Just as the Daonian army arrived at Crimisa, the news that "the Croton army had failed in battle, suffering heavy casualties, with only over 5,000 people escaping back to Crimisa" reached the city of Croton, immediately shocking the entire city.
If the first battle's failure could be attributed to Melanthus's carelessness and the shameless ambush by the Amendolara people, this time Croton had assembled an army far stronger than the previous one, and they had their trusted Chief General Milon, who was equally experienced in combat and known for his steadiness and reliability, in command, fully expecting to wipe out the previous disgrace, but the news that came back was even more disheartening.
The Croton army had suffered another crushing defeat, and more than 20,000 people had not escaped; had they died in battle? Or had they been captured? To this day, there is no news.
This time, every citizen's family in Croton was weeping and worried about the fate of their loved ones, and at the same time, the accumulated anger, guided by Daonian spies, erupted, with the people gathering to protest at the city hall, strongly demanding an immediate public assembly.
Faced with the angry people who stormed into the assembly hall, the council was forced to respond to the people's demands, and the public assembly was hastily convened.
At the assembly, the people angrily criticized the incompetence of the generals and councilors, which had led to the repeated defeats of the Croton army, which had a clear advantage, and had instead put the city-state in a dangerous situation.
They proposed: to dismiss Chief General Milon from his position and send him back to the city for trial.
At the same time, to immediately start peace talks with Daonia and redeem the captured citizen-soldiers.
The proposal was supported by the majority of citizens and was successfully passed.
At this moment, a messenger sent by Milon rushed back to Croton, bringing the request: "The Daonian army is besieging Crimisa, Milon requests reinforcements."
This news immediately threw the public assembly into a panic; as long as they weren't fools, everyone understood that once Daonia seized Crimisa, they could smoothly enter the Croton Plain, destroy their farmland, burn their villages, and directly threaten the city of Croton.
If the battle situation really developed like this, then it would be the second time, after the invasion by Sybaris a hundred years ago, that the Croton Plain would be invaded by enemies from the north, and the peaceful life that the Croton people had enjoyed on this plain for a hundred years would be shattered, which was unacceptable to the people.
"Reinforce Crimisa and defend the city of Crimisa" became the consensus of the Croton citizens, but the able-bodied citizens of the entire city had basically been mobilized, and to send more soldiers, they could only relax the conscription age limit from 18 to 50, and at the same time recruit freemen.
Fortunately, it was just defending the city, and as long as they could shoot arrows and throw javelins, which was exactly what the freemen and sailors were good at, so piecing together a considerable number of reinforcements was not a problem.
But the generals became a problem, because the citizens who could fight and were good at fighting were all in Milon's army, including Milon himself.
The citizens argued for a long time, and finally reached an agreement with great difficulty, nominating several candidates, but those who were selected refused to take office.
When the crowd accused them, they justified themselves: "Even Milon and Philadelphus, who are so good at fighting, have suffered defeats, so how can people like us, who rarely go to the battlefield, command troops lacking citizen-soldiers to resist the Daonian attack?
We don't mean to shirk responsibility and fulfill our civic duty, but we are worried that we will not be able to fulfill this crucial position, causing our city-state to suffer another disaster!"
After they finished speaking, the public assembly of thousands of people suddenly fell into a deathly silence; the warlike Crotonians had actually reached a desperate situation where no generals were available.
At this time, Lysias stood up and said in a deep voice: "Citizens, you all know that Milon and I often argue over some issues, and our relationship is not good.
But I also have to respect Milon's contribution to the city-state.
He has repeatedly led troops to repel the Bruttian's invasion of allied city-states, and has twice forced Locri to withdraw from the Caulonia territory, which is why you have repeatedly elected him as chief general!
To be honest, his military talent has always made me very jealous.
But now he has failed; Milon, who has always won more than he lost and acted steadily, has suffered a crushing defeat in the battle that determines the fate of the city-state,
do you believe that he was careless and treated this important battle as a game?!"
Nicias's words made the impatient citizens think.
"Of course not; this can only show that Daonian Consul Davos has even stronger military talent!
Yes, now, this is a fact that every Crotonian has to admit and must bravely face!"
Nicias sighed and said loudly again: "After the failure half a year ago, I think you should all understand Davos; after he led the mercenaries to Thurii, he won all the battles he personally commanded, and several times he won with fewer troops, which is why there is today's Daonian League!
Now, are there any Croton citizens who are more capable than Milon and can resist Daonian Consul Davos?!"
The pale-faced citizens, despite whispering to each other under the stage, did not stand up to recommend or nominate themselves.
"Since there are none, why not let Milon continue to lead the troops!
I believe that Milon, who has already suffered a defeat, will definitely learn from it and desperately defend Crimisa for Croton and for himself!
Citizens, Croton is facing the greatest crisis in a hundred years!
I hope you can put aside your likes and dislikes for others and, out of public interest, elect a suitable candidate to defend our city-state!!!"
Lysias shouted loudly.
His words clearly worked, and in the new round of elections at the public assembly, Milon became the commander with a slight majority of votes, but his position as chief general was stripped, and he would have to be tried after the war ended.
Having achieved a satisfactory result, Lysias's expression was not relaxed, because he knew that soon he would meet with Davos again as an envoy.
In just a few days, the entire situation had reversed.
Lysias still remembered what Davos had said when he left Thurii, and now it had come true.
The next morning, the Daonian army still did not attack, but continued to improve the camp, not only setting up traps in front of the camp, but also having some soldiers protect the engineering battalion that had begun to build a wooden bridge over the Vumbri River.
Milon witnessed all this on the city wall and was surprised: Davos, who had previously been cunning in his use of troops, was actually able to calm down and continue to build the camp; was he really preparing to besiege himself?
He hesitated again and again, but still did not dare to send out the few troops he had to carry out harassment.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Milon breathed a sigh of relief when Croton's 5,000 reinforcements were transported to the city of Crimisa by a fleet, bringing the number of troops in the city to over 10,000.
At the port, he also saw Lysias, who had disembarked with the soldiers, and his expression changed: "Did the council really send you to negotiate peace?"
"No, Milon."
Lysias's negative answer relieved Milon, but he immediately said: "It was the public assembly that sent me to negotiate peace."
Mentioning the public assembly, Milon's expression became even more ugly, and he said with a solemn expression: "I don't think... the Daonians, who have the advantage, will agree to a truce and peace talks at this time.
Even if they agree, the conditions they propose will definitely be very harsh!"
"You're right, but the Croton people are eager to know the safety of their loved ones, and I don't think I can avoid coming.
