"Bang!"
Vassili slammed a wine cup heavily onto the table, his face somewhat ashen.
The generals seated around the large tent also mostly wore grim expressions.
"Over ten thousand men, and today we simply made a probing attack on this city, resulting in over ten thousand casualties! If we continue fighting, will the entire army be wiped out here!" Vassili shouted.
It was truly not surprising that Vassili was angry. After a single day of assault, the Roman army had suffered over twelve thousand casualties.
While the number of those killed in action was just over a thousand, it was the injured that caused Vassili the most headaches.
The number of wounded was simply too high. Over ten thousand injured; even when encountering the tenacious and fierce Central Asians, they had never experienced anything like this.
Most of the soldiers in this Eastern Expeditionary Army were battle-hardened veterans, truly fearless of death, which was why Vassili had enjoyed smooth sailing all the way, only suffering minor losses in Central Asia.
To have over ten thousand injured here directly meant the Roman army's medical services could not keep up.
Now, the entire Roman camp was filled with the painful groans of the wounded, casting a dispirited atmosphere over the other soldiers.
The issue of morale was also a headache for Vassili. It was the continuous victories along the way that had instilled such morale in these soldiers. Vassili could even say that the will of his soldiers was no less than that of the Imperial Guards.
However, this was all based on the premise that their aura of invincibility was not broken. Now, with such heavy casualties, the countless wounded soldiers were like a force eroding the Roman soldiers' will.
If this continued, the army's morale might plummet to freezing point.
Vassili asked angrily, "Why were our soldiers chased out by the Wei people like startled rabbits? Didn't each of you guarantee that the Wei people would be easy to defeat?"
The generals in the tent all lowered their heads, remaining silent. Before the battle, these words had indeed been spoken, but no one had expected attacking a city to be so difficult.
Alexander couldn't help himself and said softly, "This time, it's not that our soldiers weren't brave enough. It's simply that the enemy was too cunning. They used Greek fire, which is one thing, but they actually used that, what do you call it, that 'golden liquid,' it's simply inhumane!"
"Exactly, exactly! If it weren't for that golden liquid, our losses wouldn't have been so devastating."
"Yes, this is truly difficult to deal with."
The generals in the tent began to air their grievances. The golden liquid used by the Wei army had indeed bewildered the Romans. They had truly never witnessed anyone using such a weapon.
Moreover, most of the wounded soldiers this time were caused by the golden liquid. As for weapons like Greek fire, those contaminated by it were mostly doomed to die. But it was different with the golden liquid.
Most of the soldiers attacked by the golden liquid returned to the camp.
However, not dying was the beginning of a nightmare. These wounded soldiers began to have persistent high fevers and talk incoherently. Although they could hold on and not die, it was still difficult to survive.
Seeing this, the other soldiers began to develop a fear of attacking the city, which was also the main reason for the low morale in the Roman camp.
Vassili also felt a headache thinking about the weapon of golden liquid. Having never encountered this thing, they had now suffered a great loss.
"Perhaps we should retreat for now and discuss later..."
"No!" Hearing someone suggest retreating again, Vassili flatly refused, "If we retreat like this, won't our losses be in vain? We must at least capture this city."
"By capturing this city, we will have truly secured this land for the empire."
Vassili's words held some reason, and the others weren't entirely unwilling to retreat, but solving the problem was proving difficult.
Omuda said at this moment, "Marshal, perhaps we are worrying too much. This golden liquid is actually similar to Greek fire. It's just that Greek fire is too expensive and not used extensively, so our soldiers were positioned too densely."
"As long as we don't position ourselves too densely during the next assault, the threat of this golden liquid will be significantly reduced."
Upon hearing Omuda's words, everyone was taken aback. Indeed, they had been overthinking it. As long as the Roman army didn't act like they did today, they wouldn't suffer such heavy losses.
Vassili nodded and said, "Baron Omuda's words are reasonable. From now on, tell the soldiers to be careful not to be too dense."
The Roman army had always maintained dense formations. Changing this now would not be simple, but there was no better solution, so everyone could only agree.