will have internal strife, and this experience is common to everyone.

The Mamluk civil war can actually be seen as a war between two external forces for the rule of Egypt, which is essentially not much different from the current Roman war against the Mamluks. How to view this conflict and how to make the most favorable choice are already experienced.

This is obvious. If they cannot defeat the Romans in the first decisive battle in Egypt, they will certainly not be able to win the subsequent battles. Therefore, after determining the situation, thousands of Mamluks immediately chose to surrender to the pursuit flag team. Some people also fled towards Cairo, probably to return to the military camp there, but it is hard to say whether they will continue to resist.

Therefore, there is really nothing that requires Guo Kang to work overtime now, so he can just take a rest.

Since his uncle had said so, Guo Kang could not insist any longer and agreed. However, he said that he also needed to move around and could not lie here all the time, nor could he waste everyone's time.

Tuohuan and the others all expressed their understanding. However, Tuohuan also said that since he had woken up, everyone could go home. However, Da Lama Wang was still on the way and would come to see Guo Kang later, so it was better not to run too far.

As for military matters, he didn't have to worry. They didn't have to watch all the time, because Guo Kang woke up quickly, and they started to flutter around as soon as they brought him over. Moreover, each unit had someone in charge, and the two flag teams were fighting on their own, so they were not affected.

In the army, the flag is a temporary unit that also originated in the classical era. It refers to a task force composed of different organizations and personnel for special needs. The name comes from the Latin word "flag", because when they were formed, the commander would temporarily grant them a flag, hence the name.

The barbarians to the north of Rome were different from the enemies of other civilized countries. They were very loosely organized, but they were located in remote areas and the tribes were often elusive. Most of the time, it was a bit of an overkill to mobilize the entire legion; and lower-level units might not be enough. Therefore, flags of various sizes were quite popular during that time.

Later, the Roman military system evolved further. Starting with Derrick, the legions and flags were gradually replaced by smaller units of 500 to 1,000 men. During the reign of Constantine the Great, the border legions were too bloated and inefficient in dealing with barbarians, and they often rebelled, so the remaining large legions were also split up. The smaller units that were split up developed into the later war groups.

This change was not achieved overnight, but was a long process. People in later generations collectively referred to this change as the "Second Army Building". After that, the legion was replaced by the battle group, and the formation of the flag team was no longer needed.

Later, Rome's strength declined and it began to face attacks from the barbarian regular army. But at this time, Rome could hardly maintain its regular army, so naturally there was no way to rebuild the legion.

During the Purple Tent Khanate period, large-scale field battles with other countries once again became the main form of warfare. Therefore, the size of the corps once again became the mainstream of the military system.

Of course, the Purple Tent Army actually had no inheritance relationship with the previous Roman army - its inheritance relationship with the Tang Army and the Yuan Army was probably greater than that with the Roman army.

It was just that in the choice of names, people deliberately picked some nouns from the classical era: because to ordinary people in Europe at that time, ancient Rome was a symbol of power; for the rulers of the Purple Tent Khanate, the legendary Qin Kingdom in ancient times was obviously more attractive than various barbarians and Greeks.

To put it bluntly, whether locals or Orientals, they all think that ancient Roman names are cooler - although no one actually knows much about the system at that time, everyone can't help but like retro.

In this atmosphere of "you still have ancestors who can fight", if they encounter a concept that they don't understand or that the Romans haven't invented, they will create one themselves. Not to mention that many names are completely literal and made up by their own imagination. The reason why they have similarities with ancient Rome is not so much that they inherited many Roman legacies, but rather that they fought more wars and always "converged and evolved" - the Han Dynasty and Rome, the Tang Dynasty and Eastern Rome, all have many similarities.

Sometimes, they even take the initiative to make some changes. For example, in ancient Rome, there was actually no "Leader of the Legion".

At the beginning, the Roman army had only 3,000 people, composed of Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans in the city. The former were the founders of Rome, and the latter two were allies from the "united front" and also had "shares" in the army. Therefore, each of the three tribes had a commander, called a military tribune, who was responsible for commanding and managing the army.

Later, as Rome grew larger, more and more people came to the "united front", and the number of military tribunes increased to six. When the army grew to a higher level, it was not possible for everyone to work together on everything, so the concept of legions was created to divide everyone into different groups. Each legion was actually a copy of the previous Roman city-state army, so the positions of six military tribunes were retained.

During the Republican period, when war broke out, two legions were usually organized into a field army and commanded by a consul. Each legion was led by six military tribunes who represented the "shareholders" in turn, so there was no fixed position of "legion commander".