However, it is necessary to try to understand the Daonians' demands first."
Lysias shrugged helplessly.
Hearing Lysias's words, Milon's face twitched, he coughed a few times, and said in a low voice: "I heard that at the public assembly... it was your speech... that saved me from being escorted back home now..."
"In fact, I, like other people, wish I could have you put on trial and vent the anger of those citizens who died in this battle!
But Croton needs you urgently now.
For the sake of the city-state and for your own sake, I hope you can win a few victories in the next battle and lay a good foundation for future peace talks!"
Lysias's earnest words made Milon feel ashamed, he didn't speak, just clenched his fists.
Afterwards, Lysias, accompanied by Milon, went to the top of the city, leaned on the battlements, and looked forward: not far below the city was the Daonian camp, with continuous tents from east to west, not only arranged neatly, with one camp connected to another, but also with trenches, earthen walls, fences, sentry towers... and so on.
Even Lysias, who didn't know much about military affairs, could feel the strict defense of the Daonian camp while standing on the city wall.
Seeing Lysias's solemn expression, Milon said: "I think these Daonians are really not like Greeks.
We Greeks like to fight, but we don't like to do these dirty and tiring jobs in our spare time.
But as soon as the Daonians arrived here, they kept digging holes and building nests like mice, and it only took them a little over a day to build the current big camp, which also caused me to suffer a loss when I sent hundreds of soldiers to attack them last night!
Now they are even building a bridge over the river, and they must want to build a camp on the south bank as well, completely besieging Crimisa."
Milon paused for a moment and said loudly: "Now that we have these reinforcements, I will teach the arrogant Daonians a lesson!"
… … … … … … … … …
The troops ordered to wade across the river to the south bank to protect the engineering battalion building the bridge were the Second and Third Battalions of the First Legion, commanded by Matonis.
This was what Matonis had actively requested from Davos; in the last battle, he was the commander of the reserve team and hardly got to fight, so he was full of energy, and this time he wanted to perform well.
When he led the troops to the bridge-building site that had been surveyed on the south bank, he immediately used one battalion to guard and one battalion to dig trenches, taking turns working, until the trenches were dug and earthen base were built, and he didn't see any enemies.
Matonis cursed the cowardly Crotonians, reluctantly allowing some of his soldiers to participate in the bridge construction. Seeing that the Umbria River wasn't too wide or too deep, and with plenty of labor available, the soldiers on both banks, under the direction of the engineers, were quickly building a wooden bridge according to the bridge-building procedures in the "Military Law". But then Matonis received a report from the scouts: about 8,000 Crotonian light infantry were attacking him!
The listlessness on his face vanished instantly: "Brothers, get up! We're going to fight!"
Like leader, like troops. The soldiers who had been lying around resting immediately jumped up, put on their equipment, and quickly approached the earthen base, looking out with excitement. The soldiers building the bridge also quickly returned upon hearing the news.
Before long, they saw the figures of the Crotonians.
… … … … … … … …
After Milon fled back to Crimisa, he specifically questioned the very few surviving soldiers under Philadelphus and came to a shocking conclusion: Philadelphus's army had actually been defeated by Daonian light infantry! Now, his advantage was having fewer heavy infantry and more light infantry, so he decided to learn from the enemy's tactics. He even had some of the sailors from the fleet docked at the port of Crimisa join the expeditionary force.
8,000 men landed on the south bank of the Umbria River estuary and, led by him, marched in a mighty force along the Umbria River towards the Daonian garrison on the south bank.
Seeing the trenches and earthen walls built by the Daonians, Milon smiled instead: the Daonians had tied their own hands, making it even easier for the light infantry to attack.
At a distance of two hundred meters from the Daonians, he loosely spread out his troops, encircling the Daonians' semi-circular temporary defensive camp, which was backed by the Umbria River.
At his command, the archers advanced to within a hundred meters and began to rain down arrows.
For the Daonian heavy infantry protected by earthen walls, the sky full of arrows seemed frightening, but didn't do much damage. They only needed to place their round shields on the wall to protect their heads. The Daonian soldiers even joked, "The Crotonians must know that our arrows were almost used up in the last battle, so they're kindly sending us arrows." But the relaxed mood of the Daonian heavy infantry quickly disappeared.
The Crotonian light infantry continued to advance, and the accuracy of the arrows greatly increased at a distance of about 50 meters.
Of course, the Daonian heavy infantry, protected by round shields and earthen walls, still suffered little damage.
However,
when the Crotonian javelin throwers continued to advance to within twenty or thirty meters, the Daonian heavy infantry began to feel the pressure. Of course, crouching behind the earthen wall would not cause any damage, anyway, the enemies were all light infantry and dared not fight them head-on. But it wasn't Matonis's style to be a coward, and besides, once they retreated behind the earthen wall, they would have no idea of the enemy's movements. What if they bypassed the defensive line and went down to the river to burn the wooden bridge that was under construction?!
Matonis was now the commander of the south bank troops, and he was very clear about his responsibilities.
"Javelins!" he roared, suddenly standing up from behind the earthen wall, quickly putting down his round shield, leaning back, and relying only on his waist strength and arm strength, he threw the javelin in his hand more than 20 meters, piercing the chest of a Crotonian javelin thrower, and then immediately squatted down.
The Daonian soldiers, who had been suppressed by arrows and were full of anger, received Matonis's order and immediately began to counterattack. Countless javelins flew over the earthen wall and trenches, piercing into the Crotonian army formation and splashing blood. The Crotonian arrows and javelins also poured down on the Daonian heavy infantry, and the casualties on both sides began to increase.
Milon, in front of the archer formation, paid attention to the development of the battle. He began to realize the benefits of using a large number of light infantry to attack pure heavy infantry. Unfortunately, the Daonian heavy infantry were not the traditional Greek heavy infantry. The javelins they threw caused great damage to the Crotonian javelin throwers with weak protection, and the casualty ratio between the two sides was also quite different.
But Milon believed: several light infantrymen for one heavy infantryman, this deal was worth doing. Croton now didn't lack freemen sailors, but lacked citizens to serve as heavy infantry.
… … … … … … … …
"Captain Epithenes, the enemy's offensive on the south bank is fierce! Captain Matonis hopes to receive your reinforcements!" A messenger brought Matonis's message.
"I know!" Epithenes frowned and responded. He thought for a moment and said, "Ampiolex!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
"I want you to lead the slingers and cross the river immediately to support Matonis!" Epithenes looked at his slinger company commander and instructed: "Remember! Do not enter Matonis's camp, otherwise the narrow camp will prevent you from avoiding the attack of the Crotonian's large number of light infantry! You must go around the enemy's periphery and use the slingers' long range to attack the enemy!"
