Chapter 178
The half-year imprisonment that the Scombras and the other senators of Amendolara had suffered was nothing compared to that.
Only the Turií senators listened to the howls of the various beasts in the forest at night and thought of the insects crawling out of the soil. They could not help but feel a chill down their spines. However, the Consul took the lead and slept on the ground wrapped in a woolen blanket. They could only reluctantly follow suit. As they tossed and turned, unable to sleep, they heard the voice of the Lucaria senator, Vesba, "Consul, I would like to ask … After taking Neutum, does the Alliance plan to continue to attack north?"
Although his voice was soft, it was unusually clear in the dark.
The Turií senator, who could not sleep, could not help but say, "Taking Neutum and preventing the Lucaria from attacking Turií is enough. It's impossible to attack north again. Look, this mountain road is so difficult to travel, it will become very difficult to transport food. Besides, we are not familiar with the terrain in the north. The mountains are rugged and uneven, our heavy infantry cannot spread out, it is easy to be ambushed by the Lucaria. I do not want to see … the tragedy of the Lucanians … annihilation of the Turií army … "
Listening to the senator's voice, the Devers recognized that it was the Turií senator, Enanilus. His family was famous for shipbuilding in Turií. They once owned two shipyards in the port of Turií and were proficient in building three-decker oar warships. Unfortunately, they were all destroyed when the Crotone burned the city, and now the shipyards were being rebuilt. One of his younger brothers had died in the battle with the Turií army against Laos.
"Enanilus is right, we are not going to attack north now. We need to establish a foothold in Neutum and let the Lucanians in Neutum slowly integrate into the Alliance. We need more Lucaria tribes in the north to recognize our Alliance. This will all take time."
Wesba breathed a sigh of relief at the Devers' words. He was afraid that the Devers would be hot-headed and continue to attack north after taking Neutum. His people would be the vanguard and would suffer heavy losses.
However, Enanilus understood the meaning of Devers's words. "Lord Consul, it sounds like you're planning to attack the Lucaria region north of Neutum in the future?"
"Of course. When the news of our victory came back to Turií, weren't you all clamoring to defeat all the Lucanians? I remember someone talking about conquering Poseidonia! "Devers said with a smile.
"That's what I said." Another voice came, and the Devers recognized it from the bonfire. It was the Turií senator, Masiscus.
Masiscus sat up next to Enanilus and said embarrassedly, "It was a spur of the moment. After walking for a while today, I realized that the reason why the Turií army was annihilated was not only because of the commander's negligence, but also because of the harsh environment here …" Masiscus's family was rich in mining. Before Crotone attacked Turií, his family kept more than a thousand slaves and contracted a stone mine in the city. After the war, there were no more than fifty slaves left in the family. Now they mainly took on stone polishing and carving work for the temple, the Senate, and the Grand Square.
Devers noticed that most of the senators were awakened and gathered around, so he said seriously, "What do you mean by spur of the moment? Why can't we attack north and take Poseidonia and Picossis?! After all, Laos is only our ally. We need to have our own port city on the west coast so that our maritime trade will be more convenient and our treasury will be greatly increased. Picossis and Poseidonia have better ports. Because of their race, the Lucanians have not been able to make full use of them, but our alliance can do it easily. Am I right, Lord Enanilus? "
"Yes, Lord Devers. But … "Enanilus was still hesitating if he should say it was too risky.
Devers turned to Wesba and said, "I heard that there are a few small iron mines in the Lucania region, is that right?"
"Yes, there are. They are mainly distributed in the mountains between Potentia and Grumentum," Wesba said proudly. Wesba said proudly, "That's why the Lucanians can make armor and short swords, unlike the Bruttians, who can only use simple spears."
"There are iron mines, and there might be other minerals like copper, tin, lead … We can find them in the future. In addition to wood, fur, livestock, and so on, the Lucanian mountains also contain great wealth. Don't you think so, Masisakus?" Masiscus. "The night hid the meaningful smile on Dyvers' face.
"Yes … Yes!" Masisakus' voice became a little excited.
