He held out his palm, stopping Sedollum, who was about to speak again: "In this battle, 5,000 Bruttian people were killed or injured. With the help of the Bithynian warriors, we have confirmed that most of them were from Consentia. At the same time, most of the more than 5,000 prisoners were also from Consentia." During the battle, Pianlen deployed the main Consentian warriors in the center and on the right wing, and the focus of Daonia's counterattack was also on the enemy's right wing and center, which led to this result.
"The other casualties and prisoners are all Viggs and Ambarianians. That is to say, the important force used by the Bruttian League to maintain your rule and subdue other small tribes has been greatly weakened. As far as I know, the Consentians forcibly placed many small tribes in the outer city of Consentia. As long as I let the Bithynians make promises to these tribes, giving them freedom and more benefits, do you think these tribes will take the opportunity to revolt and help us capture Consentia?!"
At this point, Sedollum's body shook, and he lowered his head in silence: just two days ago, a riot had just occurred in Consentia. What this Daionian executive said might really become a reality!
"In addition, after I lead the army to Consentia, I will not attack the city immediately! I heard that Ambariana is extremely crude. I only need to send three or four thousand people, and maybe I can easily take it down. And Vigg —" Sedollum was shocked again when Davos mentioned the word "Vigg."
"How many warriors did you take away from there? Do you think that if I send 10,000 soldiers to Vigg, with the assistance of Laos, can I take Vigg City?"
Sedollum clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and looked pained, but he still didn't say a word.
"After taking Ambariana and Vigg, we will launch a general attack on Consentia. Oh, by the way, you must be wondering why I didn't attack Knepetia?"
Davos paused, and then said, "Because Knepetia will soon be captured by the Daionian Fourth Legion. You don't believe it? I think Knepetia must have asked Consentia for reinforcements, because Knepetia's stone walls cannot withstand our ballistae and siege towers."
"Ballistae?" Sedollum finally raised his head in confusion.
Davos generously gave him a brief introduction to this siege weapon newly developed by Daonia.
Sedollum's face became very ugly. In his memory, Pianlen had not taken the initiative to tell him about Knepetia, but he knew that Consentia had sent 2,000 reinforcements to Knepetia. He had also raised objections to Pianlen about this, but Pianlen made a tough decision, which was completely unlike his previous style... According to various signs, he felt that what Davos said was very likely to be true. Pianlen had known for a long time that Knepetia could not be defended, and was afraid that the Bruttian people would panic, so he chose to hide it and decided to gamble everything on the battle.
Sedollum's heart was cold, and he squeezed out a sentence tremblingly: "Does Daonia want to kill all the Bruttians?"
"Kill them all? No, we Daonians are not that cruel." Davos said seriously: "In my eyes, there is no difference between Bruttians, Lucanians, and Greeks."
Sedollum stared at him in disbelief.
"You may ask, since this is the case, why attack Bruttium?" Davos sighed, tore off a weed with his right hand, and twirled it on his finger: "For a hundred years, the Bruttians and the Greeks have regarded each other as enemies, killing each other endlessly. And if the Bruttian tribal alliance is established, the conflict with the Greeks will only intensify. Daonia had no choice but to attack first, not to eliminate the Bruttians, but to hope that the Bruttians could be incorporated into the Daionian League and become a part of the League. The Mediterranean Sea is big enough, there is enough space for us Greeks and Bruttians to explore, plant, and graze... Why do we have to fight to the death for such a small piece of barren land!".
Sedollum was silent for a long time, and tentatively said in a low voice: "Do you want the Bruttian tribes to become allies of Daonia?"
"Daonia paid a huge price,
Paid so many citizens' lives, just to make the Bruttians an alliance?!" Davos's face changed, and his voice suddenly increased: "The Daionian people will not agree, and the Senate will not agree!"
"Could it be... like us Lucanians in Niu Tuum..." Sedollum said bitterly. Vigg City is not far from Niu Tuum, and he still knows something about the situation there.
"Bruttium is incorporated into Daonia, the Bruttians become Daionian citizens, and the tribal leaders still control their respective tribal people, but the managers of towns such as Vigg, Consentia, Knepetia, and Ambariana are appointed by the Daionian Senate... Bithynia has agreed to join the Daionian League, and Bajili Pi and Brim will also become members of the Daionian Senate. You can go to Brim for further understanding."
Davos's words made Sedollum's heart waver a little, but he was still unwilling and asked: "Can't we... manage our own towns ourselves? The Bruttians are not used to being commanded by foreigners, I'm afraid there will be chaos..."
Davos said firmly: "All Daionian territories must be governed by the unified Senate, and this will never change! But if you join the Senate, one day you will also be elected by the Senate as the chief executive of Consentia, and may even become the chief executive of the entire Bruttian region..."
Davos drew a big cake, which reduced Sedollum's resistance a little. He pondered for a while and reluctantly shirked: "...I am just the great chief of Vigg City."
"It doesn't matter, you only need to decide the issue of the ownership of Vigg City." Seeing that he was still lowering his head, hesitating, Davos said again: "Go down and think about it carefully, don't rush to make a decision."
Sedollum responded hastily, preparing to leave absentmindedly.
"Please wait a moment, I have one more thing I need your help with."
Davos's words made Sedollum's heart panic, staggering a few steps and almost falling.
"Please go and appease those captured Bruttian warriors and tell them, 'As long as they do what we ask, the Daionian soldiers will never harm them, and they will be able to return home safely after a while. But if they gather to cause trouble and try to escape, our soldiers will never be soft-hearted! Moreover, after Bruttium belongs to Daonia in the future, their families will also be punished!'" Davos's tone was stern.
"...I will go and tell them." Sedollum looked melancholy, and the wrinkles on his face deepened. After talking with Davos, he seemed to be a few years older.
Watching the unsteady Sedollum being escorted away by the soldiers, Martius rarely asked: "My lord, will this old man surrender?"
Davos smiled: "His promise to my request just now is a good start. However, if he doesn't hurry up, we won't need him by then."
… … … … … … … … …
The siege of Knepetia has reached the most critical moment. The city walls have become dilapidated after days of attacks by ballistae, and the trenches have also been filled in many places. The defending warriors have suffered considerable casualties due to the long-range attacks of the ballistae and archers on top of the siege towers.
The Third Legion also paid a certain price. Five ballistae were damaged due to long-term wear and tear, and two siege towers were burned down due to the Bruttians using fire. More than 400 soldiers were also killed or injured, mostly archers. But Hilos still maintained a high-intensity offensive pressure on Knepetia every day. He always remembered what Davos said when he personally issued the order to him, 'Now in the Mediterranean, whether it is a Greek city-state or another country, siege warfare is a huge problem. I hope that after you go to Knepetia, you will not be afraid of difficulties and the number of casualties of soldiers. You must capture that stone city and summarize a set of siege experience for Daonia.'
