Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 87: Dionysius's Ambition

"But Scylletium lies beyond Hades' protection..." Cerdias's expression dimmed.

"That's the mission you will have to undertake!" Pleisinas held Cerdias, a foreigner, in such high regard precisely because he was the key figure in spreading Daonia's unique Temple of Hades beyond its borders. "But for now, let us pray together and ask Hades to protect Lord Davos, that he may swiftly lead the army to defeat the Samnites, return to Thurii, then march to Caulonia, drive back the Syracusans, and ensure the peace of Magna Graecia!"

"You are right!" Cerdias looked up at the statue of Hades, his conviction growing firmer: I must let the divine power and mercy of Hades shine upon the city of Scylletium.

After Cerdias left the temple, Pleisinas shed his previous solemnity and swiftly turned to close the temple doors.

Alone in the temple, he knelt respectfully before the statue and devoutly confessed: "Hades above, forgive my actions! This is for your descendant! And for your greater glory!..."

Having silently said these words, Pleisinas raised his head, feeling that the statue's face no longer seemed so terrifying. So he began his arrangements...

...

Although the Daonians were not as fearful of war as other Magna Graecians, having two battlefronts—one in the north and one in the south—both large-scale and far from home, still made them anxious for their loved ones. The number of citizens going to the Temple of Hades daily to pray and seek blessings had more than doubled compared to usual.

But from that day onward, some citizens claimed that while placing an oil lamp on the offering table, they saw the words "Offer my blood as king, protect the alliance's peace" appear on the surface, only to vanish quickly!

Others said they too had seen that line of text, but not on the offering table—rather, on a column inside the hall!

Still others claimed that during prayer, they heard a low roar coming from the statue, as if it were calling out 'Davos'...

At first, these were only sporadic rumors, dismissed by Daonians as jokes. But as time passed, more and more citizens claimed to have witnessed this miraculous sign with their own eyes, and matters took a rapid turn in one direction...

That same morning, Dionysius received envoys from the South Italy Alliance in his tent.

When he saw the declaration of war handed over by the envoy, he felt a secret glee.

As it turned out, Dionysius had never intended to take Caulonia first, as Pretinis and Ascamas had speculated.

In military command, Dionysius was far from the arrogance Magna Graecians attributed to him; on the contrary, he was extremely shrewd. Though he had never fought on Magna Graecian soil before, from what he had learned from the Locrians and what he had observed with his own eyes, he believed: Caulonia, a city besieged many times by Locri, had walls ten meters high and was not so easy to capture.

With his wealth of siege experience, he knew that once committed to a siege, it would consume a great deal of time—and time was precious to him and his Syracusan army. He had to break the deadlock on the battlefield as quickly as possible and seize the opportunity for victory across the entire Magna Graecian theater.

Therefore, after careful consideration and discussion with Phoebidas and others, he once again employed the same trick he had used at Syracuse to defeat Himilco—"crossing the sea under the heavens."

He sent a messenger racing back to Locri with orders: draft twenty thousand free men who had landed with the army, responsible for transporting supplies, equipment, and grain. Disguise them as soldiers and have them quietly arrive last night at the camp of the Syracusan-Locrian coalition besieging Caulonia, replacing more than twenty thousand Syracusan soldiers.

The Caulonians were trapped inside the city, and the South Italy Alliance's scout cavalry could not operate effectively in the dark. Meanwhile, the Daonian Fourth and Fifth Army Corps had just arrived at Scylletium; the generals were busy in council, and the soldiers were urgently constructing their camp, with no reconnaissance squads sent out to scout the surroundings.

By the next day, the Syracusan-Locrian army remained the same size and continued to attack Caulonia with ballistae. Then they began ostentatiously cutting down trees and building siege towers, completely deceiving the South Italy Allied Army—they noticed nothing unusual.

Meanwhile, the Syracusan army, having returned to Locri, crossed the mountain pass roads under the command of General Phasipesas, quietly reached the west coast, and marched north at speed...

Only Pheidon, the commanding general of Rhegium stationed at Tauriana, detected the enemy's movements. But by then, both sea and land routes of Rhegium and Tauriana were under Syracusan control, cutting off their communication with the South Italy Alliance.

Pheidon did not yet know that the Daonian Fourth and Fifth Army Corps had withdrawn. In his anxiety, he risked selecting a dozen volunteers, hoping they could cross the mountain pass blockade to reach Caulonia and report this crucial intelligence to the Allied Army, preventing the Syracusans from suddenly increasing their forces and breaking through the Lamato River line (Pheidon still thought the Syracusans were blocked south of the Lamato River and were thus reinforcing).

