第六卷 双雄会 第一百三十七章 持续作战（中）

"Who said I'm unwilling to send out troops?!" Terpheas quickly changed his tune, stood up, and grabbed him: "Didn't the messenger say we need to wait for news of the naval victory? Look…"

Terpheas patiently analyzed for Matonis: "Once the naval battle is won, sending a message by land will be impossible. During the day, Tarentum's cavalry patrols the south, so your messengers simply can't get through… In other words, we only deploy once we see the Daonian fleet arriving by sea." By then, the outcome would be settled, so why wouldn't Terpheas be happy to go along?

Unexpectedly, Matonis shook his head and said, "That suggestion won't work—it's too slow! The Tarentine fleet has blockaded Heraclea's port, so they'll definitely get the news first. By the time our fleet arrives and we move, the Tarentines outside the city will have long since fled! So—"

Matonis glared at Terpheas and said in a low voice, "We need to closely watch the enemy camp outside. Once the Tarentines try to retreat, we attack immediately!"

"Ah?!"

...

Having convinced Terpheas, Matonis returned to the square and immediately ordered his adjutant to summon the battalion commanders of the Seventh Corps to the command tent for a meeting (the Seventh Corps' camp was set up in Heraclea's square).

After a while, all seven battalion commanders arrived.

Matonis didn't wait for them to sit down; he said directly, "Time is tight, so I'll make it short. His Majesty Lord Davos has led the First and Second Corps back to Thurii—"

"Ah, Lord Davos is back!"

"Great, Amendolara is saved!"

"It's not just Amendolara that's saved—the Tarentines are finished too! Lord Davos will lead us to defeat them!"

Several battalion commanders shouted, excitedly waving their arms.

"Shut up, all of you!" Matonis roared, making them tremble. "You're all veterans; you should know the regulations of the Daonian Military Code. What punishment does a subordinate face for talking back during a superior's briefing?!"

Matonis glared fiercely at them, and the battalion commanders instinctively touched their backsides. "I'll note down the punishment of caning for now; it depends on your performance later. His Majesty Lord Davos has sent orders: today he will lead the army by sea, landing on the coast between Heraclea and Metapontum. He commands us to do our utmost to hold the enemy outside the city so that the main force can arrive in time and together we can surround and annihilate the Tarentines! Understood?!"

"Understood!" None of the battalion commanders dared to shout again, but excitement was written all over their faces.

Matonis paced back and forth in front of them, then stamped his foot forcefully. "I know that over the past two days, because I strictly ordered the soldiers not to leave the city to drive out the enemy in Amendolara, many men in the corps have been cursing me behind my back, calling me 'a timid rabbit, a cowardly lamb, not fit to be a legion commander!' Some have even cursed my parents!…"

Matonis's roar silenced the battalion commanders. "I know some soldiers in the corps are from Amendolara, but that shouldn't be a reason to insult their commander. 'A soldier's duty is to obey orders'—that's a basic rule in the Military Code. I've noted which soldiers cursed me privately. You go back and tell them: in this attack, if they don't prove braver than me, if they don't advance faster than me, then what right do they have to curse me?!"

Matonis's eyes bulged, his breath ragged, like an angry bull. "After the war is over, I'll make them stand in the square as punishment, and let the entire corps take turns cursing their whole families! Do you understand?!"

"Yes… understood."

"Get back and prepare!"

"Yes, sir!"

After the battalion commanders left, the adjutant said cautiously, "Legion Commander, doing this might—"

"Might what?!" Matonis glared and snorted. "For a new corps like this, with poor equipment and lax discipline—if I don't provoke them like this, how can they perform well?!"

In the afternoon, a fast ship sped close to the Agri River.

"What did you say?! The Syracusan navy was defeated? How is that possible?!" The two Tarentine magistrates exclaimed in disbelief.

"Did some other city-state's fleet join the battle and help the Daonians?!" Eumachus asked quickly.

"No, from start to finish, the Daonian fleet fought alone. They installed some kind of wooden bridge on their ships to hook onto the Syracusan vessels, then sent large numbers of soldiers charging onto the decks…" The fast ship captain recalled the scene he had witnessed earlier, still as if in a dream. The Daonian fleet's tactics completely overturned the traditional naval warfare principles he had been raised with.

