Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 91: Kynogoratas vigilance

Sestas saw this and quickly urged, "Lord Bagiripi, you don't need to worry too much. Philistos is the commander of the southern front recognized and appointed by Lord Davos, and he is also a veteran of many battles. Moreover, he is honest, and his analysis of the battle should not be exaggerated; our chances of winning the battle are great! The wise Lord Antistanos also endorsed Philistos's analysis in the report he sent along. Let's not worry too much... The Local Council elections may be delayed for a while, but once the Syracusans are driven off, they will still be held."

"Yes, yes, you're right."

The two comforted each other as they climbed the steps of the Senate's Great Council Chamber.

At that moment, Sestas saw Petalus coming up from the other side, as if he hadn't noticed Sestas at all, and quickly entered the assembly hall.

Of course, Sestas didn't have the habit of warmly greeting people he didn't know well, but Bagiripi sighed and said, "It seems Petalus still has some grudge against you for the review you conducted last time. It'll pass in a while."

Sestas said coldly, "I was just doing my duty. Whether others are happy or not has nothing to do with me."

Hearing that, Bagiripi had no choice but to remain silent.

……

"My lords, the Syracusan warships have cut off our Daonian maritime trade routes. Whether heading to the Eastern Mediterranean or to other regions of the Western Mediterranean, the Syracusan navy has captured and detained over twenty of our alliance's merchant ships. Merchant ships from other city-states coming to trade with our alliance have also been forcibly driven away. Now almost no merchant ships are entering the port of Thurii. Except for the port of Pyxous, which, due to its remote location, is still operating normally, the ports of other cities have all ceased operations.

Now, because of the war, the soldiers at the front are consuming a huge amount of supplies every day. If this situation continues, we won't be able to obtain goods through maritime trade, and the grain supply for the entire alliance could become strained! I suggest that the Senate must take measures now, start reminding the people to conserve grain, and forcibly control food consumption—for example, temporarily closing restaurants, reducing the populace from three meals a day to two…" After Mariji finished speaking, the senators were in an uproar.

"Is it really that bad?" Cornelius asked nervously.

"Yes, the grain consumption has exceeded our expectations!" Agricultural Affairs Officer Bagiripi added, "Although we have stored grain, supplying food for the first time to over 40,000 men across five Army Corps in both the northern and southern directions has already depleted two granaries. According to the Ministry of Military Affairs' statistics, this food will only last ten days. As everyone knows, in recent years, we have built only six granaries across the alliance's territories. If the war continues for another two months, the grain reserves might run dry!"

The senators present all became tense.

Kynogoratas immediately stood up and said, "If the sea is blockaded, we can purchase grain from Tarentum overland."

Mesis shook his head and said, "Mariji and I thought of that idea early on and sent public officials to Tarentum to negotiate, but the Tarentum Senate said, 'They are also short of grain and have no surplus to sell.'"

"Damn Tarentum! They forgot who helped them drive off the Messapians in the first place! So ungrateful! We should take the alliance treaty and go question them thoroughly!" Scombrus, this term's Chief Magistrate of Amendolara, cursed loudly upon hearing this.

"Ah… now is not the time to settle scores with Tarentum. The Syracusans and Samnites are already hard for us to handle. Besides, our relationship with Tarentum hasn't been good these past two years. If we push Tarentum too far, it might do what Davos fears… that would be trouble!" Cornelius said worriedly.

"What is our fleet doing?! The alliance spends so much money every year building warships, and now is when we need the navy!" Tritodemos demanded loudly.

"Naval Commander Seclian is fully engaged in reorganizing the warships from the various allied cities and, together with the newly formed Army Corps, training the new tactics proposed by Lord Davos," Hieronymus replied.

"New tactics designed by Lord Davos?!" Tritodemos perked up at that. "Can they defeat the Syracusan navy?!"

"The Thurii military harbor is tightly sealed off now; no outsiders are allowed in. I am not clear on their training situation," Hieronymus said, then fell silent.

"It seems we can't count on the navy for now… Hopefully, today Lord Philistos's South Italian Allied Army can contain the Syracusan offensive," Scombrus said. Although nearly sixty years old, he was rather aggressive in character, but even he was cautious about the upcoming major battle in the south, showing that others were equally anxious. After all, the South Italian Allied Army was not the entire Daonian army, and in the senators' minds, Philistos's military skill naturally could not compare to that of the Archon Davos.

"Is there any latest news? Has Lord Davos already engaged the Samnites?" Sedorum asked.

