Chapter 401
"But …" Saiklian rubbed his nose. "Since you are about to take away the 1st Legion that has been training with us for months, I will need to retrain the soldiers of the new legion. However, this won't take too much time, and I believe that I will soon be able to lead this brand new fleet south to seek out the Syracuse Navy for a decisive battle. I believe that the Syracuse Navy will definitely be shocked!"
Saiklian appeared to be in high spirits, clearly filled with confidence towards the new strategy.
The Devers lightly shook their heads in their hearts, reminding him earnestly, "Saiklian, even if you win against the Syracuse Navy in some part of the Ionian Sea, it is inevitable that our ships will be damaged. The soldiers who have fallen into the water need to be rescued, the damaged ships need to be repaired, and the captured ships need to be towed back … You have so many things to take care of, but you must know that Syracuse has more than one fleet. What if … "The Devers emphasized," While you are busy, enemy reinforcements appear?! "
The Devers saw that Saiklian was in a hurry to explain, so they reached out to stop him. "Even if enemy reinforcements don't appear, it won't be easy for you to take care of the aftermath. Furthermore, we only have one fleet, and I hope that it will only grow stronger and not weaker. That is why I suggest that you arrange for the first naval battle to be …"
After listening to the Devers' detailed plan, Saiklian was completely convinced. "I understand, my lord! I will carry out your plan! … However, there is something I need your help with right now, or else it will affect the navy's preparations for war. "
"What is it?"
"With the arrival of the warships from the other alliances, our dry docks won't be enough."
This was a problem! The Devers thought for a moment before saying, "I will have Lord Cunogorata speed up the construction of more dry docks on both sides of the Krati River from Turií City to the estuary. We will establish a naval base to satisfy your needs!"
…
The Legio III of Diónia arrived at the Pigno Valley. The Pigno River was a tributary of the Basento River, the largest river that flowed through Potentia. Although it was only a small river, it was enough to meet the water needs of an entire legion. Furthermore, the soil in the valley was soft, lush with water plants, and steep and unclimbable mountains on both sides. It was a good place to set up camp. Therefore, Alexis chose to build a camp in the open part of the valley.
All the soldiers unloaded their gear and started to dig the trench. The leader of the reconnaissance team, Krigoru, rushed over and reported, "Commander, we found the Samonai coming from five miles to the north. There are about 20,000 of them!"
More than 20,000 people! Alexis was shocked. The Sammonai had come so quickly, and in such a large number, it was beyond his expectations. From this, he could feel the ferocity of the Sammonai, and their desire for revenge was very strong.
Alexis looked regretfully at the unfinished trench in front of him. If he had two or three more hours, the Legio III would be able to build a rough camp, and then they would have the strength to fight against the Sammonai!
"Retreat!" He decisively gave the order.
What?! The herald thought he had heard wrong.
"Retreat now!" Alexis shouted again.
After the bugle sounded, Ritoru arrived a moment later.
"Commander, why are we retreating when we just arrived at the camp?! Could it be that Si Hao Bing misheard the order?! "Ritoru asked in a questioning tone.
"He didn't. "Over twenty thousand Samonai warriors are charging at us. We can't go head to head with the Samonai who outnumber us twice as many when we haven't set up camp and our brothers are extremely exhausted. We can only retreat first and look for an opportunity later. "Alexis explained a little more to show respect to the leader of the first brigade.
"Retreating before the battle? This is too bad for morale! The soldiers and the people of Diónia will think we are cowards! We won't be able to hold our heads up high in front of the soldiers of the other legions! " Ritoru retorted. "Besides, I think that even if it's only 9,000 against 20,000, our legion can still resist the enemy's attack and defeat them!"
"The Devers once said that the Sammonai are fierce. Even if we can defeat them, we will cripple the Legio III. Do you think we still want to participate in future battles?! More importantly, this will affect the Devers' plan! "Alexis held back his anger and explained a little more.
"I believe that repelling the enemy's attack and building a camp here is what Lord Dafus wants!" Ritoru retorted without backing down.
"Carry out the order!" Alexis decided not to argue with him. The Military Law of Diónia emphasized military discipline: during wartime, subordinates had to obey their superiors.
