Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 79: The Southern Front Legions' Choice

War ships in the bay made as if to land, while war ships in the river sailed upstream... Sipros was torn between two difficult choices, regretting only that Scylletium was a small city with too few citizen soldiers; to guard the east he had to neglect the west. But in the end he made a decision: send 2,000 men to rapidly pursue the enemy ships along the north bank and prevent them from landing there.

However, when the dispatched force advanced to the confluence of the two rivers, they had to make a detour, because at this point the Lamato River ran from north to south, directly blocking their path, and it was not fordable on foot. They could only circle around to the north.

Seizing this opportunity, the Syracusan war ships approached the east bank of the Cortha River, which flowed from the south into the Lamato. In fact, by this time the sailors were exhausted from rowing desperately, and the soldiers on board quickly scrambled ashore.

Meanwhile, Dionysius had grown dissatisfied that his army had been forming up for nearly an hour and still wasn't ready—mainly because continuous reinforcements kept arriving. He immediately gave the order: No more waiting! Full attack!

The weary Syracusan soldiers stepped into the icy waters of the Cortha River and charged toward the defensive line set up by the men of Scylletium on the opposite bank.

Although the Scylletians were few in number and their line was thin, they had conserved their strength and held an overwhelming advantage in stamina. For a time, they kept the vast Syracusan army stuck in the river, unable to advance an inch.

Along this meandering stretch of river over four miles long, the Scylletians fought desperately to defend their homeland. They battled for more than half an hour against the Syracusan army, which outnumbered them nearly four to one. The entire river was stained crimson...

Only when the landed Syracusan soldiers arrived from the west and attacked the flank of the Scylletian formation did the Scylletians' morale begin to waver, eventually collapsing...

Dionysius let out a long breath: he had finally led his army to break through the defensive line of the South Italy Alliance and entered the edge of the broad, flat Euphemia Plain...

But by now the Syracusan soldiers were exhausted, both men and horses, and had no strength left to pursue the routed troops.

After occupying the temporary camp abandoned by the Scylletians, Dionysius ordered the army to rest on the spot.

...

The Clampetian army, which had been hurrying toward Trina, received news that the vast Syracusan army had already crossed the Cortha River. The horrified Asiastes immediately decided to turn back, while sending men to explain the situation to Trina.

By afternoon, reinforcements from Croton finally arrived at Scylletium in haste.

The chief general of Scylletium, Pretinis, and the high officials of the Council not only showed no welcome to the arrival of the army from their former mother city and original ally leader, but instead accused them of arriving late, allowing the Syracusans to occupy the north bank of the Cortha River and placing the city of Scylletium in danger.

Aschamas and the other Croton generals offered no excuses in the face of the accusations, because the situation had indeed reached a dangerous point.

By evening, horsemen riding south from the north shattered the silence of the Daonian camp. Epithenis and Drakos, upon receiving urgent messages from messengers, hurried to the main tent.

"Both legion commanders, I have just received an urgent report from Scylletium: the Syracusans have broken through the Cortha River line and entered Scylletium's territory," Philistos said, his expression grave.

"I said it long ago—those city-state armies of the South Italy Alliance are unreliable!" Epithenis spat on the ground in anger. "They made us win a battle here for nothing!"

"How many Syracusan troops are in Scylletium?" Drakos asked urgently.

"According to the letter from Scylletium, over 50,000," Philistos said, picking up the letter from the table. Drakos snatched it and opened it to read. It was worth noting that when he was a mercenary leader, he had been illiterate. In recent years, in order to command a legion and understand the Military Code and military orders, he had specifically enrolled in the adult learning class at the Thurii school. He studied very hard and made rapid progress; reading letters was no longer a problem for him.

"More than 50,000?!" Epithenis exclaimed, then immediately thought: "This shows that the Syracusans' main attack is focused on the west coast, and the army here is just to tie us down."

"It seems that's the case..." Philistos nodded calmly, inwardly somewhat dejected at failing to discern Dionysius's intentions in time.

"The Scylletians' letter asks us to immediately withdraw to Scylletium and combine forces with them to jointly resist the Syracusan army," Drakos said, looking at the two.

"In fact, Lord Antistanos also wrote a letter advising us to retreat to Scylletium," Philistos added, pulling out another letter.

"Besides retreating to Scylletium, do we have any other choice?" Epithenis shrugged. "If we continue to hold here, letting the Syracusans crush the armies of the other allied city-states on the Euphemia Plain and then take Scylletium city, then our 20,000 men will truly be fish caught in a net."

Philistos sighed: "If we do this, Caulonia will probably be in trouble..."

