Thus, among the original soldiers, those who trained well and performed outstandingly during the raids on Pompey and the attack on Abella City were promoted, such as Tini Bazus.
However, the position of Great Captain was too important. Maximus believed that most of the team officers in the army were inexperienced and promoted too quickly, so experienced Great Captains were needed to manage the troops and ensure combat effectiveness. As a result, in addition to the four original Great Captains—Fesaros, Torrelugo, Camillus, and Oluus (Maximus’ Personal Guard had been expanded into a battalion)—the other two Great Captains were selected from the original army slaves and the later-joining Lukaiya people respectively. Lufus was one of them.
At the moment, Lufus said to Tini Bazus, "Our Fifth Battalion doesn’t have any arrangements for now. You should all rest well here and recover your strength as soon as possible."
Upon hearing that they could rest for now, the soldiers of the second Centurion not only failed to feel happy but instead sighed collectively. Based on their past military training experience and the exhaustion from camping outside Benevento City yesterday, they suspected they would soon be ordered to dig trenches.
Lufus saw this, furrowed his brow, and shot a glance at Tini Bazus.
Tini Bazus pretended not to notice, thinking to himself: I’m exhausted too, where would I get the energy to console them?
Lufus realized Tini Bazus wasn’t reacting, so his face darkened, and he glared at him.
Tini Bazus grew uneasy and had to muster a forced smile before speaking loudly, "Why are you all muttering to yourselves? Hurry up and rest! Even if we’re assigned to dig in a while, it’s still better than putting on armor again and standing dumbly to guard the camp! Besides, once we’ve dug the trenches and built the earth walls, we can eat directly without worrying about anything else. Isn’t that great? Or do you want to end up like them—"
Tini Bazus pointed toward the soldiers who were working, "Waiting until we’re resting just to set up their tents."
"The Captain is right, no point complaining, let’s rest first and be ready to work later..." Some soldiers responded, and the complaining quickly subsided.
Only then did Lufus feel relieved and went off to greet the incoming troops.
The soldiers gingerly placed the wooden shields and bundles carried on their shoulders onto the grass, unbuckled the leather water pouches tied to their waists one by one, took a sip of the cool water inside to quench their thirst, and then tightened the thick cloth wraps they were wearing. (According to Flanitnus and Quintus’ suggestions, Maximus distributed a wool blanket to each soldier. However, even through trade with southern merchants and the spoils from Abella City, the number of wool blankets obtained was far from enough to satisfy the needs of so many soldiers. Warehouse manager Capito instructed military women to sew together layers of linen into thick cloth wraps. Though bulky, they were fairly effective for warmth and distributed to the newly formed battalions.) Afterward, they reclined on the dry grass and closed their eyes for a nap...
Tini Bazus and the soldiers didn’t rest for long before Spukala, the deputy captain of the engineering team who had finished surveying the terrain and drawing the camp map, came over. After discussing with several waiting Great Captains, Lufus grabbed a tree branch and went up to his troops, shouting loudly, "Soldiers of the Fifth Battalion, get up! It’s our turn to work!" With that, he turned and strode ahead.
Urged on by the Centurions’ shouts, the soldiers slowly got up, picked up their bundles again, and followed behind.
Not far from the stream, Lufus stopped, planted a tree branch beside him, and stepped off a hundred paces before planting another one. Then, he shouted back, "Futus, your First Team is responsible for this section!"
"Yes, Great Captain!"
Lufus then measured another hundred paces and planted another branch, "Teribazus, your Second Team is responsible for this section!"
"Understood, Great Captain," Teribazus replied. Instead of immediately urging his soldiers to work, he called together the ten centurions under him to divide the portion designated for their Centurion into ten equal parts and clearly assign them to each sub-team.
Only after that did he shout to the soldiers, "Brothers, don’t just stand around! Hurry up and get to work. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can rest!"
"Yes... Captain..." The soldiers responded without enthusiasm, but they wasted no time getting to work. Each swiftly pulled their digging tools from their packs, followed their respective centurions to their assigned sections, and began digging soil...
Though a centurion himself, Teribazus dared not slack off. He understood well that if he did, the soldiers wouldn’t apply themselves to their work, leading to delays, scoldings, and embarrassing himself before other centurions... This was precisely why he initially only wanted to be an ordinary soldier!
Yet, as an ordinary soldier in the Pontus army, Tini Bazus quickly became a centurion after joining the rebel army, commanding over a hundred men. This brought him unprecedented satisfaction and motivation, so he still wished to perform well.
Tini Bazus summoned a few soldiers, took them to the Supply Camp, and procured several wooden crates for soil transport and ten sharp digging tools—Crane Head Shovels. Returning to his troops, he picked up a shovel himself and began digging enthusiastically...
While the army worked to construct the camp, the Supply Team was not idle either.
Before the army’s impending march south, Maximus made the temporary decision to merge the warehouse and kitchen departments into the Supply Team, appointing Capito as captain and Acronis as deputy captain. They had undergone march training beforehand and cooperated well together. Additionally, personnel from these two departments had regularly received military training during idle periods, so since departing Pompey, there hadn’t been any major slip-ups.