Chapter 865
The chief general of Naples, Onosius, waved a letter in his left hand and said excitedly, "Everyone, I've just received a letter from the chief executive of Enona, Adrianx. In the letter, he mentioned, 'Yesterday, the commander of the Dionysian Army, Alexis, led her army into the Sammonae Mountains from the east and joined forces with the armies of Potentia and Abenilum. Together, they annihilated the main force of the Sammonae that was left behind in the mountains and forced Aquilonia to surrender' … Today, this 20,000 Diónia allied army has reached Abenilum and is preparing to attack Beneventum tomorrow!"
"That's great! Our disaster is finally over! Berevan and the others are the central town of Hilpini. The Sammonae allied army outside the city will definitely retreat and defend our allies with all their might! "
"Am I right? The Diónia have always kept their promises and will definitely come to Campania's rescue. You guys didn't believe it then, but what about now?"
"Haha, General Aialos, please forgive our ignorance. We have not fought alongside the Dionysian Army like you and have a deeper understanding of them. How could we have imagined that the Diónia did not respond to our previous request for reinforcements just to suddenly stab the soft abdomen of the Sammonae!"
"General Onosius, after the Sammonae retreated, I hope that Naples can immediately send troops to help us recapture Pompeii!"
"No! They should help us first, Herculaneum. We are the closest to Naples! "
"And us, Liternum!"
…
After receiving this good news, the gloom in the Naples Council was swept away. While everyone was happy that the disaster was over, they began to argue again because they were eager to rebuild their homeland.
In the days after the Sammonae ambushed the Campania Alliance, not only did they besiege Naples, they also sent troops to attack other city-states of the Campania Alliance. Other than city-states with relatively special geographical locations like Sorrentum, Aenaria, and Capeae, many small coastal cities fell one after another, and most of the refugees escaped into Naples.
"Don't worry, everyone." Onosius comforted them and said, "Adrianx mentioned in his letter that the commander of the Legion of Dionysia, General Zantiparis, who was stationed at Enona, will be leading his army to Naples by ship tomorrow. He will join up with our army and recover the lost towns together!"
The crowd cheered again and praised: Diónia is indeed a good ally that keeps its promises, it's so thoughtful! With the presence of the Dionysian Army, they were even more confident that they could recover their cities!
Then, Onosius continued, "The letter also mentioned that when the Samonai army retreats, they hope that we can send troops to harass and obstruct them …"
Hearing this, the hall suddenly returned to silence.
After a while, the councilors of Naples shook their heads and said, "You want us to leave the city to attack the Samonians?! No! No! This was too dangerous! Since the Samonians want to retreat, let them retreat. There's no need for us to risk the lives of our citizens! "
If the Legio III of Diónia had helped the Campania Alliance defeat the Cautini a few months ago, it could be said that they had helped the Campanians regain some of their fighting spirit. However, this time, the large-scale attack of the Samonians not only shattered their fighting spirit but also deepened their fear of this terrifying mountain race.
Of course, Onosius was also aware of this situation because he was also one of them. Instead, it was Aialos who started to argue loudly with them.
Onosius had no choice but to cough a few times to attract everyone's attention back to him. "I would like to remind everyone that the Samonians are retreating. In order to vent their anger, it is very likely that they will burn down the cities that they have occupied and our farmlands. Should we stop them?!"
In fact, this reminder came from Adrianx. After being the governor of Enona for more than two years, he had dealt with the Campanians many times. He was very clear about the Campanians' character. They could not be compared to the brave and tenacious Walshis and Helnikis. Therefore, in the letter, he did not mention that the attack on the Samonians' retreating army was to buy time for Alexis to attack Benventum. Instead, he only emphasized this point.
Everyone was stunned. Of course, the refugees from other cities would not allow their homes to be burned down, but the Neapolitans were more worried about the destruction of their farmlands. They had been supplying the military rations of the Diónia Legio III for a while now, and they also had to take care of the refugees from their allies. The food supply in the city of Naples was tight, and they could not place their hopes on Diónia, which had just experienced a drought, so they were all looking forward to this year's autumn harvest.
Although the Kaputini people rarely destroyed farmlands when they invaded in the past, that was because they were confident that the food produced by these farmlands would eventually become their next loot. However, under the current situation, it was hard to guarantee that they would not do something desperate and cause more trouble for the Campanian Alliance.
