Rome Must Fall

"500,000 acres of land..." Tilius quickly counted with his fingers and suddenly looked shocked: "We really need so much land. This is an astonishing amount! Let's -"

"A bunch of idiots!" A familiar voice came to the ears of the attendants: "Our tribe does not have so much land, but the Pannoni do! After we have completely defeated their army and then take advantage of the opportunity to attack their territory, they Do you still have the ability to resist?"

"Brother Akago!" When the five attendants saw the person coming, they stood up quickly and greeted him warmly.

"You guys, don't you understand what your responsibilities are! What time is it, and you are still in the mood to chat here! Please cheer up, keep your eyes open, ears open, follow the leader closely, and be ready at any time Do your best to complete the tasks assigned by the leader!" Akeguo scolded with a straight face.

"Yes, Brother Akago." Ever since Maximus established the youth team in the baggage camp, Akago has been one of the eldest brothers in the team and has a lot of prestige, so the five teenagers responded with sincere obedience rather than Perfunctory.

Akguo patted several teenagers to show encouragement, and then walked quickly to the top of the cliff not far away.

Although the terrain of the hills occupied by the Knicks army is higher, most of them have gentle slopes. Only the easternmost part of the Knicks army has the highest terrain and is quite steep, so Maximus and his command center have not stayed there for the time being. The whole rear of the central part of the military formation came to the easternmost point, taking advantage of the terrain to carefully observe the enemy's situation from a high position.

"Chief! Lord Quintus! I'm back!" Akago walked behind the two of them and said loudly.

Maximus looked back at him with a smile on his face, but did not speak, because Akgu was now a member of the Ministry of War - the Staff Department, and was currently executing the orders of the Staff Department.

"Tell me more about what you observed." Quintus said. Another staff member next to him immediately unfolded the paper in his hand and picked up the ink pen to record it.

"I... I rushed to our right wing, and quietly... sneaked down to the mountainside, and observed the enemies on the opposite side at close range, and found that they all held... flags with fish patterns on them, which should be belonging to Pannoni's Broch Tribal Army."

It was eight or nine miles from the western end of the military formation to the easternmost end, and it was undulating. Even though Akago was in good physical condition, he still felt a little out of breath after running all the way, but he tried his best to speak clearly and smoothly: "I have repeatedly counted...Brochi's army has about 15,000 people. Except for the armor at the front, their soldiers are not wearing armor, and the formation is loose. It seems that their fighting spirit is not very good. High, I don’t feel that there is any obvious momentum..."

"Well, you are very observant." Quintus praised, then stretched out his hand to the side.

The subordinate handed over the paper that had been recorded, and Quintus presented it in front of Maximus: "Chief, I put together the situation we discovered and drew a sketch. You can take a look first."

This is an array diagram of both sides, composed of squares and lines, with some annotations in text.

It shows that the Second Army of the Nyx tribe is on the right flank, next to the Korana River, the First Army is in the middle, and the Third Army is on the left; correspondingly, the left wing of the Pannoni coalition is Broch The army has about 15,000 people. In the center is the Maziyi army, which is almost 15,000 people. On the right wing is the army of Disone and Peruste, with about 12,000 people. There are more than 1,000 cavalry in the rear. …

Maximus looked down at the sketch and praised: "Quintus, your drawing is very good, very clear and clear!"

"We are all doing it according to your suggestion, chief." Quintus's words were not modest. When Maximus first summoned the military officers to discuss future strategies and tactics, Quintus liked to put them on the map. A few wooden carved infantrymen were put in to assist in the explanation, so Maximus proposed using red and blue to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, and using squares to display troop strength to draw military and military formation maps, because the tribe could produce suitable paper, so that All this becomes easy.

"Quintus, now that the enemy's formation is almost complete, do you have any other suggestions?" Maximus asked.

Quintus pointed to the right wing of the Pannoni on the map and said in a deep voice: "Chief, judging from the formation of the four enemy armies we are observing now, the Disone and Peruvian forces we are facing are The Stai army has the smallest number of people, but their formation is the fastest, the formation is relatively tight, and there are many people wearing armor. Their combat effectiveness should be much stronger than the other two enemy armies, which may be due to their long-term relationship with the north. The battle between the Boi people is related..."

Maximus nodded and said thoughtfully: "So... we should move the crossbow unit to the right wing and focus on attacking the enemy's left wing?"

