Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 412: The choices for the legions in the south

Warships are landing in the bay and warships going upstream in the river…Siprus was in a dilemma. The only thing he hated was that Scylletium was a small city with too few soldiers. So if he wants to take care of the east, he wouldn't be able to take care of the west. In the end, he decided to send 2,000 troops to quickly track the enemy ship on the north bank and prevent them from landing.

However, the troops he sent needed to detour north because the Allaro river runs from north to south, which is just right in front of the enemy and impossible to wade across the river.

The Syracusan warship took advantage of this opportunity as they drew near the east bank of the Corta river flowing into the Allaro river from the south. In fact, the sailors were exhausted from rowing hard as the soldiers on board had to hurry to get ashore.

At this time, Dionysius became displeased at his men as they had still not finished lining up even after almost an hour. It's mainly because of the constant arrival of successive troops. So he immediately ordered, ‘There is no need to wait. All troops attack!’

The exhausted Syracusan soldiers stepped into the cold river and rushed to the defensive line arranged by the Scylletians on the other side.

Although the Scylletians are small in number and have a weak defensive line, they are all energetic and have an absolute advantage in stamina. For a while, they stopped the Syracusan army’s advancement and made them soak in the river.

On the winding river, the Scylletians fought desperately to protect their homes against the Syracusan army, which was nearly four times their number, for more than half an hour, causing the whole river to be dyed red with blood…

It wasn't until the Syracusan soldiers that landed from the west and attacked the flanks of the Scylletian formation that the Scylletian began to waver and finally collapsed…

Dionysius finally became relieved after finally leading his troops to break through the defensive line of the South Italian army and enter the edge of the flat and vast Ophemia plain…

But at this time, the Syracusan soldiers were exhausted and unable to pursue the defeated soldiers.

After occupying the temporary camp abandoned by the Scylletians, Dionysius then ordered his army to rest on the spot.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

After receiving the news that the Syracusan army had crossed the Corta river, the Clampettia army, who had almost arrived at Terina, was shocked. Asistes then immediately led the troops back and sent someone to explain the reason to Terina.

In the afternoon, Crotone's reinforcements hurried to Scylletium.

Rather than welcoming the arrival of the armies of their former mother-state and ally, the polemarchos of Scylletium, Phrytinas, along with the statesmen of the Council, accused them of being late, leading to Syracuse occupying the north bank of the Corta river and putting the city of Scylletium in danger.

In the face of their accusation, Ascamas and the other Crotonian strategoi did not defend themselves as the situation had indeed reached a dangerous point.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

In the evening, the cavalry coming from the north broke the silence of the Theonian camp. Epiphanes and Drakos hurried to the main tent after receiving a notice from the heralds.

“Two legatus, I have just received a dire report from Scylletium. The Syracusans broke through the defensive line on the north bank of the Corta river and stepped into the territory of Scylletium.” Philesius said gravely.

“I have kept saying that the armies of the city-states of the South Italia Alliance are unreliable!” Epiphanes spat on the ground and said angrily, “The battle that we have won here is for nothing!”

“How many soldiers does the Syracusan army has?” Asked Drakos hurriedly.

“According to Scylletian messenger, they have more than 50,000 men.” Philesius picked up the letter on the table. Drakos then grabbed it and opened it. Back when he was a mercenary leader, Drakos was illiterate. It was only in recent years that he studied hard and made rapid progress in order to command the legion and understand the military law and orders that he specially attended the adult classes at the school of Thurii. Thus he no longer has a problem in reading.

“More than 50,000 men?!” When Epiphanes exclaimed, he immediately thought, “This shows that Syracuse's aim is on the west coast, and the army here is just to contain us.”

“Most likely…” Philesius nodded calmly, but his heart was slightly depressed that he could not judge Dionysius' intention in time.

“In the letter, the Scylletians asked us to immediately withdraw to Scylletium and join them against the Syracusan army.” Drakos then stared at them.

“In fact, Lord Ansitanos also suggested that we retreat back to Scylletium.” Philesius then took out another letter.

“Do we have other choices besides retreating to Scylletium?” Epiphanes shrugged and added, “If we continue defending here, and let Syracuse defeat the armies of our allies on the Ophemia plain and have them seize Scylletium, then our 20,000 troops here will really become fishes caught in a net.”

