Though Sisinag was at the rear of the phalanx and couldn't get a detailed understanding of the battle situation at the front, the retreat of the army was an undeniable fact. Screams constantly echoed, and looking to both sides, some warriors in the distance had even started to flee… Sisinag was both anxious and furious. At this moment, he had no time to ponder why such a dreadful situation had arisen. The most pressing matter was to halt the decline, otherwise, the right flank would surely collapse, leading to the defeat of the entire Lucanian tribal coalition!
Although Akpylos was a relative by marriage, Sisinag didn't believe that the overbearing Great Chieftain Grumtums would easily forgive Picosis' actions.
Now that Picosis' warriors were engaged in direct combat, he could no longer command them. The only ones he could command were the Bruttian warriors who had not yet joined the battle.
"Quickly, go call the people from Wig City in the back to help! Tell their chieftain that if this battle is lost, the Lucanians will not forgive Wig City!" Sisinag roared urgently at his guards.
...
"Great Chieftain, the Lucanians are going too far! Sisinag clearly thought he could easily deal with the Greeks and wouldn't let us interfere, but now he's saying it's our fault if we lose!" the young Saru said indignantly.
Sedorum gazed at the battle in the distance, but did not respond.
"These Greeks are really something. Even with fewer numbers, they're about to defeat the Lucanians!" Saru looked ahead, saying with both excitement and hesitation, "Great Chieftain, the Lucanians are about to lose! How about… we don't fight and just leave! Maybe… maybe we can even take this opportunity to break away from their alliance!"
At this moment, Sedorum spoke, "Even if the Lucanians are defeated, how many of them will die? Do the Greeks dare to enter the mountains?… Saru, as long as the Lucanians still have strength, the western mountains will still be theirs to command! Unless we, like our kin in Cosenza, migrate south and are forced to fight Croton for land…" Sedorum sighed, "Order the warriors to tighten their formation and push forward from the right flank!"
Two thousand Bruttians, clad in leather armor and armed with wooden shields and long spears, formed a phalanx even tighter than the Lucanians'. Just as Picosis' right flank was on the verge of collapse, they moved in behind it.
The retreating Lucanians couldn't break through the Bruttian battle formation; instead, they were pushed forward by them. For survival, most Lucanian warriors had no choice but to turn and fight. After all, the Lucanian formation was thick; it was panic that caused their rout, not the mercenaries breaking through their lines. Once reinforcements arrived, and they gradually stabilized their footing, the morale of the routed soldiers slowly recovered, and the organization of the formation began to restore…
The Lucanian casualties were still increasing, but the mercenaries were gradually retreating… The pushing force generated by the super-thick formation of Lucanians plus Bruttians was clearly not something the mercenaries' thinner formation could match.
And once the gap between the two armies narrowed, superior combat skills couldn't play much of a role. Fortunately, the experienced mercenaries actively and slowly retreated to alleviate the pressure from the enemy, thus maintaining the resilience of their battle line…
Davos did not personally engage in battle like other generals; once the fighting began, he completely let the battle unfold. He rode on horseback, moving from left to right and right to left behind the phalanx, closely observing the progress of the battle and issuing orders through messengers at any time.
Earlier, the right flank of the Lucanian formation was on the verge of being broken, and his heart was filled with excitement. Who knew that the battle would then reverse, and his disappointment was imaginable.
But he didn't urge his soldiers to attack further, because he knew that besides the arrival of enemy reinforcements, it was also related to his soldiers' stamina. Such fierce and aggressive attacks earlier could not possibly last too long; everyone has limited stamina, let alone heavy infantry.
Even at a critical moment, Davos ordered the light shield soldiers who had retreated to the rear to join the attack on the enemy's far right flank, but alas…
If those two thousand mercenaries and two hundred cavalry were under his command, then his soldiers would already be chasing down the routed enemy!
He blamed himself for being too confident and not pestering Thurius for more troops… As soon as a thought of regret surfaced, Davos crushed it.
Anything unexpected can happen in war, and commanders cannot foresee everything. At this moment, the only thing he could do was to remain calm and try not to let extreme emotions affect his judgment.
The mercenary line, originally an "arc" with its end curving upwards, was now gradually being flattened. As the phalanx moved back step by step, Davos realized: the soldiers had to resist the enemy's powerful pushing force, prevent their thin line from being broken, and inflict as much damage as possible on the enemy in close combat. The consumption of physical and mental energy was considerable; maintaining such a posture was already quite good!
Unless a major unexpected event occurred, the left flank of the Thurii coalition would not improve; as for the center, Axistes' report was equally grim, even worse than the left flank; the only advantage was on the right flank, but the advantage was not significant (this was Axistes' judgment after riding to scout, based on the fact that Tarentum's line had only advanced a little).
After realizing that the overall battle situation was unfavorable, Davos dispelled the last shred of hope in his heart and had to consider the issue of troop withdrawal after the battle's failure…
On the ten-mile expanse of the Sybaris Plain, nearly thirty thousand soldiers engaged in a life-and-death struggle. Dust flew, battle cries shook the heavens, weapons clashed, and blood splattered… After more than an hour of fierce fighting, the Greek army gradually felt exhausted…
The Lucanian tribal coalition outnumbered the Thurii coalition by 6,500 men. Thurii and Davos' scout cavalry, based on their observations, had initially estimated the Lucanians to have about 13,000 men. In reality, the cunning Akpylos had hidden some forces in the hills behind the camp, and the two thousand men from Wig City only joined at the last moment, leading to a misjudgment by the Greek army.
Furthermore, Pyrrhus' impression of the Lucanians was still from several years ago (he did not participate in last year's battle). In fact, the Lucanians had developed rapidly in recent years, especially Grumtums, who had begun to show a tendency to break away from the tribal alliance and develop into a kingdom. In the tribal annexation wars of the past two years, Grumtums' warriors had become even more courageous and resilient through frequent blood baptisms.
In the entrenched views of the Thurii generals, the loosely organized Lucanians would surely be shattered by the might of the Greek heavy infantry in a frontal battle. However, the facts proved how ridiculous their thinking was, especially in the center of the Greek army.
The front ranks were mercenaries, the middle were Thurii citizen-soldiers, and the rear were freemen. These three forces were consistently unable to effectively combine into one. Under the fierce assault of Grumtums' warriors, the central Greek army began to retreat from the very beginning…
As the battle continued, these three groups of soldiers, each with their own concerns and different backgrounds, began to have second thoughts: the mercenaries fought for money, and with no hope of victory, they naturally thought first of saving their own lives; the Thurii citizen-soldiers were indeed fighting with all their might, but half of them were middle-aged men whose stamina had reached its limit, and they were still holding on because Thurii was their home and they couldn't let barbarians trample it; as for the freemen, they had joined the battle with a 'let's see' attitude, hoping to gain citizenship if they won, or flee Thurii and seek a new life in another city-state if they lost.
As the Greek army's center retreated faster and faster, the gaps between them and their left and right flanks widened.
When Grumtums' warriors surged into the gaps on both sides and attacked the Greek army's center from the flanks, the entire central phalanx collapsed with a crash, and the soldiers scattered in all directions…
Davos, who had been closely monitoring the situation, sighed, suppressed his extreme disappointment, and decisively ordered a retreat.
Davos's retreat signal was quite unique, very different from typical Greek armies: it began with a long note, followed immediately by a melody consistent with a charge signal. The bugler repeated it three times, and most Lucanian soldiers still thought these mercenaries were about to charge again.
