By dusk, the vanguard of Syracuse had indeed arrived at Hibernian City one after another. From Locri to Medma, and then to Hibernian, a journey of over a hundred miles, Dionysius's army completed this leg of the journey with a forced march of over a full day, which could be considered a not-so-small miracle.
The large movement caused by the successive arrival of the Syracuse army naturally alerted the spies from Terina, who had been closely monitoring Hibernian's movements during this period. They quickly returned to Terina City, which was over 50 miles north of the Lamato River.
The army of Syracuse is here!!!
This shocking news shook the entire city of Terina. Both ordinary citizens and council members were terrified, as they never expected the Syracusans to approach Terina on the third day after landing.
According to the original plan of the Southern Italian Alliance, the most important main force for defending the Lamato River—the troops from Croton—had not yet arrived, and Sybaris had only sent a few thousand citizen soldiers to guard the upper reaches of the Lamato River. The entire Lamato River defense line had not been established at all and could be said to be riddled with holes. If the Syracusans attacked tomorrow, they would easily break through the Lamato River and enter the Eufemia Plain, and Terina would be the first to suffer the ravages of war.
The situation was urgent, and the Terina Council had no time for debate. Under the leadership of the chief general Siprus, who was elected last year, they quickly made a decision: First, send someone immediately to Croton to urge them to send their main force to the Lamato River as quickly as possible; Second, send someone immediately to Sybaris, demanding that they do their utmost to defend the Lamato River; Third, send someone immediately to Canapetya to request aid from Daoneia; Fourth, send someone immediately to Caulonia, requesting the Fourth and Fifth Legions of Daoneia to split off and come to their aid...
For Siprus, who had always admired Daoneia, he trusted the well-trained legionary troops of Daoneia more than the slow citizen soldiers of Sybaris and Croton, so half of the emergency measures taken by Terina were related to Daoneia.
...
On this day, outside the Daoneian camp in Caulonia, soldiers continued to work on improving the defenses. However, with the rapid return of the reconnaissance cavalry, the camp's alert horn was blown.
The soldiers immediately picked up pickaxes, shovels, wooden baskets, and other equipment and quickly returned to the main camp, closing the camp gates.
"The Syracusans have finally attacked!" Dracos exclaimed excitedly as he quickly put on his armor with the help of his guards, and asked his deputy, "What are the instructions from Philesius?"
"He told us to defend ourselves," the deputy replied.
"He's sensible enough!" Dracos muttered a few times, put on his purple-crested helmet symbolizing his status as legion commander, and tied the cheek guards: "Let's go, let's see how formidable Syracuse is!"
The Fourth and Fifth Legions of Daoneia actually built two camps, the Fourth Legion on the west side and the Fifth Legion on the east side, connected by a passage in the middle.
Therefore, for ease of command, the Syracuse-Locri allied forces also divided their troops into two parts. The Syracuse army led by Phasipesa attacked the eastern camp, and the Locri general Dio Pantos led his army to attack the western camp.
Due to the urgency of time, the Syracusans did not build siege towers, and did not even prepare many ladders. However, Dio Pantos still had the confidence to turn the probing attack into a full assault, in order to avenge the humiliation of being forced to retreat by the Daoneian army within Croton territory a few years ago without a fight.
The mighty Locri attacking force of 20,000 advanced slowly, guided by the rhythmic sound of bronze horns. When they approached about 500 meters from the Daoneian camp, Dio Pantos raised his arm high, the horn stopped, and the army gradually stopped advancing, their formation becoming uneven.
"Push the ballistas!" Dio Pantos ordered loudly. Yes, his reliance was on the siege weapons brought by the Syracusans—the ballistas.
...
The Daoneian legions were busy all day yesterday and only managed to dig trenches, build earthworks and wooden palisades. There was no time to dig traps outside the camp, and not even abatis were set up. The engineers and craftsmen of the engineering corps were still racing against time to build watchtowers.
When the first watchtower was built, Philesius and Epitenes immediately climbed up the watchtower to look out. They happened to see the Locrians pushing out a dozen ballistas from their formation.
Epitenes was not at all surprised, because in the camp below the watchtower, ten ballistas, smaller than the Syracuse ballistas, were also neatly arranged. He frowned slightly, pointed forward, and turned to the young man with them on the watchtower: "Kurudorod, do you think our ballistas can destroy them?"
Kurudorod came from the School of Mathematics at the Daoneian Academy. According to the newly revised "Daoneian Military Law" of the past two years, each legion on campaign must be equipped with ten ballistas, and the spotters must be excellent students from the Daoneian Academy, because they can quickly calculate the appropriate drop point based on the parabolic equation to improve the accuracy of their firing.
Although Kurudorod had participated in military training many times, this was his first time on the battlefield. Looking at the dense enemy in the distance, he was a little nervous: "Too...too far, I'm afraid it's very...difficult."
Philesius patted his shoulder kindly and comforted him, saying, "Relax, young man. It's normal to be nervous the first time on the battlefield. Don't worry, no matter how many enemies come, our brave legionary soldiers will drive them away."
Kurudorod nodded. He swallowed, looked forward again, and then plucked up his courage and said, "I...I suggest letting the enemy get closer so that the power of our ballistas can be fully utilized."
"Just what I was thinking!" Epitenes praised, while carefully examining the handsome young man, a strange light flickering in his eyes: "You are very good, young man."
Seeing this, Philesius coughed a few times.
At this time, the messenger from the Fifth Legion arrived below the watchtower: "Commander, Legion Commander Dracos requests that the ballistas be fired only when the enemy is within 200 meters, so as not to scare them away."
"200 meters?!" Epitenes shrugged: "This Dracos is really greedy!"
"He thinks the same way we do!" Philesius laughed.
...
As a squad leader, Ephiartes and his teammates stood behind the earthworks, watching large stone projectiles whistle in from the enemy's front line, smashing in front of the camp with a booming sound and raising a cloud of dust. They didn't show much unease, because in their usual military training, they had trained with the ballista units countless times and were quite familiar with this astonishing long-range weapon. So even though the enemy ballistas outside the camp created an impressive spectacle, the soldiers were still in the mood to joke.
They asked Ephiartes for details about attending the Hera festival, expressing their envy for the special treatment he and his new wife received at the festival, and saying that they would definitely go to Thurii to attend the Hera festival when they got married.
As the enemy formation gradually approached and the ballistas were pushed forward, the impact points also continuously shifted forward.
When the stone projectiles fell from the sky, smashing in front of the camp and landing in the trenches, the legion's squad leaders issued instructions: "Take cover against the wall!"
Just as Ephiartes led his teammates to take cover behind the earthworks and lie down, Kurudorod's voice came down from the watchtower: "250 meters!"
"No hurry, no hurry." Epitenes folded his arms across his chest, patted his shoulders lightly, and tried his best to suppress his rising excitement.
"Bang!" A stone projectile hit the wooden palisade, and splintered wood fell on the fully armed soldiers, causing no harm.
"Whoosh!" A few more stone projectiles whistled over the wooden palisade and landed inside the camp, smashing several tents. There were a few cries of sorrow and a burst of laughter.
Kurudorod on the watchtower kept a close eye on the ground in front. Yesterday, while the soldiers were busy building the camp, the ballista unit was also busy, surveying the ground outside the camp and leaving some markers. These markers could be a transplanted wild grass, a strange rock, a slanted wooden stick...
"200 meters!" Kurudorod shouted excitedly.
"You can fire now," Epitenes waved his hand to signal.
"30-degree elevation, medium stone projectile, full draw!" Kurudorod quickly reported the data.
The ballista captain, who had been listening intently, immediately repeated Kurudorod's words loudly. The soldiers quickly turned the pulleys, pulled the bowstrings, hooked them with iron hooks, and then placed the stone projectiles weighing about 6 kilograms into the smoothbore (after several years of further research and improvement on ballistas, Daoneia's ballistas are divided into two types: one is a siege ballista, which is large and fires stone projectiles weighing over 20 kilograms, mainly targeting city walls, buildings, etc.; the other is a defensive ballista, which is small, light, and accurate, can be carried by two or three people, and fires stone projectiles weighing from three to ten kilograms, targeting troops and siege equipment).
Since it was not a pitched battle, the enemy's formation was relatively loose, but the formation of 20,000 people still appeared dense, so the good opportunity of the first round of attack must be seized. For this reason, Kurudorod first set the impact point of the ballistas in the center of the enemy formation.
"Fire!" The ballista captain vigorously waved his right arm.
...
Dio Pantos watched as the stone projectiles whistled into the Daoneian camp, and his heart felt a surge of satisfaction.
At the beginning of the army's movement towards the enemy camp within five hundred meters, he was worried about being attacked by Daoneian slingers, because he had heard that most of Daoneia's slingers came from Rhodes and could throw stones far and accurately. But when the troops advanced to 300 meters from the enemy camp, the Daoneians still did not react, and he was completely relieved.
