Rome Must Fall

Maximus nodded and turned to look at the team: the soldiers were all wearing loose armor, carrying broad square shields on their backs, with their left hands holding sticks made of branches, and their right hands holding the tail of the falka stick. At the end, the fulka stick was placed on the right shoulder, and the bulging luggage was carried on the crossbar at the end. In addition to their daily utensils, there were also grain bags containing wheat. The helmet was hung on the left shoulder, and their bundles were Their coats were torn to pieces by branches and thorns, and the leather sandals under their feet were scratched by the rugged rocks. Their hair was disheveled, their skin was dark, and they looked haggard... Some people still had knots wrapped around their heads, arms, or legs. Bloody linen.

This was not so much an army as a team of beggars... This made Maximus feel very heartbroken, so he ordered: "The army stopped advancing and found a flatter place to camp on the spot."

This order aroused cheers from the whole team. They quickly found a place with more river beaches. Everyone did not start setting up camp immediately. Instead, they went into the river in batches to bathe. Even the horses and livestock were unloaded. The supplies they carried were moved to the river for drinking water and washing.

The elder of the Aldi tribe just now rushed back to his village and asked the village priest to bring some herbs to treat the wounded who were bitten by snakes and insects...

There was laughter and laughter along the river bank, and the depression of marching in the past few days was washed away.

In the following days, Maximus's army tried its best to march along the south bank of the Kupa River. In fact, the road was still relatively difficult to walk. The rugged hills, overly dense woodlands, and sudden towering peaks forced the army to take detours. .

However, the difference from before is that the places they pass are no longer deserted. On the contrary, fishermen fishing by the river, hunters hunting in the woods, herdsmen herding sheep on the hills, and farmers farming on the plains can be seen from time to time. The arriving Maximus army was on guard, but because they saw the tribal elders in the team, they did not run away in panic.

In addition, Maximus' army also passed through several Ardei villages, which were either built on low hills or on the edge of woodlands.

Maximus found that none of these villages had walls, and most of them were simple thatched houses, spread out without planning according to the mountains. However, the Aldi people cherish the flat land very much, and every small piece of flat land around the village has been reclaimed by them into farmland.

Some people in the Ardei envoys kept leaving the team and returning to their villages, but no one took the initiative to invite Chief Maximus to lead his team to camp near the village. Apparently, he was still worried that such a large army would disrupt the order of his village. .

Maximus's army began to march southeast. After trekking on the trails in the mountains and forests for several days, they saw another relatively large river.

The Dobra River is its name. According to Kalsi Pampas, this river is a tributary of the Kupa River and will merge into it more than ten miles northwest of Valido.

Maximus' army crossed the river from the shallow water and continued to march southeast. A few days later, they once again saw a relatively large river across the front.

This is the Mreznica River.

According to Kalsi Pampas, the Mrezhnica River is just a tributary of the Korana River, another river passing through Vardosi, but in Maximus's eyes, the two banks of this river are better than the Kupa that passed through it before. The river is much flatter and broader. Standing on a high ground and looking towards the upper reaches of the river in the southwest, acres of houses and farmland are densely dotted on both sides, with villages one after another...

At this time, Cleobrotus also had to say goodbye, because he was going to personally report the alliance and land purchase to the chief of Aldiyi, and the main stronghold where the chief was located was about ten miles to the southwest, Mu East bank of the Ryznica River.

The Aldiyi tribe has only one village, which is the settlement where the big leader is located. Whenever the population in Dazhai became too large, the nobles in the village would lead some tribesmen to establish villages elsewhere. Once the village develops well, the noble can become a candidate for tribal elders.

The great leader of the Aldiyi tribe is mainly hereditary, and there are fifty tribal elders on a permanent basis. Nobles from more than 200 villages originally participated in the election every three years, but now the more than 200 villages have been reduced to less than 60...

Maximus learned all this while chatting with Carlsipempas on the road. Now there are only two messengers left in the team, one is Carlsipempas and the other is Budokabaris.

The army marched eastward along the north bank of the Mreznica River. After only one day's march, they arrived at the village of Budokabaris.

The peaks on both sides of the Mrezhnica River here face each other, and the river banks suddenly narrow.

This village is somewhat special. Its ethnic groups live on both sides of the strait, surrounded by wooden walls. There are watchtowers inside the walls. The villages on both sides of the strait are connected by pontoons. Compared with other Ardei villages, it is more like a military fortress.

Budokaribas complained to Maximus. He said that his village was originally in Validosi, where the land was rich and the water was abundant. Therefore, it had a large population and was a very powerful village among the Ardei tribe. , but due to the numerous casualties caused by fighting with the Pannoni over the years, they had to retreat here. They are still harassed by the Pannoni from time to time, and the life of the people has become very difficult...

Maximus did not respond to this, and the arrival of his army was the best comfort for him.

If the army wants to continue eastward, it has to pass through the village of Budokariba. Although the soldiers have strictly adhered to military orders and behaved well after entering the territory of the Aldiyi tribe, Budokariba who followed the team Si also saw it with his own eyes, but he still seemed nervous at this time. After all, this was the first time that Maximus' army directly entered the Ardei village. If an accident occurred and tens of thousands of people made a fuss in the village, it would be A great disaster.

To this end, Maximus once again assured Budokaribas. Budokaribas first entered the village to communicate with the people. Maximus strictly ordered the heads of departments outside the stockade to control their men to ensure that no accidents occurred after entering the stockade.

An hour later, the gate of the village was opened, and Maximus' troops entered in an orderly manner. Everyone tried to remain silent as much as possible.

Although Budokabaris had warned the people in advance, some people still walked out of their houses out of curiosity and came to the main road in the village to watch.

