Chapter 82 Developing Sea Trade

Maximus thought for a moment and asked Frontinus to place one of the centurions under the jurisdiction of the Guards, and the other three centuries were evenly distributed among the three captains.

In this way, Phaesalus, Toreligo, Carminus and Oros were all happy.

Since then, Maximus's reorganization and adjustment of the troops under his jurisdiction have basically ended.

The situation at the center of the army is: military officer Frontinus, who is temporarily in charge of 5 subordinates; staff officer Quintus, who is in charge of the staff group, with more than 20 people; military judge Sidonius, who is temporarily assigned a staff of 20 people .

The combat troops include: Aulus, captain of the Guards, with 130 soldiers (including 30 Rocaglia veterans); Pheasalus, captain of the 1st Battalion, with 4 centuries, a total of 400 people; Toreligo, the captain of the second battalion, had four centuries under his command, with a total of 400 men; Carminus, the captain of the third battalion, had three centuries with a total of 300 men. Maximus's army had a total of 1,230 soldiers, which finally exceeded a thousand.

The number of other logistics departments also reaches a thousand, and the ratio of combatants to non-combatants is close to 1:1, which is enough to show the specialness of this army.

Since some heads of the logistics department were still in the Vesuvius camp, Maximus only made adjustments to the army this time, and the logistics department had to wait until all personnel arrived in Pompeii before convening a meeting and discussions.

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In the early morning, the cry of seagulls woke up Tiger Charles, who was still sleeping.

"Theos..." Tigerchamos shouted subconsciously, then turned over and continued to sleep soundly. Unexpectedly, his hand hit something hard. The pain made him finally open his eyes, and what he saw was a room. A narrow and simple stone house instead of his luxurious bedroom.

He rubbed his eyes, climbed up from the wooden bed, and pushed open the wooden door with unsteady steps. The bright sunshine immediately poured on him. He covered his eyes with his hands and looked down at the door. There was a wooden board on which was placed an earthen pot filled with porridge and a piece of bread.

"Why are these things still here?" Tiger Chalmers muttered dissatisfiedly, but his growling stomach prevented him from being picky. He bent down and picked up the breakfast, and was about to bring it back to the room when he heard someone next to him say: "Tiger Chalmers, I really admire you. We are facing such a dangerous environment now, but you can still sleep and eat."

"Things are already like this, just take things as they come. If you think too much, you will easily scare yourself." Tiger Chalmers looked at the tall middle-aged man standing on the other side of the corridor, his eyes rolling. , lowered his voice and said: "And I don't think these slaves will kill us."

"Oh, why do you think so?" the tall middle-aged man asked immediately.

"Look, the slave soldiers threw many corpses into the sea the night before yesterday. We all saw it with our own eyes at that time. You also recognized that several of the corpses were members of the Vitius family. It can be seen that these slaves are occupying After entering Pompeii, he killed many people in the city, and many of them were important people in Pompeii." Tiger Chalmers talked about issues related to his life and death, still in a carefree tone: "Compared with them, we are nothing. We are just a few insignificant businessmen. It would be easy to kill us, but they imprisoned us in a building where refugees live, with special personnel to guard us, and provide us with meals every day. This is much more troublesome than killing us directly. It can be seen that these slaves want to keep us and have something to do. Dalmatis, you are known for your shrewdness in Regim, I don’t believe you haven’t noticed this.”

"So what if you see it." The middle-aged man named Daltimas said with a worried face: "Slaves are ignorant and obedient, but once they rise up to resist, they often become more violent and act erratically. Today, I may still be thinking about it. If I want to keep you and me alive, I might have to cut off your and my heads to make wine jugs tomorrow... Our lives are in the hands of these slaves, just like fish being caught, they may be killed at any time because of their displeasure. Got his head chopped off.”