As for the rumors that Daonia also possessed ballistae, he didn't quite believe them. Locri, with its centuries of history, couldn't manufacture such a formidable siege weapon. How could the Daionian League, which had only risen to prominence in the last six years, possibly have them! (The Daionian Fourth Legion used ballistae to attack Knapae, but due to its remote location, few people knew about it. The Terinians did know, but at the request of the Daonians, they did their best to keep it a secret.)
"Closer! Closer!…" Diophantos excitedly urged the Syracusans to move the ballistae forward, and the entire army advanced as well. He wanted the ballistae's bombardment to be more precise, to smash the walls that the Daonians had painstakingly built, leaving them with nowhere to hide! He wanted to watch them panic and scatter under the impact of the stone projectiles, or be forced to leave their camp and come out to fight.
Although Dionysius's orders to Faxipeisas and him were to contain the Daionian army at Caulonia, Diophantos wouldn't mind defeating them if a good opportunity arose, breaking the Daionian army's undefeated record in Magna Graecia, and earning greater glory for himself.
Watching the Syracusan artillerymen in front of him load another heavy stone projectile into the chamber, Diophantos looked towards the Daionian camp with anticipation. Then, to his surprise, he saw ten small black dots fly out from the enemy camp, whistling as they fell into the Locrian ranks…
"Ballistae!!" Diophantos's soul almost left his body. His exclamation was followed by countless screams of agony from within the ranks.
Since the stone projectiles fell in a large arc, their actual lethality wasn't that great, but the effect was terrifying. A touch meant a broken hand, a broken leg, or a crushed head. If someone tried to block it with a round shield, the shield would shatter and the person would die. Such a scene of carnage was enough to make the Locrian soldiers, who had never experienced a ballista attack before, feel terrified, and their morale plummeted by half.
While the ranks were in a state of panic, the second wave of Daionian stone projectiles rained down again. The Locrian soldiers scattered in terror, and the entire formation became chaotic.
"Retreat! Retreat now!!" Stone projectiles continued to fall, and one landed near Diophantos, scaring him so much that he forgot about the Syracusan ballistae in front and hastily issued the order.
But as soon as the retreat bugle sounded, the east, west, and south gates of the Daionian west camp suddenly opened simultaneously, and the soldiers, who were already prepared, poured out quickly and in an orderly fashion. The cavalry charged in the lead, followed by light infantry, light armor infantry, and finally heavy infantry. Although they were destined not to catch up with the fleeing enemies, they could cover the front lines to prevent the enemy from counterattacking.
The Locrian army, whose morale had been shattered and whose ranks were in disarray by the constant bombardment of stone projectiles, was retreating in a chaotic manner. Seeing the entire Daionian army pouring out, a dark mass (due to the color of their weapons and equipment), rushing towards them with fierce momentum, Diophantos had lost control of the army even if he wanted to counterattack, and the soldiers no longer had the courage to fight, scrambling to run away.
Sobkos led the cavalry, with the belief of avenging his comrades, catching up with the enemy from the outside.
The Daionian cavalry also did not use spears, but instead drove their horses straight into the enemy, making the already scattered rout even more disorganized, preventing them from regrouping. After these thousand cavalrymen trampled for a while, the warhorses themselves instinctively slowed down. Sobkos saw that the fleeing soldiers in front were gradually thinning out, and resolutely raised his spear, constantly drawing circles in the air.
"Drive them east!" Sobkos shouted loudly. Under his command, the cavalry began to separate to the left and right, pulling out an arc, and began to drive the fleeing soldiers eastward, with the light infantry and light armor infantry cooperating with the cavalry's actions.
Most of the Locrian fleeing soldiers were like headless flies, unable to distinguish between east, south, west, and north under the intentional urging of the Daionian soldiers, only fleeing in the direction of the least pressure.
At this time, the Syracusan troops outside the east camp were also bombarded by the Daionian ballistae in a state of unpreparedness, but the experienced Syracusans did not panic. They quickly stabilized their positions, retreated a distance, and began to retaliate with ballistae. The two sides were in a state of confrontation, and the Locrian fleeing soldiers surged in like a tide, immediately disrupting the left wing of the Syracusans.
Dracos in the camp would not let go of this great opportunity, and immediately ordered: All troops attack!
The Fifth Legion soldiers quickly rushed out of the camp gate.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Faxipeisas decisively ordered: Retreat.
The Syracusan army quickly retreated, while trying to maintain a relatively intact formation, roughly squeezing the scattered Locrian fleeing soldiers behind them.
The Daionian cavalry and the Fourth Legion soldiers continued to pursue for five or six miles, until a large number of enemy cavalry came to meet them, then Epitenes ordered the troops to return to camp, because he was deeply impressed by the fierce Syracusan cavalry and worried that the tired and scattered soldiers would suffer losses. In fact, the Syracusan cavalry and mercenary cavalry had already gone to Hibernia with Dionysius, and what appeared here were only Locrian cavalry.
And the Fifth Legion, without the help of the cavalry, under the urging of Dracos, chased until even the light armor infantry, who were best at running, felt their legs go weak before the retreat bugle was sounded.
Diophantos, with his helmet and armor discarded, encountered Faxipeisas, who was in a bad mood after the initial defeat, on the way back to the city, and was scolded by him…
This was the first time that the Daionian ballistae were used in a field battle, catching the unsuspecting Syro-Locrian allied forces off guard. The ballistae themselves only killed or wounded a few dozen people, but they caused panic in the Locrian army, creating conditions for the Daionian Fourth Legion's surprise attack, and the Fourth Legion's surprise attack and the subsequent experienced driving of the fleeing soldiers caused a great rout of the Syro-Locrian allied forces.
In this battle, the Syro-Locrian allied forces suffered more than 1,000 casualties, including more than 500 captured, mainly Locrian soldiers, which was also a not small victory for the Daionian southern front.
… … … … … … … … … … …
Agestrates was taken aback when he received the urgent request for help from Terina late at night.
Agestrates was able to become the acting administrative officer of Knapae because Davos believed that Agestratus had extensive administrative experience in the Lucanian mountains, as well as rich military experience, and was suitable for serving as the administrator of Knapae—a city dominated by the Bruttians and located on the southern border of Daonia. He applied to the Senate for this position, but because he was not a senator, he could only serve as the acting administrative officer. However, having experience as a city administrator laid the foundation for Agestratus to be elected to the Senate next year.
After Agestratus took office, he used the experience he had learned in the Lucanian region to effectively ease the ethnic conflicts between the Bruttians and the newly arrived Greeks in Knapae. He used Knapae's geographical location to vigorously develop trade with Terina and other southern Italian allies, improving the living conditions of the originally impoverished people of Knapae, which made the political situation in Knapae stable in recent years, and did not disappoint Davos's expectations.
At this time, the news that "the Syracusans had approached Terina in such a short period of time" made him feel very uneasy. He was relatively familiar with the battle plan of the South Italian League: Terina, Croton, and Sybaris jointly defended the west coast passage, preventing the Syracusan army from invading the territory of the South Italian League, and buying time for the Daionian main force to return in full force.
Originally, Agestratus estimated in his mind that the citizen soldiers of the three city-states of Croton, Sybaris, and Terina totaled more than 30,000 people, plus the natural barrier of the Lamato River, which was wide and deep, it should not be a big problem to defend steadily for ten or twenty days. Moreover, once the use of troops was tight in the later stage, the reserve soldiers in the entire Bruttian region could also provide timely assistance.
But he did not expect that the Syracusans would come so quickly, which had far exceeded the speed of mobilization, assembly, and marching of most Greek city-state armies. Of course, the Syracusan army had already been mobilized and assembled, but the fact that such a large army could complete the approach to Terina from landing to marching in three days was enough to show the Sicilian dictator Dionysius's full preparation and determination for this war!
Should he send troops to help? The reason why Agestratus hesitated was because Davos had personally written him a letter a few days ago, repeatedly reminding him in the letter: to strengthen the city defenses and enhance the defense. Once the Syracusans broke through the defense line, he must try everything possible to defend Knapae, and must not let the Syracusans step into Bruttian territory!
But Terina has a close relationship with Daonia! Not to mention their firm support for Daonia in the South Italian League, and Knapae and Terina have a very good relationship due to their proximity and frequent trade. If he stands idly by, I am afraid that it will damage the good impression of Daonia by the Terinians, and it will also damage the good business reputation that the Daionian League has established in Magna Graecia over the years through hard work!
Agestratus thought about it again and again, and finally made up his mind.
He made a promise to the messenger from Terina: Hades is above, he will personally lead the Knapae reinforcements to Terina early tomorrow morning!
After sending away the extremely grateful messenger, Agestratus decided to write a letter to Hilos, the newly appointed administrative officer of Consentia, telling him about the new movements of the Syracusan army and his concerns, and asking him for help. He believed that this former captain of Davos would make the right choice!
After writing, he asked his confidant to take the letter and set off immediately, rushing to Consentia overnight. Then, he called the patrol captain who had just fallen asleep and asked him to notify the reserve soldiers of the Fifth Legion to assemble in the square early tomorrow morning.
After doing these things, Agestratus returned to his bedroom, exhausted physically and mentally.
