"Father… … , is it because the battle situation in the south has changed?" Patroclus asked hastily.
Davos was pleased with his keen war intuition. An excellent senior officer should be like this; his focus should not only be on one battle but should have a panoramic view of the overall situation. He looked at the other two. Adoris and Crotocatax also looked concerned. They had been fighting in Latium and had almost no access to outside information. Davos felt it was necessary to inform them of the situation on other battlefields.
"Since Alexius twice defeated the Samnite coalition forces at Asculum and Vinos, the Samnites have not attacked the kingdom's territory again, but instead launched a large-scale attack on the Campanian League, capturing Pompeii, Herculaneum, Tersala, and other city-states, and finally besieging Naples."
"Isn't the Campanian League in danger of being destroyed? Have we sent troops to rescue them?" Crotocatax asked in surprise.
Davos smiled and said, "Before attacking the Campanian League, something else happened. The great chieftain of the Cautini lured and killed Quinctius, the chieftain of the Nuceria, who had always maintained neutrality, and occupied the Nuceria territory. This action clearly stimulated Gernius of Abellinum. He not only decided to make Abellinum a free city of Daonia but also assisted us in attacking the Samnite tribal alliance. The military department has therefore formulated a new combat plan, allowing Alexius to lead troops to attack the Samnite mountains from the east."
"Father, I remember you once repeatedly reminded the military department not to let the army attack the Samnite mountains!" Crotocatax exclaimed in surprise. He was a little worried that the adults of the military department, Hilos and Philius, would be reprimanded by his father for acting on their own.
"Yes, I once issued such an order." Davos appeared calm and said, "But now the situation has changed. The military department secretly ordered Potentia to gather warriors and quietly join forces with the Abellinum army. They are familiar with the Samnite mountains and are good at mountain warfare. The Samnites originally wanted to lure us into attacking the mountains, but instead, we set up an ambush in Aquilonia and completely defeated a main force of theirs hidden in the mountains!
Now, Alexius is leading a coalition force of nearly 20,000 people to directly attack Beneventum, and the Samnite coalition forces besieging Naples must withdraw to defend. In this way, we have seized the initiative to fight the Samnites, whether it is confronting the Samnite coalition forces in Beneventum, or uniting with the Campanian League army to attack the Samnite towns on the eastern plains, or our remaining troops in the Daunian region taking advantage of the good opportunity of the enemy's main force being contained to continue attacking other towns in the Samnite mountains… … "
"So, the war with the Samnites no longer needs our help." Adoris's tone was somewhat disappointed. He then asked, "Father, what about the situation in Sicily?"
Davos's expression straightened, and he slowly said, "Since Praeso Ursus defeated the Carthaginian army in Minoa,
Not long after, our Sicilian fleet and the Carthaginian fleet had a great battle on the sea near Selinunte, and the result… … a great sea storm destroyed almost all the warships of both sides, Phlarius drowned, and Secrianus is still missing, and more than 10,000 sailors died."
"What?!" The three people showed shocked expressions. They never expected that while they were fighting bloody battles in the north, such a tragic loss had occurred in the southern sea!
Davos continued, "The Fourth Fleet has been transferred to Sicily, and we still have the advantage at sea. Alexius led his troops to capture Selinunte, and the remaining Carthaginian forces held on to several important towns and dared not attack, so Alexius sent troops to loot and destroy the Carthaginian-controlled areas in Sicily to achieve the goal of active defense.
However, the Carthaginian army's defeat led to Mago, the Carthaginian governor of Iberia, becoming the new commander of the Carthaginian army. Now the entire African coast and Iberia are gathering soldiers and forming armies, preparing to land in Sicily. A new war is about to begin! We must resolve the Romans and Samnites as soon as possible and rush to the south to fight our greatest enemy, Carthage!"
Davos's words made the three young men feel the urgency of the situation and also made them feel excited.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
On the day that Davos held a grand banquet, held competitions, and rewarded the soldiers in the city of Rome, the port of Utica welcomed the huge fleet carrying the Iberian army.
Utica, a Phoenician city-state on the African continent, second only to Carthage in urban scale, is located on the coast about 110 miles west of the city of Carthage.
Mago's flagship was the first to dock. Dressed in military uniform, he walked onto the pier, and the elders led by Praetacus Barcas immediately greeted him: "Lord Mago, welcome back!"
Mago gave Praetacus Barcas a warm hug and said emotionally, "Thank you for your hard work, Praetacus Barcas! Thanks to you for these past few years that I have been away! Thanks to you! … … "
Praetacus Barcas patted his thick shoulders and back and said excitedly, "It's good that you're back. Now that you're back, we have hope! … … "
Then Mago warmly greeted the other Maggonid elders.
"Lord Mago, welcome! You have finally led your army here!" An old man with white hair and beard stepped forward.
"Respected Lord Aesylubas!" Facing Aesylubas, the neutral leader and second only to Hanno in prestige in the Senate, Mago saluted and said solemnly, "Carthage is suffering a crisis. As a descendant of the city's founder, how can I sit idly by and do nothing!"
"I am very happy that you can think this way and do this way. This is exactly what all Carthaginian citizens expect of you!" Aesylubas said solemnly.
"All?!" Mago showed a sneer, pointed to the elders who came to greet him, and said, "That's not right, at least some people who are not here don't think so."