In the early morning, the Fourth Legion and the soldiers of Trina were lined up 200 meters outside the south of Krapecia. In front of the huge military formation were five ballistae and three siege towers arranged in sequence (the requirements for making ballistae are very high, and the key components are very precise, especially the spring set. The Academy of Mathematics spent a lot of time and money to create ten of them, which engineers cannot repair in three or five days. However, although the siege tower is large, as long as there are enough people, it is not complicated to make).
The exhausted Knepetia warriors had never seen so many enemies under the city on the top of the city, and couldn't help but feel secretly terrified.
The crows that had been circling in the air, searching for carrion, also seemed to feel the danger and flew away cawing.
"Legion Commander, everything is ready!" Hilos heard his men's report and immediately said: "Ballistae!"
"Ballistae ready!" The team officer gave the order.
The axles rotated, the bowstrings were pulled open, the stone bullets were placed in the chute, the angle and range were set...
"Fire!"
Five live rounds flew out with a strong whistling sound, concentrating on the most dilapidated section of the city wall, starting the prelude to the siege.
Then the second round, the third round... continuous bombardment, making the cracks in the city wall more and more, bigger and bigger...
The city wall, which had been repaired overnight, finally became overwhelmed, and pieces of stone wall fell down... Finally, in the rumbling sound, the entire section of the stone wall collapsed, and a cloud of dust rose instantly.
The Daionian soldiers cheered, while the Knepetia warriors sighed and turned pale.
"Attack!" When the soldiers' morale was high, Hilos gave the order in time.
Immediately, the horns sounded, the battle flags waved, the war drums beat, and the soldiers shouted in unison, carrying the siege ladders under the leadership of the team officers, with squads as siege echelons, and advanced in a loose formation. The huge siege tower also rumbled towards the city wall along the flat levee under the full thrust of dozens of laborers.
Watching the tide of enemies surge towards him, Pangellu's expression was grim. The fearful expressions on the faces of the surrounding soldiers worried him. He suddenly drew his sword and shouted loudly, "Warriors of Knapetia, you have successfully held back the powerful enemy for nearly a month! Now the greatest test has arrived. Think of your parents, wives, and children, they are behind us, needing our protection. Show your courage, and with the protection of Bruttus, we will surely repel these cowardly enemies! We, the warriors of Bruttii, will never be slaves!"
"The Great Chief is right! We cannot lose, we must never be slaves!"
"We will fight the Greeks to the death!!"
Encouraged by Pangellu, the Knapetian warriors boosted their morale and began to draw their bows at the enemies approaching the trenches…
… … … … … … … …
Diolidas, a member of the Croton Council of One Hundred, as the representative of Croton, brought several tons of grain and dozens of sheep to Terina to Condolences the Fourth Legion of Daunia in the name of the Southern Italy League, mainly to observe the progress of Daunia's war against Bruttii, and happened to witness this siege battle.
Later, he returned to Croton and described the scene to the council with a look of astonishment: "…The Daunians have invented a terrible siege weapon, they call it a ballista. Like a bow and arrow, it can shoot stone projectiles weighing more than ten pounds hundreds of meters away, and can accurately hit the city walls. After several days of continuous bombardment by this new siege engine, a large gap appeared in the stone wall of Knapetia.
The Daunians also created something called a siege tower. It is like a mobile wooden tower, even higher than the city walls of Knapetia. As the Daunians pushed it towards Knapetia, the archers on the top of the tower kept shooting arrows at the enemies on the city walls. When it approached the city wall, a heavy drawbridge was immediately lowered from the siege tower and placed on the top of the city wall. The Daunian soldiers then charged onto the city wall of Knapetia through the drawbridge of the siege tower.
The Daunians not only used ballistas and siege towers, but also used a large number of scaling ladders to climb the city walls, just like us. I saw that every soldier was eager to attack, and rarely flinched when a teammate fell off the city wall. Their courage is no less than that of our Croton citizens. But the Knapetian warriors were not as fierce as they used to be when facing us. Perhaps they were too few in number, or perhaps they were frightened by the terrible siege engines of the Daunians… In short, the battle only lasted until the afternoon, and the Fourth Army of Daunia captured the city of Knapetia. The Great Chief of Knapetia, Pangellu, also died in battle…"
After Diolidas finished speaking, the council was silent.
Not long ago, they had just received the news that Daunia had captured the city of Besenia, and now the city of Knapetia had also been captured… When did the Bruttians, who had been a headache for Croton, become so weak?! Or had the Daunian army become stronger, not comparable to the Croton citizen soldiers?! The people of Croton were at a loss: originally, they had hoped that Daunia would stumble badly in front of the Bruttians, so that Croton could take advantage. But now it seemed that this was just a beautiful fantasy of Croton. The strength shown by Daunia made the people present feel frightened.
"This is a good thing!" General Sistro Protis stood up and said loudly, "The nightmare that has plagued the people of Croton and other city-states for a hundred years finally has a chance to end! The people of Croton will be very happy to know!"
Sistro Protis's words made those who still had other thoughts realize that even if they wanted to hold Daunia back, their proposal would probably not be approved by the Citizens' Assembly.
At this time, Chief General Lysias stood up and said, "As a member of the Southern Italy League, we should be happy for Daunia's victory! Although Daunia did not invite Croton to participate in the war, being in the Southern Italy League, Croton should unite with other allied states to present Daunia with sufficient military supplies to show our support for Daunia!"
… … … … … … … …
On the same day that the Fourth Legion launched a large-scale siege,
The army led by Davos was still stationed in the camp on the bank of the Punat River.
The soldiers were busy sending the wounded and sick back to the city of Besenia, while the supply Camp transported the military grain from Turii to Besenia back to the camp.
Davos was staring intently at the map of the Bruttian mountains in the military tent, thinking about the next course of action.
At this time, Tormid entered: "My lord, many Bruttians have come outside the camp. The leader, a man named Hegesitus, requests to see you."
Davos's heart stirred, and he immediately said, "Quick, let him in!"
It turned out that the previous riot in Cosenza was instigated by Hegesitus. As Pi Alun's army, which was attacking the fortress, returned, these rebellious tribes, knowing they were no match, fled Cosenza in a panic. At that time, Pi Alun was busy dealing with the Daunian army and had no energy to suppress them, but these tribes, with their families and little food, drilled into the mountains and suffered a lot. In just over two days, their food was almost exhausted.