Ritoru stared at Alexis angrily, but in the end, he chose to obey. This meant that Ritoru had surpassed the level of a tribal warrior and was now a qualified Diónia general.
He reluctantly saluted. When he turned around, he deliberately said in a loud voice, "If Lord Hieronymus is still the commander of the legion, he will never retreat!"
Alexis pretended not to hear his angry words. Now he had to think about how to retreat safely.
… … …
The city of Potentia was situated on the upper reaches of the Basento River. The land there was relatively flat, but the terrain was higher and could be considered a small plateau. The city was built on a large, but relatively gentle, hillside.
Potentia had spent decades building a large city out of stone. Now, Puamot and the tribal leaders were anxiously observing the movements of the Sammonai outside the city every day.
"Great Leader, look! The Samonai army is heading south!" Shahidat pointed at the dust-filled, noisy place outside the city and said loudly.
Puamot's heart skipped a beat, and he shouted excitedly, "Tribesmen, Diónia's reinforcements must have arrived!"
This sentence excited the leaders and warriors. The powerful Diónia had come to their rescue!
This good news relieved them of the worries they had for the past few days.
"Should we send reinforcements?" one of the leaders asked excitedly.
"No!" Puamot refused without hesitation. He said cautiously, "The only thing we can do now is to defend this city with all our might and wait for Diónia's reinforcements to arrive!"
… … …
When the Sammonai arrived at the Pinio River Valley, all they saw was an unfinished, circular trench that was several miles long.
"The Diónia are as cowardly as rabbits. They actually ran away!" Lescook panted heavily, and stabbed the spear in his hand into the ground with a look of regret.
"Father, most of the Diónia soldiers are heavy infantry. They shouldn't have run far. We should use this opportunity to chase after them and defeat them!" Gerni, who was eager for revenge, said urgently to Hilpini.
Of course, Villani wasn't willing to come here for nothing. He immediately ordered his troops to continue the pursuit.
The rash Sammonai were quickly ambushed by Legion III's light infantry. After paying the price of a few hundred casualties, they still couldn't capture the Lucarian light infantry, who were better equipped and better at climbing mountains. As angry as Villani was, he had no choice but to be cautious.
As such, Legion III was finally able to shake off the Sammonai's pursuit. At dusk, they entered a military camp on the border between the Grumentum and Potentia.
After setting off from the Grumentum yesterday, they only showed their faces in the Grumentum for a short while. Today, they were forced to return to the Grumentum. Alexis and the soldiers of the Third Legion were also a little depressed.
… … …
Poseidonia, a coastal city not far north of Elia (not the city of Poseidon on the Aegean Sea), was a colonial city built by the Cibaris people. It was once a Greek city-state in Italy famous for its roses and three temples to the goddesses (two temples to Hera and one to Athens). However, after the Lucanians moved south a hundred years ago, this Greek city-state fell after years of continuous attacks by the Lucanians. It eventually became one of the towns of the tribes of Potentia.
In the past few decades, Poseidonia had not been invaded by anyone. In the south, Elia could not even protect itself, so it did not have the strength to attack others. In the north, the Sammonai preferred the mountains. They would rather invade the stronger and more heavily defended city of Potentia than come to the coast. Therefore, when the Lucanians of Poseidonia learned that the Sammonai were going to attack Potentia, they did not show much concern for the safety of the city. They only took precautions and put more energy into discussing the problem of "how many soldiers to send to reinforce Potentia".
However, today, the sentries on the city tower rang the alarm bell.
When the leaders and soldiers climbed up the city walls, they were shocked. There were so many Sammonai outside the city that they could not see the end of them. They did not know how many people there were …
The leader of the Pentene, Torek, stood at the front of the formation and looked at the small city in front of him. He saw and heard the panic and screams of the Lucanians on the city walls, but he did not care too much. Instead, he turned around and said to his subordinates, "What are the crossbows sent by the Syracuse called?"
"Leader, they are called ballistae," a leader beside him reminded him.
"I know, you don't need to say more." Torek stared and said, "Bring the crossbows … the ballistae up. Let us see how powerful these things are!"
Six ballistae were placed in front of the formation, but the ones operating them were the Syracuse people.
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