Rome must fall.

Chapter 443 Meeting with Vercingetorix

But in this time and space, because of the existence of the Knicks, the situation in the entire Mediterranean has become very different.

After Caesar broke the siege of the Egyptian army, as reinforcements arrived one after another, he received bad news one after another.

Pharnakis, the son of Mithridates, the king of Pontus, who had fought with Rome for many years and was finally defeated and killed, surrendered to Rome early, so Pompey made him the king of Bosporus, which was only a small part of the territory of Pontus, and he was already dissatisfied.

Later, the Roman civil war broke out, and the Dacian king Burebista secretly sent envoys to persuade Pharnakis. So Pharnakis believed that this was a godsend opportunity for him to regain lost territory. After Caesar left Greece, he quickly raised an army, seized a large tract of territory that originally belonged to Pontus, and even defeated the reinforcements of Caesar's legion commander Calvinus, and massacred the captured Roman soldiers.

Dacia, which had once been allied with the Kingdom of the Nyx, also gathered a large army and marched south to invade the Kingdom of Odryssia after Caesar left Greece. Taking advantage of the power of defeating the coalition forces of Odryssia and Macedonia, it captured the main city of Odryssia and threatened the security of Macedonia.

The Gaul region, which Caesar had spent many years conquering, launched a major rebellion after the outbreak of the Roman civil strife. Led by the Arverni leader Vercingetorix, whom Caesar had always admired, the rebels wiped out the three Roman legions stationed in the region, and then continued southward to invade northern Italy...

What made Caesar most nervous and distressed was that the Nyx army that invaded the northern Italian province defeated the Roman army led by Antony, and Antony died on the battlefield, which made him lose his arm. After the victory, the Nyx army attacked cities and captured strongholds along the way, causing the vast northern Italian province to almost completely fall, seriously threatening the security of Rome...

In addition, the stubborn conservative senators led by Cato fled to North Africa with a small army. Later, Pompey's father-in-law Metellus and Labienus came to join them with the remnants of the army after the Battle of Pharsalus. They also colluded with Juba I, the King of Numidia, and were regrouping their troops in an attempt to return to Italy again.

Caesar had never expected that during the months he was besieged in Egypt, the situation in the entire Mediterranean suddenly became so bad for Rome.

After some contemplation, he was anxious and decided to gather his troops and return to Italy to eliminate the invading Nyx army and Gallic rebels to ensure the safety of Rome. This was his duty as the supreme ruler of Rome.

In previous history, Caesar first led his army to Asia Minor, easily put down the rebellion of Pharnakis, and then proudly wrote the famous words in a letter to the Roman Senate: I came, I saw, I conquered.

Even when his men presented Pharnakis' head to him, he casually said: How lucky is the general who became famous for defeating such a fragile enemy!

This was obviously a mockery of Pompey, who had conquered the East.

But in this time and space, the situation is completely different.

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In January 47 BC, the plains west of the Po River in early winter seemed to be gently covered by a layer of gauze by nature, showing a tranquil and fresh beauty. The sky was as blue as a wash, clear and high, without a single cloud blocking it, and the sun shone down without reservation, warm and bright.

A cavalry team of hundreds of people galloped across this vast plain; their shouts and the sound of horse hooves added liveliness and vitality to this quiet land.

The leader was none other than Vercingetorix, leader of the Arverni tribe and current commander of the Gallic coalition. Although he looked a little tired, he revealed an indescribable excitement.

This excitement was not because he led the Gallic coalition forces to finally annihilate the Roman legions entrenched in the camp after several months of siege, and completely eliminated the Roman army in Gaul; nor was it because he led the army south and successfully occupied the Roman province of Westphalia, temporarily solving the army's food crisis; but because he was about to meet a person.

The messenger who had gone ahead rushed back: "Chief, Milan City is not far ahead. King Nix and his men are already outside the city, ready to welcome us!"

Vercingetorix took a deep breath, and the air mixed with the faint fragrance of grass and soil filled his chest, which lifted his spirits. He shouted loudly: "Let's speed up and don't keep them waiting!"

Soon, Vercingetorix saw a group of people standing on the road ahead...

