Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 61: The First Battle Between Dionia and the Samnites (Part 1)

Puamot, who was inside the city assessing the enemy situation, was extremely anxious, but he dared not send troops out to intercept, because the city of Potentia was already surrounded, and the Samnite forces far exceeded the intelligence he had received.

Some tribes in the southern territory of Potentia thought the Samnites were still far away and were careless, failing to retreat in time. The result was that they were either annihilated or captured by the surging tide of Samnites, or they fled in panic further south into the territory of Grumentum, driving their fear-stricken people before them.

The panic brought by these fleeing Potentian tribes naturally infected the tribes north of Grumentum's territory. Just as they too began clamoring to retreat southward, Alexis, who had already received word from his scouts, sensed the urgency of the situation and resolutely decided: he could no longer wait for orders from the Senate. He immediately led the more than 8,000 soldiers who had all returned to the camp and marched north.

In the recent reforms of the army corps, Davos had not only equipped each Army Corps with a reconnaissance hundred-man company, but also considered that when fighting in Italy, with its steep mountains and tall peaks, the light infantry, after completing their long-range strikes, would have sore arms and still need to assist the heavy infantry in attacking the enemy's flanks and pursuing them in flanking maneuvers. Their physical exertion was no less than that of the heavy infantry, yet their combat efficiency was reduced. Therefore, after discussion with his officers, he added a battalion of light-armored infantry to each Army Corps. They wore leather helmets, cowhide breastplates, carried triangular leather shields, wore leather greaves and leather sandals, and their weapon was a double-edged thick iron sword 1.2 meters long. They specifically selected young, fit citizens and preparatory citizens who were good runners and capable climbers to join this battalion, to assist the heavy infantry main force in combat.

At the same time, Davos also reformed the original light infantry battalions. Since Daonia's excellent slinger recruits mainly came from Rhodes (the other place famous for slingers, the Balearic Islands, was under Carthaginian control), the scarcity of such soldiers made it difficult for the later-established Army Corps to recruit slingers. Therefore, except for the First and Second Army Corps, which still had slinger units, the light infantry battalions of other Army Corps were half archers and half javelin-throwers. In addition, the number of excellent Thracian peltasts could no longer keep up with the speed of expansion of the Daonian Army Corps. So, starting from the Fourth Army Corps, the light infantry battalions no longer had peltast units. Their role was mainly taken over by javelin-throwers and light-armored infantry, making the army corps organization simpler and more uniform.

Adding to that the engineering camp, artillery camp, cavalry squad, medical camp, and other auxiliary units within the Army Corps, a single Daonian Army Corps now numbered close to 8,700 men. It could be said to be a fully functional, massive military formation.

While marching north, Alexis also sent word to Bacule to prepare defenses for the northern territory of Grumentum.

Lucania was mainly mountainous, and Potentia was the highest region in the area, with an average elevation of over 500 meters. Fortunately, the vast majority of soldiers in the Third Army Corps were Lucanians who had lived here since childhood and were already accustomed to the environment.

The Third Army Corps marched in three columns along the lowlands and river valleys between the mountains, winding like a long dragon through the rugged peaks, stretching for five or six li from the head of the column to the tail...

At this moment, on a small hill, Gaelni, son of Veroni, the Great Chief of the Hirpini, was intently watching the movements below.

"Chief, look!" a warrior beside him suddenly called out.

"Fool, keep your voice down!" Gaelni kicked him and swore, "Don't scare the enemy away!"

A glint of gold flickered in the distance along the tree-shrouded mountain path. After a moment, that glint turned into a raised banner held high. At its top, a bronze statue of Hades holding a Bident gleamed harshly in the sunlight. The standard bearer was a tall man in military attire, also wearing a complete animal hide, making him appear particularly imposing (it was actually the hide of a large hunting dog; hunting dogs symbolize loyalty and ferocity, and Hades' loyal dog is the three-headed Cerberus. Besides, with Davos' modern mindset, he would not allow subordinates to hunt animals extensively just for decorative needs).

"Heh heh, pretty to look at," some Samnite warriors muttered dismissively in low voices. "Don't know if they can fight."

Gaelni did not speak. He concentrated on watching the Daonian army slowly approaching him. He knew very well that his father had contacted the two major tribes of the Pentri and Caudini to attack Potentia this time, not only because of Syracuse's substantial financial support and instigation, but also because of the pressure from this suddenly rising powerful neighbor in the south.

Now, he would open his eyes wide and get a good look at what this unfamiliar, formidable enemy was really like.

