Rome Must Fall

Akupagos continued: "The Skodisci envoys often visit various Pannoni tribes. The Pannoni leaders are like dogs, desperately trying to please them, otherwise the envoys will If they didn't do what they wanted, they would be punished. At that time, Pannoni people often fled to our tribe, and we treated them very warmly, like brothers we hadn't seen for a long time. The tribe has seen several Pannoni people who escaped from the north..."

He sighed deeply and said faintly: "Maybe it's because the Skodisci became the masters and were served too well by the Pannoni for too long. They began to lose their former bravery. Gradually, Unable to maintain control over the Pannoni, more than ten years ago, for unknown reasons, the Skodischis fought a battle with the Romans. As a result, the Scodischis were defeated and reportedly died. Many Skordisqi warriors—"

Quintus, who had been standing behind Maximus and listening quietly, couldn't help but ask: "Excuse me, great leader, who is the commander of the Roman army fighting against the Scotians?"

Akupagos gave him a dissatisfied look, but said, "I'm not sure. I heard people say it's called... Xi... Xifu... Anyway, it's a weird name."

"It should be Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, the great-grandson of the great Carthaginian conqueror Scipio." Quintus lowered his head to Maxim, who was looking at him. Si explained: "He once served as a consul and also served as the governor of the province of North Italy. When he was the governor of the province of North Italy more than ten years ago, it was said that he fought a victorious battle with the Gauls, but the news When it reached Rome, it didn’t attract much attention from the Romans. I think the victory he fought may have been the battle the big leader was talking about.”

"Look, a victory that the Romans didn't care about brought disaster to us Ardei!" Acoupagos sneered, but his eyes looked straight at Quintus: "You are Roman?"

"I was, but now I am a soldier under Maximus," Quintus said calmly.

"Quintus had a deep hatred for the Romans. He had helped me defeat the Roman army several times, and he had also personally killed some Romans." Maximus explained to him beside him.

Akupagos withdrew his gaze and looked into the distance again: "The Skodisci were defeated and their strength was greatly reduced. The Pannoni took the opportunity to launch a resistance, thus completely destroying the Skodisci. Knocked to the ground, he turned over and became the master.

However, after they became masters, they obviously forgot about the selfless help we Illyrians had provided them in the past, and instead wanted to impose the shame they had suffered on us, so they began to invade our land..."

Akupagos sighed again: "Although the Pannoni used to live like dogs, they did learn a lot from the Skodisci. They had sharp swords and strong The armor will also drive the Scodisqi to charge, and more importantly, their numbers... No matter how brave our warriors are, they will never be able to defeat them!"

"You said the Pannoni tribe has a large number of people. How many people do they have?" Maximus asked with concern.

Akupagos thought for a while and said: "I heard that the Pannoni people today are mainly divided into Brochi, Andizetti, Ditione, Peruste, Maziyi, Daisi The seven large tribes of Tiatai and Segestica, these large tribes also have many small tribes under their jurisdiction, which is somewhat similar to the tribal system of our Illyrians.

But the difference is...perhaps because they learned lessons from being enslaved by the Skodisci for a long time in the past, they became more united and formed a Pannoni tribal alliance. They discussed matters with each other and Help each other when there are difficulties... In this regard, our Illyrian tribes are far behind, and they are still in constant conflict with each other. No wonder they can't defeat them! "

Akupagos had a sullen face and said in a hateful voice, obviously he had learned a painful lesson before.

He turned to look at Maximus and said in a deep voice: "The Pannoni once claimed that they had an army of 100,000 and could defeat any surrounding tribes!"

"100,000 troops?!" Maximus was surprised.

"This number may be true, because about eighty or ninety miles east from Varidosi is the Sava River, where there is a large tribe of Pannoni-Segostika. It was there a few years ago. The tribes under my jurisdiction invaded my tribal territory along the Kupa River. I once led the army to the east of Varidosi and had a big battle with the Segestica army. At that time, the number of their warriors exceeded 20,000. , the result is that I... was defeated..." Akupagos twitched the corners of his mouth and squeezed out this last sentence from between his teeth.

For a moment, Maximus didn't know what kind of comforting words to say.

"If it weren't for this, you wouldn't be here." Acoupagos smiled as if he was laughing at himself, but his smile was a bit bitter: "But don't worry, you, the Pannoni look very powerful. But they also have many enemies.

To the south is our Ardei tribe, which is now a mortal enemy of us; to the north are the Celts. It is said that the Pannoni tribe to the north is also expanding northward, so it also has conflicts with the Celts there. There was a conflict; the east side of it is said to be the Dacians. The distance there is too far, so I don't know the situation clearly, but according to the current practice of the Pannoni, I'm afraid it won't be much better;

To the east of it...well, that is, to the east of the Segostika tribe are the Yabods and the Noriki. These two Celtic tribes mostly live in the mountains...The Noriki It's okay, but the Yabods are used to looting, and the Pannoni have to be careful...

Therefore, even if the Pannoni have an army of 100,000, it is impossible for them all to gather against you. Otherwise, our Illyrian tribes would have fled further south. "

Maximus nodded thoughtfully.

"How are you? Are you confident that you can defeat the Pannonians? Or are you frightened by what I just said?" Akupagos leaned to the right, with a slightly joking look on his face. Looking at Maximus.

Maximus smiled calmly: "I don't like to say nice words. Actions speak louder than words. You will know this in the future, big boss."

Akupagos nodded in understanding: "In that case, I will wait for your good news."

The first meeting between the two was friendly and they reached some consensus.

After Akupagos left, Maximus also threw himself into the craze of building the camp.

The army started building the camp early, and coupled with everyone's enthusiasm for building a new home, by the time the sun set in the west, the camp had begun to take shape.

