Since no new successor had arrived, many soldiers believed that as long as Massimus remained in this position for an additional year, he would be officially promoted to the rank of baggage officer when he had enough seniority.

Massimus himself thought so, but he knew better that the reason why he was able to obtain a fairly important military position in the Frontier Legion in just one year from an obscure freed slave with no background, and most likely become a mid-ranking officer in the Kingdom of Dionya within a year or two, had something to do with his ability, but it was more likely that the intelligence services played a role behind it. But either way, it will be of great benefit to him becoming a citizen of the Kingdom as soon as possible.

Because of this, he is no longer so annoyed about joining the intelligence service.

There are very few pedestrians on the streets in the barracks, they are either soldiers who have just finished their duties yesterday and have their turn to rest today, wandering and chatting on the roadside with nothing to do; Either the soldiers who are on duty in charge of all kinds of sundries are cleaning on the side of the road, transporting garbage, feeding livestock, etc...... But whoever sees Massimus passing by will shout respectfully, "Good morning, Lord Massimus!" ”

Massimus, of course, would have responded politely.

During his time as Marcimus's agent, he was not only impartial, but also better improved both in terms of supplies and three meals a day, so that he won the respect of the soldiers despite being a freedman.

Massimus enjoyed this respect, which meant that his abilities were recognized by the soldiers. He was not as excluded from the barracks as he had been at the beginning, and was beginning to blend in a little, of course, because as an officer, he had more vacation a year and could return to Turiyi to spend more time with his wife and children.

Massimus greeted all the way to the center of the camp.

In addition to the barracks headquarters, the most important building here is the granary, and in order to preserve the food, the engineers of the construction department have racked their brains to design this kind of Dionian public granary: it is a narrow two-story building with few and small windows, which can prevent food spoilage caused by high temperatures or rain and humidity. However, in order to ensure that the granary is cool and breathable, there are multiple vents around the bottom of the granary, and the floor of the first floor of the silo is laid on the vents, so that even if there are mice and other pests through the vents, they cannot enter the granary through the floor and harm the grain. In order to prevent the walls from cracking due to excessive squeezing of grain or other items accumulated in the cabin, buttresses are built outside the walls of the granary. There are also a number of dry large wooden boxes placed in the granary, which is used to store the raw materials of the soldiers' staple food - flour, the soldiers only need to open the outlet at the bottom of the wooden box when they take it, and the flour will flow out, so that the flour is basically in a closed state, and its shelf life will naturally be longer.

By the time Massimus arrived at the granary, a dozen pack carts loaded with sacks of flour were already parked.

The head of purchasing stepped forward and reported to him: "Lord Massimus, this time the Etruscans have sent us 20 tons of flour, and I have sent 6 tons each to the Luca and Arretium barracks, leaving 8 tons here. (Note: The Etruscan League gave the entire northern and northwestern frontiers to Dionia, and the Ministry of War established military camps near the three Etruscan border city-states of Lucca, Florentia, and Aretium, depending on the topography and the Gauls.) ）

Massimus carefully examined the books and signatures that had been recorded, then said with a frown: "The autumn harvest has just ended, and I have not heard of a bad harvest in the Etruscan city-states, so there should be no more than such a small amount of food. ”

"The Etruscans said, 'The wheat has just been harvested, the time is too tight, they are short of manpower, they don't have much flour to grind, and if we are willing to grind the flour ourselves, they are willing to supply the wheat directly.'" "But I refused, because we were also understaffed and we didn't have enough stone mills, so the Etruscans had to promise to send us food in half a month." ”

"You made the right decision. Well, in half a month......" Massimus made a slight estimate, and then said: "Our food reserves are enough to last until half a month, but you have to keep an eye on it at all times, and urge the Etruscans more often to prevent them from delaying." ”

"Okay."

"Our transport ship is almost there, right?"

"It should be just a few days."

"When you go to Pisae (an Etruscan city-state near Lucca, a seaside town), don't forget to remind them to bring in more lamb and wool next time. The winters here are cold, and last year some soldiers got frostbitten, so hopefully we can get through this year safely.

I have heard that the price of cattle and sheep in the livestock market in Turi has dropped sharply this year, because these tribes in central Italy also transport their own tribe's livestock to Turi, and there are too many cattle and sheep in the livestock market...... I believe that the Ministry of Military Affairs can easily meet our requirements. ”

"I made a note of it."

