Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 72: Dionian Warriors

“My lord, do you already have a plan?” Antonios quickly asked.

Davos looked at the two legion commanders, his eyes gleaming with a sharp light: “From the way the Samnites treated the Third Army Corps, their commander is a decisive and very action-oriented man, plus the Samnites are rather arrogant, so...”

...

Syracuse’s great army had been exhausted all night, with frequent accidents. Thus, on the following day, nearly all the soldiers were resting.

The camp of the Syracusan army stretched for over ten miles, occupying all the open ground from the western hills of Locri to the coast, and cutting off north-south traffic. To call it a camp was generous—the soldiers had hastily pitched tents. There was not even a simple palisade or earth rampart around the perimeter, no defenses at all. Of course, the neighboring hostile city-state of Caulonia and Taurina to the west of the hills had long been intimidated by Syracuse’s enormous force, barely able to defend themselves, let alone dare to launch an attack.

By noon, Dionysius had just woken from a deep sleep. After finishing his breakfast, he was about to discuss the deployment of troops with his relative Demodocus when he received an urgent report from his guards: About twenty thousand allied troops of the South Italy Alliance had appeared within the territory of Caulonia!

Dionysius was greatly startled: His army had only just arrived at Locri, and the South Italy Alliance’s reinforcements had already come—how could they be so fast? Unless the enemy had known in advance the day he would set out and made preparations beforehand. But how was that possible? He had decided on this campaign based on when the Samnites would attack Potentia and when Davos of Daonia would lead his army away from Thurii. There had been only two days between the order to march and the departure of the fleet (though the army had long been assembling outside Syracuse and the fleet was ready, they had been waiting for the right moment). In such a short time, it was impossible for these Greek city-states of Magna Graecia to react so quickly. So he decided to go and see for himself.

As the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius was not merely a behind-the-scenes manipulator skilled in intrigue. He had once been a hero who fought against Carthaginian invasion; otherwise, in Syracuse’s hour of crisis, the panicked populace would not have placed such high hopes on him and elected him plenipotentiary general. Even after he had firmly secured his tyrannical throne and no longer needed to charge into battle himself, he still occasionally led from the front to set an example. A few years earlier, when he led an army to attack the Carthaginian stronghold of Motya on Sicily and the siege was dragging on, he heard from a surrendering soldier that there was a secret path leading directly to Motya’s core area. He immediately led two thousand volunteers, climbing the steep rear mountain trail in an attempt to surprise the Motyans. Unfortunately, they were discovered and surrounded. Only through the desperate rescue efforts of his men and the favor of the goddess of fortune did he manage to escape disaster.

Now, he quickly rode north with his military advisor Phoebidas, the important Syracusan generals Phasipesus and Astagoras, the Numidian mercenary leader Asirita, and five hundred Numidian cavalry.

From Locri to Caulonia was over sixty li. Along the narrow, winding coast, the horses trod on the somewhat poor, uneven, muddy road. Two hours later, they entered Caulonia’s territory, and then Dionysius saw enemy scouts patrolling ahead.

Seeing their all-black attire, Dionysius, who had carefully studied the armies of Magna Graecia’s city-states, immediately judged: “Daonian cavalry!”

Hearing this, Phoebidas, who was equally astonished that the South Italy Alliance’s reinforcements had come so quickly, seemed to find an answer. He had been paying attention to this alliance of Magna Graecia that had once humiliated him, and had some understanding of the Daonian army. This alliance, which valued military affairs as much as Sparta, was indeed very different from other Greek city-states. It was possible they had arrived quickly.

The Numidian mercenary leader Asirita quickly whistled a few times. Thirty Numidian cavalry charged forward. The ten Daonian scout cavalry turned and fled.

The chase began. The Numidian cavalry gradually closed the distance. They gripped the horse’s flanks tightly with their legs, and while galloping at such speed, they did not even use their hands to hold the reins. Instead, they freed both hands: left hand clutching several javelins, right hand pulling one out, body leaning slightly back, then hurling it with force.

A dozen javelins crossed in the air, followed by several screams. Three Daonian cavalrymen were struck by javelins and fell off their horses. Two horses were also hit by javelins, rearing and neighing wildly, throwing their riders to the ground.

In a single encounter, half of the ten Daonian scout cavalry were lost. The remaining Daonian cavalry fled desperately toward the camp.

The Numidians captured two cavalrymen alive and brought them before Dionysius.

Dionysius, sitting high on his horse, looked down at them coldly. “Tell me, how many Daonian soldiers have come? Who is leading them? What is your battle plan in Caulonia? Whoever speaks well and gives the most details, I will release him.”

