Chapter 444: Plans against Caesar

Marcus stood up, saluted Maximus, then looked at Vercingetorix, and said loudly: "At the suggestion of the King, the Kingdom Council made a resolution to transfer the province of Northern Italy to The territory west of Parma to Brescia was placed under the control of the Gallic Allies!

Chief Vercingetorio, when you came here today, I believe you all noticed that there was not a single person to be seen along the way. After entering the city of Milan, apart from the Nix soldiers we brought, we could not see a single person from the North Italian province, because after we captured this territory, we drove everyone in the province away. to the south, bringing all the slaves and landless poor east of Parma and Brady West.

We have basically not used the granaries in all the towns here and the materials left behind by the residents after they fled south, because the king is already aware of your plight and has long considered transferring these to you. As the finance minister of the kingdom, I once made a rough inventory of these grains and supplies——"

Magus emphasized his tone: "Northern Italy is indeed the most developed agricultural region in Italy. Even though it has been four months since the harvest, the food left in these towns is enough for your 25,000 soldiers... Well, More than half a year’s worth!”

"This is so great!!" The leaders and soldiers of Gaul looked surprised and couldn't help but cheer.

Although Vercingetor had never met Maximus before, through Lurios's introduction and correspondence over the past two years, he had some knowledge of the Knicks king and felt that he would provide him with some food. , but I didn’t expect Maximus to give so much.

He stood up in a hurry, ignoring the overturned wine glass, and said with excitement: "Dear King Maximus, thank you for your generous and selfless help! Now our army and our people are saved! You are Great benefactor of our Gauls, all our peoples in Gaul will remember you for giving——"

"Chief Vercingetorius! Dear Gallic leaders and warriors!" Maximus interrupted him and said loudly: "Nix and Gaul are allies. Our allies are in trouble, and it is our duty to provide help. What's more, Rome's invasion of Gaul over the years has taken away so many lives and wealth from the Gallic compatriots. These food and supplies are just a small amount of interest that we both ask for from the Romans. Next, we must work together to pay tribute to Gaul! The Romans demand more blood!”

"King Maximus is so right! With the goddess Danu on top, we Gauls will regard Nyx as a brother, fight side by side, work together to defeat more Roman armies, share more wealth, and finally be completely Destroy Rome!" The Gallic leaders present looked at Maximus and excitedly made their promise loudly.

Maximus looked at the Gallic leaders who swore solemnly, and was secretly happy that his plan to win over the Gallic allies had taken effect.

In fact, Nix was forced to give up half of the territory and supplies in the occupied North Italian province.

The land of the North Italian Province is vast. After the Knicks army expelled most of the people in the North Italian Province, it is impossible to cultivate so much land with slaves and poor people alone. The Nix army only had 40,000 people. Even if slaves and civilians were armed and stationed in every important town in the North Italian province, the number of troops stationed would not be too many. On the contrary, the troops would be scattered and easily defeated by the Roman army. , so Maximus came up with a way to give up the ground, which not only strengthened the friendship with the Gauls, but also shared the pressure of defense, and also strengthened the strength of the Allies, which was more conducive to coordinated operations, thus achieving the goal of killing four birds with one stone. purpose.

"Dear King Maximus!" Vercingetorius said hesitantly: "You have generously allowed my soldiers to no longer suffer from food shortage, but...but there are still many of our people who are hungry. Belly, I want them to come to the western part of Northern Italy to eat. I wonder if it’s possible——"

"The land in the west has been handed over to you. It is of course up to you to decide how to arrange and distribute it. We will not interfere." Maximus said seriously: "But I hope you will be more vigilant and strengthen your defenses. Once the Roman army is discovered If there are signs of attacking you, inform us as soon as possible, and our army will come to join you as soon as possible to fight the Romans together!"

"Don't worry, we have suffered too many losses from the Romans in the past, how dare we be careless now!" Vercingetorio solemnly responded: "Dear King Maximus, if the Roman army attacks your side first, Please also inform us as soon as possible, and we will definitely arrive as soon as possible to fight with you!”

