Chapter 306
Pienlen nodded. He could only remind them that although he was elected as the leader of the new alliance, he had no right to interfere with the management of these tribes. He turned to Cydorum and asked, "Picossis and Potentia have agreed to form an alliance with us. Do you think they will attack Diónia?"
"It's hard to say …" Cydorum muttered, "Because now it's the Diónia who are attacking us, not them. Judging from Sinsinag's cunning character, he will never attack first unless we defeat Diónia! "
Pienlen's eyes were slightly disappointed, but he quickly returned to normal. He loudly encouraged everyone, "Everyone, as long as we resist the attack of Diónia and hold on for half a month or a month so that Diónia can't enter the Bruti Mountains, their fighting spirit will be frustrated, their food transportation will be difficult, and the Lucanians who have been bullied by Diónia will take the opportunity to fight back. Diónia will inevitably be in trouble! Then it's time for us to fight back, defeat Diónia's blockade, and take the fertile plains of the Greeks for our descendants! "
Pienlen's words of encouragement made everyone's blood boil. Nicourou even shouted, "Defeat Diónia!"
… …
Building a road in the winding and rugged mountains was a huge and complicated project. It not only consumed a lot of manpower and resources, but also tested the level of engineering technology of a country. Turií – Laos Avenue had been under construction since last year. Laos, Turií, and Neutum had all invested a lot of manpower, but it was still not completed yet. Therefore, it took the Devers five days to lead an army of 20,000 and a huge convoy of supplies in the mountains before they arrived at Dara River Fortress.
Legio IV, led by Hilos, had already arrived outside Triene. The Triene generals and members of the council came out of the city to welcome him. Cypross introduced Hilos to them one by one. The atmosphere was very friendly.
Hilos declined the invitation of the Triene people to attend a banquet and insisted on staying with the soldiers, which won him praise from the politicians.
He led the army to the coast ten miles northwest of Triene and set up camp, which was the exit of the coastal pass, only a few miles away from Kenapetya.
After arranging the camp, Hilos immediately brought his guards and Cypross to the outskirts of Kenapetya.
On the left was a cliff, and on the right was a mountain ridge. The seaside road leading to the Cosenza Highlands was not wide, and Kenapetya was even narrower. The length of the city seemed to be no more than 200 meters, but it completely blocked the way in and out. The city was not big, but it was made of bluestone. The city walls were no more than four meters high, but the terrain of the city was high. From where Hilos was, the road went diagonally upwards, narrowing as it went.
The soldiers had to spend a lot of energy just to march to the city, not to mention avoiding the enemy's arrows and javelins. Fortunately, the geographical environment of Asprostom was somewhat similar, and the soldiers had experience in this aspect during their daily training.
Hilos observed the situation on the road, wondering if the two types of siege weapons that had just been installed in Legio III could push to the city.
Cypross saw that Hilos was staring at Kenapetya for a long time, and thought that he was frightened by the difficulty of attacking the city, so he reminded him, "There are a few trails in the mountains nearby that can bypass Kenapetya and go north to Cosenza."
"Is that so?!" Hilos turned his head abruptly.
"Yes, or else how could the West Lu people and the tribesmen who rebelled against Cosenza escape from Bruti?"
"Then do the people inside know?" Hilos pointed at Kenapetya in front of them.
Cypross understood what he meant, and he said with certainty, "Of course they know."
Hilos had no more luck, but he still decided to send someone to investigate after he returned.
"I heard that Kenapetya has a port," Hilos asked again.
"There is indeed a port, but it's not big," Cypross said as he dismounted and walked to the edge of the cliff.
Cypross did not try to be brave and followed suit. He did not think that he was good at riding a horse. If the horse under his crotch was startled at the edge of the cliff, Legio IV might lose a legion commander before the battle even started.
"There!" Cypross pointed ahead, his voice sounding a little ethereal in the strong sea breeze.
Hilos fixed his eyes on the cliff that protruded from the land. With a height difference of nearly a hundred meters from the sea, he could see the coast a few miles north of Kenapetya. There, he saw a flat land with a small beach and a simple dock. There were only a few dozen ships anchored there …
Cypross said, "According to the intelligence of the West Lu people and our ships that often pass by Kenapetya, the port of Kenapetya is built at the mouth of the Savuto River —"
"Savuto River?"
