Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 83: The Southern Italian Alliance's Decision

Asexias cleared his throat a few times, then continued: "...About twenty-four li east of the Syracuse camp lies the city of Scylletium. In that direction, there are many hills, but the terrain is generally flat. So today, although the Syracusans stayed in their camp, their mercenary cavalry roamed the territory of Scylletium, wreaking havoc on farmland and orchards, burning villages and houses, and killing dozens of our scout cavalry..."

"How many soldiers are actually in the Syracuse camp?" Ascamas asked.

"From our observations over the past two days, I'm afraid there are over fifty thousand!" Asexias replied.

Fifty thousand! Ascamas thought for a moment, then turned and asked: "Lord Philistos, how many enemies did you encounter at Caulonia?"

"No less than forty thousand," Philistos answered honestly.

"If we add the troops from Medma and Hipponion, the forces Syracuse has sent against our South Italian Alliance this time should exceed—" Ascamas spoke solemnly, emphasizing the number: "One hundred thousand!"

Hearing that number, everyone present wore grave expressions: "This is the largest army ever assembled not only in Magna Graecia but in the entire history of the Greek world in the western Mediterranean!"

"And our allied forces here, even if we include the citizen soldiers of Trina, number only about sixty thousand." Pretinis sighed. "It's a pity that Rhegium is cut off in the south and cannot join us, and Caulonia is now besieged. Most importantly—"

Pretinis looked at Philistos and Antistanos, regretfully: "Lord Davos and the main Daonia force are in Lucania. If they were all gathered here at Scylletium, we wouldn't have to fear the Syracusans, even if they have a hundred thousand men!"

"We thought things too simple before. When we made plans, we focused too much on the best outcomes. Now that we're implementing them, we find so many problems." Antistanos spoke, both blaming himself for Daonia and trying to absolve the allied city-state leaders who had discussed the plans: "Some things happened suddenly and caught us off guard! For instance, the Samnite invasion was utterly unexpected! One can only say that Dionysius must have been preparing this invasion for a long time."

Antistanos's words clearly sounded like boosting the enemy's morale and deflating their own. Ascamas snorted softly and was about to speak.

Asopias cut in first: "When will Lord Davos be able to lead his army back?"

"There has been no news yet. But Lord Davos has never failed in military matters. I believe he will swiftly repel the barbaric and backward Samnites and hurry to join us," Antistanos reassured.

Philistos seized the chance to continue: "So now we should strengthen our camp outside Scylletium City, forming a pincer with the city. We should focus on defense, keep the Syracuse army tied up, and wait for Lord Davos to return with his forces before engaging Syracuse in a decisive battle!"

Ascamas laughed coldly: "Listen to that. 'Lord Davos, Lord Davos.' Without Davos, can't all the generals of our South Italian League command a battle anymore?!"

Philistos's face changed slightly. Antistanos frowned. Asexias looked displeased.

Ascamas stared at Philistos with contempt: "Let me ask you, how many days from Thurii to Potentia?"

"By the most direct route, about five or six days," Philistos answered truthfully, despite his anger at what Ascamas had said.

"That means, by my reckoning, Davos may have just reached Potentia with his army. Then how many days from Potentia to here?"

"About nine or ten days."

"Yes, ten days, and that doesn't include the days needed to defeat the Samnites. We Crotonians haven't dealt with the Samnites, but since they are mountain natives, their fighting methods are very likely similar to the Bruttians. In the mountains, they rarely engage in open battle; they prefer to hide and ambush like wolves. This means it's impossible to drive them away with a single decisive battle. Ending the war quickly is completely impossible! General Philistos, I know your unit includes many Bruttians. You should know this better than I!" Ascamas's tone grew more sarcastic. "Even if Davos is a strong commander and can return to Scylletium in twenty days—that's the shortest I can give him—do you think the forty thousand enemies you fought earlier can capture Caulonia in those twenty days? I've heard the Syracusans have a siege weapon called a ballista. In their war with Carthage, they used it to capture several Carthaginian cities..."

