Rome Must Fall

"How is the big leader's situation now?" Pulikas interrupted him and asked with concern.

"Don't you visit him every day? You should know better than me what's going on with him!" Kabudez said with a sad look on his face, "Not only has Andres been unconscious, but he was also trampled by a horse. His chest has never improved, and he has used various herbs. Hermigas still kneels in front of the holy stone to pray for him every day. Now we can only wait and see whether the gods can protect him. "

"What if... I mean what if! The big leader is gone... Who will you let take over as the new big leader?" Pulikas looked directly at him and asked in a deep voice.

"Of course it's Andres' son, my great-nephew Ancasus! Kabudez answered without hesitation, and then reminded: "But he is still young now, I'm afraid other elders and tribal leaders will not Tai will agree, but you and I have to spend time convincing them. "

Pulikas' expression softened slightly and he asked in a gentle tone: "Don't worry, as long as you firmly support Ancasus, I will definitely help you convince others! By the way, why did you come to me today?"

Kabdus observed the other party, feeling a little relieved, and still said cautiously: "Leader Amrotas has sent messengers one after another in the past few days, saying that the mercenaries left their camp and are now occupying Volris and In my former territory, I sent cavalry to invade his territory every day to explore, which made him feel very nervous. He hoped that we could send reinforcements to his village to defend against the enemy's possible attack at any time... Regarding his request, what do you think? look?"

Amrotas's messenger came to the main stronghold to plead for reinforcements. Since Andres, the big leader, could not manage the affairs, he did not just look for Kabudez alone. He also visited other elders in the city one by one. Plikas also understood this. In response to the situation, he said with a worried look on his face: "The village of Amrotas is in danger. We should send troops to support it. Otherwise, if they occupy the territory of Amrotas, they may directly threaten us on the Sava River." It’s my territory, but..."

Pulikas paused, and his tone became less forceful: "We have suffered defeats in several battles and lost too many warriors. Each tribe is now facing many difficulties. It is really difficult to form another army with sufficient numbers. team to repel the fierce mercenaries... I think we should ask the Tribal Alliance for help again and ask them to send reinforcements. "

Pulikas, who has always been tough on others, actually became timid, but this was not what Kabudez expected.

Kabdus was slightly happy in his heart, shook his head and said: "A few days ago, I specially sent people to the main stronghold of Maziyi to find out the situation from the leader of Mai Tiris.

This time, the major tribes sent reinforcements to Andizetti. Although they repelled the invading Skodisci and Dacian coalition forces, the losses to the army were considerable, and the Dacians did not completely leave Skodisci. In Si Qi's territory, those damn Skodi Qi people are still ready to invade at any time, which makes the reinforcements of the tribal alliance dare not retreat easily. Now the two sides are still in a confrontation, and there is no spare power to help us... …These are Mai Tiris’s original words. "

"Where are the two great leaders Temagis and Brix? They can't send reinforcements?" Pulikas asked unwillingly.

"Of course I have thought of everything you can think of." Kabdus sighed: "The Daisi Tiatai tribe has been facing pressure from the Boi people, just because of the relationship between the chief Temagis and our chief. Yes, reinforcements were sent out last time, but the strength was the smallest among the three support armies. As a result, they suffered nearly half of the casualties. Therefore, the elders of their tribe strongly opposed sending out reinforcements this time, and the leader of Temagis did not respond. Method.

As for the leader of Brix, he made it clear that he would not send any more reinforcements, because the last time he sent reinforcements, the defense in Broch's territory was empty. A team sent by mercenaries sneaked into the territory and plundered it. The losses were severe and a large number of slaves escaped, so he would not make the same mistake again. "

"Don't he want to seek revenge from those mercenaries?!" Pulikas asked.

Kabdus shrugged: "You and I both know what kind of person Chief Brix is. To be honest, I was surprised that he was able to send reinforcements last time."

"Without the support of other large tribes, we cannot fight against those mercenaries with our current strength alone..." Pulikas looked tangled, his fist tightened and loosened, loosened and tightened, and suddenly hit it hard Thigh: "If it doesn't work, we will carry out the most urgent mobilization, summon all the men from each tribe who can fight, and fight with those mercenaries!"

"The most urgent mobilization? That requires the consent of the leaders of most tribes, but some leaders may not agree now." Kabudez reminded tactfully.

