Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 10: The Enemy Approaches the City

“Although our Croton may have lost the battle, we can still muster at least ten to twenty thousand citizen soldiers. If Daonia wants to launch a direct assault on the city, we will certainly inflict heavy losses on them! Then, when Daonia fails to take the city after a prolonged siege, they will have no choice but to request peace talks, and we will seize the initiative. Perhaps, while defending Crimissa, we may even find some opportunities to counterattack and defeat the Daonians!”

After Myron finished speaking, the others fell into thought.

Euricpus said, “So that means Crimissa will become a battlefield once again.”

This remark jolted the Crimissan high-ranking officials, but Myron quickly responded, “That’s right. Crimissa is the key to the upcoming war, but it will be Croton’s soldiers defending it. If the people of Crimissa find this place dangerous, they can take ships to Croton for safety, and we will provide them with good living conditions until the war ends and they can return. If any houses or property in the city are damaged, Croton will also compensate…”

Myron had thought it all through, leaving the others with nothing to say. Moreover, his words subtly warned them: the city of Crimissa was filled entirely with Crotonian soldiers. Even if they secretly considered peace talks with Daonia, they would first have to answer to the shields and spears in the hands of the Crotonian soldiers. Angering Croton would only make things worse!

“General Myron, Crimissa will fully support your campaign here against Daonia!” Antaoris quickly expressed a clear stance on behalf of the Council.

…

Early the next morning, Davos assembled two legions plus two reserve battalions, totaling about sixteen thousand men (this referred to the number of combat soldiers, not including the engineering camp, medical camp, baggage camp, cavalry squadron, trumpeters, drummers, etc.) and marched toward Crimissa.

By mid-morning, the Daonian army reached the marshland region.

Davos left one legion’s engineering camp behind to survey the geographical conditions of the marsh, fill it in as quickly as possible, build roads, and set up a bridge over the River Lacoeli to ensure future supply convoys could pass smoothly. At the same time, they were to take into account the future construction of the Castron–Crimissa highway. To guard against attacks by Crotonians, he also left two reserve battalions there to build a camp, protecting not only the engineering camp and the Castron citizens involved in the construction but also the supply line.

Then, Davos took the lead and waded through the marshland together with the soldiers.

In the afternoon, the Daonian army entered Crimissan territory.

By then, over five thousand Crotonian soldiers were already lined up in full battle readiness on the walls of Crimissa.

Davos rode up close to the city of Crimissa, observed for a while, then abandoned the idea of an immediate assault and ordered the army to set up camp.

The commander of the legion’s siege camp immediately came to ask Davos about the requirements for the camp. Davos pointed at Crimissa and said, “First, besiege it from the north.”

The engineering camp commander understood and immediately led the engineer technicians to survey the terrain, topography, and water sources, calculate the camp area based on the number of troops, and so on, to select a site for the camp. Before long, he and his men began inserting thin wooden stakes every twenty meters, starting at a distance of four hundred meters from the city…

With a command from the two legion commanders, Capus and Drax, except for the two battalions assigned to guard duty and Laedes’ cavalry squadron, the rest of the soldiers immediately transformed into construction workers. Some were tasked with felling trees, some with digging ditches, and others with piling up earth walls… The entire force operated in an orderly manner, and even Davos picked up a pickaxe and joined in the digging.

On the city wall, Myron noticed that the Daonian army was not launching an immediate assault, leaving him both disappointed and somewhat relieved. But what followed—the lively and spectacular scene of the Daonian army building a camp, and how close they set it to the city—surprised him. A thought sprang up in his mind: launch a surprise attack from the city.

However, the sight of those two fully armed heavy infantry battalions standing at ease, waiting for battle, along with the cavalry patrols prowling beneath the walls, made him abandon the idea. He also doubted that the recently defeated Crotonian soldiers had the courage to leave the city and fight a field battle against the numerically superior Daonians.

He could tell the Daonians intended to besiege Castron, but as long as it bought time, he wholeheartedly approved of this approach.

The Daonians were very efficient at building camps. By dusk, they had already dug a three-mile-long ditch and erected an earth wall, encircling the city of Castron from the east, west, and north. Now, some soldiers were setting up abatis in front of the ditch, while others were pitching tents inside the earth wall… Normally, the engineering camp’s pack carts carried timber that could be quickly assembled and disassembled, allowing for rapid construction of camp gates, watchtowers, and palisades (this was a “modular” suggestion Davos had made to the engineering camp, developed after repeated experiments by engineers and carpenters). But because the pack carts were prone to sinking into the mud in the marshland, they had not been delivered to Crimissa in time.

Even so, Myron was astonished. He naturally had no idea that “camp construction” was a dedicated item in Daonia’s military training program. Noticing the even more tense and uneasy expressions on his soldiers, he finally made up his mind.

