Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 75: The First Battle with Syracuse (Part 1)

By dusk, the Syracusan vanguard had indeed arrived at Hipponion one after another. From Locri through Medma to Hipponion, a journey of over a hundred stades, Dionysius's army had force-marched for more than a full day and actually completed the distance—a minor miracle in itself.

The massive commotion caused by the gradual arrival of the Syracusan army naturally alerted the Trina scouts, who had been closely watching Hipponion all this time. They rushed back to Trina city, located more than 50 stades north of the Lamato River.

The Syracusan army is coming!!!

This startling news shook the entire city of Trina. Both ordinary citizens and council members were seized with panic, never expecting that the Syracusans would press close to Trina just three days after landing.

According to the original plan of the South Italy Alliance, the main force for defending the Lamato River—the Croton troops—was still far away, Scylletium had only sent a few thousand citizen soldiers to guard the upper reaches of the Lamato, and the entire Lamato River defensive line had not yet been established at all; it was riddled with holes. If the Syracusans attacked tomorrow, they would easily cross the Lamato, enter the Euphemia Plain, and Trina would be the first to suffer the ravages of war.

The situation was urgent. The Trina council had no time for debate. Under the leadership of their elected chief general, Sipros, they quickly made decisions: first, send someone immediately to Croton to urge them to dispatch their main force to the Lamato River at the fastest possible speed; second, send someone immediately to Scylletium to demand they go all out to defend the Lamato River; third, send someone immediately to Clampetia to seek aid from Daonia; fourth, send someone immediately to Caulonia to request that the Daonian Fourth and Fifth Army Corps dispatch troops to come to the rescue…

For Sipros, who had always admired Daonia, he trusted the well-trained Daonian army corps far more than the sluggish citizen soldiers of Scylletium and Croton. Thus, half of Trina's emergency measures were related to Daonia.

…

That day, the soldiers outside the Daonian camp in Caulonia continued working hard to improve the defenses. However, with the swift return of the scout cavalry, the camp's warning trumpet sounded. The soldiers immediately hefted their pickaxes, shovels, and wooden baskets, quickly returned to the main camp, and closed the camp gate.

"The Syracusans have finally attacked!" Drakos exclaimed excitedly as he donned his armor with his guards' help. He asked his adjutant, "Any instructions from Philistos?"

"We are to defend on our own," the adjutant replied.

"At least he knows his place!" Drakos muttered, put on the purple-crested helmet that marked his rank as legion commander, and fastened the cheek guards. "Let's go see how formidable the Syracusans are!"

The Daonian Fourth and Fifth Army Corps had actually built two camps: the Fourth on the west side, the Fifth on the east side, connected by a corridor in between.

Therefore, for ease of command, the Syracusan-Locrian coalition also split their forces into two parts: Phasipessas led the Syracusan troops to attack the eastern camp, while the Locrian general Diopantos led his forces to attack the western camp.

Due to the lack of time, the Syracusans had not built siege towers, nor had they prepared many scaling ladders. Yet Diopantos still had the confidence to turn a probing attack into a full assault, hoping to avenge the humiliation of a few years ago when he had been forced to retreat before even fighting against the Daonian army in Croton's territory.

The Locrian assault force, a full twenty thousand strong, advanced steadily to the rhythm of the bronze trumpets. When they approached to about 500 meters from the Daonian camp, Diopantos raised his arm. The trumpets fell silent, and the army gradually halted, its formation becoming uneven.

"Push the ballistae forward!" Diopantos shouted loudly. Yes, his reliance was on the siege weapon the Syracusans had brought—the ballista.

The Daonian army corps had been busy all the previous day, only managing to dig a ditch, build an earth rampart, and set up a wooden palisade. They had no time to dig traps outside the camp, not even placing an abatis. The engineers and craftsmen of the engineering camp were still building watchtowers against the clock.

When the first watchtower was completed, Philistos and Epithenis immediately climbed up and looked outward. They saw the Locrians pushing a dozen ballistae out from the ranks.

Epithenis was not surprised at all, because right below the watchtower in the camp, ten ballistae, slightly smaller than the Syracusan ones, were neatly arranged. He frowned slightly, pointed ahead, and turned to ask the young man who had climbed up with them: "Cullorodus, do you think our ballistae can destroy theirs?"