In that moment of stunned confusion, the mercenaries slightly widened the distance, and the light shield soldiers in the rear once again threw javelins (this truly showed great skill and daring; without strict training, it would be very easy to accidentally injure one's own comrades). While the Lucanians were busy defending, the mercenaries swiftly and uniformly completed a series of retreat actions, including turning and running…
The Tarentum reinforcements on the Greek army's right wing were also forced to retreat. Fortunately, they had two hundred cavalrymen waiting in the wings, and the Lucanian warriors in front of them didn't dare to pursue too closely, fearing that their ranks would become too dispersed and the Greek cavalry would take advantage. Therefore, the retreat of the Tarentum reinforcements was relatively smooth...
Only the center of the Greek army was a complete mess, utterly disorganized...
"General Phayllus, we've been defeated! We've been defeated!! What should we do? What should we do?!..." Cuno Golata, the general who was usually quick-witted and eloquent in the city hall, was now panic-stricken.
"What else can we do!" Phayllus gave a bitter laugh and said regretfully, "It's my fault that I didn't stick to my opinion! It's my fault that I underestimated the enemy! It's my fault that I was stubborn and didn't listen to other people's advice! Today's defeat of Thurii is all my fault!"
He looked at the fleeing soldiers rushing past him, his expression becoming extremely resolute: "You quickly return to Thurii and have the citizens prepare for defense! As for me, I will buy Thurii time so that I can confess my sins to Apollo!" With that, he picked up his shield and spear with his withered arms, pushed aside the fleeing soldiers, and faced the oncoming enemy. The guards, slaves, and clansmen he had brought with him shouted: "Fight for Thurii!" Hundreds of people crowded around the old general, going against the tide. Wherever they passed, some Thurii citizens were infected by their spirit and stopped fleeing, joining them.
Cuno Golata hesitated for a moment, but ultimately turned his horse around and fled, comforting himself as he ran: Phayllus is right, if we all die here, who will protect Thurii!
When facing the enemy, the force led by Phayllus had reached eight hundred men. The old general, over sixty years old, shouted: "Apollo!" and took the lead in charging into the enemy formation. Everyone followed him in launching a counterattack. The soldiers, unafraid of death, bravely fought the enemy, catching the Grumentum warriors, whose formation had been scattered due to the pursuit, off guard, and almost piercing through their formation, forcing the Grumentum to gather their warriors and encircle and kill this small group of exceptionally brave and tenacious Thurii soldiers...
The most tragic scene of this battle finally came to an end, with all eight hundred Thurii men led by Phayllus dying in battle, none escaping.
Cuno Golata was only thinking about returning to Thurii as quickly as possible. On the way, he was almost knocked down by fleeing soldiers several times. He was worried about the safety of the city and also felt a bit of regret: he shouldn't have joined this battle to gain prestige...
...
Thurii was only five or six li away from the battlefield. The entire city was paying attention to this great battle concerning the city's fate. Every family was either at home or in the square praying for the soldiers.
When a scout fled back to the city in a panic, shouting: "We've been defeated! We've been defeated!...", the news quickly spread throughout the city like a thunderbolt, making the people feel like the sky was falling: the timid immediately fainted; the suspicious thought the scout was spreading rumors and wanted to drag him off his horse and beat him; the pessimistic declared that Thurii was doomed and told everyone to flee the city as quickly as possible; the rogue, in despair, took the opportunity to stir up trouble, wanting to take advantage of the chaos to gain some benefits... The entire city, especially the square, was filled with wailing, and the scene was extremely chaotic.
The two most important people in charge of the "Nine Generals" were both on the battlefield. Fortunately, dealing with last year's defeat had given the generals some experience. At this critical moment, several generals, led by Neon Sis, stepped forward, first sending out patrols to maintain order in the city, and then calling on the people in the square, regardless of gender or age, to take up arms and defend their homes. They took the lead in leading their clansmen and slaves onto the city walls.
At this moment, several mounted nobles, led by Cuno Golata, rushed across the drawbridge and into the city.
The people who heard the news immediately surrounded them, asking about the news of their relatives. Cuno Golata, knowing the urgency of the situation, pretended not to hear and shouted anxiously: "The Lucanians are coming soon! Close the city gate! Close the city gate!! Don't let them kill their way in!! Otherwise, Thurii is finished!!!"
Neon Sis frowned and said, "If we close the city gate,
the soldiers won't be able to enter the city!"
"Let them bypass the city walls and jump into the Crati River. We'll use boats to pick them up! The Lucanians can't swim!" Cuno Golata had already thought of a countermeasure on the way.
At this moment of panic and crisis, the appearance of Cuno Golata and his suggestion immediately gave the people a backbone. After discussing it, everyone thought it was feasible, so they raised the drawbridge, closed the city gate, and began to shout in unison from the city walls to the fleeing soldiers running to the city: "Jump into the river, we have boats to pick you up! Jump into the river..."
...
Dionysius sent Asistes back to the camp first to report the battle situation, and he led his troops to retreat to the camp as quickly as possible. Lydes next to him held up the flag to guide the entire army.
The Picentes warriors had been attacked by the light infantry before, so they had widened the distance from the mercenaries, and the Grumentum were slowed down by Phayllus's desperate counterattack, so the mercenaries' retreat could be said to be smooth and without much risk. However, fleeing soldiers kept rushing into their ranks, and the mercenaries unceremoniously knocked them down with their shields. However, the organized retreat and relatively neat military appearance of Dionysius's mercenaries naturally attracted the panicked fleeing soldiers. Even though the mercenaries treated them violently, they let them beat and scold them, obediently following behind them like tamed dogs...
When the troops passed through Thurii, Dionysius's army became somewhat bloated, but he didn't care. He looked at the countless fleeing soldiers gathered under Thurii in the distance, then looked back to observe the movements of the pursuers, then took the flag, handed it to Asistes, and said to Lydes: "Go to Thurii and tell those soldiers that the Lucanians are coming soon and our camp is very strong, so they can go to our camp to take shelter first."
Lydes took the order and left.
"The whole army to the right!" Dionysius shouted loudly, and the red battle flag waving in the wind guided the troops, not entering directly from the west gate of the camp, but turning to the south gate...
Gnaeus led the Picentes warriors in hot pursuit of the mercenaries. Since becoming a warrior, he had participated in dozens of battles, large and small, and had never been so aggrieved, even almost losing his life. The fact that these Greeks wanted to slip away after wantonly slaughtering his clansmen made him even more angry. Therefore, he only had this mercenary army in his eyes: catch up with it! Slaughter it!!
Even though the fleeing soldiers under Thurii were closer to him, he didn't bother to pay attention to them. As a result, the Picentes troops collided with the Grumentum warriors who were chasing the Thurii fleeing soldiers. By the time the two armies managed to separate, Dionysius's mercenaries had already entered the camp.
...
After all, the Thurii generals led by Cuno Golata had little battlefield experience (the only experienced person had already died in battle), and they thought the problem was simple.
Indeed, the shouting from the city caused some people to leave the city gate and jump into the Crati River, but there were still some fleeing soldiers who were unwilling to leave. After all, the city gate was right in front of them, and they were too exhausted to take a long detour to jump into the icy Crati River. They begged and cursed under the city, and in this short period of time, the Grumentum warriors arrived. After a chase and slaughter, the fleeing soldiers had no choice but to jump into the river, but in their panic and haste, they didn't even take off their armor, and many people sank directly into the river and were drowned alive...
The people on the city wall watched their relatives being killed and drowned alive, and they all cried loudly. Some women even jumped off the city wall, their bodies shattered, to accompany their dead husbands to the underworld...
The ferocious appearance of the Lucanian warriors and this bloody and tragic scene became a nightmare that the Thurii people could not escape from for the rest of their lives...
...
