Chapter 467: Chapter 335 The Wrath of the Boyi People
There was news from the Dana Temple: High Priest Maximus would come to the temple in the days before spring arrived, offering prayers to the Goddess and seeking Her blessing for the newlywed couples of the tribe to ensure smooth childbirth!
As a result, the subordinates at the Legal Department responsible for marriage registrations became even busier, while countless newlyweds eagerly awaited the spring ritual presided over by Maximus.
In contrast to the celebrations across the Nix Tribe Territory, Brochi Leader Bricks was overwhelmed by a cold despair. His meticulously planned raids on the Nix people had failed miserably, with two units nearly wiped out completely, and the two leaders Pulikas and Iberus still missing, their fate unknown. This was a major blow to Bricks, as without them, it would be difficult to organize the exiled Segestica people and the tribes from the Gonami Lake Region to continue harassing the Nix people.
Bricks deeply regretted his hasty decision to launch the raids against Nix; had the two leaders remained intact, they would have been a significant help against the Nix in the future.
Simultaneously, Bricks was worried that this raid might enrage the Nix people, prompting them to retaliate against the Gonami Lake Region or even pose a direct threat to Brochi. For the next few days, he anxiously monitored the situation in the Gonami Lake Region closely, but instead of waiting for the Nix army, he was met with messengers from the tribal alliance.
It turned out that the envoys of the Boyi had arrived at the headquarters of the Pannonian Tribe Alliance, meeting with the Mazi leader Maitilis. They explicitly informed him that the Boyi leaders were very dissatisfied with the Pannonian Tribe Alliance. Since both sides had decided to unite to confront the Dacians, forming a military alliance for this purpose, they should focus their energy on this objective rather than exploiting the alliance to wage other wars.
The Boyi were indifferent to the failures faced by the Pannonians in battles against other tribes; their concern lay solely in whether the Pannonians could fulfill the treaty obligations. The Boyi were about to launch an attack against the Dacians, and if the Pannonians failed to dispatch reinforcements for the campaign, the Boyi would consider it a violation of the treaty and inevitably provide "retribution" in the future...
Evidently, the Boyi’s response to the previous Pannonian envoys seeking assistance was tinged with anger, firmness, and even veiled threats.
Faced with such a critical issue concerning the survival of the Pannonian Tribe, Maitilis dared not make decisions alone and was forced to dispatch messengers to the major tribes, calling for an emergency tribal alliance meeting.
Unlike previous tribal alliance meetings, only six Great Chiefs attended this time. The Segestica Great Chief had perished in battle, with no successor yet appointed. Originally, Pulikas or Iberus could have served as temporary representatives, but the two of them had disappeared after the Nix raids and were still missing. Given the current state of the Segestica Tribe, there was no suitable representative available for the meeting, and the plan had to be abandoned.
When the six Great Chiefs sat in the tribal alliance meeting hall and saw the empty chair, they couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of grief.
Once the meeting began, intense debates erupted over whether to deploy troops to participate in the Boyi’s war against the Dacians.
Bricks firmly opposed sending troops, arguing that the alliance had suffered heavy losses in the war against Nix. In the short term, they were incapable of deploying troops for another campaign. Moreover, the Dacians posed a lesser threat to the Pannonian Alliance, while Nix had become the greatest threat. If the alliance withdrew warriors from the tribes, the Nix people entrenched in the Segestica Territory could hypothetically launch an attack; who would be left to defend it?
Usually mindful of the greater good, Maitilis also opposed sending troops this time. His reasoning was that Mazi had suffered significant losses in the conflict against Nix, and although separated by mountains and swamps, Mazi’s proximity to Segestica Territory occupied by the Nix people made it similarly threatened.
Dessitiatae Great Chief Temagis adopted an ambiguous position.
On the one hand, Dessitiatae had suffered heavy losses in the war with Nix, and last year’s battle in the temporary encampment was similarly devastating, resulting in Temagis retreating alone to the Main Camp. He faced unanimous criticism from tribal elders and dissatisfaction among tribesmen. The prospect of conscripting tribesmen for another campaign was undoubtedly challenging.
On the other hand, while Nix posed a threat to Dessitiatae, the Boyi were a more severe one. Dessitiatae’s fertile lands north of the Delaware River fully bordered the Boyi. If the alliance were to break apart, and war broke out again between the Boyi and Dessitiatae, the current strength of Dessitiatae would prove entirely inadequate.
Dimikas and Pagiras, two Great Chiefs, faced similar dilemmas. Their northern territories bordered the Boyi. The veiled threats in the Boyi envoy’s words were clear, and given their weakened strength, they were reluctant to engage in conflict with the Boyi again.