Philesius sighed, “It's just that by doing so, Caulonia would be in trouble. I am afraid that…”

After all, in order to make the Theonians feel at ease in their defence, the Caulonians provided them with abundant food every day. And after they repelled the enemy's attack during the day, the Caulonians, from the council to the civilians, went out to the city to express their gratitude. They even held a banquet for the strategoi and officers of the Theonian army and brought alcohol to the soldiers…and so on. Although Philesius declined their good intentions due to Theonia's military law, every Theonian officers and soldier could feel the gratitude and kindness of the Caulonians to them.

The three men were silent for a while. In the end, Drakos could only helplessly say, “In this case, we couldn't help it. We just hope that Hades will protect Caulonia and have them hold on to their homes. After all, if we were to concentrate our troops and repel the Syracusans, the siege of Caulonia would naturally be solved.”

“Repel?” Epiphanes accurately grasped Drakos' words and asked, “Do you think we can repel Dionysius' army in the Ophemia plain?”

“Why couldn't we?!” Drakos pointed to the letter and asked, “According to the letter, Syracuse only has more than 50,000 men there, so if we combine our two legions plus Crotone, Scylletium and Terina, we will have more than 50,000 men. Don’t you have confidence in our legion?! You should know that the legionaries of Theonia are the best soldiers in the Mediterranean!” Drakos stared at Epiphanes angrily.

“Who said that I have no confidence in our army?! Don't slander me here!” Epiphanes was angry. After all, once those words get out, how would he lead his legion.

“You two should stop!” Philesius shouted, “Both of you are still in the mood to argue even with our current situation?! If Lord Davos knew how you're behaving, he would regret making the two of you the legion's legatus!”

Epiphanes and Drakos quieted down at the mention of Davos.

“I'll pretend I didn't hear what you just said, and both of you also forget about it! I don't want to hear any more rumours about any of those words among the soldiers, got it?!” Philesius stared straight at the two men.

Epiphanes sneered at Drakos, and Drakos nodded reluctantly.

Philesius finally felt relieved, “Well, let's now discuss how to retreat tomorrow morning…”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

On this morning, Pisini, the Samnite chieftain stationed in Poseidonia, who had been worrying all night, did not expect a miracle to happen.

The Theonian troops still appeared outside the city, but they were divided into two: One was building their camp while the other was lining up outside the city.

“Only more than 4,000 men, yet they want to take my Poseidonia?!” Pisini felt humiliated.

Just then, he saw the enemy soldiers pushing something in front of their formation. He then held on to the battlement with both hands and leaned forward to see the thing more clearly.

Then he saw more than seven black dots flying in front of the enemy’s formation and hitting the city's wall, “Bang! Bang! Bang!…” The loud noise dispelled the hope in Pisini's heart, ‘The Theonians also have ballistae!’

In the following moment, the Samnites stared at the stone balls that were constantly flying in the air, fearing that it would hit them. The city wall that was already broken and had only received a simple repair became more broken after the continuous enemy attacks…

Pisini could only hope that their reinforcements would quickly.

The day passed amidst the bustling Theonian soldiers and the uneasiness of the Smanite defenders.

In the early morning of the following day, a salpinx rang out in the Theonian camp. The soldiers who woke up in the tent turned over and sat up despite their sleepiness, urging each other to start wearing armour.

“Legatus, there are a large number of enemies in the north of the camp. We estimated that they are more than 20,000 and are moving towards the camp!” The scout captain, Kelisinus, reported to Alexius.

“More than 20,000 men!” Alexius was not surprised. Instead, he was a little bit happy. With the help of the guards, he dressed up and walked two steps in high spirits and said loudly, “It seems that the Samnites have great ambitions of wanting to eat us in one bite! Hahaha, but no one knows who will be the one getting eaten in the end!”

He was about to go out of the tent when someone opened the tent. The senior centurion of the first brigade, Litom, shouted excitedly as soon as he came in, “Legatus, the enemy has taken the bait. More than 20,000 men have come!”

“That should be enough for you!” Said Alexius teasingly.

Litom smiled. Some time ago, he was dissatisfied with Alexius and was sulking because they had taken the initiative to retreat in Potentia in the face of the Samnite armies' attack. Now, his anger is gone, and the only thing remaining is his strong desire to fight.

“Relax and have our brothers eat their fill. After all, today's battle may last longer! Lord Davos has given us, the third legion, the order to stick to the enemy and exhaust them as much as possible and let them put all their troops into attacking and trying to take our camp!” Alexius reminded.

“Understood.” Litom answered. He turned around and was about to go out when suddenly, he stopped and solemnly saluted Alexius, a salute that included his apologies as well.