Chapter 104 Struggle for Command

Cross slapped the table hard: "I also want to make this suggestion. We should take down Metapontum to avenge Enomui! But Metapontum is not easy to fight. We have to discuss it carefully, uh...especially At a time when the Roman army will move south at any time, Spartacus, your main force cannot move lightly.

Enomui is my good brother. I really want to avenge him. Just let me lead my troops to attack Metapontum. You can just send two to three thousand people as support. I will try to do it within half a century. Seize it within the month and place the head of the administrator of Metapontum in front of Enomui's tomb! "

Before reaching an agreement on whether to send troops, Cross was eager to lead the troops himself. It seemed that he wanted to win a victory to reverse the bad influence he had caused on the rebel army by forcing Enomui away... Maximus pondered in his mind, sitting in the position of leader there were some things that he had to think about more.

"Cross, if you want to attack Metapontum alone, what should you do if you stay in the camp in Tuli? Do you have enough soldiers?" Hamilcar asked.

Cross raised his head proudly and said: "There are nearly 40,000 people on my side now, and there are 30,000 young and strong soldiers. Even if I send half of my people to besiege Metapontum, no one in the camp in Tuli would dare. Go invade!"

Cross actually has so many troops, surpassing every leader here! …Not only were the old people such as Spartacus and Altonix surprised, but the newcomers such as Fitodorus were even more shocked.

Cross looked at Spartacus with a little pride in his eyes.

Seeing this, Maximus suddenly understood that the reason why this always selfish Gauls actively asked to lead troops on the expedition was probably not just as simple as avenging Enomui, but more importantly, to show strength and gain prestige. , competing with Spartacus for dominance of the rebel army.

It seems like this guy is inflated! ...Maximus decided to wait and see how things develop.

"Cross." Spartacus regained his calm demeanor and said softly: "If the Roman army goes south, whether it goes east or west, it will first pass through your camp or Attumus and Mark. Sims’ camp, your three-man army had better not move lightly—”

Cross interrupted loudly: "The Roman army may also take the Via Appia and attack here!"

Spartacus shook his head: "It will take longer to get here via the Appian Way, and they go deep alone and can easily be surrounded by us. I don't think the Romans would make such a mistake."

Cross was choked by his words, and then said harshly: "This is just your opinion. The Romans consider themselves powerful, so they may be willing to take this dangerous road."

Spartacus did not want to continue arguing with him, but said seriously: "I have an idea. The last time we fought against the Roman army was six months ago, and we defeated the Romans with the joint efforts of everyone.

Nowadays, everyone's teams are scattered. Although the number of soldiers has greatly increased, they have almost never fought together. There is a lack of cooperation between the teams and it is difficult to achieve unified command. Facing the next attack of the Roman army, they may be Got into trouble...

So I want to attack Metapentum this time. Each of you will allocate some of your own troops. It should not exceed 3,000 people. It is best not to exceed 3,000 people. In this way, our troop strength can exceed 20,000. Everyone try your best. Line up more team officers to participate in the battle. Let's break up the team by attacking Metapontum and prepare for the future battle with the Roman army. At the same time, we will not weaken everyone's camp defense. What do you think? "

"It's good to not only ensure the safety of the camp, but also hone the team. I agree with Spartacus's suggestion." Altonix immediately agreed.

"Spartacus's suggestion is more reliable, and I agree with it." After Hamilcar's statement, Artemidonus and Tormaas, the two leaders who had just become official members of the officers' conference, followed. He has been following Spartacus and taking care of him, so he naturally reciprocates his support.

"I support Spartacus." Maximus finished speaking and glanced at Cross. Although this guy showed kindness to him twice today, he thought Spartacus was more trustworthy.

Cross's face had become a little ugly. He suddenly slammed the table again and said loudly: "Since you all agree with Spartacus's opinion, then I would like to ask who will be the commander of this expedition?!

Spartacus, you have too many people here, and there are too many teams. It is easy for conflicts to arise because of the slightest contradiction. I heard that not long ago, the team of Cre... Onis fought with the team of Maximus. , and injured many people...

So you see, if you, Spartacus, lead the army on an expedition, and there is some trouble here, without you here to take charge, wouldn't it be troublesome if it causes even greater turmoil?

I think! At this critical moment, we must ensure the stability of our entire rebel army. Spartacus, you should sit here and let me lead the army to attack Metapontum! "

Maximus opened his mouth slightly: Cross nakedly asked for command, this is directly forcing the palace! It seems that the expansion of strength has expanded his ambitions!

Everyone else also looked more or less astonished. Only Spartacus looked calm. After all, they had been rivals in the Arena School and knew each other very well.

He thought for a while and was about to speak when he suddenly felt tenderness in his left foot. However, Hamilcar next to him stepped on his foot hard and shook his head at him extremely seriously.

When Spartacus hesitated, there was a brief calm in the room, and then someone broke the silence. The person who spoke turned out to be Cleonis.

"There was a little conflict with Chief Maximus' team before, and it was mainly my fault! I didn't know much about the situation near the city of Bari, and I didn't know that it had been conquered by Chief Maximus. As a result... Here I want to admit my mistake to Chief Maximus." After finishing speaking, Cleonis stood up and bent towards Maximus.

Maximus also stood up quickly and said apologetically: "I was also wrong. I didn't manage my subordinates well. They were too irritable. But we don't know each other. If you have any difficulties in the future, just tell me. , I will try my best to help as long as I can!”

