After listening, Gowes and the others whispered among themselves for a while.
Then Gowes asked, "How many supplies can you offer us?"
"A quarter of the supplies from that village, enough for nearly 20,000 troops of the Segestica army for four to five days. How long can a team of over 700 people last on that?"
Gowes and the others exchanged glances and replied in unison, "We agree!"
After both sides made solemn promises, this verbal agreement was considered settled.
As they were leaving, Maximus solemnly said, "If one day you feel tired from wandering outside, I welcome you back here. The doors of the Nix Tribe will always be open for you, this is my promise!"
Gowes seemed not to hear, while the others nodded towards Maximus.
After sending the people off, Emmerich hurried back and repeatedly thanked Maximus.
"I’m not doing this entirely because of you. Any enemy of the Segestica people is someone we will try our best to unite against, rather than holding grudges over small interests," Maximus said modestly, then asked, "This time, the Segestica Great Leader suffered a crushing defeat. Will he come again soon?"
Emmerich pondered for a moment and cautiously said, "I think he’ll come again soon. Andres is obstinate and won’t stop until he achieves his goals. He treated... the Skodisqi Tribe this way before! Now he surely sees the Nix Tribe as an enemy too. Although Segestica suffered a heavy defeat, the other major tribes of Pannonia were unaffected. He would likely seek reinforcements from the Pannonian Tribe Alliance."
Maximus sighed, "So even though we won a great victory, we still have to prepare for the next battle. If only we knew in advance how many reinforcements the Segestica Tribe is bringing? When will they attack again? Then we could prepare better..."
At this point, Maximus looked at Emmerich and asked in a deep voice, "You’ve stayed in the Segestica Tribe for so many years; is there any way?"
"Let me think..." Emmerich fell into contemplation again.
........................
The victory of the rebel army ignited jubilant cheers among those who stayed in the camp, but the Segestica prisoners were like mourners.
Although the rebel army kept secrets from them before, the tense scenes of readying for battle were impossible for them to miss. Knowing well the personality of their Andres Great Leader, each felt secretly delighted, thinking their time of suffering was soon to end. To avoid drawing the rebel army’s suspicion at such a critical time and getting killed, they became more compliant.
In the end, they did see their compatriots, but not with victorious smiles to rescue them. Instead, they were escorted into camp, heads hung in defeat...
The invincible Andres Great Leader actually got defeated?!... The original Segestica prisoners felt like a rug was pulled from under them, not only shattering their beautiful hope but also shaking their confidence in the Segestica Tribe.
Budocaribas hurried back to his own tribe, anxiously gathering the tribesmen to prep for defense, when tribesmen who stayed behind to monitor the battle suddenly rushed back, saying "The Segestica people were defeated," which he thought was a lie and rebuked the messenger harshly.
It wasn’t until the messenger swore an oath to the gods that "everything he said was true," did Budocaribas, skeptically leading his men to the temporary camp, really believe the "rebel army won" fact upon seeing the numerous Segestica warriors being escorted. Yet, it left him wondering: how did the rebel army turn defeat into victory when he clearly saw their formation collapsing?
Later, he met Maximus, who briefly recounted the battle sequence, clarifying his doubts, yet also filled him with awe for the rebel army. In such a life-and-death battle, these outsiders dared to fake defeat with a squad, and his other units under Segestica’s heavy assault didn’t collapse. How strong their confidence! How strong their execution! How strong their combat power!
Thus, when Maximus negotiated with him on how to deal with so many new Segestica warriors as prisoners, he showed a willingness to cooperate.
Additionally, "the rebel army’s defeat of the Segestica army" news quickly spread throughout the Alde Tribe, causing a sensation.
........................
After Maximus led his army away, Spartacus led the main rebel force to turn south.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed Roman Army commander Crassus led the hastily assembled 8 legions (including the remnants of the defeated consuls’ forces) eastward through the Flaminia Road from Rome, deliberately avoiding the southbound main rebel force, and arrived at Rimini.
Crassus camped here primarily to prevent the main rebel force from retreating north to the Northern Italy Province because if it escapes Italy, Crassus won’t only lose the glory he is after, but his political career might also be utterly destroyed like Publilius and Crodianus before him, so he prudently prepared beforehand.
As for the already far northbound rebel detachment (mainly Maxim’s army), he paid little heed, considering his current army consisted mainly of defeated or new soldiers, who were already hard-pressed to deal with the main rebel force, making it infeasible to divide his troops further.
Besides, even if he deployed troops to pursue now it would be too late, not to mention this matter predates his appointment, falling under Crodianus’s responsibility.
Still, he dispatched a messenger to inform the Northern Italy Provincial Governor Casius, ordering him to eliminate the rebel army detachment that fled into the province.
Casius, upon receiving the order, felt overwhelmed but didn’t dare to object, fully aware of how formidable the richest man in Rome was. Also, having lost two Roman Legions before, even if it wasn’t his primary responsibility, it still served as leverage against him.
Luckily, not long after Crassus’s order arrived, Casius intercepted Torquato’s Gaul rebel forces in Piacenza, delayed by looting along the way.
Torquato launched a fierce attack first, with the rebel soldiers bravely fighting and breaking through the multiple City Guard detachments hurriedly called by Casius. However, due to being outnumbered and exhausted, they were ultimately defeated, with Torquato and most rebel soldiers dying on the spot.
Casius immediately had their heads chopped off and sent word to Crassus to claim victory, stating, "I have routed this rebel faction’s main force, with its remnants fleeing east to the mountains. I shall lead troops in pursuit" and so on.
In reality, however, Maximus’s army had already left the Northern Italy Province, and after learning this from spies, Casius did not pursue but merely instructed the Alesian army to monitor the rebel’s whereabouts.
Soon, the false news concocted by the Alde Tribe and Maximus’s army spread, and upon learning this, Casius again reported to Crassus, claiming: In his pursuit, the rebel remnants fled into the mountains in panic, where they got ambushed by barbarians, and were utterly annihilated...
At this time, Crassus was too preoccupied to pay attention to Casius’s victory report, as he had encountered a problem.
After fortifying the camp at Rimini, he sent Deputy General Mummius to lead two legions as the vanguard to follow the main rebel force without engaging them in battle.
However, Mummius, being ambitious himself, sought glory and couldn’t resist attacking when he saw the straggling rebel units too far from their main force and in disarray, issuing an attack command.