Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 74: Undercurrents at the Meeting

Davos's mind wandered. The boat did not follow the fleet northwest but went straight ahead, passing through the second water gate, heading towards the true port of Tarentum.

Although it was wartime, the port of Tarentum was still very busy, even more so than usual, because the continuation of the war increased Tarentum's demand for various supplies. Therefore, despite the full assistance of the port personnel, Davos's ship still took a long time to dock.

Davos was not in a hurry. He carefully observed the port, comparing it to the port of Thurii...

After disembarking, among Davos's party, the fully armed guards led by Martius in particular attracted the attention of many Tarentines. They paused their work and watched curiously. Some who knew the inside story guessed that these might be the Daonian reinforcements, but no one expressed welcome, let alone the cheers common at the port of Thurii. They just watched coldly, some even showing grief in their eyes. Davos noticed many women wearing black cloth on their heads. The shadow of military defeat had already enveloped the people of Tarentum.

A group from the Tarentine Senate, out of the reserve of an old and powerful city-state, did not go to the port to greet them but waited at the city gate.

"They're here!" With that shout, the crowd perked up and looked forward.

Walking towards them was a young man. His expression was calm, his steps steady, exuding a composure far beyond that of ordinary young men. But as the magistrate of a city-state alliance, he was indeed too young.

Eumachus nudged Daiomelas, who was still lost in thought, ready to remind him.

Daiomelas understood his intention and spoke first: "Don't say it. I understand. After all, we are the ones asking for help."

With that, he strode forward to greet: "Welcome, young magistrate of Daonia. We have been waiting for the arrival of our close allies, the Daonian reinforcements, like dry fields waiting for rain. Thank the gods, you have finally come!"

Eumachus frowned, worried that Davos might be displeased by these words.

But unexpectedly, Davos immediately said with an apologetic expression: "I am truly sorry! As you must know, the Daonia Alliance has been established for less than two years. This is the first time we have sent a relief force of nearly twenty thousand men, which is almost two-thirds of Thurii's citizen population. Moreover, it is close to the autumn harvest season, and this is the first time we have transported so many soldiers across the sea. The affairs were too complicated, and we lacked experience, so we have only arrived today. I hope we have not delayed any important matters."

"Not late! Not late! You have come just in time!" Eumachus quickly interjected: "I really didn't expect Daonia to send such a huge force. This is a great help to us! Lord Davos, we Tarentines are very grateful for your generous rescue!"

At this point, Polydorus finally had a chance to interject and introduce: "Lord Davos, this is our Tarentine magistrate, Eumachus."

Judging from his earlier words, this magistrate at least had some goodwill towards Daonia. Davos bowed respectfully.

"And this is Tarentine magistrate Daiomelas." Polydorus continued.

As for this one... Davos glanced at him: narrow eyes, thin nose bridge, thin lips, a serious expression, looking rather harsh—clearly biased against Daonia. According to information from Aristelas, such people were not few in the Tarentine Senate. But Davos still bowed respectfully and greeted him.

Next, he greeted the senators of the Tarentine Senate in turn. The Tarentine Senate originated from the Spartan Council of Elders, but compared to the Spartan Council of Elders, which only had thirty seats, Tarentum had many more senators. Moreover, the seats in the Tarentine Senate and the magistrates were both elected annually by all citizens.

"And this is—" Before Polydorus finished speaking, the old man in front raised his eyebrows and glared, pointing at Davos and scolding: "You still have the face to come to Tarentum! You once swore to promote our school in Amendolara, so we sent apprentices to Amendolara to help you. Who knew you not only made them betray the school but also used money to entice more apprentices to leave Tarentum! And my son regarded you as a friend—this is how you repay the Pythagorean school's selfless help to Daonia? I tell you, Tarentum does not welcome you!"

Davos hadn't expected to encounter someone from the Pythagorean school here. Quite embarrassed, he quickly turned to look at Polydorus: "This is?"

"The father of Archytas—Hestiarchos." Polydorus replied.

Davos was moved. He stepped forward, regardless of the old man's displeasure, and bowed respectfully: "Archytas is my good friend. I will definitely avenge him, drive back the Messapians, and recover his body. I hope you, Uncle, can restrain your grief!"

"We don't need Daonia's help! Tarentum can defeat the Messapians and recover my son's body on its own!" Hestiarchos said stubbornly, tears in his eyes.

