Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 99: The Battle of the Ramato River (Part 8)

Thus, the Fifth Army Corps had relatively ample space for its northward retreat. However, not long after the Fifth Army Corps began its withdrawal, it was spotted by Syracusan mercenary cavalry.

After receiving a scolding from Dionysius, the Numidians and Celts had to pull themselves together and ride from east to west to pursue those black-armored men. The smaller number of fleeing soldiers on this route made their ride easier, and then they spotted the retreating Daonian Fifth Army Corps.

The soldiers of the Fifth Army Corps were still relatively concentrated and orderly during the retreat, which was clearly disadvantageous for a cavalry charge. Even the fierce Celtic cavalry weren't foolish enough to directly crash into a dense formation of heavy infantry. But the cunning mercenary cavalry had their own methods. They formed up in columns again, urged their horses close to the Daonians, shouted loudly, quickly swept past the Fifth Army Corps' formation, and continuously threw their javelins...

The urgent clatter of hooves, the spine-chilling yells, and the screams of comrades... only made the already low-morale soldiers of the Fifth Army Corps even more panicked. They accelerated their forward flight, wanting to escape the terrifying enemy horsemen behind them as soon as possible... The Fifth Army Corps' retreat formation began to fall into chaos.

Seeing this from the front, Drakos made a decisive decision. The First Battalion was right behind him. He turned his horse and shouted, "Brim, take your First Battalion and follow me up! Block those damn horsemen! Let the other brothers retreat safely!"

Brum, once the leader of Besidia, a tough man among the Bruttians, now the battalion commander of the Fifth Army Corps' First Battalion, replied without hesitation: "As you command, Legion Commander!"

The charge bugle was not sounded, for fear of affecting the other soldiers' retreat, but the First Battalion's military banner pointed in the opposite direction of the retreat. Then company banners and platoon banners successively pointed toward where the enemy cavalry roamed. Amid the officers' shouts, the soldiers of the First Battalion turned around one after another...

While the other soldiers fled in panic, the First Battalion of the Fifth Army Corps advanced to meet the challenge!

Walking at the very front was the fully armed legion commander Drakos, who was on foot despite being a horseman, followed by First Battalion Commander Brim.

Drakos looked back at the soldiers of the First Battalion, who, though flustered, still followed him resolutely. His satisfaction was evident: "As expected of the men of Besidia! My finest soldiers! My finest battalion (since the soldiers of the First Battalion all came from the city of Besidia)!"

"It is our First Battalion's honor to fight alongside you, sir!" Brim stood tall.

Drakos nodded and gave orders loudly: "Two ranks! Maintain formation, retreat slowly! Do not let a single enemy slip through!"

At this moment, Drakos had no thought of life or death; his eyes were only on the mercenary cavalry galloping ahead.

Dionysius, who had always studied Daonia's past battles, learned a good lesson from them this time. He used the high mobility of the mercenary cavalry and the two fresh reinforcements who had just entered the battlefield to continuously pursue the fleeing soldiers of the South Italian Allied Army. This pursuit lasted until dusk before they finally withdrew to camp.

The escape route of Trina's fleeing soldiers back to their city was blocked by the Lamato River, and with the ships waiting in the river in full battle readiness, most of the soldiers, under the dual pursuit of the Campanian mercenaries and the Syracusan fleet sailors, were forced to follow the Daonian army from the center and retreat northward.

The scout cavalry sent out by Trina fled back to the city in panic and reported the news of the battle's defeat to the garrison stationed within. Everyone fell into great panic.

Given that the main army could not return and Trina was isolated and weak, unable to handle the approaching Syracusan army, General Bromalas had to make a painful decision: abandon the city of Trina and have the soldiers withdraw to Clampetia in the Daonia Alliance.

The lookouts on the Syracusan warships patrolling the harbor noticed the unusual movements of Trina's garrison. After the Trinians had moved far away, they sent sailors ashore to test the situation and easily occupied an empty city.

Thus, at dusk on the day the Battle of the Lamato River ended, the Syracusans occupied Trina, gaining an excellent foothold in central Magna Graecia for their army. The supplies needed by the Syracusan army could be shipped to Trina's port for transshipment, both convenient and safe.

But Dionysius was not satisfied. His greedy eyes set on Scylletium, not far from the battlefield.

The situation of the Scylletian soldiers who had participated in the battle was rather tragic. They fled east, crowded together with the fleeing soldiers of Croton, wasting precious time. That eastern escape route was then cut off by Phasipesas' reinforcements, while behind them, Phoebidas led a portion of Syracusan soldiers and, ignoring fatigue, persisted in pursuit. As a result, some of the Scylletian fleeing soldiers were killed, some surrendered, and some were swept northward by the fleeing Crotonian soldiers. Only about three thousand managed to escape back to the city of Scylletium.