Akonis led her men to prepare a sumptuous dinner. After the rebel soldiers had eaten and drank enough, they fell asleep to the gentle singing of the river in the night...

At this time, in addition to the torches stuck on the surrounding earthen walls to facilitate patrols by sentries, only the central tent was brightly lit with candles.

Maximus summoned the heads of various departments: military officer Frontilus, staff officer Quintus, military judge Sidonius, commander of the first army Phisalus, commander of the second army Toreligo , Carmenus, commander of the third legion, Aulus, deputy commander, Pecot, captain of the guard, and Hagocus, captain of the cavalry, these are the leaders of the army;

The people in other departments include Administrator Volenus, Warehouse Supervisor Capito, Deputy Superintendent Cornelius, Kitchen Supervisor Aconis, Commercial Officer Pygris, Commercial Adjutant Arracosia, and Medical Team Captain Horace , head nurse Nesia, chief doctor Minnujius, engineering battalion captain Gaius, chief engineer Spukala, transport team captain Sexippus (former livestock captain), female battalion captain Karina, Weaver Captain Shemeret, weapons workshop leader Kedessos, financial custodian Magus, attendants Akago and Cassius...

This was the first time that Maximus's army had gathered so many people in a meeting, including all aspects of the rebel army.

For example, Commercial Adjutant Alacocia, who was attending the meeting for the first time, was both nervous and excited. Kedesos, on the other hand, was completely embarrassed. He didn't understand how someone with a low status like him and who had made mistakes could be invited to such a grand meeting (he always felt that he failed to manage the blacksmiths, which led to that... There was a riot in the camp during the fighting of the rebels on the Vomanus River on the 1st).

Since there were too many people in the big tent, Maximus asked everyone to sit on the ground. He stood in front and looked at the crowds of people in front of him. He couldn't help but feel proud in his heart: These are the talents I have discovered and cultivated! This is the foundation that allows me to gain a foothold and thrive in this world!

He put his hands on his hips and said loudly: "Everyone, starting from tomorrow, our arduous march will end here, and we will start our new life on this land! So tonight I summoned everyone here, and we are going to Let’s discuss together how we can better build our new home, not only to gain a firm foothold here, but also to develop faster and better!”

After Maximus finished his opening words, everyone straightened their backs, their eyes lit up, and they cheered up.

“First of all, since we have started a new life here, we cannot use the name Free Italy. Otherwise, if the Romans find out, they may lead their troops to come in, or force the Illyrians to hand us over—— "

"The leader is right. The Romans do have revenge. We have caused so much trouble to Rome in Italy and killed so many Roman soldiers. If they know that we are here, they will definitely find a way to destroy us. !” Quintus interjected.

"I have entrusted the leader of the Aldi tribe to send people to spread the false news that 'we have been wiped out by the barbarians', and we must regard ourselves as an Illyrian tribe, forget the past for the time being, and integrate here as soon as possible! Maximus said with emphasis: "Therefore, I gave our new Illyrian tribe a name - called Nyx!"

"Knicks?" Most people in the tent were confused as they read the name.

"This is Illyrian, and it means killing wolves." After Maximus finished speaking, everyone suddenly realized and praised: "This is a good name! ... Just use this name! ..."

Killing wolves means killing Romans. Everyone doing this has been oppressed or enslaved by the Romans. Even if they escaped from Italy, as long as this name exists, they will not forget their hatred for the Romans in their peaceful lives. .

"Chief, since our names have been changed, do we also need to change the pattern of the flag? Otherwise, if the Romans see it in the future, they will still suspect that we are related to Free Italy." Frontinus reminded.

Maximus nodded: "It turns out that the pattern on the flag can no longer be used. I heard that most of the tribes here use animals and gods as flags, so I thought about it for a long time and specially drew a new flag pattern during the march. What do you think?" As he said, he stretched out his hand to the side, and Akguo immediately handed over a folded piece of linen. Maximus slowly unfolded it, and the pattern painted on the linen appeared in front of everyone: it was painted with a strange animal, its head was like a camel, its horns were like deer, its eyes were like rabbits, its neck was like a snake, its belly was like lips, its scales were like fish, its claws were like deer, its paws were like tigers, its ears were like eagles, its snake body was twisted and circling, its body was surrounded by clouds, its eyes looked down on everything, its momentum was sacred and majestic... The whole pattern was lifelike, and it seemed to fly out of the cloth. It should be known that Maximus was a painter in his previous life, and he even poured a lot of emotions into drawing this picture, so this pattern caused a great impact on everyone, making everyone show a contradictory expression of eager to see it, but not daring to look at it carefully, and the big tent suddenly became unusually quiet. After a long while, Volenus whispered, "Chief, what is this?"

"This is a dragon! A mythical beast worshipped by people in the east of Persia and the far east!" Maximus' tone was full of strange emotions: "For ordinary people, the dragon is auspicious. It can make clouds and rain, ensure a good harvest of grain, protect against wild beasts, and make the family prosperous and wealthy; for officials, it is majestic, able to fly into the sky and into the sea, and extremely powerful; for corrupt officials, it will punish them with thunder; for cruel nobles, it will use The collapse of the mountains and cracks of the earth will wipe out the tribe; for the king, it is sacred, it represents heaven, and is the messenger of the Emperor of Heaven. Respecting it is respecting the order of heaven and earth, which can make the kingdom stable and the four barbarians convinced! ——" Maximus paused and shouted: "Do you think this dragon can become the flag of our tribe? !" "Yes! Of course!" Maximus' words touched everyone's heart. Killing evil officials, destroying nobles, protecting farmland, and maintaining stability, aren't these what they desire? How can they disagree?!