"Yes, master."

"Tullius, I know your current situation isn't very good, and this wealth is probably all you have, right?" Caesar spoke warmly, but with an undeniable will: "Do you still have the means to produce exquisite weapons and armor for my soldiers? If my new legion is not fully equipped on time, it will certainly affect my subsequent plans, so what's the point of me having you around?

You need to be able to act and accomplish things that satisfy me. This is my requirement of you as a Patron. Once things are done right, wealth will naturally follow. Do you understand?!"

"Governor, I understand!" Tullius, clutching the gift list, said loudly with a flushed face: "Rest assured, I will vigorously urge my subordinates at the iron workshop to do their best and produce enough fine weaponry and armor in the shortest possible time, equipping all the soldiers of the new legion, and I won't let you down!"

"If you achieve this, from now on, all the forces in my jurisdiction will be supplied with equipment by you." Caesar's next words sent Tullius into a frenzy of joy.

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Tullius's visit further solidified Caesar's idea of first setting out eastward, capturing the Nix and Dacia. For this, he accelerated the recruitment and training of new legions and probed the Nix Tribe's circumstances through various channels.

But due to the Nix Tribe's strict control, Caesar didn't gain much more information, only knowing that this tribe is different from other northern barbarian tribes.

This tribe not only fights like Rome but their daily lives resemble Rome as well, building roads, bridges, embankments, and temples that ordinary barbarian tribes simply can't possess...

Besides paper money, they also produce high-quality pottery, cloth, furniture, wood carvings, and ironware, which are popular among surrounding tribes.

The tribe is outwardly strong and has considerable military capability. They managed to annex Pannonia and repel the Boyi people, expanding their territory more than tenfold in just over a decade…

These factors drew Caesar's attention, though he wasn't overly worried, as he believed that even if the Nix were formidable, they would be easily crushed with the focused military strength of the three provinces once they garnered his attention.

However, considering the difficulty of logistics when attacking east over mountains, and to avoid alerting the Nix people and increasing the challenge of the assault, he refrained from revealing to his subordinates his intention to conquer the barbarians east of the Northern Italy Province and halted large-scale inquiries into the Nix Tribe.

Military preparations in the three provinces proceeded rigorously, but only lasted three months when news from the north disrupted Caesar's plans: a Gaul Tribe bordering the northwest boundary of the Northern Italy Province – the Helvetians – sought to migrate wholesale to the western coast of Gaul due to the threat from northern Germanic peoples, seeking new, broader, and more fertile land to settle. Their migration route would pass directly through the Roman Western Fa Province, which posed a threat to Caesar's governed region.

Caesar, having exhausted enormous efforts to secure the governor position of the Northern Three Provinces, could not allow his jurisdiction to be trampled by barbarians, fearing public condemnation, and consequently, the conservative faction of the Roman Senate would seize the opportunity to demand the revocation of his appointment, rendering all his efforts futile. Hence, Caesar vowed to prevent this from happening.

He dispatched an envoy to the Helvetian Tribe, strongly demanding they cease their migration.

But the Helvetians, aiming for better tribal survival, not only ignored the advice but commenced their migration ahead of schedule.

After the envoy reported back, Caesar was angry at the Helvetians' obstinacy, though also astonished at the massive migration scale of over 350,000 people. Nonetheless, he remained undaunted, resolutely leading three legions stationed in Aquileia and two newly formed legions swiftly northward (with another legion in the Western Fa Province), intending to forcibly halt the Helvetians' migration…

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In the same summer, urged by Maximus, the Nix Tribe assembled four legions to launch an assault on the Boyi people.

He first dispatched his two fleets, transporting over 8,000 soldiers and more than 500 wooden armored cars, to the north bank of the Delaware River swiftly.

After landing, the soldiers promptly built a peripheral ring defense with these specially designed armored cars, which were connected end to end and edged with iron spikes on both sides, at the beachhead.

Given the Nix Tribe's dominance on water, the Boyi people struggled to attack the Nix Territory on the south bank of the Delaware River. After several failed attempts, the Boyi people sent an envoy to the Nix seeking peace, but Maximus firmly rejected it, leaving the Boyi in fear of a retaliatory Nix attack, remaining perpetually on guard.

Coincidentally, the Nix Army's landing site was located at the territory of the most powerful tribe among the Boyi and the new reigning Boi King. Early aware of the Nix assembling their forces, he also initiated military mobilization correspondingly.

Despite the unexpected landing spot of the Nix Army, the Boyi response was rapid, with tribal troops gathering successively.

Leading over 20,000 warriors, the Boi King hurriedly marched to the battlefield, ordering other troop units to follow up promptly.