"When the laborers are asked to carry the flour inside, try to empty half of the granary, and then gather more hay and store it in the granary. Winter is coming, so we need to stock up on some forage for livestock and horses......"

"Yes."

……

Maximus told the purchasing supervisor as he watched as the laborers unloaded sacks of flour from the ox carts and carried them to the granary.

At the same time, his henchman statistician is also carefully checking whether the amount of flour is consistent with what the purchasing supervisor said.

After the census clerk confirmed, Massimus did not immediately sign his name in the account books. When the whole loading and unloading work is completed, he will come to the granary in the afternoon to check and confirm.

Now, he said goodbye and left, and the next place to go was the armory. The baggage battalion is not only in charge of food reserves, but also the storage of weapons and equipment is also one of the important tasks he is responsible for. Yesterday, a company sent by the barracks repelled the Gauls who had attacked the Florentian territory, and when he returned, it was too late in the day to get a detailed picture of the wear and tear of weapons and equipment and the acquisition of booty. As is the custom of Massimus, the confirmation is usually done on the same day, and the postponement to the second day is already a bit of a delay for him.

The armory was built not far from the camp gate to facilitate the collection of equipment when the army went out on the march.

In fact, there are not many weapons and armor in the armory, they have long been distributed to the soldiers, and the soldiers themselves do the maintenance and maintenance. During the rest period, these armors, long shields, bayonet spears, short swords, and javelins were placed in the soldiers' quarters, and if they were damaged and rendered unusable during non-combat periods, they were even required to pay compensation, because these weapons and equipment belonged to the kingdom, unlike the soldiers of the regular legions, and the individual weapons and equipment were already their own.

The armory is mainly stocked with military supplies such as tents, quilts, blankets, shovels, shovels, etc., as well as some expendable weapons such as arrows, javelins, and a small amount of armor weapons.

When Massimus arrived at the armory, he learned that the armory's keeper had transported a shipment of javelins and arrows out of the city to the training grounds.

Yesterday there was a battle, and today is still conducting military training, and this corps commander from Carthage is always strict with his soldiers! …… Maximus thought about it and decided to go to the training ground.

In the various military camps in Dionia, most of the training grounds are located in the barracks, and the training ground can be converted into a rugby football field at any time. However, the three military camps located on the northern border of Etruscan did not set up the training ground in the barracks, mainly because the troops stationed in each military camp were not too many, and it was not easy to reinforce in a short period of time.

Knowing that Massimus was leaving the city, his retinue soon arrived from the stable with a horse.

Massimus mounted his horse, passed the examination of the city guards, and left the barracks.

Within 50 meters outside the barracks, the entire system of trenches was covered, from the city wall outwards: deer, ditches, shallow ditches, lily bushes (digging deep pits, burying pointed wooden stakes), hanging meat hooks......

As he left the city, Massimus caught a glimpse of a detachment leader leading his soldiers to place trees with many sharp branches into the shallow ditch.

Thanks to these fortifications, the barracks remained undisturbed, despite the fact that the area was often invaded by the Gauls.

After the trap area, it is the civilian area. The families of the Legionnaires were not allowed to join the army, but after the establishment of the barracks, it was natural that some Etruscans moved to settle near the barracks, because they thought it would be safe to have the nearby protection of the Ionian soldiers, and in fact they were rarely attacked by the Gauls (the Dioonian Senate had already passed a resolution to allow the Etruscans to settle in the new territories of the Dionian Kingdom on the northern border, and to rent land, also in accordance with the new Immigration Act, Apply to become a Dionian citizen).

In addition, some Etruscan traders set up shop here to earn money from the Legionnaires. Clay pot shop, blacksmith shop, shoe shop, cloth shop, butcher shop...... One by one, they were built along the avenue, and of course the taverns were the most popular among the soldiers.

The soldiers who took part in the battle yesterday were given a day off today, and some of them asked the officers to leave the camp and come to the tavern for a drink.

A can of wine mixed with water, a can of beer with a lot of residues, a plate or two of stewed chickpeas, a plate of sliced cured meat...... The money for the wine was nothing to the monthly paid soldiers, but it allowed a squad of soldiers to sit around a table, drink and talk for most of the day.