Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 111: Ballistae

Bacule listened to his brother-in-law's words, his expression gradually firming. He said loudly, "You're right. I am a Lucanian, but I am also a Daonian citizen. We cannot let this chance to unify Lucania slip away!"

"Big brother, there's one problem now." Seeing that Bacule's mind was clear, Asiastes immediately asked, "Pyxous's strength is growing too fast. What do you think? Do we need to reinforce Kxima's tribe?"

"We do nothing. Only then will that cunning Sicinag be convinced that we are truly trapped." With his doubts resolved, Bacule had fully thrown himself into the coming battle. As the actual commander of Grumentum in the Third Army Corps, his decisiveness and composure now showed: "Besides, these southern tribes were already notified by us in advance and have long been on guard. Everything is ready now. We only wait for Legion Commander Hieronymus and Lizaru to arrive with their troops. I believe Lizaru is eagerly hoping to wash away the shame he suffered at the Isthmian Games with a great victory!"

Although Asiastes also longed for the battle to begin soon, as Bacule's assistant and entrusted by Davos to 'help Bacule organize and complete the Grumentum battle plan', he had to consider matters more carefully, so as to help the rough-and-ready Bacule catch omissions: "There's still no movement from Potentia. Could there be a problem?"

"Relax. The Potentians were already terrified by their last defeat. They have to defend against the Samnites and can't afford heavy losses. Besides, as I know, their Great Chief Puamot is a very steady man. By the time he decides to act, we'll already be attacking under the walls of Pyxous!" Bacule laughed confidently.

...

Nikurus fled back to Cosentia in utter disgrace. Piallen was shocked. After hearing Nikurus's account of what had happened, he was both startled and regretful. The news that the Daonians had built their fortress so quickly shocked him, and sending the Besidia warriors to attack despite knowing that Besidia had been taken by the Daonians was indeed a foolish move made in desperation. With the Bruttian warriors already in short supply, having over two thousand elite soldiers broken like this was truly heartbreaking!

Although Nikurus assured him that if he called out to these Besidia men at the front during battle, they might not immediately switch sides but would at least lose the will to fight.

Piallen did not intend to fully trust his words. This hot-tempered, brute-force-only Great Chief of Besidia was hardly capable of winning people's hearts. The rebellion of the Besidia warriors was largely his own fault.

For now, Piallen could only suppress his anxiety, strictly ordering the other tribes to send as many warriors as possible, while waiting for the army led by Petalus to arrive.

By dusk, not only had Petalus arrived with his troops, but Bogam, the Great Chief of Ambarnia, also arrived with his forces to join them. Only then did Piallen feel slightly relieved.

The next morning, Piallen, Petalus, Bogam, and Nikurus led 11,000 Cosentia warriors, 2,500 Ambarnia warriors, and 5,000 warriors from other tribes—nearly 20,000 in total—along with 2,000 slaves, and marched eastward.

"Great Chief, it's bad! The enemy is about to attack the city!" Hearing his subordinate's report, Pangaelus was not too nervous. After Nikurus and Bogum had successively led their troops away, the Daonians had not appeared for two days, making him start to believe Bogam's words: Clampetia was not the Daonians' main target!

"What's there to panic about! Haven't the Daonians attacked before? Weren't they easily driven back every time? Relax, with the solidity of Clampetia's walls, the Daonians can't do anything to us!" Pangaelus encouraged his men.

"But this time the Daonians are attacking differently. They are digging earth..."

"Digging earth?"

By the time Pangaelus reached the wall, the soldiers of the Daonian Fourth Army Corps had already covered the slope a hundred meters from the wall with earth and stone, creating a level ground about twenty meters long.

Then, Pangaelus saw the Daonians placing wooden frames about as tall as a man on top of it... The Bruttian warriors curiously guessed what those things were. Many thought they were tools used by Greeks to offer sacrifices to their gods.

Pangaelus stared ahead, watching the enemy laboriously carry wooden boxes next to the frames. His unease grew heavier...

"Are you ready? Can we fire?" Heilos came before what Davos called the 'ballista team' and asked the ballista captain, who wore a red crest, with some anticipation.

The ballista captain replied apologetically, "We still need the spotter to aim the ballista."

This spotter was an apprentice from the Mathematical Academy founded by Davos. He stood slightly in front and to the side of the captain. Upon hearing Heilos's question, he turned back and said in a mild tone, "We can proceed, but we need to test-fire one shot first."

