Chapter 79 The Chiefs Gathered at Pompeii

The three of them left the city hall and walked in silence for a while. Aulus couldn't help but said: "I think it's good to join the supply camp. Anyway, not only do I have no pressure, but I also want to do something big again. "

"I also think joining the supply camp is our best choice." Spukala also said.

Both set their sights on Quintus.

Quintus sighed: "Given our current situation, if we don't join them, is there any other way to survive! The baggage camp has avenged us, and it's natural for us to fulfill our promise!"

Then he looked at the two men and said meaningfully: "Although Maximus is young, he is very capable in managing the supply camp in an orderly manner. And compared with other leaders of this team, he is courageous. , It’s a long-term consideration, which is probably the most important reason why you two are willing to speak for him. If this is the case, let’s help him, and maybe we can really give our family hope of a stable life in the future!”

After hearing this, Aulus and Spukala nodded excitedly.

…………………………………………………………………………

After receiving the news, the four rebel captains, Cross, Enomui, Altonix, and Attumus, rushed to the headquarters to gather.

Spartacus asked Hamilcar to stay in the camp and led the other four men and the cavalry to ride towards Pompeii.

At dusk, the group arrived outside the Hellanicum Gate in Pompeii. From a distance, they saw a group of soldiers standing at the city gate. The leader waved and shouted: "Chief Spartacus, you are finally here!"

"It's Torreluco." Altonix said softly.

Spartacus nodded. After all, most of the leaders of the rebel army were in this team. Even Maximus's invitation had to be cautious. Now that the gatekeeper was an old acquaintance, he was completely relieved. He said in a deep voice: "Let's go to the city."

When a group of people came to the city, Tolerugo took the initiative to greet them: "Chiefs, I saw that you stopped in front. Are you worried that the baggage camp has not captured the city and that there is danger, right?"

The expressions of Cross and others changed slightly: I have long heard that this guy has a bad mouth, and it is true.

Spartacus said frankly: "The defenses of Pompeii are strong, so we did not dare to agree to the Lucelia people's request to storm the city before, so it is inevitable that we will doubt whether the army camp really occupied it. Now it seems that you did it, which is amazing!”

Torrelugo laughed.

Cross didn't want to see his pride, so he asked: "Did Maximus ask you to come to the city gate to greet us?"

"Chief Maximus is so busy right now that he can't possibly think of this. He arranged for me to lead a team to defend the city wall. Although Pompeii is small, the city wall is not short, and there are five of them on land alone. I simply led the soldiers to block three gates with mud and stones. I have been busy until now. I guess you should arrive too and you will definitely come to this gate (because the Hlanikum Gate is the closest to the rebel camp headquarters. ), so I’m waiting here by the way——”

"Okay, okay, you can continue to do your business. We are going in to see Maximus." Cross didn't want to listen to Torrelugo's nagging. Since the last time this man spoke for several women at the military meeting, After letting the soldiers of the second brigade receive a cane in public, he became annoyed when he saw this guy's face.

Torrelugo seemed completely unaware of Cross's bad opinion of him, and immediately said: "I will take you there, otherwise you will not know where Chief Maximus is."

"That's okay." Spartacus nodded.

After Tolerugo gave some instructions to his officers, he led Spartacus and the others toward the city.

Stepping into the city gate, looking at the high dome, hard stone bricks, and the length of the cave that is five or six meters long, Spartacus and the others felt the solidity of Pompeii's city walls from another side.

"Last night, you probably entered the city through this hole, right?" Spartacus asked curiously.

"That's right! But beforehand, Chief Maximus asked Carminus and the others to take a boat to sneak attack the port, and then sneak attack the city gate, so we can enter." Tolerugo said, his voice suddenly rose: "Then I acted as the vanguard and led my brothers to rush forward, and encountered the Pompeii Guards in front..."

Several leaders looked in the direction of Tolerugo's finger. There was no one on the wide road ahead. Although there were rows of houses on the left side of the road, they were also very quiet. However, through the gaps in the window curtains, they could still see I saw a figure moving inside...

So Altonix asked: "Torilugo, after you occupied Pompeii, didn't you drive away the people in the city?"

Tolerugo snorted: "Brothers have been fighting all night, and some people, including me, still haven't had a good rest. There are only 800 of us in total, and we finally occupied this city. These Pompeii people are temporarily They are quite obedient, so why do we have to drive them away to provoke their resistance! Chief Maximus said that unless we want to occupy this city for a long time, we do not intend to drive away everyone here. "

Altonix knew Torrelugo's temper and did not care about the irony in his words. He continued to ask: "If we do not plan to settle in this city for a long time, will the baggage camp be prepared to withdraw soon?"

"Of course." Tolerugo replied: "However, we have obtained too many supplies in Pompeii, and I'm afraid we won't be able to move them all in two or three days."

These words moved the hearts of several leaders.

Cross immediately asked: "What did you get?"

Tolerugo glanced at him: "I don't know exactly what supplies there are. You can ask Chief Maximus later."

Altonix said worriedly: "Since you will stay here for at least three more days, these Pompeii people are always a hidden danger."

"You don't have to worry about this. Chief Maximus has already considered this. Early in the morning, he sent people to various neighborhoods to shout, asking Pompeii people to stay at home and not to go out. Otherwise, they will be killed without mercy. As long as they behave Those who are obedient will ensure the safety of their lives and property... The Pompeii people are timid and obey orders quickly, which is why you see the city being so quiet. In addition, we are also stepping up our efforts to recruit Pompeii who are willing to join us. Slaves are organized into convoys to enhance our strength—"

"How dare the supply camp secretly expand its own army!" Cross shouted sharply.

