CHAPTER 402: CHAPTER 280: SPY

Now that Maximus has encountered a difficulty, the first person he thinks of is this experienced Roman veteran.

"Leader, I have no problem, I just took a nap and regained some energy," Valerius responded.

"That’s good." Maximus gestured with a hand: "Now, come to me immediately."

Valerius went up to the watchtower, and Maximus pointed at him, shouting to the crowd below: "Next... anyone who wants to join the Nix Tribe right now can report to my subordinate here, and he will lead you to cook, distribute food to your tribesmen, and arrange accommodation for everyone... Please remember that anyone who joins the Nix Tribe tonight and helps with the work will have earned a merit, which will shorten the time for you to become an official member of the Nix Tribe!"

As Maximus finished speaking, the crowd below immediately stirred.

"Leader, I don’t speak Illyrian well, and there aren’t many in the crossbow soldiers who do," Valerius softly reminded.

"No worries, I’ll have Camillus select some Segestica recruits for you to command, along with these few of my attendants—" Maximus turned and pointed to five attendants: "They will help you register those who want to join our tribe, with pen and paper, and then follow your arrangements to get those people working."

"Leader, there are quite a few people beneath us. Where do we get enough food for them? And... you’ve let the people in this camp go, where are we going to find enough space for them to sleep?" Valerius asked again.

"When I entered this camp just now, I saw that there are quite a few large houses, suggesting there are many nobles here. Actually, these nobles’ houses will serve as our temporary military camp tonight, using their stored food to cook, letting the Segestica citizens live in their rooms. If they dare to obstruct, we just capture them, and it also lets the Segestica citizens know that we treat them differently compared to these leaders and nobles."

"I understand, I will do my best to complete the task you assigned." Valerius finally saluted in response.

"Thank you for your hard work!" Maximus returned the formal gesture, then watched from the watchtower for a while, observing Valerius arranging for the Segestica citizens who wanted to join the tribe to register. The order was well maintained, and only then did he feel assured to descend the tower to his temporary quarters.

The main house of Segestica is in the East Camp, but after Andres became the Great Chief, in order to better attack the Alde Tribe, he built a large compound in the West Village, and constructed a training ground inside, where he usually resides, often leading the warriors he recruited in training together.

The Guard first occupied this compound and performed a simple cleanup.

Maximus entered the bedroom, just about to lie down with his clothes on when the guard reported: Commander Carmine requests an audience.

"Let him in." Maximus yawned helplessly.

Carmine came in and immediately reported: "Leader, the two large squads I sent out to scour the riverbank have returned, they seized a total of 67 boats..."

"Well done!" Maximus said happily: "Including the ships we captured in this camp, we now have 84 boats!"

"The enemy on the other side should have more ships! When I let the Segestica people out of the camp, I asked them, and they told me that on both sides of the Sava River, in the Segestica Tribe, there’s roughly one boat for every two households, they rely mainly on fishing as their fields are not extensive."

Carmine first poured a bucket of cold water, then comforted: "But they don’t have large boats, the largest boat here can probably carry only six or seven people, it’s even smaller than the few boats they’ve built on the Kupa River. They have never fought on this river, lacking experience in naval warfare.

Moreover, the widest part of this river is only over 100 meters, as long as we are well-prepared, we can cross to the other side with these 80-plus boats when the opponent is off guard, transporting three to four hundred soldiers at once, sweep their riverbank, and the returning boats can more easily transport the next batch of soldiers..."

After listening, Maximus showed a sudden understanding: "I almost forgot that you, Carmine, were once a sailor!"

"Even though I’ve been fighting on land for the past two or three years, I haven’t forgotten how to row a boat!" Carmine said proudly: "And in the Third Legion, there are quite a few sailors from Napolet who are old friends; rowing these small boats on such a calm river is very easy for them."

In fact, Maximus chose to lead the Third Legion to attack the Segestica Territory with this in mind, and at this moment he asked in a deep voice: "When do you think is the best time to use boats to transport soldiers across the river?"

