Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 102: Heroes

At this moment, firmly anchored within the pile of rubble was a winch like those at the mouth of a well, wound with a rope as thick as a man’s wrist. The other end of the rope was tied around the waist of a burly man. Naked save for a harness made from several inflated sheep stomachs, he stood ready.

The Thurians were nurtured by the waters of the Crati River and lived by it, but standing here beside its roaring current—the sound like thunderclaps that made the whole soul tremble—they could see the legion commander and their comrades moving their lips in instructions but hear nothing at all. Ahead was the Crathis River; by the last faint light of the setting sun, they could see the rushing water splashing several meters high, and the whirlpools on the surface that seemed to seize the soul…

If an ordinary man saw and heard this, he would be terrified, his hands and feet weak, unable even to stand. But he and his comrades, before becoming citizens of Daonia, had been sailors among sailors, earning their living at sea, accustomed to battling gales and towering waves. So for this task, he firmly believed that with his skill and experience, he could complete it smoothly and win a bright future for himself and his family!

When the lamb, frightened out of its wits by the raging river, was led forward, it trembled and could not even bleat.

Drakos cut off the lamb’s head with a single stroke of his sword, placed the head neatly on a rock, and smeared the blood on the faces of each of the brave men. Everyone devoutly prayed to the river god Achelous.

Then the big man stood up, saluted Drakos, and walked to the riverbank. He looked across to the opposite shore on his left ahead—that was his mission’s destination. He instinctively touched the rope to confirm it was securely tied, took a deep breath, let out a roar, and like a human fish, plunged swiftly into the water. In an instant, the splashes engulfed his form…

The black, rushing river surged onward, and it was hard to spot his trace anymore. Only the winch creaked and spun rapidly…

Drakos’s eyes followed the rope that steadily extended into the water, and his tension grew with each passing moment.

Earlier, when Davos had surveyed the terrain around the Bruttian mountains and proposed that the best breakthrough point for this war was at Besidia, and when he had explained his plan, Philistos and the legion commanders were stunned: for a man to swim a hundred meters of raging waves, carrying several tens of kilograms of weight (the rope’s weight and the river’s force), all while avoiding detection by enemy sentries—it was too risky!

But Davos had produced solid evidence: Matikoris from the Mathematical Academy had gone to the entry point several times and dropped tree trunks, discovering that the current would mostly push them to the downstream shallows on the opposite bank. He had also calculated the river’s velocity and direction at that point, concluding that a man could indeed reach the other side.

Davos also had a companion who had accompanied Antaoris on an embassy to the Bruttii (actually Antrapolis) recount his observation: the Besidians had built a defensive camp and watchtowers along the southern river path, and also set up sentry posts on the road north to Cosentia, but there were no specialized guards at the riverbank itself. Perhaps the city of Besidia lay just ahead, or perhaps this thundering, unnavigable stretch of river gave the Besidians confidence.

As a commander, no one wanted to fall into a long, grueling war of attrition with the enemy, yet a war with the Bruttii might easily turn into just that. In the end, the legion generals of Daonia agreed to Davos’s risky plan.

The hundred-meter rope reached its limit in the blink of an eye, pulled taut, and a tremendous force strained the winch. If several soldiers hadn’t thrown all their strength into holding it back, the whole reel would have been dragged into the river.

Drakos’s disappointment was plain to see. The first soldier in the water had certainly failed, or the rope wouldn’t be so tight. Still, he signaled the soldiers to hold on a little longer, hoping the man could untie himself—with the buoyancy of the sheep-gut float, and with more than a dozen boats spread across the middle reaches of the Crati River ready to fish him out, he might still be rescued.

But the rope stayed taut, and the soldiers kept wrestling with the great river until their strength gave out.

Quickly making a decision, Drakos drew his short sword, ready to cut the rope. But the soldiers were already exhausted, and the winch flew up with a whoosh. If Drakos hadn’t dodged fast, he would have been struck and either killed or gravely wounded.

The rope and winch plunged into the river without even a splash.

The men on the bank stood frozen for a long moment, sorrow and fear beginning to grip everyone.

Drakos quickly pulled himself together. As the legion commander of the Second Army Corps, he was the core of the unit; he could not panic.

He immediately signaled the soldiers to climb the slope and bring down a new winch and rope.

Such a sturdy hundred-meter rope had taken every boat supply shop in Thurii several nights of overtime to produce just three sets. That meant the Second Army Corps had at most three attempts.

“Who’s next?!” Drakos gestured to the two remaining chosen soldiers.

