Rome must fall.

Chapter 286 Dispute with Aldei
Pigris took over the conversation and said jokingly, "Because of your instructions, we ran all the way without much rest. Volenus was so tired that he could hardly breathe and almost had to be carried on someone's back."

"Nonsense, I'm in good physical condition, this wouldn't happen!" Volanus retorted immediately.

"I'm so sorry for asking you to come so quickly! We just captured this place and there are many problems. We urgently need you to come and work together to complete the plan we made in advance and turn this place into our tribe's territory as soon as possible!"

Maximus first apologized to everyone, and then said urgently: "Let's put aside the matter of Segestica territory for now, and talk about your side first."

"Let me speak first." Quintus glanced at the others and saw that they all nodded, then he said, "After we fought the main force of the Pannonian coalition, I rushed to the camp occupied by the Second Legion, but on the second day, I did not see any trace of the Pannonian army.

It was the leader of Ardi who came with an army of more than 4000 people. They had a small conflict with us because of the military supplies and baggage left by the Pannoni in the camp. Later, it was Pigris who went to resolve it...

Later, we learned that the main force of the Pannonian coalition had split up and retreated eastward across the hills after the defeat. The Ardae then sent troops to reclaim their land along the Corana River, and we abandoned the captured camp and retreated back from the Corana River.

However, during the retreat, Lebilus organized people to transport the food and supplies distributed in the camp back to Snotia. Now Frontinus is leading the Military Affairs Department and the Second and Fourth Legions to control tens of thousands of prisoners. It may be difficult for him to get away in a short time. "

"The reason for the small conflict we had with the Ardii in the camp on the Korana River is actually very simple." Pigris took over the conversation and explained to Maximus seriously: "The Ardii believed that the food and supplies in the camp were looted by the Pannoni from their villages on the Korana River. Now that they have recovered the territory on the Korana River and resettled the people there, they need to return the food and supplies in the camp to them, otherwise they will not survive until next autumn...

I told the Ardi people that the Pannonian army invaded with great ambitions this time. They not only occupied the banks of the Korana River, but also continued to threaten the safety of the banks of the Mrežnica River! It was because of the bloody battle of our Nix army that they were defeated that the Ardi tribe was able to survive! For this, many of our Nix soldiers sacrificed their lives in the fierce battle, which should have been appreciated and rewarded by the Ardi tribe, but they never expected that they would repay kindness with hatred!
You know, we captured that camp, and the food and supplies inside are our spoils of war. Whoever gets it in battle gets it. This is the tradition of the Illyrians..."

Pigris narrated with some complacency: "The Ardi people felt guilty and did not dare to rob us of the food and supplies. However, their situation was indeed quite bad at the time. Later, I reached an agreement with them. We took 60% of all the supplies in the camp and they took 40%. After the autumn harvest next year, they would return the 40% to us double... Of course, this agreement still needs your permission, Chief."

Maximus nodded and said, "You did the right thing! Aldei is our ally after all. They have helped us a lot in the past, and we get important materials such as salt and iron from them. Next, we have to focus on stabilizing the situation here, so we have to improve our relationship with Aldei! How about this, change the agreement to 60% and 40%, but they don't have to pay back the 40%."

"Yes, Chief, you still think long-term." Pigris flattered.

"Are you discussing this with the new chief of Aldei, Aristakas?" Maximus asked again.

Pigris smiled with a hint of contempt: "No, this new chief is very arrogant and didn't even meet with me. Instead, he sent Ambrasinos, the elder of his tribe, to discuss things with me first.

This Ambracinus spoke in a sarcastic way, and he implied that we had taken the Ardei's things. I was so speechless that I couldn't say anything back. Later, it was Cleobrotus who came to discuss with me. Chief, your relative is really powerful. He didn't argue with me, but just told me about the difficulties that the Ardei tribe is facing now... Then I reached this agreement with him. "

"Cleobrotus is indeed capable." Maximus' eyes flickered, and he said meaningfully, "But he and Aristakas do not have a harmonious relationship. Even though he is married to me now, when Aristakas encounters difficulties, the first person he thinks of is still his father-in-law."