His wife, Tina, had not yet fallen asleep. Seeing that her husband was preoccupied, she asked in Greek with concern: "What happened?"
"Alas... Dina, the Syracuse army is approaching Terina. I fear the Southern Italian League's army will have difficulty stopping them north of the Lamato River," Asistates said truthfully.
"Then... isn't Knapetia, where we are, in danger?!" Dina exclaimed, alarmed.
Asistates didn't answer. He sat on the edge of the bed and reached out to embrace his wife. "Is the child asleep?"
"Musa has already put him to sleep," Dina said, pointing to the adjacent bedroom.
Asistates hesitated for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Take the child to Cosenza tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Dina's eyes widened immediately, and she said loudly, "I won't go! I am the daughter of Vespas, a senator, my brother is the chief administrator of Grumentum, and I am the wife of the chief administrator of Knapetia! When all the people of Knapetia are beginning to defend their homeland from the Syracuse invasion, what will the people here think if I leave with the child! Will they still listen to your command wholeheartedly!"
Asistates was stunned for a moment. He held his wife tighter and said through gritted teeth, "You're right! I was only thinking about your and the child's safety and forgot about that! Our whole family... will stay here, all of us will stay here."
Dina turned to comfort her husband, "With Hades's protection, Knapetia will surely be defended! And when Lord Davos returns, the Syracuse people will definitely be driven away!"
Asistates looked at his Lucanian wife, not expecting her to have more confidence in this war than he did. He just wondered how Lord Davos was doing in Lucania now.
...........
The messenger dispatched by the Samnite army stationed in Poseidonia, after rushing for an afternoon and evening, finally arrived at the Samnite camp not far from Potentia in the early morning.
"What did you say?! The Daunians have surrounded Poseidonia!" Pontius leader Toledus could not sit still upon hearing this news, after all, there were 3,000 Pontius warriors left in Poseidonia to garrison the city.
"Have you investigated clearly? Which Daunian unit is it?" Hirpinian leader Virionius carefully asked the messenger.
"It's the Daunian Third Legion, we can be sure! And when they were building the camp, those soldiers were almost all shouting in Lucanian," the messenger replied confidently.
Virionius knew that the Daunian Third Legion was mainly composed of Lucanians. After hearing the messenger's words, he felt relieved: Thinking about it, it made sense.
It had been less than ten days since he led his army to invade the territory of Potentia. Based on his years of experience fighting the Greeks in the Campania region, the Daunians needed to mobilize citizens in Thurii, gather troops, prepare supplies, and then lead a large army to cross the rugged Lucanian mountains to reach here, which would take at least half a month. It was like them, who had been mobilizing and preparing ever since they reached an agreement with the Syracuse people two months ago, which led to today's massive scale.
"How many men do they have?" Toledus asked anxiously.
"Including the army of Elia, the total number exceeds ten thousand."
"Virionius!" Toledus looked at the Hirpinian leader.
Facing Toledus's piercing gaze, Virionius of course knew what the Pontius leader wanted to say.
At this time, Gaernius interrupted loudly, "This Daunian Third Legion runs quite fast! Father, we finally waited for Uncle Toledus to lead his army back, and with the Syracuse catapults, we might be able to take Grumentum tomorrow with a full-scale attack!…"
Gaernius became more and more anxious as he spoke, "The cunning Daunians don't dare to fight us head-on. They want to disrupt our plan by attacking Poseidonia. We can't—"
Virionius interrupted him loudly, "Poseidonia stores a large amount of grain to supply our army, which is crucial to us and must not be occupied by the Daunians. We must rescue Poseidonia!"
Virionius's words slightly eased Toledus's expression, "Virionius, I will now lead my tribe's warriors to rescue Pitanius and the others," he said, standing up and preparing to leave.
"Don't be anxious, Toledus," Virionius turned to look at the commander of the Caudini, "The Daunian Third Legion is a slippery fish, and I fear they will run away again this time, continuing to cause us trouble. Chief Quinctius, can you lead the Caudini warriors and the Pontius warriors to net this fish and completely eliminate it along with the Elian reinforcements!" Virionius vigorously swung his right fist in the air, "You can even continue to advance towards Elia and try to take this Greek city. In this way, the safety of Poseidonia will be even more guaranteed."
"The Caudini warriors will agree to your request," Quinctius immediately agreed, of course he was very excited to be able to plunder the Greeks, and immediately got up to leave with Toledus.
When only the Hirpinian tribal leaders were left in the tent, Gaernius complained loudly, "Father, we finally gathered a large army to launch a full-scale attack on Potentia. Now it's good, not only did you agree to let Toledus leave, but you also let Quinctius go to help. So many warriors have left at once, when will we be able to take Potentia?!"
His words were echoed by some leaders.
"Gaernius, if the great leader doesn't let Toledus leave, will he not leave?! Don't forget that there are still 3,000 Pontius warriors in Poseidonia. Toledus is the great leader of the Pontius, not the leader of the Hirpini. How could the great leader stop him! If we forcibly stop him, it will only cause disputes between our two tribes, which will be detrimental to the entire war! Therefore, the great leader has no choice but to do so," Lescus, the leader of Beneventum, defended Virionius.
Gaernius snorted, still a little unwilling.
Virionius smiled and nodded to Lescus to express his gratitude. This leader of Beneventum was favored by many tribal leaders, who believed that he was the best candidate for the next great leader. Virionius explained, "If the Daunian Third Legion hadn't come too quickly and the Pontius warriors in Poseidonia hadn't had time to repair the city defenses, Toledus wouldn't have been so panicked. That's why I let Quinctius take the Caudini warriors with him, so that the entire rescue force would have 25,000 men, enough to crush that Daunian Third Legion, so as not to let these Daunians continue to cause us trouble."
As Virionius spoke, he looked around at the leaders in the tent and said, "While they are fighting in Poseidonia, we can't be idle either. Didn't the Syracuse people say that Potentia has a high terrain and sloping mountain roads, so the… catapults are not easy to place and aim? We will take this time to build platforms for placing the catapults according to what the Syracuse people said, and at the same time continue to expand the camp and intensify the siege of Potentia…"
"Understood," Gaernius replied weakly.
Virionius glanced at him and smiled, "Not attacking Potentia now is actually beneficial to us!"
These words successfully aroused everyone's suspicion, including his son's.
"A few days ago, when the Syracuse people transported grain here, they told us, 'Dionysius's army will launch an attack on Magna Graecia in a few days.' If this is really the case, we will slow down our offensive and keep Potentia safe for the time being. Tell me, will the Daunians choose to meet the Syracuse army on the flat coast? Or will they risk the emptiness of their territory and send reinforcements to trek through the mountains and rivers to Potentia to deal with us, who are not a threat to Daonia for the time being?"
"Of course, they will turn their main force to meet the Syracuse people, because their threat is greater!" Lescus said loudly.
At this time, Gaernius also understood and said excitedly, "In this way, we don't have to worry about the Daunian reinforcements, and we can steadily eat Potentia, and even Lucania, into our stomachs!"
Seeing the atmosphere in the tent become heated, Virionius took the opportunity to say, "Therefore, we must tighten our pockets and never let anyone in Potentia slip away, because they are all our wealth!"
...........
Since the tribesmen of Potentia retreated into the city, the Samnites have not launched an attack on Potentia for some time, but this has not made the people in the city feel relieved. Anyone who saw the constantly newly built Samnite camps at the foot of the mountain, stood on the top of the mountain and looked down at the endless military tents extending westward into the distance, and the bonfires lit at night were like countless stars in the sky, could not help but feel frightened. Not to mention the trenches that surrounded the entire hill and were constantly deepened and lengthened, and the deer fences erected in front of the trenches… The Samnites wanted to catch them all in one fell swoop!
The enemy was so powerful, but there had been no news of reinforcements for some time. Potentia was like an isolated island separated from the rest of the world. Panic and unease were gradually eroding the people's courage to fight against the enemy.
Puamoetes usually tried to appear calm to boost the people's confidence, but he woke up in nightmares every night. In less than a month, he had lost more than ten pounds.
And last night he couldn't sleep at all, because the Samnites had a new siege weapon that could fire helmet-sized stones like arrows from a hundred meters away, over the city walls, destroying several wooden houses.
Puamoetes still remembered the fear in the eyes of every warrior around him so clearly that even he himself doubted whether he could hold the city.
At this time, he had no appetite to drink the meat soup brought up by the servant, but just took a few bites of the rough wheat cake, and braced himself to continue the daily work - patrolling the city.
Just as he was putting on his armor, a tribesman guarding the door rushed into the hall and shouted excitedly, "Great Chief, Lord Pollux is back!"
"Is Second Brother back?!" Pu Amote dropped his helmet to the ground in his shock, but he didn't care, asking excitedly, "Where is he?!"
"Big Brother, I'm back!" With a resounding shout, Bo Leite's robust figure appeared in the hall.
