Chapter 142 Build a home first? Or start a war first?

Others did not show any dissatisfaction, because they all felt that what Maximus said made sense.

"Chief, when will the twenty-title system be implemented?" Fissarus was a little impatient.

"I'm afraid it will take some time." Maximus explained: "On the one hand, some of the reward conditions of the twenty-title system still need to be discussed and determined with the heads of various departments; on the other hand, we are still crowded in this temporary base and have not moved to Varidosi. The land distribution cannot be implemented at all. Let's not let everyone be happy for the time being, so as not to affect everyone's mood... So we can discuss now, how to build our new home on the newly purchased land of Varidosi?"

As soon as these words came out, the military tent became lively again.

"Don't mutter down there, stand up and talk about how to do it?" Maximus urged.

Gaius, the former captain of the engineering battalion and the new adjutant of engineering, stood up first. He scratched his head and said softly, "Chief, when I was supervising the construction of the camp today, I heard that Varidossi was not far from here, so when the camp was initially built, I took a few people to secretly take a look at Varidossi-"

"I know you are not the only one who went to take a peek. Many people here went to see it. Considering your desire for a new home, I will not criticize you here." Maximus said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "Tell me, what do you think of Varidossi?"

"It is indeed as the Ardi people said, Varidossi is a swamp, and the area is not small. It is composed of many large water bodies. puddles, but the water in these puddles doesn't look very deep..."

Gaius considered the sentence and said, "I think it can be like this... Well, you may not know that although the city of Rome is located on the Tiber River, it is actually built on seven small hills by the river. Because the river often floods where it is located, swamps are formed in the lowlands between these hills, so the Romans have mastered the technology of draining swamps and filling wetlands very early. During the years when we were slaves in Rome, we were driven to do these hard work many times... I think I can try to make Varidossi a land suitable for us to live and cultivate again. "

"Tell me quickly, how to do it?" Maximus asked hurriedly.

"First, drain the water." Gaius said thoughtfully, "These puddles are densely distributed on both sides of the two rivers, occupying a large area, but there are some dry land around them. We can send many people to dig large and deep pits on the dry land, and then drain the water from the puddles into the pits, and then drain the water in the pits into the Kupa River and the Corana River, or simply stop draining and use the pits directly as artificial lakes.

After the water in the swamp is drained, let it be exposed to the sun for a while. After the ground is dry and wrinkled, spread the soil dug out from the pits on the swamp and compact it. It is best to plow the swamp soil again after a while, so that the moisture can be better removed, and it will be better for building houses and farming..."

"Your method is very good!" Maximus praised, but his eyes glanced at Frontinus and others.

"When we were slaves, we transformed the depressions on the banks of the Tiber River in this way, but it was not so complicated. After all, Validossi is our new home. It will be more comfortable to live in it if we spend more effort." Frontinus said truthfully.

"But if we want to accomplish this, we will need a lot of manpower." Maximus touched his chin.

Gaius nodded and said, "Chief, it's best to gather all the men in our team to do this. It's best to choose summer, when there is less heat and the ground is easy to dry. And we have to ask Spukara to help us calculate how big and deep the pit needs to be dug, and where is the best place to dig it?"

"Although I haven't done this before, I will try my best to help you calculate!" Spukara responded seriously, because building Varidossi is everyone's business.

"If there are enough people and the weather is suitable, I think it may only take three months to restore Varidossi to its original appearance, but after that we still need to build a river embankment to prevent the river from flooding again." Gaius assured Maximus.

"That means it can't be done this year, at least until next year, by which time the twenty-title system may have been implemented. If you can transform Varidossi into a home suitable for us to live in, it will be a great achievement, and I think a title is definitely indispensable!" Maximus encouraged loudly.

Gaius said excitedly: "I will do my best to complete the transformation of Varidosi!"

Others were envious after hearing this.

Vollenus, such a steady man, stood up anxiously at this moment: "Chief, the transformation of Varidosi will have to wait until next year. We can transform the hills east of Varidosi as our first place to settle down."

"You and I went to see that hill today. It is full of grass, trees and rocks. I am afraid it will take a lot of effort to turn it into the land we want, right?" Maximus was a little skeptical about this.

"Chief, we can burn the hills." Vollenus said confidently: "There is no need to burn them all at once, which will easily burn the entire forest. We can first determine the location where the tribesmen will settle, and then cut down the weeds and trees around this location to prevent the fire from spreading, and then burn the land.

It is autumn now, and the grass is dry. It should be easy to burn it. After the burning is done, dig up the rocks and tree roots and throw them away. The burned land should be usable. I took a closer look at the hilly area. The hills are gentle and the soil is very thick. It would be great for building houses or farming. "

Capito, who also followed Maximus for inspection, interjected: "There are some trees on those hills. It would be a pity to burn them all. It is better to cut them down first and then burn them. We can cut down those trees to build houses. Shipbuilding... We have more than a dozen frame saws in the baggage camp, and it will be faster to cut down trees. "

"As long as there are many people, it's okay to cut down the trees first." Volenus replied readily, as if he felt that Maximus would not object.

Maximus smiled: "Volenus, your method of burning the wasteland is very good. You will be responsible for opening up the hills in the future, but -"

He put away his smile and asked seriously: "Now that we are going to burn wasteland on those hills, do you think the Pannonians will let it go?"