Maximus nodded and said: "After we occupied the North Italian province, we released all the slaves who were detained and oppressed by the Romans. Many of these slaves came from Gaul, but now you are short of food. It’s not easy to keep the existing soldiers and people fed, but we have plenty of food. I think we can temporarily let them have more food on our side. Stay for a while so that they don't have to consume your scant food. Moreover, many of them are sick and injured because they resisted the oppression of the Romans. I'm not boasting. Our Nix's medical skills are among the tribes in the mountains to the east. They are famous. There are many doctors coming with the army this time, and they will get good treatment... What do you think? "

"If this can be done, that would be great!" Vercingeoli said with both shame and gratitude: "I almost forgot about these suffering compatriots who were captured by the Romans. Fortunately, you were thoughtful and took care of them!"

Maximus showed a bit of astonishment: "We are currently short of manpower. Because of the inconvenient transportation, it is not easy to transfer more ethnic people from the territory, so after they recover, we may need them to help us. They may even be organized to guard the towns in the rear for us...so I hope you can forgive me!"

"King Maximus, you are so polite! You saved their lives, healed their injuries, and most importantly, kept them from starving. It's not right to let them do something!" A Gaul leader shouted.

"That's right! You are their savior. It's not right to let them do some work!" Other Gaul leaders also echoed loudly.

Maximus reluctantly nodded again, but he looked at each other with Agriculture Minister Valles. With the approval of Vercingeoli and others, they no longer had to worry about the labor and labor resources they had finally obtained in the Northern Italian Province. The manpower will be taken away by the Gallic allies or there will be some disputes.

"Dear King Maximus!" A Gallic leader put down the pig's knuckle in his hand, wiped his oily mouth, and asked loudly: "After our army enters the province of North Italy, what will you do? Aren’t you going to attack Rome with us?”

"No!" Maximus looked at the leader and responded firmly: "I suggest that we don't rush to attack south first, but defeat Caesar here first, and then it will be easier to attack Rome! "

The word "Caesar" made all the Gauls present tremble, but Maximus' words made them confused. Vercingetorio, on behalf of everyone, asked first: "Dear King Maximus, Since you have defeated the Roman army and Italy is now empty of troops, it is a good time to attack Rome. Why do you still waste time waiting until Caesar comes back to fight him? "

"There are three reasons." Maximus calmly said to everyone in Gaul: "First of all, we don't have a navy. If we are eager to attack southward, the closer we are to Rome, the further away we will be from our own territory. Once the Roman army takes ships, Landing in our rear, trampling on our territory, harming our people, and cutting off our transportation lines, our soldiers will panic, morale will drop, and the army will be in trouble;

Secondly, Rome is the center of the Romans, and the Romans will definitely do their best to protect it. This means that the further south we attack, the greater the resistance we will encounter. Once the attack is blocked, the rear will be raided by the Romans. Then our army would be in extreme danger;

Finally, the victorious Caesar is the pillar and commander of the Roman army. No matter how many times the Romans are defeated, as long as Caesar is not defeated, that is their confidence. And he is indeed our biggest threat, so we must first defeat him. Defeat, eliminate this threat, destroy the confidence of the Romans, and then attack Rome will be much smoother! "

These words made all the Gauls think deeply.

Vercingetorius, the most savvy one, was impressed first, but he asked with some concern: "If Caesar does not take the initiative to attack us, but instead uses this time to recruit troops and strengthen defenses, wouldn't we have missed the opportunity to fight?!"

Maximus responded confidently: "No, because he is Caesar!"

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In late January, after conquering Egypt, Caesar abandoned his Nile honeymoon cruise with Cleopatra and decided to return to Italy.

He sent messengers to notify the legions stranded in Greece to return to Brindisi to assemble as soon as possible, and also notified the Roman fleet stationed in various military ports to return to Brindisi as soon as possible to assemble.

At the same time, he appointed Calvinus as commander of the eastern provinces, granting him the right to recruit and form new legions in the eastern provinces to fight against the rebellious Pharnakis. In addition, Calvinus also helped the Macedonian province to defend against Dacian invasion.

In a letter to Calvinus, Caesar encouraged this subordinate who had just suffered a defeat: let him not put too much pressure on him, as long as he can contain the enemy, and try to avoid chaos before he leads his army back to the east. If the situation further expands, then he will have made great contributions to Rome.