Therefore, after an emergency discussion, the Neapolitan councilors finally agreed to Adrianx's suggestion.
… …
Benventum, the largest town in the Samonians' tribal alliance. Although the Samonians were a mountainous race, it was rare for them to build a town on top of a mountain like Aquilonia. More than half of the tribes and tribal alliances lived in valleys and mountain valleys. Benventum was located on a relatively large and relatively flat hill surrounded by mountains. It was also the place where two rivers converged, so there was plenty of water and fertile land. Among the Samonians' towns, both grazing and planting were the most developed.
Therefore, Benventum had always been at the forefront of the Samonians' tribal alliance, be it in terms of population or strength. Most of the time, the chief of the major tribe in its territory was the chief of the Hilpini tribe. There were only a few times when the other Hilpini tribes were jealous of Benventum's wealth and dissatisfied with the arrogance of the Benventum people. Only then would they work together to elect the chiefs of other regions as the chief of the tribe to compete with Benventum, and Abenilum was the first choice.
The town of Hilpini was located about 40 miles south of Benventum. It was also a hilly area, but it was much smaller. There was also a river running through it, but the Saberto River, which was not considered big, eventually flowed into the territory of Benventum and merged into the Voltuno River.
Therefore, the people of Abenilum always felt that they were inferior to the people of Benventum. Even during the reign of the former chief of Hilpini, the outstanding chief of Abenilum, the people of Abenilum still felt a little lacking in confidence. After that, they had been enduring the bullying and humiliation of the people of Benventum for more than a decade.
It was not until early this morning, when the Diónia coalition army left Abenilum and began to march towards the territory of Benventum that the people of Abenilum cheered to send them off, thinking that the day of their revenge had finally come.
The 3500 Abenilum warriors walked at the front with their heads held high. In the middle were the 6000 soldiers of Diónia, and behind them were the 12000 soldiers of Potentia. Not counting the engineering battalion, medical battalion, mountain reconnaissance team, and the transport team at the back, the combat force reached 21500 people. They lined up in a line of more than 10 miles long, marching north along the Saberto River.
After leaving the territory of Abenilum, the shadows of the enemy began to appear in the forest on both sides of the river. Although there were not many of them, they had a commanding position. They threw javelins and arrows at the marching Diónia coalition army in the valley, and even pushed the rocks from the mountains into the river in order to obstruct the march of the entire army.
Seeing this situation, after Alexis, Gherni, and Pollet discussed, they each sent 1000 soldiers to leave the river bank and march into the forest on both sides of the river. At the same time, they would drive away the enemies that came to disturb them and protect the main army in the middle. In the process of marching in the valley, the main army also cleared the rocks and broken trees that blocked the road from time to time.
When the sun had reached the middle of the sky, the winding river suddenly straightened, and the mountains that stood between the river not only became shorter, but also consciously retreated a mile away. The sight of the soldiers was no longer blocked by the towering trees. What came into view was the flat land on both sides of the river bank, green grass, and small trees … The Diónia coalition army had entered the territory of Benventum.
The terrain here was somewhat special. Two rows of rolling hills running north and south were like two parallel lines, guarding the Saberto River all the way forward. Between the hills was a flat grassland about two miles wide, and in the middle of the grassland flowed the Saberto River, which was no more than 20 meters wide and knee-deep.
The vanguard of the coalition army stopped here, and the Abenilum warriors who had been trudging for half a day began to eat to replenish their strength, while waiting for the troops behind to come and join up.
"Five or six miles ahead is the city of Benventum." Gherni pointed to the front and said to Alexis and Pollet who came one after another, "In the past, the land in front of us was the settlement of the tribes of Benventum, but now they have all withdrawn …"
Gherni introduced the situation of the territory of Benventum, but he could not help but sigh in his heart. In fact, most of his impression of Benventum was still at a dozen years ago. Since the war in Southern Italy, his relationship with Lescok became strained, and they finally became mortal enemies. The only time he came to Benventum was when the tribal alliance held a big ceremony here. If it was not for the support of the envoy of Diónia, he would have been punished by the Samonai priests. He came and left in fear, and he did not have the mood to pay attention to the changes in the territory of Benventum. What he was introducing now was from the intelligence collected by his subordinates over the years, and now he led the troops to completely wash away the humiliation of the past, and remove the shadow buried in his heart.
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