Therefore, these tribes began to complain to Hegesitus, and their eyes towards him became increasingly unkind.
At this moment, a clansman who had gone out to scout brought back a shocking message: the Bruttian League and Daunia had a great battle on the banks of the Punat River, and as a result, the Bruttians were defeated. The vast army that Pi Alun led when he set out from Cosenza returned with very few survivors.
This news immediately changed these tribes' attitude towards Hegesitus.
Hegesitus then decisively led these tribes to seek refuge with the Daunian army.
Davos was not too concerned about the sudden increase of more than two thousand mouths to feed. He was interested in Hegesitus. This was originally a trick he had used on a whim, but he did not expect that the first answer sheet that Hegesitus handed in exceeded his expectations.
He looked at this man with the appearance of a Greek, but with a height and build different from the Greeks, and a head of messy long hair, and asked curiously, "How did you persuade them?"
"Governor." Hegesitus knew that his opportunity had come, and he explained in detail: "Before the establishment of the Bruttian Tribal League, the Cosenza tribe, led by Pi Alun, was constantly forcibly annexing the surrounding small tribes. Since the establishment of the Bruttian League, in order not to arouse the resentment of the great chiefs such as Vig and Besenia, Pi Alun proposed that the league establish an organization called the 'Chiefs' Union', gathering all the tribal chiefs who voluntarily or were forced to submit, saying that they would be unified to manage and decide the league's affairs. In fact, these tribal chiefs had no power at all. The league's affairs were decided by the league's elders' council (i.e., the Council of Seven Elders) composed of several great chiefs and high priests. The clansmen of these tribes were completely broken up and forced to form households, directly managed by the league, and of course, they also paid taxes directly to the league every year.
The tribal chiefs have lost all their rights, and of course they will not be willing. The warriors in the tribes are also very unaccustomed to it. My lord, you should know that each tribe of these natives is basically of the same bloodline, and has been multiplying for hundreds of years. They all have blood ties, and they help each other when they have difficulties. Now, suddenly leaving the support of the tribe and having to live independently, many warriors' lives are not as good as before. Moreover, in the city of Cosenza, they are easily bullied by the warriors of the large tribes. Therefore, whether it is the chiefs or the warriors, they will of course be dissatisfied…"
Davos listened carefully, nodding from time to time. He felt that, in fact, this set of measures of the Bruttian Tribal League was a further step than the system of the Lucanian Tribal League at the beginning. It was preparing to completely disintegrate the old tribal system and highly centralize power to the upper levels of the league. If they really succeeded in doing so, it would be a great enemy of Daunia.
"My lord, you are willing to go to war with the Bruttian Tribal League in order to protect the Silus tribe!" Hegesitus flattered Davos a little, and then said, "In order to respond to the war, the Bruttian League had to suspend the treatment of these tribes who surrendered later, so after I sneaked into Cosenza, I said to them, 'Daunia will defeat the Bruttian League and restore your tribes' rights and freedom!'" Speaking of this, Hegesitus carefully glanced at Davos, a little worried that his unauthorized actions would be criticized by Davos.
"You did the right thing!" Davos praised. From the bottom of his heart, he also hoped to confiscate the power of the various tribes, just like the Bruttian League, and put all the Bruttians directly under the rule of Daunia. However, his rationality told him that the result of such a brute force approach would only intensify the conflict between the Greeks and the Bruttians, destroy the stability of the region, and outweigh the gains for Daunia. The Bruttian League, as an organization of the same race and with far greater strength than other tribes, still made these small tribes disobey in public and comply in private, and even riot. If the Greeks, who have always had grudges with the Bruttians, were to implement this centralization measure, I am afraid that there would be no good results. Therefore, after conquering Bruttii, Davos still decided to implement the same strategy as in Lucania, that is, to boil frogs in warm water. On the surface, he promised the tribes special privileges, and secretly exerted a subtle influence on the Bruttian warriors through the army and culture, eventually making them break away from the control of the tribes.
"These tribes were initially a little moved by my proposal, but they hesitated until your army suddenly occupied the city of Besenia, which shook the entire Cosenza, and then they made up their minds!" Hegesitus said excitedly, "Now your army has once again severely damaged the Bruttian army. I think this victory will have a huge impact on the situation in the city of Cosenza!"
"Are you saying that Cosenza might riot again?" Davos asked immediately.
"This... it's hard to say." After thinking for a moment, Hegesias said cautiously, "I heard that Pirrhus, in order to prevent these tribal leaders from staying in the city and being detrimental to the alliance, specifically had them lead their former tribesmen on the expedition together. Today, when I led the previously rebellious tribes here, I didn't hear anything unusual happening within the city of Cosenza."
Davos pondered for a moment and said, "Hegesias, thank you very much for everything you have done for Daonia! Next time, I will consult you again about the situation in the Bruttian region. Don't let these tribal leaders wait too long outside the camp gate; bring them all in."
Hegesias said emotionally, "Governor, without your and Daonia's protection, my people and I would not only be unable to avenge ourselves, but we would have starved to death in the mountains long ago. We are willing to do anything for Daonia!"
Davos nodded, moved, and turned to say, "Martius, go with him to receive those tribal leaders. Also—" Davos whispered to him, "Make sure to take these people through a place where the great leader of Vibo can see them."
… … … … … … … … … …
Sedulum was surprised to see the tribal leaders, who should have been in the city of Cosenza, appearing in the Daonian camp, and the shock in his heart can be imagined.
Davos warmly received these apprehensive Bruttian leaders and solemnly promised them that as long as they joined Daonia, Daonia would not only not interfere with their management of their own tribes, but would also give them priority in choosing good settlements and pastures.
Davos even opened the map of Daonia and showed them that they could not only choose in the Bruttian region, but also choose other vacant lands in the Daonian League.
The leaders were reassured and happily set up tents next to the Daonian camp, preparing to help Daonia overthrow the Bruttian tribal alliance that oppressed them, so as to obtain the land promised by Daonia as soon as possible.
After Davos sent them away, he had a new idea. He called Capys and asked him to divide the more than 5,000 prisoners into platoons of 200 people according to their respective tribal affiliations, and let the prisoners themselves elect platoon leaders, adjutants, etc. He also instructed Capys to give these newly elected platoon leaders as much prestige as possible among the prisoners under their jurisdiction, provided that the prisoners did not escape or resist, such as giving them the right to distribute food, allocate labor, and punish subordinates…
In Davos's plan, Thurii would be the center of the future Daonian city-state league, and the Bruttian region, which is very close to Thurii, should become a core area of Daonia. However, Davos was very clear that the biggest difference between the current Bruttians and Lucanians is that there are no large tribes in the Lucanian region within Daonian territory. If the current situation continues to develop, there may be several large Bruttian tribes existing when conquering Bruttium. They will be unstable factors in Daonia's future rule over Bruttium and will also increase the difficulty of governing the Bruttian region.