"Chief, when I was discussing with them, I also found out something—" Pigris pretended to be mysterious and said in a deep voice: "I heard that Aristakas is very angry with you!"

"Why?" Maximus was surprised.

"Because the next morning after the battle, you led your army back to your territory quickly, and Alistarcus was excitedly leading the Ardei army to your camp, hoping to join you, but failed. I heard that he was very angry at the time, thinking that you were arrogant and looked down on him..." Maximus felt amused: "I was in a hurry to rush back to the east of the Kupa River to resist the attack of the Segestica army, and I didn't know he would come at that time. He was so angry for no reason."

Quintus interrupted, "Chief, the new chief of the Aldei tribe has such a strange temper. Even if he has married you, I am still worried that the alliance between our two tribes will not last long!"

"The future is the future." Maximus said disapprovingly: "If the alliance is really broken one day, we may not be the ones to worry. Besides, even if Alistarcus has ill intentions towards our tribe, he cannot determine the will of the entire Ardi tribe."

After hearing this, Quintus was thoughtful.

"Chief," Pigris continued, "while I was negotiating with the Ardi people, the Ardi tribe leaders who had friendly agreements with us, such as Budokaribas and Cicelitses, took the initiative to find me and said they had important matters to discuss with you.

I told them that you were leading your army to the east of Westney to resist the invading Segestica army. They did not follow the Aldei army to conquer the territory along the Korana River, but followed us to the newly occupied stockade on the Kupa River. Then, after learning that you had brought your army to attack the Segestica territory, they followed us here today. "

Maximus' mind moved: "Are you saying that they have entered this village?"

"Yes! They know you are anxious to see us, and it is so late, so they didn't follow us in foolishly." After making a joke, Pigris said in a deep voice: "Although they didn't say their intention along the way, based on my observation, I think they must have come for the land this time!"

"Oh." Maximus didn't seem to be upset after hearing this, and responded quickly: "If you really come for the land, it's not impossible to consider it, but now is not the time to discuss this...

Volenus, Capito, there are tens of thousands of prisoners on the other side of the Kupa River. What measures have you taken to deal with this problem and ensure the safety of the territory over there?"

"Chief, there are more than tens of thousands of prisoners there! You see, nearly 12 Pannonian warriors were captured in the two battles, and after the capture of the village east of Westney, nearly 000 people in the entire village were captured.

Then the Fourth Legion quickly captured the last village of Segestica along the Kupa River. Although most of the people in the village followed the defeated soldiers to flee along the river to the Brochi territory because they knew that the joint forces of Segestica and Desitiatai were surrounded and annihilated, there were still nearly 1000 people who were unwilling to leave with a fluke and were captured by the Fourth Legion... So in total, there were more than 22 prisoners there-"

"That's not all." Capito interrupted, "If we count the more than 4000 Skodish slaves who joined us after the Second Legion captured the camp on the Korana River, our tribe now has 27 more people. This is a huge number!

Although we have obtained the food and baggage of the two Pannonian armies, it is only enough to supply them for one month. Of course, if we also seize the food of all the Segestica people in the two newly acquired villages along the Kupa River, it should be able to last for more than two months. "

"But there are still five or six months before the autumn harvest next year. We can't think of a better solution for the time being, so we have to ask you to come up with a solution!" Capito said seriously: "As for how to control so many prisoners, our temporary solution is to detain all the Pannoni warrior prisoners in the military camp by the Kupa River, a total of about 14 people (including the soldiers in the two newly occupied Segestica villages), and they will be centrally guarded by the Second Legion. The other prisoners must stay in the village next to the military camp and be guarded by the Fourth Legion-"

"Let me interject," Quintus said, "The Second Legion also sent 300 men to garrison the easternmost stockade to defend against the Brochi people."

"As for the more than 4000 newly joined Skodischi slaves, they all live in a large number of vacant houses for the tribesmen in the Snowtia village. They are led by the Department of Agriculture and jointly managed by the Department of Works and the Department of Military Affairs. Now our tribe is busy with the war and is extremely short of labor. We will have to rely on them in many areas in the future." Capito continued.

(End of this chapter)