By the time of the Second Punic War, the previous system had failed to keep up with the times due to the need for rapid military expansion. To this end, the Senate appointed a group of senior military officers to the position of "legatus" to command a legion. This word originally meant "envoy", and some diplomats and Senate representatives would also receive this title. Those who hold this title are closest to what is generally considered to be a "legion commander". But after careful analysis, it will be found that it is actually an "envoy position" delegated by the highest power of the country. And this kind of legion envoy, because of special permission, can use the same level of ceremonial guards as the consul, and bring 12 followers carrying bundles of sticks. From this perspective, it might be more accurate to call it "envoy with the seal"...

Maybe it’s simply because this word is too Central Plains and doesn’t sound Roman enough, so even though the Romans’ own system is becoming more and more perfect and looks more and more “Central Plains”, they still deliberately retain some imagined classical elements to let you know that you are still in Rome…

Guo Kang, Tuohuan and others discussed the next direction of the battle for a few words. At the door, Lama Wang strode in.

"I heard what they told me." He said hurriedly as soon as he entered the door: "What is the specific situation? Can you tell me about it?"

"Hey, Master Wang, don't be impatient." Tuo Huan said, "Sit down first, sit down first."

"It's not that I'm anxious. This is the most important thing for the church." Da Lama Wang waved his hands repeatedly: "Tell me first!"

Seeing that he cared so much, Guo Kang had to repeat it to him again.

"Look, isn't it very interesting?" Tuo Huanle said happily, "But it's a good thing that you can recover."

"Master Wang still has to hold a meeting with the clergy of the Muslim Church." He said to Guo Kang, "You see, he is much busier than us now."

"You can see that there is nothing wrong here - maybe this place found by Miss Jeanna is really a bit magical." He scratched his head and said to Da Lama Wang: "Guo Kang Anda just said that we should not delay everyone's business. You should not leave the guests there, because we still hope to persuade them to help us later."

"Oh, those are just small matters." Da Lama Wang shook his head and pointed at Guo Kang: "This is the real business."

"What's wrong with him? Do you think he is the candidate for the patriarch again?" Tuohuan asked.

“It’s more than just the Patriarch. I just thought about it, he is actually a more important role.” said Da Lama Wang.

"What's this again?" Tuohuan still had an expression that said "You want to lie to me again."

"It's Melchizedek." Lama Wang thought for a moment and said.

"Who is this?" Tuohuan asked curiously.

"He is a character mentioned in the Heavenly Brother Saves the World Sutra." Da Lama Wang was not surprised by his behavior and explained directly: "According to the records in the scriptures, he is a priest of the Supreme God and is called the 'King of Benevolence and Righteousness'. The scriptures also say that he has no father, no mother, no genealogy, no beginning of life, and no end of life, but is similar to the Son of God. Even Abraham had to pay tithes to him when he saw him."

"What does this have to do with him?" Tuohuan was a little overwhelmed.

"How did he get adopted by Marshal Guo?" Lama Wang asked.

"Wasn't it found in the ruins when we were defending the city?" Tuohuan said subconsciously.

"Yes, so you see, we really don't know who his biological parents are. We don't even know if they are in this world." Da Lama Wang spread his hands and said, "Guo only adopted him according to Roman tradition. He himself is indeed fatherless, motherless, and has no family tree."

"Besides, I've always felt that this kid is too kind and righteous. From this point of view, this is actually a normal behavior."

"Then..." Everyone was a little surprised.

"The tenth contribution has always been a way for the people to show respect to the sacred." Da Lama Wang continued to explain: "During the Xia Dynasty, the country only required the people to pay one-tenth of the tribute. The ancient holy kings were sacred people; their courts also served as church organizations. Therefore, there was no need for taxes, only the contributions of the people to support members at all levels. The Xia Dynasty was not far from ancient times, so these customs were still preserved."

"The legitimacy of Rome is based on Brother Heaven and God. Brother Heaven gave us the authorization for religion, and God gave us the authorization for war. Melchizedek is at the same level as Brother Heaven, and is a priest of God. He is known as the 'King of Salem', which means the King of Peace. He collected contributions, and performed the same function as Brother Heaven and the later church. It can be seen that he is the representative of Brother Heaven."

"Now, there is another person like Melchizedek, which means that our Rome has been recognized by the Heavenly Father, and will soon achieve peace and establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth." Da Lama Wang said happily: "Brother Tian's side has been filled. Everyone should also work harder. I think we are not short of people with the spirit of the God-Ancestor. Everyone should also strive to fill this side as well."

"Is that so..." Everyone looked confused and obviously didn't understand what he was saying.

"Well, I tell you, you won't understand it all at once." Da Lama Wang was a little discouraged: "Anyway, just know that it is a very auspicious sign, that's all."

"Okay!" Everyone understood this question and responded one after another.

(End of this chapter)