Davos's main strategy for them was to dismember it and make it smaller. The treatment of these more than 5,000 prisoners was a preparation in advance…
… … … … … … … … … …
Just when Davos had already begun to plan ahead for the conquest of the Bruttian region, the city of Cosenza was not as uneventful as Hegesias had said, but was full of unpredictable changes…
Catullus, the leader of Cosenza, originally had a tribal strength similar to that of Petralus's tribe. But since Petralus became Pirrhus's son-in-law, the situation changed. In the process of incorporating and annexing small tribes, Petralus's tribe, with the support of Pirrhus, gained many benefits, and its tribal strength rapidly expanded, quickly becoming the second largest tribe in Cosenza, and even the entire Bruttian region. Moreover, Petralus also entered the newly established supreme power institution of the Bruttian tribal alliance—the Council of Seven Elders—under Pirrhus's recommendation.
Regarding this, Catullus felt angry and dissatisfied with Pirrhus's unfairness, but the power of Pirrhus and Petralus's tribe forced him to put on a smiling face and obey obediently. Take this time, for example. Pirrhus led the largest army in Bruttian history to fight the Daonians, but he left him to guard the city of Cosenza, which he could only accept helplessly.
Even if he became the temporary master of the city of Cosenza, Catullus did not have absolute power, because he knew that the high priest Philotarus, whom he secretly ridiculed as 'Pirrhus's dog', was watching him closely. Once he made any changes, Philotarus could issue an order to make half of the two thousand warriors under his command disobey him. Of course, the other half were his tribesmen.
With the army dispatched, Cosenza was mostly empty, and the affairs naturally decreased greatly. Catullus stayed bored in the alliance council hall in the inner city for most of the day, until the guard came to report: the Bruttian alliance was defeated, and the defeated soldiers were successively entering the city.
Although everyone had discussed the possibility of defeat before the expedition, Catullus was still greatly shocked after hearing the news.
He quickly rushed to the east gate of the outer city, and the scene before him made it difficult for him to believe: the city gate was crowded with disheveled, exhausted defeated soldiers. They had no helmets, lost their leather shields and spears, and some were even naked, covered in mud. While looking back in panic, they scrambled to enter the city. At the slightest sign of trouble, they became panic-stricken and started pushing and squeezing frantically. Some people were even squeezed into the moat, with screams of pain; and once they entered the city, they immediately lay down on the ground and soon fell into a deep sleep…
Catullus could be considered a veteran of many battles, having suffered some defeats, but he had never seen such a tragic scene. He couldn't help but feel secretly frightened and immediately mobilized troops to the city gate to maintain order and rescue the wounded…
Before long, he saw Pirrhus. The great leader of Cosenza was no longer as high-spirited as when he set out on the expedition, his eyes were dull, his expression was sluggish, and his hands were tightly hugging the horse's neck. The warhorse had obviously exhausted its physical strength to the extreme, and moved forward little by little, each step being very difficult. Suddenly, it knelt down on all fours, throwing the unprepared Pirrhus to the ground…
The accompanying guards hurried forward to help him up. Pirrhus, who had been jostled on horseback for more than an hour, was also physically and mentally exhausted and his hands and feet were weak. With the help of the guards, he barely stood up. Seeing Catullus, he said weakly, "…Be careful…be careful of the enemy…the enemy's surprise attack…" and then was carried into the city by the guards.
Seeing Pirrhus's embarrassed appearance, a few gleeful feelings of schadenfreude inexplicably arose in Catullus's tense and uneasy heart, and this feeling reached its peak after seeing Petralus.
Petralus, who was 20 years younger than Pirrhus, was much better than his father-in-law in terms of physical strength, but in terms of spirit, he was obviously frightened by the fierce pursuit of the Daonian cavalry, so that he lost his mind when entering the city and shouted out of control in front of many defeated soldiers, "The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming! Close the city gate! Close the city gate!…" almost causing a major chaos.
Catullus spent a lot of effort to restore order to the scene. While scolding Petralus as an idiot in his heart, he also felt fear for the Daonians he had not yet met.
That night, Catullus remained highly vigilant.
Defeated soldiers continued to flee back to the city, and the people of Cosenza, who learned of the bad news, cried all night, and the entire city of Cosenza was restless all night…
By the early morning of the next day, many more defeated soldiers had fled back to the city.
In the council hall of the inner city, Pirrhus, who had recovered his energy and temporarily emerged from the shadow of yesterday's defeat, looked solemn at this moment.
So far, only more than 2,000 warriors belonging to his and Petralus's tribes have fled back, more than 700 Ambullian warriors, about 1,000 Vibo warriors, and the most returned were warriors from other small tribes, totaling more than 4,000. What does this mean? It means that as the first and second largest tribes in Bruttium, about 8,000 people were either killed or captured by Daonia! This huge number not only made him and Petralus feel extremely heartbroken, but also gave his tribesmen a reason to attack them, threatening their rule in the tribe.
More importantly, the Bruttian tribal alliance is likely to face disintegration, because Pirrhus, who has lost his power, has also lost his influence and appeal in the alliance. Just now, Bargus, the great leader of Ambullia, rejected Pirrhus's repeated requests and led his remaining tribesmen to leave Cosenza.
Although Pirrhus said reasonably: "The city of Ambullia is simple and cannot resist the attack of the Daonians. It is better to temporarily move all the Ambullians to Cosenza and fight side by side…"
However, Bargus replied tragically: "The Ambullians have lived in Ambullia for generations and will not abandon their land. Even if they die, they will shed their blood there!"
The departure of the Ambullians affected the Vibo warriors who had lost their great leader. They clamored to go home as well. Pirrhus managed to persuade them to stay and promised to do his best to rescue Sedulum.
The problem of the Vibo warriors was only a small problem. The biggest problem was that after Pirrhus returned to Cosenza last night, he fell asleep quickly due to the double blow of mental and physical exhaustion, so that he actually forgot to make special deployments and arrangements for those tribal leaders who went on the expedition.
As a result, after these tribal leaders fled back to Cosenza, they did not return to their residences in the inner city, but hid in the original tribal settlements in the outer city.