"I understand, Captain!" Ampiolex hurried to summon his soldiers.
The organization of the light infantry battalion (i.e., the Seventh Battalion) in the Daonian army was somewhat different from that of the heavy infantry. According to the "Military Law", the heavy infantry battalion had five companies, each with 200 men, for a total of 1,000 men; while the light infantry battalion, although also 1,000 men, had only three companies, namely the slinger company, the archer company, and the javelin company, with a variable number of men under each company.
This was because, compared to heavy infantry, light infantry had a higher technical content. The javelin throwers were better, but archers and slingers could hardly become qualified light infantry without long-term training. Therefore, the composition of the Daonian army's light infantry battalion often depended on the actual situation in the area where it was located. For example, the First Legion's light infantry battalion had roughly the same number of men in each of the three arms, but its javelin throwers were actually Thracian light shield bearers; the Second Legion's light infantry battalion mainly came from the reserve citizens of Thurii, most of whom were freemen and sailors, so there were more archers, and there were also some light shield bearers; while the Third Legion's light infantry battalion mainly came from the Lucanians, so javelin throwers predominated. Since the light infantry formation was loose, elastic, and rarely came into direct contact with the enemy, it didn't affect the command and combat too much whether there were more or fewer of each arm of light infantry.
"Captain, Ampiolex has taken away the slingers. Will the Crotonian warships parked in the river see that our numbers have decreased and take the opportunity to go upstream and destroy the wooden bridge we just built…?" Light shield bearer company commander Zeniares said worriedly.
"I really hope they come, even if we have fewer soldiers, I am confident that we can destroy them! Instead of being like now, unable to attack or retreat, letting the wooden boats stationed there restrain us and prevent us from reinforcing our comrades on the other side!" Epithenes said angrily.
"Since they're not coming, why don't we go attack them!" A handsome young man, a personal guard beside Epithenes, interjected.
Epithenes gently slapped the back of his head and scolded with a smile: "Fool, to attack those warships, it's like attacking the enemy on the city wall, our own losses are large, and the enemy's losses are small. Would I, Epithenes, do such a battle that I know I'm going to suffer a loss?!"
"Now we are located on the high ground of the river bank, and there is a river blocking cable set up on the river surface. Knowing that rowing a boat here will be passively beaten, will they do such a stupid thing?!" The handsome guard asked back.
Epithenes was speechless for a moment, then pushed him lightly with his hand and scolded with a smile: "Not bad, you have made a lot of progress now!" Then, he sighed helplessly: "It seems that we are stuck with the enemy's warships. The commander ordered us to protect the wooden bridge. I thought it was a simple task, but now it seems to be a really troublesome thing!"
… … … … … … …
While Milon and Matonis were fighting, Davos had already received the news. Although Davos was surprised that Milon dared to attack entirely with light infantry, he was not worried at all: "Notify Ledes, his cavalry team is temporarily assigned to the command of the First Legion. I believe Capus will soon be able to force the enemy back!"
Having been authorized by Davos, Capus, the commander of the First Legion, immediately mobilized three heavy infantry battalions and the cavalry team, quickly waded across the river, wanting to go around to the rear of the Crotonians and cut off their retreat.
Who knew that Milon, upon learning that Daonian reinforcements were coming, decisively ordered a retreat while still in an advantageous position.
This battle ended hastily. Of the 2,000 heavy infantry led by Matonis, 500 were wounded or killed, mostly wounded. Of Milon's 8,000 men, more than 700 were wounded or killed, but more were killed. But Matonis believed that he had suffered a loss, while Milon believed that Croton had won a small victory, because it had dealt a blow to the Daonians' arrogance and would inevitably delay their progress in building a camp and besieging Crimisa.
But when Milon returned to the city, he immediately received bad news: a large number of troops were coming from the north and were entering the Daonian camp.
That must be the reinforcements from Niotum! Milon immediately became nervous.
… … … … … … …
In fact, not only 5,000 soldiers from Niotum entered the Daonian camp, but also 3,000 allied troops from Laos, bringing the Daonian frontline strength to as many as 22,000 people.
The Daonian army camp, which was already in high morale, was now filled with cheers everywhere…
Davos left the camp to greet Avinogis, the governor of Laos who had rushed from afar, as well as Bagules, the first battalion commander of the Third Legion, Adjutant Yasistes, Lizalus, the second battalion commander, and many other senior officers.
"Commander, we are late!" Yasistes saluted respectfully and then said with an apologetic expression.
"Is it slow to travel from Niotum to Crimisa in more than three days?!" After Davos returned the salute seriously, he praised with a smile: "You have come at just the right time, the next battle will depend on you!"
"Commander, rest assured and leave the subsequent battles to us! We brothers of the Third Legion have long been eager to participate in battle and earn merits!" Bagule thumped his chest and said loudly.
"Don't rush, don't rush, there will be plenty of battles for you to participate in!" Davos said jokingly, "You should report to your legion commander first. This legion commander of his, short of troops and generals, misses you so much that he calls your names in his dreams!"
Everyone laughed heartily, and even Hieronimus, who was usually expressionless, grinned at this moment.
"Lord Avinogis, thank you for your full support of Daonia! For personally leading troops to participate in the battle!" Davos stepped forward and saluted Avinogis to express his sincere gratitude.
"Sending troops to participate in the war is the responsibility of my Laos as an ally of Daonia!" Avinogis hurriedly returned the salute, saying, "In Thurii, I heard about Lord Davos's glorious victory over the Crotone army again. This is another miracle of winning more with less! Lord Davos's military talent amazes me, and I believe the warriors of Laos can follow Daonia to achieve more victories!"
"As long as our Daonia alliance remains united as one, we will not lack victories!" Davos replied with passion.
"You are right, Lord Davos!" Avinogis immediately nodded in agreement seriously.
At this time, Asistes interjected, "Commander, I almost forgot something. When we led the troops through the swamp area, the engineering battalion was about to repair the road through the swamp area. They will be able to transport the supplies here tomorrow."
"That's great!" Davos said happily.
… … … … … … … …
Those who followed Davos into the big tent were: First Legion Commander Capus, Second Legion Commander Drax, Third Legion Commander Hieronimus, Third Legion First Battalion Commander Bagule, Third Legion Adjutant Asistes, Lars Governor Avinogis.
In the center of the big tent was an exceptionally smooth wooden table, on which was drawn a large map of southern Greater Greece.
"Capus, please introduce the latest battle situation to the newly arrived comrades." Davos said.
