Chapter 442
The Devers and the Senate of Diónia never expected that Dionysius had long set his sights on Tarantum. The people of Tarantum had become increasingly disappointed with the rise of Diónia in the past two years, and their rejection of Diónia had also become stronger. Therefore, it was no coincidence that Diomiras, a citizen of Tarantum who had committed a grave mistake, could be re-elected as the Consul.
After Diomiras and the Senate of Tarantum received the assurance of Dionysius, they secretly contacted the people who were pro-Tarantum in the former alliance while observing the war situation in Greece. They assumed a stance of watching from the sidelines. After all, they had seen the strength of the Dionysian Army with their own eyes. They dared not take the risk without great confidence. It was not until the end of the Battle of Siletina that the news of "Syracuse's great victory and the rapid occupation of Siletina and Triene" spread to Tarantum that the Senate of Tarantum finally made up their mind.
The process of taking down Metapontum was actually very simple. Early in the morning, the Tarantum army raided Metapontum. The pro-Tarantum faction betrayed the city guards, secretly opened the city gates, and led them to raid the pro-Tarantum faction led by Tudepres. (Ever since Metapontum joined the Unit Alliance, Tudepres had always been in control of the right to mobilize the army with the support of Diónia.)
"General, congratulations on taking down Metapontum!" Isarochas and the others rushed to congratulate Diomiras.
"No, Tarantum did not attack this city. The people of Metapontum broke free from the control of Diónia and returned to the embrace of their mother!" Diomiras, who had been in Tarantum for a few years, was obviously calmer than before.
"You're right, General! Metapontum is a sub-state of Tarantum. They believe in Poseidon and Frantus, not Hades. They should be united! "Isarochas immediately took over the conversation and expressed his thoughts.
"Lord Isarokas, the Senate of Tarantum hopes that you will be the sole consul of Metapontum. You will lead the people and Tarantum to deal with the current complicated situation in Greece!" In fact, the Tarantum Senate had already made an agreement with Isrocas before, and Diomiras' announcement at this moment was to publicly show his support for Isrocas.
"Thank you, Senate of Tarantum and General Diomiras, for your trust! I will definitely make Metalapontum the most trustworthy ally of Tarantum, and at the same time, restore peace to it! "Isrocas promised excitedly.
Diomelas nodded and said in a commanding tone, "Please prepare the offerings immediately. I want to go to the Acropolis to worship Poseidon and thank him for his help and for forgiving us for our offense!"
"I'll get it done right away." Isrocas gave a few instructions to the person beside him, and the person dashed off.
Isrocas turned back and said, "There is one more thing that I hope you will notice, General. The Tudels have not been caught!"
"The traitor ran away?!" Diomiras frowned.
"He is very clever and prepared. When you first entered the city, he immediately led some people and ran from the West Gate. We were few in number, and we couldn't stop them at all. We even lost many soldiers, "Isrocas said dejectedly.
The others also expressed that they had done their best and showed Diomiras their injuries.
"Alright!" Diomiras interrupted them loudly. These people's long-windedness would only annoy him. "Tudels ran west. He can't escape."
Diomiras sneered. Catching Tudels was only a small matter. He was more concerned about the progress of the troops led by Marcus.
Thus, he said to Isrocas, "I'll leave a large group of soldiers to help you stabilize the situation in Metapontum. When I come out of the Acropolis, I'll lead the army to Heraclea. The task of transporting the supplies and food will be left to you. "
"Don't worry, I'll arrange it."
… …
At the same time that Taranturu launched a sneak attack on Metapontum, they also launched an attack on Heraclea.
As Heraclea was separated from Taranturu by land, in order to achieve the effect of a surprise attack, Taranturu's attacking troops could only come from the sea. When the spies in Heraclea saw Taranturu's fleet disembarking from the sea, they could be ready to work together to open the city gate for the attacking troops.
However, ever since the Devers sent someone to remind them, Heraclea's Consul Trifias had been vigilant towards the east. He had repeatedly reprimanded the guards in the city and at the port to always be vigilant. Therefore, when Taranturu's fleet quietly approached the coast of Heraclea in the early morning fog, the sentries at the port lighthouse in Heraclea discovered them in time.
Therefore, the alarm bells in Heraclea rang. The citizens immediately armed themselves and strengthened the city's defenses.
