Chapter 231
In Castellón, after the army stayed for one night, the Devers hurried over to join the soldiers.
The next morning, the whole army was dressed in new clothes. The soldiers looked imposing as they marched forward according to the pre-determined order of entering the city.
After crossing the bridge, thousands of freedmen who had participated in the battle and the Greek mercenaries led by Zantiparis also joined the parade. The Devers also changed to four-horse chariots. Capus, Drax, Hieronymus, and Laos' Consul Avinogis also rode in two-horse chariots and followed closely behind. The army marched majestically towards the city of Turií not far away.
The freedmen and the families of some probationary citizens who had been waiting outside the city immediately burst into cheers when they saw the soldiers from afar.
Arsinis never dreamed that he would be the flag bearer in a triumphant manner. At that time, all the legions had reported their candidates, and it was the Devers who named Arsinis. He believed that in the battle that would determine the victory of the Second Crotone War, Arsinis, as the captain of the legion, led a team of recruits and fought on the front line. In the face of the enemy's fierce offensive, not only did he take the lead, but he also commanded the recruits well and responded calmly. And in the case of more than half of the team's casualties, he still did not lose his fighting spirit and fought back bravely. He should be the representative of the whole army in this battle!
When Arsinis heard the Devers' praise for him, he, who already admired the Devers, was even more grateful to the Consul Consul!
At this moment, he held up the flag that represented the commander of the whole army. Facing the cheers and the thousands of waving arms, he proudly puffed out his chest …
In the face of such a spectacular scene, even Tormid, who had been through many hardships and battles for a long time, could not remain calm. He said excitedly to Zantiparis, who was next to him, "After so many years, I have participated in so many battles, but this is the first time I have experienced the pride of being a soldier. The Devers are amazing!"
Zantiparis stared straight ahead and said, "Don't look around, march properly, don't embarrass us mercenaries!"
Tormid hurriedly puffed out his chest and raised his head, but he joked, "You're even more serious than me, old man!"
"Participating in the Triumph Parade is nothing. In the future, we will be like Hieronymus, sitting on the chariot and accepting the cheers of the people!" Zantiparis' old face was flushed with excitement.
"That's right!" Tormid's enthusiasm rose. "I heard from the Devers that because of this battle, the observation period of our Union citizens will be greatly shortened. After a few more battles like this, we will soon become official citizens of Diónia! At that time … hehe! "
… …
"Cregenis! Hey, that's Cregenis! … "
"Stop shouting! He can't hear you. He's an Alliance Hero now! "
"Hero?! With that thin body of his, I can knock him down with one hand. If it wasn't for the fact that his archery is better than mine, I would be the one receiving cheers from the troops now! "
"That's right, this guy blessed by the Goddess of Luck! Looks like we need to practice archery in our spare time. The next time the recruitment officer comes, we must be selected! "
"You're right!"
…
When the freedmen entered the sight of the people, they received even more enthusiastic cheers. After all, most of the people outside the city were freedmen. Seeing their former comrades become heroes of the Diónia Alliance, while they were envious, it also stimulated their desire to go into battle and kill the enemy.
There were more than 20,000 soldiers participating in the Triumph Parade, forming a column that was six to seven miles long. The freedmen at the back had just entered the welcoming area outside the city, and the military flag at the front had already passed the Triumph Arch inside the city.
Soberkos looked up at the relief on the Triumph Arch and said to Ledes emotionally, "Last time, I was a spectator watching the Triumph Parade, but now I've become a soldier participating in it!"
Ledes laughed and said, "How do you feel?"
"Very good! Very good! "
"In the past, our cavalry was too weak to be of any use in battle. From now on, we, the Diónia Cavalrymen, will become the heroes of the Triumph Parade every time! " Ledes said with great ambition. His gaze was fixed on another tall flag beside the cavalry flag. Although he couldn't see the content of the flag from the back, he knew that it was written by the Devers, 'Defeat the Crodone Cavalrymen and determine the victory of the battle'. It was because of this achievement that the Devers placed their cavalrymen behind the flagbearers of the army.
