“Chieftain, when Akpir returns, he will probably go crazy once he sees such a sight!” Salu stood at the mountain pass, and watched the burning camp, with indescribable satisfaction in his heart.
“So what! Even a crazy Akpir can still command his army to destroy Vergae!” Said Sedrum worriedly, as he complained about Salu’s arbitrarily attacking Pyxous, which forced him to take action.
“Vergae is not easy to attack. As long as we build a defense on the mountain path, they can only attack uphill. Not to mention that they might not even be able to reach Vergae!” Salu then complained, “We shouldn’t have succumbed to their threats, and have joined this wretched alliance!”
“Salu, it’s easy for you to say that! Laus is very familiar with our terrain, and we don’t have any reinforcement. Our warriors would die one after another, and our food is not enough. We can’t afford this war!…” Sedrum told his helplessness.
“Rest assured, Chief! I don’t think the Lucanian alliance will come!” Salu confidently comforted Sedrum, “You have also heard what the guards of Akpir had said previously! The Lucanians were ambushed and they even need to return to call for reinforcements. It can be seen that their situation is very bad!”
“I hope so.” Sighed Sedrum and seriously said, “What we need to do now is to return to Vergae immediately, and recruit people to strengthen our defense and send someone to Cosenza to ask for their help!”
“Ask Cosenza for their help?!” Salu was taken aback.
“These past few days, I have been thinking…if the Brutians kept fighting against each other, then the Lucanians and the Greeks will always oppress us!”
“Yes, we should join forces with Cosenza, just like the alliance of the Lucanians.” Salu is still young and has less hatred towards the other Brutian tribes.
Sedrum didn’t say anything, as he fell in deep thought.
At this time, Salu excitedly said, “Chief, since we have become enemies with Lucania, can’t we take this opportunity to plunder Laus as we pass by it?!”
“I think you have lost your mind! Are you still worthy of being a leader if you don’t cherish the life of your people? Laus still have Avinoges! It’s already a problem for us to cross the lower reaches of the river Laus without making them suspicious, and yet you still think about plundering!…” Sedrum lashed out at him, and finally, the excited young leader bowed his head. As their team walk for a while, Salu couldn’t help say, “I didn’t expect that the defeated Thurii could still ambush the Lucanians. Could it be that they got reinforcements from Taranto or Crotone?”
Sedrum did not answer, but looked back at the smoke that rose to the sky, and couldn’t help but excitedly think, ‘If the Lucanian alliance have indeed suffered heavy losses in the ambush of the Greeks, then the situation in this region will have great changes! What should Vergae do?….’
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cincinnag retreated to the east together with his remaining people. And there is only one thing in his mind and that is to find Akpir and lead their army to slaughter the city of Vergae, and avenge his men!
They then run into the defeated warriors of Akpir on their way.
Akpir hoped to return to their camp quickly in order to get their reinforcements so that they could turn this defeat. But when he found out from the mouth of Cincinnag that the Vergaeans have rebelled and Pyxous have suffered heavy casualties, and their camp was burned to ashes had made him so anxious that he suddenly fainted on the spot.
And Cincinnag have also learned that the more than 9,000 warriors were ambushed by the Greek army, and they still don’t know what their fate is, which made him dumbfounded then and there…
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
In the morning, the strategoi of the city hall of Thurii receive a report from the guards on the wall that there is a suspicious large force outside the city.
When the morning fog cleared, the scouts went out to explore, and soon brought back their report that there is nothing unusual around the city of Thurii. It’s just that the camp of the mercenary is practically empty.
The strategoi were shocked: Last night, Burkes came back and said that the mercenaries were willing to stay, and due to this reason, the city of Thurii was busy all night preparing supplies for those greedy mercenaries. Unexpectedly, they went back on their words and fled that very night?!
The strategoi denounced the mercenaries and some of them have even suggested that they should dispatch warships to the sea to search for their tracks and strike them hard to make them return.
But then, the scout that went to search the west came back.
“WHAT?!! The mercenaries had allied with Taranto’s reinforcements in order to attack the Lucanian alliance?!!” Kunogelata couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
The strategoi of the city hall reacted very strongly.
Nianses sweared, “That lunatic Davos. He is trying to ruin Thurii’s hope!”
“Yes! Without the protection of the mercenaries, Thurii will face the attack of the Lucanians alone. What should we do?” Said Polyx worriedly.
Kunogelata decisively said, “Send Burkes immediately and have him persuade the mercenaries to return at all costs! Thurii will not allow them to mess thing up!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
However, Burkes failed, as Davos, who had always been kind to him, have strongly rejected his demands, and have his people send him back to the city and to await for the news of their victory.
“I think that Davos is very confident in defeating the Lucanians. Shouldn’t we believe in him?” Burkes comforted the strategoi in a way that made even himself doubt it.
His words immediately incur the strategoi’s severe reprimand.
Kunogelata criticized him for not being able to judge a person’s character.
Polyx didn’t directly blame him due to their friendship, but complained that the mercenaries were immature and could not even keep their promise.
Nianses angrily accused him of wasting money, food, and supplies of the city’s treasury and recruiting a group of useless mercenaries, and threatened him by suggesting that he would be tried at the council.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Thurii’s strategoi spent the whole morning complaining, hurling profanities, and being uneasy. They however did not have the courage to send the city’s only 2,000 citizen soldiers out to help.
In the afternoon, the sentinel on the wall of Thurii once more heard rumbling footsteps, and sent out a scout. The scout then saw the returning troops of the mercenaries. Although their armor were broken and covered with blood, and were supporting their wounded comrades, they don’t appear to be demoralize from getting defeated. On the contrary, they are full of energy, as they talk and laugh throughout the way. In their ranks, more than a dozen pack animals loaded with armors and weapons, and many slaves were also holding several sets of armors, and were also carrying shields, spears and helmets, while they held their heads high and looked proud. At the back of the troops are hundreds of naked men that are escorted by soldiers as they limp towards the camp of the mercenaries. When they saw their long hair, he immediately knew that they were not Greeks…
The scout’s heart leaped wildly as he guessed of a possibility! An almost impossible possibility!
Just then, one of the mercenaries’ cavalry galloped towards him, and raised his hands up to show that he is unarmed, so as not to frightened the Thurian.
As expected, the scout of Thurii stayed still. The mercenary cavalry came to him, reined in his horse, and said with pride, “Our leader, Davos, asked you to pass on to the strategoi of Thurii that our mercenaries and Taranto’s reinforcements have wiped out the main force of the Lucanian alliance on the shoal of the great river. And we have driven them out of the territory of Thurii!”
“You…you have really defeated the Lucanians?!” The scout asked in disbelief, and his voice quivered.
“Of course it is true. There is no need for us to lie!” The mercenary cavalry then pointed with pride to the prisoners in their ranks and said, “What’s more, our leader asked me to remind you, Thurians, that the shoal of the great river is full of corpses, and he hope that you can deal with them as soon as possible. Otherwise, if it’s left for a long time, it will easily lead to a plague.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Before the scout could even reached the city, he had already waved his hands and excitedly exclaimed, “VICTORY! WE WON!! THE LUCANIANS ARE WIPE OUT!!…”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
In the city hall, the energy of the strategoi was exhausted due to suffering a long period of uneasiness.
At this time, the cheers outside resounded and became louder and louder, and woke up the drowsy strategoi.