"Okay, sir." Capus came to the wooden table, found the Crimisa marker on the map, pointed to it and said, "After the Crotone army failed in the battle, according to the information obtained from interrogating the captured soldiers, it is estimated that about 7,000 people escaped the battlefield, and they are likely to have fled back here—" Capus glanced at the people who were listening to him attentively, and then said: "Subsequently, our First and Second Legions with a total of 14,000 people rushed to the outside of Crimisa City,
building camps and surrounding Crimisa from the east, west, and north. Today, when we were building a bridge on the Wumbria River, the troops on the south bank were attacked by nearly 7,000 light infantry, indicating that Crimisa received reinforcements from Crotone within this day, and the strength of the troops in the city may have reached 14,000. And your arrival has brought the total number of our soldiers to 22,000."
Avinogis and the others gathered around the wooden table, listening to Capus while staring at the map.
"It may be more difficult to capture a city with 14,000 soldiers defending it with 22,000 people!" Avinogis said based on his past experience.
"We don't necessarily have to capture Crimisa City." Capus's words stunned the newcomers.
"If we don't capture Crimisa, how can we attack Crotone?" Bagule asked in surprise.
"Surround it." Capus pressed his right hand on Crimisa on the map, and then drew a circle: "If we attack Crimisa forcefully, with the defense of Crotone's 14,000 soldiers, not only will there be heavy casualties, but also once Crimisa cannot hold, the Crotone people may escape back to Crotone City by boat and shrink back into the city, adding difficulty to our next attack. Leaving them behind will allow Crimisa City to disperse Crotone's forces, and we can divide our troops—" Capus's finger slid to the south of Crimea City, which is the northern plain of Croton.
Avinogis, Bagule, Asistes, and Lizalu stared at the map with wide eyes, lost in thought.
"What if the Crotone people find out that our numbers have decreased and attack the camp?" Avinogis asked with some concern.
The others laughed at the same time.
"We are welcoming them to attack, so they can taste the power of our Daonian camp defense facilities!" Drax said confidently.
"If we don't attack Crimisa, it may make the Crotone people realize our intentions. What if they take the initiative to withdraw to Crotone to defend?" Asistes also raised his own question.
"Who said we won't attack? We will appropriately attack to put pressure on Crimisa City. By the time they realize that the situation is not right, the troops we sent out will have already stirred up Crotone's territory, and when they withdraw to Crotone, we can easily take Crimisa! In short, according to Commander's words...it is...we must actively mobilize the Crotone people to run back and forth, and they will never be able to concentrate their forces to confront us..." Capus explained.
"That's great! I think this must be a plan conceived by Lord Davos. This is the first time I have seen such a clever military plan! We can easily achieve our goals without fighting hard!" Avinogis praised, half flattering and half sincere.
His words were unanimously approved by everyone.
Davos smiled and said seriously: "Now, what I am most worried about is one thing—"
"Our food supply?!" The taciturn Hieronimus interjected. As a bare-bones legion commander for the past two days, he has been with the accompanying supply battalion, so he knows something about this.
"That's right." Davos glanced at him appreciatively and said with a serious expression: "The rations carried by the soldiers are about to run out. Next, we will have to rely on the rear to transport food. To meet the needs of 22,000 people, the amount of food required is definitely huge! Thurii is nearly a hundred miles away from Crimisa. We cannot fully protect such a long transportation line! If Crotone realizes this, their warships can land on any coast, attack our grain transport convoys, and even destroy villages and kill our people, causing us a lot of trouble! Therefore, we must complete our plan as soon as possible to make Crotone exhausted."
"Hieronimus!"
"Present!"
"You immediately lead the Third Legion to build a camp on the south bank and besiege Crimisa!"
"Yes!"
"Drax!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
"Draw three battalions from the Second Legion to assist Lord Avinogis's troops in building a camp on the south bank. I require you to build a preliminary camp before tonight to completely besiege Crimisa City!"
"Understood!!!"
… … … … … … … … …
That afternoon, more than 10,000 Daonian soldiers crossed the wooden bridge and began to take turns building camps on the south bank of the Wumbria River.
Milon did not rashly send troops to attack again.
By evening, the south bank camp was initially completed. At this point, the Daonian camp presented a huge semicircle, surrounding Crimea City. Except for the port facing the sea, which could not be blocked, the rest was surrounded by the Daonian camp.
The next morning, the Daonian soldiers continued to improve their camp facilities, and Crotone's envoy Lysias arrived at the Daonian North Camp. He was blindfolded and brought into Davos's military tent.
"Lord Lysias, I'm very sorry! You and I are at war, and we have to take this approach." Davos apologized, but there was not a trace of apology on his face. Instead, he showed an excited look like a hunting dog seeing fresh meat: "I remember we just met four days ago. I didn't expect to see you again so soon. You wouldn't bring any harsh conditions to threaten our Daonia again, would you?"
Of course, Lysias heard the strong sarcasm in Davos's words, but he pretended not to hear it and said directly: "Lord Davos, I am here this time for peace talks. Crotone is willing to sign a truce agreement with Daonia and compensate Daonia for its losses in the war, only wishing that the flames of war between Crotone and Daonia can be quelled in order to restore peace and tranquility to Greater Greece!"
Davos laughed loudly: "You Crotone people start a war whenever you want, and stop a war whenever you want. Do you think this is a children's war game?"
Lysias asked calmly: "Then what conditions would Daonia be willing to accept a truce?"
"Conditions?" Davos snorted coldly, dispelled the impulse on his face, paced back and forth a few steps, and when he looked at Lysias again, the piercing gaze in his eyes had returned to his usual shrewdness: "Do you remember what I said when you left last time? My conditions are the same as the conditions you proposed in the Thurii Senate Grand Assembly Hall before, very simple!"
Hearing this, Lysias's heart "thumped".
"First, Crotone must pay Daonia 5,000 talents of silver in one lump sum; second, dissolve the Crotone alliance, and Crotone must not form alliances with any other city-states in the future; third, Crimisa will be incorporated into the Daonia League!…"
With each condition he heard, Lysias's face became more and more ugly. Finally, he shook his head very simply: "The conditions you proposed are too harsh, and the Crotone Council will not accept them!"
"It's better not to accept it! The Daonian soldiers still want to win more victories in order to get more rewards from the alliance!" Davos looked indifferent, but his words contained more threats.
"I admit that Daonia's previous victories have made us feel panicked, but panic has also prompted all of us Crotonians to take action, work together, and jointly resist enemies that may invade Croton's territory! In the future, the battles you Daonians encounter will only become more and more difficult! Lord Davos, I would like to remind you that grapes can only be sold at a good price when they are fresh, otherwise they will be worthless when they are ripe." Lysias's words also became tough.
