Rome Must Fall

"We came suddenly. The only ones nearby that can send out troops to attack within a day... I'm afraid Pompeii and Lucenia are the only ones. Frontinus, is it possible for them to send troops?"

"How dare the Pompeii people have the guts to come out to provoke us? As for Lucenia -" Frontinus had a complicated look on his face: "As far as I know, this is a colonial town built by the dictator. , used to place the soldiers who follow him. If they have not lost their blood after more than ten years, they may send troops to attack..."

"If Lucenia wants to send troops, how many people will be sent?"

"I don't know about that." Frontinus shrugged: "After Sulla led his army to attack Rome, I became a slave. It's us who built the colonial city of Lucenia in southern Campania. The slaves heard the news when they were repairing the Roman road. As for how many soldiers were placed in the city? How many residents are there now? ... However, there was no such thing as Lucenia when you were making trouble in the Vesuvius area before. If we don’t provoke it, it won’t provoke us.”

"According to the interrogation just now, the owner of this farm is a Roman senator and has nothing to do with the Lucianians..." Maximus thought about it and said in a deep voice: "We marched so far and it was difficult to capture it. If we go back to such a big farm like this, it will not only affect our morale, but I am afraid that other brigades will also laugh at us after knowing this. Moreover, it would be a pity to give up such a large wheat field... I decided that we should take these wheat fields. Go back after harvesting!”

Maximus paused for a moment, then made a deployment: "I will let Hagux lead the reconnaissance team to the southeast to explore the movements of Lucenia City, and at the same time send people to the camp to report our situation. Three squadrons The soldiers lead these slaves to harvest the wheat fields. You will be responsible for the specific arrangements, Vorenus."

"Uh..." Vorenus was stunned for a moment, then responded: "Okay."

"Frontinus, do you think there is anything else that needs attention?"

"I don't think you can let everyone cut wheat. At least one squadron should be left to guard the farm to prevent accidents."

"...That makes sense. I was a little impatient." Maximus thought for a while and admitted his mistake frankly: "Then let the soldiers of the first squadron guard the farm first, and wait until the other squadrons are tired, and then follow They rotate. That’s fair and allows them to recover, what do you think?”

Frontinus nodded. Being able to ask for advice humbly and being able to adopt suggestions is one of the great strengths of this young leader of the rebel army. It is also one of the reasons why Frontinus and others are happy to stay in the supply camp and work for him.

"Vorenus, can we finish the harvest in one day?"

Vorenus considered it and said: "...the prisoners just said that there are about 1,270 acres of wheat fields here. Our two squadrons plus more than 400 slaves, more than 600 people, are all young and middle-aged people who are very capable of working. As long as you organize it well, one day should be enough. ”

"Then I'll leave this matter to you. If there's anything you need me to do, just tell me."

…………………………………………………………………………

Maximus led the escort to stay at the farm, and the originally bloody battle scene soon turned into a sweaty labor scene.

During this period, Hagux came several times to report that "a small group of Lucenians were approaching to spy", but in the end Lucenia did not send an army to attack.

When the soldiers finally finished harvesting the wheat fields and Maximus gave the order to "return to camp", he finally let out a long breath.

Although nothing abnormal happened during this day, Maximus was always tense. This was the first time he was away from the team and performed such a dangerous mission alone. The lives of hundreds of people depended on him, so he It felt very stressful, but at the same time it was also a great exercise for his character.

When the escort from the baggage camp returned, there were fifteen wagons loaded with wheat (five of them came from this farm and were originally used for grain trading), three bullock carts loaded with wheat, and more than 400 slaves, except for a very few women. Each carries a sack of wheat on his back. There was still some wheat left that could not be taken away, so Maximus did not order it to be destroyed. Instead, he piled it neatly in the farm warehouse to be discovered by someone who was destined to prevent it from being wasted.

A team of nearly 800 people set out on their way home early in the morning. Due to the burden of their luggage, they had to stop and go along the way. The journey of less than 25 miles took a whole day and arrived at the camp at dusk.

Before Maximus could take a breath, he received a messenger from the rebel headquarters: Spartacus was going to convene an emergency meeting of military chiefs.

When Maximus arrived at the farm hall, the other rebel leaders were already sitting inside.

"I'm really sorry, I came back late!" Maximus immediately apologized to everyone.

"I really didn't expect you, Maximus, to be so brave. You dared to go deep into the south with only 300 soldiers. We are all worried about you. Did you encounter any danger?" Spartacus asked with concern. road.

"What's there to worry about? Now the entire Vesuvius region and its surrounding areas belong to us. Who dares to provoke us!" Cross interjected.

"There is indeed no danger. We captured a large farm without suffering any casualties. We harvested a total of about 36,200 kilograms of wheat, and more than 400 slaves joined our team." Maximus said with a relaxed expression.

"So much wheat! This has greatly reduced the pressure on our food supply!" Hamilka said happily.

"When the meeting ends later, I would like to ask you to count the supplies and slaves we brought back." Maximus said to his teacher.

"Okay." Hamilka nodded.

"Your supply camp guards did a great job this time!" After Spartacus praised everyone, he looked around the crowd and his expression became serious: "This emergency meeting was held today because our spies received news that the Romans A legion has left the city of Rome and is approaching us."

"A legion?!" Altonix's face changed.

"There is only one legion. As long as they dare to come, we are fully capable of defeating them!" Enomuyi said without fear.

"Yes, our soldiers now number close to 10,000, and after two months of training, their combat effectiveness has been greatly enhanced. We are fully capable of defeating them in battle!" Cross was also full of confidence.

Attumus, the captain who later joined the rebel army, has a rough appearance and a lean and strong body. He has been fighting the wind and waves on the sea all year round. He is very courageous. Although he has never had any combat experience, he is not surprised at all. Express loudly: "As long as the Roman army comes, we will fight against them! Since we can defeat them once, we can defeat them a second time!"

"Everyone is right, we don't have to worry about the Roman legion's attack at all." Seeing that everyone was in high spirits, far better than last time, Spartacus took the opportunity to take over the conversation and said, "But let's not wait for the Roman army to attack. Instead, we should take the initiative to attack them.”

"Active attack?!" Everyone else was stunned. This statement was completely beyond their expectations: Spartacus was more cautious than them before the last battle with the Romans, but he did not expect to become so aggressive this time.

However, Spartacus did not think that he was radical, but a general tactical principle that he formulated after learning the lessons of the last battle and carefully analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the Romans and the rebels. said, instead glancing at Hamilka.

Hamilka understood and said: "According to the information obtained by the spies, the legion sent by the Romans marched along the Latia Avenue this time. They were divided into two parts, and their forward number consisted of 2,000 people. They arrived at Cara this afternoon. Cales, and the main force of 4,000 troops is in Suessa, which is about half a day’s journey away—”