"At dawn tomorrow," Carmine confidently replied. "The Segestica people don’t have a dedicated river fleet; if they want to stop us from crossing, they’ll have to organize the boatmen on the opposite riverbank to obey unified command and dispatch, which can’t be accomplished in a short time, and when we’re attacking this camp, it’s already dusk, they don’t have enough time to arrange..."

"I see, we must cross the river and attack quickly, catching the Segestica people off guard so they don’t even have time to defend!" Maximus nodded and said, "Carmine, I leave the task of attacking the Segestica East Camp to you! Go ahead and make the arrangements!"

"Yes, Leader!" Carmine excitedly responded loudly.

After Carmine left, just as Maximus was about to lie down, a guard came again to report: "Leader, there’s a person from Segestica who wishes to see you, he claims to be under Glicus."

Maximus’s heart moved, Glicus was personally recruited by him from among the Segestica prisoners as a spy. After returning to the Segestica Territory, he has used every means to send information to the Nix Tribe, which kept Maximus well-informed of the Segestica Tribe’s movements.

For example, being able to know in advance that the Pannonian Tribe Alliance would attack the Nix Tribe, and after annihilating Segestica’s viable forces, daring to quickly penetrate the Segestica Territory and directly seize the Segestica West Village was also thanks to the intelligence provided by Glicus before the battle...

Given that Glicus has been diligently working for the Nix Tribe ever since returning to Segestica, Maximus appointed Glicus as the head of intelligence within the Segestica Territory as early as April this year, allowing him to secretly recruit personnel within the Segestica Tribe, and also had Casius find ways to meet his requests, providing as much support as possible...

"Let him in," Maximus said softly, rubbing his face vigorously.

A middle-aged man was brought in by the guard, and Maximus found him a bit familiar. Upon a little thought, he realized: this was the person who was the first to shout he wanted to join the Nix Tribe when Maximus was giving a speech to the Segestica citizens on the riverbank!

Instantly, a faint smile appeared on Maximus’s face.

The man walked in, looking uneasy, hurriedly bowing and saying, "Hon... Honorable Leader Maximus, Sirisis greets you!"

"Oh, you are Sirisis! Glicus mentioned you in his reports, saying you performed very well, once risking sneaking into the main camp to find out about Andres’s injury, seeking merit for you. I’ve always remembered that!" Maximus said with a smile, pointing to a wooden chair next to the bed, and gently said, "Come, come, don’t stand, sit down and speak slowly."

Maximus, as the leader for so long, has deliberately trained the great skill of remembering names. Now, with tens of thousands of people in the tribe, daily affairs abound, but Maximus also takes a bit of time to memorize the remarkable figures mentioned in the reports of his subordinates, first to avoid missing talents, second to grant favors.

Sure enough, Sirisis did not expect that Maximus would actually know him, and was so thrilled that he couldn’t speak for a moment.

It should be known, this leader of the Nix Tribe had defeated Segestica hero and former Great Chief Andres multiple times, resulting in his death, and had again defeated the formidable Pannonian Tribe Alliance, causing the new Great Chief of the Segestica to be destroyed, while also leading his army to capture the main camp. In the eyes of the Segestica citizens who revered strength, he was a terrible enemy! Yet to those who had pledged allegiance to the Nix, he was a leader so powerful that he was deeply revered, hence Sirisis’s great reaction.

"Relax, don’t be nervous, sit down first." Maximus kindly said again.

"Yes, yes..." Sirisis replied repeatedly, hastily complying.

"I saw you leading the people to join our Nix Tribe in the crowd just now, very well done!" Maximus praised, "You coming to see me so late, is there something important to tell me?"

Upon receiving further praise, Sirisis finally overcame his tension and emotionally said, "Honored Leader, after you brought your army here today, Glicus took advantage of the opportunity, leading us to blend into this camp with other fleeing Segestica people.

He had me stay behind to find a chance to report to you, then he, along with others, crossed the pontoon bridge early to the East Camp on the other side of the river... He said that when you lead the army to attack the East Camp, he would find ways to cooperate with you in the camp."

"Oh?!" Maximus truly hadn’t thought that Glicus, besides gathering intelligence, also knew how to cooperate with him to capture the main camp; he really is a talent!

"You all did very well!" Maximus sincerely praised, then asked: "How many people does Glicus have under him now?"