Giocris brought four heavy infantry battalions and one light infantry battalion. He had the 4,000 heavy infantry rapidly form an arc-shaped defensive line within the breach in the city wall, like a tough fishing net to catch the Roman soldiers rushing into the gap.
As more and more Roman soldiers poured into the defensive circle, the space was compressed, and the numbers became denser, which was conducive to the attacks of the defending soldiers on the city wall.
Especially when pot after pot of bitumen was smashed down, many Roman soldiers struggled in the flames, and the tragic scene at the breach in the western city wall of Rome the day before was reproduced, but this time the roles were reversed.
In addition, with the powerful attacks of the Fifth Legion soldiers on the front, the disorganized and extremely exhausted Roman soldiers were finally overwhelmed by fear, and they collapsed.
After Titus received the urgent news from his men, even though he felt extremely unwilling and painful, he still issued the order to retreat in order to avoid being counterattacked by the enemy along the city wall, which would lead to even greater losses.
In fact, after the Fifth Legion soldiers rushed out of the breach in the city wall, they continued to pursue, but were counterattacked by the Etruscan allied forces arranged in a military formation.
Although they were intercepted, the Etruscan soldiers did not attack with great force and did not cause casualties to the Fifth Legion soldiers. However, the cautious Giocris immediately ordered the troops to stop the pursuit after receiving the news, because the situation outside the city was unclear in the dark. He was afraid of encountering an ambush by the Romans again, especially since Prince Clototax was in the team. Although this young man with a noble status was very sensible and always followed orders, always fighting at the rear of the team, without causing Giocris any trouble, but it's better to be safe than sorry. In the end, Giocris withdrew the pursuing troops back to the city.
............
The battle of Ostia ended not long before the arrival of the next morning. The city hall of Rome, according to Davos's proposal, held a public assembly in the square.
Davos praised the brave act of the Roman commoner soldiers led by Sextus in defecting from the Roman army and joining Daonia, especially rewarding them with more land, which aroused the enthusiasm of the people to join Daonia and want to perform meritorious service for Daonia, and of course deepened the hatred of the noble families towards the Roman commoners.
During the assembly, Davos received a report from the defending soldiers on the city wall: there was a change in the Roman army camp outside the city, and there seemed to be signs of the camp being moved.
Although the movements of the Roman army outside the city were the focus of Davos's attention, he believed that accelerating the allegiance of the commoners in Rome was more important, so he still insisted on finishing the assembly before rushing to the southern city wall.
By this time it was noon, and most of the camp that the Roman army had painstakingly built yesterday had been dismantled, and there were hardly any figures walking around.
According to the soldiers' reports: throughout the morning,
the camp in front was constantly noisy, and even sounds of fighting were heard.
According to the news from the scouts: the Roman army was divided into several routes, slowly marching towards the west.
Amyntas, Matonis and other legion commanders all requested that the army be sent out to pursue while the enemy was retreating and panicking, and even force the enemy to hastily engage in a decisive battle.
After careful consideration, Davos did not adopt this proposal, because he did not believe that Camillus would be negligent when the army was retreating, and he did not want the various legions that had just experienced a great battle to face the Roman army, even though it had been divided into many troops and its strength had been greatly weakened. After all, the Romans, as a desperate army, were likely to explode with powerful combat power and cause great losses to the Daonian army.
However, Davos summoned Sextus, the new captain of the Roman reserve team, and asked him to select Roman soldiers with good horsemanship, ride the horses collected from the city, and follow the cavalry regiment out of the city to perform special tasks.
After giving this order, Davos needed to urgently convene a military meeting to discuss the issue of "massively reinforcing Ostia" with Tornides, Printoris, and the legion commanders, because judging from the direction of the Roman army's march, their target was undoubtedly the small city at the mouth of the Tiber River.
At the same time, not far to the west of Rome, two cavalry regiments caught up with the marching Roman army. They lured away more than 1,000 Roman cavalry responsible for flank protection, and then Sextus led dozens of commoners eager to make new achievements to the vicinity of the Roman army.
Then, the Roman soldiers were surprised to see these enemies wearing Roman soldier costumes, approaching within twenty or thirty meters on horseback, and then began to shout: "Roman citizens, I am Sextus (I am ###), once a Roman commoner, but now I have joined the Kingdom of Daonia. Why join them?! Because the Kingdom of Daonia has allocated me more and better Roman land, more luxurious and spacious residences, and more equal rights, and these originally belonged to the Roman nobles, but now they all belong to us!
Commoner soldiers, don't hesitate, quickly leave this hopeless army and join us! Join Daonia! You will get everything you wanted before! You will also be able to reunite with your families! Don't hesitate! Leave quickly…"
Sextus and their shouts stirred up waves among the Roman soldiers…
............…
In the leader's mansion of Abellinum, Gellner sat in the living room, his expression solemn, but without the worries of the past few days, his eyes shining brightly as he stared at the door.
Before long, several of his trusted subordinates arrived one after another.
"I have decided to send envoys to other areas of the Hirpinian tribes in accordance with the requirements of the Daonian envoy!"
Hearing this, everyone else understood that Gellner said he was sending envoys, but in fact he was sending people to infiltrate other areas of the Hirpinian, to spread words accusing "Lescuk of disregarding faith, rashly tearing up the alliance, and launching a war against Daonia without authorization, causing heavy losses to the tribes, and demanding that he be punished for this", while vigorously publicizing "The leader of Abellinum, Gellner, can help the tribes redeem their captured clansmen from Daonia."
After all, according to the decision of the previous Hirpinian tribal alliance meeting, Abellinum had been excluded from the tribal alliance, and any Hirpinian tribe was prohibited from interacting with them.
"Great, leader! We have been waiting for you to make this decision!" Tatonis shouted excitedly: "We have been aggrieved enough during this time. The Caudini, Pentri, and Carracini tribes have frequently sent envoys to warn us not to mess around during the war! Bah, now it's time to let these guys who oppress us taste the anger of the Abellinum people!"
"Leader, we really shouldn't wait quietly for this war to end. Although the Samnite priestly group has also sent people several times to say, 'As long as we support Lescuk, past mistakes will no longer be pursued.' But, everyone understands that as long as they win this war, without the obstruction of the Daonians, Lescuk will definitely use force against us! For our safety, we must seize the current favorable opportunity and take the lead in attacking them!" Maioni also expressed his support for Gellner's decision.
"Of course I understand Lescuk's conspiracy and our current precarious situation." Gellner sighed: "The reason why I hesitated before was because I considered that if we did this, we might not only wage war with Lescuk, but also worsen our relationship with other tribes and the priestly group, triggering an even greater war."
Tatonis shouted again: "Is our relationship with other tribes and the priestly group good now?! Leader, do you remember that at the tribal sacrificial conference a few years ago, you were almost jointly asked to be sanctioned by them! If a war breaks out, it will be just right to eliminate them all, and then… then you, leader, will become our… the first high chieftain of the entire Samnium!"
As soon as these words came out, the faces of everyone in the living room changed.
Gellner glared at him: "Don't talk nonsense! With our strength, it is difficult to defeat Lescuk, let alone other tribes. What we have to do now is to provide assistance to Daonia in return for Daonia's continued assistance to us!" To be honest, Gellner admired Tatonis's decisiveness and directness, which was very much like his style when he was young, but since he became the leader, he had experienced many setbacks. In order to ensure the better survival of his clansmen, there were many issues to consider, and it was impossible to do whatever he wanted.