The Lucanians' failure to pursue in time relieved Dionysius. The reason why he didn't directly enter the west gate but went around the south gate was because he was worried that the soldiers would be slow to enter the camp. His worries were not unfounded, and it was even worse than he had imagined. Those panicked fleeing soldiers disrupted the order of the troops entering the camp.
Dionysius had no time to regret it. He rushed to the wooden wall and directly ordered the soldiers to knock out a dozen fleeing soldiers, which shocked these frightened guys and allowed the troops to enter the camp smoothly.
At this moment, the Lucanian people had already appeared within Davos's line of sight.
"Follow the defensive deployment we trained in earlier, and act immediately!" Davos immediately issued orders to the company commanders.
The company commanders began to direct their subordinates into their designated positions in an orderly manner:
"First heavy infantry company, follow me to the wooden wall on the east side of the north gate!"
"Brothers of the second heavy infantry company, follow me to the wooden wall on the north side of the south gate!"
"Brothers of the third heavy infantry company, gather with me on the drill ground! Damn it, hurry up!"
"Archers of the first light infantry company, led by the squad leaders, go to the various watchtowers on the south side!"
… …
Soon, the soldiers were all in their positions, leaving only the group of routed soldiers surrounded by the guards.
"How many people are there?" Davos asked Philistius urgently, who had just gone over to appease them.
"Quite a few! Nearly four hundred people, mostly freemen, and most of them are without weapons." Philistius said.
"Melsis!" Davos shouted loudly.
Melsis hurried over.
"How many javelins do we have left?"
"Five hundred and twenty-six. These were made urgently by the blacksmith shop in Thurii in the past two days. All the money we earned in the market was spent on the manufacture of these weapons…" Melsis complained.
Davos didn't have the mind to listen to his nagging at this moment, and said to Philistius: "Give each of them a javelin, and then assign a few people to each squad to participate in the defense!"
"Understood!" Philistius walked towards the routed soldiers.
Melsis stood still.
Davos understood what he was hesitating about, and immediately said: "The javelins will be taken back after they are used up, and aren't the Lucanians sending us weapons!"
These words immediately made Melsis smile, and he immediately ordered the slaves to transport the weapons from the supply camp, completely trusting Davos, without considering the danger that the mercenaries might not be able to repel the enemy and the camp would be captured.
The mercenaries stood behind the wooden wall, also without a trace of worry. They looked calmly at the enemy swarming towards the camp like a tide, and even had the leisure to educate the new recruits.
"Now, do you think it was necessary to build such a complex camp?" Matonis asked with a smile.
"It's too necessary!" Cratipus said excitedly: "I now hope that these native barbarians will have a good taste of the power of those traps I dug!"
… …
The mercenaries leaned against the wooden wall, seizing the time to recover their previous physical exertion; while excitedly preparing to watch a good show. As for Hilos's fifth heavy infantry company, because they had not participated in the battle before, they now wished that the enemy would rush over immediately and fight them.
… … … … … … … … … … … …
After the warriors of Picentia separated from the troops of Grumentum, they immediately continued to pursue eastward.
Gnaet was running in the front, and the mercenary camp had already come into his view. He roared: "Charge in! Kill them all!"
The warriors also roared, and the fatigue seemed to be dispelled in the roar, and their speed forward was even faster.
"Company commander, the Lucanians are less than two hundred meters away from the camp!" The archer squad leader on the watchtower shouted to Alpones on the ground.
"Remind me when they are a hundred meters away!" Alpones replied, turning around and ordering the slingers behind him: "Get ready!"
Because the walkway behind the wooden wall was too narrow, the slingers could not use their slings, so they had to come to the bottom of the wall. At this moment, they silently took out egg-sized stones from the pouches around their waists and put them into the mesh in the middle of the slings.
… …
One hundred meters!
The eyes of the soldiers on the wooden wall were fixed on the front, and after seeing many Lucanians step into this area, they couldn't help but cheer.
Gnaet didn't know what the Greeks in the camp were screaming about,
He subconsciously lifted the round shield in his hand. During the pursuit, many warriors thought the round shield was too heavy and affected their speed, so they threw them away, but he had been holding it.
"Greeks, I will make you unable to make a sound in a while!" He muttered viciously, and suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his right foot that he had just stepped out.
"There are traps!" He was startled and instinctively withdrew his foot, but a more intense pain came, so painful that he could hardly speak. Looking down, a large piece of flesh had been torn off his right calf, and it was bleeding non-stop. Looking closely at the weeds, an iron thorn about thirty centimeters long, with a sharp front end and barbs, was inserted obliquely into the soil. He pulled it hard, but couldn't pull it out. Only after digging open the compacted soil did he see that the lower end of the iron thorn was tightly welded to a piece of wood and buried deep in the soil, no wonder it could tear off the flesh so powerfully.
"Vicious Greeks! … …" Gnaet cursed, tore a piece of linen from his body, wrapped it around his injured leg, supported himself with a spear, endured the pain, and shouted: "Be careful, there are iron hooks on the ground!!!"
His warning was too late, and many warriors fell to the ground one after another, screaming, while the mercenaries on the wooden wall heard the screams of the enemy and cheered loudly: "The meat hook is working! Another one has fallen! … …"
The veterans would proudly tell the new recruits that this was the masterpiece of Chief Davos, which made the new recruits have more awe for Davos. In fact, this was a standard configuration for the Romans to build camps in previous history. Davos learned it on the military history forum. This kind of trap does not seem to be very lethal, but in the era of cold weapons, a foot injury is enough to make a warrior lose his combat effectiveness.
Seeing this tragic situation, the subsequent Lucanian warriors naturally became much more careful. They bent down and carefully searched among the weeds and rubble, advancing carefully, in order to avoid those terrible traps. Who knew, the mercenaries' long-range strikes followed closely. Although the slingers could not see the enemy, they could observe the archers on the watchtower, and the number of Picentian warriors was large, so the accuracy was not low. To avoid the impact of flying stones, it was naturally impossible to pay attention to the ground under their feet, so that the Picentian warriors were either hit by flying stones or stabbed by iron hooks… …
After a difficult advance of dozens of meters, they encountered an even more terrible trap—what the mercenaries called a "tombstone". It was a pit about one and a half meters deep, with sharpened wooden stakes buried underneath, covered with floating soil. If you accidentally stepped on it, under the action of gravity, the pointed wooden stakes could pierce the soles of your feet… …
When the great chief Sincinattus of Picentia arrived, what he saw were countless warriors lying on the ground covering their feet, and the sound of wailing was endless. The other warriors stood a hundred meters away from the enemy camp, with fear on their faces, cowering and not daring to move forward… …
"What's going on?! Why don't you attack?!" Sincinattus asked angrily while painfully looking at the countless clansmen who had fallen to the ground.
"Father." Gnaet walked to him, using a spear as a crutch, limping, and said sadly: "The despicable Greeks have made many traps outside the camp. We… … Many of our warriors were injured and could not approach their camp."
"Warriors?! You are not worthy of being called warriors in this cowardly manner!!" Sincinattus's scolding made everyone around him lower their heads in shame.
Looking at his most valued son covered in injuries and looking embarrassed, his usual heroic expression replaced by fatigue and decadence, Sincinattus felt even more heartache, and his tone became softer: "How is your injury?"
"It's just some flesh wounds, it's okay." Gnaet insisted, and said: "It's just… … Too many of our clansmen have been killed or injured… … We can't… … We can't attack anymore… … "
Sincinattus nodded slightly, looked at the mercenary camp not far away, and recalled the casualties caused to his warriors by these mercenaries, a surge of hatred surged into his heart: "Let the Brettians go!"