"The most important point is that we Greeks love the sea too much. As a result, cities are built along the coastline. Although it is good for obtaining wealth from the sea, it is also easy to attack and not good for defense. The alliance should vigorously advance inland, expand our living space, and integrate with Lucania. This way, even if a very powerful enemy invades, we can retreat to the mountains when we cannot defend the coastal cities. With the support of the Lucanian citizens, the mountains are our home. We can attack any enemy who dares to attack the mountains and defeat the powerful enemy in the end! "
After Devers finished his warning words, no one responded in the dark. Only rapid breathing could be heard. After a while, someone asked, "Lord Consul, do you think there will be a powerful enemy who will attack our alliance?"
"For now, isn't the Crotone a powerful enemy? A hundred years ago, Sobaris was strong enough in Greece, but didn't he also attract the enemy's attack? Didn't Athens, the former powerful city of Greece, also suffer the attack of the Peloponnesus Alliance? When a city-state became strong and prosperous, other city-states would try their best to hinder its development or even defeat it out of fear or because they had challenged its position! This is a chaotic world, so we must find ways to strengthen ourselves. Otherwise, it will be like the Turís, where a single defeat will cause it to decline … "
The people around, especially the Turís elders, fell into deep thought …
"Why don't we attack the Grumentum now?! We all know that the Grumentum and Pixian have just had a battle, and both sides have suffered heavy losses. Now is the best time to attack it! "After Scombras accepted Devers' point of view, he immediately became a little radical.
"If two brothers in a family are fighting, and an outsider comes in to steal something. Do you think the two brothers will continue fighting, or work together to chase the outsider away first? "Devers asked.
"You mean our attack will make the Lucanians unite to fight against us?!" Scombras immediately reacted.
"Yes, it's very possible!"
"But we have already entered the Lucanian home!" Protesilaus continued, borrowing the analogy.
Devers replied calmly, "Yes, but we can tell them, 'We are retaliating against them for stealing from us last time. We will only take this little, and we will not steal anymore. We can also sign an agreement with them not to steal for a certain period of time. It will be enough as long as we have Neutum. ' Even if they have doubts, they will choose to believe it. Compared to the Greeks, who are not very interested in the harsh environment of the mountains, their enemies are a greater threat. Once they are defeated, their entire tribe will be swallowed up, and their families will become slaves. In order to defeat their opponents as soon as possible, they will concentrate their forces to drive us away. What will they do then? "
Protesilaus' eyes lit up, and he said loudly, "The battle between them will become more intense!"
"In this way, there will be more tribes in the Lucanian land that will be impoverished because of the war …" At this point, Devers thought of something and said apologetically, "Sir Vesba, I hope you can understand what I said!"
Vesba shook his head with a bitter expression, and said in a low voice, "It is common for tribes to fight here."
"Yes, in the past, these weak tribes had no choice, but now they do. On one side is the big tribe that fiercely exploits them for the sake of winning the war, and on the other side is the peaceful life of Neutum. It is obvious where they will choose. " Devers sincerely asked Vesba, "In order to unify Lucaria as soon as possible, so that this mountain area will no longer kill each other, I hope that after you arrive in Neutum, Sir Vesba, you can visit the tribes more often, and tell them that our alliance is friendly to the Lucanians, so that they will understand us and be more willing to join us …"
Vesba was silent for a moment, and squeezed out a sentence, "I will try my best!"
… …
At noon the next day, the group finally walked out of the narrow road and arrived at Fort Rahe.
After carefully inspecting the situation of Fort Rahe, Devers praised the soldiers of the Second Brigade for their dedication to defend Fort Rahe and completed the final defense mission. He then announced that when he returned to the fort after his visit to Neutum, they would follow him back to Turií, and they would be the first to appear in the triumphal parade.
The soldiers cheered in unison.
When the soldiers of the First Brigade heard this, they muttered a little indignantly, "A bunch of new recruits, they are just lucky. If we were not guarding Turií …"
Although the soldiers of the First Brigade were grumbling, it did not affect their march north.
The area that they could now pass through was much wider, about one to two miles wide. To the east was the mountain ridge, and to the west was the Rahe. The Rahe was not wide, but both sides of the river were mostly cliffs, and the water was deep and rapid. It was difficult for a large group to cross to the other side.
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