Chapter 76 Harvest and Military Officer

Maximus didn't even look at Silo, and smiled and said: "Well done, Pheasalus! Now you leave a centurion here to guard the armory, and the others will follow me to support Carminus. "

"yes!"

This time, Maximus returned to the rescue and no longer marched as fast as before. Instead, he asked the soldiers to march at a normal speed to restore some physical strength.

The reason why the reinforcements from the rich area led by Areius came slowly is because the rich area is located in the southeast corner of Pompeii, farthest from the Gate of Helenicum. After learning that "a group of rioting slaves raided through the port After the news of "invading the city", the dignitaries of Pompeii did not immediately send people to rescue them. Instead, they first gathered the slaves and kept them under strict supervision, and then asked the guards raised at home to rush to Areius. Gather in front of the mansion.

Although the 500-man army led by Areyus was patchworked together, they had good equipment and good courage (otherwise it would not be enough to scare the slaves), so Areyus was unable to defeat them. The enemy army in front of him, which was significantly smaller in number than him, was full of confidence.

However, the 200 soldiers led by Carminus were fully equipped and had high morale due to the successful raid on the port. Among them were more than 20 experienced Roman veterans headed by Aulus. They held the intersection, preventing the superior strength of Pompeii's reinforcements from being used, and thus blocked Areius's fierce attack.

As the battle lasted a little longer, the offensive intensity of Pompeii's reinforcements began to weaken. In the final analysis, they are just guards who are good at bullying slaves, not soldiers who have been tempered in the military camp.

Carminus wanted to launch a counterattack, but Aulus stopped him. He did not want to scare away the enemy so quickly.

Areius was shrewd in politics and business, but had little experience in military matters. It was only because of his great prestige in Pompeii that he organized this support army. At this moment, he was worried about the safety of the city and saw that the enemy was beaten and could only defend. , unable to attack, so he kept urging the soldiers to attack fiercely.

However, at this moment, Maximus took advantage of the cover of night and once again listened to Quintus's advice and chose to take a detour for reinforcements.

When the shouts of the rebel soldiers rang out from behind Pompeii's reinforcements, Areius turned pale in an instant. The only remaining armed force in Pompeii suddenly became a turtle in a jar. The guards had no fighting spirit and surrendered one after another...

Areyus rationally gave up resistance and was about to be captured, but he heard a voice coming from behind: "Areyus, we finally meet again!"

This somewhat familiar voice shocked Areyus. He opened his eyes wide and looked at the old man walking from the darkness. The uneasiness on his face quickly turned into anger, so much so that he forgot his own situation: "... Quintus, it’s you! You must be causing trouble to allow Pompeii to be captured by these slaves! Don’t forget that you are a Roman, you are betraying Rome——”

"No, it was Rome that betrayed me first!" Quintus said coldly: "It ignored our decades of blood-loyalty and used you lackeys to seize our land and trample on our dignity! Are Yoss, I have accused you of killing my son and daughter-in-law to Rome several times before, but you have always made it impossible for me to win. You can try again tonight!" As he said this, he drew out his dark dagger.

Areius was so frightened that he turned around to run away, but Quintus grabbed him by the collar.

"Quintus, spare your life! It's not my fault. This is all what Sulla forced me to do. He has taken a fancy to your land, and there is nothing I can do about it -" Areyus trembled and knelt down. On the ground, snot and tears all flowed out.

"The protector of Pompeii turned out to be like this. It seems that 'law and justice' are bullshit. Only force can make you show your true colors..." Quintus sneered and thrust forward with the dagger in his hand. , pierced Areius's chest, and the cry of mercy stopped abruptly.

He drew out his dagger and swung it out with great force, cutting off the enemy's neck in one fell swoop.

He raised his head high and showed it to Aulus and the other Lukelians, who all roared with excitement.

"Chief Maximus, the dignitaries of Pompeii live not far ahead. We must do our best to capture them all before we can completely control this town!"

Maximus felt a little uncomfortable when he saw Quintus holding the bleeding head of Areius. He understood that Quintus had selfish motives for saying this, because the enemies of these Lucelia people were not only Areius. One, many Pompeii dignitaries were involved, but no matter what, the purpose of both parties was the same.

Thinking of this, Maximus looked around and said loudly: "Brothers, hold on a little longer and follow me to arrest those rich Pompeii people who are exploiting our slaves!"

"Roar!!!" the soldiers shouted in unison excitedly.

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"Chief, after our rough inventory of the loot, we now have 450 sets of leather helmets, 498 square shields, 515 daggers, 722 spears, 988 pairs of leather sandals, and 1,130 linen tunics..."

Clerk Volenus was talking when he was interrupted by Capito, the military warehouse manager: "The weapons and equipment we actually got should be more, because many soldiers directly stripped the enemy's body after killing or capturing them. The armor is worn on one's own body, and the opponent's weapons are taken and used by oneself, so it is impossible to make accurate statistics. "

"It doesn't matter, the meat will rot in his own pot anyway." Maximus thought for a while and said: "Vorenus, you send someone to inform the three chief centurions and ask them to bring their men. Soldiers with weapons and equipment hurried to the city hall to change their uniforms."

Volenus reminded in a low voice: "Chief, do you want to inform Spartacus and others about these weapons and equipment we have captured?"

Maximus glared at him: "Spartacus and Cross won great battles before and captured enough weapons and equipment of the Roman Legion. People don't look down on our crappy stuff, so there's no need. That’s more. By the way, Volenus, how many slaves are there in Pompeii willing to join us?”

"Uh... Chief, since I entered the city, Capito and I have been busy counting supplies, and I haven't had time to learn about the situation of Pompeii's slaves." Volenus explained.