Gellner's gaze swept across the face of everyone in the hall, and they all showed a kind of excitement that had been suppressed and then burst out. He took a deep breath and said loudly: "Since you all agree with my opinion, then we need to reconsider the relationship between Abellinum and Daonia. You all know that King Davos once suggested to me a few years ago, 'Let Abellinum become a free city like Potentia.' I did not agree at the time.
And now, if we implement Daonia's plan, it means that we will be enemies with Beneventum and other Samnite tribes, which will be an extremely difficult war! We need to obtain Daonia's full support to win the victory, so I decided—let Abellinum join Daonia and become a free city in this kingdom!"
As soon as the words were spoken, the hall became silent.
This increased Gellner's worries. He coughed dryly and hurriedly said again: "If you don't agree—"
"Ha! Ha! Ha!…" Tatonis laughed: "Leader, you have finally made this decision, and we are all relieved! When I participated in the Daonian rugby finals last year, the Gela players who competed with us also strangely asked me, 'Abellinum and Potentia are both free cities of Daonia, why can Potentia players speak Greek, but most of you can't?' Now some city-states and forces regard us as part of Daonia, and they are quite envious of us, but this often makes us feel embarrassed, because we are not, and now we can finally rest assured!"
"Yes, after Abellinum became a free city of Daonia, we can not only freely participate in regional rugby and football matches, participate in the celebration of Heracles, but also freely enter and exit the towns of Daonia to trade for the food and other goods we want... In the future, when Abellinum encounters danger and difficulties, just like the drought last year, Daonia can also provide assistance to us at any time, just like it helped Potentia..." Maioni also said excitedly.
Gerni was stunned. This was completely different from what he had expected. He asked suspiciously, "You... aren't you worried that Abellinum will no longer be our Abellinum in the future?"
"Chief, what's there to worry about! Look at Potentia, it's been more than ten years, and it's still that Potentia, but the people there are much richer than us! You know, more than ten years ago, the Lucanians there were poorer than us!..." Maioni said with emotion.
His words were recognized by the others.
Gerni suddenly understood: In the past few years, Daonia has repeatedly invited the Abellinum people to participate in the Daonia Rugby Finals and other celebrations, which has broadened the horizons of the clan people who were originally confined to the mountains. While enjoying the hospitality of the Daonians, they have also witnessed the wealth and strength of this southern neighbor, which has not only dispelled their vigilance but also generated longing. Compared with the exclusion and oppression of Beneventum and other tribes, they are more willing to choose the Kingdom of Daonia, which is not of the same race.
Thinking of this, Gerni felt both fortunate that he had made this decision in time and a little lost. He quickly gathered his emotions and said in a deep voice: "Maioni, go and see the envoy of Daonia immediately and explain to him that Abellinum is willing to become a free city of the kingdom and is willing to implement Daonia's plan immediately. However, once the plan is implemented, I believe that other Hirpini tribes will soon contact us and ask to redeem their clansmen, so you need to discuss with him how to implement the next plan."
"Uh, and—" Gerni stared at Maioni and solemnly reminded him: "You must remind the Daonian envoy not to publicly announce the news that we have become a free city of Daonia for the time being, because this will hinder us from attracting other Hirpini tribes! Moreover, we need to obtain Daonia's military support to defend against the revenge of Beneventum and other tribes!"
"Chief, I remember. I'll go do it now." Maioni got up and walked out.
..........
Quindec is the leader of the tribal alliance of the Cautini tribe in the Niconia region. He has been in this position for more than twenty years. More than ten years ago, he was ordered by the then Grand Chief of the Cautini to lead the Niconian warriors to participate in the invasion of Potentia. As a result, he was defeated and captured, stayed in Daonia for more than two years, and was finally released home.
But unlike Gerni's experience, he still received the support of the Grand Chief and soon regained the position of leader of the tribal alliance in the Niconia region.
However, a few years later, he, who was originally the most promising successor to the Grand Chief of the Cautini, lost to Segovani and failed to become the new Grand Chief of the Cautini, mainly because Segovani used the disastrous defeat of Potentia to spread unfavorable "rumors" about him, causing many tribes to abandon their support for him.
The reason why Quindec has been strengthening ties with Daonia is partly because he has witnessed Daonia's power and believes that the Cautini, and even the entire Samnite, cannot compete with it; on the other hand, he has always been brooding over his failure to be elected Grand Chief. Since then, he has never been to Cautium City again, nor has he ever seriously carried out any orders from Segovani.
And with the establishment of the town of Bapania in Aenona, the exchanges between Niconia and Daonia have become more and more frequent, not only in trade and employment, but also in culture and religion, which has greatly benefited the tribes in the Niconia region. The clansmen don't have to risk their lives every year to plunder in order to have enough to eat. When they are sick and giving birth, they have the help of the priests of Hades and Daonian doctors, and they don't have to rely solely on praying to the gods...
Other Cautini tribes need to invade the Campania League from time to time to ensure the survival and development of the tribe, while the Niconia tribes only need to develop silently. After seven or eight years, their population has increased greatly, their food is sufficient, and they have better weapons and equipment (Daonia has not prohibited the trade of ironware and weapons with Niconia), thus becoming one of the largest towns in the Cautini region, no less than Cautium.
Therefore, Quindec, who had the confidence, repeatedly strongly criticized Segovani's adventurous practices of violating the Daonian alliance treaty and plundering the Campania League, and never allowed the Niconia tribes to participate in this kind of plunder, not because he sincerely wanted to befriend the Kingdom of Daonia and the Greeks. In fact, he had never responded to Daonia's invitation to Niconia to participate in the Rugby Finals and other celebrations, and he also secretly restricted the Hades priests sent by Aenona to Niconia to preach, because he only wanted to regain the position of Grand Chief, so he opposed Segovani everywhere and undermined his prestige.
And the opportunity finally came.
Segovani invaded the Campania League again and was defeated by the Daonians, and he himself was captured. When the Cautini tribes were shocked and grieved, Quindec then jumped out and demanded that a new Grand Chief be elected immediately to help the entire Cautini tribe overcome the difficulties.
However, the tribes led by Uxibic and other Cautium leaders were unwilling to let the Niconians, who had close ties with the Daonians and even began to believe in foreign gods, take power. They first sought help from other tribes, so that the Four Tribes Conference was soon held in Cautium, and secretly obtained the Grand Chiefs' promise to "declare war on Daoria and rescue the captured clansmen."
Then, Uxibic and the others, together with the High Priest and some other regional leaders, made a statement: The Cautini tribes should now make rescuing their clansmen the primary task, and the election of the Grand Chief should be postponed.
Quindec, who was unable to get a response from other tribes, had to temporarily retreat and watch the development of the situation.
The envoys sent by the Cautini to negotiate were rejected by the Daonians, which made Quindec feel secretly pleased. But a few months later, the Samnite's surprise attack on Daonia's Daunian region shocked him. And the news that Daonia agreed to exchange prisoners of war (including Segovani) made him even more angry.
But then the Samnite's successive defeats made him secretly pleased again. On the one hand, he publicly announced: "Since the captured clansmen have been released, shouldn't the matter of re-electing the Grand Chief be put on the agenda"; on the other hand, he secretly sent people to spread the news in various regions, saying that "the reason why the Cautini suffered such a defeat before was the result of Segovani's incompetent command... Is a person who has been captured still qualified to be the Grand Chief?"... He repaid Segovani's tricks against him in the past.
Finally, this time, the tribes responded to Niconia's proposal and began to discuss the re-election of the Grand Chief, and finally set the location of this tribal assembly in Lora ( ).
