Chapter 75
Originally, he only planned to loot between Amendolara and Turií when the opportunity arose. However, the scouts reported that the people of Amendolara were carrying a lot of supplies and were preparing to leave the city.
How could Vesba and his tribesmen let go of such a good opportunity? They immediately chased after them, slaughtered them, and took the opportunity to occupy Amendolara. To Vesba, this was a blessing from the god of Mount Asinu! The tribe won easily. Not only did they seize a lot of supplies, but they also occupied a city, a mountain city that the Lucanians liked to live in. At the same time, they also had a large number of "slaves".
However, he soon realized that it was quite difficult for his tribe to occupy a city with only a thousand warriors. First, he had to allocate a few hundred warriors to watch over the thousands of captives, and then he had to guard against the Turií taking back Amendolara. The most troublesome thing was the Grumentum. After all, Vesba's tribe was unwilling to accept the annexation of the Grumentum. Now that the Lucanians had won a bloody battle with the Turií, they had effortlessly obtained the victory that should have belonged to the Grumentum. How could the vengeful leader of the Grumentum, Acepirus, spare them? However, how could Vesba, who had tasted the hardships of being a vagabond, give up on Amendolara and escape back to the mountains? How could he and his clansmen give up on the comfort that they had obtained with great difficulty?
Just as he was hesitating, a few days later, a piece of good news arrived. The Lucanians who were preparing to besiege the city of Turií were forced to retreat due to the outbreak of plague.
Vesba was overjoyed and repeatedly praised the god of Mount Asinu.
In the following months, the Turií did not send troops to recapture Amendolara because their strength had been greatly reduced. It was rare for Vesba to lead his tribesmen to live a peaceful life for a period of time.
In the spring of this year, an envoy from the Grumentum crossed the mountains and came to Amendolara with an order from Acepirus: he was forcefully ordered to join the Lucanians and prepare for the second attack on the Turií.
Wesba agreed, but he sneered in his heart because the messenger did not mention anything about the ownership of Amendalla City after the war.
He finally understood that if he wanted to keep the city of Amendarra, he could only hope that the Lucanian Alliance and the Turís would both suffer heavy losses. Only then would his tribe have a chance to survive and have time to slowly use and integrate the power of Amendarra to restore the vitality of his tribe. Therefore, when he learned that mercenaries were constantly coming to Turií territory, he did not feel worried. Instead, he was happy.
He restrained his clansmen from leaving the city as little as possible so as not to provoke the Turís. Instead, he allowed the Greeks to focus on preparing for war.
Today our spies reported that a Greek army of about a hundred men had invaded the territory of Amendola.
He was a little surprised. This was the first time since the war last year that the Greek army had appeared in Amendola. Were they here to attack the city? Why are there only a hundred people? Could it be the vanguard? Did the Turís disregard the threat of the Lucanian Alliance's army and want to solve their worries first? Based on his careful observation over the past few months, this did not seem to be the way the Turiyi people would do it!
With many questions in his mind, Wesba stepped onto the city wall and looked down the mountain. There were more than a hundred Greek soldiers standing alone beside the Sislino River. They did not move for a long time, and there was no movement behind them either.
They were here to investigate the situation! Wesba was certain.
So, he decided to show his strength to dispel the Greeks' illusions. He asked his son Bagoule to lead a thousand soldiers out of the city, leaving only a hundred soldiers to guard the captives in the city.
Bagoule led the Lucanian soldiers out of the city in a menacing manner.
The Asistes could not help but shout, "Chief, look at their weapons!"
Armor, shields, and spears, all of them were the attire of the Greek heavy infantry. No wonder the Asistes was surprised. He thought that Amendola had been taken back by a Greek army!
The Devers looked carefully and smiled. "The Lucanians must have stolen the weapons of the citizens of Amendola and equipped themselves. Unfortunately, they are just like the real heavy infantry. They are still far from the real heavy infantry. "
Indeed, the Greek heavy infantry formation was tight. Before the battle began, they advanced slowly and could basically maintain a straight line. Looking at the Lucanian soldiers on the opposite side, their formation was not only loose but also uneven.