Behind the standard bearer came the standard-bearer, holding aloft a tall black banner with golden letters spelling "Daonia Third Army Corps" on it, fluttering in the wind. Originally, it had been a red banner, influenced by Davos' memories of Rome from his previous life. But as he became more integrated into this era and the faith in Hades deeply entered the hearts of the Daonian people, considering that Hades was the Lord of Darkness and revered black, he changed the color of the military banner.

Behind the standard-bearer of the Army Corps came the flag bearer of the First Battalion, holding aloft a statue of the Death god, smaller than the statue of the Lord of the Underworld. Then came the drummers and trumpeters of the Army Corps...

Gaelni rubbed his slightly tired eyes. The Daonian army looked imposing, but they had too many fancy trappings.

He muttered to himself inwardly, then the Daonian army corps soldiers appearing next made his eyes widen. Their black bronze helmets were not like the Corinthian helmets worn by Greek soldiers he had seen in Campania, which covered the entire head with only two eye holes. Instead, they were like inverted bowls, with the entire face exposed and cheek guards protecting the sides of the face. Their style was quite similar to Samnite warriors' helmets, except there were no decorative feathers or colorful horsehair at the crest. Black linen cuirasses, black greaves, spears held in their right hands, shields carried in their left...

These shields... Gaelni suddenly noticed that the shields carried by the Daonian soldiers were very similar to the shields of Samnite soldiers: half a man's height, rectangular in shape, with a convex center and concave sides, giving the shield surface an arc. The only difference was that the Daonian soldiers' shields were painted black, not red...

Daonia was a Greek city-state, wasn't it? Why didn't they use the traditional Greek round bronze shields and Corinthian helmets, but instead looked so similar to us Samnites?!

Astonished, Gaelni had no idea that in recent years, the Daonian magistrate Davos had finally completed the upgrade of the army corps' equipment. He had abandoned the heavy Corinthian helmets and round shields, replacing them with new-style helmets and elongated curved shields. And such large shields, of course, could not be bronze-plated. They were wooden, covered with a layer of cowhide on the outside, which reduced the soldiers' load by at least ten jin, enhancing their mobility, and also brought about some new tactical changes.

In the Daonian army, except for occasional helmets with crests in colors like red, white, or purple, which should belong to officers and commanders, almost everything else was black. This made the entire formation resemble a giant black serpent crawling out of the underworld, exuding an aura of death and icy chill.

Gaelni unconsciously took two deep breaths, put on his own helmet, which had a crest adorned with a row of colorful horsehair, pulled down his cheek guards, and ordered in a low voice: "Notify Aburini on the opposite hill to be ready. When the enemy's vanguard passes through, we will launch the attack and give these pretentious enemies a good lesson."

"Yes, Chief!" The rider on the hilltop waved a red war banner painted with a wolf's head. The Daonian soldiers down below could not see it, but the Samnites on the opposite hilltop also shook their military banner in response.

The Samnite warriors held their breath, clutching javelins and stones, crouching on the ridge, waiting for the Daonians to pass below.

Just at that moment, the Daonians stopped moving. A mounted officer hurried to the front of the column and seemed to be saying something to the soldiers.

After quite a while, the column started moving again, but after only a few steps, it stopped again. That officer spoke to the soldiers again.

This happened three times in a row, starting and stopping. The Daonians were almost entering the ambush zone, but they dawdled over this short distance, wasting too much time.

Gaelni felt his patience nearly exhausted. He rubbed his stiff and numb body, cursing the Daonians for their sluggish movement.

Just then, commotion suddenly erupted on the hilltop.

"Enemy coming! Enemy coming!..." the warriors shouted loudly.

"What's going on?!" Gaelni could no longer care about the ambush and urgently asked those around him.

"Chief, the Daonians... the Daonians are approaching from the rear of the hill, trying to surround us!" The guard who had run to check the situation rushed back to report.

He didn't need to say more. Gaelni could already see the black specks flashing between the trees on the mountainside behind them.

Deceived! Those cunning Daonians already knew we were ambushed here, deliberately drawing my attention in front while thinking of encircling and annihilating us! This thought flashed through Gaelni's mind, but he was not flustered. He immediately ordered: "Sound the war horn! Since the Daonians dare to come up the mountain, let them taste the power of us Samnites!"

The deep, drawn-out sound of the war horn reached the foot of the hill. Alexis, the legion commander of the Third Army Corps, who was riding at the front of the column, immediately looked up.

"It seems the Samnites have discovered our outflanking troops," said Lizaru, the battalion commander of the First Battalion, in fairly fluent Greek. Since suffering humiliation at the Isthmian Games, he had spent a great deal of time practicing his Greek and had improved significantly.

"Krigoru, are you certain there are only 1,000 Samnites on these two ridges?" the adjutant of the Army Corps asked the reconnaissance captain Krigoru again for confirmation.