Quindec was happy about this, because in the past, the location of the Cautini tribal assembly was often near Cautium in the eastern mountains, because that was the origin of the Cautini tribe, but Quindec was not at ease, after all, it was too close to the territory ruled by Segovani and Uxibic, while Lora was located in the western plain, close to Niconia, which was more beneficial to him.
What made him excited was that—this was the result of his efforts, and the fact that it could finally be realized just showed that after experiencing repeated failures, the Cautini tribes had realized that they could no longer confront Daonia, and his importance, who had a good relationship with Daonia, became prominent.
Realizing that he was already in a winning position, Quindec led the other leaders of Niconia to Lora with joy.
Because the leaders of the entire Cautini tribes, large and small, gathered in Lora with their guards, the urban area simply could not accommodate so many people, most of them camped outside the city, so the Lora area was full of tents, cattle and sheep, and a large number of people were mixed together. Frequent conflicts not only made the Lora people feel a headache, but also made the neighboring Campania League feel nervous. They strengthened their defenses while seeking support from Daonia.
In order to avoid accidents, the Lora people shortened the process of the assembly. On the third day after Quindec arrived, the ceremony of electing the Grand Chief officially began.
More than 100 leaders and tribal representatives (because the leaders of some Cautini tribes were leading the warriors of their tribes to fight against the Daonians in the east of the Samnite mountains and could not return in time, they could only send representatives) gathered in the square in the city.
Around them were warriors maintaining order. In the center of the venue, a wooden platform was built, on which sat two people, one was Sinani, the leader of the tribal alliance in the Lora region, and the other was Segovani, the Grand Chief of the Cautini, who had just been released.
Quindec had been watching Segovani ever since Segovani came to power. He had not seen Segovani for ten years. Compared with the arrogant and flamboyant image of Segovani when he was elected Grand Chief ten years ago, he was now old and gaunt, drooping his head, looking mentally decadent... It seemed that he had suffered a lot during his captivity, which made Quindec feel a burst of joy.
At this time, Sinani stood up and said loudly to the audience: "Respected leaders, welcome to Lora! Today we are gathered here for... for a very important matter related to all of us Cautini! Now please let Grand Chief Segovani announce!"
After speaking, Sinani took a deep look at Quindec, who was sitting close to the stage, then quickly lowered his eyes and sat down quietly.
In recent years, the Naconians have been unpopular in other parts of Cautini because of their closeness to Daonia, but Lola and Naconia have had a good relationship, after all, they are close neighbors, and the close relationship between Daonia and Naconia has also brought some benefits to Lola. Once, Sinani suffered from a fever, and seeking help from the priest was ineffective. In the end, Quindec learned about it and invited a Daonian doctor to treat him, which alleviated the condition. Therefore, after Quindec arrived in Lola, he immediately went to Sinani, and after receiving the full support promised by the head of the organizer, he was completely relieved.
At this moment, Sinani's expression made Quindec feel that everything was under control.
Segovani stood up under the gaze of everyone.
The election of the Grand Chief of the Samonite tribe is not necessarily held after the death of the previous Grand Chief. Sometimes, when the Grand Chief is old and frail and can no longer be competent, he will take the initiative to propose abdication and use his remaining influence to ensure that the candidate he proposes can be elected. However, it was the first time in a hundred years that Segovani was forced to resign as Grand Chief because he was captured by the enemy. Some chiefs in the audience looked at him with contempt, regret, schadenfreude... and so on.
Segovani slowly straightened his chest and stood on the stage with his head held high. In the eyes of the crowd below, there was no trace of shame, but a hint of ferocity. He said loudly: "Before I announce something important, I would like to invite a few important people to the stage!"
Following the direction of his finger, the warriors on the periphery of the platform made way for a passage, and four people walked directly onto the wooden platform.
There was a commotion in the audience, and the chiefs all looked surprised, because the four people were: Lies Gok, the Grand Chief of Hilpini, Badani, the Grand Chief of Pentney, Kontruk, the Grand Chief of Kalacheni, and Rony, the High Priest of Savoni.
Why did the four most powerful people in the entire Samonite tribal alliance, who should have been in the east of the Samonite Mountains, appear here at the same time?! What are they here for?! The same questions arose in the minds of every chief at the same time.
For Quindec, when he saw these four people appear, he was not only surprised, but also more uneasy. He immediately looked at Sinani on the stage, because when he met with Sinani before, the other party did not mention that these people would appear at today's gathering at all.
At this moment, Sinani lowered his head and dared not make eye contact with him.
After seeing these four people on stage, Segovani greeted them with a smile. The unease in Quindec's heart intensified. He suddenly stood up, turned around and was about to leave, and the other Naconian chiefs also stood up one after another.
"Chief Quindec, where are you going?!" Segovani's question came from the stage.
"Where I want to go is none of your business, you who are no longer the Grand Chief!" Even though the situation was a bit bad, Quindec's tone was still tough.
"Our priestly group and the grand chiefs of the other three tribes have unanimously decided that Segovani not only was the Grand Chief of Cautini in the past, but will also be the Grand Chief of Cautini in the future!" High Priest Rony's words caused an uproar in the audience.
"According to tradition, the priestly group and the other three tribes have no right to interfere in the internal affairs of Cautini!" Quindec roared angrily: "This is not the Holy Mountain, nor is it the territory of other tribes, this is Cautini!"
"Who said they interfered in Cautini's election!" Segovani sneered, looking around the audience: "If any chief opposes me continuing to be the Grand Chief, please stand up!"
As soon as he finished speaking, some chiefs shouted in the venue: "We support Segovani to continue to serve as the Grand Chief of the Cautini tribe!"
Some chiefs, although they opposed it in their hearts, did not dare to stand up at this moment, seeing that the situation was not good, to avoid becoming the target of Segovani's revenge in the future.
As a result, only Quindec and the other Naconian chiefs stood alone in the center of the venue.
"Segovani, is this how the election of the Grand Chief is held?!" Quindec questioned loudly.
"Now is wartime, everything should be simplified for the sake of combat. This is also the oracle of the god Savoni!" High Priest Rony interjected.
"I cannot agree with this arbitrary destruction of tradition! I will never agree with this traitor who relies on outsiders to seize the position of Grand Chief!" Quindec pointed at Segovani and said sternly, looking angrily as he was about to leave.
However, more warriors poured in from the periphery of the venue, using swords and spears to stop him from leaving.
"Segovani, what do you mean by this?!" Quindec changed color and angrily grabbed a spear pointing at him, sternly accusing: "Do you want to kill your competitor at this sacred gathering?! Then come on, pierce my chest with this spear, and let the people of Cautini see clearly what a despicable thing their originally elected Grand Chief is!"
Seeing this, the Naconian chiefs behind Quindec also shouted: "Everyone, run! Segovani is going to kill us!…"
Their shouts caused some chiefs to panic, but about one-third of the chiefs in the venue had received the news in advance and remained seated, so the venue did not get out of control.
Quindec and the seven or eight Naconian chiefs wanted to force their way out of the venue, but dozens of warriors surrounded them with spears and wooden shields, and the atmosphere was very tense.
Segovani shouted loudly on the stage: "Chiefs, I just said that I have an important matter to announce to everyone. Do you know why our looting of the Campania League suffered a disastrous defeat before?! Because the Daonians already knew our invasion plan in advance, knew that our focus of attack was in Thessela, so they sent troops to Campania in advance and ambushed them on our attack route, launching a surprise attack on us, which ultimately led to our disastrous defeat.
During my captivity, I thought painfully and also secretly obtained some information, and finally determined that there were traitors among our Cautini chiefs. They had close ties with the Daonians and knew our plans, secretly notifying them, which led to our ultimate failure! So who are these traitors?!"