"Savuto River is a large river in the territory of Kenapetya. Don't think that the city in front of us is surrounded by mountains and the sea. It seems very barren, but in fact, not far to the north, there is a small plain around the Savuto River. If you follow the Savuto River Valley to the north, you can smoothly reach Cosenza." At this point, Cypross showed a hint of a disdainful smile. "It is said that the Bruti built Kenapetya here because they were worried that we would destroy and loot their farmlands and pastures on the Savuto Plain. But us Triene people can't even finish farming the fertile land on the Euphemia Plain, so why would we covet this small plain? But their city is ten miles away from the Savuto River, and it is very inconvenient for us to work, so they had to build a small town on the Savuto River —"
"How's the defense of this town?" Hilos suddenly interrupted Cypross.
"I heard that this town has no walls."
Hilos heaved a sigh of relief. He did not want to spend so much effort to conquer Kenapetya, and then have to spend so much effort to take over this town to completely occupy the territory of the Bruti.
"In the past, Kenapetya did not have a lot of production, and its shipbuilding technology was poor. It also did not have much contact with other Italian city-states, so it only had a port, but almost no maritime trade. But …" Cypross said worriedly. "Now that the Bruti Tribal Alliance has been established, this is the only port of the Bruti. I believe it will develop quickly …"
Hilos nodded, but the two of them did not know that the Bruti had already passed through this simple port, broke through the blockade of Diónia, and formed an alliance with Picossis and Potentia.
"Commander, look!" At this moment, the guard shouted.
The gates of Kenapetya opened, and a group of people rushed out.
"Let's go!" Hilos ordered, and the whole team returned to the camp unhurriedly.
"See that? The people of Diónia are all cowards!" Nicourou held a spear and laughed wildly.
… …
The Devers arrived at Dara River Fortress. Sesta and Hieronymus were already waiting there after receiving the news.
"Commander, the people of Neutum have been mobilized, and they are listening to the arrangements of the city hall. They will transport supplies, build camps, and transport the wounded for our troops …" Sesta took the initiative to report.
"The Lucanian tribe has no objections?"
"On the contrary, they are very happy to see the Bruti be conquered. The stronger Diónia is, the safer they will be. And in the future, the non-Greek race will not only belong to Diónia. They are also willing to provide a base for the legion, but in that case, our soldiers will have to be careful of Lucanian women breaking into their tents at night. You know, the Greek citizens of Diónia are very popular now! "Sesta joked.
The Devers found it interesting and laughed. He looked at Sesta and said with some emotion, "Commander Sesta, I think when you were a mercenary, you should have never held a public office in a city or even had the experience of managing a city."
Sesta shook his head. "Back then, we worked hard just to have bread to eat. Who would have thought that today would come? This is all because of the unimaginable changes that you have brought to us!"
"You have to be able to seize the opportunity when it is provided. As a mercenary with no experience in managing a city, you resolutely chose to leave the army you were familiar with and come to this foreign land. Facing the Lucanians who were still hostile at that time, you were not afraid of difficulties, worked hard, and solved the problem boldly. Today, I can say that Neutum is completely Diónia's territory! Sesta, you have done an excellent job! I am not the only one who thinks so. The others in the Senate think so too! You are now the Senate Elder with the most experience in administration among our mercenary army! When your term ends next year, I think the Senate will definitely have more important tasks for you! "The Devers did not hesitate to express his appreciation for Sesta with words.
After hearing this, Sesta was proud and excited. He still maintained some sobriety. "Commander, you are the one with the most experience in administration among our mercenary army!"
"Me?" The Devers looked around and said, "That doesn't count. Didn't you all say that I am God's Favored? That is all the credit of Hades!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
"Commander." Hieronymus could not help but say, "What is the mission of our Legio III in this war?" The last time they reinforced Tarantum, there was no part of the Legio III, and this time, there was no specific instruction for the Legio III. Hieronymus could not help but feel anxious.
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