Rome Must Fall

Voorhees was so immersed in his fantasy that he didn't notice that the young woman was already standing behind him. She quietly took out the bone-cutting knife hidden in her dress. She held the handle of the knife tightly with her white and tender right hand and pointed at it. Voorhees's neck trembled for a long time, until she heard the last sentence, she finally gritted her teeth and plunged the sharp blade in hard.

Voorhees felt a sharp pain in his neck, turned his head subconsciously, and saw a pair of eyes full of hatred.

Seeing Wallis's face, the woman remembered the humiliation she had suffered in the past, and the hatred in her heart suddenly increased. She drew out the knife and stabbed it with all her strength.

The blade of the knife was inserted right into the orbit of the right eye and went straight into the skull.

Voorhees was in excruciating pain, but could not make any sound because the first knife had cut off the blood vessels and throat in his neck. He instinctively waved his arms back.

The thick arm hit the woman's delicate body. The huge force burst out before death and knocked the woman away. She hit the wooden wall heavily and fainted immediately...

The captain of the guard, Musendes, has never seen the leader appear, and now the enemy is attacking the west gate and blocking the east gate. New enemies keep appearing, threatening to surround the entire village. The situation is very critical, and he has to run to the main gate. House, ask Voorhees to take charge of the overall situation.

"Chief, it's not good! The enemy is about to attack -" Musendes's cry stopped abruptly, and he saw Voris lying in a pool of blood...

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When Maximus arrived with his army, Pheasalus was already greeting him at the gate of the village.

"Well, Pheasalus, we worked so hard to get here, but you captured the stronghold early." Maximus scolded with a smile.

"Chief, I am also lucky." Pheasalus responded with a smile: "When I led my brothers to hurry up and catch up, the enemy's defeated troops happened to block the gate of the village and could not close it. I quickly asked the brothers to rush forward. I remembered your instructions again, and divided some people to block their east gate...

Later, the brothers from the second legion also arrived. They were fully armored, so I asked them to take the lead. This trick really worked. The enemy couldn't resist it, and we were about to rush into the village from the west gate. As a result, the enemy organized a group of people to block us at the entrance of the village. I was so anxious that I wanted to ask my brothers to climb the wooden wall and climb in. However, the enemies blocking the road suddenly became chaotic, and we took the opportunity to rush in...

I later learned that their leader was killed by Skodisci slaves, who launched a riot in the stockade and destroyed the enemy's defenses..."

"Oh? The Skodisci slaves fought back against the Segestikas?!..." Maximus immediately became interested in the information revealed in Pheasalus' words.

"Yes, after we captured the stronghold, these Skodisci slaves were still attacking the surrendered Segestica people everywhere. It took a lot of effort for me to stop them.

"You did the right thing!" Maximus nodded and said: "The Segestica people are our enemies, but the surrendered Segestica people are our wealth, and we cannot allow others to destroy our wealth at will. "

Fesalus was even more happy after receiving the praise: "By the way, leader, the person who organized the Skodisci slaves to resist was an old man named Emmerich. He asked to see you."

"Meet me?..." Maximus' thoughts changed quickly and he shook his head and said: "I don't have time to see him for the time being. You tell him that if he can make the Skodisci slaves here obediently abide by our rules, Decree, I will consider meeting him.”

"...Yes." Pheasalus reluctantly responded, puzzled that Maximus did not immediately receive the Skodisci. He felt that the Skodisci were also oppressed and miserable slaves. , and it also helped them a lot. We were not only a family, but at least like-minded friends. It was only natural to meet, but Maximus unexpectedly refused bluntly.

Maximus, of course, had other ideas. He had heard from the Aldi people before that there were many Skodisci slaves in the Segostika tribe, but he was not too impressed. Until today, the Segostikas organized Skodis The two incidents of the Skodisqi slaves charging into the battle as the vanguard and the Skodisqi rioting in the Segostika stronghold gave Maximus some ideas about the Skodisqi slaves.