Heraclea was different from Metapontum. It was only built a few decades ago, and it was further away from Taranturu. Hence, it was not as deeply affected by Taranturu as Metapontum. On the contrary, in recent years, it had close contacts with its neighbor, Diónia. Its culture and trade had become more and more influential. On the contrary, more and more citizens were inclined towards Diónia. Therefore, the number of Taranturu's spies in the city was very small. How could they dare to confront the citizen soldiers head-on? When they saw that the city was heavily defended, they did not dare to act rashly. They immediately stopped and hid.
Fortunately, the city of Heraclea was built a little strangely. It was located at the narrowest point between the Agri River and the lower reaches of the Basento River. Therefore, the Taranturu army could not land on the river bank near the city because the narrowness of the area would cause the landing to be slow, and the troops could not be fully deployed. Once the Heraclea people attacked decisively, the Taranturu people who were still landing would be in big trouble. Landing on the coast on the south side of the Agri River would likely be attacked by Heraclea and Diónia from the front and back. Therefore, Umarcas had no choice but to choose the coast on the north side of the Basento River.
The Taranturu soldiers began to quickly disembark …
As the Taranturu fleet entered the Basento River to patrol, the people of Heraclea did not dare to rashly send troops across the river to attack the enemy who was landing.
Trifias made a prompt decision and sent people to burn the wooden bridge over the Basento River not far north of the city of Heraclea. At the same time, he also sent messengers on horseback to Turií to ask for help from Diónia. But other than that, the people of Heraclea could do nothing but watch as the Taranturu troops assembled on the coast.
By the time the Taranturu army arrived at the Basento River, the wooden bridge over the river had been burnt to a crisp.
Umarcas had no choice but to order the troops to cooperate with the fleet to build the pontoon bridge.
During this period, Trifias decisively led the army out of the city and used rockets to attack the ships, interrupting the Taranturu's bridge-building operation …
Because of Heraclea's attack, several of the Taranturu passenger ships were burned. Umarcas was at a loss for what to do at the moment, so he could only urge Diomiras' troops to come as soon as possible …
… …
During this period, a small incident happened.
Tudepres fled west with the remnants of his army under the pursuit of the enemy. In the end, he saw the Taranturu people who were disembarking from afar.
There were obstructions in front and pursuers behind. The people who were traveling with him asked Tudepres in panic, "What should we do?"
Tudepres did not have time to think too much. He said resolutely, "Let's run north!"
"There are terrifying Galagzos in the north!" Someone exclaimed.
"Are the Galagzos more terrifying than the Taranturu people who want our lives now? Besides, they are also allies of Diónia like us! "With that, Tudepres took the lead and ran into the mountains in the north.
At this critical juncture, the others had no other choice but to follow him across the mountains.
They entered the territory of Galagzos with great difficulty and were finally surrounded by the Lucanians.
After Tudepres expressed his intentions, the Lucanians of Galagzos not only fought off the pursuers behind them, but also brought them to see the great leader.
The great leader of Galagzos was different from the great leaders of the other Lucanian tribal alliances. He was not elected because of the strength of his tribe or his own political ability. He was elected according to the ancient Lucanian tradition, through a competition between the tribal leaders, and finally won the position. Therefore, its great leader, Culom, was a young and strong man.
After learning the whole story from Tudepres, he discussed with the priests of Galagzos and decided to temporarily settle the Metapontum refugees in the valley, and strictly ordered the tribes not to harm them.
In the past, the Galagzos used to be very hostile to the Metapontum, but in recent years, their relationship had gradually eased because of Diónia. However, the reason for such a drastic change in attitude was not only because Galagzos and Metapontum were allies of Diónia, but more importantly, Galagzos had just received news from Potentia that the Dionysian Army, under the leadership of the Archon Devers, had defeated the invading Samonians.
To the Greeks, the Samonians were just another barbaric mountain race. However, the Lucanian tribes living in Galagzos knew their powerful northern neighbor very well, because their ancestors lived in the Beneventum region hundreds of years ago, and it was the Samonians who drove them there.
The Galagzos had a deep fear of the Samonians that had been passed down from generation to generation. When they heard that nearly 50,000 Samonians had invaded Potentia, the first thought that came to the minds of the Galagzos was that they might have to migrate again.
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