Late that night, he decided that while the Daonians were exhausted from the long march and camp-building and were sound asleep, he would send five hundred soldiers to raid their camp and create chaos. Even if it only inflicted a minor blow to the enemy, it could boost their own flagging morale.

From observations made during the day from warships at sea, the northern side of the Daonian camp also had a ditch dug. Myron was afraid that if he landed an attack from the coast north of the Daonian camp, once discovered, they might not be able to return. So he chose the southern side of the camp, near the sea.

Five hundred Crotonian soldiers quietly approached the Daonian camp. They were carefully making their way through the abatis area when a hidden sentry, hiding behind the earth wall, spotted them by the light of torches stuck on the wall. He quickly slipped back to the tents, quietly woke up the platoon leader, and then woke the others in the tent one by one.

“Laris, you did well! Now, take my nameplate to the rear camp and notify the cavalry squadron—there’s an enemy attack here!” Platoon leader Cteppus praised this new soldier, who was still a preparatory citizen, while handing him an egg-sized iron statuette of a three-headed dog engraved with the numbers of the legion, company, and platoon.

“Understood!” Laris turned and ran off.

Cteppus had his men continue to notify the other platoons and Company Commander Trotilas, while he himself took a few soldiers to the wall to check the situation. Seeing that the enemy’s numbers were not too great, he came up with an idea.

The Crotonian soldiers, having passed through the abatis zone, climbed over the ditch, and scaled the earth wall, saw that the enemy camp was still silent and could not help feeling excited. They began to light the incendiary materials they carried with them. There was still some distance between the enemy tents and the wall, so they cautiously quickened their pace forward.

Suddenly, the soldiers in the front felt the ground sink beneath their feet. The sinking earth immediately pierced their feet with sharp objects, and they could not help crying out in pain. It turned out that behind the earth wall, the Daonians had also set up an obstacle strip. When the enemy broke through the camp wall, the obstacles could slow their advance, buying time to reposition defenses and launch a counterattack.

Taking advantage of the enemy’s panic, the Daonian soldiers ran out from behind the tents and hurled a dense volley of javelins at the Crotonian soldiers. Many fell with screams, and the remaining soldiers, their fighting spirit shattered, fled in terror…

The Daonians continued the pursuit through the safe passages in the obstacle strip.

In the silence of the deep night, the sounds of battle were especially clear. Davos was awakened, quickly dressed, and stepped out of his tent, just as Guard Captain Martius came to report: “Report, Commander! The Crotonians attempted a raid, but they were repelled by the Third Battalion of the Second Legion. Laedes’ cavalry has already set out in pursuit. I believe the enemy won’t escape.”

Davos nodded, and a map of the camp layout for each legion, battalion, and company instantly flashed in his mind: “The Third Battalion of the Second Legion—that’s Georgios’ battalion, isn’t it… I recall his battalion is stationed at the easternmost part of the camp, near the estuary.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Georgios’ battalion performed very well. They strictly followed the sentry duty system of the Military Code, and after detecting the enemy, they reacted quickly. They deserve a reward! The sentry who discovered the enemy in time deserves even more!” Davos turned to Secretary Aristocrates, who had just arrived, and said.

Aristocrates quickly made a note, to report to the military judge tomorrow.

“How are the other battalions doing?” Davos asked again.

“All battalions were notified in time, and there was no major commotion,” Martius replied.

Davos was very satisfied that the troops had maintained communication and order even in the dark. Their usual rigorous training had paid off. He chuckled and said, “The Crotonians wanted to imitate our night raid, but unfortunately, they’re not us. Everyone go back to sleep. Rest up—there’s still plenty to do tomorrow.” With that, he turned and went back into his tent, soon falling asleep.

Martius exchanged a few words with the guards at the command tent and then left.

Only Aristocrates, a first-time battlefield soldier, found it hard to calm his mind. He stared at the roaring brazier in front of the command tent and stood in a daze for a while. According to the Daonian Military Code, a brazier was to be erected in front of the camp’s highest commander’s tent at night. As Davos had explained, first, it made it convenient to report during the night; second, in the event of unexpected incidents like night raids or camp panic, soldiers in confusion could immediately spot the commander’s location, helping to stabilize their morale and reorganize the unit. In short, the commander was the anchor of the entire army’s morale and hope, and allowing soldiers to see the commander’s tent from anywhere in the darkness helped dispel their fear of the dark.

Hearing Davos’s soft snoring from inside the tent and feeling the heat radiating from the brazier, the tension and unease in Aristocrates’ heart quickly dissipated…

Of the five hundred who left the city, only a few dozen managed to escape the Daonian cavalry’s interception and return to the city.

After hearing this, Myron stood still for a long time. The Daonians’ seemingly crude and unfinished camp was so tightly guarded, completely beyond his expectations. This lesson finally made him abandon any last shred of hope, and from the depths of his heart, he admitted: this Daonian force was a well-trained army!

He decided to take no more risks and to defend Crimissa with all his strength.