Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 13: The Three Legions Join Forces

"Commander, you can rest assured and leave the rest of the fighting to us! The brothers of our Third Army Corps have long been eager to join the battle and earn their merits!" Bacule said loudly, thumping his chest.

"Don't rush, don't rush—there's plenty of fighting for you to join!" Davos said jokingly. "You should first report to your legion commander. That legion commander with too few troops has been missing you so much that he calls your names in his dreams!"

Everyone burst into laughter. Even Hieronymus, who was usually expressionless, cracked a smile.

"Lord Avinogis, thank you for your full support of Daonia! Personally leading your troops to join the battle!" Davos stepped forward and bowed to Avinogis to express his sincere gratitude.

"Sending troops to fight is the duty of Laüs as a member of the Daonia Alliance!" Avinogis hurriedly returned the bow. "In Thurii, I heard of your lordship's brilliant victory over the Croton army once again—another miracle of defeating a larger force with a smaller one! I am in awe of your military talent, Lord Davos. I believe the warriors of Laüs can follow Daonia to achieve more victories!"

"As long as our Daonia Alliance remains united as one, we will never lack victory!" Davos replied with passion.

"You are absolutely right, Lord Davos!" Avinogis immediately nodded in serious agreement.

At that moment, Asiastes interjected, "Commander, I almost forgot one thing. When we led the troops through the marshland, the engineering camp had nearly finished repairing the road through the swamp. They can deliver the baggage camp supplies here by tomorrow."

"Excellent!" Davos said happily.

…

Those who followed Davos into the main tent were: First Legion Commander Capus, Second Legion Commander Drax, Third Legion Commander Hieronymus, First Battalion Commander of the Third Army Corps Bacule, Adjutant of the Third Army Corps Asiastes, and Magistrate of Laüs Avinogis.

In the center of the main tent was an unusually smooth wooden table, on which lay a large map of southern Magna Graecia.

"Capus, please brief our newly arrived comrades on the latest battle situation," Davos said.

"Yes, my lord." Capus went to the wooden table, found the marker for Crimissa on the map, and pointed at it. "After the Croton army's defeat in the pitched battle, based on interrogations of captured enemy soldiers, we estimate about 7,000 men fled the battlefield. They likely all escaped back here—" Capus glanced at the others who were listening intently, then continued, "Afterward, our First and Second Army Corps, totaling 14,000 men, arrived outside Crimissa, built a camp, and surrounded Crimissa from the east, west, and north. Today, when we were building a bridge over the River Umbria, our forces on the south bank were attacked by nearly 7,000 light infantry, which indicates that Crimissa received reinforcements from Croton within this day, and the city's garrison may now number 14,000. With your arrival, our total strength has reached 22,000 men."

Avinogis and the others gathered around the wooden table, listening to Capus while staring intently at the map.

"22,000 men attacking a city defended by 14,000 soldiers—that will be quite difficult!" Avinogis said based on his past experience.

"We don't necessarily have to capture Crimissa," Capus said, which stunned the newcomers.

"If we don't capture Crimissa, how do we attack Croton?" Bacule asked in surprise.

"Besiege it." Capus pressed his right hand on Crimissa on the map and then drew a circle. "If we launch a direct assault on Crimissa defended by 14,000 Croton soldiers, not only would casualties be heavy, but once Crimissa cannot hold out, the Crotonians might escape by ship back to Croton city, hole up inside, and make our next advance more difficult. Leave them there, let Crimissa distract Croton's forces, and we can divide our troops—" Capus's finger slid to the south of Crimissa, where the northern plain of Croton lay.

Avinogis, Bacule, Asiastes, and Lizaru stared wide-eyed at the map, lost in thought.

"What if the Crotonians notice our numbers have decreased and sally out to attack our camp?" Avinogis asked with some concern.

The others laughed at the same time.

"We welcome them to come out and taste the strength of our Daonia camp's defensive fortifications!" Drax said confidently.

"If we don't attack Crimissa, the Crotonians might detect our intention. What if they voluntarily withdraw to Croton to defend it?" Asiastes also raised his own question.

"Who said we won't attack? We'll launch appropriate attacks to put pressure on Crimissa. By the time they realize something is wrong, our dispatched troops will already have thrown Croton's territory into chaos. And when they retreat back to Croton, we can easily take Crimissa! In short, as the commander says... that is... we need to actively maneuver the Crotonians to run back and forth, never able to concentrate their forces against us..." Capus explained.