Just then, a cavalryman galloped over, repeatedly shouting all the way: "The fleet is back! The fleet is back!..."

Upon hearing the news, the senators immediately abandoned Davos and his party without a word and ran towards the port.

Polydorus hurriedly explained to him. Davos listened and expressed understanding, then proposed to go and see the situation together.

Standing on a high point outside the port, looking down at the beach: at the central pier, the most crowded area of Tarentum's port, warships were lining up and slowly entering...

Polydorus widened his eyes, counting the number of ships. The more he counted, the more panicked he became. Finally, his voice trembled: "Only... only 19 warships, 25 passenger ships..."

If Davos hadn't caught him in time, he might have collapsed to the ground.

Davos also frowned. According to Polydorus, when the Tarentine fleet left the port, it had 80 warships and a hundred troop transports, carrying 4,000 soldiers. Now only a quarter of the ships had returned. Tarentum's losses were enormous, not only in warships and soldiers but also in sailors. A fully crewed trireme required nearly two hundred oarsmen. The loss of manpower for Tarentum's port was immense...

This also served as a warning to Davos: before achieving absolute control of the sea, transporting soldiers across the sea by ship must be done with great caution!

Everyone in the port was plunged into great sorrow. Even from that distance, Davos could hear the piercing cries, moving even him, who was accustomed to life and death.

Polydorus was still craning his neck, hoping that some straggling warships had not yet entered the port. Finally, he gave up, tightly grasping Davos's hands and repeatedly saying: "Lord Davos, Tarentum truly needs Daonia's full help!"

Davos nodded, thinking to himself: Counting this naval battle, the war between Tarentum and the Messapians may have already caused over ten thousand Tarentine casualties. They were indeed severely weakened.

Because the Tarentine Senate was busy dealing with the aftermath, the originally scheduled joint war council had to be postponed.

Davos did not mind. It was a good opportunity to go back and help the soldiers set up camp.

...

The failure of a major naval battle would have impacts on all aspects. Consoling the dead and wounded was just the basics. There were also repairing the remaining warships, accelerating the reconstruction of a new fleet, appeasing the port's merchants, ensuring that maritime trade routes had not been cut off by the enemy... and so on. These complicated aftermath matters could not be resolved in a day or two. But the urgent war situation forced Tarentum to temporarily set them aside the next day and immediately convene a joint war council to launch a land counterattack against the Messapian-Lucanian alliance as soon as possible, to reduce the enemy's threat to the city of Tarentum.

Considering that the Daonian magistrate had been neglected due to the unexpected incident yesterday, Eumachus decided to go and invite him personally.

Eumachus rode to the northwestern corner of the bay. The scene before him surprised him. In front of him stood a huge military camp, complete with ditches, palisades, camp gates, watchtowers, tents... and all this in just one day! The Daonians had built a "city" in this relatively sparsely populated area. Their efficiency was truly astonishing!

Of course, Eumachus did not know that because Daonia attached great importance to camp construction during operations, under Davos's initiative, the military engineers, after research and repeated trials, had standardized some camp facilities. For example, the materials needed for camp gates and watchtowers were pre-made in Thurii and transported by the baggage camp on ships. Upon arrival, they were assembled according to actual conditions, saving time and effort, and then taken away when breaking camp. Of course, this required strong logistical transport capabilities and good road conditions.

While Eumachus was still amazed, he heard someone calling him. Looking closely, it was a theater owner from Tarentum, Timias. He couldn't help but ask curiously: "What are you doing here?"

"Business, of course." Timias pointed to a few seductively dressed women beside him and said helplessly: "With the defeat in the war against the Messapians, the citizens have no heart for watching plays or playing with the girls. I haven't had any income for two months. I heard the Daonian reinforcements are nearly twenty thousand strong, so I came to see if there's a chance to make some money. But the guards here wouldn't let us in!"

Hearing this, Eumachus felt a bit awkward. Timias's theater mainly attracted people by putting on vulgar and obscene plays, and also brokered prostitutes and male prostitutes for the rich. Because they were mostly actors with high quality, they were more popular. But he never expected him to be pimping all the way to the Daonian camp. So he advised: "There's going to be a battle soon. Don't disturb the Daonians' rest here."