Pu Amote hurriedly went to greet him, grasping his hands tightly. "Second Brother, you're finally back! That's wonderful, you're back!" Pu Amote's voice was choked with emotion. He had never missed his warmongering brother so much as he did today. Yes, balancing the interests of various tribes and governing towns were Pu Amote's strengths, but when it came to marching into battle and boosting morale, no one could compare to his brother, who had loved causing trouble since he was a child. And more importantly…
"Has Turii sent reinforcements?" he asked urgently.
"They have! Led by Lord Davos himself, they are the two strongest legions of Daonia, totaling twenty thousand men!" Bo Leite said, equally excited.
"That's wonderful! They're finally here! May Asinu protect us!" Pu Amote covered his chest with his hand in relief, color returning to his pale face. "Where have they arrived?"
"They didn't come directly to Potentia, but went to Picexis, preparing to attack Poseidonia…" Seeing his brother so happy, Bo Leite unconsciously lowered his voice.
"Attack Poseidonia?" The smile that had just appeared on Pu Amote's face froze, replaced by anger. "Our city of Potentia is about to be breached by the Samnites, and that Davos actually takes the reinforcements to that small coastal town a hundred miles away that we don't even care about! What sinister intentions does he harbor?! Does he want to watch us be destroyed so he can swoop in and take the spoils?!…"
Bo Leite rarely saw his usually calm and gentle brother lose his temper like this, but at the moment, he wasn't in the mood to watch the show. "Big Brother, listen to me! Listen to me! Lord Davos is attacking Poseidonia to end the Samnite siege of Potentia, and even defeat them!"
Pu Amote, who was about to smash a wooden chair in the hall, dropped the chair with a "clang" and asked suspiciously, "Is that so?"
"Yes," Bo Leite said solemnly, meeting his gaze. "After receiving your urgent letter, I wanted to return to Potentia immediately from Turii, but Lord Davos sent someone to stop me because he wanted to personally lead the troops to rescue you and needed a guide who understood Potentia and the Samnites to provide him with useful advice, so I set off with the Daonian reinforcements… After Lord Davos finalized the Daonian army's plan to repel the Samnites in Picexis, he let me return to Potentia as soon as possible to cooperate with him in future military actions. He originally wanted to send a team to escort me back, but I refused.
This is where I grew up,
I am very familiar with every hill, every path, every cave, and every boulder. No matter how tightly the Samnites block it, I can sneak in. It would be dangerous to bring them along…"
Listening to Bo Leite's explanation, especially after learning about Davos's plan, Pu Amote gradually calmed down. "So the Daonians have already begun to advance towards Poseidonia, and what we need to do now is to closely monitor the movements of the Samnites at the foot of the mountain…"
"Yes," Bo Leite nodded again.
Pu Amote breathed a sigh of relief, his whole body relaxing. "Second Brother, now that you're back, I'll entrust you with the important task of leading the Potentian warriors to fight the Samnites!"
But Bo Leite shook his head. "Not yet, Big Brother."
"Why?" Pu Amote was a little puzzled.
"Because that would be too much commotion. If the Samnites were to find out that I, who should be in Turii, have returned, they might guess that Daonian reinforcements have arrived, and then Lord Davos's plan might fail! I even suggest that you temporarily conceal the news of my return!"
Pu Amote thought for a while and couldn't help saying, "Second Brother, you're right! I didn't expect that after going to Turii, you've become more careful in considering issues!"
Bo Leite was a little embarrassed. "This is all Lord Davos's reminder."
"Lord Davos?" Pu Amote then noticed the strangeness in Bo Leite's words. "I remember you didn't used to call him that."
Bo Leite recalled the scenes of acting with the Daonian army these days and talking with Davos many times, and replied seriously: "He is indeed a remarkable person!"
… … … … … … … … … …
Sipros was still hoping that the Syracuseans, after a day of marching, would rest the next day, so as to give Trina, Crotone, and Siris some buffer time to prepare for the defense of the north bank of the Lamato River.
But the people of Magna Graecia underestimated Dionysius's determination. When he went all out, his mobility and wisdom were terrifying. Back then, the Carthaginian commander Himilco led a large army to defeat the Syracusean army repeatedly, approaching the city. If it hadn't been for the support of the Spartans, Dionysius would have been driven off the throne of the tyrant by the angry people long ago. It was in this critical moment that Dionysius developed his strategy to the extreme: he took advantage of the Carthaginians being deeply troubled by the plague, led his army out of the city in the dark of night, advancing by both land and sea, feinting in the east and attacking in the west, hiding his main force, causing the experienced Himilco to misjudge and ultimately suffer a crushing defeat.
This time, in order to conquer Magna Graecia, Dionysius had built an extremely large army and a huge amount of materials. In order to win over some forces to cause trouble for Daonia, Syracuse paid a great price. Therefore, if this expedition fails, Dionysius's rule in Syracuse will inevitably be shaken. So from the time he set off from Sicily until now, he has been mentally tense these days. Don't look at his superficial contempt for Daonia, that's to give the soldiers confidence, but in his heart, he has always had a deep fear.
For this reason, he certainly understood the importance of time to the Syracusean army. Before marching yesterday, he had Locri urgently notify the Hibernians to roughly construct a camp in advance, so that after the army arrived, although it was also very chaotic, the order was much better than when landing in Locri, at least the sleep of most soldiers was basically guaranteed. Thus, early the next morning, Dionysius began to assemble his troops. Although the soldiers complained again and again, under his authority, they had to obediently break camp and head north.
At the same time, he ordered the Syracusean fleet to also head north from the port of Hibernian and sail into the Lamato River.
By noon, this disorganized and huge army reached the confluence of the Lamato River and its tributary, the Colta River.
Trina had scouts monitoring Hibernian day and night, and Hibernian also had scouts observing the north bank of the Lamato River, so Dionysius knew that a large section of the Colta River was fordable, and that there were not many defending troops on the opposite bank, so the army turned south and went straight to the middle reaches of the Colta River.
The scouts on the opposite bank quickly reported, and Sipros, the chief general of Trina, secretly groaned after learning of the Syracuseans' actions. He, who controlled nearly 7,000 Trina soldiers from the whole city, was anxious about this, but he did not dare to act rashly, because the lighthouse sentries in the port also sent an urgent report: countless Syracusean warships appeared in the bay where Trina was located, and many soldiers could be seen on board.
Sipros was worried that they would land on the northern coast of Trina, so he had to remain vigilant at all times and did not dare to send troops to assist Siris rashly.
And Siris, after receiving the emergency notification from the Trina people and the guards on the shore last night, only hastily increased the troops on the north bank of the Colta River to 12,000 this morning. But he didn't expect that just after they had stationed, the Syracusean army arrived.
Asercias, the commander of Siris, couldn't help but feel frightened when he saw the Syracusean soldiers appearing on the opposite bank, and the number was increasing, vast and boundless, and he kept cursing: Why haven't the reinforcements from Crotone arrived yet?! The troops in his hand were too thin when scattered on this long section of fordable riverbank!!
And Crotone, whom he was cursing, also realized the seriousness of the situation after receiving the Trina messenger's all-night request for help last night, and sent soldiers late at night to notify all eligible citizens inside and outside the city.
Early this morning, citizens began to report to the square one after another.
By the morning, 14,000 people had gathered in the square, and more citizens continued to arrive…
But Lysias and the generals could no longer wait, so they let Asta Mas lead this part of the army first, and the remaining citizen soldiers and supplies would arrive later.
Just as Asercias was cursing the Crotone people, the Crotone troops were rushing anxiously to Siris.
But Dionysius obviously did not intend to give the Southern Italian Allied Forces any chance to breathe. Under his urging, the Syracusean army quickly arrived on the south bank of the Colta River and began to form a formation.
During the time the army was forming, some Syracusean warships sailed into the Lamato River.
The city of Trina is not like Turii, which straddles both sides of the river. The city of Trina is located on the north bank of the river, and the land on the south bank belongs to Hibernian, so the Lamato River is the boundary river between the two city-states. Because the two cities belonged to different alliances in the past, and the Crotone Alliance and the Locri Alliance were mortal enemies, there was little contact between the two cities, and it was even more impossible to build a pontoon bridge on the river.
And most of Trina's original warships were handed over to Daonia. Of course, even if they all existed, they could not be a match for the powerful Syracusean navy. Therefore, the Trina people watched helplessly as enemy warships sailed upstream on the Lamato River one after another. But the gods were also helping the Syracuseans. At this moment, the southwest wind was blowing, saving the Syracusean sailors a lot of effort in paddling upstream.
In the bay, warships were making landing maneuvers, while in the river, warships were sailing upstream... Siproce was in a dilemma, only regretting that Siris was a small city with too few citizen soldiers. If he tried to protect the east, he couldn't protect the west. But he ultimately made a decision: send 2,000 men to quickly track the enemy ships along the north bank and prevent them from landing there.
However, when the dispatched troops advanced to the confluence of the two rivers, they had to detour because the Lamato River flowed from north to south at that point, blocking their path. Moreover, they couldn't wade across, so they had to go around to the north.
Taking this opportunity, the Syracusan warships approached the east bank of the Colta River, which flowed into the Lamato River from the south. In reality, the sailors were exhausted from frantically rowing, and the soldiers on board seized the opportunity to go ashore.