After the Greek army retreated, the warriors of Vibo Valentia were not as eager to take revenge as the Picentians, so the pursuit speed was not fast, and they happened to arrive at the same time as Sincinattus. The tragic appearance of the Picentian warriors was naturally seen in their eyes, but people had to bow their heads under the eaves. As the great chief Sedulum of Vibo Valentia, he accepted Sincinattus's order, but made a request: to borrow the round shields of the Picentian warriors.
Sincinattus agreed.
The Picentians' condescending attitude towards the Vibonians made them feel resentful, and they held their breath and wanted to prove that they were stronger than the Picentian soft eggs. They learned from the Picentians' lessons, did not walk on the wasteland, but only attacked from the narrow, flat passage in front of the enemy camp. They held round shields in their hands, tightly protecting their heads, formed a long line, and advanced cautiously… …
The enemy's flying stones were all blocked by the round shields, posing no threat to them. The warriors were still rejoicing that they had found the right method. After advancing another ten meters, they were less than fifty meters away from the camp gate.
At this moment, the four watchtowers behind the western wooden wall of the mercenary camp began to shoot arrows at them. The arrows raining down from different angles were not so easy to block. Moving the round shield to defend against the arrows coming from both sides meant their heads would be hit by flying stones. To make matters worse, they were all huddled in the middle, allowing the mercenary archers and slingers to concentrate their fire. Arrows and flying stones assailed them from all directions like hailstones, instantly killing or wounding dozens of people. The vanguard of the Viggiani was almost completely wiped out, scaring the rest into forgetting Picus's lesson and scattering in all directions. As a result, the mercenaries' traps scored new achievements, and in a short period, the Viggiani suffered hundreds of casualties.
No matter how much Sisinnius urged, Sedullus refused to attack any further.
The mercenaries were overjoyed to see the enemy fleeing in disarray, but then they became dissatisfied when the enemy stopped attacking. After all, repelling the enemy's attack mainly relied on the light infantry company and the traps. They hadn't even touched a hair on the enemy's head, so they began to shout and curse loudly…
Seeing this situation, Davos nodded secretly: the morale is still usable!
He also hadn't expected that the enemy's relentless and aggressive attack would come to an abrupt end without even breaking through the trenches in front of the camp. After thinking about it carefully, he understood: After the previous great battle, the Lucanians had consumed a lot of physical strength and energy. It was probably only under the stimulation of victory and revenge that they could continue to maintain a relatively strong desire to attack. In fact, these mountain tribes were not good at siege warfare. After suffering setbacks in front of Davos's mercenaries' well-defended camp, they would naturally calm down.
Davos analyzed the battle situation, adding experience for future defensive operations. At the same time, he sent Asistentes through the tunnel to the camp of Dracos and the others to check on the battle situation.
The news of the report was also gratifying: Due to the enthusiasm of the expeditionary soldiers in building the camp, Dracos, Adrianus, and Sesta led the soldiers to dig deeper trenches outside the camp again, and also reinforced the walls. Although they did not set up complicated and complex traps (this requires certain technical skills and experience), it was enough to make the pursuing enemies suffer. After all, the Taranto reinforcements had also retreated into their camp, which helped the defeated mercenaries and restored their morale quickly.
After the warriors of Niu Tuum and Laos attacked for a while, suffered some casualties, and found that the mercenaries' defenses were tight, and they could not take it in one fell swoop, they naturally gave up the attack. They were obviously smarter than Picus, who was One Heart intent on revenge.
After the safety was guaranteed, Davos's attention was no longer focused on the gradually calming battlefield. He needed to calm down and think: What should the mercenaries do next?
With the defeat of the battle, it would probably be quite difficult for the Lucanians to capture Thurii. Davos had inspected it many times. The six-meter-wide moat and ten-meter-high city walls were already very difficult for the Lucanians, who lacked siege equipment and siege experience. Moreover, they had no ships and could not move freely on the Crati River.
The Lucanians would never have mobilized their forces just to win a battle. Their purpose should be to occupy the Sybaris Plain, build camps, graze cattle and sheep, and grow wheat on this flat and fertile land…
The Thurians had suffered huge losses in the two battles before and after. Obviously, they were temporarily unable to counterattack the Lucanian invasion, but they still had the plain south of the Crati River, and they could temporarily endure, accumulate strength, and recruit soldiers to counterattack…
But for Davos's mercenaries on the north bank of the Crati River, the situation was not very good. The defeat of the battle not only affected his next plan, but also made the mercenaries the target of the Lucanians' next key attack. At the same time, Davos was unwilling to be a pawn of Thurii, containing the Lucanian attack for them on the north bank. But to let him lead his troops to leave here,
Leave Magna Graecia, this was something he could not accept! The hope he had just sprouted, his dreams, his ambitions were all here! Davos could not tolerate leaving without accomplishing anything, and going back to fight to the death for survival!… What to do? What to do?…
… … … … … … … … … … … …
Vespasianus, the Lucanian leader who occupied Amendolara, was also troubled by what to do. Harboring a fluke mentality, he ultimately did not respond to Grumentum's order and send troops to participate in the battle, still wanting to wait for the outcome of the battle between the two armies before deciding whether to stay or leave. Therefore, when he learned that the Lucanian tribal coalition actually had more than 15,000 troops and had easily defeated Thurii, he panicked and hurriedly summoned several elders to discuss countermeasures, and asked the priests to divine good and bad luck. The divination result was actually: Danger, but no harm. This calmed Vespasianus down a little after a heated discussion and a preliminary countermeasure.
He sent messengers and a small team of warriors driving pack trains loaded with wine and food, heading for the Sybaris Plain, hoping that this friendly way of rewarding the Lucanian tribal coalition could gain some understanding from the great leader Grumentum, and lay some foundation for confessing and begging for forgiveness next. If the messengers found that the situation was not good, then they could only escape back to the mountains at night.
… … … … … … … … … … … …
After suffering a setback, Sisinnius was still unwilling to give up and sent people to scout the east, south, and north sides of the mercenary camp. The result was disappointing: Not only were there traps, trenches, watchtowers, and caltrops, but the north side also had a tunnel connected to the adjacent camp, which could be supported at any time.
Only then did he give up and withdraw his clansmen to wait for Acerrus's arrival.
After waiting for a long time, Acerrus finally led the army to arrive late. After all, it was not easy to gather the six thousand troops who had been sent out to pursue the defeated Thurians and kill these warriors who were excited to kill.
The Grumentum warriors killed every last one of the defeated soldiers outside the city of Thurii. Some warriors even killed so many that their eyes turned red and they forcibly crossed the moat and came to the city of Thurii. As a result, they were angrily attacked by the people of Thurii on the city wall, who were united against the enemy, with arrows, javelins, and stones, and fled back in embarrassment, which made them calm down a little.
Seeing this situation, Acerrus also temporarily abandoned the fluke of taking the city of Thurii in one fell swoop. He had to reorganize his troops and rush to join the other teams. But when he saw that most of the Picus warriors were injured and mentally decadent, he was shocked and hurriedly asked why.
Sisinnius told him how his clansmen had fought bravely, while the opposing mercenaries were very despicable and cunning… and so on, and at the same time, he sadly and angrily accused the Viggiani of passively resisting and even killing Lucanians during the battle.
