Chapter 605
"One … Opol," Ellams gestured and said in stiff Greek.
The young man took out a drachma from his money pouch and threw it to Ellams. He then crouched down and picked up a wooden tube. It was a simple wooden cup made from hollowed out, polished, and painted from a tree trunk as thick as a fist. The cup was filled with milky white water, and it felt heavy in his hand. The young man didn't mind its simplicity. He first took a small sip. After tasting it, he was surprised: "The taste is very good. You mixed sheep's milk and grape juice in the milk. You should also add honey, but this sheep's milk doesn't have any smell. How did you do it?"
The young man who spoke was Adoris, the adopted son of King Devers of Diónia. He was already 18 years old, and this was his first time participating in the war against Daoni as a soldier. Although he was not interested in cooking, he had some experience in this area after tasting food at home all year round.
Ellams pretended not to understand and looked down to find change.
Adoris did not ask any more questions. He took out another drachma and threw it to him. "Stop looking. Give me ten cups of water." He looked around and said, "Brothers, you've been training hard. It's my treat. Drink some water to quench your thirst."
His teammates immediately cheered. "Thank you, Adoris! Generous Adoris! … … "
Ellams and his wife quickly filled the wooden cups with water and handed them to the thirsty soldiers.
"I say, Prince, don't just treat your teammates to water. There's still us! We're thirsty too! "a soldier shouted not far from the entrance of the market.
Prince?! Ellams looked at the young man in front of him curiously. In his memory, the one with the title of 'Prince' was Vadarka, the son of the former king of Puceti, Tremoni. Tremoni died in the Battle of Brindisi, and his direct tribal warriors were almost all killed. After the battle, the royal family's strength was greatly reduced, and Puceti was in chaos. Vadarka had the title of 'Prince', but he could not become the new king because he did not have the support of any major tribes. After the invasion of Diónia, Vadarka took his family and fled to Epirus on the other side of the Adriatic Sea.
The young man in front of him was tall and sturdy, with large eyes and thick eyebrows. Unfortunately, the remaining childishness on his face covered his might. Ellams did not know if the title of 'Prince' was real or fake.
Adonis turned around and scolded, "Amfias, if you shout again, I'll make sure you don't drink water today!"
The soldier wasn't afraid. He replied with a smile, "As long as you're treating, I won't shout."
Adoris glared at him, but there was nothing he could do. Back then, after the War of Southern Italy, Dionia had almost completely occupied Greece. Due to the situation and the fact that they had no choice but to rely on Dionia, they were able to rebuild their new city and regain their former prosperity. In the end, the people chose to join the Kingdom of Dionia. Lysias, Myron, and the other respected councilors of Crotone were elected to become Dionia's senators. Amfias was Lysias's son. He followed his father to Tulii and became Adoris's classmate in Tulii Academy. When Adoris became an adult, he did not want to be taken care of too much, so he asked the Devers to join Legio IV, which was centered around Crotone. He thought that no one would recognize him. Who would have thought that he would run into Amfias in the Fourth Legion. It turned out that this guy did not register himself as a citizen of Tulii after reaching adulthood. Instead, he chose to live in Crotone, which exposed Adoris' identity.
Adoris understood Amfias' shameless personality. He looked around the market, turned around, and pointed at the jar beside the stall. "How much is this jar of syrup?"
Ellams' heart raced. He quickly replied, "Two drachmas."
"You have 15 jars here. I'll buy them all. Give any comrade who comes here a cup of syrup to drink. Can you do that? "Adoris said straightforwardly. At the same time, he counted 30 drachmas from his money pouch.
"Yes! Yes! … "Ellams nodded repeatedly.
An even louder cheer sounded in the market. "Long live Prince Adoris!" There was a sudden shout in the midst of the cheers.
That damned Amfias! Adoris was so angry that his teeth itched. He immediately shouted, "Brothers, Amfias just told me that I'll treat you all to syrup today. When we return to Turin, he'll treat everyone to beer!"
"I didn't —" Amfias was about to argue, but the soldiers were already shouting excitedly, "Amfias, I didn't expect you to be more generous than Adoris!"
"Amfias, we can't wait to go to the battlefield and win. Then we'll go home and drink your beer!"
… …
Laughter continued in the market.
