Rome Must Fall

Maximus and the army behind him were like a heavy mountain that made Amrotas breathless, and soon he broke out in a cold sweat.

After a long time, Maximus shouted coldly: "I'll give you one night to discuss. You must open the gate and surrender at dawn tomorrow, otherwise we Nix will attack and destroy this village!"

The reason why Maximus gave Amrotas one night to discuss was not because he was kind, but because the soldiers were very tired and had no energy to attack the village.

…………………………………………………………………………

Maximus was fortunate that the military camp they had built around Amrotas's village had not been destroyed by the Segestica people because the army had left for a short time, so the soldiers who had finished the battle only needed to enter the ready-made camp, set up tents, and rest. As for the patrol and guard of the camp at night, he had his own men to arrange it, so he didn't need to worry too much.

After dinner, Maximus got good news - when the soldiers were interrogating the prisoners, they accidentally found a "big man" from Segestica who was disguised and hiding among the ordinary prisoners.

Maximus looked at the "big shot" who was taken into the military tent: he was about thirty years old, sturdy, with decent facial features, but he looked depressed, with hunched shoulders and back...

As soon as he entered the tent, he knelt down with a plop and said in a trembling voice: "Greetings... Greetings to the honorable Chief Maximus!"

Maximus was a little curious: "Do you know me?"

"I have heard from the tribesmen that the leader of the Nix tribe is... although very young, but very prestigious. All the Nix tribesmen respect his bravery and believe in his wisdom, so he can win battles repeatedly and make the Nix tribe, which has just arrived, famous on the Great River Plain! I walked in here and took a look at you, and my legs were so weak that I was scared. In the Nix tribe, only Chief Maximus has such a strong momentum!"

Maximus laughed: "I didn't expect the son of the new chief of Segestica to be so eloquent."

The captive quickly responded: "Honorable chief, I am telling the truth!"

Maxim Si looked down at him playfully, and said in a grim tone: "Cassinos, as the son of Capudes and the main commander of the Segestica army, you secretly mobilized the military and plotted to destroy Nix long before the armistice agreement between Nix and Segestica expired. Unfortunately, the gods were angry at your betrayal and made you suffer a miserable defeat. Today you fell into my hands, and I can kill you to commemorate my people who died in the battle!"

Cassinos was so scared that he cried out: "Captain Maximus, we Segestica is weak, how dare it dare to provoke you Nix again! This is all... the idea of ​​Broch leader Brix, he persuaded other leaders of the tribal alliance and made a plan to attack you, we Segestica have to join their team because we have to rely on the help of other big tribes..."

"Are you telling the truth? !"

"How dare I lie in front of you!" Casinos looked up at Maximus tremblingly, looking pitiful.

Maximus snorted coldly and said solemnly: "Even so, you brought the Segestica army here and had a fierce battle with us. As a commander, you cannot escape this guilt!"

When Cassinos heard this, he cried out again: "Captain Maximus, you are wronging me! Although I brought troops here, I really dare not fight with you, so your army of several hundred people can easily defeat us, so there is no fierce battle——"

"Shut up, you still want to quibble!" Maximus shouted, frightening Cassinos to tremble all over.

Maximus returned to his seat and said in a deep voice: "Tell me, what kind of punishment should you receive! Will you be beheaded and sacrificed to the gods? Or will you become a slave and work loyally for my Nix tribe?"

Although Casinos was trembling with fear, he also keenly sensed from Maximus' tone that the other party had no intention of killing him, so he quickly thought about it, plucked up his courage, and carefully responded: "Respected Chief Maximus, killing me will not benefit your tribe at all. You can send people to our tribe to ask for a large amount of property and slaves to redeem me and strengthen your tribe. And I will return After that, I will convince the other leaders of our tribe to sign a permanent peace agreement with you. From now on, the two tribes of Nix and Segestica will live in harmony and never invade each other..."

Maximus frowned: "The captives of your tribe all said that you are eloquent and can bewitch people. It seems that this is true."

Cassinos hurriedly defended: "Leader Maximus, I am speaking the truth! I can swear to the gods! I-"

"That's enough." Maximus interrupted the other party and asked in a deep voice: "Cassinos, let me ask you, is my Nix tribe strong?"