Meanwhile, Dionysius was dissatisfied that the army had been forming ranks for nearly an hour without completion, mainly because of the continuous arrival of subsequent troops. He immediately ordered: No more waiting, attack with the entire army!
The weary Syracusan soldiers stepped into the cold Colta River and charged towards the Sirian defense line on the opposite bank.
Although the Sirians were fewer in number and their defense line was thin, they were well-rested and had an absolute advantage in physical strength. For a time, they actually prevented the Syracusan army from advancing an inch in the river.
Along this winding stretch of river, more than four miles long, the Sirians fought desperately to defend their homeland, battling the Syracusan army, which outnumbered them nearly four to one, for more than half an hour. The entire river was dyed blood red...
It wasn't until the landed Syracusan soldiers arrived from the west and attacked the flank of the Sirian formation that the Sirian morale began to waver, and they finally collapsed...
Dionysius breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally led his army through the defense line of the South Italian League and entered the flat, wide edge of the Eufermia Plain...
But at this point, the Syracusan soldiers were exhausted and unable to pursue the fleeing troops any further.
After occupying the temporary camp abandoned by the Sirians, Dionysius ordered the army to rest in place.
.................
The Catanian army, which was about to reach Trina, received the news that the Syracusan army had crossed the Colta River. Achestes, greatly alarmed, immediately led his troops back while sending a messenger to explain the situation to Trina.
In the afternoon, the Crotonian reinforcements finally rushed to Siris.
The chief general of Siris, Pretines, and the high-level council members not only did not welcome the arrival of the former mother state and original ally, but instead accused them of arriving late, causing the Syracusans to occupy the north bank of the Colta River,
putting the city of Siris in a dangerous situation.
Ascamas and the other Crotonian generals did not argue in the face of the accusations, because the situation was indeed dangerous.
.................
By evening, a swift horse from the north broke the silence of the Daunian camp. Epiteles and Dracos received an urgent message from a messenger and hurried to the main tent.
"My two legion commanders, I have just received an urgent report from Siris that the Syracusans have broken through the Colta River defense line and entered the territory of Siris," Philistus said with a grave expression.
"I've always said that the armies of those South Italian city-states are unreliable!" Epiteles spat angrily on the ground. "It's made us fight a useless victory here!"
"How many Syracusan troops are in Siris?" Dracos asked anxiously.
"According to the letter from Siris, more than 50,000," Philistus said, picking up the letter from the table. Dracos snatched it and began to read. You should know that when he was the leader of the mercenaries, he was still illiterate. In recent years, in order to be able to command the legion and understand the "Military Law" and military orders, he specially participated in the adult learning class of the Thurii School. He studied very hard and made rapid progress. Reading letters was no longer a problem.
"More than 50,000?!" Epiteles exclaimed, and immediately thought: "This shows that the focus of the Syracusan attack is on the west coast, and the army here is just to contain us."
"It seems that this is the case..." Philistus nodded calmly, feeling slightly frustrated that he had failed to judge Dionysius's intentions in time.
"The Sirians are asking us in the letter to immediately withdraw to Siris and join forces with them to fight against the Syracusan army," Dracos said, looking at the two men.
"In fact, Lord Ancytanos has also written to suggest that we retreat to Siris," Philistus said, taking out another letter.
"Besides retreating to Siris, do we have any other options?" Epiteles shrugged. "If we continue to defend here and allow the Syracusans to defeat the armies of the other allied city-states on the Eufermia Plain, and then let them capture the city of Siris, then our 20,000 men will truly become fish in a net."
Philistus sighed: "If we do this, Caulonia will probably be in trouble..."
You should know that in order to reassure the Daunians to defend, the Caulonians provided them with rich food every day. After repelling the enemy's attack during the day, the Caulonians, from the council to the civilians, went out of the city to express their gratitude to them, and also held banquets for the Daunian legion commanders and officers, and sent wine to the soldiers... etc. Philistus refused the Caulonians' kindness on the grounds that the "Daunian Military Law" had regulations, but every Daunian soldier felt the Caulonians' gratitude and hospitality.
The three were silent for a while, and Dracos said helplessly: "The situation is like this, we have no choice. I only hope that Hades will bless us and let Caulonia defend its homeland. When we concentrate our forces to defeat the Syracusans, the siege of Caulonia will naturally be lifted."
"Defeat?" Epiteles keenly seized the words Dracos said and asked: "Do you think we can defeat Dionysius's army on the Eufermia Plain?"
"Why not!" Dracos pointed to the letter and retorted: "According to what is said in the letter, there are only more than 50,000 Syracusans there, and our two legions, plus the troops from Croton, Siris, and Trina, are probably more than 50,000. Don't you have confidence in our legions?! You should know that the Daunian legion soldiers are the best soldiers in the Mediterranean!" Dracos glared at Epiteles angrily.
"Who said I don't have confidence in our legion! Don't slander people here!" Epiteles was furious when he heard this. If this word spread, how could he lead the legion!
"Okay, you two, stop talking!" Philistus shouted loudly: "What time is it now, and you still have the mood to quarrel! If Lord Davos knew about your current performance, he would regret letting you two be the legion commanders!"
When Davos was mentioned, Epiteles and Dracos quieted down.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear what you just said, and you forget about it too! I don't want to hear any rumors about these words among the soldiers, understand!" Philistus stared at the two men.
Epiteles curled his lips at Dracos, while Dracos reluctantly nodded.
Philistus secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, now let's discuss the issue of how to withdraw tomorrow morning..."
....................
On the morning of this day, Pichini, the Samnite leader stationed in Poseidonia, who had been worried all night, did not see a miracle happen.
The Daunian army still appeared outside the city. They were divided into two parts: one part was building a camp, and the other part was forming ranks outside the city.
"Only more than 4,000 people want to capture my Poseidonia!" Pichini felt that he had been humiliated.
At this moment, he saw the things that were pushed to the front of the formation by the soldiers in the enemy formation, and his eyes widened in shock. He couldn't help but hold on to the battlements and lean forward, wanting to see more clearly.
Immediately afterwards, he saw seven or eight small black dots flying from the front of the enemy formation and hitting the city wall directly. The loud noise of "Boom! Boom! Boom!..." dispelled the fluke in Pichini's heart: The Daunians also have catapults!
In the following time, the Samnites nervously stared at the stone bullets that kept flying in the air, fearing that it would hit them. The city wall, which was originally dilapidated and only simply repaired, became more dilapidated after the continuous attacks of the catapults...
Pichini only hoped that the reinforcements would arrive as soon as possible.
This day was spent in the busyness of the Daunian soldiers and the anxiety of the Samnite defenders.
At dawn the next day, the bugle call of the Daunian camp was sounded. The soldiers who were awakened from their tents ignored their sleepy eyes, turned over and sat up, urging each other to quickly put on their armor.
"Report to the legion commander, a large number of enemies have appeared on the north side of the camp. It is estimated that the number exceeds 20,000 and they are advancing towards the camp!" Reconnaissance Captain Creglu reported to Alexis.
"More than 20,000 people!" Alexis was not surprised, but rather delighted. With the help of the guards, he dressed neatly, took two steps with high spirits, and said loudly: "It seems that the Samnites have great ambitions and want to swallow us in one bite! Hehe, they don't know who will eat who in the end!"
He was about to leave the tent when the curtain was lifted. First Brigade Commander Lizalu rushed in excitedly and shouted: "Legion Commander, the enemy is hooked, and more than 20,000 people have come!"
"This is enough for you to eat, right!" Alexis said jokingly.
Lizalu laughed hehe. Some time ago, after Alexis took the initiative to withdraw in the face of the attacking Samnite army in Potentia, he was not very satisfied with this and had been sulking. Now all the anger is gone, and all that remains is a strong desire to fight.
"Don't worry, let the brothers eat their fill. Today's battle may last longer! Because Lord Davos's order to our Third Army is to try our best to stick to the enemy and exhaust them, and let them invest all their forces in attacking our camp!" Alexis reminded again.
"I understand," Lizalu replied, turning around to leave, but suddenly stopped, faced Alexis, and solemnly saluted. This salute also contained his apology.
At that moment, Torek was gazing at the Daunian camp in the distance.
In fact, the Samnite reinforcements had already arrived last night, originally planning a night attack, but they discovered that the Daunians had already built a camp and were heavily guarded.
Torek was also a seasoned leader, and he knew that in the darkness, especially without moonlight, an attack by tens of thousands of people could easily lose control, causing unnecessary losses, so he restrained his impulse and postponed the attack until the next day.
As a result, the Samnite reinforcements spent the night in the mountains.
It was already early November, and the weather in the mountains was getting cold, and even if the warriors slept wrapped in fur robes, they still felt a bit chilly.
Torek rubbed his somewhat frozen hands, he really didn't expect the Daunians to build a seemingly large-scale camp so quickly.
But then he thought: this is even better, the Daunians are probably not going to escape!
