Chapter 323
As a warrior who shared the same fame as Martius, Martius was content with his lot. He did not have much ambition and was loyal to his duty. Therefore, the Devers had always trusted him. Although the Praetorian Guards were full, they were still responsible for guarding important places such as the Senate, the Temple of Hades, and the arena. The vacancies could be filled by the young people recommended by the leaders and tribal nobles in the hall. In order to integrate the people of Abyssinia into the Diónia Alliance as soon as possible, the young elites of Abyssinia should be allowed to join the government of the Diónia Alliance. They should understand the system of Diónia as soon as possible, learn the culture of Diónia, and get used to the life of Diónia. Then, like Bagylipi said, they should be assimilated into the people of Diónia and return to influence the people of Abyssinia.
He needed to go back and discuss this matter with the Senate. However, he could agree to it for now and join the Praetorian Guards as volunteers of Abyssinia. After the Devers made up their minds, they immediately agreed to it.
Soon, Ciudad Abyssinia gathered a guard of more than 60 people.
The Devers appointed Rodom as the captain of the guard and announced that they would be responsible for keeping watch for him tonight.
As soon as the order was issued, it was strongly opposed by Dracos, Capus, and the others.
However, the Devers insisted and declared, "Now that Abyssinia is the Abyssinia of Diónia, the warriors of Abyssinia are also the soldiers of Diónia! What commander doesn't trust his soldiers? "
In the end, the Devers, Dracos, and Capus reached an agreement. Martius would lead the guards to guard outside the courtyard, while the warriors of Abyssinia would guard inside.
When Rodom and the others received the news, they were greatly moved and swore not to let the Devers, who trusted them, be frightened.
The people of Abyssinia, who were originally anxious, were relieved by this action of the Devers.
Other than the high-ranking generals of the legion, the ones who were most afraid of accidents were the Bagylipi leaders and the tribal nobles. If something happened to the Devers, the two thousand Diónia soldiers in the city and the ten thousand soldiers outside the city would burn Ciudad Abyssinia to ashes. Therefore, they repeatedly reminded the tribesmen who were in charge of guarding the city tonight.
The night passed peacefully.
The next day, the Devers, who had a good night's sleep, and Capus, Dracos, the three leaders of Abyssinia, as well as the generals of Heraclea and Castellón's allies, discussed the matter of marching to the Cosenza Highlands.
… …
Sinsinag waited for the reinforcements to quickly defeat the Eleans and return. In fact, he didn't have to wait too long before he saw Gneinath fleeing back with hundreds of wounded soldiers.
"What did you say?! You were ambushed by the Diónia?! " Sinsinag looked incredulous. "How could there be Diónia's army outside the city of Picossis?! Grumentum has always been under my surveillance. They didn't send a single troop! "
Gneinath shook his head and said weakly, "Eleans … I'm afraid they came from Eleans … I saw it very clearly. Although they were all wearing Greek armor, most of their stature and hair color … even their roars were Lucanian …"
After his son's reminder, Sinsinag's train of thought suddenly opened. "You mean they came from Neutum … Why didn't our spies find them?!"
On the way back, Gneinath had already thought about the matter clearly. He coughed and said anxiously, "They … cough … should have boarded the ship from Laos … Maybe they didn't go along the coast … cough cough … Instead, they took a detour … Our warships can't fight against the warships of Laos and Eleans … We can only cruise around the port … cough … It's good that we didn't get blocked … They have about three or four thousand people … Father, what should we do now?!"
"Go back! We must return to Picossis immediately! "Sinsinag already had a bad feeling." Can your body hold up? "
Gneinath nodded. "… cough … What about those tribes?"
"Let them come with us. We need more warriors now. If any tribe refuses to go with us … "Sinsinag's face showed a sinister expression as he said coldly," We will do what we did in the Grumentum! "
As soon as he finished speaking, a spy hurried in. "Report, Great Leader. A Dionysian Army has appeared to the north of us. There are about four thousand people!"
"Report! The tribes in the south have gathered about five thousand warriors and are coming towards our camp! "
"Report, Great Leader! The Grumentum's army has left the city! It has been confirmed that their general is Bagoule! "
Bad news came one after another, causing Sinsinag to break out in a cold sweat. His whole body was soaked. When he heard the news, he was shocked. "You said that Bagoule is not injured?!"
