Rome Must Perish-Chapter 254 - 162 Maximus’s Summation_2

Although Andres served as a servant boy for the Skodisqi people in his youth and suffered some humiliation, after he came of age, he followed his father in resisting the oppression of the Skodisqi people. While still young, he gained significant fame by killing several enemies in battle.

After he personally led troops into battle, he won victory after victory, becoming a famous warrior among the Pannonians and a nightmare for the Skodisqi people. He played a major role in the eventual destruction of the Skodisqi Tribe in the upper reaches of the Sava River. Thereafter, he took on the role of Great Chief of the Segestica Tribe, boldly waging war against the Alde Tribe, and again, he won battle after battle...

From his first time on the battlefield until now, it has been more than 20 years. Everything has gone smoothly for him, never encountering defeat, not even suffering any significant injuries. But today he was defeated, catastrophically so, in a battle that concerned the rise and fall of his tribe, and he still remains unclear about how he lost...

This blow was so great that he was dazed all the way back to the camp, and once there, he didn’t speak to anyone, collapsing into bed and falling asleep.

He slept until deep into the night; he groggily woke up, looked around, and realized this wasn’t his bedroom. Only then did he vaguely remember that he had arrived at Anrotas’s tribe. Suddenly, the battlefield image of the Segestica Warriors’ collapse, like an avalanche, flashed in his mind, causing a sudden headache. He couldn’t help but shout, "Someone, come!"

The door swung open immediately, and the tribal leader Pulikas entered, happily saying, "Great Chief, you’re awake!"

Anrotas followed closely behind, asking with concern, "Great Chief, you’ve been sleeping for most of the day, do you want something to eat?"

Being reminded, Andres instinctively reached to touch his stomach, which immediately grumbled in response. Now his head no longer hurt, but his stomach did, and he ordered, "Quick, bring me more food!"

"Great Chief, please wait a moment; everything’s been prepared long ago, it just needs reheating." Anrotas said, then turned and left.

"What time is it now?" Andres asked his confidant.

"It’s already late at night."

"It’s been this long already?! Now, what... what are the enemy’s movements?" When Andres mentioned "the enemy," his voice was trembling slightly.

"Great Chief, I... I didn’t send out a reconnoitre to spy on the enemy’s actions." Pulikas lowered his head in shame, responding softly, "But so far, we haven’t seen the enemy appear nearby, and the warriors who escaped back said that as long as they made it past Wallis’s camp, the enemy didn’t pursue..."

Andres subconsciously glared at him, but then thought about how after being defeated, even he was at a loss, let alone them; but at least Pulikas remained loyally protecting him.

Andres’s expression softened slightly and he asked, "How many warriors have returned so far?"

"Uh... about 3,000."

"Only 3,000!" Andres exclaimed in shock because, although he’d never lost a battle before, with years of campaigning experience he knew that after a battle, most of the time the victorious side couldn’t kill or capture many enemies, and many routed soldiers could escape back to their tribe and be reorganized to fight after some time. The Segestica Tribe had sent out 16,000 warriors this time, and only 3,000 managed to escape back, not even one-fifth of the total.

"Great Chief, it’s been less than a day since the battle ended; perhaps... other warriors got lost, or... have bypassed this camp and are still on their way back to the tribe." Pulikas explained.

"Just follow the river; how could they get lost..." Andres muttered, but said no more, hoping internally that things were as Glicus said.

"Great Chief, the food prepared for you has been reheated!" Anrotas brought in a large wooden tray into the room.

The platter held two grilled lamb legs, a large bowl of wheat porridge, a jug of goat’s milk, and a big heap of washed cabbage... the food was quite bountiful.

"Put it here; I’ll first go see the warriors who returned." At that moment, Andres had no appetite for food, got up, and headed outside.

"Going to see the warriors this late?!" Anrotas looked at Pulikas in astonishment.

Pulikas said nothing in response and followed Andres out.

After comforting the routed soldiers who had escaped, Andres returned to fill his stomach and then went back to sleep.

Early the next morning, Andres woke up again, feeling much more spirited, as if yesterday’s catastrophic defeat had been left behind. He didn’t immediately lead the army back to the Main Camp but stayed at this camp instead, sending out a reconnoitre to scout for enemy movements while dispatching cavalry to regroup the scattered soldiers.

Upon learning that the enemy hadn’t seized the opportunity to capture the two camps to the east, he was surprised: if it were him, he would surely have taken advantage of the great victory to strike directly at the Segestica Main Camp. When he had wiped out the Skodisqi Tribe that occupied the upper reaches of the Kupa River years ago, that was exactly what he did.

But clearly, the enemy leader was a cautious individual, not advancing with the victory, instead retreating to their own camp; this allowed him to breathe a temporary sigh of relief, though he soon felt disheartened because after a busy half-day, the cavalry only managed to bring back over 1,000 routed soldiers and couldn’t find any more of their people.

16,000 Segestica warriors, yet less than 5,000 returned; it was an utter and complete defeat that left Andres heartbroken and pained!

Just as he was about to lead his troops away from this place of sorrow, the Cavalry Captain came to report, "Cabdes has returned!"

Andres finally felt that the Spirit of Nature had offered him a little protection; he could imagine how much impact this defeat would have on the tribe, and with Cabdes’s assistance, he could resolve many problems, so he quickly had someone bring Cabdes over.

Cabdes’s face was clean, his clothes unruffled, except for looking tired, there was no sign of the disarray of an escape after defeat.

"Great Chief, I’ve returned."

"Cabdes, your safe return is the best news I’ve heard today!" It was very rare for Andres to speak so emotionally.

However, Cabdes wasn’t moved by this; he remained cautious, saying, "Great Chief, I didn’t escape back; rather... the enemy released me."

"What did you say?!" Andres’s eyes widened, voice suddenly rising.

"The enemy released me to send you a message, they wish to negotiate a truce with us!" Cabdes carefully emphasized the word "truce".

"Truce?" Andres thought he misheard: "The enemy gains victory and actually initiates a ceasefire?!"

"Great Chief, the enemy leader told me..." Cabdes continued cautiously, "They were invited by the Aldeans to reclaim the land along the Kupa River.

Moreover, the Aldeans promised that if they could drive us out, they could settle on a large tract of land along the Kupa River... so they launched an attack on us.

He said that if we voluntarily withdrew from the Kupa River, and you, Great Chief, pledged a ceasefire publicly to the Divine, he would gradually release the captured tens of thousands of our people, allowing them to return to the tribe..."

"What do they mean by ’gradually release’?" Andres pressed down his anger and asked silently.

"I asked the same thing, and the enemy leader told me he worries that if he releases all the captives at once, once we regain our strength, we might... might renege, so he plans to release 1,000 people each month—"

"Damn scoundrel! Who does he think he is, daring to humiliate me like this!" Andres suddenly flew into a rage, "Ceasefire, my ass! Does he think winning a couple of battles can make me, Andres, concede? No, I will lead the army again, destroy their camp, chop off their heads, and toss them to the wild dogs to chew on!..."

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