Chapter 280 Chapter 276 and 77: Marching Towards the Territory of Segestica (Part 1)

"Chief, we have captured all the Segestica people in the village. We have also occupied the entire village and obtained all the food and supplies stored in the village by the Pannonian army!..." After Phesalus happily introduced the situation, he added: "Chief, you are really awesome. You guessed that they would escape early!"

The Segestica people in the village witnessed the tragic defeat of their reinforcements and the capture of a large number of compatriots. Later, they learned that the main force of the coalition forces was defeated again. Naturally, they knew that there was no hope to continue to hold on to the village. That's why the chief took the initiative to propose to take the tribe to attach to Nix. After being rejected by me, he nervously proposed that he needed time to discuss. This was obviously looking for an opportunity to escape. Anyone with a little brain can guess it... Maximus glanced at Phesalus, who was grinning: You are not good at flattering!

He cleared his throat and asked, "How are our casualties?"

"When those Segestica people found us rushing up from the darkness, they were so scared that they fled in all directions. They didn't resist at all. We didn't have many casualties." Phesalus answered with a smile.

Maximus's expression suddenly became serious, and he asked in a deep voice, "Are you sure that all the Segestica people in the village have been captured? No one escaped?"

"We can--" As soon as Phesalus said this, Aulus interrupted loudly, "Chief, we surrounded tens of thousands of enemies in the dark night. We did our best to capture all the enemies we could see. Because we were in a hurry to report the battle situation to you, we didn't have time to count the prisoners one by one, but we arranged enough soldiers to guard the river sections that can be walked and the entrances of the dense forest trails. Even if a few hiding enemies can eventually escape the pursuit, it is impossible for them to escape back to their territory in time."

Maximus thought about it and nodded.

"Oh, right." Phesalus remembered something and said loudly: "Chief, these Segestica people did not resist completely. Their tribal leaders and some nobles fought desperately with weapons in their hands and tried to break through our blockade, but were killed by the soldiers..."

"That's a pity." Maximus said lightly.

This was the first time that the Nixes completely captured the entire Segestica tribe. In order to ensure that these captives could better obey orders and integrate into the new tribe more quickly, Maximus secretly informed Phesalus in advance that "he should find an opportunity to kill these tribal leaders and nobles who might hinder him in the chaos", and Phesalus did it.

Maximus looked at the two and said solemnly: "Phesalus, tomorrow morning you will take some soldiers from the First Legion and march eastward along the Kupa River to capture the remaining Segestica village for me. According to the prisoners, the population of that village is less than 5,000, and there are only four or five hundred soldiers. It was built by their leader Andres after defeating the Ardi people to prevent the Brochi people from taking advantage along the Kupa River. I believe you should be able to capture it easily."

"Don't worry, leader. The First Legion will definitely be able to complete it. "I will complete the task you assigned to me!" Phesalus asked with a smile, "After we occupy that village, should we continue to move forward along the river and attack the territory of the Brochi people?"

"No need!" Maximus warned with a serious expression: "The tribe should now concentrate its forces to attack Segestica and must not provoke the Brochi people again! On the contrary, after the First Legion occupies the village in front, it must guard the village for me to prevent the Brochi people from invading the land we just occupied!"

"Understood!" Phesalus restrained his smile and responded solemnly.

"Aulus, tomorrow morning you will lead the Fourth Legion and part of the First Legion to guard all the prisoners in the barracks and the village. There are tens of thousands of prisoners, and there must be no mistakes!" Maximus solemnly instructed.

"Yes, leader." Aulus couldn't help asking, "Leader, how long will our Fourth Legion stay here?"

"Wait until Volenus and Capito arrive with the Second Legion. Phesalus, you will leave the defense of the stockade to the east to Tolerogo, and then you can take the First Legion to the territory of Segestica to meet me."

Maximus said, "The Fourth Legion will stay here, and together with the Second Legion, obey the arrangements of the Council of State, and take care of the prisoners we captured in these two wars and in the territory of Segestica next-"

Maximus saw that Aulus wanted to speak, and waved his hand to stop him: "We have completely passed these two wars. The Pannonian coalition was defeated. Next, we will attack the territory of Segestica. We should not encounter any major battles, and the soldiers will have few opportunities to make meritorious deeds.

