Rome Must Fall

Maximus looked at him, raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and said calmly: "As you just said, the number of people on Spartacus's side is almost over 100,000, and food and supplies are tight. I am so far away. They are still in conflict with that Cleonis. If we get closer, we will have to fight every day."

Okmar was speechless for a moment, then laughed dryly: "You are right."

Having been informed by the messenger, Pheasalus led his generals early to stand outside the camp gate to greet him.

Although Maximus's army is relatively strict in recruiting soldiers, its growth rate is still not slow. It has now reached 15,000 people, and including non-combatants, it exceeds 20,000 people.

In order to make it easier to command operations, Maximus organized the army into two legions and one bodyguard at the end of last month. The organization of the legion was very similar to that of the Roman legion, with 6 brigades totaling 6,000 people. The bodyguard was temporarily suspended. It has jurisdiction over three brigades. Based on their senior experience in Maximus's army, Pheasalus and Toreligo served as commanders of the first and second legions respectively, while Carminus and Aulus served as captains and deputy captains of the Guards.

At this moment, Pheasalus strode forward and gave a powerful military salute: "Chief Maximus, the commander of the first legion, Pheasalus, salutes you!"

After Maximus returned the salute, he smiled and said: "Pheasalus, you led the first regiment and did a good job here. The people of Bari even offered to increase the offerings to us."

"That's all the credit of the brothers, and the guys from the south are too inexperienced." After nearly a year of hard work, Pheasalus, who was born as a sailor, now has a bit of the temperament of a general, although in his heart A little proud, but still relatively modest.

"It seems that you are doing well here." Maximus looked at Pheasalus and said with a half-smile: "Why don't you continue to station here with the First Legion next month?"

"That won't work. It's the Second Legion's turn to come here next month!" Pheasalus immediately protested loudly: "Besides training and patrolling, there is nothing else to do here. Brothers have long wanted to go back to Sasha. Lapia.”

Maximus laughed, crossed Pheasalus, walked to the first captain of the First Legion, and asked with a smile: Rufus, your group no longer needs to garrison the walls of Sarapia. How does it feel? "

"The people from the south are too weak." Rufus said concisely.

"Speaking of which, they are just herdsmen who have just taken up arms. When the Romans come, they will be your test." Maximus said seriously.

"Don't worry, leader, our first group will not be timid when encountering the Romans. We will definitely line up and be the first to rush forward to fight them." Rufus also said seriously.

Maximus patted him on the shoulder to encourage him, and then walked towards the next captain with a smile on his face...

Oakmar stood aside, quietly watching the scene of Maximus meeting his men. Unlike Spartacus's team, where everyone lived in harmony regardless of size, Maximus even These team officers were also talking and laughing, but the awe and obedience they showed in their actions made Okmar see some shadows of the Roman army, which surprised him...

"Okmal, long time no see." Phesalus' words interrupted Okmar's contemplation.

Oakmar looked at this young man who was once very inconspicuous among the gladiators and responded: "It's been a long time since I last saw you. In the blink of an eye, you became the commander of the legion."

Pheasalus straightened his chest, held his feathered helmet with his right hand, and said humbly: "That can't be compared to you. You are now the only cavalry captain in our free Italian team."

Oakmar laughed and said self-deprecatingly: "It is said to be a cavalry brigade, but more than half of the people do not have armor and shields, and the equipment they have is not even comparable to the cavalry of the Gallic tribe where I used to be. Although there are more people, But more like a group of horse herders.”

"My brothers are in the same situation as you. Don't worry. They will be fully equipped in the future." Fesalus comforted him while taking a few steps closer: "I heard that Chief Enomui He died in battle, is this true?"

Oakmar said seriously: "This is true. I was ordered to invite Chief Maximus to Uria this time mainly to discuss this matter."

Pheasalus was not surprised to receive confirmation from Oakmar. This military camp was the closest to Spartacus's main force, and the news had already come from there. He said solemnly: "Your Some people on the border are... very unfriendly to us. How can we ensure safety when our leader goes to Uriah?"

This is not the consequence of you leading your men to repel Cleonis... Oakmar cursed in his heart, but his expression became more serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Spartacus will never allow it." This happens!"

…………………………………………………………………………

After Maximus entered the military camp, he visited the soldiers of the First Legion from tent to tent, and also informed the kitchen to slaughter sheep and chickens. The dinner was extremely sumptuous, and the military camp was full of laughter and laughter.

Early on the morning of the second day, Maximus led his troops out of the military camp. Pheasalus was worried about his safety and proposed to send another large group to protect him, but he refused.

The team marched along the road. After leaving the control area of ​​the First Army, the scene in front of them began to become different. Although it was still a green field, during this busy farming season, there were no farmers working in the fields and weeds in the wheat fields. It is growing like crazy, and from time to time you can see corpses lying down under the cover of vegetation, with wild dogs and small animals gnawing among them. Occasionally, you can see a piece of dead black in the green, which is a burned village...

Maximus's heart became heavy, especially when he saw the bodies of women and children.

As we continue to travel south, the vibrant green gradually disappears, trees are cut down, and weeds are uprooted. They are replaced by simple shacks and tents, here and there, without fences or walls, in a mess. Set up in the field, people in strange clothes are everywhere. Some are cooking, some are playing, some are training, some are fighting, and some are torturing the prisoners... Everywhere you see it is noisy, and occasionally there are sounds. A woman's shrill cry for help came from a certain tent.

Maximus frowned even more.