Maximus then remembered that because the warehouse manager Cornelius did not come to Pompeii with the army last night due to old age and infirmity, he temporarily handed over the task of counting the supplies to Volenus.

Is it time for the position of warehouse manager to be replaced by someone who can actively do things? ...Maximus thought in his heart and said: "In a moment, you will focus on this matter, find out the situation of the slaves who are willing to join our supply camp, and get rid of those who are young and strong without any special talents as soon as possible." All the male slaves were selected and organized into the escort team——"

At this point, Maximus suddenly asked: "Where is Frontinus?"

"Maybe they are guarding the prisoners over there in the temple." Capito replied.

"Hurry up and call him." After Maximus finished speaking, he looked at Volenus: "Aside from weapons and equipment, where are the other supplies?"

Volenus looked at the records in his hand carefully and said: We also obtained hundreds of kilograms of papyrus, linen that could fill a large warehouse, many cowhide, many woolen rugs, and many clay pots of different sizes. , many jars of wine, many jars of olive oil, and a lot of grain and bacon... In addition, we also received six large boxes full of dinars (silver coins) and two large boxes full of ores (gold coins). Because time is too tight, we haven't had time to do a detailed inventory, but these materials are only collected from Pompeii's city hall, treasury, temples and the residences of the captured rich. We have not yet searched the shops in the city. And warehouses at the port! "

"This is already a lot!" Maximus, who was already sleepy, suddenly became energetic and was so happy that he couldn't speak at all: "Now we are really rich!"

"Dafa?" Volenus didn't understand the meaning of the word.

Maximus was too lazy to explain, and he thought of another problem: "We have obtained so much supplies, and Pygris's transport team will probably have to transport them many times, and there is not enough storage space in the camp..."

The transport team in charge of Pygris did not follow the troops last night. After all, driving a carriage in the dark is prone to accidents, and it is also easy to be discovered. Once the Pompeii people are prepared, the raid is very likely to fail. Therefore, Maximus originally planned to notify Pompeii to come the day after he captured it.

"Chief, why don't we use Pompeii as a new camp." Volenus suggested.

"Well..." Maximus tapped his fingers on the long wooden table in front of him. Volenus' proposal made him very excited, but the special nature of the baggage camp forced him to consider more: "This I'm afraid we have to discuss it with Spartacus and Cross. Unless they are willing to move here, it will be difficult for the supply camp to be stationed so far away from the main force..."

While Maximus was thinking, Frontinus walked in: "Chief Maximus, are you looking for me?"

"Yes." Maximus looked at the old man in front of him. Three months of rebel life had washed away a lot of vicissitudes of life on his body. Even though he had been busy last night without rest, he still looked energetic. He was hale and hearty, and the most important thing was that he had respect for himself in his eyes.

"Cassius Frontinus." Maximus said solemnly: "In view of the many contributions you have made to the baggage camp, I have decided to appoint you as military officer! In the future, the military affairs of the baggage camp will be You are responsible for handling affairs, but you do not have the power to mobilize and command the army."

Frontinus understood that this was a position similar to that of a military camp commander in a Roman legion. He was a little excited about it. He lived in such a supply camp for three months with behavior and order similar to that of a Roman camp, and lived there every day. Supervising the training of the escort soldiers, he has developed some sense of belonging to the supply camp, but apart from supervising the training and making some suggestions, he cannot do more for the supply camp, which also prevents him from fully integrating into the team. And now Maximus gave him real power and solved his regrets.

"Thank you, chief!" Frontinus said gratefully.

"You can select five people from the military advisory group as your assistants." Maximus said seriously: "There must be people who can write and count. In the future, the experience of the escort soldiers and team officers will be detailed. Records, the meritorious deeds of soldiers after each battle must also be recorded... All of these must be archived, do you understand? "

Frontinus was a little confused when he heard this: This requirement seems to be higher than that of the Roman Legion! There are two comrades in the military advisory group who can read, but they may not be able to meet Maximus's requirements. Capito can do it, but he has already become the director of the military warehouse...

When Maximus saw that Frontinus did not respond, he understood his difficulty. Since Frontinus himself was not literate, he was actually not very suitable for the position of military officer.

However, Maximus had observed him for so long and found that this man first valued affection. Otherwise, when Sulla's army came to the city, many Marius veterans chose to avoid it. He knew that he would fail, but chose to face the difficulties. He has a very good relationship with his comrades in this group of army slaves. Even the arrogant Capito respects him. It is said that he often helped these comrades in the slave camp in Rome... People who value affection are often more loyal. Secondly, he is very down-to-earth in his work. The military training for the escort team has lasted for three months. Some members of the military advisory group have become statues on the side of the training ground, but he still yells at poorly trained soldiers every day. This shows that he is serious and persistent, and those responsible for military affairs need people who can do practical things... It is precisely because of this that Maximus gave Frontinus part of the military power he had finally mastered.

There is no way around this. When there were only one or two hundred people in the escort, he could manage it easily. But when the number of soldiers exceeded 500, the military affairs became more numerous. Especially after Pompeii was captured, there were many military matters to be dealt with. become more complicated. As the leader of the supply camp, he cannot devote all his energy to handling military affairs, so he must have someone to help him, and then he must share the power.

Even Maximus considered administrative matters.

When Volenus was appointed as secretary, he was originally asked to record the situation of the entire supply camp so that Maximus could inquire at any time. However, later it became the responsibility of the heads of other departments to summarize the situation to Volenus. , and then Volenus reports to Maximus. And sometimes, in order to save time, Maximus directly asked Volenus to bring his opinions to solve some problems in subordinate departments, and even asked him to be responsible for the education of adults in the supply camp...