Rome must fall.

Chapter 273 Persuading Surrender
"Thank you, Chief!" Aulus and Pequot expressed their gratitude almost in unison.

Maximus laughed and said, "It seems that you two work well together. Do you want to continue to be good partners of the Fourth Legion and win more victories for the tribe?"

The two looked at each other and did not respond.

Maximus saw this and laughed again: "Just kidding, even if I wanted to do this, the current situation will not allow it. After this victory over the Pannoni, more people will join the tribe. Not only will the Fourth Legion be fully staffed, I think the Fifth Legion will also be established. By then, the legion commander will be none other than you, Pequot!"

Maximus, the leader of the Nix tribe, made a promise in person. In order to hide his excitement, Pequot quickly asked, "Chief, after winning this battle, what should we do next?"

"Of course it's our turn to attack next!" Maximus said very directly: "After this battle, the tribe's reserve members will probably become official members, and many official members will also be promoted. The tribe will give them corresponding land according to the law, but there are not many fields left in the territory. Of course, so much land must be obtained from the enemy!"

"So should we attack Segestica next? Or Brochi? Or both?" asked Aulus.

"The Brochi territory is still too far away from us. Let's start with Segestica." Maximus pointed to the stockade not far away and said in a deep voice, "We must capture it as soon as possible, then lead the army through the dense forest on the other side of the river and attack the Sava River Plain!"

"Chief, please give the task of attacking this village to our Fourth Legion!" Aulus volunteered to fight.

Maximus shook his head and said gently: "Your Fourth Legion has suffered too many casualties. What you need to do next is to rest up. Of course, the Fourth Legion cannot be completely idle. I still have important tasks to assign to you."

"What important mission?!"

"Assist the Political Affairs Hall and the Second Legion in guarding our prisoners."

"Ah, guarding the prisoners..." Aulus and Pequot were disappointed, because this meant that there would be no Fourth Legion in the upcoming attack on Segestica territory.

"Don't underestimate this mission." Maximus solemnly reminded: "We won a great victory on the east bank of the Korana River, captured more than 6000 Pannoni, and won another complete victory here, and once again captured more than 6000 prisoners, adding up to more than 12 people.

If so many people are not properly managed and start to cause chaos, not only will the entire tribe suffer considerable losses, but the army will also be unable to fight with peace of mind. Our plan to rapidly expand the tribe by winning the war will be ruined.

But if you take good care of the captives, you might have new soldiers and new labor for the tribe, and then you will have made a great contribution to the tribe again!"

Aulus and Pequot looked at each other and said helplessly, "Leader, the Fourth Legion is willing to stay and guard these prisoners, but the soldiers have no experience in this."

"Don't worry, Volenus and Frontinus will be here soon. They will teach the soldiers how to take care of the prisoners." Maximus happily comforted the two men and then said, "You two have been fighting hard for most of the day and must be very tired. Take the soldiers of the Fourth Legion to the barracks and have a good sleep to recover your strength. You may be needed to fight at night."

"Fighting at night?" Aulus was surprised.

"It's just my guess. Maybe we can enter the village without fighting. Well, I have to go meet our neighbors now." Maximus said, turned around and rode on his horse.

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

At dusk, the Nyx army had already ended its pursuit of the fleeing soldiers, and the battlefield was basically cleaned up: the bodies of their own soldiers were collected, the bodies of the enemies were piled together and burned, the weapons, armor, and even clothes abandoned on the battlefield were picked up, and the enemies who were not too seriously injured were carried back to the barracks under Maximus' special instructions and were cared for by the medical team...

The battlefield stained with blood was filled with smoke and piles of burning corpses. The air was filled with the smell of burnt meat. Crows were circling in the sky and there were many brave crows on the ground. They were not afraid of the soldiers walking back and forth and were pecking at the scraps of meat, broken hands and limbs that were scattered on the ground and had not been picked up... About 10,000 soldiers from the First Legion and part of the Third Legion had been called up. They were fully armed and, under the command of the legion commander and team officers, formed a long array of four columns and five miles long that surrounded the village of Anrotas in a semi-circle. Although they were very tired, they tried their best to hold their heads high and look solemn, which gave a great deterrent to the Segestica warriors who were preparing for defense on the wooden wall of the village.

