Rome must fall.

Chapter 444: Plans against Caesar

Magus stood up, saluted Maximus, then looked at Vercingetorix and said loudly: "Under the king's proposal, the Kingdom Council made a resolution to hand over the territory from Parma to the west of Brescia in the northern Italian province to the Gallic allied forces!
Chief Vercingetorix, when you came here today, I believe you have noticed that there is no one on this road. After entering Milan, except for the Nix soldiers we brought, there is no one from the northern Italian province, because after we captured this territory, we drove all the people in this province to the south, and brought all the slaves and landless poor to the east of Parma and Bredisi.

We have basically not used the granaries in all the towns here and the supplies left behind by the residents after they fled south, because the king already knows your plight and has long considered transferring them to you. As the kingdom's finance minister, I have roughly checked these grains and supplies-"

Magus emphasized, "Northern Italy is indeed the most agriculturally developed region in Italy. Even though it has been four months since the harvest, the food left in these towns is enough for your 25,000 warriors... well, for more than half a year!"

"This is really great!!" The Gaul leaders and warriors were all surprised and couldn't help cheering.

Although Vercingetorix had never met Maximus before, he had some understanding of the King of Nyx through Lurios' introduction and the correspondence over the past two years. He thought that the other party would provide him with some food, but he did not expect Maximus to give so much.

He stood up hurriedly, ignoring the overturned wine glass, and said excitedly: "Respected King Maximus, thank you for your generous and selfless help! Now our army and our people are saved! You are a great benefactor to us Gauls, and all our Gauls will remember your help--"

"Captain Vercingetorix! Fellow Gallic leaders and warriors!" Maximus interrupted him and said loudly, "Nix and Gaul are allies. It is our duty to provide assistance to our allies in trouble! Moreover, Rome has invaded Gaul over the years and has taken away the lives and wealth of many Gallic compatriots. These grains and supplies are just a small amount of interest that both sides have demanded from the Romans! Next, we must work together to demand more blood debts from the Romans!"

"King Maximus is absolutely right! Goddess Danu, we Gauls will regard the Nyx as brothers, fight side by side, work together to defeat more Roman troops, share more wealth, and finally completely destroy Rome!" The Gallic leaders present looked at Maximus and excitedly made their promise loudly.

Maximus looked at the Gallic leaders who solemnly swore an oath, and was secretly happy that his plan to win over the Gallic allies was effective.

In fact, Knyx had no choice but to give up half of the territory and supplies in the occupied northern Italian province.

The land of Northern Italy was vast. After the Knicks expelled most of the people in Northern Italy, it was impossible for slaves and poor people to cultivate so much land. The Knicks army had only 40,000 people. Even if the slaves and civilians were armed and stationed in every important town in Northern Italy, the garrison would not be too many. Instead, it would lead to the dispersion of troops and be easily defeated by the Roman army. Therefore, Maximus came up with the idea of ​​giving up land, which not only strengthened the friendship with the Gauls, but also shared the pressure of defense, strengthened the strength of the allies, and was more conducive to coordinated operations, thus achieving the goal of killing four birds with one stone.

"Respected King Maximus!" Vercingetorix hesitated and said, "You have generously allowed my soldiers to no longer suffer from food shortages, but... but we still have many people who are hungry. I want them to come to the western part of the northern Italian province to eat. I wonder if it is possible-"

"The land in the west has been handed over to you. How to arrange and distribute it is of course up to you. We will not interfere." Maximus said solemnly: "But I hope you will be vigilant and strengthen your defense. Once you find signs that the Roman army is attacking you, notify us as soon as possible. Our army will rush to meet you as soon as possible and fight the Romans together!"

"Don't worry, we have suffered too much from the Romans in the past, so how can we be careless now!" Vercingetorix responded solemnly: "Dear King Maximus, if the Roman army attacks you first, please notify us as soon as possible. We will definitely rush there as soon as possible to fight with you!"