"These elders who did not come here have recruited more than 60,000 soldiers for you, and they are also raising a huge amount of grain and grass to supply this army, and they are also urging various shipyards and other allied countries to speed up the construction of warships… … So don't over-suspect your compatriots. They are also making their own efforts for the future of Carthage!" Aesylubas said earnestly.
This made Mago stop talking. He thought for a while, and his tone became more gentle: "Unlike the natives of Syracuse, Numidia, and Iberia, the Daonians are our real strong enemies. We need to do our best to defeat them! Therefore, I will try my best to maintain the unity of Carthage, and I hope that Lord Aesylubas can play a greater role in this regard!"
"Don't worry, the previous defeat has taught us a lesson. Whether it is Hanno, me, or other elders, we all hope that you can win, because failure will mean disaster for Carthage! We will do our best to support you until we drive the Daonians out of Sicily and force their king to choose a humiliating peace talk!" Aesylubas promised.
Mago expressed his gratitude for Aesylubas's kind reminder. Then he turned to look at the port, waiting for his subordinates to gather the soldiers who had landed and lead them away from the city of Utica.
Of the more than 20,000 soldiers led by Mago, there were not many Carthaginians and Phoenicians. Like the army led by Hasdrubal before, most of them were mercenaries. Their appearance and attire, which were different from those of the Carthaginians and Phoenicians, not only attracted the curious onlookers of the Uticans, but also caused the elders who came to greet them to comment on them.
At this time, several more ships docked, and a group of strong men wearing striped trousers and bare upper bodies came down from the ships. They were all unusually tall, muscular, had thick hair, were tattooed with strange patterns, had messy short hair, messy beards, and fierce faces. As soon as they landed, they caused the people in the port to exclaim in surprise.
This instead seemed to stimulate them, and they slapped their right-hand long shields with their left-hand long swords, and made a "woo woo" roar in their mouths. They looked even more ferocious, and actually scared most of the onlookers in Utica to turn around and flee. For a time, the scene was somewhat chaotic. Fortunately, their leader stopped them in time, but this did not guarantee that they could line up properly in the port.
"A group of terrible barbarians! Are they also from Iberia?" Aesylubas asked in surprise.
"Celts from the northern mountains of Iberia. They are fearless in battle, and the other natives of Iberia fear them. It just so happened that during this period, the area where they lived was hit by mountain floods, and livestock and food were washed away, and they were facing famine. I exchanged thousands of cattle and sheep for their help. I believe that with them, our war against Daonia will be even smoother!" Mago said confidently.
"Hopefully. However, this is also why the Senate decided not to let your army land in the port of Carthage. I hope you can manage your army well and not cause any trouble here, so that the people will have a bad impression of you." Aesylubas solemnly reminded him.
Mago once again expressed his gratitude for Aesylubas's kind reminder.
After all the soldiers had landed, Mago's subordinates gathered them together and led them away from the city of Utica and began to set up camp outside the city, while Mago followed the elders to the city of Carthage.
In the past ten years, although Mago had been living in southern Iberia for a long time, he had returned to the city of Carthage many times, but he never expected to encounter such a situation today: almost all the people in the city ran out and crowded on both sides of the road. As soon as he entered the city, thunderous cheers rang out around him, and the people shouted his name and threw scattered petals at him… …
Mago had never been treated like this before, and was almost startled, then looked questioningly at Pretaku beside him.
Pretaku looked at him and said meaningfully, "Lord, this is not at our instigation, but a heartfelt cheer from the people! Since the outbreak of the war, we have suffered disastrous defeats, and the Daonian army is ravaging our land in Sicily. Daonian warships constantly attack our merchant ships sailing to western Sicily for trade. The people of the Sicilian colonies are displaced, and trade is rapidly declining... They are now deeply aware that Carthage needs a hero to defeat the powerful enemy and restore Carthage's prosperity!"
"I understand, I will let them see it!" Mago said with a solemn expression, raising his right hand and waving forcefully to the surrounding audience.
The cheers grew even louder.
"Look, that Iberian king is here, making himself out to be a hero!" Ocridon said, looking at the troublemaker surrounded by the people and walking towards the Senate, with a sarcastic tone.
"A hero?! That will have to wait until he defeats the Daonians!" Tepanlaco sneered.
"He himself brought more than 20,000 troops, and here we have prepared 60,000 troops for him, and there are still 30,000 to 40,000 troops in Sicily, a total of 110,000 to 120,000 powerful troops. Whoever is the commander of this army, I am afraid they will easily win!" another elder said disdainfully.
The senators at the entrance of the Senate were whispering. Hanno, standing at the front, had a calm expression, although he did not say a word, but his heart was also surging: He had spent more than ten years trying to eliminate the influence of the Magonid family on Carthage. Even if he drove their direct family out of Carthage, he always remained vigilant towards Mago. Listen to the cheers of the whole city, doesn't it just show that the Magonid family still has a great influence in Carthage! And the reason why the people of Carthage have such a large momentum is precisely because of their concern about the war in Sicily. If he had a capable general in his hands, how could he have allowed the situation in the city to become like this?
Looking at Mago approaching him, Hanno felt both annoyed and jealous, but he maintained a calm expression, because he could not leave a bad impression on the people: He was the culprit who prevented Mago from leading the army to fight.
"Welcome, Lord Mago!" Hanno's face was full of smiles, and he praised loudly: "With your arrival, our war with Daonia has hope! Therefore, we have gathered enough citizen soldiers for you and prepared enough food, just to hear the news of your victory as soon as possible!"