Maximus, wearing dazzling armor and a towering feather helmet, rode slowly to the front of the village gate and shouted to the people on the wooden wall: "People of Segestica, I am Maximus, the leader of the Nix tribe and the commander of the army! On the battlefield not far ahead, the coalition formed by your tribe and the Desitiatae tribe suffered a disastrous defeat. The bodies of thousands of soldiers are being burned, and more than 6000 people have been captured. I believe you can all see it, right?!"

The Segestica people standing on the wooden wall could of course see a large number of prisoners squatting between the Nix army and the military camp, under the guard of countless soldiers. Everyone was extremely depressed, but no one dared to respond.

"You may find it strange. Shouldn't our Nyx army be defending the armies formed by several other Pannoni tribes in the south? How is it possible that most of the Nyx soldiers have rushed back here?!"

Maximus paused, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly: "That's because the day before yesterday we fought a large battle with a larger Pannonian army on the east bank of the Korana River. In the end, we won a great victory. Not only did we defeat the invading enemy, but we also captured several thousand Pannonian warriors. That's why we dare to return to help with confidence!"

"This is impossible!" Anlotas screamed. The reason why he was able to remain calm after witnessing the defeat of the reinforcements was because he knew that the main force of the Pannonian coalition was attacking from the south of the Nix territory. As long as the south won, his tribe would still be safe. However, Maximus' words gave him a heavy blow.

"I, Maximus, am not in the habit of lying. Because I was in a hurry to get here, I was unable to bring the prisoners captured in the south in time, but you can take a look at this--"

Maximus waved his hand and immediately a team of soldiers walked out of the formation, holding high what they were holding: they were torn flags, including the fish flag of the Brochi tribe, the bear flag of the Mazii tribe, the sheep flag of the Disione tribe and the snake flag of the Perustai... More than a dozen flags made of linen or fur, large and small, were displayed in front of the Segestica people on the wooden wall, which immediately caused a great commotion.

"This is impossible, this is impossible, it's fake, all of it is fake!..." Anlotas, who was hoping for a lucky break, shook his head nervously, but his voice was drowned out by the commotion created by his tribesmen.

Maximus raised his right fist, and the soldiers in the army shouted in unison: "Roar!!!" The people in the village were immediately frightened and held their breath.

"Segestica!" Maximus shouted sternly with a dignified face, "The Pannonian coalition forces have been defeated by me, Nicholas, and not many of them have escaped alive. You have been surrounded by my army, and no army will come to rescue you!
I command you to surrender to me immediately, and I will treat you kindly as Illyrians! Otherwise, I will let my brave soldiers attack, break through this fortress, and pile up your corpses into a new bonfire! "

Maximus pointed at the dozens of columns of black smoke burning not far away and shouted in a decisive tone: "Now tell me, are you going to surrender or not?!"

As soon as Maximus finished speaking, the two legion commanders, Phesalus and Carminus, ordered the soldiers to hit the square shields with their daggers and roared at the same time.

The deafening, uniform sound was like a hammer hitting the fragile hearts of the Segestica people, frightening them so much that their faces turned pale, their legs trembled, and some even fell directly from the wooden wall into the village...

"Ma... Chief Maximus!" Anlotas looked at the ferocious young chief under the wooden wall, holding the wooden pillar tightly with both hands, and shouted in a trembling voice: "I am willing... I am willing to lead my tribe to follow you and respect you as... as the great chief!"

Maximus' eyes flashed, and he responded coldly: "The Nix tribe has no great leader, only one leader, and that is me! You must lead your people to surrender to Nix and make them completely become Nix people. There is no other choice! Do you understand?!"

Maximus finished speaking, and the soldiers once again made intimidating gestures.

Although Anlotas was still panicking, Maximus' request made him hesitate. After hastily discussing with the nobles around him, he bravely shouted: "Ma... Maximus is the leader. The request you made... is of great importance to me and my tribesmen... I must discuss it with all the tribesmen and reach a consensus before I can give you an answer. I hope you can give me... give us some time!"

Maximus stared at Amrotas seriously without saying a word.

(End of this chapter)