Chapter 447
"Sir Hilos, don't worry. I'll make sure the people are loyal to the Alliance, and you and the Senate will be satisfied!" Vitotiru declared excitedly to Hilos.
"Vitotiru, you traitor!" Cadurk's eyes widened in anger. He wanted nothing more than to eat the old man he had always trusted.
"You're the traitor, the traitor of our Diónia! Our people are happy to enjoy a peaceful life under the rule of the Alliance, but you're pushing us into war! "Vitotiru pointed at him and scolded.
"Stuff his mouth!" At Xilos's reminder, the soldiers stuffed Cadulc's mouth with a rag so that his anger and fear could only be muffled into a low whimper …
… …
Hilos returned to the inner city of Cosenza and saw the cavalry from Turií. They did not catch up to Petaru, but they brought the Senate's order. Hilos had already taken action, and the Senate's fate was equivalent to confirmation.
As Hilos approached the city hall, Adepigis came up to him and asked anxiously, "Did you catch him?"
"We caught Cadurk," Hilos said gratefully. "Thank you for risking your life to deliver the message!"
It was a taboo to travel at night in the Bruti region, not to mention riding a horse in the dark. The most terrifying thing was the wild beasts that roamed the wilderness. Adepigis was well aware of this, and, in order to prevent any accidents, he borrowed another horse from Abyssinia, and galloped to Cosenza with two horses. On the way, as he expected, the horse sprained its foreleg while he was dismounting. He immediately switched horses and drove the injured horse away from the main road (who knew that the injured horse would return to the main road and be eaten by wolves, which made Petaru and the rest even more vigilant). Finally, he brought the news to Hilos.
After hearing Hilos' praise, Adepigis did not show a trace of pride. He was no longer the lowly slave he used to be. As the intelligence officer assigned by the Devers to the Bruti region, the few governors of the Bruti cities had to rely on him to understand the movements of the tribes in the region and take measures to ensure that there would be no trouble in the region. Therefore, they did not dare to underestimate him, not to mention that he had the Devers behind him.
"Has Hegesitus returned?" Hilos asked.
"There's no news from him yet," Adepigis replied.
Hegesitus was once the leader of the West Ru tribe. After Dionia conquered Brutus, Dyvers settled the Xilu Tribe near Cosenza City and made Hesetus the Inspector (Intermediate) of Cosenza. In fact, due to his deep understanding of the Bruti region, he was more like the assistant to the governor of Cosenza. Many of the measures that were beneficial to the stability of the Bruti region came from his suggestions. When there was a conflict, he was the first to mediate. He became the powerful arm of the governor of Cosenza.
"Looks like what Khadurk's men said might be true. Petaru did not come to Cosenza but went straight to the south." Hilos strode into the city hall.
In the office of the governor, Hieronymus was waiting anxiously. He had just arrived at Cosenza this afternoon and had yet to start recruiting soldiers. In the end, he received a notice from Hilos at night: there was a possibility of a rebellion.
He was shocked and excited. He felt that he could finally be of use.
At this moment, Hilos who knew Hieronymus very well entered the room and did not beat around the bush. He said straightforwardly, "Cadurk has been captured. He admitted to the fact that he was' preparing to rebel ', but Burgam and Petaru were not captured!" Hilos said regretfully and went straight to his desk. There was a large map of the Bruti region hanging on the wall.
Hilos pointed to the bottom left corner of the map and continued, "Burgam must have gone to the Anbalia region. He has been the leader there for more than 20 years and has great prestige. After Bruti merged into our alliance, they demolished the city of Anbalia (Devers thought that Anbalia was remote, barren, and could not accommodate too many people. Building a city was a waste of administrative resources and would increase the risk of rebellion. So, after discussion by the Senate, it was demolished). They also moved the tribes there several times. Now, Anbalia still has a population of about … uh … "
"There are about 5,000 people in the Anbalia region. Even if all of them were convinced by Burgam, they could only gather about a thousand soldiers," Adpigis, who entered the room, immediately added.
After all, Hilos had only been in Bruti for a month. He only had a basic understanding of the situation here. Of course, he was not as familiar with the situation as Adpigis, who had been rooted in Bruti for many years. He generously stepped aside and gestured for Adpigis to do the detailed introduction.