Volanus was speechless for a moment, and then said: "Chief, can we send a legion to defend the wasteland while we are burning it? This way, if the Pannonians dare to come, they can be driven back..."

Before Maximus could reply, Frontinus objected loudly: "This is impossible! You need a lot of manpower to burn down wasteland and build houses, and you also need a lot of manpower to send legion guards. This is equivalent to concentrating almost the entire army on the hills. , and burning the wasteland cannot be completed in a short time. If the strong men of the tribe stay there for a long time, it will become very unsafe! "

"There is one more thing that needs our attention!" Quintus added: "When I went to see the hills with the leader during the day, the Pannoni tribe not far from the hills immediately sent their warriors out to drive them away. It can be seen from this that they We have regarded those hills as our own territory. If we burn the wasteland and build houses there, we will undoubtedly anger the Pannoni.

Even if we were able to repel them once or twice, the leader of Aldiyi said that the Pannoni tribe here alone has an army of more than 10,000 to 20,000 people. When their army comes to kill, our Most of the soldiers are still burning the wasteland, and I'm afraid it will be a disaster! "

"This..." Volenus was speechless and just looked at Maximus, because he had the final say.

Maximus did not make an immediate decision, but asked: "How long can our current food last?"

"We now have 10,930 soldiers, and the entire supply camp has 4,532 people, which adds up to more than 15,000 people. Since we did not replenish any supplies after Padua, we marched for another two months and the supplies were I’ve consumed most of it, and now even if I save on eating every day, it can last for at most a month and a half.”

Volenus was an administrator before, and it was his job to know the population, money, and food of the entire army. During the march, he was still performing his duties even if he was helping in the supply camp, so he could speak out without thinking at this moment.

He said with a worried look on his face: "If we want to leave some wheat as seeds, I'm afraid it won't even be enough for a month. That's why I hope to seize the time to burn the wasteland for planting, and while it is September, we can replant some more." "Pulses, if the time is delayed any longer, there may not be any harvest this year, and our food cannot completely rely on the support of the Aldi people."

Now it was Quintus and Frontinus' turn to look at each other. They really didn't expect that the tribe's food storage had begun to be tight. Not only them, many people in the tent were a little nervous.

Maximus looked calm. As the leader, he knew the situation of the team very well, otherwise he would not have sought food support from the leader of Aldiyi before.

"Frontinus, how many soldiers can we fight now?" Maximus asked his military officer.

"The march in the mountains some time ago was very taxing on the team. More than 1,000 people were injured and sick. Now there are about 9,700 people who can fight." Frontinus said.

The reason why Frontinus was not specific enough was not because his work was not meticulous, but because after the team entered the mountainous area, people were injured and sick every day. However, they had just arrived here today to build camps and hold meetings before he had time. Count the number of sick people today to each unit.

Of course, Maximus also knew the situation of the army relatively well. The reason why he asked this was to elicit the following sentence: "Do you think we can win with the current situation of the army if we start a war with the Pannonians tomorrow?"

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked.

A group of officials in the original supply camp were still intoxicated by the beautiful future described by Maximus and thinking about how to build their homes. However, they were shocked when they suddenly heard the request to "start war tomorrow".

Because after a long march, even the army generals who are most eager to fight also hope that the tired army can take a good rest and fully restore its combat effectiveness before fighting the Pannoni in the east. This will be more There is a chance of winning.

Seeing this situation, Maximus asked in a solemn voice: "Previously, the elder Budokaribas of the Ardiyi tribe once said that his people were often attacked by Segestika after they retreated here. They were harassed by people, and I found that there were many signs of damage on the north side of their village stockade. It is possible that the Segestika people also led an army to attack this stockade, so the Ardeii people probably lied!

The Segestika people did not stop invading after occupying the land east of Varidosi, but wanted to continue to occupy the upper reaches of the Mreznica River and the Korana River. After all, the banks of these two rivers were not Mountains, but fertile riverside plains, so if we want to settle here, we will definitely become the first target to be eliminated by the Segestika——"

"Damn Aldi!" Torrelugo cursed.

Seeing everyone's nervous expressions, Maximus then said: "We are in short supply of food now. Although I have asked for the support of the chief of Ardei, this is only the last option. If we are completely dependent on the food of the Ardei people, If they ask us to do this or that, can we still refuse? In the end, we can only become pawns of the Ardei in the battle with the Segestika or other hostile tribes of the Ardei. Slowly dying."

Volenus couldn't help but swallowed, and then he saw Maximus' eyes turning to him: "When we went to see the hills today, we also saw the Segostika stronghold. The stronghold It is surrounded by large tracts of wheat fields. It is autumn now, and the wheat in the fields has been harvested. It seems that the harvested wheat has filled the barns in their stockades. If we can seize their stockades, wouldn't it solve our problem of surviving the winter? food!"

Volenus swallowed again.

"Is it difficult to seize their stronghold?" Maximus turned his attention to Quintus: "The Segestica people should not know our arrival yet, but we know a lot about them through the Ardeii people. .

For example, most of their warriors don't wear armor, they don't have a tight phalanx, and they like to let the Skordisqi slaves charge first... And their stockade, we have all observed it, there are no trenches, and there should be no traps. Surrounding the village are simple wooden walls...

Since they have defeated the Ardi people many times before, they must be very arrogant. Can we take advantage of their mentality to lure their warriors out and defeat them, and then capture the stronghold. Wouldn't it be easier? "