Chapter 672
The Neapolitan generals were not very familiar with Diónia's military system. They had heard from the Diónia envoy, Karias, that the kingdom would send Legio III to participate in the war. They had thought that there would only be a few thousand soldiers. They did not expect the other party to easily send out 10,000 soldiers. This was already half of the Campanian Alliance's military strength.
Karias thought that the Neapolitans were unhappy with Diónia for sending out too many soldiers, so he quickly explained, "Because the Cayutini refused to learn their lesson, His Majesty the Devers was very angry. He sent out the entire Legio III to completely crush the Cayutini's invasion and teach them a heavy lesson so that they would never dare to invade the Campanian Alliance's territory again!"
"That's great, we have been looking forward to that day!" Onoxius and the others could not help but say.
"Where is our base?" At this time, Lizaru asked impatiently.
"The camp is set outside the east side of the city, but … there are not enough tents," Aialos said awkwardly. Aialos said awkwardly. They did not expect Dionia to send out so many soldiers.
"We have brought the tents. You just have to ensure that there is an adequate supply of food." Lizaru looked calm, but in fact, food was his biggest concern.
"There is no problem with the food, you can rest assured!" Onosius said loudly, "The autumn harvest has just ended, and the citizens have enough food in their homes. Furthermore, when they heard that the warriors of Dionia were coming to help defend against the Samonai, even the City Hall didn't have to buy anything. Everyone voluntarily took out their food to supply the Dionian army. We have also prepared dozens of bottles of wine and a lot of cattle and sheep for Legio III to celebrate your arrival. "
Lizaru waved his hand and said, "There is no need for that. Legio III does not have the time. I am going to bring the soldiers to build the camp now. Please call the leading generals of the Campanian Alliance over and discuss with me how to deal with the Sammonae that are about to invade. "
Although Lizaru's words were too direct and hurtful, his swift and decisive actions reflected that the Kingdom of Diónia was treating this battle seriously. Therefore, not only were the Neapolitan officials not dissatisfied, they were happy.
… …
The Samonai people were a mountainous people who liked to live in the mountains. If they lived on the plains, not only would they feel uncomfortable with the climate, but they would also lack a sense of security.
However, nothing was absolute. The Kautini, one of the four major Samonai races, had many villages and towns on the eastern plains of Campania. This was mainly because of the increase in population, which forced the Kautini, who were located in the west of the Samonai Mountains, to move to the western lowlands to obtain more land to support their population. After decades of hard work, the eastern part of the Campania Plains had been completely occupied by Kaultini. They had taken over the cities of other races, such as Capua and Cesarra. At the same time, they had built some new towns, such as Lola.
Therefore, some of the Kautini tribes had begun to get used to farming instead of herding cattle and sheep for a living, so that the overall strength of Kautini had gradually begun to catch up with the Hilpini tribe, which had always been the leader of the four major races.
However, the war more than a decade ago was a blow to the ambitious Kautini. A large number of tribal warriors were killed or captured, and the approach of the Dionysian Army forced the Kautini to lower their arrogant heads, sign a humiliating alliance treaty, and stop their westward march.
But when their strength was restored, its new leader, Segovani, was no longer willing to be bound by this covenant. It was not because of Kautini's habit of plundering, but because, on the one hand, the spread of Diónia's religion and economic culture had destroyed the traditions of the Samonai people and shaken the cohesion of the tribes. On the other hand, after Kautini occupied the eastern plains of Campania, they had tasted the benefits of farming on the plains, and they had already intended to take all of Campania into their arms.
Of course, there were also personal reasons. Segovani needed to use war to increase his prestige and defeat the Nasara leader, Quinduc, who had always refused to obey him and relied on the support of Diónia.
Therefore, the frequent attacks sent by the Kautini tribe to the west were not as simple as plundering supplies and people. They could constantly undermine the enemy's morale and increase the fear of the Campanians, so that they would never dare to settle down to farming and herding. While strengthening their own strength by plundering people and supplies, they were also constantly weakening the opponent's strength, and finally, through war, they would achieve their goal of occupying all of Campania. The two major cities of Capua and Cesarra were obtained in this way, so how could the Kautini be willing to be bound by the alliance of Diónia?
One morning, the leaders of the Kautini tribes gathered in the three towns of Capua, Lola, and Cesarra led their young and strong tribesmen, weapons in hand, and began to break into the territory of the Campanian Alliance to the west.
