Rome must fall.

Chapter 153 Maximus’ Request

"Maybe he was just captured by the enemy..." Kabudez said cautiously.

"With Volris's personality, even if he is injured, he would rather commit suicide than be captured by the enemy." Andres said in a deep voice.

Kabdus's heart tightened and he looked ashamed.

But Andres did not rebuke him anymore. For a moment, he was surprised and suppressed the anger in his heart: "In one day, the enemy not only defeated you twice, but also captured two of our villages! ... Those weak Aldi Yiren does not have such ability, where did this enemy come from?"

"Big leader." Kabdus said quickly: "These enemies are definitely not Ardiyi! When fighting them, I saw that they were all wearing thick armor, holding large red shields, and lined up in a very tight formation. , the weapon in hand is a short sword——"

Andres' eyes suddenly shrank: "You mean they are... they are Romans!"

His voice actually trembled slightly.

The reason why the Pannonians had the courage to overthrow their original masters was due to the war between the Skodischis and the Romans more than ten years ago. He was still young and did not participate, but he fought countless times. His father and the older generation of people knew about that battle, and everyone praised the strength of the Romans.

"I participated in that war back then, and the enemy's weapons, equipment, and image are indeed very similar to the Romans!" Kabdus said firmly.

No matter how courageous Andres is, he can't help but feel nervous at this moment: "Did the Romans climb over the mountains to the west and fight their way here?!"

"Big boss, Rome is an extremely powerful kingdom. If it wants to attack here, it must be very powerful. How can it be as sneaky as this enemy." Kabdus said with relief. He thought about it carefully on the way back. : "It's possible that they are mercenaries invited by the Aldie people."

"The people of Ardei are so poor, how can they have money to hire mercenaries?" Andres didn't believe it.

"But many of their tribesmen are working as pirates outside, and they can meet many people." Kabdus reminded.

Andres stopped talking. He paced back and forth in the hall and suddenly asked: "If they are mercenaries invited by the Ardeis, how many do you think they have?"

Kabdus estimated and said: "I heard from Voorhees' cronies before that they sent a total of about 4500 people to fight. The enemies who fought them, including those disguised as farmers, were only slightly smaller than them. Then , these enemies chased them all the way to Volris's village, and it was impossible for them to still have the strength to fight my soldiers.

The troops that intercepted me and the enemies that surrounded us were all wearing armor and very strong. Their numbers were much larger than the 2500 soldiers I led. They were obviously another group of enemies...

If we consider all the enemies fighting us today, I estimate that there are about 1 mercenaries. "

"1 people..." Andres touched the long mustache on his lips.

Kabudez then said: "General, when I came, I asked Chief Amrotas (the leader of the Linhe village that Kabudez passed by) to send people to investigate the situation of this enemy. I believe that we will be there tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. There will be news coming.”

At this moment, Andres felt that his uncle was a seasoned man, and his resentment towards him had dropped a bit. He kicked the wooden chair next to him with his foot, and then said angrily: "No matter where this enemy comes from, Regardless of whether it has more or less people, if it dares to be my enemy, Andres, it must pay a heavy price for it!

I will immediately notify all the tribes, summon all the warriors in the tribe, go to the banks of the Kupa River, destroy this enemy, flatten the village of Ardi, and rescue our captured tribesmen as soon as possible!

Therefore, Uncle Kabdus, I now give you a task to investigate the details of this enemy. The sooner the better! "

In fact, after receiving the news from the Kabdus messenger, Andres had already gathered 4,000 soldiers in his main stronghold and was preparing to send them to rescue tomorrow, but now he has finished listening After Kabudez's story, he felt that four thousand warriors were obviously not enough. He must use all his clan's strength to eliminate this powerful enemy in one fell swoop.

"Yes, big leader, I promise to complete the mission!" Kabudez responded excitedly. He saw the hope of regaining the stronghold.

....................................................................................

In the early morning of the second day, Maximus led the team, escorted the prisoners, transported supplies, and returned west to the temporary camp. Capito, Volenus and other leaders also organized manpower to come to assist.

The rebels reunited again after being separated for a day.

After just one day, the entire rebel army swelled rapidly, because they suddenly added more than 5100 prisoners, including more than 3500 Skodisci slaves and more than 400 Segostikas. Among the nearly 6000 Segostika prisoners, there were only more than 3000 elderly people, about 150 women, and more than children. Some craftsmen with special skills such as blacksmiths, carpenters, and House workers, straw weavers, furriers... and even traveling traders, about people in total.

In addition, there are more than 600 Pannoni people with special status. They come from other large Pannoni tribes. Due to various reasons, they were expelled from their original tribes and became tribal refugees. In order to survive, they chose to become Segostika leaders and The servants of the nobles, who farmed, herded, or did housework for the nobles, were actually slaves in disguise.

Not only did the number of rebel troops more than double, but the captured food and supplies also piled up in mountains, and poultry and livestock ran all over the ground...

For this reason, after yesterday's emergency expansion, the temporary camp of the rebel army has extended from the banks of the Mreznica River to the foot of the mountain on the north side, and is divided into an inner camp and an outer camp. Of course, the structure of the camp is still very simple. Take your time to slowly refine the entire camp.

After hearing the news, Budokaribas and Kalsipempas saw the long queue of prisoners crying, and they knew that the news they heard yesterday was true. Maximus' team was really It was because of the capture of two Segostika strongholds, otherwise such a big gain would not have been possible.