In reality, Dionysius had secretly shifted these twenty thousand men to the Euphemia Plain, not only increasing his forces in that region to nearly eighty thousand—giving him an absolute numerical advantage—but they were also troops he normally led, making command much easier.

His original priority target was Trina. Though this midsized city was located in the Euphemia Plain, it had never been able to grow strong due to constant raids by the Bruttians from the north. Moreover, a large river to the south provided a barrier, and the distance from Locri meant that when Locrian allies invaded, they mostly attacked from the Caulonia side. The Bruttian raids were mostly for plunder; lacking siege techniques, they almost never assaulted Trina's walls. Thus the Trinaeans, unlike the Caulonians, had not frantically thickened and raised their walls or widened their moats. With few people, low walls, and its location on a plain, Trina became a fat target in Dionysius's eyes.

His original plan, worked out with Phoebidas and others, was: After Phasipesas's army reached Hipponion, he would detach twenty thousand men from his main camp to attack Trina. If the South Italy Allied Army, seeing him divide his forces, came to the city's rescue, Dionysius would secretly have Phasipesas's army arrive at Trina by sea, then use his numerical advantage to crush the reinforcements. The Syracusan army would then completely control the region and continue north in pursuit. If the South Italy Allies did not come to the rescue (less likely, as this would cause disunity among the coalition), the Syracusan army would seize Trina, weaken the enemy, and then press on against the South Italy Allied Army...

After reading the declaration of war sent by the Scylletian envoy, Dionysius laughed joyfully in his heart: Now these arrogant Magna Graecians want to fight a pitched battle with me! They really think they can defeat me with their meager numbers? This is perfect—I'll sweep them all up in one net!

Dionysius was pleased inwardly, but his face showed hesitation. For a long while, he gave no response.

The Allied envoy grew impatient and said: "O tyrant of Syracuse, I've heard that every time you execute citizens of your own city, you are very decisive, not shedding a single tear. Yet today, facing the army of the Magna Graecians you intend to enslave, you are afraid! If you have so little courage, it's better to scurry back across the strait to that little island and play the tyrant there. Otherwise, the fury of the Magna Graecians will devour you and your army whole!"

Faced with the envoy's mockery, Dionysius's eyes blazed, his face flushed red. In anger, he seized his pen and wrote on the document: Battle at dawn tomorrow!

Then he hurled it at the envoy, snarling: "Since you Magna Graecians want to die early, then pray to Hades more today! So that when you go to the Underworld tomorrow, you may suffer a little less!"

"Who will win and who will lose is still unknown. Besides, Hades, who loves death, is the patron deity of Daonia, the most important ally in the South Italy Alliance!" The envoy picked up the declaration of war and did not forget to retort.

"What is your name?" Dionysius glared at him malevolently.

"Salithius, son of Scolas of Scylletium," the envoy answered with his head held high.

"Salithius, I'll remember that!" Dionysius spoke his name in a sinister tone, his words laced with threat.

Salithius showed no fear at all, but responded with a contemptuous smile: "To be remembered by the brutal dictator of Sicily is my honor!"

After the envoy left, Dionysius's anger vanished instantly. He paced excitedly back and forth in the tent, then gestured to a guard: "Go, fetch that Spartan for me!"

When Phoebidas strode quickly into the tent, Dionysius immediately said: "The Scylletians just sent an envoy to challenge me to battle."

Seeing Dionysius so delighted, Phoebidas asked directly: "So you agreed?"

"Not immediately. I had to make the envoy think I was hesitating, afraid..." Dionysius was clearly satisfied with his performance and spoke with self-satisfaction.

"Actually, there is no need for a pitched battle with the South Italy Allied Army." Phoebidas immediately poured cold water on him: "Attacking Trina would allow us to maneuver the South Italy Allies into battle without full knowledge of the situation and without adequate preparation, and we could crush them with superior numbers. A pitched battle, a face-to-face engagement, will only increase your soldiers' casualties!"

"Phoebidas, you are an excellent general, but leading an army sometimes cannot be just about winning." Since the Spartan liked coming straight to the point, Dionysius dispensed with formalities: "We Syracusans have spent a fortune to raise this army—not just to come here and win a few battles, to show off force on behalf of Locri. I need a massive pitched battle! A grand, glorious victory! To intimidate the Magna Graecians and make them know who will be the true master of this land from now on!" Dionysius declared with a surge of bold ambition, making no attempt to conceal his aspirations.