Rome Must Fall

"We all come from a miserable background and are not afraid of mosquito bites. Besides, you can burn certain herbs outside the house to drive away mosquitoes." Volenus also reacted to Quintus's eyes and provided evidence for Quintus' statement. Support: "It doesn't matter that these are mountains. I think the soil on the mountains is quite thick. We have some Samnite soldiers in our team. They are good at cultivating farmland in the mountains."

Budokaribas was speechless for a moment and began racking his brains to think of how to persuade him next.

Maximus glanced at him and understood why the other party would do this, because according to the terrain he had observed before, there were two swamps to the east of Budokaribas Village as a barrier, but he was still protected by Panno The attack by the Ni was most likely caused by the Pannoni coming from the gap between the two swamps, and across the river from this gap was the hilly area he mentioned. If Maximus' army established a settlement there, , which completely blocked the possibility of the Panluoli people attacking the Aldi tribe, but if the stronghold of Maximus's army was built here, there would still be no obstacle to the Pannoni's route to harass the Aldi tribe.

"Let's go, let's go to the hills over there." Maximus's words made Budokaribas's eyes light up again.

"I wonder if we can cross the river?" Maximus asked again.

"I can get there, I can get there." Budokaribas said hurriedly: "Although the Korana River is still relatively wide, there is less water in autumn. You can easily wade across the river in several places, let alone Riding across the river."

This is also the most troublesome place for Budokaribas. The intrusion of the Pannoni will intensify in autumn and winter.

…………………………………………………………………………

While Maximus and his party were crossing the river on horseback, Cleobrotus was in the stronghold of Ardei, briefly reporting his outing experience to the chief leader Acoupagos.

After listening, Akupagos only asked: "What do you think of that young leader?"

Cleobrotus said without hesitation: "I think he looks a bit like Alexander!"

"Who?!" Akupagos' eyes widened.

"The former king of Macedonia, the Alexander who conquered Persia!" Cleobrotus said with a serious face: "Like Alexander, he showed a vision and ambition far beyond those of us ordinary people when he was young. ! However, his talent is only reflected in language and thought, we have to see his future actions. "

Akupagos was silent for a moment and then asked: "Is this the main reason why you agreed to let him buy the land and form an alliance with him?"

"Big Chief, you gave me the right to be independent before leaving." Cleobrotus reminded softly: "I feel that if this young chief can realize what he said, even if he only implements Half of it, we Aldee will not only be able to escape the predicament, but also achieve greater gains!”

The Illyrians have special feelings for Alexander the Great. Although the Kingdom of Macedonia conquered Illyria and forced the Illyrians to join the army, 3,000 Illyrian light infantry followed Alexander the Great throughout the Eastern Expedition. In the process, he made countless achievements and won brilliant honors and countless wealth. A few of them eventually returned to Illyria and spread the word of their experiences, which were passed on to future generations.

After Alexander's death, Illyria finally established an independent country, but it still formed an alliance with the Kingdom of Macedonia, with Macedonia as the main force, until it was defeated by Rome... Nowadays, the tribes of Illyria are in a state of crisis, but it makes people miss the glory of the heroes even more. …

Akupagos looked solemn and sighed: "Sometimes ambition is like fire, but it will burn ourselves."

"Didn't the big leader say it before? It doesn't matter if something goes wrong. Anyway, it's just to let Aldie die one day earlier."

Cleobrotus' words made Akupagos smile helplessly: "Since you value this young leader so much, it seems that I have to go and see him."

…………………………………………………………………………

Maximus crossed the Korana River, and the hills were not far away on the east bank.

Maximus rode up a low hill and continued to gaze eastward: After the two rivers merged, the Kupa River flowed eastward, and there were contiguous broad flatlands on both sides of the river extending eastward, but this was by no means the result. It was formed naturally because there was a village on the river bank eight or nine miles away from him.

When Budokalibas told Maximus "that is the village of the Pannoni", he was surprised. He did not expect that the Pannoni lived so close to Varidosi!

Under his questioning, Budokaribas had to tell him an even more astonishing fact: from this Pannoni village to the east along the river, the Pannoni people established several settlements along the Kupa River. There is a village almost every 10 miles.

Just when Maximus and the others were peeking at the Pannoni village, the Pannoni people in the village also discovered them and immediately sent a group of soldiers towards the hills.

Maximus and his party had no choice but to return to the west bank of the Korana River, and once again inspected Varidosi before returning to the temporary stronghold.

Back at the camp, Maximus was told by his men: "The chief of the Ardei tribe is here."

Maximus hurried over.

"Oh, Chief, I didn't know you were coming. I just followed Elder Budokaribas to see the land in Validosi. I'm really sorry for keeping you waiting for so long!"

"I should be the one to say sorry. You came all the way and I, as the master, didn't come to greet you in time. Now you come here without informing me in advance. Please forgive me."

"No, no, Chief, you have a lot of things to do, and it's really an honor for us to come here in person! It's just that we have just arrived, so I'm afraid the reception is not attentive enough!"

"There's no need for any of this. I just came to take a look and talk to you."

…

The two of them were smiling, chatting and looking at each other.

In Akupagos' view: Maximus is indeed very young, but to be able to command a team of tens of thousands at such a young age, it goes without saying that he is capable! Moreover, Cleobrotus said that all his men were convinced of him, which was simply an anomaly! Listening to his words, he sounded calm and smooth, exactly like the tone of a middle-aged and elderly man who was very wealthy. His appearance and performance were so different. Acoupagos had never seen such a strange young man in his life, and he was even more curious. very.