Ellams was busy passing syrup to these young soldiers while lamenting that these young soldiers were fearless and did not know the cruelty of war. It reminded him of his own youth.
… … …
In the central tent of Diónia's military camp, Alexis, the commander of the army in charge of the attack on Daoni, was puzzled by a letter from the Devers. The reason was that at the end of the letter, the Devers wrote, "… On the north bank of the Orfanto River, where a glorious battle once took place in history, I hope that you will also obtain a glorious victory that will not lose out to your predecessors! … … "
Alexis thought about it carefully, but he could not remember any great battle that had taken place in this area. He asked the adjutant who had graduated with honors from the Turin Academy, "Mateus, do you know of any fierce battles that took place near the Orfanto River in the past?"
Mateus, the eldest son of Bagoule, thought for a moment and immediately replied, "I don't know."
Could it be that there was a battle that took place here a long time ago that was not recorded, and that His Majesty, as a Chosen One, knew about it through Hades's enlightenment? Alexis could only think of it this way. The encouragement in the Devers' letter gave him a sense of ambition.
Of course, he didn't know that the "glorious battle" mentioned by Daves didn't actually happen in the past. Instead, it happened in the history of his previous life. About ten miles to the east of Dionia's military camp, there was a place called Cannae, where the Carthaginian army was stationed. The great commander Hannibal led 50,000 troops to cross the river and engaged in a battle with the 80,000 Roman troops. Through his ingenious formation, he eventually defeated the Roman troops with a numerical disadvantage and annihilated them, creating one of the most glorious battles in the history of ancient western warfare. This gave the Devers the urge to personally lead this battle and compete with Hannibal. In the end, he gave up. After all, the difference between Canna and the Rome of his previous life was too great, and it was not worth his time to personally lead the battle.
Divers, who wasn't very knowledgeable about history, didn't know that in the following decades in the history of his previous life, there was another battle that happened south of the city of Ausculum, northwest of the north bank of the Orfanto River. It was also quite famous – the Battle of Asculum. King Pyrrhus of Epirus led his army and fought a second battle with the Romans. Although he won in the end, he suffered heavy losses. This made Pyrrhus think that he didn't want to fight the Romans again. In the end, he led his army to leave Italy and went to Sicily.
"Commander Amyntas has arrived! Commander Olivers has arrived! Commander Giogris has arrived! Commander Ledes has arrived! " … "The guards outside the big tent kept calling out the names of the people.
After several commanders entered the tent, they saluted Alexis and sat down.
"Commanders." Alexis sat on the main seat and solemnly said to them, "We have been stationed here for seven days. The various legions, auxiliary forces, and military supplies have all arrived. The Daunis have also gathered on the other side of the river, so I have decided to cross the river tomorrow and attack the enemy."
"We should have attacked long ago! Staying here for so long is suffocating our soldiers! "Amyntas immediately raised his hands in agreement.
"Lord Amyntas, I think you are the one who is suffocating." Olivers beside him laughed.
"Olivers, you dare to make fun of me? Let's have a football game in the afternoon. The First Legion vs the Legion IV. You and I will be the quarterbacks. Whoever loses will have to do a round of leapfrog around the training field. Do you dare?" Amyntas loudly challenged.
"It's not that I don't dare." Olivers tactfully refused. "We are leaving tomorrow, and we still have to assign missions to the legions in the afternoon. We don't have time for a game."
"Find a reason!" Amyntas softly spat. He knew that Olivers had a point, so he didn't insist.
"Commander, will the Daunis stop us when we cross the river tomorrow?" Giogris asked cautiously.
"Very likely!" Alexis straightforwardly replied. "According to the reports from the north, although the Daunis' king is unwilling to go out of the city to fight, the leaders of Asculum, Sipontum, Herdoniae, and many other towns and cities are determined to stop us from crossing the Daunis' territory. That is why they encouraged their king to gather his army on the other side of the river. They have fewer soldiers than us, and relying on the river to increase their advantage will increase their advantage. They will not let go of this advantage so easily, so it is very likely that they will form a formation on the other side of the river to stop us from crossing."
"If that is the case, we will leave the camp early in the morning and cross the river as quickly as possible. I believe that the Daunis' army is not as fast as the Legion of Dionysia. By the time they reach the other side, we will have already crossed the river," Olivers suggested.
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