After a night passed, Pirrhus realized that he had made a big mistake and hurriedly sent his subordinates with a team of warriors to urge them to return.
But the thing he was most worried about still happened. The warriors were driven out and reported to him with bruised noses and swollen faces: "Great leader, Leader Taglius and the others refuse to return to the inner city and threaten to lead their tribes out of Cosenza!"
"These guys are so bold, do they want to riot?!" After a night's rest, Petarus had recovered his energy. He angrily requested orders from Pieron: "Great Chieftain, I'll take a thousand warriors and bring them back!"
Pieron's tightly furrowed brow formed deep ravines. He shook his head, released his clenched fist, turned, and looked at High Priest Philotalus, saying in a deep voice: "High Priest, I must ask you to go… and ask them what they want, try to stabilize them."
"Great Chieftain!" Petarus hurriedly shouted: "We must not be soft on these guys! Otherwise… otherwise, they will break away from our control, and may even… threaten the safety of Cosentia!"
Because there were only Pieron, Petarus, and Philotalus in the council hall, Pieron didn't have any reservations when speaking. With a face full of worry, he looked at the two and sighed heavily: "The failure of this battle is all my responsibility! I… I shouldn't have been so reckless as to engage in a decisive battle with the Daonians. I originally thought that even if we couldn't win, with our familiarity with the terrain and our warriors' lighter equipment than the Greeks, we could easily escape the battlefield and return to the city to fully defend against the enemy's siege… Alas… I didn't expect… I didn't expect a single battle to cause us such great losses! Daonia is really different from Croton and other Greek city-states! I'm sorry to the tribesmen!…"
"Great Chieftain, it's not your fault alone. It was the collective decision of the Council of Elders to engage in a decisive battle with Daonia." Petarus comforted his father-in-law. He hesitated for a moment and said softly: "How about… we sue for peace with Daonia?"
As soon as he said this, Pieron and Philotalus were both stunned.
"In this situation, would Daonia agree to a truce with us?" Philotalus expressed his doubts.
"No! We can try!" Pieron's eyes lit up, inspired by Petarus's words. He thought even more: "Petarus, send an envoy to the Daonian camp and tell their magistrate, 'Cosentia is willing to become an ally of Daonia, just like Laos.' If we can make peace, Cosentia can temporarily become a vassal of Daonia, which will allow the captured warriors to return, and we will have time to slowly restore our strength. If not, we must patiently negotiate with them. As far as I know, the magistrate of Daonia is not a very tyrannical person, so he spared Castrum and Croton, so why can't he loosen the noose around Cosentia's neck! At least let us buy some time to deal with those people outside the city. Cosentia cannot withstand a riot right now!"
… … … … … … … … … … …
The envoy from Cosentia arrived at the Daonian camp. After Davos heard his intentions, he immediately pointed out: Cosentia can only be fully incorporated into the Daonian League, there is no other way to go!
He flatly rejected the envoy's request for further detailed talks. Having absolute advantage, how could he give Cosentia a chance to breathe?
On the third day after the battle, the entire Daonian army broke camp and marched westward. The cavalry spread out six or seven miles to scout the surrounding area; the First Legion served as the vanguard, clad in armor and holding sharp weapons; the Second Legion was on both sides of the middle of the formation, protecting the baggage train, medical camp, and engineering camp in the middle… while the half-starved Bruttian prisoners, under the supervision of Daonian soldiers, carried supplies, pushed carts, and looked after the livestock; the legion reserve and allied forces served as the rearguard…
The entire marching army was vast and mighty, and even on the vast plateau, it was still impossible to see the end at a glance.
Three hours later, Davos saw the large city standing in front of him on the side—Cosentia.
At this time, Rides, the captain of the cavalry detachment, rushed over from the front of the team on horseback excitedly: "Commander, the Fourth Legion is coming to us!"
"That's great!" Davos was overjoyed, excitedly spurred his horse, and the warhorse raised its hooves and galloped forward. The guard followed closely, and then the cavalry gathered around to prevent accidents.
Hilos, the commander of the Fourth Legion, who had received the news, also rode over from the south. When he saw Davos, he immediately reined in his horse and saluted: "Commander, the Fourth Legion has occupied Knapetia and has been ordered to come!"
"Thank you for your hard work!" Davos solemnly returned the salute. The Hilos in front of him was no longer the ordinary mercenary he first met in Persia. Long-term command of troops and handling of government affairs had given him more majesty and less humility. He was already a qualified Daonian legion commander.
"Sir, I'm late. The defense of Knapetia was very tenacious. It not only held up our Fourth Legion for a long time, but also cost us the lives of more than 700 brothers!" Hilos looked slightly sad. The gentleness in his bones had not changed much.
"The reason why the Fourth Legion took so long to capture Knapetia is mainly due to my strategic plan, so you are not to blame. The sacrifice of the soldiers is worth it, because you have truly stormed a well-defended city from the front. This will be Daonia's most valuable military asset!" Davos encouraged him: "Moreover, the Fourth Legion has arrived just in time!"
After speaking, he pointed forward with great enthusiasm: "Come on, take me to see the warriors of the Fourth Legion!"
Davos and Hilos took the lead in galloping forward, followed by two hundred guards wearing red cloaks (including one hundred Bithynian warriors).
Rodom grabbed the reins with one hand and held up the glorious military flag that Maltius had given him with the other, closely following Davos's horse, passing by the side of the Fourth Legion's marching column.
The Daonian Fourth Legion soldiers in front stopped, stopped talking, and looked at their supreme commander with burning eyes. At this moment, Davos looked solemn, raised his right arm over his head, stretched it forward, and saluted.
Suddenly, the soldiers let out thunderous cheers: "Long live Daonia!!!"
"Long live Davos!!!"
… …
This scene made Rodom's blood boil, and at the same time, it made him envious. He deeply felt that it was too boring to spend his days silently in the mountains! A man should gallop on the battlefield like the commander!
"Listen, those are the new recruits of the Fourth Legion shouting nonsense. I heard that they came from Trina. It seems that they have occupied Knapetia. No wonder they are so energetic. If we hadn't defeated the main force of Bruttium, how could they have broken the city so easily! These little guys are still far behind! In the next few days, we have to let them know that we of the First Legion are still the most powerful in the Daonian army!…" The soldiers of the First Legion looked down on the cheers of the Fourth Legion as veterans.
On the city wall, the Bruttian warriors watched this scene outside the city in fear: the "long dragon" coming from the northeast and the "long dragon" coming from the southwest gathered together, making earth-shattering cheers, and the momentum was so majestic!