Listening to his praising words and looking at his seemingly sincere smile, Mago felt a burst of nausea in his heart and couldn't help saying, "Carthage is in danger. If it weren't for the obstruction of certain people, I should have come long ago!"
Hanno turned a deaf ear and still smiled, making a gesture of invitation to enter.
Mago strode into the Senate.
Ocridon approached Hanno, wanting to say something indignantly.
Hanno stopped him with a look.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
In the meeting hall, Mago gave a speech to the senators. He solemnly described the dangerous situation currently facing Carthage, thanked the senators for their trust in him, and finally made a passionate promise: He will do his best to reverse the current unfavorable situation, defeat the Daonian army, drive the Daonian forces out of Sicily, and at the same time force Daonia to no longer invade Carthage's ally Rome, force Daonia to further open its domestic trade to Carthaginian merchants, and force it to reduce the size of its navy that poses a threat to Carthage...
What Mago said was in line with the senators' wishes, so everyone responded with warm applause.
At this time, Ocridon stood up while applauding and said coldly: "A very exciting speech! But a few months ago, Monte Adorno also said the same, but what was the result!"
A bucket of cold water was poured on Mago, who was in a state of excitement. He was even more angry that the other party compared himself to that incompetent person, and immediately retorted loudly: "Monte Adorno, that idiot, originally did not have the ability to command this war. If it weren't for the insistence of certain people, it would have been impossible for him to serve as commander. As a result, he regarded the war as a child's play, suffered a disastrous defeat, and caused Carthage to suffer huge losses. Shouldn't this responsibility be investigated to the end?!"
Hanno raised his eyebrows.
Ocridon laughed and said: "Monte Adorno is an incompetent person?! This is really ridiculous. He has fought in Numibia for many years and has never suffered a defeat, winning a large area of land for Carthage. This achievement is no less than what you have done in Iberia. This is also why the senators unanimously elected him as commander! Even so, after suffering a defeat, he was also severely punished. If there is a problem with this punishment made by the Senate, then I would like to ask Lord Hanno, more than ten years ago, Hillmico and you suffered successive defeats to Dionysius, resulting in the death of about half of the citizens of Carthage in Sicily. The losses suffered were much greater than Monte Adorno's defeat, but have you ever suffered the same punishment as Monte Adorno?! Is this fair?!"
"You are talking nonsense!!" The old scar was uncovered, Mago was extremely angry, and immediately cursed.
A faint smile appeared on Hanno's face.
Pretaku immediately stood up and shouted: "Lord Ocridon, now the army is gathered and is about to fight the Daonians. This will determine the fate of our Carthage! But you are saying these words at this time to disturb the morale of the army. I don't know what you mean?!"
"Don't scare me, Lord Pretaku. I have no other intention. I just wanted to ask Lord Mago, but before I could finish asking, I didn't expect him to react so violently." Ocridon shrugged, with an innocent look, and then said: "What I wanted to say just now is that everyone can say good things, but it must be put into action. It is not easy for us to gather so many citizens to go out to fight! And it is even more difficult to raise enough military food to supply this huge army! Our treasury, our taxes, the gold and silver we mined... all have been invested in this war, and we cannot support this war for a long time. So I want to ask, Lord Mago, to achieve the promises you just made, can you give us a specific deadline?"
Mago was stunned.
Ocridon's words were recognized by many senators. After all, Mago and Hanno had been arguing for more than a month, which can be said to have delayed the opportunity. Now that he has a large army in his hands, if he still delays, the senators will be at a loss.
Even Esjaruba took the initiative to stand up and said: "Lord Mago, Ocridon is right. The consumption of hundreds of thousands of troops is huge. We really need a relatively definite deadline so that the entire Carthage can grit its teeth and persevere during this period and do its best to provide supplies for the army."
Pretaku winked at Mago frantically.
Mago originally felt that if he could get the full support of Carthage, setting a deadline was not a bad thing, but when he saw Pretaku's wink, he hesitated again.
"It seems that Lord Mago is not very confident about whether he can defeat the Daonians." Tepanlaco said sarcastically.
Mago glared at Tepanlaco, then his sharp eyes swept towards Hanno, who was also watching him, smiled disdainfully, and said seriously and loudly: "We all know that Daonia is a powerful country. The war between us and Daonia cannot end in a short time. I also know what you mean by saying this, but I am still willing to set a deadline, both to urge myself and to give hope to the people of Carthage... 1 year! Within one year, I will do my best to drive the Daonian forces out of Sicily!"
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
The main force of the Samnite coalition entered Beneventum, and the next day received the news that "Lola was besieged by the enemy."
As soon as Segovanni received the news, he immediately requested a military meeting and said anxiously at the meeting: "We will immediately go to war, defeat the Daonian coalition in the south, and then lead the army back to support Lola."
Of course, Lesguk did not agree with this proposal. He patiently persuaded: "Great Chief Segovanni, Lola's city is strong and the garrison is not small. It is impossible for the enemy to take it down in a short time. You don't have to be too anxious. You should know that there are many enemies outside the city of Beneventum, and they have built relatively complete camps. If we attack head-on, our losses will inevitably be very large, and we may not necessarily succeed.
However, such a large army of Daonians has come from afar, and the supply of military food has become a major problem. As long as we send several troops to sneak into the mountains, bypass their camps, and attack the passage between Abellinum and their camps, cutting off their food transportation. The Daonians will inevitably be panicked and confused when they are not full. That will be the time for us to attack. Once we defeat the main force of this Daonian coalition, our situation will be much better next."
