Rome Must Fall

Cornelius hurried over and explained: "Chief, after we occupied this village, this old man came to us and said he wanted to help us. At that time, we were eager to transfer the people and materials in the village to the temporary camp, so we agreed.

So, he asked all the Skodisci slaves to obey our command, take the initiative to help us carry supplies, find those Segestikas hiding in houses and cellars, and uncover those hidden in Segestika. The nobles among the people...

It is precisely because of the full cooperation of the Skordisqi slaves that we were able to evacuate the village so quickly, so when he proposed, 'Instead of following the other Skordisqi slaves to the temporary camp, he will stay here to see you. When I asked for it, we agreed after discussion. But I didn't expect that he would sneak out without staying well. It's all my fault! "

"Who are you talking about 'we'?" Maximus asked coldly.

"It's Capito, Volenus, me, and Pigris."

It was the four department chiefs who were temporarily appointed by him to be responsible for the transfer and takeover of the village... Maximus had a change of heart, and then his expression softened: "This is not entirely your fault, forget it this time, and be careful in the future. . Come on, let’s go in first.”

Cornelius secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't feel anything when he was just muddle along, but now that he has a pursuit, he feels a bit pressured when he stands next to Maximus.

"How do you plan for our soldiers and these prisoners who will stay here tonight? Where are the materials that have been moved here temporarily stored?"

Maximus looked at the pack cars entering the stockade one after another, and reminded: "You have to know that there are not only more than 3,000 soldiers living here tonight, but also more than 6,000 Segostika prisoners, including Including more than 2,000 Skodisci slaves, we also brought a large amount of supplies."

"Chief, please rest assured. Originally, there were about 15,000 residents in this village, including more than 3,600 Skodisci slaves. Our team can definitely accommodate it." Cornelius replied confidently.

"There are actually so many people in this village?" Maximus was a little surprised, because from the outside, the village to the east was larger than this one, but it had a population of less than 10,000. "

"Chief, we have asked. This is not a normal tribe. It was established just for the purpose of fighting Ardei. Therefore, there are mostly young adults, and many people often live in the same longhouse." Cornelius said , pointing to a house on the roadside: "Look, chief, this is a house like this."

This is a wooden house with a length of more than 15 meters and a width of only 4 meters. The roof is covered with thick thatch.

Matt Sims pushed the door open and went in. The space inside was a little cramped, but the light was good. Apart from a long bunk and a few wooden cabinets and wooden shelves, there was nothing else.

Maximus immediately recognized a problem: "How do they cook?"

"Instead of cooking, they went to the exercise grounds in the tribe's main house and had Skordischi slaves cooking for them."

This Segestika actually owns a large canteen... Maximus was a little surprised and asked: "What are the identities of the Segestika people who live in such long houses?"

"The vast majority of them are not the tribe of this leader, but come from other tribes in Segestika. They came to this tribe after being called by their big leader and worshiping this leader. Since they are new members, , so they don’t have their own house yet, but they have land, which is only farmed by Skodisci slaves.”

"Yes, you were able to figure out the situation in this village so clearly in such a short period of time." Maximus praised.

"This is mainly done by Capito and Volenus." Cornelius said with shame. Due to his own problems, he had not had much contact with Maximus before, unlike Capito and Volenus. Si knew the young leader relatively well, so he could do the work in a targeted manner.

Maximus saw his thoughts and encouraged: "I believe you will not do worse than them in the future!"

These words made Cornelius so excited that he almost shed tears.

Maximus walked out of the longhouse and looked around: there were many such longhouses around, and the distance between the longhouses was relatively close, making them seem a bit dense.

He walked back to the roadside and looked to the other side: there were no longhouses here, but typical wooden thatched houses, similar to the Ardei houses he had seen before, only larger. , the quality is better, and each house has a wooden fence surrounding a small yard. There are chicken coops, pig troughs, and cattle pens in the yard... Therefore, the smell is a bit unpleasant.

"This house should be inhabited by the old people of this tribe, right?" Maximus asked.

"Yes, Chief."

"How much food did you get here?" This is the question Maximus is most concerned about.

"Due to time constraints, we did not measure carefully, but according to everyone's estimates, it will be enough to feed our entire team for at least a year. If we include the prisoners captured here, it will be enough to feed us for half a year."

"There are so many?" Maximus was a little surprised: "I remember Budokaribas said that this Segostika village was newly built, and farming only started last year."

"That's right." Cornelius replied: "But because it has just been the autumn harvest, these Segestika families still have a lot of food. The most important thing is that there are several large warehouses in this village, which have a large amount of food stored. Grains and meat.

We asked the prisoners, and they said that they were rations reserved for their tribe's next large-scale attack on the Ardei people. In addition to grain and meat, there was also a lot of iron and wood... Those warehouses were right next to the leader's main house. The supplies you brought from the east village tonight can be stored there first. "

"It seems that we have helped the people of Ardei a lot this time." Maximus said jokingly, but he breathed a long sigh of relief: the food problem has been solved, but the prerequisite is that the war will not end. Will last for a long time.

"Yes, leader, thanks to your decision, we dare to fight this battle! And because of your wisdom, we can win so easily and achieve such great results. This is... really great!" Gaonariu Si complimented loudly. Judging from his excited look, he should probably be sincere.

Maximus smiled slightly, but did not express his worries. He looked ahead, where there was a different house pattern than before: 3 houses arranged in a "U" shape, with a courtyard in the middle and wooden railings outside. surround……

When Cornelius saw Maximus walking into the courtyard and looking around, he hurriedly followed him and said, "This is the house where the nobles of this tribe live."

