Chapter 509
"Let's go, Lord Cyros, or else we'll be delayed again!" Henepolis urged proudly as he led his guards towards the bridge.
Hilos had no choice but to accept the fact that Henepolis was accompanying the army. He solemnly saluted Bagoule, "I'll leave Laos to you."
The slightly guilty Bagoule returned the salute solemnly, "Don't worry. May Hades protect you as you break through the enemy's siege in the south!"
… …
The Devers had just crossed the Netto River when they received a report from their herald, Tormid, "Your Majesty, a group of Syracuse scouts have appeared in front of us. Our cavalry is pursuing them."
"Ledes' cavalry had already been deployed, right? Why didn't they discover them? They even managed to break through our army's formation." The Devers's calm voice was dignified.
The kind-hearted Tormid hurriedly explained, "It's reported that the enemy cavalry hid behind the ruins of Ciudad Crotone. That's why they weren't discovered. Now, Ledes has regrouped his troops and is preparing to thoroughly investigate the ruins of Ciudad Crotone. "
"Dionysius really put in a lot of effort in order to find out our army's movements!" The Devers mocked. He sat high up on his horse and looked ahead. His field of vision was filled with small phalanxes of Diónia soldiers. His expression turned solemn, "I'm afraid that my worst case scenario is becoming a reality … Tormid!"
"Yes!"
"Inform all the soldiers to equip themselves and march south at normal speed! Tell Ledes not to disperse his cavalry to investigate Ciudad Crotone. I want his cavalry to follow Syracuse's army closely and report the enemy's movements at all times. At the same time, do your best to conceal our army's movements! Leave the investigation of Ciudad Crotone to the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade. "
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Tormid asked softly, "Do we need to inform the Crotone people in Acropolis that we've crossed the river?"
Devers pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Send someone to tell Lysias … Hmm, just say that we are leading an army to rescue them, and that there might be a fierce battle with Syracuse's army. Ask them to send as many troops as possible to rendezvous!"
"Understood, Your Majesty!" Tormid immediately turned around and gave the order to the orderlies.
… …
"My lord, my subordinates have returned." Akhilita galloped to the front of Dionysius and said, "We sent out ten people, but only two came back, and they were all injured. Although their horsemanship was superb, they had to pass through the encirclement of so many enemies …"
"I know, you've done a meritorious deed, and you'll be rewarded handsomely!" Dionysius interrupted his complaint impatiently, "Tell me quickly, how's the situation?"
"The Diónia's army has crossed the river, and there are a lot of them …" The level of civilization of the Numibians was far lower than that of Carthage and Greece. After the number reached ten thousand, most of them could not even count it clearly.
Dionysius listened to Akhilita's exaggerated words, and his original worry dissipated, and a smile appeared on his face. Retreating because the rear was attacked was just an illusion to lure the enemy to cross the river. He only had one goal in mind — to defeat the army of Diónia. Only by achieving this goal could they completely get rid of the predicament of Syracuse's army. Dionysius was very clear about this from the beginning to the end.
He glanced at Phoebidas next to him, and Phoebidas nodded at him firmly.
Dionysius decisively ordered, "Order the entire army to stop advancing, turn around immediately, cross the Tachinadi River, and march north quickly!"
At this moment, his army had passed the south bank of the Tachinadi River, and the entire army was about ten miles away from the Neto River. It would take more than two hours to reach the river normally, so he must move quickly to avoid the enemy realizing that they were tricked and fleeing back to the north bank of the Neto River. However, it would probably take more than a few hours for an army of tens of thousands to cross the Neto River, and he had enough time …
… …
Near noon, the fleet entered the port of Knapetiya.
