CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 32 POST-WAR DELIBERATIONS

Even though Maximus has only been in this world for a month and hasn’t fully integrated into it, he still acts somewhat as an observer. But seeing the old man, who was always kind and amiable, suddenly become a cold corpse deeply upset him and made him feel guilty: Because he hadn’t gathered the scattered Supply Team members in the camp earlier to lead them quickly to the hillside, the retreat was chaotic. After climbing up, they found that more than thirty members of the Supply Team were missing; now Saraya’s body appeared here... I’m afraid the others are also in this pool...

Thinking of this, Maximus’s breathing became rapid, and he didn’t dare to look anymore, worried about seeing other familiar corpses.

Next to Maximus, Cross suddenly roared in anger, startling him. The Gaul warrior gritted his teeth and said, "The Romans slaughtered our captured brothers, this must be avenged in blood!"

None of the other leaders, such as Spartacus, objected; they were all equally furious.

"After breakfast, gather the brothers and sacrifice those Roman captives with blood!" Spartacus coldly decided.

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"Kill him!!! Kill him!!! Kill him!!!..." The rebel soldiers who had already gazed upon the "Thousand-man Pit" shouted angrily when they saw Grabo being brought into the center of the camp.

Seeing this scene, Grabo knew that he couldn’t escape today. He raised his head proudly and glanced at everyone with contempt, sneering, "Ignorant slaves, don’t be complacent today. Tomorrow, Rome’s might will crush your camp and hang you on crosses until your filthy blood runs dry—"

Before his cursed words were finished, he felt a sharp pain in his body, with a sharp sword tip protruding from his chest...

Cross stabbed his chest several times, completely destroying his heart. Only when Grabo stopped struggling did Cross chop off his head and raise it high in his hand.

The soldiers cheered even louder.

Next were the officers of the Roman army, followed by the ordinary soldiers. They were executed one by one by the rebel army’s execution squad, totaling more than 400 people. This was not the entire number of captives. The rest were either Campania auxiliary soldiers or slaves of the Roman Legion, so they were spared.

Maximus suggested: to cremate all the bodies in the camp and the farm as quickly as possible to prevent the outbreak of a plague.

Although Maximus explained, Spartacus, Cross, and other leaders still couldn’t understand "why too many bodies would cause a plague," but just the word "plague" was enough to make them nervous. Moreover, in the hot weather, piles of corpses could easily stink and breed mosquitoes, making people uneasy, so no one opposed Maximus’s suggestion.

The entire rebel army rallied, collecting firewood and burning the bodies, making the camp full of blazing fires and billowing smoke, busy for a whole day.

Meanwhile, some rebel soldiers who were defeated in the previous day’s battle and fled gradually returned to the camp. After escaping the Roman army’s pursuit, they hadn’t gone far but hid in the nearby mountains. At night, the sound of battle by the wine farm was deafening, so they all sensed something happened. Today, they secretly sent people to scout and found that the Roman camp was actually full of rebel soldiers, which surprised them greatly...

By late afternoon, over 400 rebel soldiers who had been separated returned. Among them were fifteen gladiators believed to have been killed in action, and the entire army was filled with joy.

In this victorious atmosphere, the leaders of the rebel army held a Military Commander Conference in the living room of the wine farm.

"Now that we’ve defeated the Roman army and seized a large amount of equipment, our strength has increased. But the Romans will never rest; they will surely send a stronger army to annihilate us. Therefore, we must quickly strengthen our forces before the next Roman army arrives!" Spartacus warned everyone at the start of the meeting.

"Spartacus, you need not worry. Earlier, we were just skirmishing, and within less than a month, we expanded from over 200 to more than 4,000. Now that we’ve defeated the Roman army and demonstrated our strength, many more slaves will join us, and we have enough weapons to equip them. When the Roman army returns, we can fully defeat them head-on!"

When Cross said this, he felt shame inside. Previously, he also feared battling the Roman army, which made him follow Enomai’s left flank charge because he couldn’t withstand the pressure. But the recent Vesuvius raid boosted his confidence.

"I agree with Cross. Our ranks will soon be vast, and the new brothers won’t wield hoes and sticks but real short swords and long spears. But we need to strengthen their training; otherwise, even with weapons, they’ll flee before the Romans’ attack!" Enomai said loudly. In yesterday’s battle, he fought bravely at the front while the new recruits fled beforehand, a deep impression.

"It seems everyone realizes that even with more people, if they’re untrained, they’ll only flee on the battlefield." Spartacus looked at Hamilcar solemnly, saying, "Regarding soldier training, Hamilcar, you must not only hasten the implementation but also strictly require the brothers. We’ll fully support you, so we can be sure of victory in future encounters with the Roman army."

"I’ll do my utmost to help the new recruits improve their combat skills!" Hamilcar first promised, then added, "I have another suggestion. We currently have nearly 500 Campania prisoners, most of whom are Napoletans. We shouldn’t release them like last time at the Flora Temple but instead take them outside Napolet City and negotiate, getting slaves and gladiators in exchange for these prisoners.

Moreover, doing this has another benefit: I’ve heard that Napolet is a trade city with many merchants, who will spread news of our victory more widely and attract more slaves to join us."

"This is a good idea!" Spartacus slapped his thigh hard.

"I also think this is a good way. We can’t let these Campania prisoners go for nothing. But we’re not familiar with the slaves and gladiators in Napolet City. What if the Napoletans slip in some loyal people among those they exchange, then incite them to disrupt our ranks?" Antonix expressed his concern.

"I despise traitors, and dealing with them is troublesome!" Cross agreed, glancing at Maximus inadvertently.

After thinking, Spartacus said, "We won’t lack warriors, and the most reliable are those who voluntarily join us. There’s no need to ask Napolet for people; now we lack weapons. It’d be better to have the Napoletans trade weapons for these prisoners, what do you think?"

This time, nobody objected.

Looking at everyone, Spartacus continued, "We’re unfamiliar with the gladiators of Napolet, but we’re familiar with those in Capua. There are many gladiator schools there, mostly outside the city, and we’ve all faced them in the arena. Once our strength is restored, we’ll send a team to raid outside Capua and rescue the gladiators there to join us and reinforce our strength!"

"I agree! Send me then. The Radi Gladiator School there is full of Germanic warriors, and I’ve long wanted to rescue them!" Enomai said excitedly.

Others also agreed, as training new recruits was a long process, whereas the gladiators were ready combat power with whom they shared a common language.

"There’s one more thing I’d like to discuss with you." Spartacus said seriously, "I want to abandon this camp and lead the army to establish a new camp at the farm not far to the north."