"The news I received is still from yesterday: 'Lord Davos has led the army into Elea.' Today's battle report has not yet arrived."

The Rotating Chairman Kynogoratas's answer disappointed the senators present. Someone in the hall sighed: "Our transmission of battle reports is still too slow."

"It's already fast! You know, the Lucania region is all mountainous. At the old speed, it would probably take four or five days to arrive. Now it has been shortened a lot," Heracleides, who had joined the Senate not long ago and rarely spoke, rebutted uncharacteristically.

"My lords!" Kynogoratas raised his voice to remind them: "Although based on the analysis of the battle report, our allied army has a good chance of defeating the Syracusans, we must also prepare for the worst. We must once again strictly order Lord Agasia in Asperustum and Lord Asiastes in Clampetia to follow the decision made in yesterday's discussion and complete preparations for city defense as quickly as possible. In case the battle is lost, we must do everything to block the enemy outside Daonian territory! At the same time, we must also prepare to aid Croton, so that we might hold the defensive line of Clampetia—Asperustum—Croton, stalling the enemy until Lord Davos returns with his army!"

"Lord Kynogoratas is right—we must be prepared for both outcomes!"

"Lord Philistos's allied army outnumbers the enemy and has our Army Corps as the main force; it should be able to repulse the enemy."

"Have the scout cavalry been dispatched? Let them send back reports on the situation of the Battle of Scylletium to Thurii every half hour!"

The senators in the hall voiced their opinions one after another, but each felt a sense of tension and worry in their hearts…

After the meeting, the senators did not disperse. They lingered in the hall, chatting in small groups. They were waiting for news from the southern battlefield so they could make swift decisions, so they even had their household slaves bring lunch to the Senate at midday.

Kynogoratas walked straight to a corner of the hall, where Pleisinas and Mariji were whispering about something.

Seeing Kynogoratas approach, the two immediately stopped talking.

"Lord Pleisinas, I've heard that in the past few days, some unusual things have been happening at the Temple of Hades," Kynogoratas said directly, lowering his voice.

"Oh, what unusual things? I haven't heard of it," Pleisinas said, looking bewildered.

"Writing that appears and then disappears, and the statue occasionally making sounds…" Kynogoratas said slowly, his gaze fixed intently on Pleisinas.

Pleisinas suddenly realized: "Lord Kynogoratas, you're talking about that. It's not an unusual phenomenon—it's a miracle of Hades! Such things have happened before; they've just been happening more frequently lately. It shows that Hades is protecting our alliance!" Pleisinas's face was full of piety.

Seeing his expression, Kynogoratas hesitated several times, then finally warned sternly: "This is a time of crisis for the alliance. We need to maintain stability within the alliance's internal affairs and work together to face our powerful enemies! As the Chief Magistrate of Thurii, I don't want major unrest in the city! I believe Lord Davos would not want to see major disturbances in the city either!"

Seeing Kynogoratas's stern look, Pleisinas was taken aback.

But Mariji immediately interjected: "Lord Kynogoratas, I'm very curious—what is this 'writing that appears and disappears' you mentioned?"

Kynogoratas glanced at him warily and said, "You can ask Pleisinas." With that, he turned and left. The rumor about "With my blood I become king, protect the alliance's peace" had gradually spread, reportedly already reaching Amendolara, Besidia, and Castron, causing Kynogoratas great unease. He now urgently wanted to know: was this Pleisinas acting on his own, or was it instigated by Davos? If the latter, what should he do?

"He noticed," Pleisinas said, watching Kynogoratas leave, then turned back to Mariji.

"Anyone with a brain would notice," Mariji shrugged disdainfully. "But now that they know, what can they do? Just now Kynogoratas didn't even dare to say what 'the writing' was. When the real event happens, he'll probably be one of the first to raise his hand in approval. Don't worry, Kynogoratas is a smart man!" Mariji's words eased Pleisinas's mind.

"Actually, I hope today's battle fails…" Mariji's next words were even softer, but they startled Pleisinas again.

"Lord Davos has led the alliance citizens from victory to victory, giving us the great territory we have today! But the people have forgotten the taste of defeat and no longer know the value of victory…" Mariji said softly…

Compared to the desolation of Thurii, on the same morning, the territory of Scylletium was thick with the clouds of war…

Thousands upon thousands of soldiers came out in columns from Scylletium, from Trina, from the camp outside the city, and from the Syracusan camp, surging like a tide toward a place five miles north of the Syracusan camp.