Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 4: The Battle of Trionto (Part 2)

The Croton army indeed crossed the river right where Davos had predicted, walking straight into the ambush that the Daonian army had set in advance. The Daonian army, with its large number of new recruits, used the terrain to their advantage and employed novel tactics, inflicting considerable casualties on the Croton force, renowned for its bravery in Magna Graecia, and taking the upper hand for a time.

Back in Persia, Davos had been famous in the expeditionary army for his ability to annihilate enemies, fight clever battles, and keep casualties low. But back then, Tolmides, as the army’s herald, was responsible for coordinating the entire mercenary force, and Davos’s camp had always been the most strictly managed, so he had only glimpsed fragments of Davos’s military capability. After arriving in Thurii, he heard many tales of Davos leading smaller forces to victory against larger ones, and he had long itched to see it firsthand. During this military operation, Tolmides served as an acting herald (since he was still a freeman) and participated throughout. He witnessed with his own eyes how Davos set aside all objections, conceived a military plan unlike anything he had ever seen, and made every department of the alliance move around that plan like an extension of his own arm: having old men and women wear armor and walk around the harbor to deceive the enemy fleet; meticulous arrangements for marching in the dark, allowing even inexperienced new recruits and freemen to reach Castron smoothly; enforcing strict discipline in the army, sealing off Castron tightly so no news could leak out; sending Izam’s mountain reconnaissance team across the river to scout enemy movements and report back at all times, while dispatching cavalry to intercept the enemy’s scouts and keep them completely ignorant of what was happening on the other side of the Trionto River; before dawn, leading the army silently and quickly to this spot to lie in ambush, setting up bait ahead on the riverbank (referring to the four thousand soldiers), while screening the main force’s trail; and deliberately placing over a thousand men at the Trionto and its downstream fording points, making the Crotonites unwilling to risk heavy casualties and instead choose the safer middle section of the river…

Throughout the entire operation, Davos’s stratagems were fully displayed: deception, rapid marching, reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, ambush, luring… all perfectly combined, ultimately succeeding in manipulating the enemy and achieving his goal, opening Tolmides’s eyes. In this era, wars between city-states mostly consisted of both sides gathering soldiers and fighting on a mutually agreed field, or when one side was stronger, the other would stubbornly defend until reinforcements arrived and then counterattack. Commanders focused their minds on tactical maneuvers during the battle (which the Spartans excelled at). Who had ever seen someone like Davos, who first formulated a plan based on the situation and then carried out a series of complex and meticulous actions around that plan to achieve his goal? It was like sculpting a bloody battle into an artwork as fine and exquisite as an Athenian pottery vase—just as Davos himself said, “War concerns the survival of the city-state; one must be careful and thoughtful, and only then take action.”

No wonder Davos could become the magistrate of a powerful alliance, while Timasion died in a small city! Tolmides’s thoughts wandered.

“Tolmides, ride to the east and inform Xanthiparis, Epithenis, Tsipet, and Laedes that the enemy will soon cross the river. Have them prepare and act according to the plan,” Davos ordered.

“Yes!” Tolmides mounted his horse and galloped eastward. Though the tactics to be employed in the east would be even more astonishing, he already had faith in Davos.

…

When Philadelphus learned from Euthydemus that Myron had crossed the river with his army, encountered the Daonians, and was now locked in a hard fight, he was truly startled. The Daonians had ambushed nearly twenty thousand troops on the opposite bank upstream of the Trionto River, completely beyond his expectations!

Could there be an ambush here too? He looked at the over a thousand Daonian light infantry stationed on the opposite bank and couldn’t help thinking: originally he had hoped that after Myron crossed, he could come and help drive off the enemy across from him, reducing his own soldiers’ casualties. Now, instead, he had to lead his troops to help Myron. The situation was critical and left no time for overthinking.

This fording section could not accommodate over six thousand soldiers crossing at once. He quickly divided his force into three parts: front, middle, and rear. At the very front were over three thousand heavy infantry. Using their solid protection, they could reduce casualties under the hail of enemy arrows and javelins, reach the opposite bank smoothly, and scatter the enemy. Close behind were five hundred cavalry, who could pursue and rout the enemy’s light infantry. Last came nearly three thousand light-armed infantry.

After enduring the Daonian ranged attacks and suffering some losses, the Crotonite heavy infantry landed on the bank. Without needing pursuit, the Daonian light infantry had already fled far away. Philadelphus led his troops across safely.

“General, should we pursue?” the cavalry commander Alxisos asked.