He looked at the commander of the Cautini, and said in a negotiating tone: "Chief Quinctius, my people will attack from the north and east, and your people will attack from the west, what do you think?"
"I have no objection."
Quinctius nodded in agreement, then asked: "What about the south side of the enemy camp? Don't let them run away then."
"The south side."
Torek pointed to the distant city of Posidonia and said confidently: "They can't escape!"
Quinctius understood, and he said excitedly: "It seems that the Daunians have become prey that has fallen into a trap, just in time to let the warriors vent their anger from not sleeping well last night!"
Quinctius said, while stroking his somewhat cold body.
Torek looked left and right at the densely packed warriors behind him, who were eager to fight, and gave the order: "Blow the horn!"
… … … … … … … … … … … …
The long and powerful horn sound passed through the morning mist and reached Posidonia, two miles away, allowing Pithini and Mobuk, who were standing on the city wall and looking forward to it, to hear it, and they were immediately invigorated: "Did you hear that! It's our horn sound, our reinforcements have arrived!"
The Samnite warriors on the city wall all became excited and shouted.
"Warriors, be ready to go out of the city to meet them at any time, and eliminate those hateful Daunians!"
Pithini swept away the depression of yesterday and shouted loudly with high spirits.
"Roar! Roar!! … …"
The warriors shouted in unison.
… … … … … … … … … … … …
Alexis observed the enemies slowly approaching outside the camp from the watchtower, and said calmly: "The enemy is preparing to attack, let all the teams prepare!"
"I'll go now."
The adjutant turned and went downstairs.
"Next, I'll be counting on you guys."
Alexis said expectantly to Strabo, the ballista observer who was also in the watchtower.
Because the observer came from the Daunian Academy, Alexis's attitude was quite polite.
"Commander, don't worry!"
Strabo replied confidently, but his heart was beating drums.
Because of the morning mist, he couldn't see the marks he had measured outside the camp yesterday, so he could only rely on visual estimation.
… … … … … … … … … … … …
Torek commanded the troops attacking the north side of the camp.
Due to the urgency of the time, the troops did not bring the ballistae from Syracuse when they rushed to rescue, nor did they have large siege equipment, but only temporarily made dozens of ladders before resting last night.
But Torrek believed: this was enough!
Because the scouts reported that there were no other defensive facilities outside the Daunian camp except for the trench.
Therefore, with the huge reinforcements, they only needed to break through the not-so-high earthen wall of the camp in one breath, and the Daunians would only be able to sit and wait for their death inside.
When the attacking team gradually approached about 250 meters away from the camp, Torek waved his spear forward forcefully: "Attack!"
More than a dozen horn blowers simultaneously blew the ox horns in their hands, "Woo! Woo!! Woo!!! … …" echoing throughout the battlefield.
Some of the Samnite warriors carried ladders, some held long shields, and some only took javelins and spears and began to speed up their pace… …
… … … … … … … … … … … …
"Elevation angle 40, full draw, small projectile!"
Strabo shouted from the watchtower.
"Ballista prepare!"
The ballista captain issued the order: "Elevation angle 40, full draw, small projectile!"
Under the rapid operation of the soldiers, the ballista made a "squeak" sound.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! … …"
One by one, stone bullets were ejected with a strong whistling sound.
The ballista captain looked at the stone bullets flying towards the enemy, excited but also a little regretful in his heart: yesterday the ballista bombarded the city of Posidonia for a long time, which caused several ballista to be damaged, otherwise more enemies would have been killed.
Torek saw the black shadow passing overhead and secretly called out: Not good!
But he was not as surprised as General Diophantus of Lokri before.
After all, in the hearts of the Samnites, the Greeks all possessed superb skills.
Syracuse could manufacture ballistae, and of course Daonia could too.
The ballista did not frighten Torek, but instead aroused his ferocity.
He waved his short sword again and shouted: "Rush over quickly! Kill all the Greeks!"
The surrounding warriors followed with angry roars, and the roar quickly spread throughout the army.
The screams caused by the falling stone bullets were completely covered up.
The Samnites were in high spirits, and they began to accelerate towards the Daunian camp with big strides.
"One hundred meters!"
A shout came from the watchtower.
"Archers prepare!"
Ibiru, the captain of the light infantry battalion, shouted.
The archers had been waiting behind the earthen wall for a long time, and they spread out in a fan shape, drawing their bows and arrows.
Hundreds of arrows rained down on the dark mass of Samnite attacking formation, and the screams that followed were definitely not the few caused by the stone bullets.
The Samnites' weak defenses brought considerable results to the Daunian light infantry, but the intermittent screams could not weaken the Samnites' advancing pace.
The archers only fired two rounds, and the Samnites had already rushed within 50 meters.
The soldiers of the Daunian Third Legion could clearly hear the rumbling footsteps of the enemy approaching, and feel the slight tremors of the ground caused by countless feet stepping hard, and even their shouts enveloped the entire camp.
Although the soldiers were a little nervous, they were not panicked.
Because they were the Daunian Third Legion, they had made many military achievements for Daonia: they had participated in the Second Croton War, and captured the city of Asprustum alone; they had raided the city of Grumentum; they had put down the Lucanian rebellion with one legion, annihilated the forces of Sinnaces, and captured the city of Picoxis… The shining stars on the Third Legion's high-flying flag symbolize their honor!
And today's battle will surely add honor to the Third Legion!
Company Commander Hytinaus was once a Greek slave in Niumetum.
After Daonia captured Niumetum, he gained freedom, chose to settle in Niumetum, and eventually joined the Daunian Third Legion, and through his own efforts became a mid-level officer commanding 200 people.
The hatred of the past has dissipated, and now he and the Lucanian soldiers, whom he once hated and now are as close as brothers, are fighting side by side for their homeland—the Daunian League.
"Javelins!"
He shouted.
The soldiers standing on the earthen wall, who had been prepared for a long time, threw the javelins in their hands with all their might, while the Samnites who rushed to the trench in front of the camp also threw their javelins.
For a time, countless javelins constantly intersected in the air.
As the two sides who had fought each other, they already had some understanding of each other's tactics, and they raised their long shields to protect themselves.
Compared to the densely packed and poorly equipped Samnite warriors outside the camp, the Daunian soldiers were in a high position and had the protection of earthen walls and long shields, so the casualties were not large.
It was just that javelins were occasionally stuck on the long shields, making them very inconvenient to use, but there was no time to cut them off at this moment.
Although the Samnites suffered heavy casualties, the javelin rain continued.
Taking advantage of its suppression, the Samnite warriors rushed to the trench in front of the camp, jumped directly into the trench, some set up ladders, and some built human walls with several people, and began to climb upwards with all their might.
The Daunian soldiers threw javelins at the trench.
At such a close distance, almost every throw was accurate, but even so, it could not stop the onrushing tide of Samnite attacks.
"Pour oil! Pour oil quickly!"
Hytinaus shouted anxiously, while bending down to pick up the tung oil cans that had been prepared and placed behind the wall, when he heard a scream, and a soldier behind him was pierced through his left shoulder by a javelin and fell to the ground in pain.
Hytinaus vigilantly lowered his body, and slightly exposed his head behind the earthen wall to peek out, and happened to see a Samnite javelin thrower less than five meters away from the trench holding a javelin, about to throw it, but was shot down by a marksman in the camp watchtower.
Hytinaus quickly stood up and smashed the oil can down hard, hitting the head of a Samnite warrior in the trench, the oil can broke open, and the oil spilled everywhere.
Many soldiers on the earthen wall were doing the same thing as Hytinaus: torches were thrown into the trench, and a wall of fire instantly rose in the trench, and countless fire men howled and gesticulated in the trench, until they were silent… …
… … … … … … … … … … … …
"Commander, the enemies on the north side have temporarily retreated.
According to preliminary statistics, our casualties are 240 people."
The adjutant came to report.
"We've lost so many brothers before the fighting has even begun."
Although there were more Samnites lying on the ground groaning outside the camp and charred in the trenches, Alexis still frowned, and was also somewhat apprehensive about the lethality of the Samnite javelins.
He pointed to the south side of the camp and said: "Look, the enemies in the city of Posidonia are also coming out, this battle has only just begun."
"It's a pity that we brought too few oil cans!
Otherwise, if we used them in several directions together, the Samnites would have suffered much greater losses!"
The adjutant said regretfully.
"We can't blame the supply battalion, they have to load food, carry materials for building the camp, and weapons and equipment, and it's already not easy to bring so many oil cans.
Who told us that our legion's actions were so urgent, and the enemy's reinforcements came so quickly!"
Alexis comforted him and said: "Don't worry, we'll fight them slowly, anyway, they won't be able to escape in the end."
Because the most Samnite people attacked from the north, Alexis concentrated the ballistae and most of the light infantry on this side.
While Torec temporarily led the team to retreat, the 7,000 Cautinian warriors in the south, led by Quindec, had already begun to climb the earthen wall.
The first and second brigades were responsible for the defense of this side. Even Lizalu, who loved fighting, couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle when he looked at the dense crowd surging under the earthen wall and in the trenches.
