Rome Must Fall

"Thank you, Chief!" Aulus and Pecot expressed their gratitude almost in unison.

Maximus laughed: "It seems that you two cooperate very well. Do you want to continue to be good partners of the Fourth Legion and win more victories for the tribe?"

The two looked at each other and did not respond.

Maximus saw it and laughed again: "Just kidding, even if I want to do this, the current situation will not allow it. After this victory over the Pannoni, more people will join the tribe. Not only will the Fourth Legion be fully staffed, I think the Fifth Legion will also be established. By then, the legion commander must be you, Pekote!"

Maximus, the leader of the Nix tribe, made a promise in person. In order to hide his excitement, Pekote quickly asked: "Chief, after winning this battle, what should we do next?"

"Of course it's our turn to attack next!" Maximus said very directly: "After this battle, the tribe's reserve tribesmen will probably become formal tribesmen, and many formal tribesmen will also be promoted. The tribe will give them corresponding land in accordance with the law, but there are not many fields left in the territory. Of course, so much land must be obtained from the enemy!"

"Then should we attack Segestica next? Or Brochi? Or both?" Aulus asked.

"The Brochi territory is still too far away from us, let's start with Segestica." Maximus pointed to the stockade not far away and said in a deep voice: "We have to capture it as soon as possible, and then lead the army through the dense forest on the other side of the river to attack the Sava River Plain!"

"Leader, please give the task of attacking this stockade to our Fourth Legion!" Aulus volunteered to fight.

Maximus shook his head and said in a gentle tone: "Your Fourth Legion has suffered too many casualties. What you need to do next is to repair it well. Of course, the Fourth Legion cannot be completely idle. I still have important tasks to give you."

"What important tasks?!"

"Assist the Council of State and the Second Legion to take good care of our prisoners."

"Ah, take care of prisoners..." Aulus and Pecot were disappointed, because this meant that there would be no Fourth Legion to do in the next attack on the Segestica territory.

"Don't underestimate this mission." Maximus solemnly reminded: "We won a great victory on the east bank of the Korana River and captured more than 6,000 Pannoni. We won another complete victory here and captured more than 6,000 prisoners, which added up to more than 12,000 people.

If so many people are not well taken care of, once they start to make trouble, not only will the entire tribe suffer a lot of losses, but also the army will not be able to fight with peace of mind. Our plan to use the victory of the war to rapidly expand the tribe will be ruined.

But if you take good care of the prisoners, you may have new soldiers and new labor for the tribe, then you can It is another great achievement for the tribe! "

Aulus and Pecot looked at each other and said helplessly: "Leader, the Fourth Legion is willing to stay and take care of these prisoners, but the soldiers have no experience in this."

"Don't worry, Volenus and Frontinus will arrive soon, and they will teach the soldiers how to take care of the prisoners." Maximus happily comforted the two of them, and then said: "You two have fought hard for most of the day, and you must be very tired. Take the soldiers of the Fourth Legion to the barracks to have a good sleep and recover your strength. Maybe you will need to fight at night."

"Fight at night?" Aulus was surprised.

"It's just my guess. Maybe you don't need to fight to enter the village. Well, I have to go see our neighbors now." Maximus said, turned around and rode on his warhorse.

………………………………………………………………………………

At dusk, the Nix army had already ended its pursuit of the fleeing soldiers, and the battlefield was basically cleaned up: the bodies of their own soldiers were collected, the bodies of the enemies were piled together and burned, the weapons, armor, and even clothes abandoned on the battlefield were picked up, and the enemies who were not seriously injured were carried back to the barracks under Maximus' special instructions and were cared for by the medical team...

The battlefield stained with blood was full of smoke and piles of burning bodies, filled with the smell of burnt meat, and the sky was full of smoke. Crows were circling and croaking, and there were also many brave crows on the ground, not afraid of the soldiers walking back and forth, pecking at the scraps of meat, broken hands, and broken limbs scattered on the ground that had not been picked up...

About 10,000 soldiers from the First Legion and part of the Third Legion had been summoned. They were fully armed and formed a long array of four columns and five miles long under the command of the legion commander and team officers to surround the Anrotas village in a semi-circular shape. Although they were very tired, they tried their best to hold their heads high and look solemn, giving a great shock to the Segestica warriors who were preparing for defense on the wooden wall of the village.