When these people saw that there were people coming on the road that had been cut off from business travel, they all focused their attention on Maximus' team. However, the flag of Free Italy and the majestic soldiers in the team discouraged most people. Although some people had the idea of ​​​​plundering, there were also some people who were unwilling to stop in front and ask for supplies.

At this time, Oakmar jumped out, showed his identity, and angrily scolded them for their rudeness.

Most of these people who had just joined Free Italy had seen the cavalry captain beside Spartacus in Urria. They were so frightened by Spartacus's reputation that they all obediently admitted their mistakes and gave way.

Maximus did not encounter any big trouble, and the team entered the Calabria region relatively smoothly.

The terrain of Calabria is not as flat as Apulia. It is a hilly area with few rivers but very thick soil. It is a famous livestock and fruit tree planting area in Italy.

Maximus's team has moved onto the Appia Avenue. The farther south they see the rebel camps, the denser and more standardized they are.

After crossing the hills and entering the lowlands, Maximus saw the big city-Tarantum standing in the blue "8"-shaped bay.

There is a relatively large rebel camp in the fields not far outside Tarantum, which is heavily fortified. According to Okmar, it was built by Fitodoras, a rebel leader from Tarantum, and most of his soldiers were poor people from Tarantum.

Maximus did not have time to carefully observe this famous city built by virgin sons from Sparta (children born in Sparta during the Spartan warriors' expedition to Mercia were called "virgin sons"), and the team Follow the Via Appia, bypassing Tarentum and turning southeast.

Towards dusk, we finally arrived at Uria, where Spartacus's army was stationed.

I saw a small city standing on the flat and open fields and beside the straight and solid road. Camps were clustered one after another in the center. It was like a huge market, bustling with people and extremely lively.

After receiving the news, Spartacus had already led a group of people out of the city to greet him.

Maximus quickly dismounted, walked forward quickly, and said loudly: "Chief Spartacus, I'm really sorry, I'm late!"

"Maximus, you are not late, they have just arrived." Spartacus said in a kind tone.

Maximus' eyes turned to Hamilka beside him, and he said with concern: "Teacher, you are much thinner than when we parted ways in Benevento!"

"There are too many things to worry about now, why don't you lose weight?" Hamilcar complained a few times, then looked at the team behind him and said: "The place for you to rest has been prepared, it is right next to it. For our camp, we just need to set up the tent.”

Maximus heard the meaning of Hamilcar's words. With the protection of Spartacus's army nearby, some unnecessary conflicts can naturally be avoided. He said gratefully: "It's really troublesome for you, teacher!"

Hamilka quickly ordered his men to lead Maximus' team to the camp, and Spartacus also called Maximus to go into the city. There were some important things to discuss as soon as possible.

When the rebel soldiers who were watching saw that the arriving team had left, their voices suddenly became louder.

"Which team of ours is this? Their leader looks very young!"

"That's the army of Chief Maximus. Despite his young age, he was one of the first gladiators to launch a rebellion."

"Is he Maximus?! The traitor who sent troops to attack our own people in order to protect the hateful rich man!"

"Hey, new guy, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand the situation! Maximus is a good leader. He created a medical team so that we can receive good care even when we are injured, and he has been in our most critical situations several times. "

"Maximus is indeed very powerful, but he is also very selfish. He likes to keep all the materials he obtains in his own hands and not share them with other teams. When he was in Pompeii..."

…

On the road outside Uriah, some rebel soldiers had a quarrel because of Maximus, and in a big room inside Uriah, Spartacus, Hamilcar, and Altonix The leaders of the rebel army were sitting around a large wooden table. However, they did not start discussing important matters. Instead, they had dinner first. After all, Maximus' arrival happened to be at the dinner time. This was also to save money. time.

A bowl of wheat porridge, a piece of bread and two apples, that's all for dinner. Isn't this a bit too simple for the leaders who gathered together for the first time after the division of troops in Campania? It seems that the military ration reserves here are indeed not too optimistic as Oakmar said... Maximus thought to himself.

He reached out to grab the bread and took a big bite, while looking at the other people in the room:

Spartacus ate his meal leisurely, and he always gave people a gentle and confident feeling;

Hamilcar eats in a hurry, he is a tired man;

Altonix was whispering something to Hamilka while eating, his face was a little tired, it seemed that he was also working hard during this time;

Cross did not eat immediately, but looked at the food in front of him with a look of disgust. He had gained some weight. It seemed that he had lived a good life in the Tuli Plains these days;

When his eyes glanced at Attumus, they happened to meet his eyes. He smiled and nodded. Whether it was on the way south or after the occupation of Canossa, the two people had always had friendly cooperation, and he also learned from Mark. Some of the practices of Sims' army did not completely drain the areas under his control, so he was quite friendly to Maximus;

There is an empty seat next to Attumus, which should be the seat of Enomui. Spartacus seems to want to remind everyone by doing this;

Artemidonus was once a shepherd from Samonia. He later led a large group of poor mountain people from Samonia over the mountains to Campania, where he joined the rebel army and became a leader. He made a lot of efforts to successfully cross the Samnite Mountains, but Maximus did not have much interaction with him;

Tholmaas's experience was similar to that of Artemidonus, but he came from the Lucanian mountains.

The other three were strangers to Maximus. Fortunately, Spartacus had introduced them before: Fitodorus was once a refugee from Tarantum. When Spartacus' army just left, When he was in the Lucania Mountains, he took the initiative to defect to Calabria and actively encouraged the poor people in Calabria to join the army, which provided great help for Spartacus's army to quickly establish a foothold here;