Philadelphus shook his head and said cautiously, “Now we must hurry to help Myron. Your cavalry just guard the flanks of the column. Do not attack rashly.”

No sooner had Philadelphus turned his column westward and marched a short distance than the clear sound of a war horn came from due north.

Philadelphus’s heart tightened: an ambush indeed!

At that moment, Alxisos also rode up quickly, his expression somewhat strange, and said, “General, an enemy force has been spotted to the north, heading toward us. They number about six or seven thousand, all archers, slingers, and peltasts, with a few hundred cavalry.”

Philadelphus was stunned: “No heavy infantry?”

“None!” Alxisos nodded affirmatively.

Though somewhat puzzled, Philadelphus clearly breathed a sigh of relief. He decisively ordered, “Form the entire army to face north!” Since the attacking Daonian force had no heavy infantry and lacked frontal assault and melee capability, Philadelphus had no objection to crushing them first before resuming his march, to reduce harassment.

“Alxisos, how many enemy cavalry?”

“Over four hundred.”

“Good. Our cavalry outnumbers them by two to one.” Philadelphus felt even more at ease. He said, “Alxisos, in fighting light infantry, your cavalry is especially important. I need you to lead the cavalry to rout the enemy cavalry, then, if possible, do not pursue but instead attack the flank of the enemy’s center. Understand?!”

“Understood!” Alxisos wheeled his horse and rode off.

The Daonian army advanced quickly. Before long, Philadelphus could see their figures. When he got a clear look at the enemy’s appearance, he couldn’t help being greatly surprised: their light infantry was far too lightly equipped. Whether archers or javelin throwers, they all wore thin linen garments. Even the cavalry were partly armored and partly in single layers of clothing, extremely shabby.

Could all these men be freemen hastily conscripted from the harbor of Thurii? Philadelphus couldn’t help smiling: Myron’s guess was right—the Daonians had few citizens and were pressed for manpower. He might even sweep them away using only his light-armed infantry and cavalry!

The Daonian force stopped about five hundred meters away and began to re-form their ranks.

“I think the Crotonites will be very surprised when they see us. They must think we’ve only come to harass them, but they have no idea we deliberately let them cross the river with the intention of annihilating them all here,” Tolmides remarked with emotion.

“This battle will prove to the Greeks that light infantry is just as important as heavy infantry. With the right tactics, light infantry can easily defeat heavy infantry!” Epithenis said with confidence.

“The key is whether Laedes and Xanthiparis can first destroy the enemy’s cavalry,” Tolmides said, still somewhat worried.

“Don’t worry! This is the carefully devised plan of our God-Touched One, the favorite of Hades, Lord Davos! He is the God-Touched One of Hades!” Tsipet said with admiration. “Neither you nor I expected it, so how could the enemy? They will definitely fall for it!” As he spoke, Epithenis had already dismounted, walked into the ranks, and ordered the soldiers to widen their intervals, making the formation looser to facilitate throwing and movement.

Tsipet also went to the right wing and gave the same order. On the left wing, Laedes’s cavalry formation was similarly loose. Thus, the entire Daonian left, center, and right formations resembled leavened bread, their width and depth nearly doubled.

For Philadelphus, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation. He hesitated for a moment and finally decided to thin the depth of his own formation, but still kept the soldiers closely packed as usual. He felt that although neither heavy infantry nor light-armed infantry had ranged capability, close-combat troops with strong impact and fierce fighting power relied on dense formations as their key to victory. At this moment, traditional inertial thinking shackled Philadelphus’s mind. The result was that the entire Crotonite formation’s width matched only the length of the Daonian center, making the Daonian battle line appear to envelop the Crotonite army in a slight semi-arc.

But Philadelphus was not worried. He knew well that the numbers on both sides were not far apart. As soon as the Crotonite soldiers made contact with the enemy, victory would come. His greatest confidence came from having twice as many cavalry as the enemy. Because the enemy line was too long, to facilitate the engagement, he ordered Alxisos’s cavalry to separate from the center and directly face the enemy cavalry.

The Crotonite center consisted of three thousand light-armed infantry, who were faster than heavy infantry. Once the cavalry defeated the enemy and struck the center’s flank, the light infantry’s speed would allow them to coordinate and rout the enemy center. As for the left wing of over three thousand heavy infantry, Philadelphus understood that heavy infantry, with their clumsy speed, could not chase light infantry. They would simply advance slowly, protect themselves, and pin the enemy’s right wing, preventing them from reinforcing the center.