Chapter 549: Chapter 417: Siege of Aquileia
Maximus looked up, and the speaker was the leader of the Germanic Oxi Tribe, Icaroby. This tall, burly, powerful warrior was a warmonger with considerable prestige among the Germanic Tribes. He was the one who had previously rallied a Germanic Army to invade the lands of the Boyi people, only to be defeated by Maximus’ forces. Later, Maximus used appeasement tactics to make him agree to peace with the Nix Kingdom.
This time, as the Nix Kingdom declared war on Rome and sent an envoy to invite the Germanic Tribe to join, he was the most enthusiastic, even helping the envoy persuade other leaders. Therefore, as many as six thousand Germanic Warriors followed the Nix Army here.
Faced with such a special figure, Maximus deliberated over his words and cautiously said, "Chief Icaroby is not wrong. If we launch an all-out assault on the siege, we could indeed capture Aquileia within half a day.
However, as you all saw, Aquileia, as the Romans’ military fortress against us, has walls over ten meters high, all made of stone, which must be very strong. It also has deep and wide moats, making it difficult for our Soldiers to easily reach the city walls; its walls are equipped with several towers, armed with crossbow cannons and crossbows, making it easy to target our attacking Soldiers...
So if we rush into a frontal assault, even if we take the city, the casualties we pay would not be small. We’ve only just invaded Roman territory and haven’t officially clashed with the Roman Army yet. Paying such a price now, is it really worth it?"
Icaroby paused for a moment, feeling that Maximus made sense, but unwilling to compromise just like that: "Then what do you propose we do, circle it endlessly?!"
Upon hearing this, many generals of the Nix Kingdom looked at him with displeasure, as his tone was truly disrespectful to the King.
Maximus, having marched with the Germanic Army for some time, was used to their way of speaking. Before his men could reprimand, he calmly responded: "As far as I know, Aquileia, as Rome’s military fortress, has ample food reserves within the city. Simply besieging it won’t starve the Soldiers inside into surrendering anytime soon.
Nonetheless, with fewer enemies in the city, and being completely surrounded by us, Rome’s large Army won’t be able to rescue them quickly. We have plenty of time to prepare siege weapons, remove their traps and obstacles, fill in the moat, and breach the gaps in the walls... By then, sieging will be much easier.
However, these tasks only require the Third Legion and auxiliary troops. Other forces can, during this siege preparation period, take as much territory in the Northern Italy Province as possible, gather food resources and weapons, to prepare for our next confrontation with Rome while the Roman Army has yet to arrive.
Pequot, you may speak about the next steps."
"Yes, Great King." After bowing in salute, Pequot came to the central map table, glanced at the generals, and used his finger to draw a circle on the map marked with Aquilia: "Next, Stags will lead the First Legion, and Chief Isidi will lead the Yabod team to clear all the villages around Aquileia, trying to capture the villagers and driving them to fill up the moat and clear the traps, thereby reducing our siege casualties.
Moreover, these villagers are related to the garrison in the city, and the garrison may hesitate to attack them, helping us complete the final siege preparations more quickly. We might even use this to lure the enemy out for aid, providing us a great opportunity to take the city."
Maximus listened calmly, unfazed. As a supreme monarch, after twenty years of campaigning, he was accustomed to using enemy civilians as cannon fodder.
"What should I do with the resources captured after I lead the team to occupy these villages?" Chief Isidi asked.
"Of course, as we previously agreed, the spoils of war you capture belong to you." Maximus replied.
"Thank you for your arrangement, we Yabod are willing to comply!" Chief Isidi happily bowed to Maximus, knowing that after capturing resources from Aquileia, which was adjacent to the Yabod’s mountain region, they could immediately send them back to their tribe.
"King of Nix, what about us?! Which town are we to seize?!" Seeing the Yabod benefit, Icaroby anxiously called out.
"Don’t worry, your turn is next." Maximus comforted in a calm tone.
Pequot continued, pointing at the map: "Padua is the most important town in the eastern part of the Northern Easier Province. It is populous, prosperous in trade, but poorly defended, with weak fortifications... Tini Bazus, you will lead the Second Legion; Chief Icaroby, you will lead the Germanic troops to capture this town."
"Understood!" Tini Bazus rose to salute.
"It sounds like a good town. We accept this order." Icaroby responded gladly.