But when he heard that the organizer of the riot wanted to see him, he immediately realized that the other party might be asking for some benefits, such as freedom or other things. There was a conflict with Qi Slave's arrangements, so he wanted to calm down the group of people first and talk about it later.

Of course, he would not tell his plan, but instead asked: "How many casualties are there among the soldiers?"

"One died, 19 were injured, no serious injuries." Although the casualties were very small, Fesalus' tone was still a little low.

"When we captured the stronghold, did any enemies escape?" Quintus asked from the side.

"I asked the brothers to surround the stronghold. There should be no..." Pheasalus was not sure. After all, the soldiers arrived one after another. At first, he did not have enough troops to surround the entire stronghold.

Maximus and Quintus looked at each other and understood.

"Pheasalus, how many men do you have now?" Maximus asked.

"Including the second legion, there are probably more than 3,300 people." Pheasalus answered uncertainly.

"Now I give you two tasks." Maximus said solemnly: "First, these more than 3,300 people are temporarily under your command, and this village is temporarily under your control. From now on, you must maintain order inside. , we must not destroy any buildings inside, let alone cause any loss to our wealth. Can we wait until the follow-up troops arrive and help them transfer the property and population in the village? "

Seeing Maximus's expectant look, Pheasalus hesitated for a moment and replied: "I can."

"Very good! As a general, you must not only be able to command troops, but also learn to manage the people. Otherwise, if you are asked to guard a village in the future and you don't know how to control it, and the village and town are disordered, how can you fight a war."

Maximus gave a few simple lectures and then said: "The second thing is to have some of your soldiers put on Pannonian weapons and equipment and pretend to guard the stronghold, while the troops we lead will pretend to attack... "

Fesalus was a little confused at first, and then his eyes lit up: "Chief, I know! You are making the enemy's reinforcements mistakenly think that the stronghold has not been lost, luring them to come for rescue, and then..."

"As long as you understand, hurry up and take care of these two things!" Maximus urged.

After Pheasalus left, he said to Quintus with a little worry: "I hope the reinforcements from Segestica have not received news of the fall of this stronghold!"

"Chief, the plan you proposed to lure and annihilate the enemy is quite clever. It must have won Mileva's favor, so everything is going smoothly so far. I believe she will protect us in the future!" Quintus looked sincere. said with relief.

"I hope Mileva can bless us to win smoothly!" Maximus raised his hands to the sky with a solemn expression. Even though he did not believe in God in the past, he still devoutly hoped to obtain God in this key battle related to the development of the tribe. God's blessing.

Quintus looked up at the sky. The scorching sun was hanging in the middle of the sky. He thought for a while and said, "I remember Budokaribas said last night that the next Pannoni village is about 10 miles away from here. If They march quickly and can arrive within an hour. I will quickly go ahead to check the terrain and see where it is suitable for an ambush."

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Kabdus is the uncle of Andres, the leader of Segostika. Unlike many leaders and nobles in the tribe who were jealous of Voris who was favored by the leader, he even secretly slandered him as "just a brainless person." "He is a reckless man", but his relationship with Volris is quite good. This is mainly because a few years ago Andres asked Volris to lead an army to invade the plains of the middle reaches of the Kupa River occupied by the Ardeii people, and he also ordered his temperament. He was a steady assistant, and the two of them worked well together. In a few years, he successfully drove the Ardi people to the west of Varidosi, and then he was able to establish his own tribe on the banks of the Kupa River.

This is a very fertile land, enough to support a large population and expand his tribe. In addition, there is Volris blocking the way to the west, which is enough to ensure the peace of his tribe, so Kabdus has been coming to Kabdus for more than a year. It was quite a comfortable life. After all, he was older and could not fight as bravely as he did when he was young. He should enjoy it when he should enjoy it.