Segovani's words made most of the chiefs subconsciously look at Quindec and others who were surrounded at the edge of the venue.
"The traitors are of course these people from Naconia!" A chief from Cautium pointed in the direction of Quindec and shouted angrily: "They had planned it long ago, not only refusing to participate in the looting, but also continuing to have close ties with the Daonians when we were crying for the tribesmen who died in battle and were captured, and even worshiping the gods of the Daonians! If they are not traitors, who else is a traitor!!"
The words of this chief immediately reduced the sympathy of many people present for Quindec and the others.
"Nonsense! Nonsense! Segovani, in order to cover up your own incompetence, you actually put a non-existent crime on my head!…" Quindec roared angrily.
Segovani waved his hand forcefully and said loudly: "What are you waiting for! Immediately arrest these traitors!!"
The warriors rushed forward, pressed Quindec and the others down, quickly tied them up, and gagged their mouths.
High Priest Rony also said sternly: "Everyone, we Samonites have lived on this land for hundreds of years, but now we are facing a huge crisis. The Daonians not only want to occupy our land, but also want to make us their slaves and believe in their foreign gods! For the survival and continuation of the race, our four major tribes will unite to fight against Daonia. Any tribe that passively avoids war is a sinner of Samonite and will be punished by Savoni!"
"Bring that traitor Quindec up!" Segovani shouted sternly.
The warriors escorted the coalition leader of the Naconian tribe, who was still struggling desperately, and when Quindec passed by the venue, he cast pleading glances at the nearby chiefs, who all hurriedly avoided him.
Arriving on the stage, looking at his enemy Segovani pointing at him, he shouted loudly to the audience: "Do we want to execute this traitor?!"
"Execute him! Execute him!…" Some people shouted non-stop in the audience, some were silent, but no one explicitly expressed opposition.
At this time, Quindec knew that he could hardly escape. He widened his eyes, exerted force with his legs, and suddenly broke free from the hands of the warriors pressing him behind him, and slammed into Segovani, who was inciting the audience in front of him. If Lies Gok next to him hadn't been quick-witted and pulled Segovani towards him, the Grand Chief of Cautini would have been knocked off the wooden platform.
Amidst the exclamations of the chiefs, Quindec, with his hands tied behind his back, rushed directly off the wooden platform and slammed his head on the ground, immediately covered in blood and convulsing on the ground, looking like he would not survive.
The chiefs who witnessed this tragedy all felt sympathetic.
Segovani secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly thanked Lies Gok, then glared fiercely at the other Naconian chiefs and said sternly: "Quindec has already been punished by Savoni. If you want to live, you must gather your tribesmen and declare war on the Daonians in order to be forgiven by Savoni! Choose!"
Some Naconian chiefs still glared at Segovani, while others lowered their heads and remained silent.
Lies Gok, who was on the wooden platform, looked at Quindec in the pool of blood, but what he was thinking was: How great it would be if it were Gerni instead!
But he understood: The relationship between Beneventum and Abellinum had completely broken down, and the two sides were like enemies. It was impossible for Gerni to leave Abellinum and go to other areas of Samonite alone, like Quindec.
At this time, he heard Badani, the Grand Chief of Pentney, say: "Finally helped Segovani solve this matter!"
The great chieftain of the Kalacheni, Kontrouk, said in a cold voice, "Let's hope this plan goes smoothly, otherwise—"
Although the old man didn't finish his sentence, Lesguk knew he was reminding him.
The plan for the Samnite allied forces to attack the Daonia region was mainly drafted by Lesguk. Apart from the initial successful raid, the subsequent attacks were disastrous. The three major tribes of Hirpini, Pentri, and Kalacheni suffered heavy losses. While being blamed by the other two great chieftains, Lesguk also realized that after the initial success, he had become somewhat dizzy and had forgotten to execute his original idea: do not fight the Daonians on the plains, but instead use the Samnites' expertise in mountain warfare to harass the enemy.
However, the Daonian commander in the Daonia region, even after successive victories, remained calm and was not lured by the Samnites to rashly advance into the mountains.
Lesguk and the others finally felt that they could not gain any advantage in the Daonia region, but they were unwilling to stop harassing Daonia, so that Daonia could free up its hands to concentrate on eliminating other enemies. Therefore, they had to turn their attention to the west. The weak Daonian ally, the Campanian League, and the sparsely defended Lucanian region seemed to be better targets for harassment.
Moreover, since the Caudini had suffered a disastrous defeat before and a large number of warriors had been captured, the Caudini did not send too many warriors when the Samnite allied forces attacked Daonia, so they suffered less losses. Coincidentally, the Caudini warriors who had been captured before had been released by the Daonians and returned to their tribe, making the Caudini now the strongest of the four major tribes.
Segovani, who had just returned to Caudium, readily agreed after hearing the plans of the three great chieftains. The reason was not only to repay the favor (the three major tribes used the hostages from Gruum in the Daonia region to force Daonia to release the Caudini prisoners), but also because he needed the support of the other great chieftains and the high priest to regain his position as the great chieftain. Of course, he also hated Daonia, who had given him great humiliation, and hoped to create a lot of trouble for it.
The two sides hit it off.
This is the reason why Lesguk, Kontrouk, Badani, and Ronni appeared here.
............
Aenona, a city of the Daonian kingdom on the northwestern border. Although the Samnites were at war with Daonia, and Aenona was adjacent to the Niconia region of the Caudini tribe, the city had remained peaceful. Every day, people or merchants traveled to the small town of Bapania in the northeast.
But on this day, the sentry on the city wall of Aenona saw a long line of people coming from the northeast. They were helping the old and the young, carrying packages, and driving pack animals, rushing towards the city of Aenona with panicked faces.
Walking in the front were several Hades priests in white robes. They rushed to the city guards, panting and shouting urgently, "The great chieftain of the Caudini, Segovani... led his army to occupy the city of Niconia. We were tipped off by the Niconia believers at the risk of their lives... and managed to escape first... The small town of Bapania is in danger! I have already notified Demos, the chief of the town, but there are still many people who have not left. Quickly send troops to rescue them! Quick! Quick!…"
The administrative officer in Aenona was Adrianx, who had been in office for three years and his term was coming to an end. However, due to the recent outbreaks of several wars in Daonia, and it was unlikely to end in a short period of time, his term might be extended in order to ensure the stability of the kingdom, so he continued to diligently fulfill his responsibilities with peace of mind.
In the city hall, after receiving the urgent report from the captain of the city guard, he was shocked and immediately ordered: "Quickly ring the alarm bell and put the whole city on emergency alert! Also... quickly send someone to the military camp outside the city to notify General Zantiparis to lead his troops to protect Bapania!"
"Yes, sir!"
Watching the city guard captain leave in a hurry, Adrianx looked solemn. He knew that the tranquility of Aenona had been broken, and war had come!
While worrying about the lives and deaths of the people of Bapania, he thought of another important thing, so he immediately called the scribe: "Immediately send someone to Pompeii and tell them that the Caudini are acting strangely, and tell the Campanian League to strengthen their vigilance and beware of the Caudini's re-invasion!"
Zantiparis originally came to the Lucania region on the order of the Department of Military Affairs to form a reserve army to replace the Third Legion and take on the defense tasks of the entire northwestern region of the Daonian kingdom.
Initially, he set up his garrison in the military camp near Grumentum, but after the Samnites invaded the Daonia region, Zantiparis changed his garrison to near Aenona, after all, this was the closest city to the Samnites (although Copsa was also, he believed that Abellinum as a barrier was more reliable than Niconia). Who knew that he had just painstakingly completed the establishment of the reserve legion, and the Department of Military Affairs had Epitenees take away four battalions from him, but did not allow him to expand again, which made him quite helpless.