"I agree with Lesguk's opinion. We have few soldiers now and we should be cautious!" Badani said. After all, the Daonians' attack has not yet threatened the territory of Pentney, and of course he does not want to take risks.
As for Kontruk, he hesitated. Although the territory of Kalacheni is even farther away from the threat of Daonian attack, as an old man who has always taken a tough attitude to protect the interests of the Samnite race, taking a cautious strategy goes against his nature, but the Kalacheni warriors are already the fewest in number among the four races, and after several battles, there have been not small losses, which made him have to pay attention to this problem, so in the end he also agreed with Lesguk's suggestion.
Segovax was annoyed, but he had no choice but to comply with the decision.
Since Alexis learned that the main Samnite force had entered Beneventum, he no longer sent troops to press the city, and he also withdrew the ballista teams. However, the improvement and fortification of the entire camp continued.
Although the intensity of the Samnite raids on the allied camp increased, the increasingly complete camp provided sufficient protection for the soldiers. The Potentia and Abellinum warriors, who had not seen battle for more than a decade, also gained a lot of experience in successive successful defenses and became more and more adept at responding.
The Daunian allied camp, amidst constant fighting, dug deep trenches, built thick earthworks, erected strong wooden fences, built towering sentry towers, and laid out dense chevaux de frise and traps…
The Samnite allied forces sent warriors to attack the supply lines, but because Alexis had stored enough food in the camp beforehand, there was no need for military grain transport for the time being, leaving them idle.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
The next day, bad news arrived in Beneventum: the town of Aequum was under siege by the Daunian army.
Aequum, a Hirpinian town, was located directly east of Beneventum, on the edge of the eastern Samnite mountains, not far from the Daunian region. It was neither as easily defended as Aquilonia, which was located on a hilltop, nor as populous as Beneventum. The already small population had been reduced by half by the tribal allied forces conscripting troops, and the Daunian army surrounding it was said to number nearly ten thousand.
The four chieftains all understood that if there were no reinforcements, Aequum would fall quickly.
But Lisipus saw Segovax sneering at him, and remembering his words of persuasion from yesterday, he didn't mention reinforcements at all, but instead pondered how to persuade the Aequum warriors in the army and appease the wavering morale of the other tribal people.
But Badanis said worriedly, "The Daunian kingdom has a large population and so many allies. They can gather far more soldiers than we can. Now they are using this advantage to increase their attacks on us. Even if we gather all our warriors, we won't even reach 20,000. Even if we defeat the enemy outside the city, it won't change the fact that we are at a disadvantage!
Although we are not clear about how the war between Daonia and Carthage is going, it is clear that Carthage does not have the advantage. Otherwise, the Daonians would not be able to invest so many troops against us. Our original hope of relying on the Carthaginians seems to have failed. What should we do? … …" Badanis wanted to say the words "It's better to cease the war with Daonia and negotiate peace" several times, but he finally held back.
He didn't want to be scolded by that stubborn old man again.
The other three, of course, understood the meaning of his words, but even Contronius remained silent. The room was silent, and the four men were lost in thought.
In the evening, Segovax, who was anxious about the current battle situation, received another plea for help from the messenger from Lora: the Daunian-Campanian allied forces were attacking the city urgently, they had built earthen mountains higher than the city walls, and they had also created many siege weapons that had never been seen before, which posed a great threat to the defense of the city walls. If reinforcements could not be obtained immediately, Lora was in danger of being breached!
Segovax could finally sit still. He immediately went to Lisipus and demanded to lead troops back to reinforce Lora.
Lisipus certainly didn't want Segovax to lead troops away, because now the Cautini were the strongest of the four tribes. If they left, the entire allied army would probably be reduced by half.
So, Lisipus quickly advised, "The main Daunian forces are here. There won't be too many enemies attacking Lora. You only need to send one or two thousand people to reinforce it, and you can completely defend Lora. The most important thing for us now is to defeat the enemy outside the city!"
"Defeat? How to defeat?!" Segovax coldly interrupted him: "With your cowardly method?! Our warriors have been guarding in the mountains for two days, and we haven't seen a single pack animal transporting supplies! Even if we really intercept the Daunian supplies one day, I'm afraid all our towns in the Campanian plain will be lost!"
At this time, Lisipus ignored Segovax's sarcasm and simply advised, "If you are really anxious to go back, why not do this? Let's have a good discussion among the several chieftains and launch a fierce attack on the Daunian camp within two days. Defeat them first, and then return to reinforce Lora together."
"Enough! Lisipus, do you think I'm a fool like Contronius and Badanis, who can be easily fooled by you!" Segovax glared at him and shouted loudly: "In the past two days, we have sent warriors to attack the enemy's camp many times, and many warriors have been killed or injured. I believe you should be very clear about how difficult it is to attack the enemy's camp! Now, you want us to attack it forcefully. Do you want all my tribesmen to die?!
Lisipus, you are a person who can only play tricks, only knows how to talk, but hesitates and lacks decisiveness and ruthlessness. More than ten years have passed, and you have not been able to kill Gellius and pacify Abellinum. Instead, you have allowed them to become our hidden danger! We have launched a war against Daonia, and most of the actions we have taken have come from your advice. Now we have lost more than half of our warriors, but we have not yet won a single victory!