"Yes, leader, there is another important reason why we chose to focus on attacking the enemy's left wing -" Quintus moved his finger to the back of Pannoni's right wing on the map and clicked twice: "This cavalry It should belong to Disone and Pedestei, two tribes that have long been in conflict with the Boi people.

If we focus on attacking the Pannoni's right wing, although our reserve group has enough space to make a detour, the enemy's cavalry can also detour and will definitely attack desperately to prevent us from defeating them. In the end, we may be defeated early. A melee.

But if we choose to be on the enemy's left wing, with the Korana River as a barrier, we can attack from the front with all our strength. Even if the cavalry gets the order and rushes to rescue them, it will take them some time to arrive at such a long distance. , by then the defeat of the enemy's left wing may be irreversible..."

"In this case, we will focus our attack on the enemy's left flank." Maximus decisively made up his mind: "Move the crossbow unit over! There is also a reserve team - the first brigade of the Third Army is also transferred over. ! Next, everything depends on the performance of the soldiers!"

"Yes, chief," Quintus responded.

"Go and call Commander Carminus." Maximus turned around and ordered his attendant Marcus, and then half-jokingly said to Quintus: "Since the second legion has been chosen for the main attack, the third legion will The legions can only serve as defense and containment, and I hope Carminus won’t blame me for this.”

Quintus said with relief: "Chief, Carminus is a sensible man, and he will not complain about this. And you have already made a statement in advance. This time, you have defeated the enemy for the first time and captured the enemy's leader. It is recorded on the centurion, not the legion, and the officers and soldiers of the third legion will not complain too much. "

"I hope so." Maximus sighed softly: "The system of twenty titles allows the people to take the lead bravely, but it also makes them more likely to have disputes due to interests. Any system and law is beneficial and beneficial. Disadvantage!”

Quintus didn't answer.

Maximus said softly: "After I have defeated all the Pannoni troops, I will give the Ministry of War a second-class merit to reward you for your efforts in this war!"

Quintus opened his eyes suddenly and looked at Maximus.

Maximus smiled slightly: "Let's go. After seeing Carminus, we have to go to the middle and rear and sit down to direct the entire battle."

…………………………………………………………………………

Valerius participated in the crossbow training. He originally just wanted to be able to return to the battlefield, but he never expected that due to his rich battlefield experience and his ability to quickly master crossbow tactics, the Ministry of War drafted a crossbow team after discussion. He was on the official list.

After the Ministry of War submitted the list to Maximus for review, he considered it repeatedly and finally appointed Valerius as the crossbow captain, commanding 600 crossbowmen (due to the day and night manufacturing in the weapons workshop, when the war came, In the past, 100 more arm-length crossbows were produced, thus adding 100 more crossbowmen).

After receiving the order from Maximus, Valerius immediately led the crossbowmen from the rear of the center of the array to the right wing.

Although the crossbowmen are either older or physically disabled, they have all passed the assessment of the Ministry of War and have undergone stricter military training during this period. They can still easily perform a fast march on a three- to four-mile mountain road. of.

After reaching the right wing, passing through the array, and coming to the front, Valerius and the crossbowmen were exhausted and panting, but they did not stop to rest, but continued westward to the hills near the north bank of the Korana River. On the hill, the formation began.

Valerius divided the crossbowmen into two columns, each with 300 men at the front and rear. In order not to alert the enemy, he also asked the crossbowmen in the front to hand over their crossbows and quivers to their comrades in the rear...

After doing this, he asked the soldiers to sit down and rest first to recover their strength, while he still stood, watching the movements of the enemy on the opposite side and waiting for the arrival of another team temporarily under his command.

The first person waiting was Tolerugo, the commander of the Second Army: "Captain Valerius, I was so happy when I heard that the leader said that your crossbow team would be sent to our side! With your help, we can The Second Army is fully confident of defeating the enemy on the opposite side and making its first achievement!”

Brother Tolilu said excitedly, and even wanted to give the other person a hug out of habit, but when he saw the wrinkled face and serious expression of the other person, he immediately gave up the idea and instead held the other person's hand firmly. Right hand.

"Legion Commander, our crossbow team will definitely go all out!" Although Valerius had confidence in the team he commanded, he still gave a cautious answer with decades of war experience.

"If you need any help from us, please just ask." Tolerugo said enthusiastically.