Philesius, stop speaking. After all, he also thought that it was possible to force the Syracusans, who have only have their military strength, to fight here. But due to following Davos for a long time, he did not agree.
Ansitanos thought for a moment and slowly said, “From my understanding of Lord Davos, even if he thinks the possibility of defeat here is great, he will still take the initiative to fight this battle.”
“Why?” Philesius hurriedly asked.
Ansitanos looked at the citizens of Scylletium gathering in the distance with weapons in their hands. He then said, “Because victory can awe Magna Graecia, while defeat could also win the hearts of Magna Graecia. But in our current situation, we will only turn our backs on our allies if we do nothing while the people expect us to do something. Remember, we can reclaim lost lands, but lost hearts and minds are much harder to get back…”
“But…if we were defeated in this battle, Caulonia, Terina and even Scylletium might face danger.” Philesius was still hesitating.
“Haven’t Lord Davos already long arranged this?! What are you still worried about?!” Ansitanos looked into the distance with a smile, “Perhaps Davos had expected that one day…since the people in the conference room dared to make such decisions, then they would have to bear the price of defeat…”
With that, Ansitanos stood up, patted the dust on his body. After he stopped watching the Scylletians, he sighed and said something that Philesius did not understand, “It’s like burning a wasteland. It is only by burning the weeds and trees that we can start sowing new seeds…Alas, this is politics.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
When the two returned to the meeting, Philesius agreed to their proposal to fight Syracuse. However, he requested that they appoint Theonia to command the whole battle.
In this regard, Phrytinas, Asesias and Athopias did not object, and only Ascamas disagreed. But since both the number of soldiers and the army’s performance of the fourth and fifth legions of Theonia are far better than the Crotonians that had just joined the battle. Therefore, the final selection was that Philesius deservedly became the commander of the entire South Italia Alliance’s coalition army in this battle.
When Philesius returned to the camp, Drakos and Epiphanes were already waiting in the commander’s tent.
“Philesius, what was the conclusion of the meeting?” Epiphanes asked impatiently.
“Our allies would force the Syracusan to a battle.” Philesius said truthfully.
“See, I guessed it right!” Epiphanes looked at Drakos excitedly.
“I didn’t agree with the bet, as I also chose that we would fight the Syracusans.” Drakos didn’t want to pay attention to him, so he turned his head and asked Philesius, “Who will command this battle?”
“There’s no need to ask! It can’t be anyone else but us!” Epiphanes blurted out.
“I will command the whole coalition.” When Philesius said this, his tone became a bit heavy due to feeling the pressure. At the same time, he saw the excitement of the two legatus, which also made him realise that both the officers and soldiers of the fourth and fifth legions were eager to fight the Syracusans head-on. Their morale is high due to their war achievements, their victory in the previous camp defence, and the kindness of the Caulonians, while the pride and honour of the soldiers of the Theonian legion will not allow them to retreat. Naturally, if Davos is here, no one would dare to disobey, but with him being the commander, he couldn’t guarantee it.
Thinking of this, he became relieved and beckoned to the two men, “Let’s work together and carefully plan how we can win this battle.”
As soon as Epiphanes heard this, he stopped joking and asked seriously, “Which city-states would participate in this battle? How many men are there? How many Syracusans we might fight?”
“Besides our 17,000 Legionaries; Crotone also has 17,000 soldiers with 6,000 of them being hoplites; Scylletium has 14,000 soldiers, and 3,000 were hoplites, with a plan to recruit some more citizens to join the war; Terina has 7,000 soldiers, but they needed to defend the city so they could only send around four to five thousand to participate in this battle, and only a thousand of them were hoplites…the total strength is about 54,000, with 22,000 being hoplites.”
After Philesius finished talking, Epiphanes whistled, “Wow, what a huge army!”
“It’s not much.” Drakos poured cold water on him, “If you add all the legions and reserve soldiers of Theonia, it can easily exceed this number, and our heavy infantry is a lot more than this combined army! One legion of Theonia has six heavy infantry brigades, which is 6,000 heavy infantry. If we were to add the reserve soldiers, Theonia has 30,000 heavy infantry!”
