Chapter 336
"How dare they! Do they want to start a riot?!" After a night's rest, Petaru had regained his energy. He angrily asked Pienlen, "Great Leader, I'll bring a thousand warriors to bring them back!"
Pienlen's furrowed forehead formed a deep furrow. He shook his head and loosened his clenched fists. He turned to the High Priest and said in a deep voice, "High Priest, I'll have to ask you to go … Ask them what they want, and try to calm them down."
"Great Leader!" Petaru hurriedly shouted, "Don't be weak to these guys! Otherwise … otherwise, they will break away from our control, and they may even … threaten the safety of Cosenza! "
As there were only three people in the meeting hall, Pienlen, Petaru, and Ferrotaru, Pienlen's words were not taboo. He looked at the two of them with a worried expression and sighed heavily, "The failure of this battle is all my fault! I … I shouldn't have fought the Dionians with wishful thinking. I thought that even if we couldn't win, given our familiarity with the terrain and the fact that our warriors had lighter equipment than the Greeks, we could easily escape from the battlefield and return to the city to defend against the enemy's siege … Sigh … I didn't expect … I didn't expect that we would suffer such heavy losses in a single battle! Diónia is really different from the other Greek city-states like Crotone! I've let my people down! … "
"Great Leader, this is not your fault alone. The decision to fight with Diónia was made by the council of elders." Petaru comforted his father-in-law. He hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Why don't we … sue for peace with Diónia?"
As soon as this was said, Pienlen and Ferrotaru were stunned.
"Under such circumstances, will Diónia agree to a truce with us?" Ferrotaru expressed his doubts.
"No! We can give it a try! " Pienlen's eyes lit up. Inspired by Petaru's words, he thought further, "Petaru, send a messenger to Diónia's camp and tell their governor, 'Cosenza is willing to be an ally of Diónia, just like Laos.' If we can make peace, Cosenza will temporarily become a subsidiary of Diónia, and we can let the captured soldiers return. We still have time to slowly recover our strength. If we can't, we have to negotiate with them patiently. As far as I know, the governor of Diónia is not a tyrannical person, so he has spared Castellón and Crotone. So why can't he loosen the noose around Cosenza's neck? At the very least, it will buy us some time to deal with those people outside the city. Right now, Kosenza can't afford another riot! "
… …
Cosenza's messenger rushed to Diónia's camp. When the Devers heard the messenger's intention, they immediately pointed out that Cosenza could only be fully integrated into the Diónia Alliance. There was no other way!
He flatly refused the messenger's request to talk in detail. How could he give Cosenza a chance to breathe when he had the absolute advantage?
On the third day after the battle, the entire Diónia army broke camp and marched westward. The cavalry spread out six to seven miles to scout the surroundings. The First Legion was the vanguard, armed with armor and weapons. The Second Legion was on both sides of the middle of the army, protecting the supply camp, medical camp, and engineering camp in the middle. Under the supervision of the Diónia soldiers, the half-starved Bruti prisoners carried the supplies, pushed the carts, and took care of the livestock. The Legion's reserves and the allies served as the rearguard …
The entire army marched in a mighty manner. Even on the vast plateau, it was still impossible to see the end of the army.
Three hours later, the Devers saw the big city in front of them – Cosenza.
At this time, the cavalry captain Ledes rushed from the front of the army excitedly, "Sir Commander, Legio IV is rushing towards us!"
"That's great!" The Devers were overjoyed. They excitedly squeezed the horse's abdomen. The War Horse raised its hooves and galloped forward. The guards followed closely. Then, the cavalry gathered around to prevent any accidents.
The Legio IV Captain Hilos also rushed from the south after receiving the news. When he saw the Devers, he immediately reined in his War Horse and saluted, "Sir Commander, Legio IV has conquered Kenapitia. We are here on orders!"
"Thank you for your hard work!" The Devers solemnly returned the salute. The Hilos in front of them was no longer the ordinary mercenary that they first met in Persia. The long period of leading troops and handling government affairs had made him more dignified and less humble. He was now a qualified captain of the Legion of Dionysia.
"Sir, I'm late. The defense of Kenapitia is very tenacious. Not only did they delay our Legio IV for a long time, they also made us pay with the lives of more than 700 of our brothers!" Hilos' expression was slightly sorrowful. The gentleness in his bones had not changed much.