The Viggiani city leader Sedullus did not expect Sisinnius to file a complaint first. He was immediately anxious and shouted injustice, and also defended sadly and angrily: "Great leader Acerrus, you must know that it is not that I am unwilling to fight with all my strength, but that great leader Sisinnius is too confident and believes that the bravery of the Picus warriors alone is enough to defeat the Greek left wing, and arranged the Viggiani warriors in the rear. The right wing is his decision, and I have no choice. On the contrary, when the Picus front was about to collapse, it was our Viggiani warriors who bravely attacked, helping Picus stabilize the battle situation and saving our right wing. Therefore, our Viggiani warriors have made a huge contribution to the victory of this battle! As for killing Picus warriors, that is because the defeated soldiers of Picus were disrupting the formation of the right wing. In order to prevent defeat and force them to fight again, we had to make this choice. In fact, not many Picus warriors were really injured. It was by taking such emergency measures that the right wing finally repelled the enemy. And when attacking the Greek camp, our Viggiani warriors also died and injured hundreds of people…"
"You are talking nonsense! You are talking nonsense! If you Bruttians were not unwilling to contribute from the beginning, how could we have fought so hard! Just now, when attacking the Greek camp, you Viggiani were the last to arrive!" Sisinnius shouted angrily: "Gnaethus, tell everyone, how many warriors did the Viggiani kill?!"
Gnaethus hesitated for a moment, and under his father's pressing gaze, he stammered: "About… about one hundred and fifty people, all from behind… stabbed by spears."
After Gnaethus finished speaking, the Picus warriors and the Viggiani warriors were already glaring at each other, and the atmosphere was quite tense…
Both Sincinnatus and Sedullus cast hopeful glances at Akbiru.
Akbiru observed all of this, and he knew very well in his heart that the Viggiani hadn't fought with all their might. After all, they were Bruttians, not Lucanians. Of course, what Sedullus said might also be true—they had saved the right flank and contributed to the victory of the battle! He knew Sincinnatus well; being greedy and bullying the weak was his style. It wouldn't be surprising at all for him to act this way. Rewarding merit and punishing wrongdoing was the duty of him, the leader of the alliance, but he couldn't really do it according to the alliance agreement. Picentia was Grummentum's most important ally, and it was thanks to its support that Grummentum had become so powerful today. Moreover, Picentia was also a powerful tribal union in the Lucanian region. Criticizing or even punishing the great chieftain of Picentia in front of the Bruttians would inevitably lead to Picentia's dissatisfaction, thereby causing the Lucanian tribal alliance to become disunited.
As for the area inhabited by the Bruttians, it bordered the southern part of Lucania. Their tribes were independent and not unified, so their strength was relatively weak. They were the next target for Grummentum to conquer after defeating Thurii and occupying the Sybaris Plain. Viggianum was the Bruttian city closest to Lucanian territory. Its active surrender (under the threat of the Lucanian tribal alliance's army) gave Grummentum a springboard into the Bruttian region, so it couldn't be treated too harshly, but it also couldn't be allowed to forget its place, because the Lucanians were the masters, and the Bruttians were destined to be enslaved!…
After making up his mind, he slowly said, "Being able to win this battle is the result of everyone's joint efforts! After we occupy this place, I will give you each generous spoils of war according to your merits! But—" His sharp gaze made Sedullus's heart tremble: "As allies, killing comrades who fight alongside you is an ugly act that violates the promise, and the gods will punish you! Therefore, Viggianum must pay a fine sufficient to satisfy Picentia to compensate for their losses! At the same time, the lives of the same number of Viggiani warriors must be offered as funerary sacrifices!"
"What!!!" The Viggiani warriors present were in an uproar, shouting angrily.
The Grummentum and Picentian warriors immediately surrounded them.
"Sedullus, do you agree with my decision or oppose it?!" Akbiru looked at the great chieftain of Viggianum with a cold gaze.
Sedullus lowered his head, his fists clenched tightly, his face pale, and his forehead covered with sweat, remaining silent.
"Great Chieftain, you can't agree! The Lucanians are so humiliating us, we won't do it! We're going back!!!" Salu shouted angrily.
"Yes! We're going back! Great Chieftain, we're going back!!…" The Viggiani warriors were in a state of agitation.
"Go back?!" Sincinnatus sneered and said to Akbiru, "You see, the Bruttians are indeed unreliable, and they want to withdraw from the alliance they swore to join before the gods so quickly! In that case, why not…"
Hearing this, Sedullus was suddenly shocked. He suddenly raised his head and saw Sincinnatus's face with a grim sneer and Akbiru's cold expression.
He looked around. The Lucanians raised their shields and held their spears, surrounding his people. Although the Viggiani warriors struggled desperately, they were too few in number, wearing only leather armor, without bronze shields, and only had a long spear. Their equipment was too simple… Sedullus's fingernails were deeply embedded in his palms… He squeezed out a sentence with difficulty: "I… I agree…"
"Great Chieftain!!…" The Viggiani warriors' mournful cries were like a sledgehammer, forging Sedullus's already extremely fragile heart. He staggered a few steps and sat down on the ground.
"Let Udulu be responsible for supervising the execution of the punishment," Akbiru said, worried that Sincinnatus would once again provoke these Bruttians and cause riots, so he chose a neutral person.
"Alright," Udulu, the great chieftain of Niumetum, replied.
"After occupying this place, I will allocate a piece of land on the Sybaris Plain to Sedullus and your people to graze cattle and sheep, which is much more fertile than the land in Bruttium!" Akbiru gave Viggianum a sweet treat after making the punishment.
"Thank you… Great Chieftain…" Sedullus thanked him, suppressing his grief.
Akbiru, without waiting for Sincinnatus to speak, asked amiably, "Gnaenatus, my dear child, how is your injury?"
Gnaenatus endured the pain and straightened his chest: "Great Chieftain, I'm fine, it's just some flesh wounds."
"That's good. You must protect yourself. I don't want my dear daughter to become a widow at such a young age. I'm still waiting to hold my grandson!" Akbiru laughed loudly, and the warriors around him laughed along, making Gnaenatus a little embarrassed and shy.
Sincinnatus breathed a sigh of relief. Since Akbiru still valued Gnaenatus, then the promise he had made to Picentia would not change because of this setback.
"What Lucanian's first warrior, actually made so embarrassed by the much smaller number of Greeks, is simply a disgrace to the Lucanians!" Mockery came from the warriors' laughter.
Gnaenatus looked in the direction of the sound and saw Severus, the leader of a tribe in Grummentum, who had once proposed to Akbiru's daughter. However, the great chieftain, based on tribal interests, had married his daughter to Gnaenatus. Since then, Severus had never given him a good look.
Gnaenatus retorted without showing weakness: "If you have the ability, you go and attack. I don't believe you can take this camp!"
"Okay, I'll let you see the power of our Grummentum warriors!" Severus was provoked and didn't refuse. He turned around and shouted, "Brothers—"
"Enough, Severus!" Akbiru's deep and majestic voice immediately stopped the young leader's impulsiveness: "We're going back to camp!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sincinnatus shouted first: "Go back now?! Aren't we going to continue attacking this camp?!"
Akbiru looked up at the sky and said, "It's almost dusk, and the warriors are all tired. We have already killed the last citizen-soldier team of Thurii. They are no longer able to stop us Lucanians from taking root in this land. When we go back, settle the wounded, recover our strength, and prepare the tools, tomorrow we will build a city here, a Lucanian city!" Akbiru's voice became a little excited: "These mercenaries are not worth our worry at all. As long as they dare to come out, we will defeat them; if they don't come out, we can blockade them, so that they can't get support from Thurii, and they will naturally be finished; as for those Tarentine reinforcements, I heard that Tarentum is now in tense relations with the Messapians, and they won't stay here for long!"
The surrounding people were thoughtful.
Udulu asked: "Akbiru, aren't we going to Amendolara?"
"We'll go tomorrow." Akbiru glanced at Sincinnatus. Although he didn't outwardly take the mercenaries seriously, in fact, the combat effectiveness of this team still surprised him somewhat: the tribe that had seized Amendolara had not followed his orders to join the Lucanian tribal alliance. If he led the army over at this moment, Amendolara was likely to refuse to open the city gates. Although his forces were more than ten times the size of the opponent's, Lucanians were not good at siege warfare, especially against a mountain city. Once they couldn't capture it quickly, by nightfall, the warriors would be extremely tired, without food, and with the threat of mercenaries and Tarentine reinforcements behind them. There was also an unstable group of Viggiani in the team, and he was afraid that something unexpected would happen. The Lucanian tribal alliance, in a situation of certain victory, why take this risk.