"Don't panic, aim carefully before stabbing! No matter how many enemies there are, they can't get up here!" Litoru walked back and forth behind the soldiers, holding his shield and spear, observing the enemy's situation while also encouraging them loudly.
"Be careful, Brigade Commander!" The guard behind him suddenly exclaimed.
Lizalu saw a black shadow jumping down from the top of a long ladder, ignoring the soldiers' stabs, and pouncing straight at him.
The incident happened suddenly, and he didn't have time to wave his spear. Instead, he quickly threw away his shield and spear. He had just drawn the short sword from his waist when he was knocked to the ground.
Pressed to the ground by the enemy, the limbs of both sides were entangled. In the narrow space, he tried hard to push the short sword in his hand forward, but he couldn't stab into his chest because he encountered a hard object.
At this moment, the black shadow's powerful hands had already pressed hard on his eyes, and he only felt his eyes swell with pain. At this critical moment of life and death, Lizalu did not panic. He turned his right wrist upwards, and the short sword followed the hard object and forcefully picked upwards.
The black shadow groaned and fell backward, the short sword piercing through his lower jaw.
Lizalu pushed him away forcefully and immediately turned over and stood up.
The soldiers who came up stabbed the struggling enemy through and through with their spears.
Lizalu shook his dizzy head, gently rubbed his swollen eyes, and squinted his eyes to see: the man was wearing a silver-white armor, and his legs also had silver-white greaves.
As far as Lizalu knew, there were about four types of Samnite warriors: light infantry armed with spears and pikes, without any protection; infantry armed only with spears, long shields, and javelins, wearing helmets, without armor; medium infantry armed with long shields, spears, wearing helmets, with only golden breastplates; and heavy infantry wearing helmets with colorful feather crests, wearing silver armor, and with greaves, but this type of heavy infantry was not common among the Samnites, and their status in the tribe was not low.
Lizalu carefully looked at the dead man on the ground, bent down and pulled out the short sword, and waved it vigorously to wipe off the blood stains on the sword. At this time, recalling the scene just now, he was also a little scared: if he was still wearing the previous weapons and equipment, and was still using the previous curved saber (which was a curved sword, more suitable for hacking), it would be difficult to swing it in a close-quarters combat emergency and cut the enemy's neck, and instead his eyes would be blinded by the enemy's hands.
Lizalu simply held the sword in his right hand and the shield in his left, and stood in place looking forward.
At this time, most of the soldiers standing behind the wall no longer stabbed downwards, because the enemies kept climbing over the wall, so they mostly held up their long shields and pushed outwards to block the spears, while knocking the enemies into the trenches. Once the enemy lost their balance, spears and short swords would stab through the gaps in the shields.
Behind the soldiers fighting with all their strength were the second-line soldiers, who were ready to supplement them at any time, and at the same time, they had to encircle and kill those enemies who had broken in…
… … … … … … … … … … … … …
The Samnites had always looted in the land of Campania in these years, and rarely attacked strong cities. In fact, they lacked siege experience, so Torec, who had never commanded so many warriors, was full of ambition to destroy this already surrounded camp in one fell swoop, but he did not expect that this small camp would make his army stumble. The wall of fire alone caused hundreds of Pentney warriors to lose their lives, so his heart was filled with unwillingness and anger. After retreating to reorganize the attacking camp team and waiting for the fire to weaken, he blew the attack horn again.
The Samnite warriors charged forward with the fire of revenge, while the light infantry followed behind naked. They all took off their short shirts, wrapped them with large handfuls of soil, carried a javelin in one hand and a bag of soil in the other, ready to rescue the clan members on fire at any time.
When the Samnites attacking the north side of the camp braved the continuous strikes of stone bullets, arrows, and javelins, jumped into the trenches again, set up long ladders, and continued to climb up on the corpses of their clan members, the defending Daonian soldiers never threw oil jars again.
Under the protection of the guards, Torec, who was anxiously urging his clan members to attack, was almost tripped over by the soil bags placed by the light infantry in front of the trenches. He had a flash of inspiration and shouted: "Throw the soil bags down! Throw the soil bags down quickly!…"
The light infantry, led by the great leader, braved the rain of arrows and quickly concentrated on throwing soil bags into the trenches one by one… Soon, several passages were filled in the trenches. The Samnites were even more excited when they saw this situation, and continued to add soil bags, wanting to build it up to the same height as the wall.
The Daonian soldiers were also constantly stabbing the soil bags with spears, trying to destroy the enemy's attempt.
Samnite warriors surged up continuously from the "slope" built of soil bags, trying to seize the top of the wall.
The two sides faced each other shield to shield, with spears and pikes coming and going, and launched a fierce close combat.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Legate, General Latignenes (the commander of the Elia army) is asking you for help!" The adjutant rushed to the north side of the camp and reported to Alexis, who was nervously paying attention to the battle situation.
"They can't hold on so quickly!" Alexis frowned. He had Elia's troops and half a heavy infantry battalion, about 2,000 people, to defend the south side of the camp. There shouldn't be too many Samnites coming out of Poseidonia, and their defense shouldn't be too tight.
"The Elia people don't understand the Samnites' tactics, and many people have been hit by javelins, and they seem… to be frightened by the Samnites' momentum!" the adjutant explained.
"The allied army is really…" Alexis said half a sentence, and swallowed the three words "unreliable" back into his stomach: words that would destroy unity cannot be said at this time.
"Draw 400 people from the light armor battalion to aid the south camp!" The Daonian Military Law emphasized in its operational principles: Under conditional circumstances, the unit commander should retain reserves as much as possible for emergencies. Therefore, Alexis used the light armor battalion as a reserve, and now it was time to use them.
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a loud "crash" and screams in front: "The wall has collapsed!!!…"
Alexis was shocked and saw that the section of the north wall that was in contact with the enemy's soil bag-built slope collapsed under the heavy load due to the fierce fighting and trampling of the soldiers on both sides, raising a cloud of dust…
When the dust cleared, a gap about four people wide was exposed in the earthen wall, and the Samnites were rushing in from the gap, and the soldiers were desperately trying to block it…
The battle situation had finally reached the most critical moment!
"Edete, draw a company to reinforce the south, and the other light armor companies immediately push the enemy back for me!" Alexis pointed to the place where the battle was in full swing in front, and gave the order to the eager light armor battalion commander with a serious expression.
"Brothers, it's finally our turn!" Edete turned around and shouted excitedly to the light armor soldiers.
"Roar!!!" The high-spirited light armor soldiers roared in unison, which made the tension in Alexis's heart slightly dissipate.
He solemnly said to the adjutant: "You take 200 light armor soldiers and quickly go to reinforce the south! I have no reserves here, so you must hold the south wall no matter what! Latignenes can't command, so you command!"
"Understood, Legate!" The adjutant solemnly saluted and turned to leave.
At this moment, Alexis began to anxiously expect Davos's reinforcements to arrive as soon as possible…
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
In fact, on a small hill one mile east of the Daonian Third Legion's camp, Davos, Tolmides, and a group of guards were overlooking the battlefield: nearly 30,000 Samnite warriors besieged the center from the east, west, south, and north, and the small camp was like a dilapidated boat that was in danger of being swallowed by the huge waves at any time…
Tolmides couldn't help but sigh: "The Third Legion is fighting very stubbornly, and they have been able to persist for so long!"
"Yes, it's not easy!" Davos nodded in approval, and then he asked in a heavier tone: "But they are not fighting alone! Have all the troops reached their predetermined positions?"
"Yes, Supreme Commander!" The messenger Tolmides saluted and reported excitedly: "The First Legion has reached the northeast of the camp, about one and a half miles from the camp; the Second Legion has reached the southeast of the camp, more than one mile from the camp; Rhedes's cavalry has blocked the road leading to the northern mountains; Izam's reconnaissance battalion and Laos's army are rushing to Poseidonia, preparing to cut off the enemy's attempt to escape back to the city!…"
In fact, standing on this small hill, you can also roughly see the actions of each unit. They did not blow the copper horn, nor did they shout loudly, but silently and quickly lengthened the array horizontally in order to surround the enemies outside the camp, and at the same time, they kept advancing towards the camp…
"Since everything is arranged properly, let's wait quietly for the good news of victory." Davos said with a relaxed face, and then sat leisurely on the mountain rock, ready to watch the battle.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
The Samnites who were injured in the attack would try their best to retreat to the rear in order not to become a burden to their clan members or to be sacrificed under the trampling of the surging attacking crowd. But these lucky warriors who retreated to the rear found that they were not lucky, because countless black-helmeted and black-armored soldiers suddenly appeared behind them, approaching them quickly, like an boundless black tide whistling towards them.
"The Daunians are here! Daunian reinforcements are here!!… …" Along with these Samnite wounded soldiers, the archers on the watchtowers in the camp were also shouting, but they were filled with joy: "Our reinforcements are here! Our reinforcements are here!!… …"
Finally here! Alexis breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the news.