The two Daonian captives exchanged glances and said nothing.

Dionysius had no patience to wait for two nobodies to speak. He snorted coldly: “Since you won’t talk, let the Numidians send you to cross the Styx! Asirita!”

“Lord Dionysius, I am here!” Asirita grinned menacingly, revealing uneven yellow teeth, his disheveled long hair covering most of his face. He leaped off his horse, drew his short sword, and as he stepped closer, one of the captives began to tense up.

When Asirita grabbed his shoulder and aimed the sharp sword tip at his throat, he cried out in panic: “I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

Asirita turned to look at Dionysius. Dionysius nodded.

He released the captive, waiting for him to speak again.

At that moment, the other captive shouted loudly: “Lasibulus, are you mad! Do you want your family and children in Thurii to never be able to hold their heads up, to be spat upon! Do you want your soul to fail the judgment of the Underworld after death and be pushed into the terrifying hell of mountains of knives and seas of fire!...”

“What are you waiting for!” Dionysius shouted urgently, seeing the hesitation and unease on the first captive’s face fade upon hearing his comrade’s call.

Asirita immediately charged with his sword at the other captive.

The soldier, seeing the ferocious-looking Numidian rushing at him, remained calm. He called out to his comrade: “I’ll wait for you in Elysium!”

The sword cut his throat. Blood gushed like a spring. He let out no cry of pain, gritted his teeth, and fell straight down.

Lasibulus’s face was sorrowful, but his eyes grew resolute. He closed his eyes, puffed out his chest, and shouted loudly: “Come, give me the sword! My name will be in the Hall of Heroes!”

Asirita glanced again at Dionysius.

Dionysius grew inexplicably irritable. He waved his hand forcefully and spurred his horse forward.

Phoebidas watched the captive be executed before riding to catch up, sighing with emotion: “Truly two brave men! If all Daonian soldiers are like them, this war will be hard to fight!” For in wars between Greek city-states, most soldiers were ordinary citizen soldiers. When battles turned unfavorable, they easily fled. Surrendering when captured was common. Scenes like Leonidas leading three hundred Spartan warriors to their deaths at Thermopylae were rare. Now, besides Sparta, Daonia had appeared. How could Phoebidas not be shaken.

“That Davos boasts of being the ‘God-Touched One’ of Hades, and these foolish Greeks actually believe it!” Dionysius said irritably. Then he added emphatically: “The outcome of war depends on actual strength. Pretending to be favored by the gods cannot change the situation!”

Phoebidas said nothing, but unease stirred in his heart.

“Commander, you see, our army corps has been marching since yesterday, building the camp at night, then rushing to Caulonia this morning, and we haven’t rested much. Could we just build the ditch and earth rampart today, let the brothers get a good night’s sleep, and finish the camp tomorrow?” Epithenis petitioned Philistos.

Philistos hesitated. He could see the soldiers’ exhaustion, but now they were at the front lines, and the Syracusan army could press in at any moment. According to the Daonian Military Code, they must urgently build a sturdy camp. So he turned to ask the Fifth Army Corps commander Drakos, who was sitting nearby: “What do you think?”

Drakos answered without hesitation: “Even if we are exhausted, the soldiers must build the camp according to the Military Code. They can rest well at night.”

“Your army corps can keep working if you want. But my army corps spent all last night digging the camp for your army corps, so of course we’re more tired than you!” Epithenis glanced at Drakos and said discontentedly.

“Alright, alright!” Philistos quickly mediated: “The brothers are truly exhausted, but...”

As Philistos was carefully choosing more tactful words to state his decision, he saw Sobecus, the battalion commander of the cavalry corps, hurrying over.

At the same time as Davos reformed the heavy infantry corps, he had also upgraded the original cavalry battalion to a corps. Cavalry was different from infantry—they were few and expensive; only citizens who owned warhorses could serve. Davos set the cavalry corps headquarters in Thurii, sending training officers to various cities in peacetime to organize and train the cavalry according to plan. In wartime, they were concentrated and assigned to commanders in each theater as the battlefield situation required. Up to now, the cavalry corps had two thousand cavalrymen. The corps commander was Laedes, with four battalion commanders, each leading five hundred cavalry (for the military strength of Magna Graecia’s city-states, five hundred riders was a considerable striking force). This time, when Davos set out for Potentia, he took one thousand cavalry from two battalions, and five hundred were assigned to the southern front under Philistos’s command, leaving only five hundred cavalry to guard Thurii and patrol the coastline to prevent enemy amphibious landings.

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