Rome must fall.

Chapter 285: Back-up Arrives
"It seems that it is not easy to convince the Segestica people just by words. We need to use some other means..." Maximus thought.

"Chief, although only a few Segestica people joined the tribe last night, many Scodischi people joined us, Nix. There are more than 2000 of them!"

Maximus was stunned for a moment, then he was overjoyed: "Valerius, why didn't you tell me this earlier! Wait a minute - after we entered the village last night, we didn't see any Skodischi slaves. Could it be that the Skodischi recruits in our team went outside the village to find them last night?"

Facing Maximus's doubts, Valerius explained: "Captain, how dare our soldiers go out without military orders? These newly joined Scodisci are the slaves of this village! This is what happened..."

It turned out that since Gorvis led some Scodischi people to become bandits and repeatedly plundered the villages of Segestica last year, the Segestica people have strengthened the control over the Scodischi slaves in their territory. One of the laws required the Scodischi slaves to stay in their houses at dusk every day and not go out, otherwise they would be killed.

When the Nix army entered the territory of Segestica and began to attack, the Skodischi slaves had been staying in the house as usual in accordance with the law. When the Segestica people saw the enemy coming, they were so scared to escape that they didn't care about the slaves. The Skodischi slaves heard the huge noise outside, and because of the bloody lessons in the past, they didn't dare to leave the house without permission. Even if it was really the enemy of Segestica coming, they still felt it was safe to hide in the house in the fierce battle.

It was not until the night when the soldiers of the Fourth Legion entered the houses in the village that they discovered the Skodischi slaves hiding in the houses. Through the communication between the Skodischi recruits in the team and them, these slaves voluntarily joined the Nix and even helped the soldiers cook...

After listening to this, Maximus immediately realized: "That is to say... these more than 2000 new slaves who joined Nix are only in the West Village. There are still many Skodis slaves in the East Village and the villages outside?"

"Yes, Chief, that should be the case."

"Good! Good!..." Maximus became excited: It doesn't matter if the Segestica people are unwilling to join for the time being, but the Skodischi slaves in the entire territory who are about to gain freedom and be relieved of oppression can be regarded as loyal fans of Knyx. With them, the shortage of tribal population can be greatly compensated and as much of this fertile land as possible can be occupied!
Thinking of the population, Maximus thought of another question: "Valerius, you led people to make dinner last night. Is there much food stored in the village?"

“There is no special granary in the village. There is some food in each courtyard, but not much, because these courtyards in the village are just temporary residences for the leaders and clan leaders of each tribe.

I didn’t check the houses of the civilians because you just gave a speech to them last night, and I was afraid that doing so would cause dissatisfaction among them. But I asked the Segestica people who had just joined us, and they said that the chiefs and elders stored a lot of food in the courtyards of their own tribes…”

Maximus just asked casually, but he didn't expect that Valerius had already noticed this problem in advance and made sufficient preparations, which made Maximus look at him with admiration.

Maximus thought about it, then told his attendant to go and fetch Aeolus.

Aeolus, the first captain of the Third Legion, was a member of the Maximus baggage battalion who joined with Carminus. He was a relatively capable and lucky person among the sailors and laborers from Naples. The Third Legion had suffered many misfortunes since its establishment, and suffered heavy casualties in several major battles. However, he had not only made many contributions in his fighting career over the past few years, but also had not been injured. He was promoted to the position of the first captain, second only to the legion commander, and was deeply trusted by Carminus. Therefore, this time Carminus led his troops across the river to attack the East Camp, and let him lead the remaining troops to guard the West Camp.

At this moment, he hurried to Maximus, saluted and said: "Chief, please give me the order, I will resolutely execute it!"

"It's not a big deal, no need to be so nervous." Maximus said with a smile: "The East Village has been captured, and there won't be any major battles next, so relax."

Aeolus still stared at Maximus with a serious expression.

This reminded Maximus of what Carminus had said, "Aeolus is very serious about his work," so he put away his smile and said seriously, "I want you to send some of the troops in the village to the surrounding villages to perform two tasks. First, persuade the Skodius slaves in these villages to join our team; second, confiscate the food stored by the leaders and nobles in these villages, and transport the food back to the village...