Compared with Dessitiatae, Mazi, and Brochi, Dimikas and Pagiras had suffered relatively little in previous wars and did not border Segestica Territory newly occupied by the Nix. Thus, their decisions were naturally predictable.
Andiseti Great Chief Antosy enthusiastically supported sending troops to participate in the Boyi war against the Dacians.
In recent years, Andiseti had consistently failed to eliminate the remnants of Skodisqi due to Dacian support behind them. If the Boyi Alliance Army could completely defeat the Dacians this time, Andiseti’s long-standing issues would be resolved.
Ultimately, this Pannonian Tribe Alliance meeting concluded with Antosy, Dimikas, and Pagiras voting in favor, Bricks and Maitilis opposing, and Temagis switching to a favorable vote at the last moment. The decision to uphold the alliance treaty with the Boyi and send troops to join the campaign was passed.
However, following the meeting, Bricks explicitly stated that, due to the severe losses of his tribe, he could hardly deploy any troops for the upcoming war.
Maitilis and Temagis also subsequently announced that their tribes were in poor condition as well and could only dispatch a small number of warriors for the campaign.
On this matter, the other Great Chiefs chose not to insist.
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In the middle and lower reaches of the Danube River lived numerous Buluo tribes and ethnic groups, the most powerful of which was Dacia.
Dacia was the name given to this group by Rome, the Mediterranean hegemon. Before that, the Greeks referred to it as Geta.
In reality, this group was a branch of the Thracians. Long ago, they had migrated en masse from Northern Greece to the lower Danube River and subsequently moved upstream, crossing the Carpathian Mountains to settle in the middle Danube plain, particularly in its eastern regions.
Over time, when the Romans began city-building, the Geta-Dacians had already become the largest ethnic group among the Northern Thrace tribes.
During the Hellenic-Persian War, the Dacians first entered the Mediterranean civilization’s view. At the time, Persian King Darius led a massive army across the Hellespont, seeking to conquer all of Greece, beginning with the Thracians widely distributed across Northern Greece.
Under pressure from the powerful Persian army, numerous Thracian tribes chose to surrender. Only the Dacians resisted bravely. Although they were ultimately defeated, they won the respect of their Thracian brethren and the Greeks. The famous scholar Herodotus praised the Dacians as "the bravest and most virtuous Thracians."
After the eastern Dacians were conquered by Persia, their resistance never ceased. The Persian Emperor Darius appointed a Dacia Governor to oversee them, whose continuous suppression of rebellions inadvertently fostered several Dacian Tribal Alliances. This further led to the emergence of a specialized military commander to oversee these alliances, whom the Dacians referred to as "King" or "Persian King."
In the following centuries, these chosen kings defended their tribal alliances against external enemies while fighting amongst themselves. They once confronted Alexander the Great and battled several monarchs of the subsequent Macedonian Kingdom.
With the decline of the Macedonian Kingdom, an even more formidable enemy emerged.
The Romans were evidently more dangerous than the Macedonians. Greece had surrendered, Macedonia had surrendered, Northern Greece had surrendered, Little Asia had surrendered, Bithynia had surrendered, and unwilling Pontus was under attack... At any time, the formidable Roman Army could advance north from Northern Greece or invade Eastern Dacia by sea from the Black Sea.
Such immense external threats compelled the Eastern Dacian tribes to cease their infighting and form a more unified tribal alliance to resist foreign enemies and safeguard their territory.
Most tribes shifted their gaze to Southern Transylvania and the Orastie Mountain Region. This area had produced two exceptional Dacian leaders, Olores and Rubobostes. Under their leadership, the tribal alliances under their jurisdiction had become the strongest force in Eastern Dacia.
The tribe’s current leader was named Brebiusta. Though he ascended to the position at a young age, his abilities were exemplary, and his ambitions even greater. From the day he became leader, he resolved to unify the Eastern Dacian tribes (82 BC).
Through a combination of warfare and political tactics, Brebiusta unified Eastern Dacia into a single tribal alliance within ten years, becoming the sole king. Moreover, in the year before last (72 BC), he led the alliance army to repel a Roman force that had penetrated Dobrogea (mainly Thracian auxiliary soldiers), further cementing his prestige across the middle and lower Danube River regions.
Separated by the Carpathian Mountains, the Dacian inhabited areas were divided into eastern and western parts. Initially, the two sides maintained close contact. However, over time, environmental differences led to distinct development paths. Gradually, interactions between East and West diminished, and if this trend continued, they might become like the Pannonians and Aldeans—strangers to one another—further escalating conflicts over interests.