"It seems so, Great Leader."
Sinsinag was dumbfounded. After a while, he murmured, "A conspiracy! This is a conspiracy planned by the Diónia! "
He suddenly remembered something and said hurriedly, "Quick, call the leaders of Lude and Burina. If they don't want to come, we have to force them to come!"
As soon as the guard went out, one of the leaders of Picossis stumbled in. "Great Leader, this is bad! Lude and Burina are leading a riot! "
"Pfft!" Sinsinag was so anxious that he spat a mouthful of blood on the ground.
… …
Diónia attacked the Picossis camp from the north, east, and south. The camp was in chaos and could not organize an effective defense, so it was easily breached.
Gneinath died in battle. Sinsinag took a few of his tribesmen and fled to the mountains in the west. Most of the others surrendered.
"Commander Hieronymus, what should we do with so many captives?" Bagoule asked his superior.
"According to the orders of Master Devers, all of them will be demoted to slaves of the city and brought back to Turií as laborers for mining, repairing roads, and building temples …" Hieronymus said to himself, not noticing the expression on Bagoule's face. "Also, take out a thousand Picossis captives and follow us to attack Picossis City to force the tribes in the city to surrender.
Then he ordered, "Bagoule, continue to guard Grumentum City. At the same time, do not let down your surveillance of Potentia in the north. If there is any abnormality, immediately send a messenger to inform me."
"Yes."
"Agassia, supervise the soldiers to speed up the cleaning of the battlefield. Otherwise, we won't be able to rest at night."
"Don't worry, Commander. I'll keep my eyes open like a shepherd watching over a flock of sheep. Whoever dares to slack off, I'll spank his butt! "Agassia laughed.
Legio III carefully carried out the plan proposed by the Devers and perfected together to lure the enemy. Finally, there was a relatively perfect result. After Hieronymus finished assigning the tasks, he showed a rare relaxed smile.
"Big Brother!" Asistes called out to Bagoule, who was walking back with his head lowered. "Master Devers once said, 'Don't be too kind to the enemy who surrenders. If you are too kind, the enemy will forget the mistakes they have made and make the same mistake again. So, sometimes we also have to raise the wooden stick high and let the enemy remember the lesson with fear.' Master called it the 'Bread and Stick' method …"
Asistes looked at Bagoule, who was deep in thought, and said with a serious expression, "Our bill to appease the tribes in the north is good enough. Not only did we give them land, but we also selflessly allocated some cattle and sheep … But when we encountered danger, they did not stand with us to tide over the difficulties. Instead, they turned to the enemy and wanted to destroy us and divide more of our land! This time, they were severely punished. I believe it will shock all the Lucania tribes in this land. When they make decisions related to us, they will think carefully. Should they choose to accept the bread or choose to accept the stick?! "
Bagoule looked at the busy soldiers on the battlefield. They dismantled the enemy's camp, picked up the supplies on the ground, grabbed the abandoned weapons, and removed the armor from the corpses … They placed them on a fully loaded pack car, then lifted the enemy's corpses and threw them into the burning pile of corpses …
The mountain wind blew, and ashes floated everywhere in the air.
Bagoule sighed and said, "I hope that after this battle, Lucania Municipality can truly restore peace!"
Bagoule spat out the depression in his heart. He slapped Asistes on the shoulder and said loudly, "No matter what, we have finally solved the problem of Sinsinag. We have to celebrate! Tonight, I will be a guest at your house. I have not tasted the lamb roasted by my sister for a long time. Let's not go home until we are drunk! "
A month later, the people of Sinsinag who had escaped into the mountains were tired of hiding from the Diónia soldiers all day long. At the same time, they had to endure the hardships of life in the mountains and the increasingly crazy insults and scoldings of Sinsinag. Finally, they could not help but kill Sinsinag while he was asleep. They went down the mountains and surrendered to the city of Grumentum. This was a story for another time.
… …
When Pienlen led the army back to Cosenza, the rioting tribes had long fled.
In the following time, he led Petaru and Ferrotaru to appease the people in the city and meet with the leaders of the other tribes in the city …
Just as he was busy, Kenapetia's messenger arrived at Cosenza.
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