............…
Just as the Daonian army and the Roman army were engaged in a fierce battle in the city of Ostia, Segovani led the Samnite army, holding the already subdued leader of Niconia hostage, and smoothly entered the Niconia region, forcibly occupying the settlements of the tribes that did not submit to him (including the tribe of Quintus), threatening the safety of their tribal families to force their people to follow his troops to attack the small town of Bapania in Aenona.
This small town, which was personally supervised by Aenona's administrative officer Asistus seven years ago, has become quite prosperous thanks to the frequent exchanges between Daonia and Niconia. Moreover, in order to show the Daonians' sincerity to the Niconians and eliminate their vigilance, not too many defensive forces were deployed in this small town. In addition, the enemy came suddenly, so it was easily captured.
Segovani captured the Daonian people who were still in the town, and then ordered the Niconian warriors to burn Bapania, forcing them to completely break with Daonia. Then, while leading his troops back to Niconia, he sent troops to block the mountain road leading to Aenona.
The reason why Segovani did not directly attack Aenona was a decision made by the great chieftains after the painful lessons learned in the Daonia region. They aimed their attack at the weaker and more easily bullied Campanian League.
When Segovani led his troops into Niconia, nearly 10,000 Samnite allied forces, who had been waiting for a long time in the small mountain city of Abella, quickly advanced westward, passing through Cesara and heading straight for the city of Atella, where the Caudini had suffered a great loss.
Due to the grand gathering of Caudini leaders held in Lola before, the Campanian League, led by Naples, shifted its defensive focus to the southeast and did not guard against the Samnites' surprise attack in the northeast. Atella, a small city on the border of the Campanian League's territory, quickly fell under the fierce attack of the Samnite warriors.
At the same time, Segovani, who had already burned the small town of Bapania, returned to Niconia and led 7,000 Caudini warriors (including more than 3,000 Niconians) non-stop, advancing rapidly in the southwest direction to attack Pompeii, which was only 20 miles away from Niconia.
For more than ten years, Pompeii had been living in peace with Niconia because of Daonia, and never expected that an enemy would attack from the southeast, and the attack speed was so fast. In a hurry, most of the people outside the city did not have time to retreat into the city and became prisoners of the Caudini.
............…
After receiving the order from Adrianx, Zantiparis was not excited about participating in the battle, because there was only one battalion of soldiers in the military camp.
This is actually very normal, because under normal circumstances, the soldiers of a legion bring their own rations and standard weapons and equipment from their homes to the military camp within three or four days, and conduct a military training under the leadership of the military training officer. Unless the military training department of the Department of Military Affairs notifies the entire legion to conduct joint training, usually each battalion takes turns (the training of the military camps of each legion is usually the responsibility of the military training officers sent by the military training department of the kingdom's Department of Military Affairs. The legion commander has no right to intervene, but he can observe the training situation from the side, understand the situation of his soldiers, and put forward his own training suggestions. Only after being authorized by the king and the Department of Military Affairs does he have the right to command his legion.).
Originally, under the current severe situation, Zantiparis should have concentrated all the legion's soldiers in the military camp, but in this way, when the soldiers' own rations were exhausted, the military camp would have to provide food, which was usually allocated from the nearby granaries. However, food was tight now, so Zantiparis could only let each battalion take turns to garrison the military camp.
Although there were only 1,000 soldiers in the military camp, Zantiparis still gathered them without hesitation and quickly marched towards Bapania.
At the same time, Zantiparis also ordered the messengers to rush to the four coastal towns of Aenona, Poseidonia, Elia, and Pyxous to notify the soldiers of the other battalions to gather at the military camp immediately. When Epitenees came to draw troops, he had an extra thought, and specially let Epitenees take away the battalions mainly composed of citizens from inland towns in Lucania such as Grumentum and Neetum, while leaving behind the battalions composed of citizens from coastal towns. This was for the convenience of notifying the soldiers to gather and the soldiers to arrive at the military camp in the future.
After the troops bypassed Aenona, they encountered people fleeing all the way, who shouted in panic: "The Caudini are killing! They have occupied Bapania!…"
This caused the soldiers to quicken their pace repeatedly, and even the nearly 60-year-old Zanthippus felt a little overwhelmed despite riding a horse.
After entering the mountain pass, even in such an emergency, Zanthippus had to slow down the troops to prevent an enemy ambush.
Just then, the soldiers saw flames soaring into the sky in the distance.
The scouts who had been sent out rushed back to report: The Cautini had retreated and burned down the entire town of Bapannia.
By the time Zanthippus led his army there, the prosperous town built in the valley was engulfed in flames. On the open ground south of the town were three headless corpses, with a wooden sign next to them inscribed in Greek with human blood: I have 134 Daonians in my hands. Exchange them for the captured Samnite warriors, or these corpses will be their fate!
The soldiers were filled with anger at this tragic sight and demanded to chase down the enemy and rescue the captured civilians.
The elderly Zanthippus was, of course, not as impulsive as his soldiers. He simply ordered the soldiers to collect the three corpses, form a battle line in place, and await the scouts' report.
Soon, the returned news confirmed his suspicions: There seemed to be an ambush on the mountain ridges on both sides of the road ahead, and Cautinian warriors were lined up to wait at the exit of the road.
Zanthippus did not hesitate to lead his army back. He knew that the long-standing peace between Nuceria and Daonia had been broken, and war had come to the kingdom's northwestern border. He not only had to quickly assemble the reserve legions and defend Ainona, but also had to notify the military department as soon as possible to send more troops or grant him greater command authority. Otherwise, with only these 4,000 new recruits, it would be difficult to cope with the upcoming war.
… … … … … … … … … … … … …
Pompeii was originally a small Greek city with a small population. Now that most of its residents had become prisoners, even the elderly and women of Pompeii who had taken up arms on the city walls found it difficult to resist the Segovini's premeditated attack.
By afternoon, the city fell.
The warriors' cheers made Segovanni feel relieved, but he was still not satisfied. He needed more victories to wash away the shame he had suffered before.
So, he left some warriors to garrison the city and continued to lead his army north along the coast. At dusk, he arrived at Herculaneum, which was only 15 miles away from Pompeii.
Herculaneum was located at the foot of Mount Vesuvius and was also a Greek coastal town, but it was richer than Pompeii because it was close to the Gulf of Naples, making it an affiliated trading port of Naples' prosperous maritime trade.
But the people of Herculaneum had their own pride. They believed that the history of their town was even older than that of Naples because it was the town founded by the hero Heracles (as can be seen from his name).
Having received news of the enemy's attack from the fleeing Pompeians in advance, the Herculaneans had made preparations for defense.
Seeing this, Segovanni did not order an attack on the city but camped on the spot.
Herculaneum's messengers had already rushed to Naples for help, but Naples was now facing the threat of the Samnite allied forces coming from the northeast. Originally, it was planning to send the Campanian Allied Forces to repel the enemy, but now hearing that a large number of enemies were attacking from the south, the Neapolitans, who were likely to be attacked from both sides, immediately abandoned the idea of going to war and also sent messengers by boat to Daonia for help.
(Note: After the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, not only Pompeii was buried under the volcanic ash, but also Herculaneum. Unlike Pompeii, which has been excavated, 75% of its towns are still buried and mostly intact.)