"Oh, I can only live for one day. Anyway, from the moment these slaves caught me, I was already prepared for the worst case of being killed." Tiger Chalmers said disapprovingly, his eyes When he glanced at a closed wooden door next to him, he couldn't help but ask: "Has Crosibas ever come out?"

"No." Daltimas shook his head and sighed: "Yesterday he has been complaining about why he can't react faster, otherwise he can rush out of the port in time without being caught by these slaves... I guess he is now I’ve been driven crazy by self-blame.”

"Yes, compared with those who escaped from the port in time, we are indeed quite unlucky." After a long sigh, Tiger Chalmers was too lazy to think more, so as not to affect his mood. He was about to turn around and go back to the house slowly. While enjoying breakfast, Daltimas suddenly leaned out of the balcony: "What are these slaves going to do?!"

Tigerchamos was startled, turned around and stared outside.

The place they lived in was a three-story straight-shaped stone building next to the port. It was rented by Pompeii port officials specifically to the dock workers. Each floor was divided into many small rooms, with two sides. The corridor is also a balcony, and the corridor of the room where Tiger Chalmers and others live faces away from the sea and faces the port residential area.

At this time, the two saw countless slave soldiers holding weapons but not neatly armored pouring into the area. After a commotion of shouting, insults, and pushing, the area in front of the residential area was used for temporary placement and transportation. The empty space for goods was crowded with residents of the port area.

Yesterday, like today, this gang of robbers forcibly gathered people from the port and incited them to join their team. As a result, many slaves and free people in the port were bewitched by them and became part of this gang of robbers. Today they came to recruit soldiers again. Yet? ...With doubts and uneasiness, the two stopped in the corridor and listened attentively.

The building they lived in was very close to the crowd, and the shouts of the slave leaders could be faintly heard...

"These bandits are actually going to drive all the residents of Pompeii out of the city!" Daltimas had a surprised look on his face.

"No, they are not talking about rushing, but asking. Each family that takes the initiative to leave the city will also receive a silver coin as compensation——"

"The whole family has been taken away, what can a silver coin compensate for!" Daltimas said angrily.

"At least they made such a gesture and allowed the Pompeii people to take away their belongings when they left. When have you and I ever heard of bandit pirates doing such a merciful act?" Tiger Chalmers said with a look on his face. Said playfully.

"It's just a cat crying and a mouse pretending to be compassionate. In the end, they still have to threaten with force!" Daltimas said in a hateful voice. The crying and pleading sounds coming from the front made him feel sad: "I don't know that the Romans What are you doing? Instead of sending troops to exterminate these bandits, you are letting them continue to poison Campania!"

"The Romans have been defeated twice. I guess they don't dare to send troops casually now. Besides, it's almost time to run for next year's consulship. Our own affairs must be much more important than those of our allies." Tegechamos said Said with sarcasm.

"What about our own family and his family? Now we are all citizens of Rome." Daltimas reminded.

"You are wrong, you are a Roman citizen, and I am only a Sicilian." Tegechamos said coldly.

Only then did Daltimas suddenly remember: Although Regium and Messina are only separated by a narrow strait, the political status they enjoy in Rome today is very different. The Roman Civil War decades ago finally led to All Italians became Roman citizens, but Sicily remained a province of Rome, and Sicilians did not enjoy the rights of Roman citizens.

Daltimas didn't know how to speak for a moment, so he could only remain silent.

Tigerchamos turned around and wanted to go back to the house, but out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a man in a gorgeous robe leading a group of slave soldiers into the building: "Someone is here, isn't he looking for us?"

Tiger Chalmers' premonition was correct. After a while, a man in a gorgeous long-distance running suit appeared in front of them. Although this man was well-dressed, his skin was dark and rough, and he walked with a limp, giving people a sense of comfort. The monkey's clothes looked funny, but he didn't feel inferior at all. Instead, he smiled and asked: "Who is the Messina businessman Tiger Chalmers?"

Tiger Chalmers suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and said nervously: "I...I am."