Diomilas was dazed for a while, then thought of a key issue: "Did the Daonian fleet suffer heavy losses?"

The captain shook his head. "It seems their fleet didn't take much damage."

"Could it be that Hades really protects these barbaric, crude Daonians?!" Diomilas was astonished yet dejected; he looked dazedly at Eumachus.

Eumachus looked back at him.

Fear filled both their eyes, because they both knew: once Syracusan naval superiority was broken and the Daonian fleet controlled the Gulf of Taranto, the Tarentine fleet would be unable to fight them alone. The coastline of Tarentum would be threatened by the Daonian fleet, and their army, far from Tarentum city, would be in grave danger.

Almost in unison, they shouted: "We must retreat immediately!"

To avoid drawing the attention of the Heracleans, they quietly summoned their officers and issued the order to retreat.

The Tarentine soldiers began packing up their belongings and loading their knapsacks.

The biggest headache for the two magistrates was the mountain of grain piled up in the camp. Originally, to ensure a convenient food supply, the Tarentines had transported provisions by cargo ship and stored them in the camp to feed the enormous army of twenty thousand for over ten days. Now that they suddenly had to retreat, this became a problem.

Tarentum had no specialized logistics transport department. Since this was considered a coastal operation, Tarentum had not hired laborers for overland transport; all supplies came by sea. Sending a fast ship back to notify Tarentum's port and gather cargo ships for transport would take too much time. Yet they dared not easily burn or discard so much grain and supplies, because wasting city-state resources would surely lead to impeachment by the Senate.

So Diomilas came up with an idea: have some soldiers carry supplies overland to Metapontum, while recalling the Tarentine fleet still cruising near Heraclea to load the grain into the ships' holds and transport it back to Tarentum.

"What if the enemy in the city comes out to attack us?" Eumachus was worried.

"These cowardly Heraclean and Daonian soldiers have been holed up in the city all this time. I don't think they've suddenly found the courage to take the initiative to attack. By the time they learn of the Daonian fleet's victory, we'll already be back in Metapontum." In fact, based on the traditional Greek experience of warfare, Diomilas didn't even believe that the Daonian army, after just finishing a fierce naval battle, could immediately launch a rescue of Heraclea.

However, the performance of the Daonian Corps in their battle against the Messapian-Peucetii Allied Forces had left a deep impression on Diomilas. He had to be cautious, after all, this Tarentine army had gathered almost all of Tarentum's young citizens; he couldn't afford any mistake. So, although Diomilas didn't think the Tarentine army's retreat was dangerous, he still assigned four thousand soldiers to serve as the rearguard.

To avoid attracting attention, the Tarentine army didn't even dismantle their tents.

But even so, the Tarentine army's retreat was slow and sluggish. The poorly trained Tarentines could not, like the Daonians, make "army retreat" a specialized training exercise practiced every seven or eight days, enabling them to be fast, efficient, clearly organized, and orderly.

The Tarentines thought they could fool Heraclea, but they didn't expect that the Daonian Seventh Corps had long anticipated their retreat and had been closely watching from the city walls. Soon, the Heracleans spotted clues: the scouts and cavalry patrolling in front of the camp no longer appeared; loud noises came from the camp; warships frequently entered the Agri River… and so on.

"Legion Commander Matonis!" Terpheas exclaimed excitedly, "It seems the enemy really is retreating. Could it be… could it be that your fleet really defeated the Syracusans?!"

"I've said it before, Lord Davos always keeps his word!" Matonis glanced at him and replied coldly.

"You're right!" Terpheas didn't mind Matonis's tone and continued excitedly, "Should we attack now?!"

Matonis gripped the battlements with both hands and said calmly, "Don't rush. Wait a little longer."

"Wait some more?"

"Yes, wait until all the Tarentine soldiers are ready to leave, until they've started crossing the river…" A cold glint flashed in Matonis's eyes, like a wolf about to pounce on its prey.

Diomilas watched the soldiers crossing the pontoon bridges, a voice in his heart urging: Faster! Faster!…

Seeing squads of soldiers crossing those bridges to the opposite bank, and other soldiers quickly following, Diomilas relaxed a little.

But at that moment, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from outside the camp. His heart sank: Terrible—the enemy in Heraclea city must have come out!