… … … … … … … … … … … … …
After Daonia won great victories in Asculum and Venusia, the Samnites were forced to retreat entirely into the mountains. Even the mountain reconnaissance squads reported that they could not see any traces of the Samnites in the hills on the border of the Daunian region.
Obviously, the severely damaged Samnite Allied Forces had abandoned their plan to continue harassing the Daunian region. However, Alexis, the commander of the Daonian Kingdom's Daunian region, did not take the opportunity to lead a large army to attack the Samnite region.
One reason was Davos's solemn reminder, "Do not enter the Samnite mountains to fight the Samnites unless you are absolutely sure." More than ten years ago, Alexis had fought the Samnites in the Lucanian mountains with the Third Legion. Although he had won a small victory, it also made him feel the power of the Samnite warriors in mountain warfare. Moreover, at that time, it was in Potentia. If it were in the Samnite mountains, the terrain would be unfamiliar, transportation would be difficult, and they would be in enemy territory, which would undoubtedly encounter more trouble.
The second reason was the food supply problem. Alexis had gathered nearly 30,000 people under his command, including three legions and a cavalry legion. The soldiers had already eaten the rations they brought with them, and the food provided by the kingdom every day was not a small amount. Now that King Davos was leading a large army on an expedition to the Latin region, the already small amount of military food would naturally be tilted more towards the expeditionary force.
The military department had already made a suggestion to Alexis: In view of the fact that the Samnites had suffered heavy losses and had stopped invading the Daunian region, it was hoped that he could disband some of the legions to reduce the supply of military food.
In addition, a few days ago, the administrative officer of Auxentum also sent a messenger to Daonia to tell Alexis a piece of news: According to pirates who came to the port to trade stolen goods, Vadarca, the former Prince of Peucetia who fled to the opposite side of the Adriatic Sea, was recruiting Peucetians, Messapians, and Daonians who had fled to mainland Greece in the Epirus region.
Therefore, Alexis finally decided to have the Ninth and Tenth Legions and the Second Cavalry Legion return to their respective regions to disband, but each military camp still retained a detachment stationed as usual. At the same time, they also had to send another detachment of soldiers with four days of rations, and the cavalry legion would send 200 cavalry to Asculum City in the Daunian region in rotation. Alexis would lead them to perform duties here.
In the Daunian military camp, every two detachments of soldiers of the 11th Legion took turns with rations and four days at a time, commanded by Capys.
The Daunian military camp was in the north, and Asculum was in the south. At the same time, there were 4,000 soldiers and 200 cavalrymen on alert in the Daunian territory, guarding the entire border adjacent to Samnium, supplemented by citizens from neighboring towns, which was enough to cope with small and medium-sized invasions by the Samnites.
Once the remnants of the enemy who fled Apulia landed in other locations in the Apulia region, the garrison troops of other military camps could first resist, and then the citizens who were ready for battle would quickly gather from various towns to the military camps under the rapid notification of the messengers, forming a complete legion, and then completely eliminate the enemy. In this way, the kingdom consumed very little military food and basically guaranteed the safety of the area.
The reason why Alexis dared to do this was because the Apulia region was a plain with basically flat terrain. In addition to the avenues connecting it, relatively flat roads were also built between the towns. Fast marching from Luceria in the north to Auxentum in the south would only take more than a day. It's just that in this way, the legion soldiers are relatively busy and are always on the move, but for the warlike Messapians and Peucetians, it is exciting to have battles to fight, merits to be gained, and land to be divided.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
In many exchanges with King Davos, the military department has established the kingdom's current strategy in this war: attack in the north and defend in the south.
The army led by Davos is attacking in the Latin region, and the troops led by Alexis in the Daunian region have ceased fighting, while the troops led by Leotychides in the more southern Sicily region have not retreated to defend, but instead, based in Selinus in western Sicily, they have launched attacks everywhere, looting all the villages and towns outside Mazara, Lilybaeum, Segesta, etc., collecting supplies to ensure an adequate food supply for the army, and disrupting the order of Carthaginian rule in Sicily, creating favorable conditions for future operations.
Leotychides adopted an offensive-defensive strategy.
Just as Davos led his army to land on the Latin coast, the drowned body of Phranius, the commander of the Third Fleet of Daonia, had been discovered in the reefs off the coast between Minoa and Agrigentum. Since the body had already rotted, Leotychides led all the soldiers and sailors of the fleet to hold a solemn cremation ceremony for him in the city of Selinus.
The whole place was filled with weeping.
However, the whereabouts of Secilian, the commander-in-chief of the Sicilian fleet, have not yet been found. Leotychides had judged that Secilian was probably captured by the Carthaginians on the coast they controlled. When exchanging prisoners with the Carthaginians, he had offered to exchange more prisoners for Secilian.
The Carthaginians did not respond.
Since the order signed by Davos "agreeing to transfer the Fourth Fleet to Sicily" had not yet reached the military department, Stephacas, the original squadron commander, temporarily assumed the responsibility of commanding the entire Sicilian fleet (in fact, the current Sicilian fleet only has dozens of warships left).
The Daonian army rampaged on the western lands of Sicily, causing great suffering to Carthage's allies and colonial cities, who all asked Lilybaeum for help.
The army in Lilybaeum was low in morale and the military system was chaotic. Bomilcar only sought to protect himself and dared not go out of the city to fight the Daonian army.
The Iberian army led by Hasdrubal, stationed in Panormus, originally had the ability to drive away the Daonians who were looting everywhere, but Hasdrubal, under the reminder of Gisgo, chose to sit on the sidelines, because in this way, the allies and colonial cities in difficult situations would have to send envoys to Carthage to ask for help, so that the senators who were still arguing would understand that the military situation in Sicily was urgent and make a decision quickly.
.......
Originally, although the Carthaginian Senate had made the decision to appoint Mago as the commander of the Sicilian army, the senators led by Hanno refused to allow Carthage to organize troops from its homeland to expedition to Sicily, citing heavy Carthaginian citizen casualties in the previous battle. Instead, they suggested that Mago should primarily lead the Iberian army, which had not suffered casualties, on the expedition.
The senators led by Praetacus of course would not agree to this proposal. They strongly called for "further investigation into the responsibility for the failure of the last war", while at the same time helping the envoys from the allied states of Sicily to publicize the tragic experiences of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians in Sicily, attempting to incite the Carthaginians' shared hatred of the enemy and push the Senate to pass the proposal to "organize troops from Carthage again and expedition to Sicily."
Time slipped away day by day amidst the disputes between the two sides. Although Mago, far away in southern Iberia, was anxious, he still politely declined the Senate's request for him to send troops immediately, citing "currently summoning troops". After all, Mago could not accept the idea of exhausting Iberia's military strength alone and letting Hanno get his wish.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
While the Italian Peninsula and Sicily were plunged into war, a major event also occurred in mainland Greece.
The Spartan King Cleombrotus finally led the assembled Spartan allied forces across the Isthmus of Corinth and entered Central Greece, summoning Spartan garrisons from various locations in the region, preparing to conquer Thebes once again and restore Sparta's authority in Central Greece.
However, in this process, the Spartan general Sphodrias, originally stationed in Thespiae, fearing accusations from the new Spartan king for failing to send troops in time to assist in suppressing the riots in Thebes earlier, and out of a desire to redeem himself, as well as out of ambition to gain glory and compete with Phoebidas, devised a plan—a night raid on Piraeus.
He believed that by seizing this commercial hub of Athens, he could not only make up for the loss of Thebes, but even win glory no less than that of Phoebidas (although many Greek city-states secretly despised it, Spartan citizens still believed that Phoebidas' successful sneak attack on Thebes was a great achievement).
