Rome Must Fall

There was another commotion in the hall. Everyone knew that Segostika's strength had been greatly damaged after last year's war with foreign mercenaries. If it encountered any difficulties again, it would be indispensable to seek help from the tribal alliance.

So, some people couldn't help shouting: "The position of the great leader cannot be passed down from father to son. This is a shortcoming left by the damn Skodisqi people. We should restore our ancient traditions and let everyone jointly elect the most powerful among the tribes." A capable person serves as a great leader!”

One person takes the lead and everyone rushes to respond.

Pulikas sat down slumped and stopped arguing.

Soon, Kabdus was elected as the new chief of Segostika. After all, he had been acting as the chief for more than half a year, temporarily eliminating hidden dangers in the tribe, stabilizing order, and allowing the people to live in peace. Life... His abilities are recognized by everyone, far beyond what the young boy Ancasus can compare with.

Although he would have to go to the sacred grove next, accompanied by Hermigas, to offer sacrifices and receive blessings from the gods before he could officially assume the position of chief, but at this time Kabdus was about to give an inaugural speech, and everyone would not There are objections.

"Thank you everyone for your trust in me!" Kabudez smiled and glanced at everyone in the hall. He naturally skipped when passing by Pulikas: "I won't say more. I have said enough in the past six months. It's enough, and everyone has been fully supporting me.

Next I want to tell you two pieces of good news. The first one - the Boi people in the north of our Pannoni territory sent envoys over, hoping to reconcile with us and form an alliance. After discussion, the tribal alliance decided to agree to their request. "

This good news immediately aroused heated discussion among everyone, because the Boi and Pannoni had been feuding for nearly ten years. During this period, the two sides had frequent conflicts, and thousands of soldiers from both sides died in the battle, so the hatred was deep. Although the territory of the Segestika tribe does not border the Boi people, it has provided various supplies to the tribes in the north from time to time in the past, and their lives have been deeply affected. How can you not be shocked when you hear this news.

Immediately, someone asked in surprise: "Why did the Boi people suddenly form an alliance with us?!"

"Because of the Dacians!" the alliance messenger interjected: "This enemy from the east is powerful, and they are extremely greedy. They want to occupy the entire land of the Great River Plain, forcing all races on the Great River Plain to unite. Smash the ambitions of the Dacians!"

Everyone's excitement suddenly cooled down a bit: it turns out that the peace between the north and the Boi people is just for a new war, a bigger war!

Before everyone could express their thoughts, Kabdus continued to speak loudly: "This first good news brings the second good news. In order to better fight against the Dacians in the future, we must first solve the problem own hidden dangers.

After discussion, the tribal alliance decided that, except for the Andizetti tribe, which will fully defend the remnants of Skodisci in the east, the other six major tribes will try their best to send warriors and form a coalition to completely eliminate those who occupy our land and threaten our security. That group of foreign mercenaries, save our captured compatriots! "

The hall suddenly became excited. Although they were already afraid of the outsiders from the south, if the entire tribal alliance went all out to form a coalition army with at least fifty or sixty thousand people, how could such a huge army be resisted by the sparse mercenaries? There is finally hope for their captured tribesmen to come back!

Someone immediately asked: "When will the alliance launch an attack on those foreign mercenaries?!"

Kabudez responded loudly: "After October, when our armistice agreement with the mercenaries expires, after all, we Pannonians keep our promises!"

………………………………………………………………

In the newly built weapons research room of the ironworks workshop, the packed blacksmiths focused their attention on Cadsos, the adjutant of the Ministry of Works who had just walked in.

When Kedessos first became the adjutant of the Ministry of Works, there were many people in the ironworks workshop who were jealous and dissatisfied. Some even said privately, "A slave who doesn't even know how to make weapons actually climbed on top of us." "Something like that.

However, with the support of the leader Maximus and the respect of the work officer Capito, he himself was open-minded and studious, diligent and conscientious, arranged the affairs of the workshop in an orderly manner, and actively contributed to the ironworks workshop. Welfare of personnel.

When the first batch of pig iron was made, he asked the tribe for credit; when the first batch of iron tools were produced, he asked the tribe for credit; when the first batch of weapons were produced, he asked the tribe for credit... The entire iron workshop Because of him, several craftsmen have been promoted, and now everyone looks at him with eager eyes.

"The leader asked our ironworks workshop to develop a weapon - a crossbow as soon as possible. Have you all heard about this?" After more than half a year of training, Kedessos was no longer as nervous and restrained as he was at the beginning. He stood on the wooden floor. At the table, the voice was clear and loud.

"I heard it!" Everyone said in unison.