"Judging from the structure of this house, the nobles of Segestica should have servants to serve them."

"Yes, leader, they have their own Skodischi slaves. I heard from the captives that the leader of this tribe also has a very small number of Pannoni slaves."

"Oh, there is such a thing." Maximus touched his chin, looked at the house in front of him, remembered the smelly thatched cottage before, and fell into thinking.

Cornelius did not dare to disturb them, and the group walked forward for a while before he said softly: "Chief, the leader's main house is just ahead."

Standing in front of Maximus was a wooden wall, which was almost as high as the wooden wall outside the village. He walked around the wooden wall to the main entrance. After entering, he faced a house that was larger in length and height than ordinary houses. The main house doubled in size, with a flag with a stag on the roof.

When Cornelius saw Maximus looking up at the flag and being lost in thought, Cornelius hurriedly explained: "Chief, you previously ordered not to destroy the buildings of this stronghold, so we -"

"It's okay, let it hang for now. It won't be long before it can be replaced by ours." Maximus said generously, pointed to something diagonally in front of the main house door, and asked, "What is that?" ?”

A white stone as tall as a person stands erected in the soil. There is a strange symbol on the white stone. Around the white stone is a circle made of small stones.

"I heard from the captives that this is the spirit of nature they believe in."

The spirit of nature? Druidry? ...Maximus thought of the customs and habits of the Gauls that he had talked to his men from Gaul many times before. Naturally, the Druidism they respected was among the topics. However, he did not expect that as an Illyrian The branch of the Pannoni actually believed in this, and they probably learned it from the Skodisci.

Maximus turned his attention away from the white stone. He noticed that the space enclosed by the wooden wall was relatively wide. The wooden wall gate leading to the main house divided the space into two parts. There were eight or nine thatched cottages scattered on one side. , the other side is an open space, the ground is very flat...

"This is the training ground for the Segestica people." Cornelius said: "Originally there were several wooden racks beside the field, filled with weapons and shields, but we later took them away."

The leader of the Segestika tribe actually built an "inner city" in the center of the stockade! ...Maximus glanced around and couldn't help but sigh at the good luck of his team. If the Skodisci slaves hadn't killed the leader and launched a riot at the same time, causing chaos in the stockade, otherwise the soldiers would have rushed in. Once the stronghold is over, the leader can still hold on to the main house with his defeated troops, which will inevitably greatly delay the army's occupation of the entire stronghold.

Maximus did not go out after seeing the main house, and then asked Cornelius: "Where are you going to place the Segostica prisoners I brought tonight?"

"Behind the longhouse and close to the river, there are dozens of houses similar to the longhouse, but they have no walls, are open on all sides, and are covered with wheat straw. It used to be the sleeping place of Skodisci slaves. It is called the 'Pig House' by the Segestica people, and it is a good place to place the Segestica captives there so that they can enjoy the treatment of their slaves."

There was a sense of revenge in Cornelius's words. He had been a slave for many years and had similar experiences, so he subconsciously had some hatred for the Segestica people.

"I just heard you say that there are more than 3,000 Skodisci slaves here, but the Segostica captives I brought here have more than 6,000, which is twice their number. How can they accommodate them?" Maximus asked again.

"Let the captives sleep together. If they can't sleep, they can sleep outside the house. Anyway, it's hot now, so it's cooler to sleep outside. This way they can be gathered together for us to watch." Pecot interjected from the side. He had been a slave. Cornelius was not the only one.

Maximus glanced at him: "Good idea, let's do it. Cornelius, you don't have to accompany me anymore. Go and help Carminus and Aulus get the team settled as soon as possible. It’s time to get dark.”

"yes!"

"By the way, is dinner ready?"

"Arconis and her men were doing it. They also killed ten sheep and dozens of ducks. They said that the soldiers had won the battle and they wanted to give them a good meal."

"This arrangement is good." Maximus nodded in approval.

After Cornelius left, he said to Akago: "Go and call the old man Skordischi from before."

"yes."

Not long after, the old man Skordischi was brought into the hall of the main house, and Maximus was sitting on the main seat in the hall, feeling the surprise brought to him by this wooden chair.

It was made of oak, thick and strong, and polished very smoothly, but the center of the seat was hollowed out. Thin ropes made of reeds were used to weave a net and tied around the seat. It was covered with fur. With his weight, After making it, the straw seat board did not collapse, but was very soft and comfortable. Moreover, the tanned fur was smooth and soft. This shows that the Segostika people's woodworking technology, straw weaving technology, and blank production technology are quite good.

"Respected leader, Scodis Zidruid Emmerich salutes you!" The old man bowed respectfully and saluted. He spoke Illyrian quite fluently.

When Maximus heard this, he immediately took a closer look: he was tall and thin, with long pale hair and long beards growing messily on his head, making his head look very big, and his face was covered with wrinkles, like tree bark. A pair of bright eyes, standing there in tattered clothes, as if a dead tree with countless flying strips of cloth standing in the hall...

This is quite consistent with the characters Maximus saw in fantasy movies or novels in his previous life. He asked jokingly: "You are a druid, can you do magic?"

"What is magic?" Emmerich wondered.

Maximus coughed slightly, stopped joking, and asked seriously: "What kind of druid are you?"

As soon as Emmerich heard this, he understood that this young leader from outside the mountains knew something about druids. He immediately became energetic and answered seriously: "I used to be the main leader in the Skodisqi tribe. He is responsible for imparting knowledge and treating diseases.”