Philistos's face changed again. After routing the Syracuse night attack force, they had captured a Syracuse ballista. According to the ballista captain, it was very similar to Daonia's ballista. Although its aiming angle and precision were inferior, its power was greater, since it was larger than Daonia's siege ballista and of course used larger stones. Remembering Phrynires, who had been so confident about defending the city before he left, Philistos felt uneasy and remained silent.

Ascamas noticed and continued: "If that combined Syracuse-Locri army uses ballistae to capture Caulonia and then hurries to join forces here at Scylletium, they'd only need to send a small part of their forces to besiege Trina. We'd have no way to stop them. How many days could Trina hold out?"

Asopias's face turned pale.

"By the time Lord Davos actually leads his army here, I'm afraid even the outskirts of Scylletium will have been reduced to ruins." Ascamas's next words made Pretinis and Asexias unable to sit still either.

After Pretinis and Asexias exchanged glances and reached an agreement, Asexias slammed the wooden table, stood up, and said loudly: "Gentlemen, we can't wait any longer! We should strike the Syracuse army here before their two forces unite! We must attack!"

Philistos frowned and asked: "Attack? How? Are we going to storm the Syracuse camp?!"

"Send a challenge! According to the soldiers who retreated from the Corta River, 'They saw the Syracusans cross the river with a large Syracuse military banner raised in the rear.' The Syracuse tyrant, that Dionysius, should be with this army. According to the old tradition, we'll send him a challenge, inviting him to a pitched battle. This arrogant and brutal dictator calls himself 'the master of Sicily'... He shouldn't... he shouldn't show fear in front of his men and refuse to fight. Then the Greek people under his tyrannical rule will see through his cowardice and weakness!" Asexias spoke with some uncertainty.

"That's a good idea! Trina will do its utmost to send more soldiers to join you. That way, our allied army will greatly outnumber the Syracuse forces here!" Asopias now voluntarily promised.

"But if Dionysius sees the disparity in numbers, he might very well refuse battle," Philistos cautioned warily.

"If the Syracusans don't dare to come out and fight, we'll storm their camp!" Ascamas took over and added: "I've observed the Syracuse camp. It's far less sturdy than yours, Daonia. And your forces also have ballistae, don't you? So we'll keep hurling stones at their camp until we force those cowardly Syracusans to come out and fight!" As a neighbor of Daonia, Croton had been paying close attention to the Daonian army.

"Right! Lord Ascamas, let's do it!" Asexias responded excitedly.

"Lord Philistos, what do you think?" Pretinis's question made everyone focus on Philistos.

Faced with their expectant gazes, Philistos felt as if sitting on pins and needles, but could not give an answer.

Seeing expressions gradually growing impatient, Antistanos stood up and said: "Gentlemen, allow me to speak with Lord Philistos alone for a moment."

The two left the meeting.

Antistanos brushed the dust off the stone steps, sat down, and invited Philistos to sit as well.

Philistos was almost flattered. He had held a high position in the Daonia Alliance for years, but when facing a great scholar like Antistanos alone, the former mercenary's ingrained inferiority still surfaced involuntarily.

"Lord Philistos." Antistanos did not notice his expression, instead looking at the square in front of them and speaking calmly: "Do you intend to persist with Lord Davos's defensive tactics?"

Philistos hesitated, then replied: "Yes. The battle plan of Ascamas and Asexias is too risky. If it fails, the consequences are unthinkable! And if we just hold our camp and wait for Lord Davos to return to Magna Graecia to fight the Syracusans, we will be superior in numbers and capability of soldiers, as well as the generals' command skills. That is the safest tactic!"

"The safest tactic? I'm afraid those inside wouldn't agree." Antistanos sighed. "People, when danger approaches, always want to eliminate it as soon as possible, without calming down to think of longer-term plans... Now the war is burning on the lands of our allies. Their homes are in great danger. Our delaying tactics will only cause suspicion and anger. They will think we Daonians are selfish, letting their lands be invaded and their people killed without taking any action!... If we keep delaying like this, the image Daonia has worked so hard to build in the South Italian Alliance over these years will be destroyed in an instant. We will lose the trust of these city-states' people. That will be very detrimental to Daonia's future development!"

"So just to win their trust, we put our soldiers in danger?!" Philistos retorted.

"Is there no possibility of victory according to their plan?" Antistanos looked at him.