CHAPTER 378: CHAPTER 257: ARMIES FACE OFF

Maximus revealed a confident smile: "Everyone, it seems that after defeating the Segestica people last year, we are about to savor the taste of victory once again."

Everyone around him laughed heartily.

As the Pannonian Army swept through the villages of the Aldeans on both banks of the Kolana River, Bricks and the other Great Chiefs were naturally mindful that their real enemy could arrive at any moment. They consistently dispatched scouts to monitor movements in the north. Upon receiving the intel that "the Nix Army is about to arrive," the Great Chiefs had already begun gathering their forces dispersed along the Kolana River banks and were now advancing toward Nix Territory.

Originally, the swift success of raiding the Aldean villages along the Kolana River gave Bricks a surge of ambition. He intended to lead the armies already stationed on the river’s west bank through the valley, continuing westward toward the Murenica River, and testing an assault on the Aldeans residing there to gauge their strength.

However, he quickly encountered a significant issue—the army was running low on food supplies.

Despite Bricks and the other three Great Chiefs having made considerable preparations in advance, none of them had any experience leading such a massive army on a "long expedition." They lacked sufficient personnel skilled in logistics and arithmetic to properly assess their army’s daily food consumption.

It’s worth noting that last year, when Andres led an alliance of thirty thousand troops to siege the Nix’s makeshift camp for less than ten days, he nearly depleted the Segestica Tribe’s entire food reserves, sparking resentment among that tribe’s people. But this time, the Panoni Alliance Army numbered as many as 43,000, and in addition to transporting food supplies, they had recruited 4,500 Scodisqi slaves. Such a massive force was decentralized and struggled to efficiently manage food supply. Even though the armies had conquered many Aldean villages along the Kolana River and seized a good amount of grain, the warriors who occupied those villages consumed most of it in celebratory feasts, leaving only minimal replenishments.

Fortunately, sharp-eyed Bricks finally noticed the problem. After urgently discussing it with the other three Great Chiefs, they decided to regroup their forces and accelerate their march toward Nix Territory, aiming to swiftly defeat the Nix people and seize their food supplies to alleviate their predicament.

Thus, upon learning that the Nix Army was approaching, the Great Chiefs were not alarmed but instead delighted; this would save them significant time!

Previously, the Pannonian Army had marched in a long column formation along the banks of the Kolana River. Now, with the enemy approaching, it was no longer viable to proceed in this manner.

After a brief discussion among the four Great Chiefs, the troop formation was adjusted. At the very front of the column, near the eastern bank of the Kolana River, was the Brochi Army, positioned on the far left flank. (In this mission for the Pannonian Tribe Alliance, the Brochi Army had been designated as the vanguard due to their familiarity with Kolana River geography, gained from previous expeditions several years ago and last year’s participation in Andres’s siege of the Nix’s temporary camp). Moving westward from the Brochi Army were the Maziyi Army, Disone Army, and Perustai Army, arranged side by side, advancing simultaneously.

This region was a hilly terrain. The further away from the riverbank one went, the higher the elevation rose, though none of the hills exceeded fifty meters, and the slopes were relatively gentle. Since the Aldeans had lived here for generations and extensively harvested trees over the years, the area lacked dense forestation, making it more suitable for Pannonian troop movement.

The Pannonian Alliance Army struggled forward across the undulating hills in a wide, dispersed formation. After about half an hour, the various forces simultaneously halted their advance—they had spotted an imposing iron wall standing atop the higher hills ahead.

Despite Cabdes’s detailed description during the tribal alliance meeting of past battles between Segestica and Nix, allowing the Great Chiefs to familiarize themselves with the Nix Army, witnessing it firsthand made them gasp in astonishment: all the Nix soldiers were clad entirely in armor, their individual protection was unbelievably thorough!

After a brief silence, Bricks suddenly burst into laughter: "These Nix people are so foolish! Last time, relying on this full armor and tight formations, they managed to achieve victory against Andres’s army despite their smaller numbers. Now, they think they can use the same tactic to defeat us.

But they don’t understand—this is a mountainous area with uneven terrain. Standing there might be fine now, but once the battle begins, they won’t be able to maintain those dense formations. Moreover, fighting in heavy armor on this terrain makes them far less agile than our warriors. The longer the battle drags on, the less of a match they’ll be for us!"

The Maziyi Great Chief Maitilis also rallied his spirits, proclaiming with determination: "Don’t be intimidated just because they’re standing on a hill in formation—it might look imposing, but according to Cabdes, even if the entire Nix army mobilizes, our numbers still outweigh theirs by more than double. If we press forward all at once, we can overwhelm them entirely!"

