Rome must fall.

Chapter 65 Volenus’ Proposal

Maximus understood the meaning of his words. Although he could still remember clearly the Vesuvian raid and the final decisive battle, he did not understand the detailed combat process of the entire Spartacus rebel army. He understands one thing. Spartacus's rebel army was almost undefeated from the time when they raided Vesuvius to approaching the Alps. Now they have him as a person who has been reborn through time and space. With his help, the rebels could not suffer defeat instead, so he said very confidently: "Don't worry, Spartacus and the others will definitely win as long as they encounter the Roman army!"

After Maximus finished speaking, he glanced at the members of the military advisory group and found that some people were quite disapproving.

"Ahem..." Frontinus interrupted in time: "300 of the more than 67 slaves who joined the team today were once phalanx soldiers in the Pontus army, and they all had at least three months of military service. .”

When Maximus heard this, he felt a surge of joy in his heart. He dispelled the unhappiness he had just felt. He said excitedly: "This is good news. Our supply camp always suffers from the allocation of personnel. This time we finally picked up the good news." It’s a bargain. But there are so many veterans in the newly formed team, and these new team officers will be difficult to manage.”

"This is also a test for them." Frontinus replied.

"You are right." Maximus laughed and turned to look at the clerk on the other side: "Vorenus, what is the situation of the remaining 91 slaves? Is there any good news?"

Clerk Vorenus immediately took a step forward, looked at the roster in his hand and said: "Among these 91 slaves, there are 37 women, 8 children, 25 elderly and disabled men, and 10 with... The injured man and three injured women were sent to the medical team for treatment. In addition, there were three carpenters, a stonemason, a bricklayer, two potters, and two young slaves who could read and arithmetic. I followed the previous practice. , so that they were singled out.”

"Oh, there are really many talents." The smile on Maximus's face became even wider, and he asked with dissatisfaction: "How many of those women can weave and weave straw?"

"According to their own introduction, there are about 20 people." Vorenus flipped through the roster and said: But in the end, we have to wait for Shemeret (the captain of the weaving team) to make an assessment before giving you a detailed report. "

Maximus nodded and asked again: "Why are there so many children this time?"

"Mainly because there are five couples in this group of slaves."

"Oh, then you have to arrange their accommodation. Those two potters... can they make blast furnaces?"

"Blast furnace?..." Voronus looked confused. He knew agriculture, but he didn't know much about industry.

"Forget it, I'll ask them later." Maximus waved his hand and said: "Assign those carpenters, stonemasons, masons, and potters to the construction team, and the two literate slaves will be assigned to the construction team. Under your command, you will start arranging the study for those eight children now..."

"Yes, chief." Vorenus responded respectfully. He was now completely devoted to Maximus.

The young leader appointed him as the secretary, and put under his jurisdiction all the people in the supply camp who could read, write, and arithmetic. The statistics of the personnel in the supply camp, the consumption of materials, and the major and minor affairs in the camp were all summarized to him first. He will report to Maximus, and when Maximus makes a decision, he will have to find someone to implement it... Such a responsibility of passing down instructions and paying attention to all aspects of affairs is somewhat similar to the housekeeper he used to serve under the original owner, but But the power is greater and the requirements for ability are higher, which makes him feel like the second spring of his career. He is very active in his work every day.

"With so many people joining us today, do we have enough supplies?" Maximus asked again.

"Each of the new slaves can be given a set of earthen jars, coats, straw sandals, linen sheets, and luggage. Even if there are ten recruits who do not have wooden shields and wooden swords." After Vorenus finished speaking, Maximus Subconsciously glanced at Capito.

Capito immediately complained: "You can't blame us. My men and I go to cut down trees every day and work hard to make these things, but this time so many new recruits joined us all at once, and the wooden shield wood we finally accumulated has been reduced." All the swords have been taken away, but there are still too few people in our weapons warehouse!"

The weapons warehouse is now empty enough for rats to run away, so why do we need so many people... Maximus thought so in his heart, but was not prepared to say it, because he knew Capito, although he was a retired veteran, and his sex Ke was like a scholar, with a somewhat aloof character and quite a bit of self-esteem, so he said in a gentle tone: "You are right, I was negligent. Volenus, pick two of the remaining 25 slaves." To the weapons depot.”

"Yes, chief." Volenus took another step forward and whispered: "There are not many earthen jars and linens left in the warehouse. If someone comes to join us in two days, our supply camp will not be able to continue. These supplies have been provided!... Chief, I don’t know about the suggestion I made before—”

Although Volenus did not continue, Maxim understood what he was going to say.

The rebel army, which started less than half a year ago, still has no production capacity at all. All supplies are obtained by seizure and looting. However, this fertile land in southern Campania is filled with various farms, but it is almost impossible to see any. There are no handicraft workshops, such as pottery workshops, weaving workshops, etc., of course there may be some in the towns, but the rebel army is not yet capable of conducting siege operations, so with the rapid expansion of the number of rebels, from various farms The earthenware pots, linens and other consumables collected were not replenished in large quantities, so they were naturally unable to make ends meet.

Volenus had discovered this situation before and made his own suggestion: the warehouses of the baggage camp store a large amount of wine and olive oil, which are extremely popular goods throughout Italy, and the rebel soldiers But they are rarely used (only some wine is consumed when the army holds a celebration banquet, and a little olive oil is added to porridge and soup to add a little grease to the soldiers). Instead of occupying a large number of warehouses, it is better to sell them to Italy. The merchants exchanged supplies that the rebels urgently needed, which meant that they allowed the rebels to trade with Italian merchants.

When armies went out to fight, merchants followed them for trade. This was the military tradition of various countries in the Mediterranean, and Rome was no exception. However, when Maximus proposed this proposal at the meeting of military commanders, it was ultimately failed. The reason was simple: the leaders were worried that allowing merchants to enter the camp to trade would lead to an uprising if they took the opportunity to spy on military intelligence and secretly carry out sabotage. The next battle will bring trouble to the army. After all, the rebel army is still very weak and surrounded by enemies on all sides, so we must be cautious.

Maximus was not prepared to mention to Volenus that "his proposal was not adopted at the meeting of military commanders." He smiled and said: "When Spartacus and the others return after winning, I will mention this to them. Don’t worry, after all, the pros outweigh the cons, and I believe they will eventually agree.”

"If we can pass, we will no longer have to worry about lack of supplies, and even the soldiers' weapons and military tents may receive additional protection!" Volenus whispered excitedly, similar to the steward of the supply camp. Naturally, he hopes that his team will be full of food and supplies.

"What's the proposal?" Capito, who had sharp ears, asked immediately.

Maximus really didn't want to spread the word before the matter was decided, and was thinking about how to deal with it, when he saw Hagux riding on horseback in front of him. He immediately asked loudly: "Hagux, what's the enemy situation?"

"Chief, no enemy troops were found around the camp, but a few mounted spies came from Naples."

"It seems that the Neapolitans have already learned about the departure of our main force, and want to investigate the reality of the camp. With their timid character, they will not send troops until they have received news of our defeat." Frontinus Said softly.

Maximus was stationed in the camp this time, but he was not as nervous as when he led his team to camp at a farm two days ago, away from the main force. Perhaps because he had experience, or perhaps because his strength in his hands had been enhanced, he seemed relatively calm. After thinking about it, he said: "In that case, our three centurions don't have to wait here. Let them conduct armed march training around the camp to make the momentum bigger."

(End of this chapter)