Chapter 89
The enemy's flying stones were all blocked by the round shields and did not cause much damage to them. The warriors were still thankful that they had found the right method. After advancing another ten meters, they were less than fifty meters away from the camp gate.
At that moment, the four sentry towers behind the west wooden wall of the mercenaries began to shoot arrows at them. It was not easy to block the arrows coming from different angles, and moving the round shields to block the arrows from the two sides would result in their heads getting hit by flying stones. However, they were all gathered in the middle, and the mercenaries' archers and stone-throwers could concentrate their firepower. The arrows and flying stones came from all directions like hailstones, killing dozens of people in an instant. The front line of the Zegs was almost empty, and the rest of them were so frightened that they forgot the lesson of Pixius and fled in all directions. As a result, the mercenaries' traps made new contributions, and the Zegs suffered hundreds of casualties in a short period of time.
No matter how much Sinsinag urged them, Sedorum would not attack no matter what.
The mercenaries were overjoyed to see the enemy fleeing in panic. However, they were dissatisfied when the enemy stopped attacking. After all, they mainly relied on the light infantry company and the traps to repel the enemy's attack. They did not even touch a single hair of the enemy, so they began to curse loudly in dissatisfaction …
Seeing this situation, the Devers nodded to themselves. The morale of the army could be used!
He did not expect the enemy's relentless and aggressive attack to stop so quickly without even breaking through the trench in front of the camp. After thinking about it carefully, he understood. After the previous battle, the Lucanians had used up a lot of their stamina and energy. It was probably under the stimulation of victory and revenge that they continued to maintain a strong desire to attack. In fact, these mountain tribes were not good at attacking cities. After suffering a setback in front of the Devers's mercenaries' strong defense, they naturally calmed down.
The Devers analyzed the situation of the battle to gain experience for future defensive battles. At the same time, he sent Asistes through the tunnel to Dracos's camp to check on the situation.
The news was also gratifying. Influenced by the expeditionary soldiers' enthusiasm for building the camp, Dracos, Adrianx, and Sesta led the soldiers to dig a deeper trench outside the camp and strengthen the walls. Although they did not set up complicated traps (which required a certain level of technical ability and experience), it was enough to make the pursuing enemy suffer. After all, the Tarantum reinforcements had retreated into their camp, which helped the defeated mercenaries recover their morale quickly.
The warriors of Neutum and Laos attacked for a while. After suffering some casualties, they discovered that the mercenaries' defenses were tight and that they could not break through in one fell swoop. Naturally, they gave up the attack. They were obviously smarter than Picosis, who was bent on revenge.
After their safety was ensured, the Devers' attention was no longer on the battlefield that was gradually calming down. He needed to calm down and think: What should the mercenaries do next?
With the defeat of the battle, it would be quite difficult for the Lucarians to take down the city of Turií. The Devers had inspected it many times. A six-meter-wide moat and a ten-meter-high wall were difficult for the Lucanians, who lacked siege equipment and experience. Moreover, they did not have boats and could not travel freely on the Krati River.
The Lucanians would not mobilize so many people just to win a battle. Their goal should be to occupy the Xubari Plain, build a camp on this flat and fertile land, graze cattle and sheep, and plant wheat …
The Turií had suffered huge losses in the two battles and were obviously unable to fight back against the Lucanians' invasion for the time being. However, they still had the plains on the south bank of the Krati River. They could temporarily endure, accumulate strength, and recruit soldiers to fight back …
However, the situation was not good for the Devers mercenaries on the north bank of the Krati River. Not only did the defeat of the battle affect his next plan, but the mercenaries would also become the main target of the Lucanians. At the same time, the Devers did not want to become a pawn of the Turií, helping them to contain the Lucanians' attack on the north bank. However, he could not accept leading his army away from here, away from Greece! His newly sprouted hope, his dreams, and his ambitions were all here! Dyvers could not bear to leave without accomplishing anything, so he had to go back to fighting for his survival! … What should I do? What should I do? …
… …
The Lucanian leader, Vesba, who occupied the city of Amendolara, was also distressed. He did not respond to the Grumentum's order to send troops to participate in the battle. He wanted to wait for the results of the battle before deciding whether to stay or leave. Therefore, when he learned that the Lucanian tribal coalition had more than 15,000 troops and easily defeated the Turií, he panicked and hurriedly summoned a few elders to discuss countermeasures. He also asked the priest to predict the outcome of the battle. The result of the divination was: It was a daunting experience, but not a dangerous one. This made Vesba, who had come up with a preliminary plan after a heated discussion, feel a little more at ease.
He sent messengers and a small group of warriors to drive a pack loaded with wine and food to the Xubari Plain, hoping to get a glimmer of understanding from the Grumentum's leader by rewarding the Lucanian tribal coalition in a friendly way. This would lay some foundation for the subsequent apology. If the messengers found out that the situation was not good, then they could only escape back to the mountains in the night.
… …
Sinsinag was still unwilling to give up after the defeat. He sent people to the east, south, and north of the mercenary camp to investigate. The results were disheartening: not only were there traps, trenches, sentry towers, and antlers, but there was also a tunnel connecting the north to the camp next to it, so they could get support at any time.
Only then did he give up and withdraw his people, waiting for the arrival of Akepiru.
After waiting for a long time, Akepiru finally arrived with his army. After all, six thousand troops were sent out to chase after the Turís, and it was not easy to gather these warriors who were excited from killing again.
The Grumentum warriors killed all the scattered soldiers outside the city of Turís. Some of them even crossed the moat and came to the city of Turís, only to be attacked by the angry Turís on the city wall with arrows, javelins, and stones. Only then did they calm down a little.
Seeing this, Akepiru also temporarily gave up on taking down the city of Turís in one fell swoop. He could only regroup his troops and rush to meet with the other troops. But when he saw that most of the Picossis warriors were injured and dispirited, he could not help but be shocked and quickly asked for the reason.
Sinsinag told him about how his people fought bravely, and how the mercenaries were very despicable and cunning … and so on. At the same time, he angrily accused the Ziggs of being passive and not fighting, and even killing the Lucanians during the battle.
The great leader of Zigg City, Cydorum, did not expect Sinsinag to complain first. He immediately became anxious and shouted that he was wronged. He also angrily defended himself, "Great leader Akepiru, you have to know that it's not that I don't want to fight with all my strength, but it's that great leader Sinsinag is too confident. He thinks that the bravery of the Picossis warriors alone is enough to defeat the left wing of the Greeks, so he arranged the Ziggs warriors in the rear. On the contrary, when the front of the Picossis army was about to collapse, it was our Ziggs warriors who attacked bravely and helped Picossis stabilize the battle, saving our right wing. So, our Ziggs warriors have made a great contribution to the victory of this battle! As for killing and injuring the Picossis warriors, it's because the defeated soldiers of Picossis were attacking the formation of the right wing. In order to prevent defeat and at the same time force them to fight again, we had no choice but to make this choice. In fact, not many of the Picossis warriors were really injured. It was because of this urgent method that the right wing finally defeated the enemy. And when we attacked the Greek camp, our Ziggs warriors also lost hundreds of people … "
"You're talking nonsense! You're talking nonsense! If it wasn't for the fact that you Bruti people were unwilling to fight at the beginning, how could we have fought so hard! Just now, when we attacked the Greek camp, your Ziggs were also the last to arrive! " Sinsinag roared angrily, "Gneinath, tell everyone, how many of our warriors have been killed and injured by the Ziggs?!"
Gneinath hesitated for a moment. Under his father's intense gaze, he said hesitantly, "About … about a hundred and fifty people, all of them were … stabbed by spears in the back."
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