The tenth year of Gaia, March 5th.
What was surprising was that the first battle in the decade of Gaia did not happen in Europe, but in Asia.
On that day, Great Xia officially declared war on the Persian Empire.
The Persian Empire had a vast territory, with a total of around 30 million players. Even after the Mongolian Empire's westward expedition, the empire's total army was still around 2 million.
On top of that, the Persian Gulf was once seen as a rising empire in Asia.
Furthermore, apart from the war with the Mongolian Empire, the Persian Empire rarely participated in foreign wars. It was stable internally, prosperous in trade, and relatively developed in industry. It was the last significant opponent of Great Xia in Asia.
Before attacking India, Ouyang Shuo had not thought about whether to declare war on the Persian Empire.
The smooth progress of the battle in India had not only won another heavyweight protectorate for Great Xia, but they had also accumulated a million elite troops. This gave Ouyang Shuo the confidence to wage war against Persia.
His status as the hegemon of Asia also helped him in this battle.
In order to take down the Persian Empire as soon as possible, Ouyang Shuo wasn't careless at all this time. He mobilized the upper, middle, and lower armies, a total of thirty-one legions, one million five hundred and fifty thousand soldiers.
The upper army consisted of the four corps of the Fengxiang Army, which belonged to the North Asian War Zone. They marched from the North Pagoda Pass of the Western Frontier Province. The commander of the Fengxiang Army, General Guo Ziyi, was appointed as the commander of the upper army.
The central army consisted of four legions of the Flying Bear Army and three legions of the Western Army, which belonged to the West Asia Theater of Operations, and three legions of the Western Army. They marched from the Southern Pass of the Western Frontier Province.
Divine General Wang Jian was appointed as the commander of the central army.
The lower army consisted of South Asia's First Army to the Fourth Army, totaling a million soldiers. They were also the main force of the expedition against the Persian Empire, and they set off from Ashoka Province.
Divine General Li Jing personally led the expedition.
In addition, the Indian Ocean Fleet would also launch an attack on the coastal areas of the Persian Empire from the sea.
After defeating an enemy, they would use the country's military strength to attack the next target.
This method was very similar to the "Meat Grinder Plan" that Jia Xu had proposed on the battlefield of Tubo. It could also be considered as creating a model for Great Xia.
If things went smoothly, the model could continue to operate.
The foundation of this operation was thanks to Great Xia's success in the Tianzhu battlefield. It was precisely by relying on unconventional tactics like the Imperial Death Talisman that the Great Xia army was able to achieve an easy victory.
If they continued to fight head-on with the Ashoka Dynasty, it would only be a pyrrhic victory.
The Xia Kingdom's sudden declaration of war was undoubtedly an unacceptable disaster for the Persian Empire. Even though the Persian Empire had two million soldiers, it was very difficult for them to find an opportunity to win against the three armies of Great Xia.
The internal stability of the Persian Empire was both an advantage and a great disadvantage.
Among the two million soldiers, more than half of them were reorganized by the Imperial Guards of various countries. They had basically never experienced any wars, so their actual combat ability was really worrying.
Otherwise, the Mongol Empire wouldn't have been able to beat the Persian Empire so badly.
As compared to the Mongolian cavalry, the Great Xia army was much stronger.
The 1.5 million soldiers of Great Xia were equivalent to at least three million soldiers of the Persian Empire or even more if they were to convert their combat power into one.
How could the Persian Empire win?
The only way was to ask for help from their allies.
There were three dynasties that bordered the Persian Empire and belonged to the Silver Hand's camp. They were the Arab Empire, the Caesar Dynasty, and the Romanov Dynasty.
The Caesar Dynasty and the Romanov Dynasty were trapped in the European battlefield. They were still hoping for the Persian Empire to send reinforcements. They did not have the energy to help the Persian Empire.
In particular, the Romanov Dynasty was busy attacking the Germanic Empire. The sparsely populated Far East region bordering the Persian Empire was lacking in support.
The most likely candidate was the Arab Empire.
The two empires had the same origin, but because of different beliefs, they were divided into two empires. At that time, their relationship wasn't very friendly. It was really unknown whether the Arab Empire could lend a helping hand.
Needless to say, the Arab Empire also had to face the direct threat of Great Xia in the African theater.
After thinking about it, the Persian Empire could only face the battle alone.
…
Great Xia's declaration of war against Persia was like a nuclear bomb that stirred up the calm global situation.
It wasn't just the Persian Empire who was the victim. Other people didn't expect that Great Xia, which was deeply involved in the whirlpool of public opinion, would continue to expand and continue its path of hegemony in the game world.
It seemed that the destruction of Hope City didn't have any impact on Great Xia's strategic decision.
This naturally became a reason for the Silver Hand to attack Great Xia.
The problem was that the Silver Hand and the Azure Badge were trying to create a "great and righteous" image of Ouyang Shuo. If they stood up to accuse Ouyang Shuo at this time, all their previous efforts would be wasted.
Therefore, they could only remain silent and swallow their pride.
"I'm starting to suspect that Ouyang Shuo saw this subtle opportunity, which is why he wantonly started the war." Jack, who was on the other side of the ocean, couldn't help but sigh.
It wasn't that Jack didn't know the strategic position of the Persian Empire, nor did he not know how valuable the oil and gas resources of the Persian Gulf were. However, in the face of the Persian Empire's request for help, the Dawson Dynasty was really helpless.
After taking down India, Great Xia's strategic depth was terrifying. Their overall strength had risen to a new level, and it was really not something that the Dawson Dynasty could contend with head-on.
This was also one of the reasons why the Silver Hand was so anxious to send away the "God of Plague", Ouyang Shuo.
Although there were rumors that Ouyang Shuo was trying his best to train a successor, Jack was still very confident in dealing with a "little girl" like Ouyang Bing.
Great Xia's declaration of war also caused the temporarily cooled down global battlefield to be reactivated.
Ordinary players couldn't understand the hidden meaning behind Great Xia's declaration of war, but the lords were very clear about it.
In a sense, with the destruction of Hope City and the obstruction of human settlement on Hope, the status of the game world didn't decline, but instead rose, becoming a real second world.
In the foreseeable future, the majority of human beings would continue to live in the game world.
Therefore, the fight for dominance in the game world had become even more important than before, even surpassing the fight for the three spots.
This was a move to divide the cake, and the most important thing was to not fall behind.
Precisely because of this, Ouyang Shuo could ignore the public opinion of the outside world and brazenly declare war on the Persian Empire not long after the Indian War had ended.
This was the source of the internal logic.
If they could defeat the Persian Empire and completely control the oil and gas resources of the Persian Gulf, in the future wave of industrial competition, Great Xia would basically be invincible.
The current Ouyang Shuo was like a father who was about to go on a long journey. He always wanted to do his best before he left, so as to leave behind a solid family business for his successor, Bing 'er.
Otherwise, even if he left, he wouldn't feel at ease.
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