As a Spartan soldier who had long experience on the battlefield, Phidias observed the entire progress of the siege, allowing him to roughly calculate that the casualties of Syracuse were nearly 10,000! Such massive losses are far beyond what Sparta could bear. And even if Sparta gathers its allies to form a considerable force, they still won’t attack a city by such bloody means because it will inevitably make their allies’ resistance expand. This is what made Phidias helpless and frightened: Dionysius, the ruthless and cruel Sicilian tyrant, has too much control over his army!
“We no longer have any more obstacles in front of us. It’s time to attack Theonia!” Dionysius, who took down Crotone, had the boulder weighing in his heart fall off the ground. He then turned his head to look north in the night and said that with expectations.
‘Oh right, Davos!’ Dionysius’ words had reminded Phidias, who was also filled with expectations, ‘Could Theonia, who were outnumbered and without the help of Crotone, survive the war?!’
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Currently, it was four in the morning. Besides the patrolling soldiers, the officers and soldiers of Thurii’s military camp had fallen into a deep sleep. Suddenly, a hurried knocking on the door broke the silence of the military camp.
“Your majesty, there is an urgent military situation! Syracuse has broken through the city of Crotone!” Martius, the guard captain, said anxiously.
“Crotone was breached?!” The shocking news completely expelled Davos’ drowsiness. He still felt some disbelief, so he asked, “Who sent back the report? Is it true?!”
“The mountain reconnaissance team delivered it. Aristias had also brought the same report.”
For Syracuse to conquer Crotone in one day, which had a ten-metre-high wall and enough soldiers, just shows their strong ability to conquer a city. It made Davos so shocked that it swept away his joy at receiving the news of Bodiam’s people killing him and his tribe surrendering. He then immediately made a decision, “Martius, immediately call Antonios, Amintas, Matonis and Kapus to discuss the matter! Also, send someone to call the statesmen!!”
“Yes!” Martius took the order and hurried away.
Davos did indeed have the thought of having “Crotone and Syracuse consume each other and buy more time for Theonia”, giving him more time to train the newly formed troops and prepare the logistics better. And for the situation in the Bruttian region to stabilise and the conclusion of Laos’ betrayal, allowing Theonia’s territory to be more stable and giving more soldiers to join the expedition, which would increase his confidence to defeat Syracuse.
Unfortunately, plans couldn’t keep up with the changes. ‘Dionysius…’ Davos stood outside his residence and looked south into the endless darkness while clenching his fist…
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The always empty large training field in Thurii’s military camp was filled with the first, second, seventh and the sarissa brigade and the logistics camp early the following morning. Both the soldiers and the logistics personnel stood upright and silently looked at the stage in front of them.
Davos, dressed in his military attire, stood on the stage and looked at the tens of thousands of soldiers under the stage. Then he shouted, “Warriors of Theonia, you had followed me arrowed since the outbreak of this war. You are not afraid of hard work and sacrifice. You fought bravely to defeat the fierce Samnites and eliminate the cunning Tarantines, ensuring the safety of Theonia’s northern border. You are Theonia’s heroes!
You should’ve gotten a Triumphant Return, but the war is not over yet. The culprit of this war – Syracuse, had conquered the city of Crotone yesterday. They are about to set foot on our land and have the flames of war to burn our homes and turn us into their slaves! As Theonians, what should we do?!”
As soon as Davos uttered his words, an earth-shaking roar came from the field, “DEFEAT SYRACUSE!!!”
“DEFEAT THEM!!! KILL THEM ALL!!!…”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Davos waited for the excited soldiers to quiet a bit. He then took a deep breath and shouted, “Warriors, we are about to head south to face the evil Syracusans. In appreciation of your great contribution and sacrifice to Theonia, the Senate and I have discussed and decided-”
Davos paused for a moment. Then he took another deep breath and shouted loudly, “After we win this arduous war, the freemen who participated in this war will become preparatory citizens, all preparatory citizens will become official citizens, and the citizens of Theonia will receive double rewards according to your merits!!”