"Thank you, Chief Maximus!" Cleonis thanked him and sat down, letting out a sigh of relief.

The previous conflict caused the collapse of Cleonis's team and the loss of his prestige. How could he not have resentment in his heart? However, Spartacus and Hamilka both came to talk to him and made him realize that these two leaders of the rebellion The leaders of the Niu Er attach great importance to Maximus. At the meeting today, Arttumus was seen following Maximus's footsteps. This shows Maximus' status among the leaders. He wants to be a leader in the uprising in the future. A formal member of the Military Council of Military Chiefs must also be recognized by the leaders... Moreover, when he fought with Maximus' army that day, most of the soldiers on the other side were well-equipped and enviable... It was for these reasons that he decided Put aside your resentment for the time being and lower your body to befriend Maximus.

This behavior of Cleionis made Maximus think that he was a flexible and intelligent man, and he cast a kind look on him after sitting down.

"Although our team has expanded, we are all poor people who are fighting against Rome and getting rid of oppression. Even if there is a little conflict between each other, they will soon be like the two leaders Maximus and Cleonis. It's not as serious as you think, Cross."

Hamilka struck while the iron was hot and said loudly: "Besides, Metapontum is not far from here. If anything happens here, Spartacus will be back soon..."

Now that everyone has agreed to Spartacus's suggestion to send troops to Metapontum, as for who should be the commander-in-chief of this expedition, we should follow the past practice and each name the suitable candidate and get support. The leader with the most troops will lead the expedition. "

Except for Cross's objection, everyone agreed, and of course the vote still resulted in Spartacus winning.

Cross' face was quite ugly. He slammed the earthen pot on the table, causing all the porridge in the pot to splash out.

"I feel sick to my stomach. I need to go for convenience." Cross strode out angrily.

Spartacus also changed his expression, but he quickly held back and asked in a gentle tone: "Do you have any other suggestions?"

Everyone's minds were still stuck on the exciting scene just now, and they shook their heads.

"Then let's have a serious discussion about sending troops."

…………………………………………………………………………

Cross did not return until the meeting was over.

Spartacus whispered with regret: "Hamilcar, in fact, it doesn't matter if Cross leads the army this time -"

"Spartacus, it's not like you don't know Cross's character. He can even drive Enom, who has a good relationship with him, away. If he is allowed to serve as commander, will he abuse his power and bring down other leaders? I’ve all been offended——”

Hamilka solemnly reminded: "Not only will we not be able to unite against the enemy, we will instead be hostile to each other. It will be too late to regret!"

Spartacus was silent for a moment and sighed: "You are right, but if this happens, Cross will feel resentful towards us."

"Don't worry, Cross hates the Romans as much as we do." Hamilka responded, then stood up and hurried out, shouting at the same time: "Maximus!"

Maximus, who had already reached the courtyard, stopped and respectfully replied: "Teacher, is something okay?"

Hamilcar walked up to him and said bluntly: "Although Metapontum is small, it is not easy to attack. We need good siege equipment, and your army has a specialized engineering team that is manufacturing siege equipment." The city's equipment is far stronger than other teams. I hope you can bring this engineering team to help us attack the city. I know that your army is not very large. As long as this engineering team can come, you can be allowed to send less. Soldier."

"No problem, I will call them as soon as possible." Maximus answered readily.

Hamilka seemed to have expected Maximus to answer like this. He did not thank him and continued: "I heard that you have obtained a weapons workshop in Sarapia. You can make your own weapons. I don't know how much you can make every month." How much? Can you share some with us?

You have to know that in the past two or three months, we have added too many soldiers here, but we have received too few weapons. We have almost cut down all the trees around Uria, but some of them are not even good enough. There are no wooden sticks..."

Maximus knew that Spartacus and Hamilka valued his management ability when they were in Campania, and they would definitely keep an eye on him after going south, but he had more control over the city of Sarapia. Yan, I think even if Hamilcar knew something about it, he wouldn't be too clear about it.

So, he half-truthfully said: "I'm lucky. I did get a weapons workshop in the city of Sarapia. However, due to the lack of enough iron ore, I can only make one hundred weapons per month so far." Multiple shields, more than 200 daggers, and nearly 400 spears. In order to save materials and time and make more weapons, we didn't even make a pair of armor. Since you are in urgent need here, I can... give half of it every month Weapons for you."

"Thank you very much!" Hamilcar finally said thank you.

"Teacher, what's the point of thanking you? As Spartacus said, we rebels should unite and help each other to defeat the Romans!" Maximus said with a look on his face. He responded sternly.

"Since you have said so, let me ask you one more thing." Hamilcar took the opportunity to take over the conversation and continued: "I heard that you are trading with those merchants at the port of Sarapia. Can you still do it? Just like in Pompeii, let your men use the money and materials we collected here to exchange for enough food with those merchants? "

"I heard that you also have many merchants here!" Maximus was a little surprised: Spartacus paid attention to him, and he also paid attention to this side. It can be said that Spartacus is willing to trade with merchants or not. Under his influence.

"There are some merchants here." Hamilka smiled bitterly and said helplessly: "But now there are no merchants willing to transport food here to sell, because there are too many people here, and the living area is relatively wide. It is difficult to completely control them. Not only merchants who sell grain, but also merchants who sell other things will be robbed. There are fewer and fewer merchants coming here now! "

"This is no problem, just leave it to us. It will be the same as it was in Pompeii." Maximus answered simply.