Bricks chimed in again: "And don’t forget, we have over a thousand cavalry—"

Disone Great Chief Demikas promptly interjected: "The cavalry can’t charge up a hill; otherwise, all the horses will be ruined."

Maitilis proposed another strategy: "We can rely on our warriors for direct combat, while the cavalry maneuvers around to attack them from behind at a critical moment. Victory will be ours!

It’s said that the Nix Tribe has many highly skilled craftsmen who can build those truly large bridges spanning rivers. Once we conquer their territory, Demikas and Pagiras, your tribes can also have some of the Nix craftsmen, and soon you’ll be able to erect large bridges over the Delaware River!"

Demikas and Perustai Great Chief Pagiras exchanged glances, their eyes burning with excitement.

Although the Pannonian Tribe Alliance was generally cooperative, it was far from being a unified coalition. For instance, Desitia Great Chief Temagis had only committed half of his tribe’s troops, and Demikas and Pagiras had each sent just 40% of their forces, with the combined troop count of the two large tribes barely reaching 13,000. Especially upon noticing Bricks leveraging the campaign for his own benefit, the two chiefs had been deliberately withholding their efforts.

But hearing this now, both were tempted. Demikas immediately declared, "We demand at least half of the Nix craftsmen."

Bricks was about to retort, arguing "No, the distribution must reflect the proportion of troops each tribe provided," but quickly decided to change tactics, saying instead: "If you want half the craftsmen, it’ll depend on your performance in the upcoming battle against the Nix. Otherwise, based solely on your troop count—"

"Our warriors may be fewer in number, but every single one is worth two or three of yours!" Pagiras proudly countered. "Your Brochi warriors may be many, but they’re not much good in a fight—"

"Is this really the time to argue?" Maitilis reprimanded, cutting them off. "Let’s go with what Bricks said—each tribe will earn its share of the Nix craftsmen based on their performance in the upcoming battle. Agreed?"

"Agreed!" the other three chiefs echoed one after another.

"What about Cabdes and Temagis?" Pagiras asked unexpectedly. As Desitia’s neighbor, he maintained a fairly good relationship with Temagis.

The others were momentarily stunned—they had forgotten about the two chiefs.

Bricks quickly responded: "We’re the ones bearing the brunt of the fight against the Nix’s main forces. Our sacrifices are greater, so we should naturally claim more! They can get plenty of the Nix’s wealth and slaves, but as for the craftsmen... they don’t need to share in those."

"Agreed!" This time, the agreement was nearly unanimous.

Having reached consensus, the four Great Chiefs began rallying their respective tribal armies into formation.

Their deployment was straightforward—following their previous marching sequence, and mirroring the enemy’s battle formation. Using the eastern bank of the Kolana River as the starting point, the Brochi, Maziyi, Disone, and Perustai armies extended west to east in an organized formation.

During the entire Pannonians’ deployment process, the Nix Army remained atop the hill, motionless, like a long iron wall.

Upon closer inspection, however, it became evident that the Nix Army was arranged as staggered centurion square formations, stretching across the hill from east to west, with substantial gaps between each square. It was not a rigid, tightly packed snake formation.

Moreover, the soldiers weren’t just standing there idly. Once their formations were set, most sat on the soft soil of the hill, taking the time to rest, adjust their armor and weapons, and regain their strength. At the same time, they gazed down the hill, engaging in lively discussions about the Pannonians’ formation...

"The Pannonians sure have a lot of troops—this must be tens of thousands of them!"

"Numbers alone mean nothing! Just look at how chaotic their formation is—it’s obvious they haven’t undergone proper military training. Even with their numbers, they won’t be able to exert their full combat power. Instead, they’ll create problems for themselves when their attack is disrupted."

"If we launched a surprise attack now, wouldn’t their chaotic positioning give us an opportunity to defeat them?"

"It’s possible, but what’s the point? They’d retreat quickly, and you wouldn’t be able to inflict significant casualties. You’d just tire yourself out for no gain. It’s better to wait for them to come to us for slaughter!"

...

Such light-hearted discussions in the face of an impending battle were typical of seasoned Nix veterans. With their extensive combat experience, many had repeatedly participated in team officer training programs led by the Military Department. As such, their conversations weren’t mere idle chatter—they contained genuine insights, easing the tension and anxiety for the new recruits listening nearby.

Gowes, who had once led his compatriots in defecting mid-battle during the conflict between Nix and Segestica, and subsequently rampaged across Segestica Territory for several months, was also present among the formations.