He knew that in order to let the Daonians defend them at ease, the Caulonians had provided them with plentiful food every day. After repelling the enemy's attack during the day, everyone from the Caulonia Council down to the commoners would come out of the city to express their gratitude. They even intended to hold banquets for the Daonian legion commanders and officers and deliver wine to the soldiers... and so on. Philistos had declined the Caulonians' kindness on the grounds of the Daonian Military Code, but every Daonian soldier felt the gratitude and warmth from Caulonia.

The three fell silent for a moment. Then Drakos said helplessly: "Given the situation, we have no choice. Let us only hope that Hades grants protection, allowing Caulonia to defend its homeland. Once we concentrate our forces and repel the Syracusans, the siege of Caulonia will naturally be lifted."

"Repel?" Epithenis keenly seized on Drakos's words and asked, "Do you think we can repel Dionysius's great army on the Euphemia Plain?"

"Why not!" Drakos pointed at the letter and retorted, "According to the letter, the Syracusans there are only about 50,000. Our two legions, plus the troops of Croton, Scylletium, and Trina, probably also add up to over 50,000. Are you lacking confidence in our legions?! Don't forget, the legion soldiers of Daonia are the best soldiers in the Mediterranean!" Drakos glared angrily at Epithenis.

"Who said I lack confidence in our legions! Don't you slander me here!" Epithenis flared up in anger. If such talk got out, how could he continue to lead his battalion?

"Enough, both of you, stop it!" Philistos shouted sternly. "What time is this, and you two still have the mood to quarrel?! If Lord Davos knew how you're behaving now, he would deeply regret appointing the two of you as legion commanders!"

At the mention of Davos, Epithenis and Drakos quieted down.

"Let's just pretend I didn't hear what was said just now. You two forget it too! I don't want to hear any rumors about this among the soldiers, understand!" Philistos looked squarely at the two.

Epithenis pouted his lip at Drakos, while Drakos barely nodded.

Philistos breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Alright, now let's discuss how to withdraw tomorrow morning..."

That morning, Pichini, the Samnite leader stationed in Poseidonia who had worried all night, saw no miracle.

The Daonian army still appeared outside the city, divided into two parts: one part was constructing a camp, and the other was forming up outside the city walls.

"Only 4,000 men, and they think they can seize my Poseidonia!" Pichini felt insulted.

Just then, he saw something being pushed to the front of the enemy formation by soldiers. His eyes widened in shock, and he couldn't help gripping the battlements with both hands, leaning forward to see more clearly.

Immediately after, he saw seven or eight small black dots fly up from the enemy front line and smash straight into the city wall. "Boom! Boom! Boom!..." The loud sounds shattered Pichini's hopes: the Daonians also had ballistae!

In the following hours, the Samnites nervously kept their eyes on the stone projectiles flying through the air, terrified one might land on them. The already damaged city wall, which had only undergone simple repairs, became even more battered under the relentless bombardment from the ballistae...

Pichini could only hope that reinforcements would arrive soon.

The day passed amid the busyness of the Daonian soldiers and the unease of the Samnite defenders.

Early the next morning, the bugle of the Daonian camp sounded. Soldiers roused from their tents, bleary-eyed, sat up, and urged each other to quickly don their armor.

"Report, Legion Commander! A large enemy force has appeared to the north of the camp, estimated at over 20,000 men, marching towards the camp!" Scout Captain Krigur reported to Alexis.

"Over 20,000!" Alexis was not surprised but rather pleased. With the help of his guards, he dressed fully, took two invigorating steps, and said loudly, "It seems the Samnites have big ambitions—they want to swallow us whole! Hah, they still don't know who will end up eating whom!"

As he was about to step out of the tent, the flap was pushed open, and First Battalion Commander Lizaru burst in, shouting excitedly, "Legion Commander, the enemy has taken the bait! And they've brought more than 20,000 men!"

"That should be enough for you to feast on, eh!" Alexis joked.

Lizaru chuckled. A while back, he had been dissatisfied when Alexis actively withdrew from Potentia in the face of an approaching Samnite army, and he had been sulking ever since. Now all that anger was gone, replaced only by a fierce desire to fight.

"Don't rush. Make sure the brothers eat their fill. The battle today might last quite a while! Lord Davos gave our Third Army Corps the order to stick to the enemy as much as possible, to exhaust them, and to force them to commit all their forces to storming our camp!" Alexis reminded him again.

"Understood," Lizaru replied. He turned to leave, then stopped and faced Alexis, saluting solemnly—a salute that also contained his apology.