Two days ago, the Daunian camp was not as troublesome as it is now. If we had followed my advice and launched a fierce attack, we would have definitely gained a lot, but you dissuaded us. Now that the Daonians have completely repaired the camp, you want us to attack… Lisipus, I have seen through you. You are not worthy of being the chieftain of the Hirpini, nor are you worthy of being the commander of the army. You are just a poor wretch who was defeated by the Daonians more than ten years ago and has always been afraid of them!"
Having his scars exposed by Segovax, Lisipus was both ashamed and angry. A surge of anger rushed to his brain. He suddenly pounced over, held down Segovax's hand with one hand, and strangled Segovax's neck with the other.
Segovax struggled hard but could not break free. His face suddenly changed, and he shouted hoarsely, "Lisipus… what… what do you want to do?!"
"What do you think I want to do?!" Lisipus approached him with a ferocious look: "You say I'm not worthy of being the chieftain, are you worthy?! Look at your weak body, are you worthy of being called a brave Samnite warrior?! No wonder the Cautini chieftain and tribesmen have always favored Quintus to be the chieftain! If you hadn't secretly played tricks and slandered his reputation, how could you have become the chieftain! And what have you done since you became the chieftain?! You tore up the alliance with the Daonians, invaded the Campanian alliance many times, and started a war with Daonia. Not only did you suffer a crushing defeat, but you even became a prisoner yourself!…
Saying I'm not worthy of being the chieftain, are you worthy! Saying I'm not suitable for leading troops, if it weren't for me, you bastard would probably still be imprisoned by the Daonians. Not only are you not grateful, but you also insult your benefactor. Have we Samnites thrown away the tradition of repaying kindness! You say I can't deal with Gellius, is it your credit to get rid of Quintus! That was still my suggestion, and the cooperation of several chieftains. Otherwise, what method could your stupid brain come up with to solve him!"
"What are you two doing!" Contronius, who had heard the news and rushed over, entered the room and shouted loudly when he saw the two entangled together: "As tribal chieftains, instead of thinking about how to defeat our enemies, you have the mood to fight and scold here. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at by the tribesmen!"
Lisipus took the opportunity to let go of his hands and took a few steps back. His face was immediately full of apologies, and he explained loudly: "We just had a dispute over some things. I was too impulsive. I apologize to you, Segovax. I hope you can forgive me!"
Segovax rubbed his reddened neck with his hand, his cold eyes piercing Lisipus: "Forgive?! Unless you die!"
After throwing down these words, he turned around and walked out.
Contronius frowned and said dissatisfied: "Small disputes should not affect our unity, otherwise…"
"Shut up, old man!" Segovax interrupted Contronius's preaching rudely: "The three of you can unite yourselves. I'm leaving. I will lead my tribal warriors away tomorrow morning. I want to see how long Beneventum can last!" He strode out of the room.
"What… what exactly happened?!" Contronius, who was rarely insulted to his face, had an old face flushed red.
Lisipus also had an ugly look on his face, but he didn't answer.
Badanis, who had just arrived outside the door, heard the conversation between the three and quietly turned around and left.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
That night, Segovax refused to see anyone, and kept his word. Despite the repeated dissuasion of the two chieftains Lisipus and Contronius, he led 8,000 Cautini warriors out of Beneventum early the next morning.
Just as the two chieftains were looking at the empty Cautini camp in the city, complaining that Segovax was narrow-minded and disregarded the overall situation, another bad news came from the city: Chieftain Badanis had gathered more than 4,000 Pentri warriors and was about to leave the city from the north gate and return to his territory.
Lisipus was shocked: the Cautini army had already left, and if the Pentri army left as well, the Samnite tribal allied forces would be disintegrating. There would be less than 7,000 warriors left in the city, facing more than 20,000 enemies outside the city, they would be at a complete disadvantage!
So, he rushed to the north gate again, wanting to persuade Badanis.
Contronius originally followed closely behind, but soon he slowed down, because he suddenly felt that Badanis leading the team away might be a good thing. As long as he blocked the invasion of the enemy from the east and defended the territory of the Pentri, the Caraceni to the north of the Pentri would naturally be safe.
However, Contrucus did not intend to lead the team away. He was determined to abide by the ancient traditions of the Samnite tribal alliance, to defend Beneventum together with the Hirpini tribe, and to advance and retreat together.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
In the early summer mountains, the soil was still moist, the trees were already lush, the weeds were growing wildly, and the cicadas had already begun to chirp incessantly. The scorching sun penetrated the dense branches and leaves, casting wisps of mottled light onto the meadows of the mountains.
Three scouts from Abellinum were lying on the ground, swatting at the mosquitoes biting them while closely watching the winding mountain road below.
"Brother, look quickly!" A scout pointed forward and whispered in surprise.
Numerous birds soared between the mountains to the east, chirping and circling in the air.
"Let's go take a look!" The scout called "Brother" also showed a look of joy. He stood up, stretched his slightly sore legs, and then led the two men along the ridge towards the east.
Before long, they were lying on the mountain again, looking down: the mountain road more than a hundred meters away was crowded with densely packed Samnite warriors, who formed a long line, winding eastward…
Although the attire of the warriors of the four major tribes was roughly the same, and they were too far apart to see the flags clearly, the experienced Abellinum scouts could still determine that this was the army of the Caudini, because under the sunlight, the long line showed a lot of reflections, indicating that the armor penetration rate in the team was not low, and only the Caudini among the four major tribes could do this, because they, who owned the eastern plains of Campania, were the wealthiest tribe, and what's more, the direction in which this force was advancing was Caudium.