"We'll just wait and see." Davos said with a relaxed smile, completely disregarding Lysias's threat. "However, I also remind you that the next time you come, the conditions I offer will not be as good as they are now! Also, I would like to remind you that Croton has more than just us Daonians as enemies... If the war continues, who knows what will happen?"
Lysias was shocked by these words.
......
At noon, the first batch of grain-carrying pack trains arrived at the military camp.
Davos breathed a sigh of relief, and also brought a letter written by Cunogolata, which mentioned that: Locri's envoy had arrived in Thurii and proposed to the Senate the suggestion of "Locri and Daonia forming an alliance to jointly fight against Croton". The Senate temporarily did not respond on the grounds that the consul was not present. The envoy fell ill with a high fever due to the fatigue of the journey and is being treated in the hospital, and will not be able to go south to find Davos directly in a short time.
Cunogolata put forward his views at the end of the letter: "Regardless of whether the Consul has the confidence to independently solve Croton, please be sure to consider that Locri's city-state strength is second only to Croton, and it has the strong support of Syracuse behind it. Eliminating or severely weakening Croton, which leads to Locri taking the opportunity to annex Croton's allies, will establish an even more powerful enemy for Daonia..."
Davos read it several times, then picked up another letter. This was a secret letter from Aristilas, delivered to Davos through special channels. The letter mainly mentioned some of the things that had happened in Thurii in the past few days, including the arrival of the Locri envoy. In addition, it also mentioned what happened around Daonia, such as: Taranto's Consul Daomiras led his army to capture Manduria, and then let Akchita lead his army to attack Brindisi, and continued to engage in fierce battles with the Messapians; Potentia is gathering surrounding tribes, seemingly preparing to go south to attack Grumentum...
The last piece of news aroused Davos's great attention: Dionysius, the plenipotentiary general of Syracuse, led 80,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and 400 warships to wage war against Carthage... Counting the war between Daonia and Croton, at the beginning of this year, the entire Greek world of the Western Mediterranean can be described as being engulfed in war.
80,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, 400 warships?!
Davos widened his eyes and carefully confirmed the numbers on the letter. Although he knew before that Syracuse was a leading Greek power in the Western Mediterranean, the powerful strength it showed at this moment still made Davos palpitate. After all, Syracuse is located on the island of Sicily, but it is not far from Thurii, only two or three days by boat. And when Hieron, the brother of Dilon, the dictator who created the glory of Syracuse decades ago, succeeded as tyrant, there was a precedent for interfering in the internal affairs of other city-states in Greater Greece, so Davos couldn't help but be vigilant.
He picked up Cunogolata's letter again, reread it carefully, and then pondered for a long time...
......
After Lysias returned to Crimisa,
he naturally talked to Milon about his meeting with Davos, the Consul of Daonia. Milon was angry that the Daonians dared to put forward such harsh peace terms to Croton, and at the same time felt very guilty.
All morning, Milon observed the situation of the Daonian military camp on the city wall, thinking about ways to defeat the enemy. Whether on the south bank or the north bank, the Daonian soldiers continued to build camps and pushed the defense line forward, with trenches, deer fences, traps... etc. laid out at intervals, making people feel as if they were not going to attack Crimisa, but the Crotonians were going to attack them.
Milon sometimes sighed: What means did the commander of the Daonian army use to make these brave and opinionated citizen soldiers willingly continue to do this hard and dirty work? If they were Crotonian soldiers, they would have quit and caused trouble long ago.
At noon, Ascamas, the commander of Croton's fleet, arrived at the port of Crimisa. Milon finally became excited, because Ascamas, one of the ten generals of Croton, was also Milon's friend and a representative of the radical faction. Milon believed that he would agree to his plan and help him.
......
After sending Ascamas away and receiving his affirmative reply, Milon could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
He was just about to lie down and rest for a while when the guard came in to report: There was an unusual movement by the enemy outside the north gate.
Previously, the Daonian soldiers had been working hundreds of meters away from the north gate, but at this time they suddenly advanced to within a hundred meters. They began to level the ground, compact the soil, and clear out a large open space just outside the range of the Crotonian light infantry on the city wall. At the same time, they were guarded by fully armed light and heavy infantry to prevent the garrison from launching a surprise attack.
There were no catapults in this era, and such a long distance was blocked by the moat and the city wall, so it was impossible to cause any harm to the city of Krimia. Therefore, the Crotonian soldiers watched curiously on the city wall, without much tension.
Milon was also watching all this, and he, who was already a little tired, also wanted to understand clearly: What exactly did the Daonians want to do?
The Daonian soldiers began to carry tree trunks four or five meters long and place them on the edge of the open space, driving the tree trunks into the ground one by one at intervals, and then connecting and fixing them with ropes, quickly making a wooden frame about 30 meters long and 5 meters wide.
"Could it be that the Daonians want to build a house here? Aren't they afraid that we will burn them down!" A Crotonian soldier joked, immediately causing a burst of laughter.
But then they saw the Daonian soldiers carrying heavy sacks one by one and putting them into the edge of the wooden frame, stacking the sacks neatly...
"Hahaha... I think the Daonians not only want to build a house, they also want to make bread (because those are sacks used to hold grain flour)!" Another Crotonian soldier's witty remark caused another burst of laughter.
Since there were thousands of Daonian soldiers participating in the work, they quickly built a wall with sacks, and the height of the wall quickly became level with the city wall of Krimia, and it continued to increase...
Seeing this, Milon's face changed drastically, and the adjutant beside him shouted: "Not good, the enemy wants to build a high wall to attack us!"
Seeing the scene in front of them, the Crotonian soldiers who were still watching the excitement had already understood. They began to panic: Among the Daonian light infantry, there were many powerful slingers, whose range was already relatively long. Now, the Daonians cleverly built a platform that was nearly two meters higher than the four-meter-high city wall of Crimisa, which meant that their light infantry could climb this high wall and use the height to attack the soldiers on the city wall of Crimisa with their arrows and stones.
Once the enemy attacked the city, their slingers and archers could stand on the high platform and attack the soldiers defending on the city wall, which would make the defenders on the city wall busy dodging attacks and unable to defend the city wall... Milon was already sweating profusely: This platform must be destroyed!
But he also knew that the enemy would definitely defend it tightly, so he decided to set the time for the raid in the evening.
Soon, he saw the Daonians starting to dig trenches around the high platform, and filling the gaps in the middle of the high platform with the dug-out soil...