"Strong...Strong, the Pannonian tribes united are no match for you!" This time, Cassinos was speaking from the heart. He witnessed the bravery of the Nix army with his own eyes, and when Maximus forced Anlotas to surrender, he squatted in the front of the prisoner camp, and saw the tattered flags held high by the Nix soldiers clearly. He believed that the main force of the Pannonian coalition was defeated, which made him feel desperate, so he behaved so submissively.

"Since the Nix tribe is so powerful, why can't we go to the Sava River Plain in person to obtain the property you mentioned?" Maximus said quietly.

Cassinoston felt a chill running down his spine and rushed to his forehead. He widened his eyes and asked in a trembling voice: "You...you want to invade our territory?!"

"What's so surprising about this? You Segestica can attack Nix many times, but we are not allowed to fight back!" Maximus leaned forward, staring at the other party with a grim look, and said sternly: "Now that your Segestica tribe has suffered a series of defeats, can you still summon warriors to fight with my army! I'm afraid that as long as our Nix warriors pass through the dense forest and enter the Segestica territory, they can enter without any obstacles. "I will kill your people at will without any hindrance, obtain enough property, destroy the entire Segestica tribe, and let the blood dye the Sava River red..."

After listening to Maximus, Casinos trembled involuntarily, and he begged hurriedly: "Respected leader Maximus, please... please don't do this! We Segestica... We Segestica--"

Cassinos suddenly couldn't say anything, because for a moment he couldn't think of a way to make Maximus stop fighting, and even if there was, he couldn't influence the decision of the entire Segestica people in his current situation.

It can only be blamed on Casinos. Although he thought of some ways to deal with leader Maximus on the way, he didn't consider that this small tribe, which had just been established for a year, actually wanted to invade the territory of Segestica, and from the current situation, it is entirely possible to do so. Perhaps it was because of more than ten years of stability and the strength of the Pannonian Alliance that he habitually ignored this possibility. Even though Nix had defeated them to occupy the Kupa River, in his opinion, this was the land of the Ardi people, which was completely different from his own territory.

Maximus stood up, tapped the back of the chair with his fingers, and said in a loud voice: "I am an Illyrian, and the Pannonians are actually Illyrians. We were all one family a few hundred years ago, but now we have become enemies and are fighting each other. This is really heartbreaking!

If you don't want your people to be killed again, there is only one way - that is to let them all surrender to me and join Nix! From then on, Segestica and Nix became a family, and everyone lived in harmony, so there would naturally be no more wars! What do you think?"

"This...this..." Casinos didn't expect Maximus to be so ambitious. He not only wanted to invade Segestica's territory, but also wanted to annex it as a whole, and wanted him to be a traitor. He didn't want to make himself the object of curses and curses from his people.

"What, you don't want to?!" Maximus' face changed immediately, and he shouted loudly: "Come here! Drag him out and chop him!"

Two guards came in and grabbed Casinos' arms, trying to pull him out.

Casinos' face turned pale, and he shouted in fear: "I do! Chief Maximus, I do!..."

Maximus waved his hand, the guards let go, and Casinos fell to the ground.

"Casinos, you have to understand that we have captured thousands of prisoners today, including many leaders of the Segestica tribe. If you don't want to do it, someone else will do it."

Maximus sneered and reminded, then his tone softened a little: "You are a smart man, you should know it very well! Your father died in this war. Even if you go back, the tribe will blame you for this defeat. Even if you are not severely punished by the Segestica tribe, your future life will not be easy.

The life of the entire Segestica tribe will not be easy. The successive defeats have led to the death of the men in the tribe. With so few people, farming and grazing are both problems, and slaves will take the opportunity to cause chaos... In the future, the Nix army will frequently enter your territory. Even if other Pannonian tribes lend a helping hand, they will look down on you and may kick you out of the Pannonian Seven Tribal Alliance one day...

Instead of watching Segestica decline day by day, you might as well join us Nix. Think about it! Last year, when we Nix first came here, we defeated the army led by your heroic Andres chief several times with fewer troops. After we settled down, only one year later, we defeated the powerful army formed by the Panloli Alliance...

It can be seen that although my Nix is ​​small, it is very powerful and developing very quickly. Maybe one day Nix will become the overlord of this river plain! Join us while my Nix tribe is just beginning to develop. Although you can no longer become a tribal leader, you can help me manage thousands of Pannoni people and even people from other tribes. Patrolling the banks of the Dava River today, and patrolling the banks of the Deva River and the Danube River tomorrow... Isn't this much better than your current situation! And much more beautiful! What do you think? ! "