Chapter 406: Preparations for War (Part Two)
Spukala immediately said: "Great King, there's not much time left before the Roman internal conflict occurs in a couple of years, we must hurry to prepare for war!"
"Yes, yes, attacking Rome is nothing like attacking the Boyi people, it will certainly be a grand, arduous, and prolonged war, and we have a lot of preparations to make!" Sistos also urgently reminded.
"Yes, yes, Great King, we must quickly prepare for war, or it will be too late!" Others chimed in one after another.
"No need to worry." Maximus lightly waved his hand and said calmly, "I've already started sending people to prepare. Valles, how is the road construction going?"
"Great King." Valles, the Minister of Public Works, bowed and said, "Since last year, the construction team has been following your orders. Using improvement of external transportation and easier entry for purchased slaves as reasons, they began building the mountain road.
As of now, the construction team has repaired multiple temporary camps along the road from the western mountains of the Alde Tribe to the Adriatic Sea, building, and expanding nearly one-fifth of the mountain road...
Uh, because you once reminded us not to make too much noise to avoid alarming the Aldeans and the people of the Roman Illyria Province and arousing their suspicion, the construction team is currently understaffed, leading to slow progress in road construction——"
"The Romans would never expect us to take the initiative to attack them, and only then can we achieve a surprising victory, but if they were to have prior knowledge and prepare, we might find it difficult to even set foot into Italy. The mountains have protected our safety but have also added difficulties for us to go out!"
Maximus pinched his chin and said decisively: "But time is pressing, the pace of road construction must be accelerated! The number of people in the construction team can be greatly increased!
Ladies and gentlemen, I have decided to start an unofficial military lockdown in the kingdom from tomorrow, and the lockdown area must include the Alde Tribe! Except for permitted persons, outsiders may enter but not exit! Patrol teams must be increased for the construction team, anyone approaching the construction site must be detained first!
Glicus, the Military Intelligence Bureau must also take active action and work closely with the city guards to strengthen control over the kingdom's territory, especially over the construction team, increasing manpower so that the news of road construction is not leaked, arousing Roman suspicion!"
"Yes, Great King, the Military Intelligence Bureau will not let you down!" Glicus responded confidently.
The Nix kingdom has been in a state of war for most of these years and has occasionally implemented military lockdowns within its territory, so Maximus' lockdown order did not strike anyone as too abrupt, and no one raised any objections, only Fesaros reminded: "Great King, on the Alde side... we need to first discuss with them and get consent in order to smoothly expand the military lockdown range. And with the cooperation of the Aldeans, we can better ensure the news does not get leaked."
Maximus had a knowing look and said leisurely: "You're right, I have already sent someone to inform Karsipengpas, and according to my calculations, he should arrive tomorrow, and I will personally discuss this matter with him, trust that he will not refuse!"
Why discuss the affairs of the Alde Tribe with Karsipengpas? Because the current Great Chief of the Alde Tribe is Karsipengpas.
As the Nix Kingdom grows stronger, the Alde Tribe has almost become its vassal. Alistacas has completely lost his initial ambition upon ascension, has indulged in pleasure, neglects tribal affairs, and even drinks heavily.
The food reserves of the Nix Kingdom have become increasingly ample, and under Maximus' suggestion, they began to distill high-proof grain liquor, some of which is used internally while the rest is sold to neighboring friendly tribes and is quite popular among foreign people.
Alistacas is a fan of Nix's grain liquor, but after drinking, he often gets drunk and acts violently, freely beating his attendants. One day, his wife could not bear it any longer and tried to stop his vile behavior, which instead incited his anger, leading him to accidentally kill her.
Waking up to the memory of his father-in-law who often scolded him like a dog, he found his resolve and decided to eliminate his father-in-law too, setting a trap to lure him into the main house to murder him.
Unbeknownst, Ambrosius had already bribed people around Alistacas, received information in advance, and ended up killing Alistacas, supporting Alistacas' son, his grandson, to succeed as the Great Chief.
Budocaribas, Xisaites, and other tribes moved to the Sava River, almost completely assimilated by the Nix Kingdom; Karsipengpas led the western tribes to settle in the eastern hills, far from the tribal power center; Cleobrotas grew tired of Alistacas' distrust and repression, had long retired to his own tribe, citing old age; thus Ambrosius wielded tribal power for many years, thinking he could easily quell the matter of killing Alistacas, ensuring his grandson's stable position as Great Chief.
