Rome must fall.

Chapter 274 The Surrender of the Big Shot
Maximus and the army behind him were like a heavy mountain pressing down on Anrotas, making it hard for him to breathe, and soon he broke out in a cold sweat.

After a long while, Maximus shouted in a cold voice: "I'll give you one night to discuss. You must open the gate and surrender at dawn tomorrow, otherwise we, the Nix, will launch an attack and destroy this village!"

The reason why Maximus gave Amrotas a night to discuss the matter was not because he was kind, but because the soldiers were very tired and had no strength to attack the village.

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Maximus was thankful that the army camp they had built around the stockade of Anrotas had not been destroyed by the Segesticas because the army had been away for a short time, so the soldiers who had finished the battle only needed to move into the ready-made camp, set up their tents, and rest. As for the patrols and guards in the camp at night, his men would take care of them, so he didn't need to worry too much.

After dinner, Maximus received good news - when the soldiers were interrogating the prisoners, they accidentally found a "big shot" from Segestica who was disguised and hiding among the ordinary prisoners.

Maximus looked at the "big shot" who was brought into the military tent: he was about thirty years old, sturdy, with decent features, but he looked depressed, with hunched shoulders and a hunched back...

As soon as he entered the tent, he knelt down and said in a trembling voice: "Greetings...Greetings to the honorable Chief Maximus!"

Maximus was slightly curious: "Do you know me?"

"I've heard from my tribesmen that although the leader of the Nix tribe is... very young, he is very prestigious. All the Nix tribesmen respect his bravery and believe in his wisdom, so he can win battles repeatedly and make the Nix tribe, which has just arrived, famous in the Great River Plain! I walked in here and took a look at you, and my legs went weak with fear. In the Nix tribe, only Chief Maximus has such a powerful aura!"

Maximus laughed, "I didn't expect the son of the new chief of Segestica to be so eloquent."

The captive quickly responded: "My dear leader, I am telling the truth!"

Maximus looked down at him with a playful look, and said in a grim tone: "Cassinos, as the son of Capodes and the main commander of the Segestica army, you secretly mobilized the military and plotted to destroy Nix long before the armistice agreement between Nix and Segestica expired. It's a pity that the gods were angry at your betrayal and made you suffer a miserable defeat. Today you fell into my hands, and I can just kill you to commemorate my people who died in the battle!"

Casinos was so scared that he cried out loudly: "Captain Maximus, we, Segestica, are weak. How can we dare to provoke you, the Nixes again! This is all... the idea of ​​Chief Brocki Brix. He persuaded other chiefs of the tribal alliance to make a plan to attack you. Because we, Segestica, have to rely on the help of other large tribes, we have to join their team..."

"Are you telling the truth?!"

"How dare I tell lies in front of you!" Cassinos looked up at Maximus tremblingly, looking pitiful.

Maximus snorted coldly and said solemnly: "Even so, you brought the Segestica army here and had a fierce battle with us. As the commander of the army, you cannot escape this guilt!"

When Cassinos heard this, he cried out again: "Captain Maximus, you are wronging me! Although I have brought troops here, I dare not fight with you. So your army of several hundred people can easily defeat us. There is no such thing as a fierce battle——"

"Shut up, you still want to quibble!" Maximus shouted, scaring Casinos so much that he trembled all over.

Maximus returned to his seat and said in a deep voice: "Tell me, what kind of punishment should you receive! Will you have your head chopped off and sacrificed to the gods? Or will you become a slave and work loyally for my Nix tribe?"

Although Casinos was trembling with fear, he also keenly sensed from Maximus' tone that the other party had no intention of killing him, so he quickly thought about it, plucked up his courage, and carefully responded: "Honorable Chief Maximus, killing me will not benefit your tribe at all. You can send people to our tribe to ask for a large amount of property and slaves to redeem me and strengthen your tribe. And when I go back, I will definitely persuade the other leaders of our tribe to sign a permanent peace agreement with you. From now on, the two tribes of Nix and Segestica will live in harmony and never invade each other..."

Maximus's face darkened. "The captives from your tribe all said that you are good at speaking and can bewitch people. It seems that what they said is true."

Casinosinos hastily defended himself, "Captain Maximus, I am speaking the truth! I swear to the gods! I——" "Alright." Maximus interrupted him and asked in a deep voice, "Cassinos, let me ask you, is my Nix tribe strong?"