"If Petaru doesn't come to Cosenza, then he will definitely go here-" Adpigis did not decline and went straight to the map. He pointed to the left side of the map and said, "There is a tribe under his jurisdiction here, with a population of about 6,000 people. If you want to fight against the rebels, I suggest attacking here first. Although this tribe is further away from Cosenza, it is still located in the Cosenza Plateau. There are other tribes living around it. Once there is a rebellion, it will have a great impact on the surrounding tribes. The key point was that it was also close to Klapetia and could escape from Bruti through the mountain trails at any time to seek refuge with the Syracuse people. This would cause a very bad result.
Most of the tribes in Anbalia live around Lake Cecita, and some live in the mountains. It will take a lot of time for Burgam to gather all of them. We only need to block the road from Anbalia to Cosenza Plateau, and Burgam will have to brave the dangers of crossing the mountains to enter Cosenza Plateau, or follow the rugged river valley to the east to Asprostom City. "Adepigis confidently expressed his opinion in front of the two Senate elders.
"Well said!" Hilos loudly praised, "I think we can proceed according to Adepigis's plan."
Hieronymus nodded and said, "How many men will you give me?"
His words were short, but Hilos understood what he meant. After all, he was the chief executive of Cosenza, and he had to oversee the central city of Bruti. The mission of the crusade could only be carried out by Hieronymus.
"Tomorrow, I can recruit 2,000 independent Bruti militia from Cosenza City. At the same time, I can gather 1,000 people from the tribes outside the city. Try to gather them by noon. Other than that, I can't give you any more troops, because I need some soldiers to be stationed in Cosenza to prevent other tribes from being affected by the rebellion, "Hilos said in a low voice.
"3,000 men is enough." Hieronymus answered and pointed at Adepigis, "I want you to come with me."
"With pleasure, Sir Hieronymus!" Adepigis replied happily.
"Tomorrow morning, I will send messengers to Knapetiya and Vigo City to inform Sir Asistes and Sarroux. While they are on high alert, they will try their best to cooperate with you in the battle. In addition, I will also send someone back to Turií to find the Senate to inform Sir Agathia in Aspuztum City to be wary of these traitors escaping through the river valley! "Finally, Hilos stated his arrangements.
… …
The next day, Hieronymus led the assembled 3,000 reserve soldiers and marched south …
Petaru's actions were fast enough. He had convinced more than half of the tribesmen to follow him and betray the Diónia Alliance. He also sent people to the surrounding tribes to spread rumors such as "Syracuse's army has invaded Diónia's territory. The Dionysian Army has been defeated and is about to perish!" These kinds of rumors caused panic in the hearts of the people.
There were even some tribal leaders who came to ask him for advice.
He took the opportunity to talk about the discrimination and grievances he had suffered in Turií all these years as the leader of the Bruti tribe and the Senate Elder. His eyes were even filled with tears when he talked about the sad parts.
His words were exactly what the leaders were worried about. Diónia's deliberate and continuous enactment of laws was accelerating the disintegration of the tribes. Even Petaru, the Senate Elder, was forced to such a state, let alone them.
Therefore, some of the leaders began to consider whether they should follow Petaru to rebel against Diónia's rule.
Just as Petaru rejoiced at the success of his plan and planned to build an anti- Diónia Bruti tribe alliance and set off a frenzy of rebellion against Diónia in the entire Cosenza Plateau, Hieronymus's army was approaching.
Petaru, who knew nothing about what happened in the Cadurc tribe last night, was shocked. In their original plan, the Senate would at least confirm their disappearance today. They would probably only send people to the tribe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. By then, they would have already been prepared. They could take advantage of the Syracuse army's pressure and Diónia's lack of troops to deal with the Bruti and the Diónia. However, the Dionysian Army's attack was so swift that it was completely beyond his expectations. The worry he had last night had really come true.
Petaru hurriedly sent people out to argue with the commander to buy time for himself.
Who would have thought that Hieronymus would not have cared at all. He led his army straight into the settlement to capture Petaru.
The panicked Petaru sent his tribesmen to stop them while he quietly rode his horse, trying to escape.
The hastily formed troops were defeated by Hieronymus's attack. Then, they kept their eyes on Petaru.
In the end, Petaru's horse was shot by an arrow and he was thrown off his horse. He was captured by Hieronymus.
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