But he did not know that when there are no external enemies, internal conflicts will arise.
Following Nix, the Aldean Tribe gained considerable benefits, and Ambrosius and his tribe gained a significant share, long-term unequal distribution naturally led to discontent among other tribes, even the Murenica riverside tribes once seen as united.
Thus, several tribal leaders not only disagreed with Ambrosius' grandson's succession but also wanted to hold him accountable for the murder of the Great Chief.
The stalemate led both sides to seek help from their ally, the Nix Kingdom.
Maximus outwardly declared: non-interference in Aldean tribal internal affairs.
Secretly, however, he sent people to incite several southern tribal leaders of the Alde Tribe, who had close ties to the Nix Tribe, to use force to resolve issues.
Quickly, the war of words turned into a military conflict.
Naturally, Ambrosius' strength was superior, quickly defeating his opponents,
But just when he thought the situation was settled, Karsipengpas rallied the eastern hill tribes under the banner of "avenging the Great Chief, restoring tribal peace," assembled an army, and suddenly intervened in the conflict by coming south.
Initially, after relocating the western mountain tribes to the eastern hills, Karsipengpas in ten years of recuperation, with Maximus' assistance, had grown strong enough to rival the southern tribes, and with weapons and armor gifted by the Nix Tribe, easily defeated Ambrosius' tribal army, with Ambrosius himself perishing in battle.
Karsipengpas led the army into the Aldean Main Camp, on the grounds that "the new Great Chief was installed by the rebel Ambrosius, violating tribal tradition," gained the consent of all the elders, and began reelecting the Great Chief.
This Great Chief election not only brought the retired elder Cleobrotas back but also saw tribal leaders like Budocaribas and Xisaites, who had not attended tribal meetings for years and lived far up the Sava River, arrive at the Main Camp (though most of their tribesmen had been assimilated by the Nix Kingdom).
Ultimately, Karsipengpas was elected as the new Aldean Great Chief by a large margin, thus strengthening the bond between the Nix Kingdom and the Aldean Tribe, further facilitating Maximus' control over the Alde Tribe. Otherwise, he would not be able to call the grand chief of a major tribe for a secret meeting as if summoning his own subordinates.
This was something everyone in the hall was accustomed to.
"How is the special military training for the Roman Army devised by the Military Department going?" Maximus asked again.
"Great King, after you approved the Military Department's plan to attack Rome, we commenced the planned March spring training, rehearsing Heavy Infantry vs. Heavy Infantry legion formations, javelin defensive tactics, light cavalry harassment of heavy infantry, heavy cavalry charges against heavy infantry, cooperation between heavy crossbow soldiers and heavy infantry attacks, as well as iron armor soldier frontal assaults on shield formations with heavy infantry support... multiple tactics."
Staff Minister Pequot eloquently said: "For the past two years, without any wars in the kingdom, new recruits have been added to every legion, and given that they are practicing new tactics, both the team officers and soldiers are unfamiliar with them. The Military Department has commanded all legions to continue training in city exercise fields during the post-spring training leisure time, and conduct assessments at the start of the autumn training, with the worst-performing troops subject to punishment.
So far, judging from the responses from city exercise fields, their training attitude is quite positive, but I have found some issues during the previous spring training that need to be addressed as soon as possible!"
"What issues?"
"The forward charge of heavy cavalry into dense formations is indeed terrifying, but we only have eighty riders, too few to be significant in a major battle."
"How many heavy cavalry do you wish to have?" Maximus asked.
"Ideally three hundred cavalry, forming a formidable strike force, capable of breaking Roman shield formations more easily and greatly intimidating enemy forces. However, I've heard that only the stronger Boyi Horses are suitable for heavy cavalry, do we have enough Boyi Horses?"
"We have enough horses, but some Boyi Horses must wait until next spring when they reach three years old to be trained as warhorses," replied Seksepis, the Chief Officer of the Livestock Department.
Maximus nodded and said, "Then as you suggested, increase the number of heavy cavalry to three hundred, but ensure they hurry up in training to have combat strength by the time of the expedition."
"Thank you, Great King!" Pequot bowed, then continued, "Furthermore, our original crossbow soldiers pose little threat to Roman heavy infantry, but heavy crossbow soldiers are quite lethal to Roman heavy infantry. I hope to reduce the number of light crossbow soldiers across the legions and increase the number of heavy crossbow soldiers."