"Chief Icaroby." Maximus reminded earnestly, "Padua is a wealthy town, enough to fulfill your needs. However, it also has a large number of slaves, most from various Gaul Tribes, and even some are Germanic. Please do be careful to avoid accidental harm upon entering the town."
"The Romans are truly vile!..." Icaroby cursed a few times and then seriously responded, "King of Nix, you do not need to remind us again. We will honor our agreement with you! Besides slaves, we will not harm even a bit the poor who cannot afford food!"
Maximus laughed heartily, "I am confident we will hear of your victory soon."
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The sudden invasion of the Nix Kingdom shocked the citizens of the Northern Italy Province. The officials stationed at the Ravenna Governor’s Mansion promptly took two measures upon receiving this news: First, they urgently summoned the Legions stationed in the Gaul Province to resist the invading enemy; second, they dispatched a messenger to inform Caesar.
They didn’t even consider notifying the Roman Senate right away because, after the outbreak of the civil war, Roman power was concentrated in the hands of the two warlords, Caesar and Pompey, rendering the Senate, devoid of military power, entirely redundant. Moreover, if the news of Caesar’s rear headquarters being attacked was leaked, it would only incline the opportunistic Elders further towards Pompey. Therefore, they opted to temporarily seal the information, focusing on repelling the enemy quickly first.
After Caesar moved south, he successively withdrew forces from the Gaul Province to fight in Greece. Currently, the military deployment at Caesar’s rear headquarters is as follows:
In the Illyria Province, Lucius commands fifteen battalions stationed (Anthony’s brother), aiming to block Pompey’s recruitment of reinforcements from Greece. Hence, when Pompey crossed the sea to Greece, Lucius led his troops south, only to be defeated by Pompey. Ultimately, Lucius surrendered. As Pompey concentrated his efforts on confronting Caesar, he did not occupy the Illyria Province, allowing the main forces of the Nix Kingdom to easily cross the mountains, pass through northern Illyria Province, and enter the Northern Italy Province;
The Northern Italy Province originally had two Legions stationed as a mobile force, but during Caesar’s tenure as governor, the province remained calm, with the Alps serving as a barrier. Therefore, after the civil war broke out, the two Legions were successively dispatched by Caesar to the south for operations, leaving only a few battalions stationed habitually in the military fortress of Aquileia, with no real military force in other towns;
Despite the situation in the Gaul region stabilizing over the past two years, Caesar still did not fully trust this newly conquered area. Even with the civil war forcing him to urgently require troops to defeat Pompey, he still left two Legions—one guarding Northern Gaul, the other Southern Gaul;
Additionally, after Massilia surrendered, Caesar, fearing rebellion, stationed a Legion in the Western Province for deterrence.
Because Legion Commander Trebonius performed well during the previous siege of Massilia, among Caesar’s many commanders, he was considered to have competent capabilities. Therefore, Caesar promoted him to Deputy General of the Gaul Province, granting him command over the three remaining Legions and the auxiliary troops formed by the Gaul Tribes.
However, Trebonius’s headquarters is not in Ravenna but in the Western Province because it’s closer to the Gaul region, facilitating him to command the troops.
With three Legions and auxiliary troops, Trebonius commands at least twenty thousand elite Soldiers, and he also possesses the power to assemble temporary forces. The officials at the Governor’s Mansion believe this deputy general is fully capable of repelling the invading Barbarians.
After receiving the order, Trebonius, shocked yet unafraid to delay, immediately dispatched a messenger to ride quickly to the Gaul region, preparing to recall the Legions there. However, by this time, the situation in Gaul had already changed.
When Maximus was preparing to dispatch troops, he had already instructed Onomabatis to send word to Vercingetorix. On the same day the Nix Army ambushed and surrounded Aquileia, Onomabatis once again utilized the channels he painstakingly established over the years to quickly inform Vercingetorix—the young leader of the Avelli Tribe—for several days earlier than Trebonius that "the Nix Kingdom has commenced an assault on the Northern Italy Province."
A straightforward path lay before Vercingetorix: Wait for the Romans to fully withdraw the troops stationed in the Gaul region to confront the Nix invaders, and then he could calmly rally all Gaul Tribes to declare independence! This way, Gauls wouldn’t have to suffer casualties and could shed Roman control.