"The main reason why Legio IV took so long to conquer Kenapitia is because of my strategic plan. It's not your fault. The sacrifice of the soldiers was worth it, because you have truly taken a well-defended city head-on. This will be the most valuable military asset of Diónia! "The Devers encouraged him," Furthermore, Legio IV came at the right time! "
With that, he pointed forward in high spirits, "Let's go. Bring me to the warriors of Legio IV!"
The Devers and Hilos took the lead and galloped forward. Behind them were two hundred guards wearing red capes (including a hundred warriors from Abyssinia).
Rodom held the reins in one hand and raised the glorious flag that Martius had given him with the other. He followed closely behind the Devers' horse and galloped past the column of Legio IV.
The soldiers of Diónia Legio IV stopped in their tracks and stopped talking. They looked at their supreme commander with burning eyes. The Devers had a solemn expression as they raised their right arm high above their head and stretched it forward as a salute.
Suddenly, the soldiers let out thunderous cheers, "Victory to Diónia!!!"
"Victory to Devers!!!"
…
This scene made Rodom's blood boil with excitement, but at the same time, it made him envious. He deeply felt that his days of being trapped in the mountains were too boring! A man should be like a commander and gallop on the battlefield!
"Listen, that's the new recruits of Legio IV shouting. I heard that they came from Triene. It seems that they have already conquered Kenapitia. No wonder they are so energetic. If we did not defeat the main force of Bruti, they would not have been able to conquer the city so easily! These little fellows are still far from that! In the next few days, we have to let them know that in the Dionysian Army, we, the First Legion, are the strongest! " The soldiers of the First Legion looked at the cheers of Legio IV with the attitude of a veteran.
On top of the city wall, the Bruti soldiers looked at the scene outside the city in fear. The "long dragon" from the northeast and the "long dragon" from the southwest had gathered together and let out deafening cheers. The momentum was so majestic!
Pienlen's expression was solemn. He had received the news of the "fall of Kenapitia" yesterday and had specially sealed it off. He did not expect the people of Diónia to do such a thing outside the city. Looking at the expressions of the soldiers, he knew that it was a big blow to them.
At this moment, Tagli's voice came from behind, "The people of Diónia are so strong. We have too few people! Cosenza City is too big. It is impossible to have a comprehensive defense. It is better to surrender! "
When Petaru heard this, his face turned pale. He wanted to beat the old man up, but he held it in. Yesterday, under the mediation of High Priest Firotaru, Pienlen, Tagli, and him reached a settlement. The Bruti Tribal Alliance would return the original tribal people of Tagli and the other tribal leaders. They would no longer deprive and interfere with their rights. In the end, they also agreed to fight against the people of Diónia with Pienlen in Cosenza City.
There was only one issue that was still being debated. Tagli and the others wanted to abolish the Council of Elders and delegate the authority to deal with the affairs of the Alliance to the Tribal Leaders.
For Pienlen, agreeing to their request meant that the highly centralized Bruti Tribal Alliance, which he had been working hard to pursue, would become a loose alliance of tribes. This was something he could not tolerate. Therefore, he used "Burgam's absence and Sedorum's disappearance" as an excuse to postpone this important issue. This caused dissatisfaction among the other tribal leaders. Now, both sides were at odds with each other on the surface.
Faced with the pressure of the army of Diónia, and the situation inside Cosenza City, how could they resist the enemy's attack? Pienlen was also worried.
Fortunately, the Devers did not order to attack the city. Instead, they began to build a camp. Relying on the absolute advantage of 30,000 troops, he directly ordered the construction to start a mile away from the city, preparing to besiege Cosenza.
The captives were taken to dig trenches. The First, Second, Legio IV, Legion Reserve, Allied Army … The Devers had enough labor to build a huge barracks and enough manpower to stay alert.
Just as the Devers were about to ride around Cosenza City to investigate in detail, Capus came to report: Sedorum asked to see him.
… …
"You've decided? Let Vig join Diónia? "The Devers suppressed the joy in their hearts and looked at Sedorum calmly.
"Yes, the consul of Diónia." When Sedorum saw the arrival of Diónia Legio IV, he immediately realized that what the Devers told him before was the truth. Diónia did have a strong siege ability. Therefore, he finally stopped hesitating and made up his mind. After relieving the troubles of many days, he felt much more relaxed.
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