Pointing to the wall ahead, he added, "Although the distance to the wall is about a hundred meters, Clampetia's terrain is higher and not on the same plane as the ballista. It's hard to judge the impact point. I need to see the test result before making corrections."

The captain nodded in understanding, while Heilos looked somewhat puzzled. He knew he couldn't easily learn all kinds of knowledge like Davos could, mixing with those learned scholars. He didn't understand, but he knew that since this spotter had been selected by Davos from his valued Mathematical Academy, his ability must be reliable.

"Set the elevation lever to the middle position. Pull the bowstring to the maximum scale," the spotter said.

Immediately, the captain loudly ordered all the ballista crew.

The crew turned the multiple sets of pulleys at the rear of the ballista. The iron hooks began pulling the finger-thick bowstring outward (this was an improvement Martikris had made to the Syracuse ballista after achieving some results in pulley research, making it easier for the crew to pull the bowstring). As the bowstring moved further back, it also pulled backward the ends of the two wooden arms attached to the iron main beam by torsion spring assemblies. Not only did the two ballista crewmen find it somewhat strenuous, but even the torsion spring assemblies inside the main beam creaked, and the arms even showed a slight bend. The bowstring was pulled to the last notch on the rail. The crew quickly locked the pulley shaft.

"Ballista ready!" the captain ordered. The crew then lifted a stone shot the size of two fists from a wooden box nearby (made by mixing 'Davos cement' with gravel, set in a round mold to solidify, then polished by slaves, so it was both round and smooth) and placed it on the woven net bag at the center of the bowstring.

"Fire!" At the captain's command, the crew released the catch. The spring assemblies, made of two thick ox tendons tightly twisted together, pulled the drawn arms back with a sudden snap. The immense force generated by the torsion drove the bowstring, which in turn propelled the stone shot along the smooth rail like lightning, then through the round hole in the middle of the main beam.

With a "whoosh," under Heilos's gaze, the stone shot flew out and in an instant became a small black dot in the sky.

In Pangaelus's field of vision, the small dot in the air rapidly grew larger. Amid the warriors' startled cries, it flew over the wall and landed inside the city, smashing through the roof of a house, causing screams.

The warriors discussed what that thing was in panic.

Pangaelus's face darkened: Without a doubt, this was a new Daonian siege weapon. But why hadn't it been used before? Why start using it only after Nikurus and Bogam left? Could all this have been prearranged?

"Elevation too high. Firing distance about 300 meters," the spotter observed the stone shot's trajectory and made a rough judgment. He carefully examined the table in his hand, drawn by the Mathematics Research Institute based on newly studied parabolic equations, showing the relationship between elevation angle, torsion scale, and range. Then he said, "Move the elevation lever forward one notch. Keep the bowstring at maximum. Fire another shot."

The captain gave the order. As the crew busied themselves, the spotter said to Heilos, "According to our research, the middle and upper sections of a city wall are generally weaker. Our ballistae should concentrate on pounding that area of this wall..."

Heilos listened seriously, nodding along.

The stone shot flew out again. This time it hit the wall accurately. With a loud "bang," stone fragments flew in all directions. The enemy's screams could still be clearly heard a hundred meters away.

Both the spotter and the captain were clearly satisfied with the hit location, so they continued ordering: "All ballistae fire according to the previous settings."

Over a dozen stone shots flew out one after another, bursting into clusters of 'stone flowers' on the enemy wall.

"Keep firing, don't stop!" Heilos was also clearly satisfied with the ballista's power, but he didn't rely entirely on this secret weapon. He had another preparation: "Order the soldiers to start building the causeway!"

The messenger received the order and left.

Heilos turned to Sipros, who had been following behind all along, and said, "Lord Sipros, I hope your men can also assist in the siege."

"Please don't be so polite, Legion Commander Heilos. Just give the orders!" Sipros said deferentially. His gaze did not stray from the whistling stone shots in the air. Each boom struck his heart with shock: This siege weapon invented by the Daonians, along with the four-meter-high siege towers being hurriedly built in the camp—what city wall could withstand a Daonian attack? Would the era where Greeks could retreat into their cities after a defeat and hold off a powerful enemy thus come to an end?

In the council hall of Besidia, Drakos, the Legion Commander of the Third Army Corps, sat in the center. To his left were seven battalion commanders; to his right were Bagiripi, Brim (who had been persuaded by Bagiripi to surrender), and Kerelu (the young man who had led the four Besidia warriors in driving out Nikurus and was newly elected from Nikurus's clan).