When the guide saw the Lucanian soldiers leaving the city, he was extremely nervous. Seeing that the Devers were still in the mood to joke, he almost cursed out loud.
At this moment, the Devers said, "Retreat, go back!"
The guide felt as if he had been pardoned and turned his horse to run.
The soldiers turned back in unison and began to jog.
The Devers reined in his horse until the soldiers left him behind. Only then did he, Asistes, and Ledes turn their horses and move slowly. This made the guide feel a little awkward.
The Greeks retreated slowly, and the Lucanians chased slowly. Both sides maintained a certain distance.
It was not until the Devers and the others crossed the Saraceno River that the Lucanians stopped at the north bank.
"A thousand … a thousand people …" The Devers asked thoughtfully, "Yasi, do you think the Lucanians in Amendola want to fight us or not?"
"Of course not. You can tell from their pursuit," the Asistes said without hesitation.
"I heard from Burcos that there are not many Lucanians in Amendola. How many are there exactly?" the Devers asked the guide.
"There is such a saying in Turií, but no one seems to know how many Lucanians there are in Amendola." The guide was a little confused.
The Devers smiled mysteriously and changed the topic. "What is north of Amendola?"
Back in Turií land, the guide was much more relaxed. "Twenty miles north is the Sini River, and further north is the Agri River. On the other side is the city of Heraclea. There is the Seres Plain, which is also a fertile land. A few decades ago, Turií and Tarantum fought over that land. "
"Who won?" the Asistes asked curiously.
"We Turií won twice, but Tarantum is a powerful city-state in Greece. They kept sending troops over, and the war lasted for a long time. In the end, both sides signed an agreement and jointly built the city of Heraclea, "the guide said with a little pride.
"Oh, I didn't expect Turií to be so powerful in the past," the Asistes said casually.
"That's because Turií had General Cleandridas. He was from Sparta!" The guide said respectfully. Then, he thought of something and curled his lips unwillingly. "Even though Turií lost to the Lucanians, it was because they ambushed the Turií. If it was a head-on battle, they wouldn't be a match for the Turií.
The Asistes wanted to argue, but the Devers stopped him. "Let's hurry to the south of Turií while it's still early."
The guide did not understand why the young mercenary leader was running around tirelessly all day long. It was understandable if there were Lucanians in the west and north, but there were no enemies in the south. However, this also made him feel at ease. These mercenaries were too bold, causing him to tremble with fear. He was afraid that an accident would happen.
The Devers and the group crossed the pontoon bridge not far from the west of Turií and arrived at the delta between the two rivers. Here, they saw one after another carrying carts moving back and forth on a road leading to the west …
The guide told them that the carts were transporting copper ores and stones to Turií. Due to the recent war, the city was in urgent need of stones and bronze wares.
"There are Turií copper and stone mines in the west?" The Devers blinked as they looked at the uneven dirt road that passed through the hilly terrain.
"Yes. The Coceni River is in the way, so the Lucanians won't be able to cross. " The guide, who was usually talkative, did not want to say more. He ended the conversation in a hurry and brought them to the pontoon bridge over the Krati River.
The Krati River was at least 50 meters long, and because it was spring, the current was strong, so the pontoon bridge swung back and forth. The Devers were worried that the horses would startle and fall into the water, so they had to walk with their horses.
After crossing the Krati River, they stepped onto land that was still part of the Sybari Plain. It was a green and flat corridor between the mountains and the coast, and it was obviously much wider than the corridor by the sea in Amendola. Here, they could see more Turií working in the fields. It was obvious that this was the only safe place for the Turií.
About ten miles to the south, the corridor suddenly narrowed because there was a large stretch of beach on the side of the sea.
The guide stopped his horse and said, "In front of us is the territory of Castellón. Do you still want to see it?"
Note: Castellón Castiglione
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