Chapter 874
However, Kontruc did not plan to leave with his team. He was determined to follow the ancient tradition of the Samonai tribal alliance and defend Benventum with the Hilpini tribe.
… …
It was early summer in the mountains. The soil was still moist, the trees were lush, and the weeds were growing crazily. The summer cicadas had already begun to chirp. The scorching sun shone through the densely packed branches and leaves, casting mottled light on the grassland of the mountain ridge.
Three Abenilum scouts were lying on the ground, swatting away the mosquitoes that had bitten them while closely looking down at the winding mountain path.
"Big Brother, look!" One of the scouts pointed to the front and shouted in surprise.
Between the mountain ridges in the east, many birds flew up, chirping and circling in the air.
"Let's go and take a look!" The scout called Big Brother also had a happy look on his face. He stood up and stretched his sore thighs, then led the other two and ran along the ridge to the east.
Not long after, they were lying on the mountain again and looked down. The mountain path more than a hundred meters away was crowded with Samonai warriors. They were lined up in a long line, stretching eastward …
Although the attire of the warriors of the four major tribes was roughly the same, and the flags could not be seen clearly due to the distance, the experienced Abenilum scouts could still tell that it was Kaultini's army. Under the sunlight, the long line reflected a lot of light, which meant that the army was well armored. Of the four major tribes, only Kaultini could do so because they were the wealthiest tribe in the eastern plains of Campania, not to mention that this army was heading towards Kaultim.
"Chief Gherni is right. The Kautini have indeed evacuated from Benventum. We didn't wait for this day in vain!" The leading scout could not hide the joy on his face.
"But we still haven't found where the Narconians are?"
"Of course I can't see clearly from this mountain, but I can roughly guess where they are." The leading spy said confidently, "Ever since their army entered Beneventom, we have not seen the Naconians fighting outside the city. They were not even sent to patrol the city walls, which shows how cautious the Kautini people are. I think they must be in the middle of the army. There are 3,000 of them, so it will be easy to find them.
Go back immediately and tell Leader Gherni that I, Cedoni, have started implementing the plan … And you, hurry to the Diónia camp in Lola and tell their commander that we have contacted the Naconian army … "
"Big Brother, be careful!"
"Don't worry, I can easily sneak in by myself."
Cedoni's words were not comforting, because the Samonai army did not always march on the mountain path like the Dionysian Army. When the mountains on both sides slowed down, the Samonai army would separate some soldiers to march on the mountainside on both sides. This not only shortened the length of the marching column, but also reduced the possibility of being ambushed. However, it made it easy for Cedoni to sneak into the army.
After sending the two scouts away, he patted the dust off his body, grabbed a few javelins, and dived down the mountain under the cover of the trees. Then, he hid in the weeds.
After a brief moment of listening to the conversation of the warriors who were marching in close proximity, he rose decisively and pretended to have just come out of the bathroom, approaching the party on the hill. Since he was wearing the same yellow short-sleeved shirt and Kaultini's procession was not as strict as that of the Dionians and was rather scattered, he easily blended into the group.
Then, through a conversation with several Naconian soldiers around him, he decided to look for the leader of the army of Avangum, the second largest tribe in Naconia (the reason why he did not look for the Quinduc tribe was because this tribe had been completely split up by Segovani, and its people were also forcibly incorporated into the tribes of Lola and Césala).
"You said you are from Abenilum?" Vassonk looked at the man who tried to sneak up to him but was stopped by his guards. There was a hint of excitement in his voice.
Cedoni also noticed that he was young. Judging from his appearance, he should be just over 20 years old. According to the tradition of the Samonai, it was impossible for a young man to lead an army in battle. However, Segovani imprisoned the leaders of the various tribes in Naconia and let their young children lead the warriors of the tribe. This was for better control.
"To prevent being seen, we'd better talk as we walk," Segovani suggested in a low voice.
Vassonk subconsciously looked around and nodded.
Cedoni pretended to be Vassonk's guard and followed behind him with the other soldiers.