Pieron's face was gloomy. Yesterday, he received the news of "Knapetia's fall" and had specifically blocked it. He didn't expect the Daonians to do such a thing outside the city. Looking at the expressions of the warriors, he knew how much this had hit them.
At this moment, Tagli's voice came from behind: "The Daonians are so powerful, we have too few people! Cosentia is too big to be fully defended, so it's better to surrender!"
When Petarus heard this, his face turned livid, and he couldn't help but want to beat the old guy up, but he still held back. Yesterday, under the mediation of High Priest Philotalus, Pieron, he, and Tagli reached a reconciliation: the Bruttian Tribal Alliance returned the original tribal people of Tagli and the other tribal leaders and could no longer deprive or interfere with their rights, and they finally agreed to fight the Daonians in Cosentia with Pieron.
Only one issue was still being debated. Tagli and the others demanded that the Council of Elders be abolished and the power to handle alliance affairs be delegated to the Tribal Leaders' Confederation.
For Pieron, agreeing to their request meant that the Bruttian Tribal Alliance, which he had always strived to achieve a high degree of centralized power, would become a loose tribal confederation, which he could not tolerate. Therefore, he postponed this important issue on the grounds that "Bergham is not here and Sedorum is missing", which aroused the dissatisfaction of other tribal leaders. Now the two sides are at odds.
Faced with the Daonian army pressing down on the city and such a situation in Cosentia, how could they resist the enemy's attack? Pieron was also worried.
Fortunately, Davos did not order an attack on the city, but began to build a camp. Relying on the absolute advantage of 30,000 troops, he directly ordered construction to begin one mile away from the city, preparing to besiege Cosentia.
The prisoners were escorted to dig trenches. The First, Second, and Fourth Legions, the legion reserve, the allied army… Davos had enough labor to build a huge military camp, and he also had enough manpower to maintain vigilance.
Just as Davos was riding his horse and preparing to conduct a detailed investigation around Cosentia, Capus came to report: Sedorum requested to see him.
… … … … … … … … … … … … …
"You have decided? To let Vig join Daonia?" Davos suppressed the joy in his heart and stared at Sedorum calmly.
"Yes, Magistrate of Daonia." After Sedorum saw the arrival of the Daonian Fourth Legion, he immediately realized that what Davos had told him before was true, and Daonia did have a strong ability to attack the city. So he finally stopped struggling and made a decisive decision, resolving his many days of troubles. At this time, he felt much more relaxed.
Davos looked at the Bruttian chieftain, who looked older than he had a few days ago, and asked slowly: "Then what are you going to do?"
"After the last defeat, many of my people must have fled into Cosentia. They might even be standing on the city walls right now…" Sedolum carefully chose his words, saying cautiously, "Logically… I should go to the city now and ask them to surrender, even persuade Pianluns and the others to give up resisting. But… a wolf king without a pack won't inspire fear; instead, he'll become a target for hunters. The people of Cosentia will say that I… personally surrendered to Daonia because I was afraid of death. My people might even be more determined to resist in order to wash away the shame. Therefore—"
Sedolum paused, looking earnestly at Davos: "I hope to return to Vibona first, persuade the leaders and people within Vibona, and then lead them to participate in the siege of Cosentia. I believe that would be of greater help to Daonia in capturing Cosentia!" After speaking, he waited anxiously for Davos's reply.
Davos stared at him for a moment, then smiled slightly: "How long does it take to get from here to Vibona?"
"It takes most of a day to walk, but less than three hours on horseback."
"Then you should leave on horseback immediately. I hope to receive the leaders of Vibona in the camp tomorrow!" Davos said decisively and firmly.
Sedolum was shocked and bowed hastily, "As you wish, Lord."
"Martius."
"Here!"
"Take some guards and safely escort Chief Sedolum to the outskirts of Vibona. I believe Avinogis will not stop Chief Sedolum from entering the city when he sees you. Also, tell the governor of Laos to bring his army and the Vibonian army here tomorrow."
"Understood." Martius hesitated slightly: "Lord, but what about here—"
"Don't worry, I have other guards and the Bithynia warriors led by Rodom. I won't have any problems."
"Yes."
After Sedolum left, Tolmid, who was beside him, hurriedly asked: "Commander, aren't you worried that he's lying?"
Davos looked at Sedolum's departing figure, his expression slightly complicated: "Sedolum is a smart man. There was one thing he deliberately didn't mention just now."
After being reminded by Davos, Tolmid suddenly understood: "The Vibonian prisoners in the camp!"
"Those are the hostages he left behind. If a great chief abandons his people and escapes alone, and the Vibonians find out… Sedolum has put a lot of thought into this." Davos smiled softly, his eyes gleaming: "Actually, I don't care if he's lying at all, because he alone can't change the outcome of this war. Instead, he's given me a reason to completely eliminate the Vibonians!"
That night, there was peace inside and outside the city.
The next day, Pianluns, who had not slept all night, rushed to the city wall to await the Daionian attack.
The attack did not come; the Daonians were still building their camp.
But what Pianluns didn't know was that Davos had already sent the First Legion to attack Ambaria, along with a dozen officers from the Fourth Legion, the ballista unit, and Hegesistratus.
At noon, the warriors defending Cosentia saw in horror an army of about a thousand men coming from the north, holding high the banner of Vibona. They circled around the north, west, and east sides of Cosentia for the most part before entering the Daionian camp. Following them, two thousand Laotian troops did the same.
This gave the Bruttian warriors a great shock: Vibona had surrendered!
Especially the Vibonian warriors in the city, when they saw the Vibonian chief Sedolum and the leaders walking at the front of the column, they clamored to leave the city and join them, and clashed with the Cosentian warriors who came to stop them, with both sides confronting each other in the city.
Pianluns was in a dilemma: there were about 800 Vibonian warriors, and the total number of Cosentian warriors in the city was at most 5,000. Outside the city, the Daionian army was watching menacingly. He could not transfer all of them to deal with the Vibonians; and other leaders, led by Taglis, refused to participate in the suppression of the Vibonians on the grounds that "Bruttians must not kill each other."
At this time, new developments appeared outside the city. The tribes who had rioted in Cosentia gathered under the city, shouting and persuading Taglis and the others to surrender.
Just as Taglis and other leaders were hesitating, Bergam, the leader of Ambaria, led a dozen cavalrymen to the city in a hurry.
Even Ambaria had surrendered. This fact dealt a heavy blow to the Bruttian warriors in the city. In fact, it was reasonable for Ambaria, a small city with few people, to surrender. When the 7,000-strong First Legion appeared menacingly outside the city of Ambania, and several stone bullets fired by the ballista broke the wooden fence, and Hegesistratus persuaded them to surrender under the city… The series of actions allowed Chief Bergam, who had less than a thousand warriors, to quickly make the right choice.