Milon was a little frantic: The Daonians are simply mice, always thinking about digging holes to save their lives!
By dusk, the Daonians had built a small camp around the high wall.
Milon finally gave up the decision to sneak attack. He didn't want to waste the lives of his soldiers on this unlikely action, and he already had a hint of intention to leave in his heart.
......
Early the next morning, the bugle of the Daonian North Camp sounded for a long time, and the soldiers of each company of the Second Legion carried scaling ladders and formed small square formations, arranged in a fish scale formation a hundred meters away from the city wall.
Davos stepped on the slope built of mud and stood on the high platform for the first time, subconsciously stomping his feet twice, feeling that it was still relatively stable.
When he first saw the city of Crimisa, he had the idea of building a high platform. The city wall of more than three meters high was indeed too short. However, it was not easy to build a earthen fortress higher than the city wall with mud, because it was easy to collapse. Fortunately, the engineers came up with a good way to use tree trunks and ropes as a frame, and sacks filled with soil as support, and then fill in the soil... which was fast and strong.
Davos looked down from a high position, and the situation on the north wall of Krimia was clear at a glance. Seeing that the opposite city wall was full of soldiers, Davos said to Epithenius beside him: "Can our archers shoot the enemy?"
"Commander, there is absolutely no problem!" Epithenius said confidently.
Davos nodded: "Then attack."
"Loose the arrows!" Epithenius gave an order, and the archers on the high platform began to shoot the first round of arrows. The slingers located in the rear and close to the archers also began to swing the slings in their hands.
Finally, the siege has begun! Milon, who was standing on the north gate city wall, was full of fighting spirit at this moment. Facing the arrows and flying stones flying in the air, he shouted: "Defense!"
On this section of the city wall facing the high platform, he specially arranged for heavy infantry to defend the city. They raised their round shields to protect their heads...
......
In the the south bank of the Krati River near the sea, there is a newly built village. Ajilas is the village chief of this village. This is the lowest-level official in the current Daonian administrative system. According to the newly promulgated laws: The village chief is elected by the citizens of the village and serves a term of one year.
However, becoming a village chief is not an easy task. Candidates must also meet several necessary conditions: First, they must be formal Daonian citizens; second, they must pay taxes on time and have no major records of violating laws and disciplines; in addition, those who have served in the military and have made military achievements and have made special contributions to the Daonian League have priority.
As a result, Agilas was elected without any dispute in this new village composed of dozens of households, the majority of whom were reserve citizens. This village was supported by Free Serial Novel Reading Website because he was a member of the mercenary force that followed Davos to Thurii. He was seriously wounded in his left leg during the encirclement of the Lucanian League, and after recovering from his illness, he became a cripple. After the establishment of the Thurian League, when Davos came to visit these wounded soldiers, he made a request: he hoped to exchange the "allotment" originally assigned to him in Amendolara for one on the south bank of the Crati River, initially with the intention of staying as far away as possible from his lively and vigorous comrades-in-arms, so as not to be saddened by the sight of them.
With the influx of population and the large-scale development of farmland on the Sybaris Plain, new villages sprang up rapidly on this flat and fertile plain like mushrooms after a rain. Originally, in the eyes of the newly arrived dozens of households, Agilas was an unsmiling and unapproachable person, but under the supervision of the notary sent by the Senate, Agilas was easily elected as the village chief. Everyone then realized that he was a veteran mercenary who had followed Hades' blessed, benevolent magistrate, and undefeated general Davos through life and death, and the way they looked at him immediately became somewhat reverent.
Agilas was a serious person. Since he had become the village chief, he had to fulfill his responsibilities: maintaining order in the village, resolving disputes between villagers, teaching villagers moral customs, inspecting the village's farmland planting, reminding villagers to participate in military training on time, supervising their military service and tax payment, recording population growth, and preventing epidemics... He managed everything, no matter how trivial.
Every day, he would get up early, walk through every corner of the village with his crutches, and sometimes even drag his injured leg to jump into the mud and repair the canals with the villagers...
After a few months, everyone in the village praised his performance. When they met him, their faces were filled with sincere respect, which made him rediscover the meaning of his life and struggle.
After the war between Croton and Daonia, all the adult males in the village went to war, and spring was the time for sowing, so there was a clear shortage of labor. Although every household had slaves, after all, agriculture was different from industry and commerce. There was not much land, and the output was not very large. Having more slaves would only waste money and food. When there was a real shortage of labor, they could rent slaves to get through the busiest period, so each household only had one or two domestic slaves. Agilas made a special trip to the Thurii Senate, completed the registration, and led 30 city-state slaves back to help the whole village with farm work.
The entire village, except for Agilas, a disabled man, was made up of women, the elderly, and children, and the rest were all slaves, mostly strong male slaves. However, Agilas was not worried that these slaves would cause trouble, because the laws of the League stipulated that every year on the founding celebration day of the Daonia city-state League (i.e., October 30), a group of hardworking and well-behaved city-state slaves would be given freedom in front of the Temple of Hades. This was a reward for their obedience and also demonstrated Hades' benevolence. Since the promulgation of this law, the enthusiasm of the city-state slaves for work had become high, and their efficiency had also doubled. As for the domestic slaves in the countryside, it was not easy for farmers to own a slave, and they relied on them greatly, so they naturally cherished them very much. They often treated slaves like family members, and the longer the time, the closer the emotional connection between the two parties would be, and the greater the degree of freedom the domestic slaves would have. As long as the master was wealthy and could afford the redemption money required by the League, many domestic slaves could obtain freedom before the death of their master, and these slaves would often return to the master's home after they were freed, and continue to help with housework as hired workers.
With the help of the slaves, the spring plowing of the entire village was completed well. Of course, when he was free, Agilas would also comfort the women and old people in the village who were worried about their loved ones who had gone on the expedition, as someone who had been through it.
One day, because the waterwheel in the village that drew water from the river broke down, Agilas rushed to the city of Thurii early in the morning to find someone to repair it. He finally made an appointment with a highly skilled carpenter, and then hurried back home.
As soon as he opened the door, the female slave at home immediately greeted him and told him, "Madam is sleeping now. She didn't vomit today."
Agilas was relieved. He had fought on the battlefield for most of his life and thought he would die in the wilderness or live a lonely life, but he never expected that after following Davos to Greater Greece, he would become a citizen of the city-state, be given land, marry a wife, start a family, and now he would have children. This was truly the grace of Hades!
He was so happy when he heard the news from the doctor that he danced with joy and even immediately used his savings to buy a female slave to take care of his pregnant wife.
"Master, please drink water." The female slave obediently held up a wooden cup filled with water.