Since the messengers of the new Spartan king were already on their way, Sphodrias did not have time to make more careful plans. He led his troops on the same night, heading towards Piraeus in the southeast direction, but the troops he led were unfamiliar with the terrain, and he underestimated the difficulty of the journey. As a result, before they reached Piraeus, it was already dawn.
The Athenians at the port discovered their tracks and immediately mobilized urgently to prepare for defense.
Seeing that the sneak attack had failed, Sphodrias had no choice but to return along the way. During the retreat, in order to vent his anger, the army ravaged the Athenian territory they passed through.
This unprovoked act of provocation immediately aroused great anger among the Athenians.
Sparta had previously sent envoys to accuse two Athenian generals of participating in the riots in Thebes. In order to prove their innocence, Athens executed the two generals who acted without authorization. However, the Spartan envoy did not leave, but continued to stay in Athens, claiming to be executing the orders of the Spartan Council of Elders and continuing to supervise Athens' performance in the coming period.
Now, the angry Athenians immediately arrested the Spartan envoy and angrily questioned: Why did Sparta send troops to invade Athenian territory and plunder the Athenian people for no reason?!
The Spartan envoy, who was confused by the anger of the Athenians, learned about what had happened in Piraeus in the morning, and secretly cursed Sphodrias' audacity. He immediately argued loudly: This looting operation was a stupid act of this Spartan general acting on his own initiative, and has nothing to do with the Spartan government!
Moreover, he firmly stated: The Spartan Council of Elders will quickly try Sphodrias and give Athens a fair explanation.
The Spartan envoy's defense did not completely appease the Athenians' anger.
The leading figure in Athenian politics, Thrasybulus, had died in battle a few years ago, but the outstanding Athens then had another democratic person named Callistratus emerge. He was not only an orator, but also a very capable politician. He was elected as one of the ten generals of Athens for several consecutive years. He persuaded the Athenians, who were still angry, reminding them that if Athens was not prepared to go to war with Sparta, then it was best to believe what the Spartan envoy said.
Although the Athenian citizens were angry, they also knew the strength of the Spartan military, so they finally agreed to release the Spartan envoy.
The Spartan envoy immediately rushed to the garrison of the Spartan King Cleombrotus and reported to him what had just happened in Piraeus and the Athenians' protests.
Cleombrotus then realized the stupid thing Sphodrias had done. In a fit of rage, he immediately sent someone to arrest him and send him back to Sparta.
At the same time as Sphodrias was being escorted back to Sparta, a delegation from Athens also arrived in Sparta, which forced the Spartan Council of Elders and prosecutors to speed up the trial of this general who disobeyed orders and provoked Athens without authorization.
Sphodrias seemed to be doomed, but his son had a close relationship with Agesilaus' son, Archidamus, so he urgently asked Archidamus for help.
Archidamus did not hesitate to intercede with his father for his close friend.
Agesilaus made no promises.
However, during the trial, Agesilaus spoke for Sphodrias.
He said: "Sphodrias is undoubtedly guilty, but we cannot put a good man to death. Whether in childhood, youth, or adulthood, this brave Spartan citizen has lived a decent life and diligently contributed his strength to Sparta. Sparta needs such warriors! … …"
Now, Agesilaus is highly prestigious in Sparta. His speech made some neutrals in the Council of Elders choose to support Sphodrias' innocence, and some elders originally felt that this Spartan general should not be punished.
They believed that the riots in Thebes had damaged Sparta's prestige in mainland Greece, and it was time to use war to revitalize its prestige. If Sparta punished its own generals at this time, it would not only dampen the Spartan citizens' enthusiasm for progress, but also make other city-states look down on Sparta for its self-defeating actions.
In the end, the Council of Elders passed a resolution of "Sphodrias not guilty" by a majority vote, and the prosecutors with decision-making power were originally selected from Spartan citizens. They were younger and more radical, and of course agreed with this resolution.
The Athenian citizens, who were eagerly awaiting, were shocked after learning of Sparta's verdict: When faced with Sparta's accusations, the Athenians executed their two generals! Now, faced with Athens' accusations, Sparta easily acquitted the perpetrator!
The arrogance and arrogance of the Spartans completely angered the Athenian citizens, and they strongly demanded that the Athenian government must retaliate against Sparta.
The Spartans' actions were beyond the expectations of the Athenian generals. Since the King's Peace was signed, the generals led by Callistratus and Aristotle had adopted a neutral policy of waiting and seeing, given Sparta's strength in mainland Greece. However, they were not idle, but continued to allow Athens to establish allied relations with Thrace, the Aegean Sea, and many city-states along the coast of Asia Minor. Frequent economic and trade exchanges and diplomatic mutual assistance meant that Athens' current strength had actually exceeded that before the Corinthian War.
But now the anger of the citizens made it impossible for Athens to continue its strategy of hiding its strength and biding its time. Although this was not what Callistratus wanted to see, the vast majority of citizens in the Citizen Assembly strongly supported declaring war on Sparta, and Athens finally successfully passed this resolution.
Athens' declaration of war shocked the city-states of mainland Greece, not only making the Thebans feel elated, but also making the Spartan King Cleombrotus, who was preparing to attack Thebes, feel uncomfortable. He was afraid that when he was fully attacking Thebes, the Athenian army would attack from the east again, so he became hesitant in his military operations to attack Thebes.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Camillus decisively led the army out of Rome and marched west, attacking Ostia.
Davos certainly could not allow his opponent's plan to succeed. He had to send the First Legion, the Fourth Legion, the Sixth Legion, and part of the Fifth Legion soldiers, either on merchant guild cargo ships, rushing to the port of Ostia, or marching along the north bank of the Tiber River to the mouth of the river, and then ferrying by warships to the south bank of Ostia. At this point, about 35,000 soldiers (including the reserve team temporarily formed by Telis) gathered in Ostia to fully defend against the Roman army of less than 60,000 people.
Since Davos had to be stationed in Rome, he could only appoint Amyntas as the temporary defense commander of Ostia. After repeated consideration, he believed that Amyntas, who was experienced in combat and had seniority, could make the other legion commanders obey orders and could completely defend this small city.
However, to prevent him from getting a fever in his head, Davos strictly ordered him to "only defend the city and not go out of the city to fight!"
In addition, Davos also appointed Croto Catakes, who fought in Ostia, as Amyntas' personal staff officer, ostensibly to let him follow Amyntas to learn military affairs, but secretly gave him a warrant. Once Amyntas acted without authorization, Croto Catakes could take out the warrant, remove Amyntas from his post, and replace him with Olives as commander.
This was the first time Croto Catakes had taken on an important task. He gladly accepted the task, thereby achieving another purpose of Davos: cleverly keeping his son away from the battlefield and protecting his safety.
Outside Ostia, Camillus repeatedly proclaimed that as long as they recaptured this small port city, they could negotiate with the Dionysians and ultimately peacefully recover Rome…
Encouraged by this, the Roman soldiers, eager to return home, launched fierce attacks on Ostia for two consecutive days, but were repelled by the Dionysian army. However, corpses piled up beneath the city, the ground was stained red, and the city walls collapsed in many places, demonstrating the intensity of the battle.
On the third day, the Roman army continued its attack.
........................
Meanwhile, in the Roman Senate, Davos convened a meeting. In addition to all the senators in Rome, the attendees included Lizalus, commander of the Third Legion, staff officers Printols and Tormid, and diplomat Tapirus.