Hearing the shouts, the soldiers' morale soared. Their exhausted bodies seemed to be refilled with strength, and they roared in unison, determined to drive the intruding enemies out of the camp… …
Torec, upon hearing the shouts, was unwilling to believe it. When he turned around and saw the Daunian army rushing towards them, instantly swallowing any stragglers, all the strength in his body seemed to be drained. He staggered and fell to the ground, with only one thought in his mind: "It's over! We fell for the Daunians' trick!"
The Samnite warriors, who had been engaged in bitter fighting for a long time and were equally exhausted, were alarmed to see the fierce Daunian legionnaires attacking from behind. However, most of the warriors did not turn around and flee, but picked up their spears and turned to resist the enemy's assault. Their eyes bloodshot, they had only one thought in their minds: Fight!
However, the continuous arrival of fresh troops, as well as the attack from both front and back, made the Samnite warriors' resistance futile, and instead hindered their timely escape from the encirclement.
As the Samnites fell one after another, the remaining warriors finally lost their fighting spirit and began to rout… Some warriors were already exhausted and simply abandoned their weapons and surrendered… Therefore, after a period of fighting, it basically ended, and what remained was chasing after the fleeing soldiers.
… … … … … … … … … … …
In the Daunian camp, the soldiers of the Third Legion were either collecting the remains of their comrades, receiving treatment from the medical camp, or leaning against the earthen walls, resting on the ground…
The legion commander, Alexis, listened with a solemn expression to the adjutant's report on the legion's casualties: "According to the preliminary statistics from the medical camp, our legion suffered 412 dead, 251 severely wounded, and 537 lightly wounded, for a total of 1200 casualties…"
1200 people! Alexis clenched his fist with some emotion: accounting for 15% of the legion's main force, this casualty rate is a bit high!
Seeing the legion commander's pained expression, the adjutant quickly comforted him: "This is unavoidable. We were facing fierce Samnites who outnumbered us by about three to one…"
Alexis sighed and said nothing.
At this moment, the originally quiet camp suddenly erupted.
Alexis saw Davos leading his guards into the camp,
walking towards the center while talking and comforting the soldiers he met along the way.
Alexis hurried to meet him.
Before he could get close, Davos rushed forward and gave him a very strong hug: "Well done, Legion Commander Alexis!"
These words made the sighs, grievances, and dissatisfaction in Alexis's heart dissipate by more than half. He stood at attention and saluted, replying powerfully: "Reporting to the Supreme Commander, the Third Legion has completed its combat mission and is currently resting."
"More than just completing the combat mission!" Davos glanced at the soldiers who quickly crowded around, their faces full of dust and bloodstains, filled with exhaustion. He emotionally struck his left chest heavily with his clenched right fist: "Brothers of the Third Legion! You held the isolated camp, fighting bitterly against enemies three times your number, sacrificing yourselves to completely annihilate the attacking Samnites, making a huge contribution! You saved Potentia! You eliminated the danger of our Lucanian territory being invaded! You changed the entire northern war situation of Daonia! Not only do I thank you, but the entire Daunian people will thank you! You are the heroes of Daonia and will be remembered in the Temple of Hades in Thurii! Victory to the Third Legion!"
Davos's passionate and stirring words reached the ears of every soldier. Whether they were Lucanians or Greeks, they were moved to tears.
"Victory to the Third Legion!!!"
"Victory to Davos!!!"
"Victory to Daonia!!!"
… …
The continuous cheers resounded through the air above the camp. When the captured Samnite warriors heard this sound, their faces were filled with indescribable pain and remorse…
In this battle, Davos used the strategy of besieging the city to strike at the reinforcements, using the Third Legion as bait to attract 26,000 to 27,000 Samnite warriors to besiege. Taking advantage of their veterans' fatigue, he secretly mobilized two more legions to encircle and annihilate them… There were over 10,000 captured Samnite warriors, causing over 7,000 casualties, with only nearly 3,000 escaping into the mountains. At the same time, they easily recovered Poseidonia, obtaining a large amount of supplies and materials piled up in the city that had not yet been transferred to the Samnite camp in Potentia. It can be said to be a complete victory.
… … … … … … … … … … …
On this day, the Syracusan army, which had already broken through the north bank of the Lamato River, remained inactive. They built a simple camp at the confluence of the Lamato and Cortale Rivers, and built a pontoon bridge over the Cortale River with dozens of fast ships, so that the supplies and provisions transported from Hibernia could be smoothly sent to the Syracusan camp, and the soldiers were finally able to enjoy a full meal.
Meanwhile, the people of Terina, west of the Syracusan camp and bordering the Tyrrhenian Sea, remained in a state of panic. They sent out a large number of scouts to closely monitor the Syracusan camp; they sent envoys to Siris, while also maintaining contact with Knepetia.
In Syracuse, even with the arrival of troops from Croton, which increased their numbers to 17,000, causing the Allied forces in Syracuse to surge to 30,000, the people still felt uneasy. The Syracuse camp was less than 30 miles from the city of Syracuse, and could reach the city walls with only a few hours of marching. Now, all the people of Syracuse had abandoned their homes outside the city, bringing their families with them and fleeing into Syracuse.
Regarding Croton's all-out support, the Syracuse high command, led by Pretinus, could no longer blame them for anything. However, with the Syracuse army pressing down on them, the Croton-Syracuse Allied forces, at a disadvantage, could do nothing. The only thing they could do was send out scouts from time to time to the south to learn about the movements of the Daonian legions.
… … … … … … … … … … … …
The Daonian Fourth and Fifth Legions began to break camp early that morning. To prevent the Syracuse people from using this abandoned camp, they not only removed the tents and pulled up the wooden fences, but also demolished the earth base and filled in the trenches. The reason they expended this extra effort was to repay the kindness of the Caulonia people and to make up for the guilt in their hearts.
Last night, when Felicius informed the Caulonians of the news that "the Daonian army had to prepare to withdraw," although they knew that the matter was irreversible, Pretinus and the others still made their best efforts to retain this reinforcement army that could protect the safety of Caulonia.
Felicius could only steel himself to refuse their request.
But just as they were leaving today, almost all the people of Caulonia came out to see off the Daonian army. They not only helped the soldiers break camp, but also brought freshly baked bread, wheat porridge, and Slurry, hoping that the soldiers could have a full meal before marching.
The deep friendship and heart-wrenching words of retention from Caulonia moved many Daonian soldiers. Due to military orders, they had to go north, but the words of comfort to the Caulonia people were roughly the same: "Don't worry! As long as you hold Caulonia, we will join forces with our other allies and quickly defeat the Syracuse army, and then come to rescue you!"
Felicius said the same thing to Friniris, but in a more tactful way.
Friniris seemed not to hear the uncertainty in Felicius' words. He said with a firm expression: "We Caulonians have been besieged by Locri too many times. No one in Magna Graecia is better at defending a city than we are. We will hold on until you return. I know the Daonians are trustworthy!"
Pretinus' words made Felicius feel even more pressure.
Near dusk, the Fourth and Fifth Legions finally arrived in Syracuse, and at the same time, the Syracuse-Locri Allied forces led by Phasipessas heavily surrounded the city of Caulonia.
… … … … … … … … … … … …
In the evening, at the Southern Italy Alliance headquarters in Syracuse, Daonian Southern Front Commander Felicius, Senate Special Envoy Anistanus, Croton Commander General Ascamas, Syracuse Chief General Pretinus, Syracuse Commander General Asesias, and Trinate Envoy Asopias sat around a large wooden table, on which was placed a map of the Osaemia Plain.
Asesias stood up, holding a wooden stick, and gave an explanation of the current situation to everyone present: "Gentlemen, according to our reconnaissance, the Syracuse army is camped at the confluence of the Lamato and Corta rivers."
Asesias pointed to a mark on the map with the wooden stick: "This is the edge of the Euphymia Plain. Going west, it is only 15 miles from Trinate—"
"To be precise, it should be only 13.9 miles!" Asopias emphasized loudly.
"Ahem… Asopias, you naturally know the situation in the west much better than we do." Asesias corrected somewhat awkwardly: "The Syracuse camp is 13.9 miles from Trinate, and the terrain is flat, but it needs to cross the impassable Lamato River, which is a small trouble for the Syracuse people—"
"The Syracuse navy has already occupied the Lamato River channel, and it is easy to send the army across the Lamato River!" Asopias emphasized again.
Asesias was a little angry: "Asopias, if you like to interrupt people's words so much, why don't you give everyone an explanation!"
Asopias shook his head and said: "I am just supplementing the situation you introduced. Didn't you just say, 'We Trinates know the situation in the west much better than you'? Letting everyone present fully and meticulously understand the situation of the entire battlefield is conducive to us formulating a more reasonable response plan. Because this war is no longer a matter of Syracuse or Trinate, but a crisis that the entire Southern Italy Alliance needs to face together!"
"Asopias is right! Asesias, don't worry, speak slowly and in more detail." Pretinus quickly stepped forward to smooth things over for the two of them.
"Yes, the flames of war have burned to our territory, and everyone is a little anxious, but the more this is the case, the more we should be calm to be able to defeat the powerful enemy." Anistanus also comforted.