"Chief Gellius was right, the Caudini have indeed withdrawn from Beneventum, we didn't wait for this day in vain!" The leading scout couldn't hide the joy on his face.
"But we haven't found where the Nuceria are?"
"Of course you can't see clearly on this mountain, but I can roughly guess their location." The leading scout said confidently: "Since their army entered the city of Beneventum, we haven't seen the Nucerians go out of the city to fight, and they haven't even been sent to patrol the city walls, which shows the Caudini's defense against them. I think they must be in the middle of the team… That's 3,000 people, it's easy to find them.
You go back immediately and tell Chief Gellius that I, Seduni, have begun to implement the plan… And you, hurry to the Daonian camp in Lora and tell their commander that we have contacted the Nucerian army…"
"Brother,
be careful!"
"Don't worry, it's easy for me to sneak in alone."
What Seduni said was not comforting words, because the Samnite army did not always march on the mountain road like the Daonian army when marching in the mountains. When the mountain slopes on both sides became gentler, the Samnite army would separate some soldiers to march on the mountainsides on both sides, which not only shortened the length of the marching column, but also reduced the possibility of being ambushed, but it was very easy for Seduni to sneak into this army.
After he sent the two scouts away, he patted the dust off his body, carried a few javelins, and, with the cover of the trees, sneaked down the mountain, and then hid in the weeds.
After carefully listening to the conversations of the soldiers marching at close range for a short time, he decisively stood up, pretended to have just finished urinating, approached the team walking on the hillside, because he was wearing the same yellow short-sleeved shirt, and the Caudini marching column was not as rigorous as the Daonians, but more scattered, so he easily blended into the team.
Then, through subtle conversations with several Nucerian warriors around him, he decided to find the military leader of the Avella, the second largest tribe in Nuceria (the reason for not looking for the Quinctii tribe was because this tribe had been completely dismantled by Segovax, and its people had been forcibly incorporated into the various tribes of Lora and Aesernia).
"You said you are from Abellinum?" Vasones looked at the person who was trying to quietly approach him but was stopped by the guards with a stern face and a hint of excitement in his tone.
Seduni also noticed his youth. Judging from his appearance, he should have just passed 20 years old. According to Samnite tradition, it was impossible for him to lead an army of a tribe to fight, but Segovax imprisoned the leaders of the Nucerian tribes and let their young children lead the warriors of the tribe in order to better control them.
"In order to prevent some people from seeing us, we'd better talk while walking," Seduni suggested in a low voice.
Vasones subconsciously looked around and then nodded.
Seduni pretended to be Vasones's guard and followed behind Vasones with the other warriors.
Vasones couldn't wait to ask in a low voice: "How is Nuceria? ! We heard rumors in the city of Beneventum that the Daonians were angry that we killed the Hades priest and Daonian merchants in the territory. After invading the Nucerian territory, they not only killed those wolves of Segovax, but also… also… also killed all of our… our tribesmen… But familiar Caudini warriors quietly told us that your tribesmen often shouted outside the city of Beneventum, saying that the Daonians had formed an alliance with our tribesmen who stayed in the territory… There are also some other rumors, which one is true? !"
Seduni did not speak immediately, but took out something from his arms and quietly handed it to Vasones.
Vasones's eyes widened suddenly. He recognized that this was a small wooden sculpture that he liked most when he was a child.
Seduni looked at his expression and felt confident: "This is a token that your tribal elder asked me to bring to you. I also have tokens for the other tribal leaders. The truth is that the Daonian army drove away the Caudini who were stationed in the city of Nuceria and formed an alliance with the elders of the Nucerian tribes to jointly fight against the Samnite allied forces…"
Before Seduni finished speaking, Vasones hadn't responded yet, but the guards next to him were already excited. The Caudini lured and killed Quinctius, imprisoned the tribal leaders, massacred the tribesmen in the territory, forcibly forced them to go out to fight, and ignored their life and death, always letting them charge forward… A fire had long been burning in the hearts of these Nucerian warriors, but due to the strength of the Samnite allied forces and the safety of the tribesmen in the territory, they had to endure humiliation and bear the burden. Now the opportunity had come!
Someone even whispered: "Great!" Flames of revenge burst out in their eyes, staring straight at Vasones.
Vasones clenched the small wooden sculpture in his hand and said in a low voice: "When we get to Caudium, I will quietly send someone to tell the other Nucerian generals…"
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
On the same day that Segovax led the army to withdraw from Beneventum, Xanthippus, in the military camp outside the city of Lora, had decided to launch an attack on the city of Lora.
The siege had been going on for four days. Why was he so eager to attack the city? On the one hand, it was because he was worried that the Samnite allied forces would return to aid the city, causing the previous efforts to be in vain; on the other hand, his siege preparations were almost complete.
When Xanthippus first arrived under the city of Lora, he carefully observed this Caudini plain town: although it was nearly seven meters high and was a stone city, the city walls were dilapidated, the gaps in the stone walls were large, and grass even grew in some places. The moat outside the city was not very wide. Although simple deer fences were set up outside the moat, there were no traps…
Based on this, Xanthippus estimated that this Caudini town had never been attacked, so it had never been well maintained and repaired, which gave him confidence in breaking the city in the short term (in fact, last year, the Caudini invaded Campania and were defeated by the Daonian reinforcements. Moreover, the Third Legion entered Aesernia, which had already made the Caudini towns such as Lora and Aesernia, which were closer to Aesernia, feel the danger. They put "strengthening the city's defenses" on the agenda, but not long after, the all-out war between the Samnites and Daonia broke out, the young and strong tribesmen of Lora were conscripted, and the matter of repairing the city walls was delayed).