Cullorodus came from the Mathematics Academy of the Daonian Academy. According to the newly revised *Daonian Military Code* from two years prior, each army corps on campaign must be equipped with ten ballistae, and the spotters must be outstanding students from the Daonian Academy, as they could quickly calculate the appropriate impact point based on parabolic equations to improve firing accuracy.

Although Cullorodus had participated in military training many times, this was his first time on the battlefield. Gazing at the dense enemy lines in the distance, he was a bit nervous: "Too… too far, I'm afraid it will be very… difficult."

Philistos patted his shoulder kindly and comforted him, "Relax, young man. It's normal to feel nervous when you're on the battlefield for the first time. Don't worry; no matter how many enemies come, our brave corps soldiers will drive them away."

Cullorodus nodded. He swallowed and looked ahead once more. Then, gathering his courage, he said, "I… I suggest letting the enemy get closer, so that the power of our ballistae can be fully utilized."

"Just what I was thinking!" Epithenis praised, seriously scrutinizing the handsome young man, a gleam of something unusual in his eyes. "You're very good, young man."

Philistos coughed a few times upon seeing this.

Just then, a messenger from the Fifth Army Corps arrived at the base of the watchtower: "Commander, Legion Commander Drakos requests that we wait until the enemy enters within 200 meters before firing the ballistae, so as not to scare them off."

"200 meters?!" Epithenis shrugged. "This Drakos is really greedy!"

"He's thinking the same as us!" Philistos laughed.

Ephialtes, serving as a squad leader, stood with his comrades behind the earth rampart. They watched as one huge stone shot after another whistled out from the enemy front line, crashed in front of the camp with a thunderous sound, and kicked up clouds of dust. They showed little anxiety, for in their daily military training, they had drilled countless times with the ballista units and were quite familiar with this fearsome ranged weapon. So, despite the impressive racket made by the enemy ballistae outside the camp, the soldiers were even in the mood to joke.

They asked Ephialtes about the details of his trip to the Hera festival, envying the special treatment he and his new bride had received. They all said that when they got married, they too would go to Thurii to attend the Hera festival.

As the enemy formation gradually advanced and the ballistae moved forward, the impact points also crept closer.

When stones fell from the sky, landing in front of the camp and into the ditch, the platoon leaders in the corps shouted orders: "Take cover against the wall!"

Just as Ephialtes and his comrades crouched against the earth rampart, Cullorodus's voice came down from the watchtower: "250 meters!"

"Easy, easy." Epithenis crossed his arms and patted his own shoulders, trying to suppress his growing excitement.

*Thud!* A stone struck the wooden palisade, sending splinters of broken wood onto the fully armed soldiers without causing any harm.

*Whoosh!* Several more stones whistled over the palisade, falling into the camp, smashing a few tents, drawing a few yells and a burst of laughter.

Cullorodus on the watchtower stared intently at the ground ahead. The day before, while the soldiers had been busy reinforcing the camp, the ballista crews had also been active, surveying the terrain outside the camp and leaving markers—perhaps a transplanted weed, a peculiar rock, a wooden stick stuck in at an angle…

"200 meters!" Cullorodus shouted excitedly.

"Fire," Epithenis waved his hand.

"30-degree elevation, medium stones, full draw!" Cullorodus relayed the data quickly.

The ballista captain, who had been listening closely, repeated Cullorodus's words loudly. The soldiers rapidly turned the pulleys, drew back the bowstring, hooked it with an iron hook, then placed a stone of about 6 kilograms into the barrel. (After several years of further research and improvement on the ballista, Daonian ballistae were divided into two types: siege ballistae—large, firing stones over 20 kilograms aimed at city walls and buildings; and defensive ballistae—small, light, accurate enough to be carried by two or three men, firing stones from three to ten kilograms aimed at troops and siege equipment.)

Since this was not a pitched battle, the enemy formation was rather loose, but a force of twenty thousand men still appeared dense. Therefore, the first round of attack had to seize the opportunity. To that end, Cullorodus first set the ballista's aiming point at the center of the enemy formation.

"Release!" The ballista captain swung his right arm vigorously.

Diopantos watched as stones whistled into the Daonian camp, feeling a surge of satisfaction.

At the start of the army's advance toward the camp 500 meters away, he had worried about being hit by Daonian slingers, for he had heard that most of Daonia's slingers came from Rhodes, shooting far and accurately. But when his troops advanced to within 300 meters of the enemy camp without any reaction from the Daonians, he felt completely relieved.