This was the first time that Maximus's army had close contact with the Ardi people in the village. In their eyes, the Ardi soldiers standing by the roadside and maintaining order were armed with simple wooden shields and spears, and were wearing company uniforms. They were wearing single clothes, disheveled hair, and no armor, but their strong bodies, sharp eyes, and intimidating momentum all showed their toughness; on the contrary, the Ardiyi people who were watching were mostly women, and they were thin. , the clothes are in tatters, the feet are bare, but the posture is quite charming...

It seems that as Kalsi Pampas said, the Aldiyi tribe has been involved in frequent battles in recent years, resulting in countless casualties, so there are many boys and girls. This is especially obvious in the village of Budokaribas, which is on the front line.

In the eyes of the Aldi people: the soldiers of this huge army that entered the village were all strong, walked with their heads high and their chests high, and they were very powerful. They were actually wearing armor, with curved red With a square shield, a delicate dagger on his waist, and a bulging luggage on his back, he looked both heroic and wealthy at the same time;

The women in the team all have strong bodies and rosy complexions. They walk with their heads held high and their chests held high. Their momentum is no weaker than that of the men. The Aldi soldiers on the roadside are involuntarily attracted to their plump breasts.

Maximus's attention was mainly focused on other places: the houses in the village were dense and messy, obviously not well planned. These houses were all made of wood, and the angle between the roofs was very small, and the eaves were only a few meters from the ground. It is about 1.5 meters tall. The top is covered with thick wheat straw and thatch, and a layer of mud is also applied on it. The same is true outside the wooden wall. The house is not large in size and can probably accommodate two or three people... I don't know whether it is because of the limitations of the Aldi people's construction capabilities or because such a house is adapted to the environment and climate here. I will have to seriously ask the locals for advice later.

I didn’t see the main house of the leader of Budokaribas, nor the square used for village meetings and training. I heard that there was a small dock built by the river, but it was obviously a little far away from this road, and I didn’t see it either. .

Just a quick glance, Maximus's army did not stop in the village, went straight through the east gate of the village, walked another half a mile, and finally arrived at the army's temporary settlement.

Maximus discussed this temporary settlement with Budokaribas on the way, because Varidosi is a swamp that has been abandoned for several years. It will take time to build a settlement, but the Pannoni may come at any time. Therefore, it is necessary to have a residence in a relatively safe rear area to ensure the rest of personnel and the storage of supplies.

"This is a wheat field cultivated by the people of our village, but in order to allow you to settle down as soon as possible, we have to give up temporarily." Budokaribas said sadly.

"Elder Budokaribas, I will keep the kindness of your village in mind, and I will definitely repay it in the future!" Maximus put on a grateful expression, but actually he was thinking in his heart: Didn't you old guy say that before? Are your villages still being harassed by the Pannonians? Obviously, the land to the east is the focus of the attack, as evidenced by the sparse wheat straw in the farmland. But now that my army is stationed here, it has become a shield in front of your village, so that you can farm behind with peace of mind. You should thank us!

Maximus only cursed in his heart, and of course he would not say such words that undermined unity.

Since it was already early September, the wheat in the fields had already been harvested by the Ardeis, and there was no need for the soldiers to do extra work. So Maximus gave an order, and the whole army immediately got into the rush of building camps.

"Chief Maximus, do you want me to take you to see the land of Varidosi first?" Kadosi Pampas asked.

"That's great!" Maximus originally wanted to make such a request.

Maximus asked Frontinus to supervise the soldiers building the camp, and called Quintus and Vorenus.

Budokabaris heard that they were going to see Validosi and followed them.

The five people rode forward and soon saw a swamp ahead.

"This is not Varidosi, but the confluence of the Mreznica and Korana rivers. Of course, a swamp was formed due to the flooding of the rivers." Budokaribas explained.

The group of people went west around the swamp and rode along the west bank of the Korana River. It didn't take long before they arrived at Varidosi.

Under the guidance of Budokaribas, Maximus and others climbed up the hill to the west of Varidosi. Standing on a high point and looking eastward, they saw the Kupa River winding from north to south. The Korana River meanders from south to north, like two winding green silk ribbons, and is finally tied not far below the mountain, turning into a wider river slowly flowing eastward.

Where these two rivers converge is a vast swamp, which is shimmering in the midday sun. Clusters of aquatic plants and reeds grow lushly. When the river wind blows, they undulate like waves. Groups of herons are either hovering in the air, scattered on the water, or singing loudly. From time to time, circular ripples can be seen on the water. Soon, a heron rushes down, quickly picks up a struggling big fish, and It attracts other herons to compete for it...what a beautiful picture of wetland ecology.

Although the scenery is beautiful, in Maximus's heart at this moment, he only hopes to eliminate the swamp as soon as possible and convert it into farmland for the soldiers to cultivate.

Seeing that Maximus was fascinated, Budokaribas couldn't help but said: "Chief Maximus, this Varidosi is not bad! Look how big and flat this land is! If it weren't for ——”

Maximus interrupted him and said with a dissatisfied look on his face: "Elder Budokaribas, I remember you once told me that there is a vast and fertile plain east of Varidosi, but what I see now But it’s a dense forest!”

"Uh, this..." Budokaribas stammered and explained: "Over there...although there are many trees, they are indeed flat land, without hills! And those dense forests are also barriers, allowing Pannuo to The Nigerians cannot attack directly and must take a detour..."

Maximus frowned and listened without responding.

Quintus next to him suddenly said: "Chief, I think our residence can be built here. These mountains are relatively flat and very close to Valdosi."

"That's not possible!" Budokalibas shouted in desperation, attracting everyone's attention to focus on him. He quickly explained: "You don't know that this place is too close to the swamp, and there are too many mosquitoes at night. There’s no way to sleep. And there’s not enough land here to grow grain, and you’ll be hungry by then!”