Well, I suggest that you send out teams to bring some of the Skodish slaves who have joined us. This will make it easier to convince their compatriots and help transport food. If you are obstructed by the Segestica people in the process of obtaining food, don't be polite to them! "

"Yes!" Aeolus walked away quickly.

Maximus looked at several attendants again and said, "Who of you is willing to take a boat to the other side and convey my orders to the legion commander Carminus?"

"I!" the servants responded loudly in unison.

Maximus nodded in satisfaction and pointed to the oldest boy among the attendants: "Marcellus, you go this time."

Malcolus said happily: "Thank you, Chief!"

"Don't be happy yet, we have to get things done." Maximus waved him to come closer and whispered, "After you find Carminus, ask him to do three things as soon as possible. First, persuade the Scodischi slaves on the east coast to join us Nix as soon as possible; second, while ensuring the safety of the East Village's defense, collect the stored grain of the Segestica leaders and nobles in the villages on the east coast to the East Village; third -"

Maximus' voice became even deeper: "While collecting food, try to eliminate as many leaders and nobles of the family of the great chieftain of Segestica as possible!... Do you remember all of this?" "I remember all of this!"

"go quickly!"

"Yes!"

What Cassinos said just now made Maximus realize that the clan of the great chief of Segestica has too many relatives and is very powerful. They will all be extremely unstable factors in the process of Nix's annexation of Segestica. In order to rule this land more smoothly, even if it will cause some turmoil, he must find a way to eradicate them!
Maximus stood there, wondering whether the situation on the east coast could remain stable after Marcellus's departure, and he felt more worried.

After a while, he came to his senses and said to Valerius: "Let's go and see our new people in Nyx."

The Skodischi slaves had learned a lot about Chief Nix's deeds from their compatriots and were in awe of the young chief.

But Maximus always had a smile on his face and a gentle attitude when he was with them, and he answered any questions they raised seriously, which greatly eliminated their concerns.

The slaves of Skodishchi were originally oppressed and had a hard life. Any decree of the Nix Tribe regarding the preparation of the tribesmen would be a great improvement to their current situation, so they were full of expectations for life after joining the Nix Tribe.

Maximus had an easy and pleasant time with them.

But in the afternoon, when he met the 103 Segestica families who had just joined the tribe, the situation was very different.

After all, although their lives had been somewhat difficult due to the war in recent years, they had houses and fields, and as members of the Segestica tribe, they also had some rights. Their status was very different from that of the Skodischi slaves, so they demanded more.

During the meeting with Maximus, they raised some questions, such as: Since we have joined the Nix tribe, why do we have to work for another three years before we can be allocated land? ... We have our own house, property and land. After joining the Nix tribe, these should still belong to us, right? ...

Maxis patiently explained to them, but the people of Segestica were obviously not very satisfied.

After sending them away, Maximus stayed in the house thinking.

At dusk, Maximus was having dinner when the attendant came in and reported: "Captain, Quintus, Volenus, Capito, Cornelius, Pigris and other adults have arrived--"

Before the servant finished speaking, Maximus stood up and walked out of the house quickly. As soon as he walked into the courtyard, he was met by Quintus, Volenus and a group of people.

"Oh my, I've been looking forward to you all coming here for a long time!" Maximus couldn't help but smile and said.

“Chief!...Chief!...Chief!..." Everyone hurriedly saluted.

"You have been traveling all day and haven't eaten yet, Tilius. Ask Valerius to bring some more food." Maximus immediately instructed the servants, and then waved to everyone and said, "Come on, come with me to the house, and we will discuss while we eat."

A group of people walked into the house and sat around the dining table.

Maximus asked with concern, "Did you encounter any trouble on your way here today?"

Quintus said, "It was quite smooth along the way. When we passed those Segestica villages, the Segestica people hid in their houses and no one dared to come out to provoke us. It seems that you, the leader, have captured their main village in one fell swoop and completely defeated their courage...

Oh, the First Legion is carrying some baggage and the marching speed is slower, so Feisalus asked the army to camp near Linkou Village first and rush over tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)