Chapter 619
Ever since they entered the city of Turín, the Samonese players, who boasted of their bravery, began to restrain their usual rough and uncouth manner, as they were shocked by the huge and prosperous city. After entering the arena, the cheers of tens of thousands of spectators were an invisible pressure that made them a little bewildered, and even their walking posture became restrained.
"Look, that's Leader Gherni!" Maioni spotted the leader of the Abenilum standing in the audience, waving his arms and shouting, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
The players immediately responded enthusiastically, which made them feel a lot more relaxed.
When they passed the rostrum, they received another surprise.
"Father, look! That's the Samonese team that I was responsible for receiving before! "Crotocatax shouted excitedly as he pointed to the team walking on the track.
Before Devers could speak, Cristoya, who was next to him, opened her eyes wide and interrupted, "Your father always said that the Samonese are not to be trifled with, but I don't see anything special about them."
Indeed, the Samonese players who entered the arena for the first time seemed to be timid in the face of tens of thousands of spectators.
"The Abenilumo!" Devers was very clear about the origin of the team. He said slowly, "Isn't that a good thing?"
Cristoya was not an ordinary woman. She quickly understood what her husband meant, so she said, "Unfortunately, there's only one Abenilumo."
"That's a good start!" Devers smiled slightly.
Aegnis did not care about what her husband and Cristoya were saying. She was the only one in the family who was not very interested in rugby. The reason why she attended the opening ceremony was because of the needs of the people of Diónia and the request of the children. The people hoped to see the king's family attend the most important celebration of the kingdom. It had almost become a custom. The harmony of the king's family was an example of a civil family. The children liked the lively atmosphere of the whole family watching the game together, including her shy and introverted daughter, Avia.
"Mother is right. The Samonese are like the clumsy slaves of the kingdom. There's nothing to be afraid of. Our Zerias is still the most dazzling. He'll definitely score a lot of touchdowns in the finals! "Briantes said loudly. Zerias was the main wide receiver of the Turís team's offensive team. He was famous for his superb catching skills and speed in the finals.
"I think the quarterback, Sardoc Cassius, is the best. It's really because of his calm mind, ingenious formation, and accurate passing that Zerias can get so many touchdowns."
Apox's words dissatisfied his brother, and the two began to argue.
Cynthia patted her two younger brothers on the head and reminded them, "Stop arguing. You're disturbing the people watching the opening ceremony. Hurry up and quiet down!"
Big Sister's words were indeed effective. The two of them glared at each other and quietly sat back in their seats.
"If brother Adoris was still in Turín, he would definitely be there as a substitute for the team," Eunice said, pointing to the Turín team that was already standing on the field.
Little Avril nodded repeatedly, but it stunned Cynthia, and then a trace of worry appeared on her pretty face.
The Devers laughed and said, "You still don't know your brother Adoris. Compared to appearing in the Hades Arena, he would prefer to appear in the Triumph Parade."
"I also hope to be a hero in the Triumph Parade when I grow up!" Briantes immediately shouted.
"Father." Crotocatax glanced at Cynthia and asked, "How's the progress of our war with the Downey people?"
"Ever since we defeated Downey's main force in the decisive battle at the Orfanto River, our troops have not encountered any strong resistance from the enemy. Don't worry, you can see your brother again in two months! "The Devers said with a relaxed expression. His words also made Cynthia smile again.
Behind the Devers' family sat a few elders of Lucania. When they saw the Samonai team passing by the rostrum, Vesba, who was already very old, could not help but sigh. "I didn't expect that even the Samonai, who are as fierce as wolves, would be tamed by our kingdom!"
The great leader of Potentia, Boret, chuckled and said with his lips curled, "It's not that easy to tame a wolf! It's just Abenilum, a town that is about to be abandoned by the Samonai! "
"Abenilum was abandoned by the Samonai, why?" Hemont asked curiously.