When Musendes found Cabudes anxiously, he was lying by the Kupa River, holding a fishing rod in his right hand and a roasted leg of lamb in his left hand. There was a slave girl massaging him next to him. Shoulder.

However, after learning that Voorhees's army was raided by a strange force and the stockade was being attacked, he immediately jumped up.

He has experienced the world for a long time and knows the truth of death. If Volris's tribe is destroyed, his village will also become a battlefield. And if he doesn't rescue him, once the west stronghold falls, the big leader Andres will definitely be blamed, and his position as leader will be in jeopardy.

So he immediately rushed back to the tribe and urgently summoned tribe warriors to go to the rescue.

At the same time, he was cautious and left 800 soldiers to defend the stronghold. He also sent envoys to the main stronghold of Segostika to inform Chief Andres that an unknown force had appeared west of Varidosi. Wearing armor and holding a large shield and short sword, he is very effective in combat. He has defeated Volris's army and threatened the safety of the entire tribes along the Kupa River. I hope to get his emergency rescue!

Kabdus led 2,500 warriors, all of whom were strong Segestika tribesmen and had no Skodisci slaves. They accelerated their march westward along the south bank of the Kupa River.

Although the straight-line distance between the two villages is ten miles, the Kupa River turned north after flowing through the Volris tribe, and then returned to the east after several twists and turns, so the actual distance was longer.

Kabdus was over fifty years old and was rather fat. He did not have enough physical strength and energy to lead his troops on foot in every battle like Voorhees. Therefore, he was supported by the soldiers. He rode a war horse in the middle of the team, but Even so, he felt quite tired along the way. Looking at the soldiers around him, they were all breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

Kabdus estimated that the destination was coming soon, so it was better to let the soldiers rest for a while and recover some strength in order to cope with the next battle.

As soon as he gave the order, Tan Ma hurried back from the front.

"Chief, the enemy is attacking our stronghold! There is a deer flag hanging on the stronghold (the flag of the Segostika tribe is a male deer with long horns)!" After hearing Tanma's words, Kabudez breathed a sigh of relief and asked Said: "How many people are they?"

"There are about four to five hundred people on our side. I'm afraid of getting too close and being intercepted, so I can't check the enemies in other directions of the village."

"That is to say, there are at least about 1,500 people." Kabdus calculated, feeling relieved again.

"Chief Kabudez, the enemy is attacking the stronghold with all their strength and is unprepared for us. Please lead your troops to kill them immediately. Attack them from both sides and we will be able to repel them!" Musendes said eagerly.

"Young man, you are still too anxious." Kabdus complained, stretched out his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and looked up at the scorching sun that had tilted to the west. Of course, he knew very well that his scouting horse had discovered the enemy, and the enemy also Perhaps he noticed that if the enemy was given enough time to prepare, it would add variables to the subsequent battle. Without too much hesitation, he then ordered: "The entire army should stop resting and continue to move forward!"

The soldiers did not complain, picked up their weapons and continued marching. They are not the compatriots who live comfortably in the main village of Segostika. After entering the plains of the middle reaches of the Kupa River a few years ago, they have been fighting constantly with the Aldi people, and they have fought side by side with the Volris tribe for a long time, and they have a deep friendship. , so no matter how tired they are, they must try their best to rescue their comrades.

Around the 90-degree bend of the Kupa River, Wallis's stockade is in the distance. The sound of fighting can be heard clearly, and we can vaguely see the enemy and ourselves attacking and defending in front of the stockade wall...

"Get into formation!...Hold the flag high!...Blow the horn!...Speed ​​up and move forward!..." Kabudez gave orders one by one.

As the soldiers marched, they changed from column to horizontal formation. Their formation was already loose and the transformation was more flexible. What's more, they were all battle-hardened warriors. Instead of slowing down, their marching speed was rapidly accelerating.

And Kabudez also saw that the enemies who were attacking the stronghold just now quickly gathered and formed an array. They were exactly as Musendes said: all of them were in armor, holding large shields, and formed a tight array...