Maximus nodded and continued, "After we occupied the northern Italian province, we released all the slaves who were detained and oppressed by the Romans. Many of these slaves came from Gaul. But now your food is tight, and it is not easy to feed the existing soldiers and tribesmen. We still have plenty of food. I think we can let them stay with us for a while so that they don't have to consume your limited food. Moreover, many of them got sick and injured because of resisting the oppression of the Romans. I am not bragging, but our medical skills are well-known among the tribes in the eastern mountains. There are many doctors following the army this time, and they will get good treatment... What do you think?"

"That would be great!" Vercingetorix said with shame and gratitude, "I almost forgot about these poor compatriots captured by the Romans. Fortunately, you were thoughtful and took good care of them!"

Maximus looked a little embarrassed: "We are short of manpower now, and it is not easy to transfer more tribesmen from the territory due to the inconvenient transportation. So after they recover, they may need to help us with some work, or even be organized to guard the towns in the rear for us...so I hope you can forgive me!" "King Maximus, you are too polite! You saved their lives, healed their injuries, and most importantly, kept them from starving. Isn't it right to let them do something!" A Gallic leader shouted.

"That's right! You are their savior, so it's only right that you let them do some work!" The other Gallic leaders also echoed loudly.

Maximus nodded again reluctantly, but looked at the Minister of Agriculture Wallace. With the affirmation of Vercingetorix and others, they no longer had to worry that the labor and manpower they had worked so hard to obtain in the northern Italian provinces would be taken away by their Gallic allies or that some disputes would arise as a result.

"Respected King Maximus!" A Gaul leader put down the pork elbow in his hand, wiped his greasy mouth, and asked loudly: "After our army enters the northern Italian province, will you join us in attacking Rome?"

"No!" Maximus stared at the leader and responded firmly: "I suggest that we should not rush to attack south, but defeat Caesar here first, and then it will be easier to attack Rome!"

The word "Caesar" made all the Gauls present tremble in their hearts, but Maximus' words puzzled them. Vercingetorix, on behalf of everyone, asked first: "Dear King Maximus, since you have defeated the Roman army and Italy is now short of troops, it is a good time to attack Rome. Why do you still delay and wait for Caesar to come back and fight him?"

"There are three reasons." Maximus calmly said to the Gauls, "First, we have no navy. If we rush to attack southward, the closer we get to Rome, the farther we will be from our own territory. Once the Roman army lands behind us by ship, tramples on our territory, harms our people, and cuts off our transportation lines, our soldiers will panic, morale will drop, and the army will be in trouble.
Secondly, Rome is the center of the Romans. The Romans will definitely do their best to protect it. That means the further south we attack, the greater the resistance we will encounter. Once the attack is blocked and the rear is raided by the Romans, our army will be in great danger.
Finally, the invincible Caesar is the pillar and commander of the Roman army. No matter how many times the Romans are defeated, as long as Caesar is not defeated, they have confidence. He is indeed our biggest threat, so we must defeat him first, eliminate this threat, destroy the Romans' confidence, and then attacking Rome will be much smoother!"

These words made the Gauls fall into deep thought.

Vercingetorix, the most intelligent one, was impressed first, but he asked with some concern: "If Caesar does not take the initiative to attack us, but instead uses this time to recruit troops and strengthen defense, won't we miss the opportunity to fight?!"

Maximus responded confidently: "No, because he is Caesar!"

..........................................................................................

At the end of January, after conquering Egypt, Caesar abandoned his honeymoon cruise on the Nile with Cleopatra and decided to return to Italy.

He sent messengers to notify the legions stranded in Greece to return to Brindisi as soon as possible to assemble, and also notified the Roman fleets stationed in various naval ports to return to Brindisi as soon as possible to assemble.

At the same time, he appointed Calvinus as the commander of the Eastern provinces, granting him the right to recruit and form new legions in the Eastern provinces to fight against the rebellious Pharnakis. In addition, Calvinus also had to help the Macedonian province guard against the invasion of the Dacians.

In a letter to Calvinus, Caesar encouraged his subordinate who had just suffered a defeat: Don't put too much pressure on yourself. As long as you can hold the enemy back and try not to let the chaotic situation expand further before you lead your army back to the east, then you will have made a great contribution to Rome.

(End of this chapter)