The Daonian Fourth and Fifth Army Corps from the center, being farther from the enemy's flank reinforcements and having received help (albeit involuntary) from allied troops to block the enemy, retreated relatively smoothly. Aside from some setbacks while crossing the Corace River, they did not suffer heavy losses.

However, the Syracusan mercenary cavalry inflicted the greatest losses on them. Although most of the cavalry was stopped by the Fifth Army Corps' First Battalion led by Drakos, this also delayed the retreat of Drax and that battalion, eventually causing them to be surrounded by the Syracusan pursuit troops and unable to escape...

Daonia's greatest stroke of luck was that the cautious Philistos, though he had agreed to the allied army's battle, had taken a precaution after discussing with Antistanos: he considered the possibility of defeat. Therefore, after the main army had formed its battle lines, he had Antistanos take the baggage camp, engineering camp, medical camp, and other auxiliary personnel of the two army corps out of the camp and march north to a position between Asperustum and the battlefield.

Philistos' plan was: if the battle was won, the Syracusans would be driven out of the Euphemia Plain, and the auxiliary troops could return later. But if it was lost, they should not return to the camp. Instead, following Davos's instructions before their departure, they should retreat to the city of Asperustum and prepare new defenses.

Thus, when the Syracusan army pursued the fleeing soldiers, Daonia's slow-moving auxiliary troops were already on their way to Asperustum, thereby avoiding being captured by the Syracusans due to an undefended camp.

Perhaps Apollo could not bear to witness such a brutal battle between Greeks, for he let the sun sink behind the mountains early, and darkness quickly seized the world. As it happened, Apollo's sister, Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and the moon, was lazy and did not let the moon hang high in the sky, so Hades took control of that night.

Logically, the allied army should have felt fortunate. With the blessing of Hades, whom the Daonians worshipped, at least the arrogant Syracusan mercenary cavalry dared not come out to pursue them in the pitch-black night. However, the night also created many difficulties for the allied army's retreat.

In the darkness, the fleeing soldiers could not see the military banners or the officers' helmet crests, so they could not reorganize. Except for the Daonian army corps, which were in slightly better shape, the other fleeing soldiers were completely scattered and disorganized. In fact, this area was the edge of the hilly region, with uneven and pitted ground. The exhausted, hungry, terrified, and blind fleeing soldiers easily stumbled. If they couldn't get up in time, they were trampled by the soldiers behind them, so there were not a few wounded.

Tens of thousands of fleeing soldiers trudged through the dark, grieving for their fallen comrades, calling out the names of their officers, and worrying about their own safety...

Struggling through the darkness, they felt for the first time that the distance from Scylletium to Asperustum and Tarentum was so incredibly long...

Deep into the night, Agasia, the Chief Magistrate of Asperustum, upon learning of the battle's defeat, urgently dispatched cavalry and citizens holding torches to light the way for the fleeing soldiers. Later, Tarentum also took similar measures, and finally, the fleeing soldiers escaped from the terror of the darkness.

The entire night, the two cities were busy accommodating the fleeing soldiers...

For the people of Scylletium, that night was likewise sleepless.

Since Scylletium was not far from the battlefield, news of the defeat spread throughout the city immediately, and the populace fell into panic.

By dusk, just over three thousand citizen soldiers had fled back to the city. After that, only a few scattered fugitives returned. In the morning, a massive army of fourteen thousand had marched out in full force; by evening, less than a third had returned. The entire city was in mourning.

Chief General Pretinis was filled with regret: he shouldn't have forced the Daonians into a hasty battle!

But now, Scylletium's crisis was only beginning. Among the South Italy Alliance, Scylletium was considered a large city. This had once made the Scylletians proud, but now it had become their problem, as their defensive strength was severely insufficient. According to the descriptions of the fleeing soldiers, they had been defeated by the Syracusan reinforcements that suddenly appeared on the battlefield. So, the Syracusan forces on the battlefield were probably far more than fifty thousand. With such a formidable army, fresh from victory and riding the momentum of triumph, who would be Dionysius's next target?

Pretinis and the Council members dared to assert unanimously: it must be Scylletium! Because it was too close. Now that Daonia and Croton had just suffered a crushing defeat, they certainly couldn't send reinforcements to Scylletium in a short time. To escape the impending Syracusan attack, Scylletium could only rely on itself.

Thus, an urgent Assembly of citizens was convened within the city of Scylletium. The citizens, still dusty from war and filled with fear, would have to make a crucial decision concerning the life or death of their city-state...