The surrender of Ambaria made all the Bruttians in Cosentia even more panicked: In this way, Cosentia had completely become an "isolated island", completely surrounded!
Taglis and other leaders finally made up their minds and opened the city to surrender.
Daionian soldiers cheered and poured into Cosentia. Pianluns, Petalus, and Cadurc had no choice but to retreat to the inner city with their tribal warriors, and the city was in chaos.
… … … … … … … … … …
Petalus stumbled into the council hall.
"Great Chief!" He shouted anxiously: "Great Chief, that damned Cadurc! … Cadurc opened the city gate and surrendered to the Daonians! Should we… should we…"
Pianluns, sitting in the wooden chair, was not alarmed at all. He looked calmly at his son-in-law and uttered a difficult sentence: "Surrender to the Daonians…"
Petalus finally got the answer he wanted, and said "Yes" repeatedly without hesitation, rushing out.
"Petalus." Pianluns stopped him and said earnestly: "As a Bruttian leader, you are still too hasty. You should think more before doing things in the future. Also…" Pianluns's voice became a little low, and he took a breath: "Take care of Una!"
Hearing this, Petalus felt a little uneasy: "Father…"
Pianluns waved his hand: "Go quickly, too many of our people have died…"
Looking at Petalus's figure disappearing outside the hall with some reluctance, Pianluns turned around tiredly. On the wall behind him hung the flag of the Bruttian tribal alliance—a snow-capped mountain standing on the green grassland, which represented the land that nurtured tens of thousands of Bruttians and the god Amara who blessed them.
Pianluns stepped forward, emotionally caressing the flag he had put countless efforts into, with thousands of thoughts in his mind. A unified Bruttian tribal alliance was about to rise on this land, but…
"Daonia… Daonia…" He muttered the name repeatedly with resentment, his heart full of regret. Of course, he would not know that in the history of his previous life, decades later, Bruttium became a powerful kingdom, not only did the Greek city-states of Magna Graecia tremble under its military power, but the Lucanians were also fearful. Croton, Thurii, and other Greek city-states of Magna Graecia, which were weakened by the repeated invasions of Syracuse, had to invite King Alexander of Epirus to lead tens of thousands of troops across the sea to southern Italy, attempting to destroy Bruttium in one fell swoop. As a result, near the Platani River—the place where the Daionian and Bruttian allied forces fought—the Bruttians almost completely annihilated the Greek allied forces led by Alexander. From then on, the Greek city-states of southern Italy could only huddle behind high walls and eke out a living, never leaving any records in history again, until the arrival of the Romans…
At this time, Pianluns took off the Bruttian Alliance flag, slowly wrapped it around his body, and then drew out the short sword from his waist…
On the day before Pianluns committed suicide and Davos occupied the entire territory of Bruttium, the Third Legion led by Hieronimus arrived under the city of Picentia, and the Picentians, who had no soldiers to defend, opened the city to surrender.
Upon receiving this news, Puamot, the chief of Potentia, finally made up his mind to send an envoy to Thurii, requesting to join the Daionian League.
A month later, Metapontum and Garaguso joined the Daionian League one after another.
At this time, the Daionian city-state alliance occupied more than half of the land in southern Italy and Lucania, and truly became the overlord of southern Italy.
Note: According to historical speculation (but not confirmed), the Bruttians were vassals of the Lucanians for several decades. Finally, they united and established a unified kingdom and became independent. At this time, the Greek city-states of southern Italy were greatly weakened by the repeated invasions of Dionysius of Syracuse, which provided convenience for the Bruttians to expand their power in southern Italy. If readers look at the map of this period, they can see that the territory of the Bruttians almost occupied the entire Calabria region, except for these Greek city-states along the coast.
In this book, the existence of Daonia has interrupted the rise of the Bruttians. Of course, it also interrupted the rise of the Lucanians before. I believe that in the following chapters, it will still have such a performance.
When news of Davos' conquest of Bruttium reached Syracuse, Dionysius, accompanied by Massias, was inspecting the construction of Syracuse's defensive fortress.
Seeing that the project was nearing completion, his mood was cheerful, but upon hearing this news, his face immediately turned gloomy, and he blurted out: "Damn those Carthaginians, they've hindered my plans!"
In early spring of 397 BC, the Carthaginian Suffete Himilco led an army, claimed to be 100,000 strong, from Carthage.
After a small-scale battle at sea with the Syracusan navy, they successfully landed in Sicily and quickly bought off traitors, easily seizing the city of Eryx on the western side of Sicily, and then forcefully attacking Motya, achieving success.
The Syracusan army was forced to withdraw from the siege of Segesta.
Himilco did not pursue their advantage, but instead destroyed the city of Motya and built a new city near the coast, naming it Lilybaeum.
While the Carthaginian army halted its advance, the cautious Dionysius stationed troops in Syracuse and remained still.
Shortly after laying the foundation for the new city of Lilybaeum, Himilco, as February approached, led his army eastward again.
This time, he did not follow the Syracusan invasion route from the previous year, but instead sailed around the northeastern corner of Sicily, easily capturing Messana, which was completely unprepared.
The fall of Messana was a major shock to Rhegium across the strait.
This wealthy Greek city-state in Magna Graecia, relying on its advantageous geographical location and prosperous port transit trade, had been secretly interacting with Carthage for many years to prevent Syracuse from coveting the Strait of Messana.
Suddenly, a friendly foreign city-state revealed its venomous fangs, capturing Rhegium's sister city-state—Messana.
Why a sister city-state? Because Messana was originally jointly colonized by Cumaeans and Chalcidians, initially called Zancle, and later renamed Messana with the arrival of Messenian immigrants.
The Messanians had long realized that control of the opposite side of the strait was necessary for their security, so they encouraged their mother city Cumae and the Messenians to establish the allied city of Rhegium.
Rhegium felt panic-stricken.
They quickly made a decision, sending envoys to Siris, the headquarters of the Italiote League, requesting to join the alliance.
Thus, with the exception of Locri and its affiliated city-states, all other Greek city-states in Magna Graecia had an alliance with Daunia.
After Himilco completely destroyed the city of Messana, in order to please the indigenous people of eastern Sicily—the Sicels—who would join Carthage in attacking Syracuse, he prepared to build a new city—Tauromenium—on the coast south of Messana, as a gift to the Sicels.
By March, Dionysius felt that he could no longer allow the Carthaginians to continue attacking his allied city-states.