Maximus, wearing dazzling armor and a towering feather helmet, rode slowly to the front of the village gate and shouted to the people on the wooden wall: "People of Segestica, I am Maximus, the leader of the Nix tribe and the commander of the army! On the battlefield not far ahead, the coalition formed by your tribe and the Desitiatae tribe suffered a disastrous defeat. The bodies of thousands of soldiers are being burned, and more than 6,000 people are captured. I believe you can see it, right?!"

The Segestica people standing on the wooden wall could of course see a large number of captives squatting between the Nix army and the barracks, under the supervision of countless soldiers. Everyone was extremely depressed, but no one dared to respond.

"You may find it strange that shouldn't our Nix army be in the south to resist the armies formed by several other Pannoni tribes? How is it possible that most of the Nix soldiers have rushed back here?!" Maximus paused, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly: "That's because the day before yesterday we had a big battle with a larger Pannoni army on the east bank of the Korana River. In the end, we won a great victory. Not only did we defeat the invading enemy, but we also captured several thousand Pannoni warriors. That's why we dare to return to support with confidence!" "This is impossible!" Anlotas screamed. The reason why he could barely keep calm after witnessing the defeat of the reinforcements was because he knew that the main force of the Pannoni coalition was attacking from the south of the Nix territory. As long as the south won, his tribe would still be safe, but Maximus' words gave him a blow. "I, Maximus, don't have the habit of lying. I was in a hurry to come here, so I couldn't bring the prisoners captured in the south in time, but you can take a look at this--"

Maximus waved his hand back, and immediately a team of soldiers walked out of the formation, holding up what they held in their hands: they were broken flags, including the fish flag of the Brochi tribe, the bear flag of the Mazii tribe, the sheep flag of the Disioni tribe, and the snake flag of the Perustai... More than a dozen flags made of linen or fur, large and small, were displayed in front of the Segestica people on the wooden wall, which immediately caused a great commotion.

"This is impossible, this is impossible, fake, those are all fake!..." Amrotas, who was hoping for luck, shook his head nervously, but his voice was drowned out by the commotion created by his tribesmen.

Maximus raised his right fist, and the soldiers in the army shouted in unison: "Roar!!!" The people in the village were immediately scared to hold their breath.

"Segestica people!" Maximus shouted sternly with a dignified face: "The Pannonian coalition was defeated by me, Nix, and not many of them were able to escape alive. You have been surrounded by my army, and no army will come to rescue you!

I order you to surrender to me immediately. I will treat you well because we are both Illyrians! Otherwise, I will let my brave soldiers attack, break through this village, and pile up your bodies into a new fire!"

Maximus pointed to the dozens of black smoke burning not far away, and shouted decisively: "Tell me now, will you surrender or not?!"

As soon as Maximus finished speaking, the two legion commanders, Phesalus and Carminus, commanded the soldiers to hit the square shields with short swords and roared at the same time.

This deafening, uniform sound hit the fragile hearts of the Segestica people like a hammer, frightening them to pale faces, trembling legs, and some even fell directly from the wooden wall into the village...

"Ma... Chief Maximus!" Anlotas looked at the young leader who was like a fierce god under the wooden wall, holding the wooden pillar with both hands, and shouted in a trembling voice: "I am willing... I am willing to lead my tribe to rely on you and respect you as... you as the great leader!"

Maximus' eyes flashed, and he responded coldly: "The Nix tribe has no great leader, only one leader, that is me! You must lead your people to surrender to Nix and make them completely become Nix people. There is no other choice! Do you understand?!"

After Maximus finished speaking, the soldiers made a threatening gesture again.

Although Anlotas was still panicking, Maximus' request made him hesitate. After hastily discussing with the nobles around him, he bravely shouted: "Ma... Maximus is the leader. The request you made... is of great importance to me and my tribesmen... I must discuss it with all the tribesmen and reach an agreement before I can give you a reply. I hope you can give me... give us some time!" Maximus stared at Anlotas with a serious face and said nothing.