Rome Must Fall

According to the request of the leader Maximus, the envoy to the Apodians must be an official of the Ministry of Commerce from Illyria, so the commercial officer Pigris did not go in person, and Alacosia had another important task.

At this moment, Alacosia looked away, and the green and continuous mountains came into view.

To be honest, the territory north of Segestica is just a narrow valley between the mountains and the river washed out by the upper reaches of the Sava River over the years. It is far from being comparable to the Ophidilla area or the Kupa River. The land is small and the population is not abundant, but no matter what, the land and people here now belong to the Nix tribe.

Alacosia sat at the bow of the boat and enjoyed the breeze. Someone behind him shouted: "Lord Alacosia, Silinus will be here in a while."

The person who spoke was Tanapas, the captain of the Nix tribe's water fleet, and this team was led by him.

Aracosia looked at the sky and turned back subconsciously. His face was immediately wrinkled by the strong wind blowing in his face. He turned his head quickly and coughed, "Ahem... I remember it was about sixty miles from Ophidilla to Sirenus. How come we are arriving so soon?"

"We left early." Tanapias replied, "Besides, today we have the blessing of the goddess Danu, who gave us a strong south wind. Look at the sails, they are all full. How can the ship not run fast!"

Tanaapias was a slave sailor from Campalia. In the past, he used to pray to Poseidon before sailing. Now, influenced by the temple and local people, he began to believe in the goddess Danu, "the mother of the earth and the source of water."

After hearing this, Alacosia couldn't help thinking: From Ophidilla to Silinus, it seems to be more convenient to take the water route than the land route. If it is really possible to travel back and forth from Silinus to the tribe of the Noriki people by boat, it will undoubtedly solve the shortcomings of the Ophidilla ironworks and promote its faster development...

Silinus is located on the northern border of Segestica and the east bank of the Sava River. To the north is a mountain range, which belongs to the territory of the Noriki people. To the northwest is a narrow valley formed by a tributary of the Sava River. It used to belong to the land of the Yapod people. Andres led his army to capture it a few years ago, but this time the Nix people will return this land to the Yapod people after signing an agreement with the Yapod people.

In order to resist the Yapod people, the Segestica people sent people from three tribes to settle here and built a village as a barrier to the north, but it was still difficult to prevent the Yapod people from invading from time to time.

After discussion, the Nix Tribe Council decided to build a town here, seemingly to continue the defense concept, but the leader Maximus named the town Silinus (Illyrian, meaning "iron"), which obviously meant that he was not interested in this.

The town area of ​​Silinus is not large, even smaller than Todlido, but the defense facilities are quite complete: wooden walls, trenches, sentry towers, deer forts...

When Alacosia arrived at Silinus, she saw many soldiers digging traps outside the fortress.

Alacosia boarded the small dock of Silinus and was immediately warmly welcomed by the commander of the First Legion, Phesalus, who came after hearing the news.

Although Alacosia and Phesalus are both Illyrians, they rarely interacted with each other in the past. It was not because they had any incompatibility in character, but because they rarely had any intersection in work.

In Italy, one was training and fighting all day long, and the other was busy managing the port; when they arrived in the mountains, Phesalus and the soldiers of the First Legion were assigned to live in Westenia, while most of the officials of departments such as Aracosia lived in Snotia. Moreover, unlike the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce had no much contact with the tribesmen. At most, they would nod and say hello to each other at the monthly tribal meeting.

Among the veterans of the Nix tribe, there is a saying: "The second one is brave, the third one is comprehensive, the fourth one is steady, the fifth one is wise, and the eldest one is just lucky."

This refers to the five current legion commanders of the Nix tribe: the "eldest" is the first legion commander Phesalus, who teased him because he had a good relationship with the leader Maximus in the gladiator school and was the first to lead the team to join the Maximus uprising army, so he was taken care of a lot, and therefore the First Legion got more opportunities to fight than other legions, and it was easier to get military merits.

Is Phesalus more valued by the leader among the legion commanders? ...Alacosia didn't want to speculate too much, but this time in Silinus and Feisalus's contact, he deeply felt the meticulousness, seriousness and responsibility of this compatriot in performing tasks.

According to Alacosia, the Nix tribe and the Yapods have signed a truce agreement, but the appointment of the chief executive of Silinus, the entry of the tribesmen, and the formation of the city guards will take some time, so the Council of State requires Feisalus to lead the more than 2,000 soldiers who originally captured Silinus to stay for a while until the chief executive of Silinus leads the city guards to take over.