Before the terrible raw force of nature, and after the tragic failure, the two strong swimmers hesitated. They glanced at each other, then lowered their heads under Drakos’s expectant gaze.

Rage flared in Drakos’s heart. He opened his mouth to curse.

“Let me go!” someone stepped forward from the side.

Drakos looked closely—it was a man recommended by the newly formed Daonia Navy. They said he was the fastest swimmer in the fleet, but because he was not robustly built, Davos and the others thought he’d struggle to carry the load across a hundred meters of violent current and had only listed him as an alternate. Yet at this critical moment, his courage to face the difficulty lifted Drakos’s spirits.

Drakos said nothing more. He personally put the sheep-gut float on him, tied the rope, and then said solemnly: “Hades will protect you!” The failure of the previous soldier made Drakos instinctively abandon the river god Achelous and turn to the Lord of the Underworld, whom he trusted most.

“Don’t worry. I, Seclian, am going to leave my name in the Hall of Heroes!” The sailor said this with full confidence, strode to the foremost rock, and the last rays of the setting sun cast a faint warmth on his long, lithe, streamlined body.

As he dove into the water, Drakos’s heart climbed back into his throat. How could he not be tense! If this failed again, those two cowards would probably never dare to go! If no one could swim to the shallows opposite, the troops couldn’t cross safely, much less take the city of Besidia. The planned operation would be rendered impossible, and they would have to fall back on the second plan… That would mean all the time, effort, and supplies already expended would make this war against the Bruttii even harder!

“Legion commander, it’s… it’s run out!”

Before the soldier could cry out in panic, Drakos had already seen the winch stop turning.

Failed again? Drakos’s heart sank. He refused to give up and shouted, “Pull the rope tight!”

As he shouted, he stepped forward to help. The rough rope, pulled from both sides, chafed bloody marks across his palms… but Drakos felt that this tension was not as strong as the first time. His spirits rose again: “Brothers, hold steady! Hold steady!…”

He encouraged the soldiers beside him, and the tension on the rope gradually weakened until it finally slackened.

Success?! Drakos could hardly believe it, staring at the blurry opposite shore. It was as if all his strength had been drained; he plopped down on the rock, while the soldiers around him let out soft cheers.

The rope tightened again bit by bit… then stopped… moved… stopped… moved…

Who knew how much time passed? Just as Drakos felt it was taking too long, the rope finally went taut again, and three faint tremors came through. After a moment, three more tremors…

Drakos confirmed the signal. Suppressing his overwhelming excitement, he shouted to the soldiers, “Quick! Tie it to a big tree! Quick! Quick!”

Evening fell, and a long rope stretched high above the Crathis River, connecting both banks.

A soldier of the Second Army Corps hooked his legs around the rope, gripped it with both hands, and moved forward hand over hand, his whole body hanging upside down in midair. At the lowest point, his body was barely two meters above the river. The spray from the waves soaked him completely, and worse, the roaring of the river was like a demon’s whisper in his ears, along with the constantly swaying rope…

Although the soldiers had specifically trained for this over the past few days, the real scene demanded even greater courage. Clearly, this soldier had enough nerve, and his skill at crawling along the rope was quite quick, which was why he was arranged to be the first to cross this “rope bridge.” Additionally, for speed and to ensure the rope and climbing safety, the soldiers crossing the river wore no helmets, breastplates, or greaves, and carried no bronze shields. Instead, they had a spear and a small wooden shield tightly strapped to their backs. Of course, the first soldier to cross also carried another rope.

When he finally reached a big tree on the opposite bank, Seclian was waiting at its base, his chest bloody—clearly wounded.

It turned out that the powerful current had swept him past the shallows and slammed him violently against a rock, nearly knocking him unconscious from the pain. But his will to survive made him endure the agony of sharp stone ridges cutting into his chest. He clung to the rock with both arms, and just then, Drakos and the others pulled the rope taut with all their might, giving him a chance to catch his breath. Using every last ounce of strength, he painfully climbed onto the rock, then moved step by cautious step to the shore…

With the combined efforts of Seclian and that soldier, a second “rope bridge” connecting the two banks was set up, and the soldiers of the First Battalion, Second Army Corps began crossing in sequence.

Even with two rope bridges, the soldiers crossed very slowly, because only when the previous soldier reached the opposite side could the next soldier start crawling along the rope. Having two or more men on the same rope at once would place a heavy burden on both the rope—which had taken enormous effort to connect the banks—and the trees serving as anchors. Drakos dared not take that risk.

Note: Seclian appeared earlier at the end of the First Croton War; when Lysias went to Thurii to negotiate peace, he was the captain of the patrol boat.