"If the leader of that small tribe in the city of Amendolara is smart, they should escape back into the mountains tonight, just like last time, otherwise tomorrow I will let them understand who is in charge of the Lucanian region now!" A bloodthirsty sneer appeared on Akbiru's face.
Hearing this, Sincinnatus's face couldn't help but twitch a few times.
The Lucanians retreated.
Amidst the cheers of the soldiers, Philistius arrived at the army's main tent to see Davos, only to find him engrossed in drawing something on the ground with a stick, occasionally looking up to ponder, and at other times pacing back and forth anxiously, completely oblivious to the outside world.
Philistius called out a few times, but seeing no response, he simply stood aside and watched quietly.
He craned his neck, trying to see what Davos was drawing: the patterns on the ground were crude and messy, barely discernible as a map of the area around Thurii, the Crati River, and its tributary the Cosenza River, with the square at the confluence of the two rivers presumably representing the city of Thurii… What was this thin line referring to?
Connected to the Cosenza River, could it be the Tino River?
And what did these dots and circles next to the Tino River represent?
Just as he was racking his brains, he heard Davos shout something in a strange and peculiar language.
He quickly looked up and saw that Davos looked very excited, his face flushed red.
Could he have been talking to the King of the Underworld just now?
Philistius thought of some rumors, and his heart stirred.
"Philistius, your timing is perfect.
Immediately notify all company and squad leaders to come here for a meeting!"
Davos's sudden words and the undeniable, forceful tone startled Philistius.
After Philistius left, Davos took another deep look at the pattern on the ground, and once again, in a firm tone, repeated the words he had just said: "Success or failure depends on this battle!
I'm betting it all!!"
He stretched out his foot and forcefully erased the pattern on the ground, then resolutely sat on the wooden chair in the center of the tent, waiting for his tense and excited mood to calm down, while also waiting for the arrival of his subordinate officers.
… … … … … … … … … …
When building this camp, Davos had considered the needs of combat and expanded the main tent.
Despite this, with dozens of officers standing inside, the space was still very tight.
But no one cared about that.
What would become of the mercenaries if the battle was lost?
Before, they had no time to think about it because they were focused on fighting, but now every officer was uneasy about it, so their eyes were fixed on Davos, hoping that this leader, who had repeatedly led them out of trouble and constantly created miracles, could point them in the right direction.
"Brothers," Davos began, "we have been defeated.
Although the Lucanians have retreated, they will be back tomorrow.
The Lucanians have long wanted to occupy this fertile Sybaris Plain, and to that end, they launched two battles against Thurii.
Having spent a great deal of effort to defeat Thurii and severely damage it, forcing it to cower within its walls, they will never give up this juicy piece of meat, the Sybaris Plain!
So, what should we do?"
Davos looked around at everyone with a solemn expression, but he didn't want them to argue at this time, because time was short.
He continued, "Although I haven't said it publicly, I'm afraid you already know, because you've been working hard for it.
That's right, Amendolara is my goal!
It's the place I've chosen in Magna Graecia for our mercenaries to settle!
It's our future home!!"
Most of the officers looked calm, with only a few showing surprise.
"But, if the Lucanians occupy the Sybaris Plain, even if we capture Amendolara, we will become their primary target!
Because we are too few in number, and the weakest, and we have also made enemies of them!
Even if we repel them once again, like we did today, as long as they are here, they will always be a huge threat to us!
What should we do?" Davos asked for the second time.
"That goes without saying, of course we should defeat them!" Someone shouted in the silence, it was the voice of Matonis.
"That's right!
The Lucanians are actually not as strong as the Thurians say they are.
As long as we can scatter them, we can defeat them!" Amintas also said loudly.
These two brave officers could charge fearlessly even when facing ten times their number.
However, Capys, Alexis, Philistius and others obviously did not agree with their ideas and were about to refute them.
Davos laughed and said, "Well said, we must attack the Lucanian tribal alliance, but not to strike at their scattered forces, but to annihilate them in one fell swoop!
Only in this way can we settle in Amendolara with peace of mind, deter Thurii and other forces from obstructing us, and freely sow wheat and graze cattle and sheep on the land of Amendolara!"
Annihilate the Lucanian alliance?!
Everyone was stunned.
"Leader, we only have two thousand men, even if we surround them, we can't do it, so how can we annihilate the Lucanian alliance with tens of thousands of people?" Philistius's words expressed the doubts of all the officers present.
"It's not just us, there are also reinforcements from Tarentum and the mercenaries of Dracos and the others."
"Even with them, there are only about six thousand people.
The Lucanian alliance has fifteen or sixteen thousand people, more than twice our number!" Capys shook his head and said.
"Are the Tarentine reinforcements and those mercenaries willing to attack the Lucanians?" Antonios asked a crucial question.
"They don't know yet, but I'm confident that I will soon convince them to agree!" Davos looked at everyone confidently, and seeing that they were still full of doubt, he said loudly, "Brothers, remember what I once said, 'The outcome of a war is not determined by numbers, it depends on the quality of the soldiers, the morale, the quality of the weapons… The most important thing is to formulate a feasible and careful plan, to lead the enemy by the nose, to restrain the enemy's strengths, to exploit our strengths, so as to achieve the final victory!'"
The crowd was thoughtful.
Amintas impatiently urged, "Leader Davos, tell us your plan!"
"Asistes, go get the map of Thurii," Davos shouted.
Asistes immediately excitedly brought the map, which had been repeatedly surveyed and carefully drawn on parchment in recent days.
Davos spread the map on the wooden table, and everyone immediately gathered around.
"Everyone, please look… Here is the Lucanian camp, here is the Tino River…" Davos pointed to the dots and lines on the map, explaining his brewing offensive plan slowly and in detail.
Everyone listened carefully while thinking.
When Davos finished speaking, the tent was silent.
Then, in twos and threes, they began to whisper.
Davos waited quietly for a while, and said, "Brothers, is this plan feasible?"
"Leader," Alexis praised sincerely, "I have never seen such a brilliant idea, it's simply a genius plan!"
"Alexis is right, according to this plan, not only will the enemy's advantage in numbers not be brought into play, but we can also more easily bring our attack power into play!"
"The leader is worthy of being our leader, a great commander, a favorite of Hades!"
… …
For a time, flattery was like a tide.
Davos said solemnly, "Now is not the time to say nice words, it is a critical moment related to our life and death!
Tell me your opinions, we need to gather everyone's wisdom to overcome difficulties and achieve victory!"
The crowd looked at each other.
Alexis coughed a few times, his expression also became serious, and he said first, "Leader, according to your plan, the first thing we need to solve is the problem of how to lure the enemy…"
… …
After intense discussion, the battle plan was finally roughly established, and the atmosphere in the tent became heated.
Davos said loudly, "Brothers, the great battle is about to begin!
Go back and tell the soldiers, tell them the truth that we have been hiding!
This battle is not for Thurii, nor is it for us officers, but for themselves, for the land that we all dream of!
Hades will protect us!!!"
"Hoo!!!" Davos's inflammatory words ignited the passion of everyone, even people with a lukewarm personality like Philistius had a flame of hope burning in their eyes at this moment…
As Archestratus walked into the allied camp, cheers constantly erupted from every tent he passed. The air was thick with excitement and joy, and even he, with his heavy heart, was infected by it, unable to suppress a sigh of admiration: This mercenary force truly deserves its reputation as a battle-hardened unit, giving even the great Persian Empire a headache! He had personally witnessed during the day how these mercenaries used novel tactics and fierce offensives to inflict pain upon the Lucanians. The fact that they could maintain such high morale after experiencing defeat in a major battle was even more commendable!
