It is autumn now, the grass is dried up, so burning should be easy. After burning, we can dig up and remove those rocks and tree roots, and the burnt field should be usable. I carefully looked at that piece of hill; it’s quite gentle and the soil is thick. Whether for building houses or farming, it would be excellent."
Capito, who had also followed Maximus to inspect, interjected, "There are some trees on that hill. It would be a pity to burn them all. Why not cut them down first and then burn? We can use those trees for building houses, making boats... Our supply camp has a dozen frame saws, so cutting trees would be faster."
"As long as there are enough people, cutting the trees first would also work," Volenus responded straightforwardly, as if he believed Maximus wouldn’t object.
Maximus smiled, "Volenus, your method of using fire to clear the land is a good one. In the future, you will be in charge of developing that hill, but—"
He put away his smile and asked seriously, "Now that we plan to burn the land on that hill, do you think the Pannonians will let it go unchecked?"
Volenus was momentarily at a loss for words, then said, "Leader, can we send a legion to protect while burning the land? If the Pannonians dare to come, we can repel them..."
Before Maximus could reply, Flanitnus loudly opposed, "That’s impossible! You need a lot of people to burn land and build houses, and you also need a lot of people to send a legion to protect them. This means almost the entire army would be concentrated on that hill, and burning the land isn’t something that can be done quickly. If all the strong men of the tribe stay there long-term, here will become very unsafe!"
"There’s another point that needs our attention!" Quintus added, "When I went to look at the hill with the leader today, as soon as we got close, the warriors from the nearby Pannonian tribe came out to drive us away. It shows they’ve already considered that hill as their territory. If we burn and build houses there, we will undoubtedly anger the Pannonians.
Even if we repel them once or twice, as the Aldean Great Chief said, the Pannonian Tribes alone here have over ten to twenty thousand troops. When their army comes in full force, most of our soldiers are still burning the land, and by then it might be a disaster!"
"This..." Volenus had no words to respond and just looked at Maximus because he had the final decision-making power.
Maximus did not immediately make a decision but instead asked, "How long can our food supply last now?"
"We currently have 10,930 soldiers and 4,532 people in the entire supply camp, totaling more than 15,000 people. Since Padua, we haven’t replenished any supplies, and after marching for two months, more than half of our supplies have been consumed. Now even with frugal eating, it can last at most a month and a half."
Volenus was previously an administrative officer and understanding the troop’s population and provisions was his job. Even while helping in the supply camp during the march, he kept fulfilling his duties, so he could answer without hesitation.
He said with concern, "If we want to save some wheat as seeds, I fear it may not even be enough to last a month. So, I hope to quickly burn and cultivate land, taking advantage of it’s still September to plant some beans. If it’s delayed any longer, there might be no yield this year. We can’t completely rely on the Aldeans for food support, right?"
Now it was Quintus and Flantillus exchanging glances, for they hadn’t realized that the tribe’s food storage was already tight. In fact, many people inside the tent were getting a bit anxious.
Maximus, however, remained calm. As a leader, he understood the situation of the troops very well, which was why he earlier sought food support from the Aldean Great Chief.
"Flanitnus, how many soldiers do we have capable of fighting now?" Maximus asked his military officer.
"The march in the mountains recently took a heavy toll on the troops, with more than 1,000 injured or sick. We have about 9,700 who can fight now," Flanitnus replied.
The reason Flanitnus didn’t give a more precise number was not due to lack of diligence in his work, but because, after entering the mountains, someone was injured or fell ill every day, and just today they arrived here to set up camp and hold a meeting, so he hadn’t had time to gather the day’s sick count from the various units.
Maximus was certainly aware of the military situation as well, and his question aimed to transition to the next statement: "Do you think if we engaged the Pannonians tomorrow with our army’s current condition, could we win?"
This statement shocked everyone.
The officials of the original supply camp were still indulging in the future vision painted by Maximus, thinking about how to build a homeland, only to suddenly hear the demand to "engage in battle tomorrow." They were all incredibly taken aback.
After a long march, even the most eager commanders preferred to allow the weary troops to get a good rest, fully recover combat strength, and then engage the Pannonians to the east with better odds of victory.
Seeing this, Maximus asked with a solemn voice, "Previously, the Aldean Elder Budocaribas mentioned that after his people retreated here, they often suffered harassment from the Segestica people. I observed many damaged traces north of their village, indicating that the Segestica people may have led an attack on this village, so the Aldeans likely lied!
Segestica didn’t stop invading after occupying the land east of Validosi; instead, they wish to continue occupying the upper reaches of the Murenica River and the Kolana River. Since these areas along the rivers are fertile plains, not mountains, residing here would inevitably make us the Segestica people’s primary target for elimination—"
"Damned Aldeans!" Torrelugo cursed.
As the people showed nervous expressions, Maximus continued, "Our food is running short now. Although I’ve already sought the support of the Aldean Great Chief, that’s only a last resort. If we rely entirely on the Aldean’s food supplies, how can we refuse if they demand us to do this and that? Eventually, we would just become their pawns, slowly perishing in battles with the Segestica or other enemy tribes of the Aldeans."
Volenus couldn’t help swallowing hard as he saw Maximus’ gaze turn to him, "When we inspected that hill today, we also saw the Segestica village there. Surrounding the village were large wheat fields. Now it’s autumn, the wheat is harvested, and I imagine their granaries are full from the harvest. If we could seize their village, wouldn’t it solve our winter food supply problem!"
Volenus swallowed hard again.
"Is seizing their village difficult?" Maximus turned his gaze to Quintus, "The Segestica people probably don’t know we are here, yet we have learned quite a bit about them through the Aldeans.
For instance, many of their warriors fight without armor, lack tight formations, and like to have Scodisqi slaves charge first... As for their village, we’ve observed it lacks moats and probably doesn’t have traps. It’s surrounded by a simple wooden wall...
Since they’ve previously defeated the Aldeans several times, they must be quite arrogant. Could we use this mindset to lure out their warriors to defeat them, making it easier to then occupy the village?"