Closer! Closer! … Vercingetorix could clearly see the leader. He wore a golden crown, a gorgeous robe with bright yellow as the main color, and a heavy sword at his waist. He was tall and strong, and his majestic face looked a little gentler under his smile … Vercingetorix jumped off his horse in a hurry, walked forward quickly, and bowed respectfully: “Dear King Maximus, Vercingetorix, the leader of the Arverni tribe, greets you!”

Maximus quickly reached out to help, but failed to help Vercingetorix up. Seeing that he was so persistent, he immediately realized that he was expressing his gratitude.

When Vercingetorix finally finished his salute and stood up, Maximus praised him sincerely: "Captain Vercingetorix, you led the Gauls to annihilate three brutal Roman legions. You are a great hero of our northern tribes! I have long wanted to meet you. I have been looking forward to it for a long time. Today I finally got my wish. It is not easy!"

As he said these last words, the Knicks officials behind him all smiled kindly.

Vercingetorix shook his head and said respectfully, "What kind of hero am I? If you hadn't sent Lurios to tell me the oracle of the goddess Danu, I would have died under the daggers of the Roman army!
And if you hadn't taken the lead in leading the Nix army to attack the northern Italian province and wiped out the Roman army in one fell swoop, then all the tribes in Gaul that rose up in resistance would have been destroyed under the massive attack of the Roman army!

So great King Maximus, you are the great hero of us Gauls! You are also our Gauls’ savior!”

Maximus felt relieved, but on the surface he smiled and said, "You must be tired and hungry after traveling all the way here. Let's not boast to each other and waste time here. I have prepared a banquet in the city. Let's eat meat, drink wine, and talk slowly. What do you think?"

"Okay!" Vercingetorix responded straightforwardly.

At the banquet held in the hall of the Milan Governor's residence, the two sides savored delicious food, toasted each other, and laughed. The lively atmosphere brought the two sides closer together.

Vercingetorix, slightly drunk, said loudly: "Dear King Maximus, I came to see you this time not only to thank you for the great help you have provided to us Gauls, but also to ask for your help!"

As soon as Vercingetorix said this, the Gallic leaders who followed him put down the wine and food in their hands and turned their eyes to Maximus who was sitting in the main seat.

Maximus glanced at Lurios beside him and asked with concern: "Although this is the first time we meet, Gaul and Knicks have united to fight against Rome two years ago. We are like-minded allies! If you have any difficulties, just tell us, we Knicks will do our best to help you solve them!"

The Gallic leaders were deeply moved and relieved when they heard these sincere words.

"Our soldiers are in urgent need of food supplies!" Vercingetorix responded loudly immediately, and then explained in a heavy tone: "In recent years, Rome has invaded our Gaul, resulting in the death and injury of a large number of young and middle-aged people, and many fields have been abandoned. The grain harvest of each tribe has been drastically reduced. But that damn Caesar, in order to prevent us Gauls from recovering, has required each tribe to fully guarantee the food supply of the Roman garrison in the past two years, causing some tribal people to starve all year round due to lack of food!

After we launched the uprising, all tribes fully supported us and took out their remaining food reserves. However, we lacked experience in sieges, and it took us several months to besiege the Roman legion camp. As a result, we had to rely on hunting, fishing, picking wild fruits, and digging grass roots to barely maintain the basic food needs of the entire army.

Later, we captured the Roman province of West France. We thought that we could solve the food problem, but the land in West France was barren and we didn’t get much food. The soldiers could only save food every day, so… so I had no choice but to come here to ask King Maximus, can you… can you give us enough food?! Let our soldiers have enough food and continue to fight the Romans! "

While Vercingetorix was making his request, the Gallic leaders and soldiers who followed him stopped eating and drinking, looked sad, sighed silently, and looked at Maximus with hopeful eyes.

Maximus showed a solemn look to show that he sympathized with the Gallic army's plight. He asked softly: "How many soldiers do you have now?"

"At the peak, we had more than 70,000 troops. However, when we fought against the Romans, especially during the repeated attacks on the Roman legion camps, we suffered heavy casualties. Later, in order to reduce food consumption, we reduced the size of our troops. Now, we only have about 25,000 people."

Maximus nodded slightly, looking around at the Gauls whose eyes were focused on him. His voice was gentle and clear: "In fact, I already knew something about your food shortage. Before our meeting today, we at Knicks had already made a resolution—"

Maximus paused, raised his voice and said, "Let's ask our Nix's finance minister Magus to tell you in detail."

(End of this chapter)