Boret subconsciously touched his bearded cheek, where there was a long scar, and his thoughts went back to the past. "Ten years ago, the Samonai invaded Potentia. If His Majesty did not lead the army to rescue them in time, Potentia might not have existed anymore …"
Boret had a good impression of the Diónia in the process of fighting side by side with the soldiers of the Legion of Dionysia against the Samonai. After the Southern Italian War, he visited Turií many times and persuaded Puamot to merge Potentia with Diónia, becoming a "Free City" of the kingdom. Three years ago, Puamot even gave the position of great leader to Boret, who had a close relationship with Diónia, on the grounds of "poor health". After Boret took over the affairs of the territory, he had a better understanding of the situation of his evil neighbor in the north.
"The Samonai suffered a crushing defeat. Nearly ten thousand warriors were captured, and only a few thousand of the more than forty thousand soldiers managed to escape. As the instigator of this war, the great chief of Hilpini and the ruler of Abenilum, Villani, naturally had to bear the responsibility for this failure. Although the Samonese who had fled back did not know that Villani had died in battle, the Hilpini who had lost their loved ones and hated Villani bitterly held a tribal meeting very quickly. They dismissed Villani from his position as the great chief and elected Leescok of Beneventum as the new great chief of Hilpini … "
At this point, Boret sighed and said regretfully, "At that time, it was said that the four major tribes of the Samonai had less than ten thousand warriors and were unable to fight again. Moreover, the Samonai heard that Diónia had captured many Samonai warriors, so they requested for a truce and peace talks. Sigh … Actually, if we had been more forceful and continued to attack the mountains in the north, Hilpini would have been exterminated. Bentney and Cayutini would not have had it easy either! … "
"There was nothing we could do about it. At that time, we were resisting the invasion of Syracuse's army. After defeating Dionysius, the treasury's gold, silver, and food were almost completely depleted. It was impossible to organize another army to launch an attack on the Samonai mountains, "Vesba explained. He had another reason that he did not say. After winning the war in Southern Italy, Greece and Sicily had enough land and wealth for the citizens of Diónia to divide up. They might even complain that their population was too small to occupy more empty land, so why would they covet the barren mountains of Samonai? Moreover, once they attacked the nest of the Samonai people, even if it had been greatly weakened, the resistance and casualties encountered by the Legion of Dionysia would definitely skyrocket. This was not what the Senate and the people hoped for.
Boret probably realized this as well. He only casually complained before continuing, "After the people of Diónia signed an alliance agreement with Hilpini, Bentney, and Cayutini, they began to release the Samonai captives one after another. You should know that the son of the former chief of Hilpini, Gerney, was also captured by us. His tribe was originally a large tribe of Hilpini, and there were many tribal warriors who were captured. His Majesty was the last to release them. Guess what happened in the end?"
"I remember that there was a violent conflict in the Abenilum. That Gerney even asked for help from Diónia, and His Majesty supported him …" Hemont recalled.
"Violent conflict?!" Boret smiled and said, "As the initiator of that war, in order to set an example, Gerney sent almost all the men who could fight in the entire Abenilum region to the battlefield. Of course, his warriors suffered the most casualties. When Lescok became the chief of Hilpini, he saw that the territory of Abenilum was mostly filled with old, young, women, and children, and lacked labor. Moreover, Abenilum was closest to Potentia, so he moved a tribe in the south of Beneventum to Abenilum and made the chief of this tribe the chief of Abenilum. At that time, the people of Abenilum did not strongly oppose it in order to survive.
But two years later, when Gerney returned home with the Abenilum warriors who had been captured, he saw that his land was occupied by another tribe, his wife remarried, and his children recognized someone else as their father. Naturally, conflict broke out. In order to maintain his authority and the interests of his tribe, the new chief of Abenilum made a wrong decision. He wanted to expel Gerney and his kin from Abenilum on the grounds that 'Gerney and his son had indiscriminately started a war and brought disaster to the tribe'. This caused the anger of the released Abenilum warriors, because during the two years of labor in the kingdom, they had completely regarded Gerney as their chief.
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