"Gentlemen, Tapirus, under my commission, has visited the Etruscan city-states of Caisra, Volci, Tarquinia, and Fufluna on the north bank of the Tiber. I had hoped that these Etruscan city-states, which were once forced to submit to Rome due to its powerful military pressure, would tear up their alliance with Rome and join forces with us to attack the Roman colony on the north bank of the Tiber…" Davos said, sighing softly.
"Your Majesty, did these Etruscans disagree?" Lizalus asked hastily. As the legion commander responsible for guarding the Sublician Bridge and the newly built river port on the north bank, if the Etruscan city-states on the north bank could defect to Dionysia and attack the Roman colony, the enemy's pressure on the northern side of Rome would no longer exist, and the Third Legion could be withdrawn and deployed to other battlefields. This was the reason why Lizalus was so concerned and interrupted first.
Davos did not answer directly, but looked at Tapirus.
All eyes immediately shifted to the diplomat, who swallowed nervously and said, "After receiving His Majesty's order, I first sailed to Caisra, not only because it is the closest to us, but also because… as far as I know, it is the most friendly Etruscan city-state to the Greeks. In fact, they did receive me very warmly.
However… when I mentioned that Dionysia was willing to form an alliance with them to jointly deal with Rome, the people of Caisra politely declined, saying, 'Caisra has been on friendly terms with Rome for decades, and they will never easily abandon this friendship, but they will not participate in this war and become enemies with Dionysia.'
They also defended the Romans, saying, 'We have already captured Rome and gained the upper hand. It is best to stop the war and negotiate with the Romans at this time. This way, we can gain more benefits and ensure that the trade order in this land will not be greatly disrupted…'"
"Saying they won't be enemies with us, but these Caisrans are defending the Romans in every way," Asistes, the Roman administrator, frowned.
"The Caisrans have made it very clear. They have been friendly with the Romans for decades, but they have never had any contact with us before. If I were a Caisran, I would definitely help the Romans!" Matonis said bluntly.
Nicomachus looked at Tapirus and asked worriedly, "Since Caisra, which is the most friendly to the Greeks, is also biased towards the Romans, I'm afraid the other Etruscan city-states won't support us either, right?"
Tapirus nodded slightly and continued, "Next, I went to Volci and Tarquinia. Both of these city-states were eventually forced to submit to Rome after being attacked by Rome, and the Romans also established colonies within their territory. They expressed interest in His Majesty's proposal, but they ultimately expressed helplessly, 'The vast majority of their young and middle-aged citizens are fighting with the Roman army, so they dare not take any hostile actions against Rome now, lest they anger the Romans and endanger their citizens who are on expeditions…'"
"It seems that the Romans are still very wary of these Etruscan allies!" Antropolis, who came from the intelligence department, said with a sigh.
"Later, I went to Fufluna. A few months ago, Rome had sent troops to try to conquer this city-state, but it happened that we were at war with Rome at that time, and the Romans withdrew the troops attacking Fufluna, which was equivalent to us saving Fufluna." Tapirus continued, "However, when the Fufluna Council met with me, they did not seem enthusiastic, and they did not seem very interested in our proposal. They said to me, 'If we want to unite with you and declare war on Rome, Fufluna cannot make a decision alone. We must also consult with the Etruscan city-state alliance and reach a consensus before we can make a final decision. However, before that, they are very willing to establish friendly relations with us…'
But as far as I know, the Etruscan city-state alliance is a loose alliance and not very united. In the past few years, when Rome attacked the Etruscan city-states, this alliance did not play a role in uniting all the Etruscan city-states to resist Roman aggression, so Rome was able to conquer Volci and Tarquinia relatively easily…"
"Are you saying… the people of Fufluna are just Perfunctory us and don't intend to ally with us?" Asistes interjected thoughtfully.
Tapirus nodded and said, "After meeting with the Fufluna Council, I had my translator bribe the Fufluna councilors with money, and only then did I learn from them that although Fufluna hates Rome, they are also full of vigilance towards us outsiders, and the strength of Dionysia makes them even more worried. Back then, the Etruscans united with the Romans to drive away the Celts, but the Romans led their troops to conquer them a few years later, so they don't want to make the same mistake again. They are probably more hoping to see us and Rome suffer heavy losses, as this would be most beneficial to them…"
"These Etruscans want to get the best of both worlds! Unfortunately, I think they will only regret it in the future!" Matonis said loudly.
"I'm afraid it's not just the people of Fufluna who think this way. Other Etruscan city-states have similar ideas. They may even be more willing to trust the Romans, who they have been dealing with for hundreds of years, than us." Alcibiades, King Davos's brother-in-law, said with a serious expression, "Since yesterday, several of our cargo ships going up the river have had their trackers and sailors see small groups of Etruscan troops appearing in the distance on the north bank. Fortunately, they were guarded by the cavalry legion, so they didn't dare to approach."
"I have also received reports from the cavalry, but I think they are just scouting and dare not engage in a direct conflict with us." Ledes confirmed this information.
"Although they have not yet fought with us, they have already shown hostility. We must respond to this, otherwise these Etruscans will think we are weak and can be bullied!" Matonis said resentfully.
"Your Majesty." Asistes looked at Davos at the head of the table and said worriedly, "Because the Roman army is attacking Ostia, cargo ships from the kingdom can only be pulled by trackers from the north bank of the Tiber to the city of Rome. If the north bank is also attacked by the Etruscans, the waterway to the city of Rome will be cut off. The movement of personnel, the replenishment of soldiers, the transportation of supplies, and the supply of military food… will all become more difficult, which is not conducive to our governance of Rome!"
Hearing this, Davos began to tap his fingers lightly on the table, but his eyes gradually became sharp. He said in a deep voice, "It seems that my judgment of these Etruscan city-states was wrong. I originally thought that they were threatened by Rome and should be very willing to ally with us, but I didn't expect them to have their own ideas! Since they don't accept our kindness, then we will change our approach and deal with them, show them our military power, and let them know what terrible consequences will result from being enemies with Dionysia! I have decided—"
Davos scanned everyone and said with emphasis, "Send troops to capture Caisra!"
Upon hearing this, some were excited, while others looked troubled.
"Your Majesty, will attacking Caisra cause the Etruscan city-states to completely side with Rome?" Asistes expressed his concern.
"Lord Asistes, don't worry. Just like His Majesty said, these Etruscan city-states all have their own thoughts. Volci and Tarquinia were defeated by Rome and their territories were divided, and they harbor resentment towards the Romans, but they dare not cooperate with us only because most of their citizens are in the Roman army. And Fufluna and other city-states farther away from Rome are probably mostly taking a wait-and-see attitude… Only Caisra has close relations with Rome, and its location is too close to the Tiber River. Capturing it can not only protect our waterway transportation, but also deter other Etruscan city-states, which is conducive to persuading them to ally with us again!" Tapirus analyzed with considerable confidence.
"However, Caisra is a mountain city, located on hills that are much higher than the Capitoline Hill here, and it is not easy to capture. The current situation does not allow us to bring too many soldiers to attack. Once we fail to capture it for a long time, our army will be caught in a dilemma of fighting on two fronts!" Tormid reminded with a solemn expression.
"Although Caisra is a mountain city, many of its citizens are in the Roman army that is expeditioning against the Hernici. A few days ago, the Third Legion also captured some of their citizens. In fact, there are not many soldiers in the city of Caisra who can fight now. Your Majesty, I can quickly capture the city of Caisra with four battalions!" Epitenes loudly requested to fight.
As soon as he finished speaking, Matonis immediately refuted, "Epitenes, your troops have not even captured the Capitoline Hill these days, and you still want to attack Caisra, forget it! Your Majesty, let our Second Legion carry out this mission!"