Feisalus only needs to manage his soldiers well and stay for a while to complete the task, but he didn't.

He first organized soldiers to strengthen the city's defense facilities, while repairing the houses and streets in the city and expanding the docks... In order to avoid causing unnecessary tension and suspicion among the Jabods, he reduced the number of fully armed soldiers patrolling on the city walls, and built several simple rugby fields outside the city, organizing competitions between hundred-man teams every day. The intense and interesting game scenes even attracted the Jabods to watch across the river at the border.

He also sent a clerk who was smart, good at writing and drawing to the escort team several times when returning the captives of the Jabod people, to learn about the situation of the border tribes of the Jabod people, and drew a map after returning.

He also sent the Celtic soldiers in the team to change into Celtic tribal costumes, sneak into the mountains in the north, and investigate the situation of the Noriki tribe...

When Pisarus took the initiative to tell Alakosia about the situation of the Noriki tribe he knew, the adjutant of the Ministry of Commerce was naturally very grateful.

And in the evening, at the banquet for the envoys, Alakosia felt the hospitality and humor of this compatriot again, and there was only one thought in his mind: it would be strange if such a capable legion commander was not valued by the leader!

The next morning, Alakosia said goodbye to Pisarus.

Phesalus wanted to send a hundred-man team to escort the envoys to the Noriki tribe, but Aracosia declined the offer with the reason that "we are going to make friends. If we bring soldiers, the Noriki people may be unhappy and affect the negotiations."

After that, he left Silinus with only two men and a guide, took a boat, and continued to go upstream north.

Soon, the boat entered the canyon in the mountains.

The trees on both sides were lush and green, with towering ancient trees and low shrubs intertwined. The sun cast mottled light and shadows through the gaps in the treetops, adding a bit of warmth to the quiet mountains.

The boat moved forward in the narrow river. The river was not turbulent and clear. Occasionally, fish played in the water, creating ripples.

As the boat went deeper, the mountains became taller, the canyons became quieter, and the air became fresher, but the sounds of birds and animals gradually disappeared, which made Alakosia begin to doubt: Is there really a Norik tribe living here?

Just then, the guide said: "Sir, the Norik people's residence is coming!"

Sure enough, not long after, several thick trees were seen across the river ahead, blocking the way forward.

At the suggestion of the guide, the boat anchored on the river beach on the east bank.

Alakosia followed the guide forward, and two men followed closely with a wooden box.

Less than 50 meters away, the river turned left in front, and at the bend stood a wooden wall more than three meters high, blocking the narrow river beach passage.

"Hey! Stranger, you are about to enter the territory of the Norik Iron Core Tribe, leave quickly!" A shout came from the wooden wall.

This is Celtic. In the past year, the Nix tribe has encouraged the old tribesmen to learn Illyrian and Celtic as much as possible so that they can live better in this land, and the officials of the Ministry of Commerce who shoulder the diplomatic task must learn it.

As an adjutant, Alacosia must take the lead. After hard study, he has mastered the Celtic language, otherwise he would not have been sent to Noriki.

At this moment, Alacosia, who understood the other party's words, looked up and saw several fully armed warriors on the wooden wall. They wore Celtic helmets, thick iron armor, long swords on their waists, and javelins in their hands, looking at him with a vigilant look.

Alakosia immediately said loudly in fluent Celtic: "I am an envoy sent by your neighbor, the Nix tribe. I want to meet your leader with friendly sincerity!"

Several Noriki warriors gathered together, discussed for a while, and replied: "Just stand there and wait. I will tell the leader to see if he is willing to see you."

After waiting for a full quarter of an hour, the wooden door opened and the Noriki warrior came out: "The envoy from the Ni... Nix tribe, the leader agrees to see you, please follow me."

"Thank you!" Alakosia nodded calmly.

The Noriki warrior asked: "Are you the four of you?"

"There are four sailors who drive the boat, but they will stay on the boat and will not follow us into the village." Alakosia said frankly.

"What's in this box?" The Noriki warrior asked again.

"A gift from my leader to your leader."

The Noriki warrior's expression softened, and he led Alakosia and his party through the wooden wall, and a tributary of the Sava River appeared in front of them.

The water of this small river is black and yellow, with a faint smell of burnt. It flows out from a col. There is a high village wall built at the pass, but it is not made of wood, but of stone. There is smoke behind the village bridge.