"Strong...strong! Even the combined forces of the Pannonian tribes are no match for you!" This time Cassinos was speaking from the heart. He had witnessed the bravery of the Nyx army with his own eyes, and when Maximus forced Anrotas to surrender, he was squatting in the front of the prisoner camp, seeing clearly the tattered flags held high by the Nyx soldiers. He believed that the main force of the Pannonian coalition had been defeated, which made him feel desperate, so he behaved so submissively.

"Since the Nix tribe is so powerful, why can't we go to the Sava River Plain ourselves to get the treasures you mentioned?" Maximus said quietly.

Casinoston felt a chill running down his spine and rushed straight to his forehead. He widened his eyes and asked in a trembling voice of astonishment: "You...you want to invade our territory?!"

"What's so surprising about this? You, Segestica, are allowed to attack me, Nix, many times, but we are not allowed to fight back!" Maximus leaned forward, stared at the other party with a grim look, and said sternly: "Now that your Segestica tribe has suffered a series of defeats, can you still summon warriors to fight with my army? I'm afraid that as long as our Nix warriors pass through the dense forest and enter the Segestica territory, we can kill your people at will without any hindrance, obtain enough property, destroy the entire Segestica tribe, and let the blood dye the Sava River red..."

After listening to Maximus, Casinos' body trembled uncontrollably. He begged hurriedly, "Honorable Chief Maximus, please... please don't do this! We Segestica... We Segestica——"

Casinos suddenly stopped talking, because for a moment he could not think of a way to make Maximus stop the war, and even if there was a way, he could not influence the decision of the entire Segestica people in his current situation.

This can only be blamed on Casinos. Although he thought of some ways to deal with Chief Maximus on the way, he never considered that this small tribe, which had just been established for a year, wanted to invade the territory of Segestica, and from the current situation, it is entirely possible. Perhaps it was because of more than ten years of stability and the strength of the Pannonian Alliance that he habitually ignored this possibility. Even though Nix defeated them to occupy the Kupa River, in his opinion, this was the land of the Ardi people, which was completely different from his own territory.

Maximus straightened up, tapped his fingers on the back of the chair, and said in a loud voice: "I am an Illyrian, and the Pannonians are actually Illyrians too. We were all one family hundreds of years ago, but now we have become enemies and are fighting each other. This is really heartbreaking!
If you don't want your people to be killed again, there is only one way - that is to make them surrender to me and join Nix! From now on, Segestica and Nix will become one family, everyone will live in harmony, and there will naturally be no more wars! What do you think? "

"This...this..." Casinos didn't expect Maximus to be so ambitious. He not only wanted to invade the territory of Segestica, but also wanted to annex it as a whole. He also wanted to make him a traitor. He didn't want to become the object of curses and spitting by his people.

"What, you don't want to?!" Maximus's expression changed immediately, and he shouted loudly: "Come here! Drag him out and chop him up!"

Two guards rushed in, grabbed Casinos' arms and tried to pull him out.

Cassino turned pale in an instant, and shouted in fear: "I do! Chief Maximus, I do! ..."

Maximus waved his hand, the guards let go, and Cassinos fell to the ground.

"Casinos, you have to understand that we have captured thousands of prisoners today, including many leaders of the Segestica tribe. If you don't want to do it, someone else will do it."

Maximus reminded with a sneer, and then his tone softened a little: "You are a smart man, you should know it very well! Your father died in this war. Even if you go back, the tribesmen will blame you for this defeat. Even if you are not severely punished by the Segestica tribe, your future life will not be easy.

The entire Segestica tribe will have a harder time. The successive defeats have left the tribe with fewer men. Farming and grazing have become problems, and the slaves will take the opportunity to cause chaos... In the future, the Nix army will frequently enter your territory. Even if other Pannonian tribes offer a helping hand, they will look down on you and may kick you out of the Pannonian Seven Tribal Alliance one day...

Instead of watching Segestica decline day by day, you might as well join us, Nix. Think about it! When we Nix first arrived here last year, we defeated the army led by your brave Andres chieftain several times with fewer troops. After we settled down, only one year later, we defeated the powerful army formed by the Panloli Alliance...

It can be seen that although my Nix is ​​small, it is very powerful and developing very quickly. Maybe one day Nix will become the overlord of this river plain! Join us while my Nix tribe is just beginning to develop. Although you can no longer become a tribal leader, you can help me manage thousands of Pannoni people and even people from other tribes. Patrolling the banks of the Dava River today, and patrolling the banks of the Deva River and the Danube River tomorrow... Isn't this much better than your current situation! And much more beautiful! What do you think? ! "

(End of this chapter)