Agilas, who was feeling extremely thirsty at this moment, did not drink it immediately. He asked, "Was it boiled?" In the past, Greeks were accustomed to drinking raw water, but Herplus, a highly skilled doctor, had repeatedly called on citizens in public to drink "heated and boiled water," and insisted that this would reduce illness. Agilas was no stranger to this. Davos had strictly required his mercenaries to do so when marching in Persia. For the sake of his unborn child, he needed to take good care of his body.
The female slave nodded, and he drank it with peace of mind.
"Bang!" The door was suddenly pushed open, making a loud noise, and a boy of about half his height rushed in.
Agilas glared and was about to reprimand him.
The boy said breathlessly, "Uncle Agilas, I was picking shells by the sea just now... I saw... I saw a big ship parked on the beach, and many people came down, and they were all carrying weapons!"
Enemies!! Agilas was immediately alert and turned to the female slave and said, "Go to the field and call Bomis (the male slave in the house) back immediately, and then immediately help Madam go north to the square of Thurii and wait for me!"
"Understood, Master!" The female slave ran out of the yard quickly.
"Child." Agilas remembered that the boy was called Patroclus, who was usually mischievous and often beaten by his father, a strong Thasos man: "When you saw those people, were there any other people on the beach?"
"I was the only one."
Agilas thought for a moment and asked, "Can you ride a mule?"
"I've secretly ridden other people's cows and mules many times." The clever boy obviously realized that the situation was urgent and revealed his secrets, not afraid of being scolded.
"Do you know the village to the south that is very close to us?"
"Yes, I've even fought with the children in that village."
"Uncle wants you to ride my mule and immediately rush there to inform them, just say Agilas said, 'The enemy is coming, let them evacuate quickly!' Can you do it?"
"I can!" The boy nodded vigorously.
"Good boy!" Agilas praised and stroked the boy's head, and suddenly remembered something. He took out the village chief's seal issued by the Thurii city administrator from his arms and stuffed it into the boy's hand: "If they don't believe you, show them this."
"Okay." The boy nodded again.
Agilas immediately led the blue mule out of the cattle and sheep pen in the yard, and the boy jumped onto the mule's back easily.
"Child, remember, after you deliver the message, go to the wooden bridge on the Crati River and wait for us!" Agilas instructed.
"Understood, Uncle." The boy shook the reins, and the blue mule ran out of the courtyard gate.
Seeing the boy's skilled movements, Agilas felt half relieved. As one of the old batch of mercenaries, he and most of his comrades had similar ideas: they created this alliance with their blood and sweat, and they had the responsibility to protect this alliance, not just focus on their own villages.
Agilas looked at the house reluctantly, and then strode out the door, limping towards the village square to ring the bronze bell and call the villagers to evacuate immediately.
Agilas led the slaves to help the old and the young, and they had not evacuated the village for long when thick smoke had already risen behind them...
The women exclaimed and wept for the burning village...
Agilas could still remain calm. Based on his previous experience of looting, he judged that the enemy would not immediately leave the village to pursue them, so he kept urging the villagers to speed up their march, but his fists were clenched tightly: their first new home in the alliance had been destroyed like this!
........
"This morning, three villages in Thurii were destroyed, and fifteen people were killed, but we didn't catch a single enemy! Philius, you have to think of a way! If this continues, Victory Square will be filled with people who have lost their homes, and then the people of the entire alliance will fall into panic! How can the citizen soldiers at the front have the mind to fight?!" Cunogolata said anxiously. As the city administrator of Thurii, he could not stand by and watch Thurii, which had finally recovered its prosperity, suffer another disaster.
"Don't worry, Lord Cunogolata, sit down and discuss it slowly." Cornelius comforted him and explained to Philius, "To be honest, the Crotonians are also very cunning. They use small warships to land in a scattered manner on the coasts of Thurii and Castellon. They are all sailors with bows and arrows and javelins. The young and middle-aged citizens of our villages have all gone to war, otherwise how could they be easily attacked! As soon as these sailors find our troops arriving, they immediately flee back to the ship, and we can't catch up even if we want to! There are only three battalions in the city. We have to defend the port of Thurii and take care of Amendolara at the same time. There are indeed not enough people!"
"But the problem must be solved as soon as possible!" Cunogolata snorted and said, "If there are not enough people, we can consider using those free people!"
"Using free people is indeed a good idea, Lord Cunogolata!" At this time, Philius, who had been thinking deeply, interjected, "Tens of thousands of free people have nothing to do in the port. If this continues for a long time, it will easily cause chaos. Yesterday, some free people ran to the military camp and said, 'We have no food to eat and want the soldiers to give us some food.'"
"The freemen have no grain?!" Cunogolata asked in surprise.
"The war broke out too suddenly. Many freemen didn't store grain in advance. By the time they wanted to buy grain, the market had already sold out." Felius looked at the two men, the instigator was the alliance itself.
"Then use grain as payment to continue to have the freemen fight for the alliance, instead of always using shortening the citizen evaluation period as a reward, which makes the alliance's citizenship less valuable! Felius, if the freemen can perform great feats and defeat Croton's regular army under the leadership of the Archon, then even without the Archon's leadership, dealing with the harassment of ordinary sailors from the Croton fleet shouldn't be a problem, right?" Cunogolata asked Felius in a stiff tone.
Felius didn't mind and said seriously, "Of course there's no problem! My plan is to have the freemen in teams of one hundred, patrolling the entire coastline that can be landed on around the clock. At the same time, send a large detachment to the Turii-Castron highway, stationing a company every five miles, and using scouts as liaison between the patrol teams and the heavy infantry companies. If they encounter a small group of enemies, the patrol teams should be able to repel them; if they encounter a large number of enemies, the patrol teams will first delay the enemy's surprise attack, the scouts will notify the nearest heavy infantry company, and then rush to jointly attack the enemy..."
Cunogolata's expression softened slightly: "This idea isn't bad."
"It's just that our grain supply will probably be strained again. We'll have to use the national treasury again to buy grain from Heraclea. Melsis will complain about us again," Cornelius said helplessly.
"There's no war that doesn't cost money. As long as the Archon can achieve final victory, there will be money." Since the victory at the Triuento River battle, Cunogolata, who feared war, had more confidence in Davos.
...
Milon originally thought that the Daonian army would take the opportunity to launch a siege with the help of the high platform, but the Daonian army and the Croton soldiers on the city wall faced off for a morning. Except for the light infantry on the high platform throwing arrows and stones at the city wall, there was no movement. In the end, even the light infantry stopped attacking because their hands were sore and their muscles were numb.