"That's wonderful! I think this must be a plan conceived by Lord Davos. This is the first time I've seen such a clever military plan! Without needing to fight to the death, we can easily achieve our goal!" Avinogis praised, half flattery and half genuine.

His words received unanimous agreement.

Davos smiled and said seriously, "Now the one thing I'm most worried about is—"

"Our food supply?!" The taciturn Hieronymus interjected. As a legion commander with no troops for the past two days, he had been staying with the baggage camp accompanying the army, so he knew about this.

"Exactly." Davos gave him an appreciative glance and said with a serious expression, "The soldiers' rations are almost exhausted. From now on, we have to rely on grain shipped from the rear. To meet the needs of 22,000 men, the amount of grain required is absolutely enormous! From Thurii to Crimissa is nearly a hundred li. With such a long supply line, we cannot protect it fully! If Croton realizes this, their warships can land on any coast, attack our grain transport convoys, even destroy villages and kill our people, causing us great trouble! So we must complete our plan as quickly as possible, forcing Croton to be too busy to deal with us."

"Hieronymus!"

"Here!"

"You are to immediately lead the Third Army Corps to build a camp on the south bank and lay siege to Crimissa!"

"Yes!"

"Drax!"

"Understood!"

"Detach three battalions from the Second Army Corps to assist Lord Avinogis's troops in building the camp on the south bank. I demand that you have the camp initially constructed before tonight, completely encircling Crimissa!"

"Understood!!!"

That afternoon, over ten thousand Daonian soldiers crossed the wooden bridge and began taking turns to hastily construct the camp on the south bank of the River Umbria.

Myron did not rashly send out troops to attack again.

By evening, the south bank camp was initially completed. At this point, the Daonia camp formed a huge semicircle surrounding Crimissa, except for the port facing the sea outlet which could not be blocked; the rest was tightly encircled by the Daonia camp.

By the next morning, the Daonian soldiers continued to improve their camp facilities. Meanwhile, Croton's envoy Lysias arrived at the Daonia north camp. He was blindfolded and led into Davos's military tent.

"Lord Lysias, my apologies! You and I are on opposing sides in this war, so we had to take this approach." Davos apologized with his mouth, but there was not a trace of remorse on his face; instead, he looked excited like a hound seeing fresh meat. "I recall we just met four days ago. I didn't expect to see you again so soon. You haven't brought any more harsh conditions to threaten us Daonians, have you?"

Lysias of course heard the heavy sarcasm in Davos's words, but acted as if he hadn't and said directly, "Lord Davos, I have come this time for peace talks. Croton is willing to sign a ceasefire agreement with Daonia and compensate Daonia for its losses in the war, hoping only that the flames of war between Croton and Daonia can be extinguished, so as to restore peace and tranquility to Magna Graecia!"

Davos laughed heartily. "You Crotonians start a war whenever you want, and stop it whenever you want. Do you think this is a children's war game?"

Lysias asked calmly, "Then what conditions would Daonia be willing to accept a ceasefire?"

"Conditions?" Davos snorted coldly, the impulsive look fading from his face. He paced back and forth a few steps, then looked at Lysias again. His bright eyes had regained their usual shrewdness. "Do you remember what I said when you left last time? My conditions are the same as the ones you proposed before in the Great Council Chamber of the Thurii Senate. Simple!"

Upon hearing this, Lysias's heart skipped a beat.

"First, Croton must pay Daonia a one-time indemnity of 5,000 silver talents. Second, dissolve the Croton Alliance, and from now on Croton must not form any alliance with other city-states. Third, Crimissa shall be incorporated into the Daonia Alliance! ..."

With each condition, Lysias's expression grew more sour. Finally, he shook his head bluntly. "Your conditions are too harsh. The Croton Council will not accept them!"

"Even better if you don't accept! The Daonian soldiers want to achieve more victories and earn more rewards from the alliance!" Davos said with a look of indifference, but his words carried even more threat.

"I admit, your previous victories have caused us panic, but that panic has also spurred all Crotonians into action, uniting together to fight against any enemy that might invade Croton's territory! From now on, the battles you Daonians face will only become more difficult! Lord Davos, I want to remind you: grapes fetch a good price only when they are fresh; once they overripen and rot, they become worthless." Lysias's words also turned harsher.