Archestratus's desire to see Davos immediately grew even stronger.
Just as he arrived outside the tent, the young man he quite admired came out to greet him, and the first thing he said was: "General Archestratus, we are preparing to attack the Lucanian tribal alliance tomorrow, and we hope to receive assistance from the Tarentum reinforcements!"
Archestratus could hardly believe his ears: "…You mean you're going to attack the Lucanian tribal alliance?"
"Yes!"
"Is that the Lucanian tribal alliance of as many as fifteen thousand people to the west, and not the Lucanians in Amendolara?" Archestratus asked again, uncertain.
"That's right, it's the Lucanian tribal alliance to the west!" Davos nodded emphatically.
After receiving confirmation, Archestratus stared at Davos for a while, barely suppressing his excited thoughts, and said: "…What are you going to do?"
"Come, let's go inside and talk." Davos hurriedly led Archestratus into the tent, brought him to the prepared map, and explained his plan in detail…
Archestratus rested his chin in his hand, pondered for a long time, and then slowly said: "I must say, this is a very bold plan, using almost all of your forces to the extreme, and it also has a certain degree of feasibility. It's very tempting to me…"
"So, will the Tarentum reinforcements join?" Davos asked.
Archestratus was silent. Davos was not in a hurry either, remaining quiet for a while. Seeing that Davos was still calm, Archestratus couldn't help but say: "It seems you are convinced that I will agree."
"I heard that Heraclea is an ally of Tarentum. If we win tomorrow, Tarentum will no longer have to worry about the western problems and can fully deal with the Messapians," Davos said slowly. In fact, his words were rather polite. Heraclea was not just an ally of Tarentum; it was actually a vassal controlled by Tarentum. Twenty years ago, its ruling figures were either Tarentum immigrants or directly appointed by Tarentum. Although it was no longer as much of a sub-state of Tarentum as it had been in the beginning, Tarentum's influence on Heraclea was still strong, regarding it as its western barrier. If the Lucanians occupied the Sybaris Plain and also Amendolara, which was adjacent to Heraclea, then the threat to Heraclea would be too great, and it might even threaten Metapontum further north. This was also an important reason why Tarentum sent reinforcements in the first place.
Archestratus finally nodded: "The people of Tarentum are very happy to fight alongside the Greek warriors who are marching against Persia!"
"That's great! It is precisely because of the Tarentum reinforcements led by you, Archestratus, that I dare to propose this plan, because your combat power is also very strong!" Davos said sincerely.
After the two discussed the details, Archestratus suddenly said: "Davos, I have a suggestion that I hope you will consider."
"Please speak," Davos said, taken aback by his serious expression.
"Regardless of whether the upcoming battle is a victory or a defeat, I sincerely invite you to become a citizen of Tarentum! And I will do my best to recommend you to the Senate, hoping that you will take on important administrative duties!" Archestratus solemnly promised.
Davos did not expect Archestratus to make such a request, which caught him off guard: "…Um…Um, I heard that it is difficult for foreigners to become citizens of a large city-state."
"Yes," Archestratus nodded frankly, but he immediately changed the subject: "However,
a person with extraordinary talents like you would be warmly invited in any city-state in Magna Graecia! After all, this is not Athens; these are all colonial cities. The key is that they must have the vision to discover talent!" Archestratus pointed to his own eyes with a smug look.
"Just me, not including my brothers?" Davos thought of a reason to refuse.
"It is not up to the magistrates or the Senate to decide whether so many people can join Tarentum. It requires a collective vote by the Citizens' Assembly, which is very difficult," Archestratus said with difficulty.
"Thank you for your invitation. After tomorrow's battle, I will seriously consider this matter," Davos said, pretending to be serious.
… … … … … … … … … …
Upon Davos's invitation, Adriankes, Sestas, and even Drakontos came.
Davos told them his plan, and all three were shocked.
Because in today's battle, they did not suffer as few losses as the Tarentum reinforcements and Davos's mercenaries. The number of casualties was as high as four hundred, especially Drakontos's mercenaries, who suffered the heaviest casualties. For them, who only had two thousand people, it could be said to be a major blow. If they agreed to Davos's request next, the casualties would probably be even greater. Therefore, Adriankes and Sestas were a little hesitant.
"Chief Davos, I am willing to participate in tomorrow's battle!" Drakontos, who had been looking depressed, suddenly said, startling the other two.
"The Lucanians are nothing to be afraid of. It was just that the Thurians dragged me down today. I believe that fighting with you tomorrow will definitely make them taste defeat!" Drakontos said unwillingly.
Davos did not expect that Drakontos, with whom he had fought, would be the first to agree, which made him admire the big chief's fighting desire and tenacity. Seeing that the other two were still hesitating, he then said: "Attacking the Lucanian tribal alliance is not for the pitiful salary of Thurii, but to take back Amendolara after defeating them and become its masters!"
Davos's words shocked the three again.
"Capture Amendolara, are you confident?" Sestas asked in surprise.
"We have attacked many fortresses in Persia. A small mountain city is really not a problem!" Davos said confidently: "When the time comes, we will invite you to become citizens of Amendolara together, obtain land there, and establish a foundation in wealthy Magna Graecia! Of course, if you just want to return to war-torn, impoverished Ionia, then pretend I didn't say anything."
"You…are you telling the truth?!…Really let us get land?!" Adriankes asked, stammering.
"Of course, this is our common decision!" Davos said solemnly.
"But…but…" Adriankes slightly calmed his excited mood and asked: "Will Thurii and Tarentum object?"
"Thurii has suffered heavy losses, and it has no ability to object," Davos smiled contemptuously: "As for Tarentum, perhaps they will be happy that we are doing this, because we have the ability to defend Amendolara and keep the western border of Tarentum from being invaded by mountain tribes."
The three looked at each other and said in unison: "We are willing to join you!"
"Great!" Davos said happily: "Now we are a family! Let us fight together for our own future!"
After the four discussed the details of the plan, Davos instructed them to keep the secret and not let the Tarentines know for the time being.
After sending the three away, Davos prepared to have a few freemen who were going back to Thurii ask Bulkos to come to the camp as soon as possible, as there was something urgent to discuss. Unexpectedly, the guard came in to report: "Bulkos is already asking to see you outside the camp gate."
Davos was surprised and immediately thought of the urgent needs of the Thurii City Hall and the council at this moment.
Sure enough, as soon as Bulkos entered the tent, he couldn't wait to ask: "Chief Davos, are you still prepared to continue to implement the original agreement?"
Davos looked embarrassed and said: "I am a person who keeps his promises, but the problem now is that the battle was lost, and my troops lost a lot of weapons during the retreat, and many people were injured. Tomorrow, the Lucanians will definitely launch a large-scale attack here! My troops lack weapons and manpower, and I am afraid they will not be able to resist. Before you came, the officers had just discussed with me and proposed that even if they don't get paid, they still want to leave here!"
"How can that be! That's not acceptable! You swore an oath to the gods!" Bulkos pleaded urgently, "Chief Davos, I beg you! Let your soldiers stay and help Thurii! The pay... the pay will be doubled! We're short on weapons... Thurii has plenty, I'll have them brought to you right away! We're short on men... you saw the battle today, Thurii suffered over two thousand casualties, there's really no one left!" Bulkos lamented, almost collapsing to his knees.
But Davos' expression turned cold.
