Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 129: The Impact of the Battle

“Are you saying that Cosentia might experience another rebellion?” Davos immediately asked.

“Well… it’s hard to say.” Hegesistus thought carefully before replying cautiously: “I heard that Piallen, to prevent these tribal chiefs from staying in the city and harming the alliance, specially ordered them to lead their former clansmen on the campaign. Today, when I brought the previously rebellious tribes here, I hadn’t heard of any unusual activity inside Cosenza.”

Davos pondered for a moment, then said: “Hegesistus, I am truly grateful for everything you’ve done for Daonia! Next time, I will seek your advice on the situation in the Bruttian region. Don’t keep these tribal chiefs waiting outside the camp gate. Bring them all in.”

Hegesistus spoke with emotion: “Magistrate, without your protection and that of Daonia, my clansmen and I would not only have been unable to avenge ourselves but would have starved to death in the mountains long ago. We are willing to do anything for Daonia!”

Davos nodded, visibly moved, then turned and said: “Martius, go with him to bring those tribal chiefs in. Also—” Davos said to him in a low voice: “Make sure these men walk past a place where the Great Chief of Vergae can see them.”

…

Sedorum was shocked to see, inside the Daonian camp, the tribal chiefs who should have been in Cosentia. One could imagine his astonishment.

Davos, however, warmly received these uneasy Bruttian chiefs and solemnly promised them: As long as they joined Daonia, it would not interfere with their governance of their own tribes and would give them priority in choosing good settlements and pastures.

Moreover, Davos even opened Daonia’s map and showed them that they could choose not only within the Bruttian region but also among other vacant lands in the Daonia Alliance.

The chiefs, relieved by this reassurance, happily pitched their tents beside the Daonian camp, ready to help Daonia overthrow the oppressive Bruttian Tribal Alliance so they could quickly obtain the lands Davos had promised.

After seeing them off, Davos had a new idea. He summoned Capus and ordered him to divide the more than five thousand captives into companies of two hundred men each according to their tribal affiliations, letting the captives themselves elect company commanders, adjutants, and so on. He instructed Capus, while ensuring the captives did not escape or resist, to give these newly elected company commanders as much authority as possible over the captives under their supervision, such as the power to distribute food, assign labor, and punish subordinates.

In Davos’s plan, for the future Daonia City-State League, Thurii would be its center, and the Bruttian region, being very close to Thurii, should become a core area of Daonia. However, Davos clearly understood that the biggest difference between the current Bruttians and the Lucanians was that within Daonia’s territory, the Lucanian region had no large tribes. But given the current situation, when Bruttii was conquered, there would likely be several large Bruttian tribes, which would be unstable factors for future Daonian rule over Bruttii and increase the difficulty of governing the region.

Davos’s main strategy was to dismantle it, reducing the large into the small. The handling of these more than five thousand captives was a preparatory step…

Just as Davos was already planning ahead for the conquest of the Bruttian region, all was not quiet in Cosentia as Hegesistus had claimed; instead, the situation was turbulent and treacherous…

Kaduruk, the chief of Cosentia, originally had a tribe of roughly equal strength to Petalus’s tribe. But ever since Petalus became Piallen’s son-in-law, things had changed. In the process of absorbing and annexing smaller tribes, Petalus’s tribe, backed by Piallen, gained many benefits. Its strength swelled rapidly, quickly making it not only the second-largest tribe in Cosentia and even all of Bruttii, but Petalus himself, with Piallen’s promotion, entered the highest authority of the newly established Bruttian Tribal Alliance—the Council of Seven Elders.

For this, Kaduruk felt anger and resentment at Piallen’s injustice, but the power of Piallen and Petalus’s tribe forced him to put on a smiling face and obey. Take this instance: Piallen led the largest army in Bruttian history to fight the Daonians to the death, yet left him to guard Cosentia. He could only accept it helplessly.

Even as the temporary master of Cosentia, Kaduruk did not have absolute power, because he knew that the High Priest Philotaurus, whom he secretly mocked as ‘Piallen’s dog,’ was watching him closely. If he made any move, Philotaurus could issue an order and make half of the two thousand warriors under his command disobey him—though the other half were his own clansmen.

With the army mobilized, most of Cosentia was empty, and affairs naturally decreased. Kaduruk spent most of the day bored in the council hall of the inner city, until a guard reported that the Bruttian Alliance had been defeated and routed soldiers were trickling into the city.