Xanthippus considered that there were few defenders in the city of Lora. Except for the enemy reinforcements that might come from the north, other areas were controlled by Daonia and its allies. Therefore, after discussing with the leaders of the Campanian army, Aiolos and others, he decided to build mounds to approach the city walls.
Building earth mounds to attack cities was a military training project that the Daonian legion usually did. Xanthippus and the soldiers were no strangers to it. After deciding to build the earth mound on the south side of the city of Lora, the engineers determined the starting point of the construction to be 40 meters away from the south city wall after surveying.
So Xanthippus ordered: most of the soldiers went to the mountains to cut down trees.
At the same time, Adrianus, the administrative officer of Herdonia, after receiving the help from Xanthippus, not only organized thousands of Herdonian people, but also sent some administrative officials. They took three days of rations, passed through the original commercial road, passed through the Nucerian territory, and arrived outside the city of Lora. After the Nucerians learned of this news, they also sent thousands of tribesmen. Subsequently, the Campanian League also sent tens of thousands of people. In less than two days, the Daonian Allied Forces camp gathered more than 30,000 people (including 12,000 Allied Forces soldiers).
Xanthippus made such a plan for building the earth mound: he first left 2,000 Campanian heavy infantry to garrison the camp to prevent the enemy from sneaking out of the city. The other soldiers went to the mountains to cut down trees. Some of the cut down wood was made into wooden fences five or six meters high, and then two hundred soldiers erected these rows of wooden fences 30 meters away from the south wall of Lora, arranging them to be 70 meters long, to resist the javelins and arrows shot by the enemies on the city wall. At the same time, there were 300 Daonian heavy infantry on standby on both sides and behind the wooden fences to prevent the enemy from going out of the city to sabotage.
Meanwhile, Enona's administrators effectively managed the massive workforce of over 20,000 people, comprised of the elderly, young, and even women, dividing them into several groups. One group prepared the felled trees, carried them down the mountain, and placed them in the area designated by the military engineers for building the earthen mound. Another group stacked these timbers in a crisscross pattern, gradually extending upwards towards the city walls. Additionally, another group carried baskets of dug-up soil, filling the wooden framework and compacting it.
The Lola garrison, watching from the southern city wall, was shocked and curious at the enemy's large-scale activity. They soon realized that a mound, approximately 50 meters wide, was rising rapidly in front of them, quickly approaching the city walls, with the entire wooden barricade moving along with it.
The Lola garrison did attempt to launch ranged attacks against the enemy constructing the mound below the city, but their javelins and arrows were either blocked by the wooden barricade or shielded by the heavy infantry behind it. Although some were injured and fell, it did not deter the allied forces. Whether Campanian or Naconian, they had all suffered greatly under the Samnites and deeply resented them. Furthermore, Enona's citizens who assisted in the battle would have their names recorded by the census officials, greatly benefiting their families' future prospects in the kingdom. Therefore, they threw themselves into the project with great enthusiasm.
The Lola garrison was forced to risk several sorties to try and destroy the wooden barricade and the mound, but they were repelled by Zanteparis's well-prepared troops. Not only did they fail, but their already limited garrison suffered considerable losses.
The Lola garrison could only watch helplessly as the mound grew closer and higher, approaching the moat and reaching almost the same height as the city wall.
Zanteparis no longer needed the wooden barricade. Instead, he sent over a thousand Daonian heavy and light infantry to stand on the mound and exchange fire with the garrison from a distance of only a dozen meters.
Although both sides suffered significant casualties, the Lola garrison, with only one-tenth the number of soldiers, could not withstand the attrition. They had to send messengers to High Chieftain Segovani repeatedly, urgently requesting reinforcements.
Aelos, the commander of the Campanian League, hesitated at Zanteparis's decision to 'storm Lola today.' He said, "The earthen mound we built hasn't reached the city walls yet. Wouldn't it be too hasty to attack at this time? Should we wait another day?"
Zanteparis patiently explained to him, "Our King Davos once said to the senior officers of the Daonian Kingdom, 'When fighting a powerful enemy, do not rashly seek a decisive battle, but carefully look for opportunities. However, once you gain a significant victory or the enemy reveals obvious weaknesses, you must attack continuously and quickly, giving the enemy no chance to breathe, completely disrupting their entire deployment...'",
"Now, the main force of the Samnite allied forces has been drawn to Beneventum. Lola and Cesara only have 1,000 enemies stationed. They think they can defend for a long time with this small number of people, but they have obviously underestimated our Daonian siege capabilities. We should take advantage of their lack of reaction and quickly capture Lola, making the entire situation more favorable to us."
"In addition, the situation on the battlefield is constantly changing. So far, we have been blessed by the gods. The weather has been good for the past few days, and today looks like another sunny day. But if it suddenly rains heavily tomorrow, it could wash away our earthen mound, making the hard work of the soldiers and civilians for the past few days all in vain, and, more importantly, delaying the opportunity. Therefore, we should take advantage of Hades' continued protection and seize the time to attack! ... Um, and ... according to our usual siege training experience, the earthen mound is also the most difficult when it is about to approach the city wall,"
"The enemy's defense will only become more rigorous. In order to speed up the progress and reduce civilian casualties, we must rely on a fierce attack to force them to reduce their attacks on the earthen mound, so that our siege can be completed faster..."