Bulkos hurriedly said, "Let me think... let me think... Oh... Thurii may be short on people, but it has plenty of slaves in the copper and stone mines, they're all young and strong men, you can have as many as you want!"
Davos stroked his chin, pondered for a good while, and then reluctantly said, "...Alright... but I don't have enough food to feed these slaves."
"Thurii has plenty of food and grain, you can have as much as you want!" As long as Davos agreed to stay, Bulkos seemed willing to meet any request he made...
That night, all of Thurii was bustling. For the sake of survival, the people endured their grief and drove hundreds of cargo ships, loaded with weapons, food, slaves, and even tents (because the Tarentum reinforcements refused to enter the city and were willing to stay in the mercenary camp, so tents had to be prepared for them), towards the makeshift pier at the river mouth...
Davos ordered Melxis to lead his logistics unit to receive these goods, while letting the soldiers rest early to recover their strength...
......................
Just as dawn broke, the mercenaries in Davos' army camp had already completed their formation. Davos inspected them from the front of their ranks, and their high morale made Davos nod in approval.
"Matonis, are you ready?" Looking at his old comrade itching for a fight ahead, Davos couldn't help but ask.
"I can't wait!" Matonis exclaimed.
"In a moment, there will be plenty of enemies for you to fight. Each of our brothers must take down an average of three opponents to ensure victory. Are you confident you can do that?!" Davos asked with a smile.
"Yes!!!" The surrounding soldiers shouted in unison, mixed with Matonis' unwillingness: "Three isn't enough for me to kill!"
Davos laughed heartily, jumped onto the warhorse held by Asistes beside him, came to the very front of the army, faced the countless excited and hopeful gazes, and shouted loudly, "Brothers, I see hope in your eyes, and after today's battle, I hope you turn that hope into reality! Hades will protect you!"
"Victory!"
"Victory!!"
"Victory!!!"
...
In the midst of the long-lasting shouts, Davos solemnly said to Felixius, "I await your good news!"
"Chief, rest assured, with Hades' protection, we will succeed!" Felixius said excitedly.
............
Watching the mercenary team heading north disappear into the morning mist, Davos took a deep breath. He knew that the battle that would determine his fate was about to begin...
"Asi, back to camp! Let's begin our preparations!" He shouted loudly with strength and excitement.
"Yes!!" Asistes' response was equally powerful.
............
"Hey, do you hear that? It sounds like an army is marching," a sentry on the walls of Thurii reminded his companion.
"Could it be the Lucanians are coming to attack us?!" The other sentry, of course, also heard the noise and said in a panic.
"Quickly ring the alarm bell and notify the citizens!" The sentry hurried towards the watchtower.
But by the time the Thurii citizen soldiers reached the city walls, everything outside had become silent.
Facing the misty surroundings outside the city, the cavalry refused to go out to investigate, so they could only wait for the fog to dissipate...
............
By morning,
The sun had already risen halfway, and the fog dissipated.
Bugle calls echoed through the Lucanian tribal coalition camp as the warriors began preparing to march towards the Sybaris Plain.
Just then, a sentry rushed into the camp: "Enemies are coming! Enemies are coming!"
Enemies actually dare to attack our camp? The Lucanian warriors curiously looked towards the camp gate.
Two hundred fully armed Greek hoplites appeared outside the camp. Under the gaze of tens of thousands of eyes, they calmly stopped a hundred meters away from the camp and began throwing circular objects into the camp.
Only after the objects landed did the warriors realize that they were the heads of the Lucanian warriors who had died in the mercenary camp (because they were afraid of increasing casualties, the Lucanian warriors didn't dare to retrieve their comrades' bodies from the traps outside Davos' camp yesterday). Their ears were cut off and their eyes gouged out, their deaths were tragic...
While the warriors' anger was ignited, the Greek soldiers outside the camp lifted their war skirts, urinated, and shouted abuse.
The Lucanian warriors were enraged. They broke through the leaders' obstruction, and thousands of them rushed out of the camp, fiercely pouncing towards the Greek soldiers.
The Greek soldiers immediately turned and fled. After the relentlessly pursuing Lucanian warriors rounded the ridge, they were shocked to find nearly two thousand Greek soldiers waiting in full battle array ahead. It was too late to escape. A volley of javelins immediately brought down a group of Lucanian warriors, followed by a powerful charge that completely extinguished the warriors' fighting spirit.
Then, the Greek soldiers began to pursue them. In full view of everyone, the Greek soldiers swiftly knocked down the fleeing Lucarian warriors one by one, and then stabbed the fallen warriors several more times to ensure their death.
This cruel method of killing and the screams of their clansmen made the Lucarian warriors and leaders who witnessed everything in the camp unable to suppress their anger, but they were also intimidated by the opponent's numbers and ferocity, and began to ask the great chief of Grumentum for permission to fight.
Before Akhipilou could reply, Genete shouted, "I recognize them! They are those damned mercenaries who fought us yesterday!"
Akhipilou's eyes widened: "Child, are you sure?!"
"I wouldn't mistake them even if you beat me to death!" Genete looked deeply resentful.
"Great Chief, let me lead three thousand warriors out to repel them and avenge the Piksis clansmen warriors!" Severa stepped forward to request a battle.
Genete glared at him and also stepped forward to request a battle.
Akhipilou said loudly, "These Greek mercenaries actually dare to leave their camp and harass us! That's good, we'll eliminate them all here again, saving us the trouble of attacking their camp!" Akhipilou became more and more impassioned as he spoke: "Immediately sound the attack horn, the entire army will form up outside the camp, defeat them, and then take the opportunity to advance to the Sybaris Plain!"
The leaders were also filled with enthusiasm and responded in unison, only Sedolum, the great chief of Vigg City, remained silent.
Akhipilou glanced at him and said in a deep voice, "Sedolum, do you have any questions about my decision?"
Sedolum smiled bitterly and said, "Great Chief, I absolutely obey orders! It's just... after last night, the warriors of Vigg are unwilling... they refuse to go to the battlefield again..."
"Is that so?!" Akhipilou's eyes widened.
"The warriors say, 'Going to the battlefield to be killed by the enemy, and coming back to be killed by our own people, since we're going to be killed anyway, we might as well lie in the camp and let our own people kill us, at least it's not so tiring.' No matter how I persuade them, they won't listen!" Sedolum lowered his head, but his words were extremely fluent.
"Akhipilou, the Vigg people are disobedient and must have ulterior motives, they must all be arrested immediately!" Xinxinag jumped out and shouted at Sedolum.
Sedolum's expression changed slightly.
Akhipilou interrupted Xinxinag's words: "Alright, since the warriors of Vigg are unwilling to fight, then they will stay and be responsible for guarding the camp."
Sedolum breathed a sigh of relief. Xinxinag was about to say something more, but Akhipilou waved his hand, impatiently saying, "The Piksis warriors also suffered heavy casualties yesterday, so they will also stay and guard the camp together with the Vigg warriors. After we defeat the Greeks, you will then transport cattle, sheep, tents, equipment, and all other camp supplies to the Sybaris Plain."
Xinxinag didn't make any more trouble. He gladly accepted the order and even stopped his son Genete from objecting, but this did not reduce Akhipilou's disgust for him: Originally, after returning to the camp yesterday, Akhipilou intended to let Sedolum kill a few dozen severely wounded Vigg people to get away with it, but Xinxinag insisted on killing one hundred and fifty Vigg warriors as a sacrifice. This approach obviously alienated the Vigg people.
Looking at the expressionless Sedolum, Akhipilou knew that he should seriously consider the problem of Vigg City next, but now the Sybaris Plain was his primary goal, so he had to temporarily let Piksis monitor these alien races.
The attack horn continued to sound, and the Lucanian warriors poured out of the camp and began to form up.