The field ground became lively again, and this time with an overwhelming cheer, “All hail Theonia!!! All hail King Davos!!!…”
After all, both freemen and preparatory citizens reason to fight for the Theonia Union in the face of powerful enemies because they feel Theonia can protect their rights and bring benefits to their future. And with Davos giving them what they want in advance would definitely make them fight even more bravely to attain it as soon as possible, especially the sarissa brigade, which is mainly composed of freemen.
In front of the powerful invasion of Syracuse, Davos did not hesitate to use any means to bolster the soldier’s morale in order to increase Theonia’s chance of victory. As for where to get the “allocated land” needed for the numerous new and old citizens, Davos didn’t have to worry about it: After they defeat Syracuse, do they still fear having no land?!
After Davos’ lecture, he immediately announced their departure.
After the military camp’s gate was opened, the soldiers of the first, second, seventh legions and the sarissa brigade lined up in a neat column as they walked out of the camp in turn and marched eastward.
The freemen of the logistics team, on the other hand, rushed to Thurii’s granary, where there were mountains of military rations donated by the Theonian populace and their allies in the past two days, which they would carry to the port and then transport it to Krimisa’s port through numerous transport ship.
Before the long marching column reached the city of Thurii, countless people were standing on both sides of the road and asked curiously, “Where are you all going? Could it…could it be to attack the Syracusans?!…”
The crowd became excited once they received the soldier’s confirmation. After the successive victories, they no longer fear the Syracusan army in the south. On the contrary, they hoped that the Theonian army could banish them away and restore Theonia’s peace as soon as possible.
Thus once the people heard the news, they kept arriving and increasing the crowd. However, they consciously did not obstruct the road and interfere with the march. Rather, they formed a long parallel flow of people on both sides of the road, extending to the wooden bridge on the Crati River.
While they cheered for the soldiers, the people searched for their loved ones, praying to Hades for their safety and offering their best wishes.
Amidst the people’s attention and wishes, the soldiers became more enliven, especially the freemen of the sarissa brigade, as this was the first time they enjoyed this honour. Thus they straightened their backs and held their heads high.
“Oh, is this the newly formed legion?! Why haven’t I seen them before?!”
“Why aren’t they armed?!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Davos was afraid that their long-distance marching would reveal the secret of the sarissa brigade, making their surprise attack ineffective. Thus the curious people didn’t know that Davos wrapped the sarissas and transported them to Krimisa by the sea with the military rations of the logistics team and then ordered Olivos to receive them.
But the bewildered crowd’s inquiries were mixed with the greetings from their loved ones.
“Tapirus! Tapirus!….” Tapirus, the sarissa brigade’s platoon captain*, could hear a clear, excited voice over the noisy surroundings. When he turned his head, he saw the person he was looking for – his wife, Maicia. (He was promoted after the training for his outstanding performance.)
She waved her arms excitedly and shouted affectionately, “Tapirus, I will go to the Temple of Hades day and night to pray for you, so come back safely as soon as possible!”
Although Tapirus did not speak and just waved his arms in response, his heart was filled with affection. He and Maicia were both slaves that had met at Cheiristoya Restaurant, and their similar experiences brought them close quickly and supported each other. After Tapirus got his freedom, Maicia was also freed the following year from slavery for her outstanding performance, which Cheiristoya appreciated. Soon after, they got married in the presence of goddess Hera.
At this moment, Tapirus looked fondly at the figure of his wife, who was still chasing the army along the road, when a voice echoed in his heart, ‘Wait for me, Maicia! Once I return, we will be citizens of this great union! We will have our own land! We will build a nice house! And have four-five children!…’
As the army moved quickly to the city of Thurii, the first legion broke away from the main force and went straight east. They are going to the naval base on the Crati River, board the “corvus” ship and follow the fleet south to find the Syracusan navy and fight them again at sea, while the main force continued to head to the wooden bridge over the Crati River.
In front of the wooden bridge, the statesmen also came to see the army off. They were not as optimistic as the people, who do not know about the fall of Crotone, which made them unable to sleep last night as the news was like a huge stone causing ripples on the hearts of each statesman. Thus they were filled with worries about this war.
“Your majesty!” Kunogelata, Cornelius and the other statesmen once again bowed deeply to Davos as they did before the naval battle, “We’ll leave the fight against Syracuse to you!!”