Although the possibility of defeat had been discussed before the campaign, Kaduruk was still greatly shocked upon hearing the news.

He rushed to the east gate of the outer city, and what he saw was unbelievable: Outside the gate were crowded defeated soldiers, disheveled and exhausted, without helmets, having discarded their leather shields and spears, some even naked and covered in mud. They glanced back in panic while scrambling to enter the city. At the slightest noise, they panicked, pushing and shoving frantically. Some were even forced into the moat, their screams filling the air. Once inside, they collapsed on the ground and soon fell into a deep sleep…

Kaduruk, who had experienced many battles and tasted defeat before, had never seen such a miserable sight. He secretly shuddered and immediately dispatched troops to maintain order at the gate and tend to the wounded…

Before long, he saw Piallen. The Great Chief of Cosentia no longer had the high spirits he had when departing. His eyes were vacant, his expression dull, and he was gripping the horse’s neck tightly. The warhorse was clearly at the end of its strength, moving forward bit by bit, each step difficult. Suddenly, it knelt on all four legs, throwing the unprepared Piallen to the ground…

The accompanying guards hurriedly helped him up. After bouncing on the horse for over an hour, Piallen was both mentally and physically exhausted, his limbs weak. With the guards’ support, he barely stood. Seeing Kaduruk, he said weakly: “…Be careful… be careful of the enemy… the enemy’s sudden attack…” Then he was carried into the city by the guards.

Seeing Piallen in such a sorry state, Kaduruk’s tense and anxious heart inexplicably felt a bit of schadenfreude, and this feeling reached its peak when he saw Petalus.

Petalus, twenty years younger than Piallen, was physically much better than his father-in-law, but mentally, the fierce pursuit of the Daonian cavalry had clearly terrified him. When he entered the city, he was mentally disturbed and, in front of many defeated soldiers, uncontrollably shouted, “The enemy will pursue! The enemy will pursue! Close the city gate! Close the city gate!…” nearly causing a major riot.

Kaduruk exerted great effort to restore order, cursing Petalus as a fool in his heart, while also feeling fear towards the Daonians he had not yet met.

That night, Kaduruk remained on high alert.

Defeated soldiers trickled back into the city. The people of Cosentia, upon learning the tragic news, wept through the night. The entire city was restless all night…

By early morning the next day, many routed soldiers were still escaping back into the city.

In the council hall of the inner city, Piallen, having regained his energy and temporarily emerged from the shadow of yesterday’s devastating defeat, now wore a solemn expression.

So far, only over two thousand warriors from his and Petalus’s tribes had returned, about seven hundred from Ambarnia, roughly a thousand from Vegium, and the most numerous—over four thousand—from other small tribes. What did this mean? It meant that as the first and second largest Bruttian tribes, about eight thousand men were either killed or captured by Daonia! Such a huge number not only caused him and Petalus immense grief but also gave their own clansmen a reason to attack them, threatening their rule over the tribes.

More importantly, the Bruttian Tribal Alliance was likely to disintegrate, as Piallen, having lost his power, had also lost his influence and appeal within the alliance. Just now, Bogam, the Great Chief of Ambarnia, had rejected Piallen’s repeated urgings to stay and left Cosentia with his remaining clansmen.

Even though Piallen had reasoned: “Ambarnia’s fortifications are crude and cannot withstand a Daonian attack. It would be better to temporarily move all Ambarnians to Cosentia and fight together…”

Bogam replied tragically: “The Ambarnians have lived in Ambarnia for generations. We will not abandon our land. Even if we die, we will spill our blood there!”

The departure of the Ambarnians affected the Vegium warriors, who had lost their great chief. They clamored to go home as well. Piallen barely managed to persuade them to stay, promising to do everything in his power to rescue Sedorum.

The problem with the Vegium warriors was minor. The biggest issue was that after returning to Cosentia last night, Piallen, overwhelmed by mental and physical exhaustion, fell asleep quickly, forgetting to make specific arrangements for the other tribal chiefs who had joined the campaign.

As a result, after escaping back to Cosentia, these tribal chiefs did not return to their residences in the inner city but hid in their tribes’ original settlements in the outer city.

After a whole night, Piallen realized his grave mistake and hastily sent men with a squad of warriors to urge them to return.

But what he feared most had happened. The warriors were driven out and, bruised and swollen, reported to him: “Great Chief, Chief Tagli and the others refuse to return to the inner city, and they threaten to lead their tribes away from Cosentia!”