Vassonk could not wait to ask in a low voice, "What's going on in Naconia? We heard rumors in Beneventum that the people of Diónia hated us for killing the priests of Hades and the merchants of Diónia in their territory. After invading Naconia, they not only killed the wolves of Segovani, but also … also … also killed our people … But the Kautini soldiers that we were familiar with secretly told us that your people often shouted outside Beneventum, saying that the people of Diónia have formed an alliance with our people in their territory … There are also some other rumors. Which one is true?! "
Cedoni did not speak immediately. Instead, he took out something from his pocket and quietly handed it to Vassonk.
Vassonk's eyes widened. He recognized it as a small wooden carving that he liked the most when he was young.
Seduni looked at his expression and knew what was going on. "This is a keepsake that your tribe's elder asked me to bring to you. I also have keepsakes for the other tribe leaders. The truth is that the Dionysian Army drove away the people of Kautini who were stationed in Naconia and formed an alliance with the tribal elders to fight against the Samonai Coalition Army … "
After Cedoni finished, before Vassonk could respond, the guards next to him were already excited. The people of Kautini lured Quinduc to death, imprisoned the tribal leaders, slaughtered the people in their territory, forced them to go out to fight, and always let them charge at the front without caring about their lives … The hearts of these Naconian warriors had long been burning with anger. However, due to the strength of the Samonai Coalition Army and the safety of their people, they had no choice but to endure the humiliation. Now, the opportunity had come!
Someone even whispered, "Great!" Their eyes were filled with the flames of revenge as they stared at Vassonk.
Vassonk squeezed the small wooden carving in his hand and whispered, "When we reach Kautini, I will secretly send someone to tell the other Naconian generals …"
… …
On the day that Segovani led the army to retreat from Beneventum, Zantiparis, who was in the military camp outside Lola, had already decided to attack the city.
It had been four days since the siege. Why was he so eager to attack the city? On one hand, it was because he was worried that the Samonai Coalition Army would return, causing all their previous efforts to go to waste. On the other hand, his siege arrangements were almost complete.
When he first arrived at the city of Lola, Zantiparis had carefully observed the plain town of Kautini. Although it was nearly seven meters high and was a stone city, the city walls were dilapidated, and the gaps in the stone walls were large. Some places even had grass growing. The trench outside the city was not too wide. Although there were simple antlers outside the trench, there were no traps …
Based on this, Zantiparis estimated that the Kautini town had never been attacked, so it had not been well maintained and repaired, which gave him the confidence to break the city in a short period of time. In fact, the Kautini invaded Campania last year and suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the reinforcements from Diónia, and the Legio III entered Tesala. This had already made Lola, Cesala, and other Kautini towns closer to Tesala feel the danger. They put "strengthening the city's defense" on their agenda, but it did not take long for the full-scale war between the Samonai and Diónia to break out. The young and middle-aged people of Lola were transferred, and the repair of the city walls was delayed.
Zantiparis considered that there were not many defenders in Lola. Other than the possible reinforcements from the north, the rest of the city was controlled by Diónia and its allies. So, after a discussion with the leader of the Campanian army, Aialos, and the others, they decided to build a hill to approach the city walls.
Building a hill to attack a city was one of the military training programs of the Legion of Dionysia. Zantiparis and the soldiers were no strangers to it. After deciding to build the hill to the south of Lola, the engineers decided to start the construction 40 meters away from the south of the city.
So, Zantiparis ordered most of the soldiers to cut down trees on the hill.
At the same time, after the governor of Enona, Adrianx, received Zantiparis's request for help, he not only organized thousands of Enona people, but also sent some administrative officials with three days' worth of rations through the original trade route, through the territory of Naconia, and to the outskirts of Lola. When the Naconians heard the news, they also sent thousands of their people. Following that, the Campanian Alliance also sent tens of thousands of people. In less than two days, more than 30,000 people (including 12000 allied soldiers) gathered in the camp of the Diónia Coalition Army.
Zantiparis made a plan for the construction of the hill. He first left 2,000 Campanian heavy infantry to guard the camp to prevent the enemy from sneaking out of the city. The rest of the soldiers would go to the forest to cut down trees and make wooden palisades that were five to six meters high. Then, 200 soldiers would erect the palisades 30 meters away from the south wall of Lola. The palisades were 70 meters long to defend against the enemy's arrows and javelins. At the same time, 300 Diónia heavy infantry would be on standby on both sides and behind the palisades to prevent the enemy from leaving the city.
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