The man nodded to him with a smile and looked at Daltimas: "So are you Crosibas, the Hibernian merchant? Or Daltimas, the Regim merchant?"

"I...I am Daltimas..." Daltimas glanced at the ferocious slave soldiers behind the man, his voice trembling as he spoke.

"Where is Crosibus?" the man asked.

Tigerchamos pointed to the closed wooden door next to him: "Inside, I didn't see him coming out yesterday. He seems to be sick."

The man gestured to the soldiers behind him, then walked into Tiger Chalmers' room and said, "I'm here this time because I have something to discuss with you."

There was nothing in the small room except a bed plank on the floor, and an unpleasant rancid smell filled the air.

The man didn't look disgusted at all, and sat down directly on the bed, letting his robe cover the dusty ground: "You two should sit down too, and let's talk slowly."

As soon as the man finished speaking, Tigerchamos immediately sat on the other side of the bed. Daltimas hesitated, swept the floor with his hand, and sat opposite the man.

"Let me introduce myself first." The man said loudly: "My name is Pigris, and I am the commercial officer of the Maximus Force under the Free Italian Army."

The man's words contained a lot of information. Tiger Chalmers boldly asked: "Who is this Free Italian Army?"

Pigris was about to answer when he saw his soldiers pushing a man in. The man was thin, his head was always hanging down, and he was humming something in a low voice.

"Is this Croosipas?" Pigris asked, pointing at him.

"It's him." Tiger Chalmers responded.

"Let him sit there." After Pygris said this, the soldier pressed Crosibas' shoulders and forced him to sit by the door.

With four people sitting in the room, the room was almost full.

"Free Italy is the name of our entire team. The reason why we launched a riot and resisted Rome is to enable various city-states and races in Italy to get rid of the oppression of Rome and regain their freedom!" Pigris said with a proud face. They were talking about the words they had just learned from Maxim IV, while Tigerchamos and Daltimas seemed to be listening to the scriptures, with slightly dull expressions.

"Maximus is one of the leaders of the Free Italian Army, and he is also my leader. He led the army to capture this city alone..." Pigris said proudly, and the expressions of the other two people began to change.

"We just want to attack the Campanians who are willing to serve Rome. We have no intention of offending you from the far south. The reason why we are keeping you under guard is to protect your safety." Pigris said seriously. He looked like he was thinking about them: "The situation in the city has stabilized now, so Chief Maximus sent me to prepare to let you leave-"

"You...you really want to let us go?!" Daltimas asked excitedly.

"Of course." Pigris nodded heavily: "Not only will we let you go, but we will also return to you the ships, cargo, and sailors you brought."

"real?!"

"I am speaking to you on behalf of Chief Maximus, of course it is true!"

Tigerchamos and Daltimas finally looked happy and said eagerly in unison: "That's great! When can we leave?!"

"You can do it at any time." Pigris looked at the three of them with a half-smile, suddenly leaned forward, and said in a deep voice: "It's just that you worked so hard to come here from the south, and you were frightened and suffered losses. But you got nothing, are you willing to go back empty-handed?"

"Excuse me...what do you mean by this?" Tiger Chalmers' heart moved and he asked tentatively.

“You came to Pompeii to trade just for Campania’s wine, olive oil or wheat...” Pigris said with emphasis: “Not only do we have these things, but they are also in huge quantities and of excellent quality—— "Pigres stopped talking and stared at the two people in front of him meaningfully.

Before Tiegchamos and Daltimas could react, Crosibas, who had been hanging his head, suddenly rushed over and shouted: "Is there any Falenian wine? I want fifty cans. !

Pigris was startled, but seeing the other party's excited expression, he immediately showed a smile: "Don't mention Falenia wine, we all have Statania wine and Kalegna wine (at that time Kan Three high-quality wines produced in Pania), let alone 50 cans, if you want 1,000 cans, I can sell them to you!”