Pulicas knew that what Kabudez said was true: when Andres proposed to attack the Ardei people, some tribal leaders expressed opposition. Andres used his prestige to push it forward, and later did not give in after winning the victory. These tribal leaders who opposed him shared the benefits.

Now that Andres was seriously injured and comatose, these tribal leaders blatantly said strange things, "I was firmly opposed to war with the Ardei people at the beginning, but the big leader refused to listen. The result was good. Not only was he seriously injured, but also the tribesmen Bad luck will follow...' and so on, as long as the mercenaries did not invade their territory, it is probably impossible for these people to agree to send reinforcements to rescue the tribes on the banks of the Kupa River.

When he was silent, Kabdus whispered: "We failed in the battle with the mercenaries before. I was captured by them and later released. At that time, the mercenary leader asked me to bring a message to the big leader, hoping that both sides It is possible to have a truce and maintain peace, but it is a pity that the big leader did not agree, otherwise our current situation would not be so difficult..."

Pulikas' face darkened: "What exactly do you want to say?"

Kabdus knew Pulikas, and when he saw that the other party did not rudely stop him from talking, he felt that there was something interesting about this matter. He cheered up and persuaded with sincerity: "Since we are in a difficult situation now, there is no other way to think of. , it is better to agree to the mercenary leader’s previous proposal and the two sides stop the war...

In this way, we no longer have to worry about the invasion of those mercenaries, and can focus on handling our internal affairs, appeasing the families of the soldiers, relieving the people in need, and encircling and suppressing the Scodis rebels... survive this period After this difficult time, maybe the big leader can wake up, and by then the major tribes in the east have solved the Dacian problem and can be free to help us... Oh, by the way, we are negotiating with the mercenaries. When the time comes, we can also ask them to release our captured soldiers..."

When he first heard that Kabdus proposed truce negotiations with the mercenaries, Pulikas looked very unhappy. But at the end of the hearing, he relaxed his brows, pondered for a while, and asked with some worry: "Those Will the mercenaries agree? Our situation is different now."

"Yes, our situation in Segestika is indeed relatively bad, but there are other Pannoni tribes standing behind us. If the mercenary leader is smart, he should know that it is impossible to destroy them with their power. Drop our Segostika... No matter what, we should give it a try for the sake of the tribe!”

Pulikas was silent for a moment and nodded.

…………………………………………………………………………

The envoy sent by Segestica was detained upon arrival at Vesternes. The news reached Snotia, and Maximus immediately called a meeting of the Council. After everyone discussed it, it was unanimously agreed that the Knicks and Segestica would engage in truce negotiations.

In order to prevent the Segestica envoy from discovering the secret of the great construction in Snodia, Pigris led the commerce department staff to Westney and negotiated with the Segestika envoy there.

While the two sides were engaged in verbal negotiations, Budokaribas and Ciceliotes led several Ardei tribal leaders to Snodia.

Maximus enthusiastically introduced them into the main hall, arranged for them to sit down, and then said apologetically: "I'm really sorry! Our tribe is short of supplies recently and can't come up with good things to entertain you, so I can only buy you a drink. Water quenches thirst.”

"It doesn't matter. I can understand that you have just settled down and are lacking everything. Pygris has already told me that he hopes we can sell you a batch of iron ore on a regular basis. He also hopes that we can sell you a batch of iron ore." Approval of food so that your tribe can survive until next autumn harvest...

After discussing with other tribal leaders, we all believe that since we are allies, we should help each other, so we will do our best to help you solve these requests you have made! "Budokaribas said very seriously.

"Thank you so much!" Maximus said with gratitude.

"But we also have a request, and we hope that Chief Maximus can agree to it." A leader next to him said first.

"Please tell me." Maximus smiled, remembering the introduction made by Budokalibas just now: "Chief Tenedorotis."

Tenedorotis did not immediately say the request. He looked around the entire hall and stepped on the ground with his feet. His nerves became complicated and confused: "Chief Maximus, do you know, this place used to belong to my tribe?" Territory, the Pannoni took it away from us... When we came in just now, we saw that the people of your tribe were cutting down trees to build houses. The whole village has completely changed. Only here... this hall is still almost the same as before. !”

Maximus raised his eyebrows, mentally alarming.