"David Drake - Belisarius 3 - Destiny's Shield" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

"Do you really think this alliance would have that good an effect?" he asked.
"Of course," stated Justinian. He held up a thumb. "First. The Army will be
ecstatic. Persia's the enemy they fear, not Malwa. Anything that prevents
another war with Persia will meet their approval. Even after Belisarius' great
victory at Mindouos, the Army still has no desire to match Persian lancers on
the field of battle."
"The Malwa will be worse," pointed out Antonina. "Their numbers are much
larger, and they have the new gunpowder weapons."
Justinian shrugged. "So? Roman soldiers have no experience with the Malwa, so
they're not worried about them. Over time, that will probably change. But it's
the present I'm concerned with. And, right now, I can think of no better way
to cement the Army's allegiance to the dynasty than for Photius to forge a
Hundred Years' Peace with Persia."
Justinian held up his forefinger alongside his thumb. "Two. It'll please the
populace at large, especially in the borderlands." His head turned, the
sightless sockets fixing on Anthony Cassian. "The peasants of the region are
already delighted with Cassian's succession to the Patriarchate. They're
Monophysite heretics, the lot of them, and they know Cassian will rein in the
persecution."
"I have no formal authority over Patriarch Ephraim of Antioch," demurred
Anthony. "The border regions fall under his jurisdiction."
"The hell with Ephraim," hissed Justinian. "If the dynasty's hold on the
throne stabilizes, we'll crush that bastard soon enough. I know it, you know
it, Ephraim knows it -- and so do the peasants of the borderlands."
Belisarius saw that Germanicus was still scowling. The Illyrian general, quite
obviously, was unmoved by Justinian and Chrysopolis' concerns. Belisarius
decided it was time to intervene.
"We can live with Persia, Germanicus," he stated. "We have, after all, for a
millennium. We cannot live with Malwa. The Malwa seek to rule the world. Their
invasion of Persia is simply the first step toward their intended conquest of
Rome. I say we fight them now, on Persian soil, with Persia's lancers as our
allies. Or else we will fight them later, on Roman soil, with the Persian
lancers shackled into the ranks of Malwa's gigantic army alongside their
Rajput and Kushan vassals."
Germanicus eyed him skeptically. Belisarius repressed a sigh. He was
aggravated by the man's stubbornness, but he could not in good conscience
condemn him for it. The commander of the Army of Illyria had only been made
privy to the great secret a month before. Germanicus, like Chrysopolis, had no
longstanding personal relationship with Belisarius. But he was a close kinsman
of Justinian and an excellent general in his own right. Theodora had urged his
inclusion in the inner circle -- this was the one subject where she never
issued commands to Belisarius -- and Belisarius had agreed.
Abstractly, he knew, the Illyrian general accepted the truth of Aide's nature,
and the crystal's warning of the future. But, like most generals, Germanicus
was conservative by temperament. Persia, not India, was the traditional rival
of the Roman Empire.
No, he could not condemn Germanicus for his prejudiced blindness. He simply
returned the man's glare with a serene, confident gaze.
After a moment, Germanicus stopped glaring.
"Are you so certain, Belisarius?" he asked. The Illyrian general's tone was