"Boris, your performance yesterday was the worst. Our brothers have already started fighting the Gauls, but you are still far behind, affecting the performance of our entire team!"
"Sigh, forgive him. It's his first time on the battlefield. It's normal for him to be afraid."
"I … I'm not afraid. It's just that the strap of my leather sandal broke."
"That's a good reason."
"It really broke!"
"That's also your fault! It's already stipulated in the military law that soldiers must take good care of their equipment. Shoes are also part of the equipment. If you don't check them properly, you can't blame others if something goes wrong during the battle. Fortunately, yesterday's operation was an attack. If it was a retreat, you would have been caught by the enemy, and no one would have been able to save you. "
"That's hard to say. Boris might have taken off his shoes and run faster than us during the retreat."
"You —"
"Alright, let's stop talking! Apart from falling behind at the beginning, Pollus performed very well in the subsequent battles. Brothers, think about our first time on the battlefield. We weren't much better than Boris, so don't blame each other. Remember! Our team is a whole. Only by helping each other and fighting side by side like brothers can we defeat our enemies and let ourselves live well! "
"Captain is right! Let's have a toast to celebrate yesterday's victory and the fact that none of us were injured! "
"Cheers!"
The soldiers shouted and drank the wine in their glasses. The pretty young waitress hurried over to pour them wine.
"Suna, have you thought about it?! Marry me. When I retire, follow me to Turií! That's the greatest city in the world! " One of the soldiers, under the influence of alcohol, said out loud what was on his mind.
The other soldiers immediately began to jeer.
Although the waitress was a little shy, she had experienced a lot of this since she had always been in public to make a living. She said in a sweet voice, "Captain Nicapalos, I heard that soldiers are not allowed to get married during their service."
Of course, Nicapalos was on his soldiers' side, so he said seriously, "There is indeed such a rule, but you can get engaged first. I heard that there are already several families in our residential area that are engaged to soldiers in our barracks."
"That's right, you can get engaged first!" the soldiers at the table cheered loudly. The soldier who said he wanted to get married was laughing foolishly.
The waitress wasn't too flustered. She turned her head to look at the kitchen and said, "I can't make the decision for such an important matter. My father has to say it."
The tavern owner who was chopping meat in the kitchen had been paying attention to the commotion in the restaurant. He immediately shouted in broken Greek, "No!" After that, the sound of the meat cleaver colliding with the chopping board became louder.
A soldier laughed and said, "Koradas, who told you to hold Su Na's hand when you were drunk and offended your future father-in-law?"
"When did I hold Suna's hand?" Koradas looked confused.
"You were drunk, so of course you don't remember. The captain was afraid that you would be locked up, so he told everyone to keep it a secret. "
Koradas saw that he spoke as if he was telling the truth, so he swept his gaze across every teammate, including the captain. Seeing that they all had an expression of "it's true" on their faces, his heart was instantly shocked. In the end, he looked at Suna in embarrassment.
But Suna had already hidden in the kitchen.
"Suna, this guy actually dared to bully you. Let me teach him a lesson for you!" A person at the table next to him stood up and said loudly. It was a soldier from another squad.
"This is between me and Suna. It's none of your business. Get lost!"
"Koradas, everyone says that you're the strongest soldier in our squad, but I'm not afraid of you! Let's have a good competition today. Whoever wins, Suna will be his! "
"Come on, don't cry when you get beaten up later!"
Just as the two soldiers collided with each other and the comrades around them were jeering, the two squad captains quickly stopped them. "Stop it. Do you want to be punished by the military judge?!"
At the mention of the military judge, the excited mood of the soldiers suddenly felt as if a can of cold water was poured over them. Almost everyone had experience of being punished by him in the military camp for more than a year. So, everyone returned to their seats and quietly drank.
Koradas, on the other hand, was still a little unwilling. He said angrily, "Kid, let's have a good competition in the next team's football game and see who's better!"
"Let's have a competition. Who's afraid of who!" The soldier also responded, unwilling to be outdone.
After the small disturbance subsided, the tavern was still lively and full of laughter.
After the soldiers drank and relaxed here, they would wander the streets of the civilian area and go to various shops to buy some daily necessities they needed. However, they had to rush back to the barracks before sunset to participate in the squad captains' gathering roll call. If they were late, they would inevitably be punished. Whether it was cleaning the toilet, feeding the livestock, boiling water in the bathroom, cleaning the streets … they were all hard and tiring work. So, under normal circumstances, the soldiers would return to camp on time.