In the eyes of Maximus: The great leader of the Ardei tribe has an old face, white hair, stooped figure, and a haggard look. He seems to be unable to stand alone, and is supported by his entourage. He looks like he is about to be buried, but His eyes are extremely sharp, and no one dares to look down upon him.

"Chief Maximus. What do you think of Waldosi?" After the greetings, Akupagos asked directly.

"There is a swamp there, and it fully deserves the name Varidosi (Validosi, which means swamp in Illyrian)." Maximus shrugged helplessly: "And, to the east of it, The Pannoni strongholds are one after another, so close to Varidosi!”

Akupagos pointed at the soldiers who were busy in the camp and said with envy: "I came here before and watched for a long time. You just arrived here today and you were able to build the camp like this in a short period of time. , It has surpassed many of our villages! With such strong construction capabilities, it should not be a problem to transform Varidosi. Moreover, if there is no threat from the Pannoni, we will not give up on Varidosi. Naturally, we will not give up. Maybe I’ll sell you this good land.”

Akupagos spoke so straightforwardly that Maximus had to nod his head and said: "What the big leader said makes sense. I was being harsh."

Akupagos smiled meaningfully and said: "I heard that, Chief Maximus, you have set a great goal to expel the Pannonians. Why did you shrink back when you saw them with your own eyes?"

Maximus was not provoked by the opponent, and said calmly: "Defeating the Pannonians is indeed our long-term goal, but we have just arrived here, everyone is very tired and urgently needs to rest, and it has been nearly a month. Crossing the mountains has consumed too much of our supplies, and the remaining food in the team may not be enough to sustain us for another month or two, so we are temporarily avoiding war with the Pannonians based on this consideration. "

"No wonder Chief Maximus is so young and can command such a huge army. He is really thoughtful." Akupagos praised a few words and then said: "You and I have formed an alliance. , since our allies are in difficulty, of course we should provide help.

However, our Aldiyi tribe has encountered frequent wars in recent years, and has been relatively short of supplies. Fortunately, the autumn harvest has just happened, and there is still enough food... I think in the covenant, didn't we both agree to build a market? We will try our best to transport the supplies and food you need to the market, and you will pay for them. If you don’t have enough money, it doesn’t matter. You owe it first and we’ll talk about it later... What do you think? "

"If I can get the strong support of the Ardei tribe, then I will be relieved!" Maximus looked happy, and then he saw Budokaribas, came closer to Akupagos, and whispered After a few words, the big leader asked calmly: "Is Chief Maximus planning to build his residence on the mountain behind Validosi?"

"No." Maximus said seriously: "On the way back, after repeated consideration, I still felt that it would be better to settle on the hills on the east bank of the Korana River, which is more suitable for our development."

"Oh..." Akupagos nodded.

The two looked at each other tacitly, and Maximus asked: "Can the chief tell me about the situation of the Pannoni people?"

"If we talk about the Pannonians, this is a long story. Do you have time to listen slowly?" Akupagos asked.

"Yes." Maximus said without hesitation, sat down on the grass, and then patted the side with his hand.

Akupagos was stunned for a moment. When the attendant was about to speak, he waved to stop him and let him help him sit down slowly. After thinking for a while, he said: "This Pannoni is actually one of our Illyrians." Asian—"

"Ah, the Pannonians are also Illyrians?!" Maximus was surprised.

"Of course, they look similar to us, and they speak similar words to us. Where do you think they are from if they are not Illyrians? It's just that now, they are slightly different -"

"What's the difference?" Maximus was intrigued by his words and asked.

Akupagos glared: "Do you still want to listen to me?!"

"Say it! Say it!"

"I listened to my fathers, and they listened to their fathers..." Archupagos recalled as he said: "The chiefs of the Illyrians and the chiefs of the Pannoni They were originally brothers, but one leader chose to lead his people north to settle in the Great River Plain, while the other leader chose to lead his people to stay in the mountains. However, the relationship between the two parties has always been very good, and they often help each other...

At that time, the Great River Plain was full of swamps and dense forests. The Pannoni people suffered a lot, but they eventually developed, their population gradually increased, and their territory occupied an increasingly large area... However, one day, barbarians from the north suddenly invaded - —”

When Maximus heard this, he couldn't help but laugh: The Romans called you barbarians, and you call other races barbarians. This is really...

“These barbarians were Celts (the Romans liked to call them Gauls, and the Greeks called them Celts), they were very ferocious and had sharp weapons, and the Pannonians were defeated, They were forced to retreat to the south of the Great River Plain, but the Celts did not let them go. There was a Celtic tribe called Skodisci. They crossed the great river and continued southward. In the end, the Pannoni had to. Surrender to them -" At this point, Akupagos saw that Maxim was hesitant to speak, so he said, "You can ask if you want."

"When did this all happen?"

"Hundreds of years ago? A hundred years ago? Or a few decades ago?...My fathers did not tell me the detailed time. Of course, we didn't care too much because the Skodisci did not continue to go south to fight with us. ." Akupagos shrugged with an indifferent expression.

Afterwards, he sneered: "It is said that the Pannoni people were very miserable at that time. They had to hand over most of the land output to the Skodisqi people every year, and they also had to transfer most of the men in the tribe to work for the Skodisci. Every time the Disqi people fought, they were sent to lead the battle. They suffered heavy casualties but received no rewards..."