Originally planning to let his 3,000 cavalry launch a preliminary assault on the landed enemies to disrupt their formations, the Boi King intended to press the entire army forward to drive the enemies back into the river.

However, upon arrival at the riverbank, he found that the Nix people had remarkably managed to line up countless wooden cars densely within such a short time, forming a simple fortification on the shore.

Thus, the Boi King adjusted his strategy, ordering infantry to initiate a frontal assault while the cavalry circled the periphery. Once a gap in the enemy's wooden car defense was spotted, the cavalry would charge through, coordinating with the frontal infantry to annihilate the enemies.

Learning from past failures in battles on the south bank, the Boi King instructed his warriors to advance with shields and carefully defend against the enemy's ranged attacks.

Indeed, among the 8,000 Nix soldiers who landed, one-third were crossbowmen, though the Boi King was unaware that these soldiers not only carried arm crossbows for individual use but also brought along dozens of bed crossbows.

A year earlier, Maximus had meticulously planned this attack in collaboration with the Military Department, personally drafting the blueprint for the bed crossbows. After a period of trial and mastery over the craft, the weapon workshop began mass production.

The bed crossbow designed by Maximus had a main structure of three large bows (two forward, one backward) arranged side by side, utilizing robust ropes as bowstrings, with the three bows interconnected and accompanied by auxiliary winches to draw the bowstrings. Additionally, a wheeled frame facilitated stable firing and ease of movement for the bed crossbows.

These bed crossbows were placed among the gaps between the armored cars, already drawn with bowstrings and loaded with special crossbow arrows resembling long spears.

When the Boyi shield formation approached within 500 meters, the bed crossbows were launched (though the Nix Tribe's three-bow bed crossbows had a range close to a thousand meters, they fired at 500 meters for enhanced precision and to prevent the Boyi from having enough time to halt their attack and reconsider their tactics).

Each thick crossbow arrow, carrying a sharp and loud whistling sound, shot out and smashed into the shields held by the Boyi Warriors, creating a deafening noise, instantly turning the wooden shields to splinters, piercing the warriors' bodies, and the remaining force striking the warriors behind them…

Huge blood-soaked holes as large as a bowl appeared on the bodies of the Boyi Warriors struck by the crossbow arrows, falling abruptly without even having time to scream... Such terrifying sights dealt a shock to the surrounding warriors, causing uncontrollable cries.

Wave after wave of relentless crossbow arrow fire mercilessly reaped the lives of the Boyi Warriors like the scythe of death.

Terror-stricken Boyi Warriors evaded the crossbow arrows as if avoiding the plague, causing the once continuous arrangement to become scattered, showing a strange scene of alternating gaps and dense formations. It forced them to rush forward in an early charge, hoping to engage the Nix Army in close-quarter combat, thereby avoiding further arrow attacks.

Meanwhile, Nix Crossbow Soldiers climbed atop the armored cars using special wooden ladders, standing on top, and opened fire on the Boyi Warriors who were rushing toward them like a tide from less than a hundred meters away.

Instantly, arrows rained down like locusts.

The hastily running Boyi Warriors found it difficult to shield themselves effectively, and the dense formation due to avoiding the bed crossbow attacks made it easier for them to be targeted. Consequently, numerous warriors were hit, creating a symphony of wails and cries.

Finally, reaching the Nix wooden car defense line, the Boyi Warriors attempted to breach through the gaps between the cars, only to be thwarted by the one-third of the 8,000 landed Nix soldiers who were specially trained spear soldiers. The densely arranged long spears jutted out from the gaps, countering the Boyi advance.

The bed crossbows, repositioned behind the spear soldiers, continued to draw bows and load arrows, and once ready, the front spear soldiers were signaled to make way for them.

The bed crossbows, launching crossbow arrows at ultra-close range, could pierce multiple enemies, carving a bloody path through the tightly packed foes, displaying astonishing power.

Some Boyi Warriors attempted to push aside the obstructive armored cars, but the dense iron spikes on the car walls made them hesitant. Moreover, with Nix Crossbow Soldiers shooting from atop the armored cars at close range, the lethality was high and made the warriors wary, significantly diminishing their assault on the cars.

Before the Boyi Warriors became mired in a desperate fight, the Boyi cavalry, patrolling around the battlefield, spotted a flaw in the Nix Army's defensive line – a gap of more than twenty meters on both sides of the defense line along the riverbank, without wooden cars as barriers and without the dreadful long-range weapons in place.

After deliberation, the Boyi cavalry leaders decided to split into two groups, advancing along the riverbank to attack the sides of the enemy's defense line gap, coordinating with the frontal attacking infantry to encircle and annihilate the enemy.

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