Also arriving were Ardei chief Archupagos and elder Cleobrotus. When they received the news yesterday afternoon, they were both in disbelief: these outsiders had just settled down and were in such a hurry. We have started a war against the Segestica people. This is too anxious!

Of course, this is good news for the Ardie tribe, which shows that the young leader really means what he says.

Although Akupagos has limited mobility, this is a big deal for Ardei, and of course he wants to see what happens. However, he was not prepared to rush there right away, as this would seem too deliberate and not reserved at all, so they waited until the next day before arriving at the temporary camp.

As a result, they were stunned by the sight of overcrowded people and supplies everywhere. What shocked them even more was that the rebel army broke through two Segostika strongholds in one day. Such good news made the elderly Acoupagos go against his calm character and take the initiative to come forward and congratulate: "Congratulations to Chief Maximus on a brilliant victory!"

"The big boss should be relieved now." Maximus looked at him with a half-smile.

Akupagos said with an unchanging expression: "I have always had full confidence in you, Chief Maximus, otherwise I would not have invited your team to settle in our territory."

"It was precisely to repay the great leader's trust that I rushed to launch an attack on the Segestica people." Maximus said with a worried look on his face: "But... after winning the victory, I also encountered A difficult question.”

"I wonder what problem Leader Maximus encountered?" Cleobrotus asked.

"Yesterday's battle will definitely anger the Segestika people. I believe they will attack in large numbers soon. When the time comes, I will have to fight with all my strength. I am afraid that I will not be able to guard so many Segestika prisoners. If anything happens, If they cause trouble, it will affect our operations, which will be more troublesome!" Maximus said solemnly.

"Why don't you just kill them? You know, this is how the Segostikas treated our Aldiyi prisoners before. They brutally chopped off the heads of our soldiers, carried them on wooden poles, and came to our village to provoke them. Or just plug it into the wooden wall of their village and leave it to the wind and rain..." Budokaribas interjected, anger contained in his words.

Budokaribas's village is located on the front line and has obviously experienced many such things.

But Maximus had no intention of taking care of his mood, and said calmly: "If we kill all the Segostika prisoners, this will inevitably anger the Segostika people. If we want to win the next battle, It will be even more difficult! And killing all the Segostika prisoners like this would be too easy for them."

"So, what does Chief Maximus want to do?" Cleobrotus asked.

Maximus looked at the four people in front of him and said the advice he had already considered on the way: "I understand the pain the Segestika people have caused you, so I can capture all the Segestika prisoners. The nobles will hand it over to you free of charge.

They should be the initiators of the war between Segestica and Ardei, and the biggest beneficiaries, and should be severely punished! You can use them for sacrifices or kill them directly to comfort the dead heroes and make the people feel relieved.

As for the nearly 4000 captive Segostika warriors, can you temporarily help me take care of them? You can handle them like cattle and sheep, but you cannot maim or make them sick until I want to take them back. But Need to check carefully.

But I can't leave them to you now. I need to use them as labor to help me build the camp as soon as possible. "

The four Acoupagos looked at each other. Budokalibas hesitated and persuaded: "I think this proposal is acceptable."

Akupagos did not respond, turned around and asked: "Why doesn't Chief Maximus hand over all the other Segestica prisoners to us?"

Maximus replied seriously: "When the Segestika army attacks and fights with us, these Segestika prisoners may play a special role."

"What special role can they play?" Cleobrotus asked curiously.

"You will know when the time comes." Maximus did not elaborate, and it was not easy for anyone to ask further questions.

"Can you tell me how you deal with those Skodisci?" Akupagos asked again.

"I'm going to give them some freedom and let them do things for us." Maximus said vaguely.

"They are Celtic, and their relationship with us Illyrians was not good before." Budokaribas reminded.

Maximus explained seriously: "Yes, I know, but they hate the Segestica people even more! And I saved them, and they are more grateful to me. I can give it a try. If I can convince them, By serving us well, we can greatly weaken the power of the Segestika people and strengthen ourselves. Of course we should do this, right?"

In this regard, Akupagos and the others could not say anything more. They just told Maximus: Once he is ready to hand over the Segostika prisoners to the Ardei tribe, he can directly contact Budokaribas. He is responsible for this matter.

Archupagos was not in good health and could not stay longer, so he soon set out on his return journey with Cleobrotus.

"Big Chief, was the judgment I made before correct?" Cleobrotus suddenly said.

Akupagos understood what he was referring to. He pondered and said: "This young man has his own ideas and a strong ability to implement his ideas. Moreover, the combat effectiveness of his army is indeed good, which is indeed the same as that of that young man. A bit like.

However, the war has just begun, and the violent storm will come soon. If his small tree is blown off, everything will be just an illusion. What I'm more worried about is that the anger of the Segestika people will spread to us! "

"I see that the young man knows what he will encounter next and is prepared for it, otherwise he would not let us help him guard the prisoners. It is really rare for him to be so young and so conscious!"

Cleobrotus first praised, and then said in a deep voice: "Big Chief, I think that even without yesterday's battle, based on the actions of the Segestica people this year, it can be seen that they have once again carried out this attack on us. A massive attack won't be too far away!

If Chief Maximus really can't resist and lets the flames of war come to us early, don't we have the courage to defend our homeland as these outsiders do? Just call on the whole clan to rise up and resist! Didn't you say that there is no difference between dying one day earlier and dying one day later? "

(End of this chapter)