If he did not take action, the allies might defect to Carthage.
So he mobilized his army and navy, advancing north to the Catanaean Plain.
In the waters near Catana, Syracuse and Carthage engaged in a naval battle.
Originally, the number of Greek warships was greater than that of the Carthaginians, and they also had an advantage in equipment.
However, Dionysius practiced nepotism, and his brother Leptines, as the naval commander, made mistakes in command, resulting in a defeat for the Syracusan navy, suffering heavy losses.
The Greek army on land watched the naval battle from the shore, and as a result, seeing the tragedy of the navy, the morale of the army began to waver.
Fortunately, Himilco's land army did not arrive on the battlefield in time, because in those few days, Mount Etna, southwest of Tauromenium, suddenly erupted.
The extremely hot volcanic lava spewed down, destroying the road south, and the dark volcanic ash blotted out the sky, forcing the Carthaginian army to choose a detour.
The Syracusan army, in awe, silently chanted hymns to the god Hephaestus, hurriedly retreating to the city of Syracuse, while Catana and Leontini fell into Carthaginian hands one after another.
Himilco, riding the momentum of the naval victory, finally arrived at Syracuse smoothly with his army, and the Carthaginian navy also sailed into the Great Harbor of Syracuse.
Then they set up camp on the banks of the Anapus River, attempting to besiege Syracuse from land and sea.
At this time, Dionysius anxiously sent envoys on fast ships to Campania in Italy, his mother city Corinth in mainland Greece, and the hegemon Sparta, seeking their urgent assistance.
Although Magna Graecia was the closest place to Syracuse, Dionysius intentionally or unintentionally ignored this area, and did not seek assistance from the Daunian League, the hegemon of southern Italy.
Daunia could not possibly send troops proactively without being invited, as that would make the Sicilians suspect ulterior motives.
Moreover, after frequent wars and rapid expansion, Daunia also needed time to recuperate, consolidate, and integrate, so when the Greek city-states in Sicily faced the crisis of complete subjugation, the Daunians and the Greeks of southern Italy watched from across the sea with complex emotions.
Greek reinforcements from various places arrived one after another, especially Sparta, which sent the young general Phibidas leading 30 warships and 500 Spartan warriors.
At this time, the people of Syracuse, incited by those with ulterior motives, launched a riot, wanting to overthrow Dionysius.
Phibidas led the Greek allied forces from various places to stop their riot, but they complained to Phibidas: it was Dionysius's terrible command that put Syracuse in a predicament, causing the people to lose their loved ones.
At the same time, they recounted Dionysius's brutal rule in the country, begging the allied Sparta to help them get rid of the shackles of this tyrant.
Phibidas, remembering Agesilaus's previous instructions, put on a stern face and told them: Sparta's mission to Syracuse was to help Dionysius fight against Carthage, not to help the Syracusans overthrow Dionysius!
He hoped that the rioting people could calm their anger and work together to drive away the Carthaginians who were already besieging the city.
At the same time, he also made Dionysius guarantee that from now on, he would not retaliate against the people who participated in the riot, and that his future rule would be more tolerant.
With the full support of the Spartans, Dionysius temporarily overcame a difficult situation.
After the Carthaginians outside the city settled down, they began to destroy all the facilities outside the city of Syracuse.
They not only destroyed farmland and villages, but also desecrated the gods.
They not only destroyed the Temple of Zeus on the Plemmyrium Heights, but also robbed the temples of the two goddesses Demeter and Persephone.
This blasphemous behavior angered the Syracusans, and the two sides repeatedly engaged in small-scale land and sea battles outside the city and in the Great Harbor, with mixed results.
The war dragged on until the arrival of summer, and as the temperature rose, the situation began to favor the Syracusans, because the mosquitoes in the swamps near the Anapus River increased, and the Carthaginian soldiers who were bitten suffered from the plague, and the number of deaths increased.
At this time, Dionysius, under pressure from both internal and external troubles, also stimulated his wisdom and formulated a clever offensive plan: marching at night, using feints to mobilize the enemy, and then the navy and army simultaneously attacking the weak side of the enemy's fortress.
The Carthaginians, tormented by the plague, were low in morale and unable to resist the Syracusan offensive.
Dionysius, at the cost of the lives of thousands of mercenaries, successively captured the Polychna fortress built by the Carthaginians on the banks of the Anapus River and the Dascon fortress built on the coast, while also defeating the Carthaginian navy, with heavy casualties among the Carthaginians.
Himilco's central army camp was surrounded, and the camp was in chaos, on the verge of complete annihilation.
At this moment, Dionysius ordered the attack to stop.
That night, there was frequent communication between the Carthaginian military camp and Dionysius's secret envoys.
For the next three days, the two sides remained calm, and no fighting occurred.
On the fourth night, Himilco led only the remaining 30 triremes and fled from the Great Harbor in a panic, abandoning most of the Carthaginian soldiers, allied forces, and mercenaries, who were eventually annihilated by Syracuse and its allies.
After the great victory, Dionysius did not pursue the Carthaginians relentlessly, completely recovering Sicily and driving the Carthaginians out of the island.
Because the previous palace coup in Syracuse had made him deeply aware that only if the Carthaginian forces continued to exist in Sicily could his tyrannical status be guaranteed, so he not only let go of Himilco's remnants, but also did not continue to sweep the Carthaginian colonial towns in Sicily, but instead began to focus on attacking the Sicel natives in the eastern inland region, because in this war, the Sicels became accomplices of Carthage, creating great troubles for Syracuse, making him feel that unifying the Greek city-states on the island was not enough, and that he must expand Syracuse's sphere of influence in the Sicel residential areas, completely turning eastern Sicily into a solid iron plate.
The Syracusan army began to conquer one Sicel town after another, such as Morgantina, Cephaloedium, and Henna, and also forced more Sicel forces to sign subsidiary agreements with him.
He also besieged Tauromenium, the only coastal city built by Himilco for the Sicels, but was unable to capture it for a while.
By the following year (i.e., 396 BC), Syracuse's power had expanded north to the northeastern corner of Sicily.
On the ruins burned by Carthage, Dionysius rebuilt Messana, and the residents of the new city of Messana were composed of colonists from Syracuse's allies Locri and Medma, mainly to win over his allies in Magna Graecia, as well as hundreds of Messenians who had just been driven out of their original homeland by the Spartans and had no fixed residence.
Such new residents had no kinship with the Rhegians.
But soon, the Spartans sent envoys to express their dissatisfaction with Dionysius's placement of Sparta's enemies in such an important city.