A complete set of heavy infantry equipment costs a lot, so many city-state citizens are unwilling or unable to afford it. On the other hand, many Theonians who have just become reserve citizens and official citizens are willing to spend all their money to buy the equipment because serving as heavy infantry in the Theonia Union can bring them more benefits, such as obtaining more land, holding public position, participate in local council elections, becoming a tribunal officer…and so on. Moreover, the low-interest loans provided by the Bank of Cheiristoya, which is unique to the Theonia Union and are spread all over the union’s cities, gave the new citizens the confidence to buy a complete set of heavy infantry equipment.
“However, all our legions can’t appear here. Hence only my fourth legion and your fifth legion are here.” Although Epiphanes refuted Drakos, he became more excited, “Thus we are the one to decide the outcome of this battle!”
Drakos did not speak, but his eyes were shining with the same lustre.
“Legatus, according to the information obtained by Scylletium, we have to face at least 50,000 Syracusans. Since they can defeat Carthage, they won’t be easy to deal with!” Philesius seriously reminded them, “This battle is of great importance! If we were defeated, the consequences would be unimaginable as Syracuse’s army may approach Theonia’s territory and conquer several city-states in the South Italia Alliance!”
“I am also a statesman of Theonia, so I naturally understand the importance of this battle!” Epiphanes complained as he expressed his dissatisfaction at Philesius belittling him. Then he asked, “Are you sure we only need to face more than 50,000 enemies? What about the more than 40,00 enemies that have attacked us in Caulonia?”
“They are besieging the city of Caulonia. The Scylletians sent their scouts to closely monitor their movement and report to the coalition troops immediately-” Philesius certainly knew what they were worried about, “to prevent them from suddenly dividing their troops and sent them north to strengthen the Syracusans here in Scylletium.”
“As long as the number of both sides are close, we have a good chance of winning!” Epiphanes looked at Philesius, and Drakos then said, “We have already fought the Syracusans. Even though their cavalry is strong, they won’t dare to rush into a dense phalanx formation no matter how strong their cavalry is. So as long as we are on guard, even if they defeat our cavalry, they won’t get many advantages. And if they dare approach our formation, our light infantry will give them a heavy blow.”
Both Philesius and Drakos nodded.
Drakos interjected and said loudly, “As for Syracuse’s infantry, they should not be weak as they could defeat the Carthaginians. But from the Battle of Caulonia, their morale and fighting did not seem to be strong. And if we were to compare the heavy infantry that plays a decisive role in a battle, Syracuse’s army can’t compare with our legion!”
The other two immediately agreed, not due to their pride but the guidance of Davos’ advanced combat philosophy: A complex combat group with a mixture of different types of troops that are rigorously trained, becoming an army that could adapt to various situations and implement more complex tactics. That is where the confidence of these legion commanders, such as Philesius, Drakos, Epiphanes, are coming from.
“But since our legion is vastly different from our allies in terms of tactical training and equipment, it is not suitable for us to fight together with them. Not only will they easily cause chaos, but they will not be beneficial to our legion’s performance.” Drakos reminded.
“Drakos is right! Hence I suggest that the fourth and fifth legions should be together rather than separate so as to form a formidable fighting force that could be placed on either flank and pose a great threat to the enemy. After we defeat the enemy we are facing, we will then encircle the centre and eventually win the battle!” Epiphanes pointed to the wooden table and expressed his opinion.
“That’s what I think as well.” Although the two legatus of the legion usually don’t get along, they would still come in agreement when it comes to battle.
Philesius walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, glanced back at them and said in embarrassment, “I agree with your suggestion. But after all, this battle is not a battle that we Theonians would face alone, as we also have our allies such as Terina, Scylletium and Crotone.”
“However, you are the commander of the whole coalition army!” Epiphanes immediately express, “You have the right to make the most reasonable arrangement!”
“It’s reasonable if they also think that it is reasonable. And we could only implement the whole battle plan smoothly if everyone agrees on it.” Philesius said helplessly, “It is not that easy to be the coalition commander!”
“Could it be that they won’t approve the plan we just made?!” Drakos raised his eyebrows.