"Cross, you have the nerve to say this! The number of soldiers in your second brigade has already exceeded 5,000. Is this all given to you by the headquarters?! Don't think that your camp is the farthest away. Just do it quietly. No one knows anymore. The chefs we send to you do apply for the same amount of supplies as other camps, but they consume them the fastest. Is it because all the soldiers in your second group are good at eating?"

Tolerugo's sarcasm made Cross a little angry. He shouted loudly: "Our second group is going to fight the Romans, so we should recruit more soldiers! Your supply camp is responsible for logistics support, what do you want to do with so many soldiers?" ?”

Tolerugo showed a clear face: "Oh, you who are in charge of combat did not dare to attack Pompeii, but we, who are in charge of logistics supply, captured it."

As soon as these words came out, the faces of several leaders changed.

"Okay, stop talking!" Spartacus interrupted the conversation between the two loudly: "It is a very remarkable thing that the baggage battalion was able to capture Pompeii, and it deserves the respect of all of us!"

After he praised this sentence, he no longer wanted to argue about military expansion. In fact, since the defeat of the Roman legions, many people have come to join the rebel army every day. Each brigade has privately expanded its army, but the degree is different. As the rebel army becomes more and more As it grows stronger, the headquarters’ binding force on each unit becomes weaker and weaker...

Spartacus turned to ask: "You prohibit Pompeii people from coming out. This is a good idea, but people who have no food at home may starve. Have you ever thought about it?"

Tolerugo replied calmly: "Chief Maximus has thought of it a long time ago. He has sent soldiers to inform the Pompeii people in the city that if someone has nothing to eat, they can use a wooden board to draw an image of bread and hang it on the Outside the house, after the patrol saw it, they found out that the situation was true and would send them wheat... Well, we seized a lot of food in the city, so giving it to them is nothing.

What's more, Chief Maximus said that it may seem a bit troublesome for us to do this, but it can make the Pompeii people feel some of our goodwill, thus reducing their possible resistance and ensuring that our supply camp can occupy this city in a short time. Security of town. "

Several leaders were thoughtful.

"Besides guarding the city gate, where are the other soldiers in your transport camp guard?" Spartacus asked again.

"Part of it is in the port, where there are a lot of supplies and people, so it needs to be guarded; part of it is in the residential area of ​​the rich, and we have basically cleared the people in that area. It is mainly used for brothers to rest, eat, and recruit people. Newly joined slaves; a new army is being formed in the arena next to the rich area. In addition, there is a centurion team responsible for patrolling the whole city, and another centurion team-"

Tolerugo pointed forward: "Responsible for guarding that place - Pompeii's City Hall, Chief Maximus is inside."

The group of people had entered Pompeii Square and were walking towards the tall white stone building that Tolerugo pointed at. When they passed the fountain in front of the building, they stopped for a moment to take a look at the fountain standing in the pool. Tall and mighty stone sculpture of Poseidon.

After receiving the news, Maximus quickly walked out of the city hall door, walked down the steps in three steps at a time, opened his hands, and said excitedly: "Spartacus! Cross! Enomuyi! Altonic Si! Attumus! Haha, I’ve been waiting for you!”

Spartacus also smiled and said: "Maximus, you really shocked us this time!"

Maximus did not think carefully about whether Spartacus's words had any other meaning. He then asked doubtfully: "Why didn't Chief Hamilcar come?"

"We are all here, and there must be someone watching over the camp." Spartacus looked at Maximus and emphasized: "But before leaving, Hamilcar told us all that because he could not Come, I can vote on his behalf during the meeting of military commanders.”

In other words, you have two votes per person... Maximus changed his mind and said without changing his expression: "That's such a pity. I also wanted to let him taste Pompeii's special food."

"It doesn't matter, there will be another time." Spartacus' seemingly casual response gave Maximus more ideas.

"Maximus, you are so anxious to call us here, stop being nagging, hurry up, and tell us if you have anything to do!" Cross said impatiently from the side.

"Okay, let's go into the room first and sit down to discuss it slowly."

The leaders of the rebel army entered the city hall and came to the chief executive's office.

Maximus wanted Spartacus to be the governor, but he refused. So he asked people to bring six wooden chairs and everyone sat together.

"Maximus, since you called us here in a hurry, let's talk about it first." Spartacus started.

Maximus was not polite, cleared his throat, and said directly: "That's it, our supply camp captured Pompeii. There are all kinds of supplies we urgently need in the city, which are not only rich, but also abundant. Let's just talk about food. The total number of people in our army now is——"

"Nearly 20,000 people." Spartacus answered.

"Twenty thousand people...well, the food in Pompeii alone is enough to feed the 20,000 of us for four months; there is also enough linen to put on a brand new tunic for every brother who joins; There are a large number of clay pots here, which can replace the broken ones in the hands of our brothers with new ones; there are also a lot of herbs stored here, which can allow our medical team to provide better treatment to the wounded soldiers...

In addition, there is a blacksmith shop here, and the two blacksmiths in the shop have been 'invited' by us and are ready to join the supply camp. They can use their own iron furnaces to build some weapons and equipment for us..."

Maximus paused for a moment, giving the leaders a time to think, and then said with emphasis: "If we choose to use Pompeii as a new camp, another convenience is that it will be more comfortable and able to block the wind and shelter. The problem of lack of tents and barracks was solved.

But if we choose to abandon this city, first of all, our supply camp will not have enough manpower to take away so many supplies, and some supplies are not easy to transport, so they must be discarded; secondly, the blacksmith will follow us, but if we abandon the forge, In the future, they can only help us repair our weapons... In any case, although Pompeii was captured by the baggage battalion, it belongs to our entire team. Should we give up or keep it? We all need to make decisions together! "