The Fourth Legion suffered heavy casualties in the previous battle. Next, we should let the soldiers rest well while guarding the prisoners. In view of the great merits of the Fourth Legion for the tribe this time, I can allow you to give priority to selecting soldiers from the prisoners so that the Fourth Legion can be fully staffed soon after the war. So you can have enough time to make a good selection while guarding the prisoners. Of course, if you don’t want to-"

"Leader, our Fourth Legion is willing to stay and guard the prisoners well!" Aulus immediately responded loudly.

Maximus smiled: "Okay, you two go to the village and finish the rest of the things. I want to sleep for a while and recover more energy. I have to take the Third Legion to the territory of Segestica early tomorrow morning.

…………………………………………………………………………

The next day, at dawn, the fog gently permeated the river surface, and the mountains in the distance were still shrouded in black.

After a quick breakfast, Maximus first inspected the various prisoner camps in the military camp accompanied by Phesalus and Aulus and surrounded by the guards, and then went to the stockade for a tour.

He did not talk to any of the prisoners, but the prisoners could guess from his posture that he was the leader of the Nix tribe, so many people were watching with uneasiness.

So, they all saw Cassinos following closely behind Maximus. At this time, he answered Maximus's various inquiries very respectfully, and when he received Maximus' praise, he looked flattered, just like a loyal follower of the Nix leader.

This caused a great shock to the prisoners: this son who was most valued by Kabudes and the heir to the great leader of the Segestica tribe, had vowed to them a few days ago that he would flatten the Nix tribe, how could he become a Nix man in the blink of an eye? !

When Maximus finished his inspection, the Third Legion had assembled, and each soldier carried 2 to 3 days of dry food (the soldiers of the First Legion gave their remaining dry food to the Third Legion).

Maximus led them to set off immediately. Since the baggage train was not followed, the whole team marched faster. They waded across the Kupa River and crossed the dense forest road, approaching Linkou Village in the afternoon.

The dense forest road was opened up by the Pannoni when they migrated northward hundreds of years ago, but the establishment of Linkou Village was much later.

When the Scodisci conquered the Pannoni a few decades ago, the Ardi people, out of brotherhood, sent troops to the north through the dense forest road to rescue them from time to time. For this reason, the Skodishchi built a fort at the exit of the dense forest road. It could not block the Aldi army from going north, but it was like a nail that made the Aldi people dare not enter the Sava River Plain with confidence and threatened their baggage transportation. When the Skodishchi gathered their troops to counterattack, the troops in Linkou Village could take the opportunity to cut off their way back and attack them from both sides... After the Aldi people suffered several losses, they gave up the idea of ​​helping their compatriots.

In the decades when the Skodishchi occupied the plain along the Sava River, Linkou Village was just a sentry tower to monitor the movements of the Aldi people in the west. It was not until ten years after the Pannoni overthrew the Skodishchi rule that the great leader of Segestica, Andres, used it as a forward base to attack Aldi. Later, after he occupied the plain of the middle reaches of the Kupa River, he used it as an important material transfer station.

However, when Andres died in battle, although Linkou Village was not adjacent to the territory of the Nix tribe, the cautious Kabudes still sent more people to the village to strengthen its defense capabilities.

"When we led the army to leave, there were 300 warriors in the village. The leader Milucus had a good relationship with me. Why don't we-" Casinos whispered to Maximus: "Why don't you let me go in and persuade him to surrender?"

"No need." Maximus just glanced at the wooden village in front, turned around and said to Carminus: "Let the soldiers go around from both sides."

"Yes, leader."

Although Linkou Village blocked the exit of the dense forest road, the dense forest is not a mountain. Although there are many trees, the terrain is still flat and people can pass through.

So, the sentry of Segestica standing on the wooden wall suddenly saw two iron streams quickly bypassing the two sides of the stockade and soon joined at the back of the stockade. They were all soldiers wearing armor and carrying large shields, with a number of more than 5,000...

The sentry was terrified and shouted in fear: "The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming!..."

Maximus passed through the dense forest and suddenly felt that the world was wide: under the blue sky was a vast and flat land, with dense villages, crisscrossing paths, herds of cattle and sheep, fields, children playing, adults working, and pedestrians... a prosperous plain scene.

Maximus suddenly felt excited, and the fatigue of the march dissipated a lot. He turned around and glanced at the equally excited soldiers, pointed to the front, and shouted loudly: "Soldiers of Nix, you all see, this is a piece of land that is bigger and better than our place of residence! I now need you to endure the fatigue and move forward at a faster speed to turn this land into our new home of Nix!"

"Roar!!! Roar!!! Roar!!!..." The soldiers roared in unison.