The port of Klapetiya was not large. Although it was expanded by two governors after being incorporated into the Diónia Alliance, the port's innate conditions were not good, and its capacity to accommodate ships had not been significantly improved. Therefore, the transport ships could only slowly queue up to enter the port one after another …
"Lord Xilos, welcome to our city! I haven't seen you for more than two years. When I heard that you were coming this time, I came to the port early to wait for you! "
Asistes gave Hilos, who had just disembarked from the ship, a warm hug, and then said, "His Majesty is really cruel. For the past few years, he has either let me stay in Lucania or sent me to this remote Bruti region. He did not give me any leisure time to have a good time with old brothers like you. When you were appointed as the governor of Cosenza, I wanted to go to Cosenza to congratulate you, but I did not expect the war to break out so soon … "
Asistes could not stop talking excitedly, but Hilos only replied with one sentence, "His Majesty is doing it for your own good."
"Of course, His Majesty treats me like a brother. He won't blame me even if I complain a little," Asistes cheekily teased.
"Sir Asistes, nice to meet you!" Henepolis stepped forward to greet him.
When Henepolis came to Turií to study, Asistes had already gone to Neutum. He only saw Henepolis a few times every time he returned to Turií to report to the Devers, but he had a deep impression of the only boy who lived in the Devers' mansion.
"Sir Henepolis, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Asistes immediately returned the greeting warmly. Then, he seemed to remember something and looked confused. "Since you are here, it means that Laos has been taken back. Shouldn't you be in Laos reorganizing the affairs of the city-state that has just gone through a war?!"
There was a hint of lecturing in his words, but Henepolis did not mind. He said calmly, "Sir Bagoule is in charge of Laos now, and he is doing a good job. I have to fulfill my promise to His Majesty and serve as his military secretary, so I came with Sir Hilos. I heard that Sir Asistes is His Majesty's first military secretary. I would like to ask you to teach me more about how to be His Majesty's military secretary. "
The Asistes laughed, but his eyes glanced at Hilos. Seeing Hilos nod at him, he said, "No problem, we can talk together. I think you will definitely do better than me, because I don't have good writing skills like you. Back then, I received a lot of criticism from His Majesty …"
Just as the Asistes humbly encouraged Henepolis, a person behind him stood up. "Sir Hilos, we have been waiting for you for a long time!"
"You are?" Hilos looked at the stranger who spoke.
"Let me introduce you." The Asistes hurriedly said, "This is the general of Triene, Blomalas. After the defeat of the Southern Alliance, he led the people in the city to retreat to Knapetiya, avoiding the tragic fate of Sileten."
Blomalas said solemnly, "Sir Hilos, the people of Triene will fight with you to take back our home!"
"Your wish will come true very soon!" Hilos promised confidently.
"And this —" The Asistes pointed at the man beside him and introduced him to Hilos. "This is the captain of the triple-oared warship of the Dionysian fleet, Vralios. He has been waiting for you in Knapetiya for a day under the orders of the commander of the navy, Sykerian."
Vralios took a step forward and saluted. "Sir Hilos, our fleet is now anchored at the port of Taurina. General Sykerian has ordered me to discuss with you. Once I get the time for your attack on Triene, I will immediately return and inform General Sykerian. He will lead a fleet of 4,000 soldiers from Lijim to land on the coast of Hibernian and cut off the route of Rockley's reinforcements … "
After hearing this, Hilos could not help but sigh. "Now that our navy is strong, it will be of greater help to the army's attack!"
He turned his head to look at the port. There were only a few hundred soldiers coming ashore. The transport ships were lined up one after another, extending all the way out of the port.
He turned back to look at Blomalas. The Triene general was looking at him expectantly.
"General Blomalas, how many soldiers do you have under you?" Hilos suddenly asked.
"Five hundred." Blomalas saw Hilos frown and added, "Including the older citizens, I can lead 900 people to fight with you."
"How many soldiers can Knapetiya send?" Hilos asked Asistes again.
"Knapetiya has 1,500 soldiers in reserve. I can send 1,000 to support you," Asistes said without hesitation.
"How many enemies are there in Triene?" Hilos asked again.
"Hmm … According to our investigations these few days, there might be 4,000 people, but more than half of them are Hibernian and Medma's militia," Blomalas replied.
Hilos lowered his head and thought for a while. He made up his mind and said in a low voice, "I will return to the ship now and lead the fleet to land on the coast of Ophelia Plains. We will march on Triene."
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