Zanteparis's earnest explanation convinced the Campanian League's generals. Everyone unanimously agreed to launch an attack on Lola today, and then they discussed the attack plan.
Zanteparis had already considered this: "The southern city wall of Lola is where the earthen mound is located, and it is the focus of the attack. I suggest using one Daonian heavy infantry battalion, one light infantry battalion, plus 1,000 Campanian light infantry and 1,000 heavy infantry, a total of 4,000 people, to focus on attacking here!"
Aelos nodded and said, "I agree with General Zanteparis's opinion. We will send these two thousand Campanian soldiers from Naples."
Zanteparis continued, "I suggest that the siege equipment made in the past few days be used to attack the western city wall of Lola. Since our Daonian soldiers can skillfully use these equipment, a Daonian heavy infantry battalion will be the main force, and another 1,000 Campanian soldiers will be added as support... 2,000 soldiers should also be arranged to attack the eastern and northern city walls with ladders, thereby dispersing the already small number of enemies in Lola and weakening their defense capabilities... Finally, there is a Daonian light infantry battalion and 1,000 Campanian soldiers left. I suggest using them as a reserve team for the final raid."
As soon as Zanteparis finished speaking, Aelos opened his mouth and said, "I think General Zanteparis's plan is very good. Naples is willing to send 1,000 soldiers to attack the western city wall together, another 1,000 Neapolitan soldiers to attack the northern side, and the remaining 1,000 Neapolitan soldiers will be left as a reserve team as General Zanteparis said, and the remaining troop quotas will be filled by the soldiers of your city-states." Aelos spoke to Zanteparis with respect, while he spoke to the other Campanian League generals with a commanding tone. New 81 Chinese Website Update Fastest Mobile Terminal: https: /
Zanteparis then realized that Naples was the leader of the Campanian League. As a military general, he didn't think too much about it. Instead, he felt that with Aelos in charge of these Campanian city-state generals, it saved him a lot of words and time.
Once the plan was finalized, it was immediately implemented.
The first to act were the allied soldiers outside the southern city of Lola. This was because the civilians were already prepared, each carrying sacks full of soil, ready to complete the final closure of the earthen mound and the city wall, which was also the most difficult moment.
Although it was called an earthen mound, it was actually a very large inclined causeway. According to the design of the Daonian engineers, its initial slope was only about 20 degrees, which was relatively gentle, extending from 40 meters away to the city wall. Because there was wood as a support and compacted soil as flesh, many soldiers stepped on it, making it not easy to slip or collapse.
More than 200 Daonian heavy infantry, each holding a long shield in their left and right hands, climbed the earthen mound in two horizontal lines, advancing towards the city wall.
The defending soldiers immediately launched a ranged attack against them, mainly with javelins.
The Daonian soldiers' double-sided shields protected themselves tightly, but even so, some soldiers were still injured by javelins that pierced through the long shields. Behind them, new heavy infantry were constantly filling the gaps in the formation.
The light infantry following behind the Daonian heavy infantry also launched an attack on the city wall. They not only threw javelins but also shot arrows, after all, the defenders on the city wall did not have the thick protection of the Daonian heavy infantry. Although some of the soldiers were armored, at least half of them were light infantry, and arrows could cause damage to them.
The heavy infantry reached the top of the earthen mound, squatted down, and raised their double-sided long shields, forming a tightly arranged shield wall, almost level with the opposite city wall, and the distance between the two sides was less than ten meters. The attacks of the defenders on the city wall were naturally more fierce, and the Daonian light infantry's counterattacks were equally fierce, because they had to suppress the attacks on the city wall and protect the safety of their comrades.
Within a distance of ten meters, javelins and arrows constantly crossed each other, so dense that they occasionally collided in the air. And the screams of both sides continued to sound, and soldiers were injured and fell to the ground.
On both sides of the earthen mound, 1,000 Campanian light infantry also took advantage of the defenders' attention being drawn to the earthen mound to quickly approach the moat and launch an attack on the enemy on the city wall to relieve the pressure on the friendly forces on the earthen mound.
At this time, the civilians carrying soil bags lined up in vertical columns, bent over and lowered their heads, risking being hit by the incoming javelins and arrows, and quickly ran to the top of the mountain.
Each Daonian heavy infantry and light infantry on the top of the mountain left a gap of more than one person between them, forming channels that could lead directly to the top of the mountain. When the civilians reached the shield wall, the heavy infantry on both sides would raise the long shields in their hands a little, exposing a certain gap below, just enough for the civilians to push the soil bags down the mountain, and then the empty-handed civilians would turn back and run back down the mountain.
Countless soil bags continued to roll into the "valley" formed between the city wall and the earthen mound. Occasionally, injured Daonian soldiers and Lola defenders fell into the valley, and before they could climb out, they were quickly buried by the soil bags, becoming a cornerstone of this man-made earthen mound.
Not only were civilians going up and down the earthen mound, but Daonian light and heavy infantry were also constantly rotating due to physical strength, injuries, and the replenishment of javelins and arrows, while below the earthen mound, the medical camp was quickly providing emergency care to the injured civilians and soldiers.
Such a busy but relatively orderly and tense scene was reflected in the eyes of Aelos, the Neapolitan commander in the rear. He couldn't help but sigh: The Daonians turned the tragic siege into an orderly, lively, and efficient construction project. This is something that no Greek city-state can do. The military capabilities of the Daonian Kingdom are too terrifying!