"The leader personally drew the crossbow drawings and asked me to bring them..." Kedessos said, unfolding the scroll in his hand.

This paper roll was accidentally made by mixing several barks when the papermaking workshop was studying new paper. Later, the process was improved many times. The new paper produced is thick and not fragile, and the ink marks are clear and not smudged. , so he was chosen by the Ministry of Works and dedicated to making engineering and mechanical drawings.

When Kedessos opened his arms in mid-air, unfolded the blueprint, and showed it to everyone, everyone raised their heads, opened their eyes wide, and surged forward involuntarily.

"This picture is so beautiful!" Someone was the first to shout out everyone's wishes.

In fact, Maximus drew the crossbow on the drawing, adopting some industrial drawing methods, using simple and clear lines to outline the outline, using appropriate proportions to show the size, and also listed the most complex crossbow machine parts separately, using The cross-section method shows the fine structure, and some key parts of the drawings are specially marked with words and numbers... Although the craftsmen have never seen a crossbow, they can see it clearly after seeing it. No wonder they are amazed.

"Okay, stop squeezing! Sit down quickly, it's not like you can't see!" Sititus, who was sitting at the front, reprimanded loudly, but most of the craftsmen actually sat back obediently.

Sititus no longer felt dissatisfied with the rebels and secretly opposed them. He also no longer felt the despair when he was escorted on a march and walked into the mountains. He received land in the Nyx tribe, married a wife, and became a The supervisor of weapon casting in the iron workshop also received a rank promotion due to the production of the first batch of weapons.

Not only has he completely surrendered to the Nyx tribe, but he has also become a supporter of Chief Maximus (because Maximus personally appointed him as steward and later personally rewarded him for promotion).

So he went on to say loudly: "We heard before that Chief Maximus wanted to draw the drawings himself and let us make new weapons. Many people disagreed. Are you convinced now?!"

"Impressed!"

"This drawing is so good! It's even better than our tribe's flag!"

"Of course, our leader has always been favored by the gods!"

…

The craftsmen started talking enthusiastically.

"Please be quiet!" Kedessos asked loudly: "Do you have the confidence to build this slave?"

"Yes! Yes!..." the craftsmen shouted one after another.

"Keep quiet! Stop making trouble!" Sistos stood up again and roared, and the noise became smaller.

Then he said to Kedesos: "The drawing drawn by the leader is very clear. We have no doubts about making this crossbow. From its structure, it is much simpler than the ballista. The most complicated part of it is here--"

Sistos pointed at the cross-section diagram of the crossbow on the drawing with his finger, and then said confidently: "But we have experience in repairing crossbows and modifying crossbows, so there is no problem in making it."

"Except for the crossbow mechanism and the bow string, this crossbow is all made of wood." Midosakus continued. He is the best carpenter in the iron workshop, unlike Tetilips of the construction team. , Tetilips is good at wooden construction, and he originally worked in the iron paint workshop of Sarapia for many years, making wooden shields for shields and barrels for spears and javelins... Now he is an ironworker of the Nyx tribe. The deputy general manager of weapons casting in the workshop is in charge of a group of carpenters in the workshop.

He continued: "Sititus is right, the most complicated part of this crossbow is the crossbow mechanism, but the most troublesome part is the crossbow arm.

Since this crossbow does not have a torque device, if you want the arrow to be able to shoot far and have enough penetration, the crossbow arm must use wood with strong elasticity. I estimate that yew and ash will be better. It is suitable, but whether it is suitable or not depends on making bow arms from various woods and trying them out to know. "

"I'm afraid the arrowhead of this crossbow is a bit troublesome." Percy Anassis interjected.

His situation is somewhat similar to that of Sititus. The father and son first married a wife and divided the land in the Nyx tribe, and because he was the best at casting iron tools for daily life among the blacksmiths (after all, he opened his own blacksmith shop in Pompeii, and received daily work). His job is to help residents build daily utensils), so he was appointed as the general manager of household ironware in the ironworks workshop.

Not long ago, he cooperated with the Ministry of Agriculture to develop the Quyuan plow, which was awarded and promoted by the tribe, and he is completely committed to the tribe.

At this moment, he pointed to the drawing and said: "This is a triangular arrow. If you want to make such an arrow, you must first make a special mold and use a crucible to heat the molten iron at high temperature. After the pig iron solidifies, it must be hammered with carbon. This is a time-consuming and labor-intensive thing. It would be much better if the arrows were changed into a blade tip shape. "

"This is not possible!" Kedessos said resolutely: "The leader has specifically emphasized that the crossbow arrow must be made in the shape of a diamond, because it can penetrate armor!"