… …
Most of the construction of the flat and wide stone road that Maximus rode on could be attributed to the soldiers of the border legion. Building roads was also part of the border legion's military training. In the past year or so, the Legion Commander had taken out a lot of time to let the soldiers build this road.
Four months ago, the road was connected to Florentia. Just last month, another road connected three barracks and finally connected to the port city of Pisai. However, the road, which was undoubtedly more than ten times longer, was completed by tens of thousands of laborers recruited by the Etrurian Alliance under the command of the engineers sent by the Ministry of Construction of Diónia. All of this was to better guarantee and strengthen the defense of the border.
The training ground was not far from the barracks and was next to the civilian area. It was a vast flat grassland that had been repaired.
On one side of the grassland, there were dozens of hard wooden stakes that were taller than a person. Under the supervision and guidance of the team officers, the heavy infantrymen held long shields and bayonets (or short swords) and repeatedly practiced stabbing (or slashing) at the wooden stakes. On the other side of the grassland, there were many targets. The infantrymen were practicing with their bows and javelins.
In front of the furthest target, a man wearing a helmet with a purple and red striped crown was throwing a javelin. He ran a few steps, roared, and threw with all his might. The javelin flew over 50 meters and penetrated the thick wooden target.
Behind him, there were a few other men in the same high-ranking officer's armor cheering loudly. The other soldiers seemed to be used to it, and no one looked at them curiously.
Even though Maximus could not see the face of the man throwing the javelin, he knew that it was Hasdrubal, the Legion Commander of the border legion. The Legion Commander from Carthage always liked to take part in training and set an example, which was why he was respected by the soldiers.
Maximus jumped off his horse, adjusted his helmet and chest plate, and walked straight to the training ground for the infantrymen.
The armory keeper who was guarding the piles of javelins and arrows saw Maximus and immediately went up to him. "Good morning, Lord Maximus!"
"Did you use up a lot of your weapons after yesterday's battle?" Maximus asked directly.
"Not much, Lord Maximus," the keeper replied. The keeper replied, "I heard that there were not many Gauls who attacked Florentia yesterday. Our troops arrived just in time, and the Gauls were still looting the village. So, the officers sent the heavy infantry to attack instead of the light infantry. The battle ended quickly, and the soldiers' armor and weapons did not suffer much damage. So far, no one has requested to change their armor and weapons."
Maximus nodded and asked, "Did you find anything?"
"Two Gauls helmets, five greatswords, 14 wooden shields, 25 spears, 19 sets of Gauls' clothing, and they also captured four Gauls …" The keeper paused and said softly, "Early in the morning, the treasurer came. He said, 'We have no use for these things. He wants to take them all and sell them to the merchants.' I said, 'I can't make the decision. I have to get your approval, Lord Maximus.'"
In Persia's expeditionary army, there was a person in charge of the treasurer in the mercenary army, and this position was retained until the establishment of the Diónia Alliance. After the establishment of the kingdom, the logistical support system of the army became more complete, and the soldiers were all citizens of the kingdom. Therefore, there was no longer a treasurer in the army. The spoils of war were handed over to the supply camp for safekeeping, and finally, the quartermaster sent by the Ministry of Military Affairs would deal with them, or gather merchants to auction off the spoils of war, or transfer part of the spoils of war to the treasury. Some of the money obtained was used to compensate the families of the soldiers who died or were injured in the war, some was deposited in the treasury of the Ministry of Military Affairs, and some was transferred back to the army as rewards for the soldiers' victory.
However, the border army was different. The soldiers were hired and paid every month, and the money came from the treasury. Therefore, there was a special treasurer, who was sent by the Finance Department. There was a debate between the Ministry of Military Affairs and the Finance Department on who should handle the spoils of war of the border army. In the end, the Devers made the decision and handed it over to the treasurer of the army.
The reason why he did this was for safety reasons. After all, the soldiers of the border army were not citizens of Diónia. Handing over the most important property of the soldiers to the Finance Department could prevent the affairs of the mercenary army from being completely controlled by the Ministry of Military Affairs or the head of the army.
Managing the spoils of war was the responsibility of the supply camp officer, but it was assigned to the newly appointed treasurer in the border army. Maximus was a little dissatisfied, but he was just an agent, and he was not a citizen of Diónia, so he could only bury his dissatisfaction in his heart and get along with the treasurer on the surface.
At this time, he said calmly, "I know about this, you did a good job! After we go back to the armory to confirm this batch of spoils of war, you can let the treasurer take them away, but you have to confirm the number and let him sign it … "
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