This kind of eerie calm made Milon feel very puzzled. Of course, he wouldn't know that the Daonian Third Legion of 5,000 men and 3,000 Laos soldiers had entered the northern plain of Croton and began to destroy farmland and villages, doing the same thing as the Croton landing sailors, except that Davos had a military order in advance: they were not allowed to kill Croton civilians. So the soldiers were just intimidating and driving them away.
As early as after the defeat in the battle, the Croton Council had advised the people in the villages on the northern plain to temporarily flee into the city to avoid the war. Because of the spring sowing and not seeing the enemy for two or three days, the Croton people thought that Milon had stopped the Daonians at Crimisa, so most of the people did not evacuate. Now,
A large number of Daonian soldiers suddenly appeared in front of them, ferocious and evil, and the Croton people fled south in panic.
In southern Italy, the Croton Plain can be compared with the Sibari Plain, thanks to two rivers: one is the Neto River, which originates in the mountains of the southern Apennines and flows from west to east into the Gulf of Taranto. Due to the confluence of many tributaries, the width, depth, and flow of this river are greater than the Crati River on the Sibari Plain; and the other river is the Tachinadi River, which also originates in the southern Apennine Mountains but flows from north to south into the sea. These two rivers, one in the east and one in the south, irrigate the Croton Plain, and also cut the Croton Plain into an area that is almost square. On the sea side of this core area is the famous strong state of Greater Greece—Croton. Because Croton is close to the Gulf of Taranto, it has one of the few deep-water harbors in the Greek city-states of the Apennine Peninsula. Croton has fertile plains and excellent ports. The fundamental reason why Sibaris and Croton went to war a hundred years ago was because Sibaris wanted to eliminate its potential rivals, while Croton wanted to seize the dominance of trade in southern Italy. Therefore, a small number of Sibaris people fled to Croton because of disputes, which was only the fuse of the war.
What is strange is that these two rivers are very close to each other after flowing out of the mountains. Between them, between the mountains and the plain, there is a city called Aspruustum, which was founded by the Bruttians. West of the northern Croton Plain is the continuous Apennine Mountains, which are difficult to pass, but following the Arvo River valley, which is naturally formed by the tributary of the Neto River, you can trek northwest to reach the only plateau in southern Italy—the Cosenza Plateau. The Bruttians who lived there originally started from the upper reaches of the Arvo River and went all the way down the valley to reach Aspruustum.
However, when Croton became strong, it would not allow a city of foreign races to control the upper reaches of the two rivers, control the passage from the northern Craton Plain to the south without passing through the Neto River, and threaten the safety of the Crotonians from a high position, only 20 miles to the northwest of itself. Therefore, a hundred years ago, Croton launched a large army to attack the city of Aspruustum. After several battles, it finally occupied the city and drove the Bruttians back to the Cosenza Plateau. Now, Aspruustum has completely become a Greek city, as a colony of Croton, completely under the control of Croton, guarding the safety of Croton City with Croton as its horns.
The bad news that the Daonians had invaded the Croton Plain spread to Croton City, and the people were very panicked. Especially the 3,000 soldiers of Laos, who were rushing forward all the way, were about to approach the north bank of the Neto River.
The guards on the south bank of the Neto River panicked. In order to prevent the enemy from crossing the pontoon bridge and directly attacking Croton City, they set fire to several pontoon bridges on the river, which caused many people fleeing south to be stranded on the north bank of the Neto River.
Just as Croton was ferrying them with boats, the Laosi army had arrived at the Neto River. The Croton people cried and were forced to flee northwest along the Neto River in panic.
When the Greeks first came to this plain, due to the Neto River and its many tributaries and abundant rainfall, there were also swamps everywhere, but the Greeks had mature drainage technology. After hundreds of years of management, there were basically no swamps. However, the Croton people were still full of risks in their escape, because the Laos people sent several teams of soldiers to chase them closely.
The Croton people were surprised and tired. Fortunately, some young people joined the team unknowingly. They enthusiastically helped women carry heavy objects, picked up children, and supported the elderly, so that no old, young, women, or children lay down in the fleeing team. Finally, the Laos soldiers stopped chasing, and the city of Aspruustum had already appeared in front of the fleeing people.
General Fagris of Aspruustum, who was born as a citizen of Croton, opened the city gate almost without hesitation and put nearly 900 fleeing people with dust and panic on their faces into the city.
At this moment, the scout urgently reported: 5,000 Daonian soldiers are attacking the city of Aspruustum!
Fagris panicked immediately when he heard this. In the two wars with Daonia, Aspruustum had more than 6,000 people transferred to join the battle with the Daonian army, which was almost like a meat bun beating a dog, never to return. There were only 700 citizens in the city who could fight. How could they stop 5,000 Daonian soldiers who had defeated the Croton army in the battle?!
Fagris, who lacked practical experience, had no confidence. When his eyes fell on the panicked refugees in the city, he instantly changed his original idea of immediately escorting them out of the city to reward and drag them down in order to win the favor of the Croton Council.
"Citizens of Croton! Citizens of Croton!!" He stood on the stone steps of the city wall and shouted loudly, but it was a mess below, and only a few people paid attention. So, the soldiers also began to shout, and finally the refugees calmed down and looked up at the general of Aspruustum.
"Citizens of Croton, 5,000 Daonians are killing towards this city!" As soon as Fagris said a word, there was an uproar below: "What! The Daonians are chasing after us!"
"Why don't you open the south gate and let us leave here!!"
...
The people clamored loudly, and Fagris and the soldiers managed to calm them down.
"Of course you can go. But you must know that because Croton launched two wars against Turii, most of the citizens of Aspruustum followed the Croton army on the expedition, and as a result, they failed to return, resulting in not many citizen soldiers in the city now. I am afraid that they cannot stop the numerous Daonians! Aspruustum is the northern barrier of Croton. Once the Daonians occupy it, then they can successfully go south, easily cross the Tachinadi River, which can be waded, and enter the central plain of Croton, which will be a disaster! ... I implore you men who can pick up shields and spears to join our ranks and defend Aspruustum! It is to defend Croton!"
Fagris said these words sincerely, because his home was originally outside Croton City. Aspruustum is said to be a city, but it is more like a special Demos (an administrative division from Athens, several villages are combined together, equivalent to a town). Although it has its own council, there is only one general in charge of managing the city-state, who is selected from the "Ten Generals" elected by Croton every year. Therefore, in an emergency, Fagris, who is also a Croton general, has the right to order the Croton people.
The refugees fell into silence, and everyone was thinking and weighing the pros and cons.