As there were too many soldiers participating in the Triumph Parade, the Victory Plaza couldn't accommodate them all, and accidents could easily occur. Thus, the Triumph Parade this time had a rule: after the parade arrived at the plaza, they weren't allowed to stop. They had to circle around the plaza and leave the city through another street.
On the west side of the plaza, on the platform in front of the Senate Hall, the senators solemnly looked at the soldiers passing through the plaza.
Amicles, who was invited to the ceremony, saw the valiant and spirited troops marching past the platform in an orderly manner. He couldn't help but sigh, "I didn't expect that we would actually defeat the arrogant Crotone. This is a great victory!" He was glad that he made the right choice before the war started. Castellón was firmly on Diória's side.
His words were approved by most of the senators, but Scombras expressed his disagreement, "The Devers are the guarantee of victory! With him as the commander, I never doubted that the war would belong to our alliance. However, I think that we should have taken advantage of the moment when the Crotone was weak to completely crush them! "
His words were approved by a few Turís senators. Polyxis even said, "On this issue, the Devers did not consider the feelings of the Turís and let the Crotone off. This is really wrong!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Scombras glared at him fiercely.
"Lord Devers did the right thing!" Cunogorata said with a straight face, "To be able to lead the citizen soldiers to victory, he is a great general! To be able to use victory to gain enough benefits for the alliance is a true leader! If the war had continued, I'm afraid that Diónia would have suffered great losses! I'm very glad that Diónia has such a great governor like the Devers! "
"Lord Cunogorata is right!" Cornelus agreed, "In this war, Lord Devers not only won a lot of fertile land for Diónia, but also allowed Diónia's influence to reach the southern end of Greece!"
"Next, we'll have to invest a lot of time to discuss and solve how to manage and distribute these new lands …" Tritodmos said with a smile. "This is really a sweet but annoying thing!"
Everyone smiled knowingly. The senators of the Senate were noble and had a lot of work to do, but they didn't get paid. In order to increase their enthusiasm, and at the same time to win their favour, and to excite their interest in expansion, the Act of War proposed and passed by Dyvers stipulated that, in addition to the allotment of land to the new citizens and the land awarded to the militia who had rendered meritorious service, every member of the Senate who had worked hard would also be awarded land, but the amount of land awarded could not exceed the average amount of land awarded to the soldiers who had taken part in the battle. Although the amount of land awarded was not too much, according to the current speed of Diónia's expansion, it would not be a small number.
While the senators were happily talking about the newly obtained territory, Polyxis' eyes flashed, as if he was thinking about something, while Amicles had a look of envy on his face.
"Look, our great hero is here!" Pleasinlas's shout drew everyone's attention back to the square.
The Devers, dressed in military attire, appeared in the Victory Square on a war chariot. He smiled and waved to the people around him, pushing the triumphant celebration to its climax.
The people shouted and jumped in excitement, waving their arms and shouting the Devers's name. They even ignored the guards by the side of the road and rushed into the parade in violation of the rules. They surrounded the Devers in the center and stretched out their arms, wanting to touch the protector of the Diónia, the Devers of Hades, who had saved Turín, defeated the strong enemy Crotone twice, and brought glory to the people of Diónia.
The guards were highly nervous, afraid that something unexpected would happen.
The Devers, on the other hand, was calm. He even got off the chariot and greeted the people gently, asking if they had suffered any losses in this war, if they needed help from the Alliance … and so on.
The people loved their governor even more. They surrounded the Devers and escorted him to the platform before reluctantly leaving.
The senators stepped forward to welcome him.
Cunogorata was the first to criticize, "Sir Devers, the situation just now was too dangerous! You should have stayed in the chariot and waited for the guards to escort you here! "
"What's so dangerous about it!" The Devers smiled and said, "The senators and the people are like a father and his child. As a father, he will naturally love and love his child, and the child will naturally love and respect his father. Why would he hurt his own family, right?"
Father and his child?! The senators repeatedly thought about this sentence and were more or less shocked. Later, this sentence spread and moved the people greatly. Therefore, the senators of the Senate also had another title – Father.
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