The straight-line distance between the three cities and the west coast was about 40 miles, especially Lola, which was directly to the east of Naples. Therefore, as long as these tribal warriors ran as fast as they could, they would be able to reach the city of Naples in about two hours. This was one of the main reasons why the city-states of the Campanian Alliance were afraid of Sammonet. They were too close to the Kautini forces, and they were on the plains, with almost no place to defend.
"Faster! Faster! " Taruk, the leader of the Kautini tribe, shouted loudly to urge his warriors.
His tribe came from Abella, a small town less than 15 miles east of Lola. It was located in a col, guarding a pass into the mountains, so the land area was narrow and not suitable for farming, and the mountains on both sides were too high, not suitable for grazing, so they mainly lived by plundering.
Although Segovani, the leader of the Kautini tribe, had proposed to use this attack to strike the arrogant faces of the Kingdom of Diónia and the Campanian Alliance.
But Taruk was more interested in the grain that the Greeks had piled up in their homes. Now that the autumn harvest had just ended, even if the Greeks who had a good harvest fled after hearing the news, they would not be able to take that much grain with them. Taruk wanted to plunder enough grain before the other tribes did, so that he could get through the winter without a hitch.
Taruk ran on the flat land with his 200 warriors, and soon entered the territory of Naples. He could already see the farmland in front of him, and at the same time, he could smell the burnt straw in the air, which made him even more excited.
Taruk was familiar with the area because of his frequent raids. He knew that there was a Greek village a mile ahead. "Faster!" he urged again, quickening his pace.
"Chief, there are enemy cavalry in front!" a warrior shouted.
Taruk, of course, saw it too. He also saw the Greek cavalry immediately turn around and run back after noticing his troops.
"Don't worry about them, hurry up!" Taruk shouted. He was not worried at all. Based on past experience, he knew that the cavalry must have run back to Naples to gather their soldiers, and by the time the heavy Greek infantry arrived, they would have already returned to Abella with a full harvest. If the Greeks dared to give chase, Kautini's warriors would come from all directions and give them a taste of the power of a rain of javelins. The timid Greeks always gathered in tight phalanxes. Not only were they slow, but they were also easy targets for the javelins in their hands.
Taruk led the warriors into the village, and just as he had expected, the village was empty.
He immediately sent a small group of warriors to the south of the village to act as sentries to observe the movements of the Greeks, while he led the majority of his warriors to break down the locked doors of the houses and rush into the houses to start looting.
Just then, a warrior hurried over and reported, "Not far from the village, there are some Greeks fleeing with their carts."
Taruk was overjoyed when he heard this. They must be the people of the village, and they must be loaded with valuables!
Taruk was worried that he did not have enough carts with him, so he could not carry too much.
He immediately gathered some of his warriors and rushed out of the village, heading south in pursuit.
When the Greeks saw that they were coming, they ran even faster to the south. Unfortunately, their numbers were heavy and clumsy, and they were getting closer and closer.
Taruk was shocked to discover that there were dozens of Greek heavy infantry in front of the fleeing Greeks. Unlike the Greek heavy infantry he had seen before, they were all clad in black armour, and they were charging towards them at high speed.
'Should we retreat?' Taruk only had this thought in his mind, but he immediately suppressed it. 'What a joke, why would I retreat? He was very experienced in dealing with the Greek heavy infantry! Moreover, he had more than a hundred warriors with him, which was twice the number of the enemy!
"Quick, spread out!" He ordered the warriors to form an even looser formation, spreading out in the shape of a goose and pressing towards the enemy at the same time.
The enemy heavy infantry continued to advance past the fleeing Greeks, and gradually formed into a tight phalanx as they advanced.
Seeing this, Taruk laughed inwardly. 'The stubborn Greeks have suffered so many times, but they still haven't changed. I'll let you continue to taste the power of a javelin!'
The enemy's phalanx had already entered a distance of 30 metres. Taruch raised the javelin in his hand, only to see the Greeks slow down and raise the long shields in their hands … In the blink of an eye, the front, back, left, right and even the top of the phalanx were tightly protected by the shields, and they continued to advance towards Taruch's team.
Taruk was shocked, but he still threw the javelin in his hand. The warriors in the semicircle formation also threw their javelins at the enemy in the middle.
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