Chapter 221: Peace Negotiation
Davos looked at the other people and said, “I have two piece of news, one is good and one is bad. Which one do you want to hear first?”
“Let’s listen to the bad news first.” Said Drakos.
“This morning, the supply transport unit returning to Thurii was attacked not far from the marsh by 300 Crotonian sailors. The freemen guarding the supply had lowered their vigilance, which had caused 50 casualties and a lot of the animals were lost. Before our soldiers could arrive, the enemy had already fled back to their ship moored on the coast….” Said Davos aloud.
“300 sailors?! As the number of Crotonian taking part in the attack increases, the more they become daring! I remember that we have troops stationed near the marsh though!” Said Kapus in surprise.
“Perhaps this is the reason why the convoy had their vigilance lax.” Davos then said seriously, “We must learn from this lesson to ensure that this will not happen again!”
Kapus and Drakos clenched their fists and strongly nodded.
“The hateful thing is that we don’t have a fleet, otherwise, how can we just let the Crotonians to easily attack our villages and slaughter our people in our territory!” Said Drakos angrily.
They were helpless in this regard. After all, Theonia is a new union who had just been established for less than a year. And the navy is unlike the army that can be sent into the battlefield as long as they have people, weapons, and a few months of strict training. Even if they increase up the speed, it would take at least three months to just launch a warship, especially for a main warship, a trireme. It will also require nearly 200 sailors and experienced helmsman….and so on. And after the training and testing, it will still take several months to skillfully operate the warship in order for it to be effective in combat. Therefore, the navy is an expensive arm that consumes time, money and manpower, and naturally, a small city-state can’t afford it. But with the current strength of Theonia, money and manpower is not a big problem, but what they lack the most is time. So Davos secretly listed the “establishment of the navy” as the top priority of the union’s next development after this war with Crotone.
“Lord Davos, what is the good news?” Asked Avinoges.
Davos smiled, “Locri is going to attack Caulonia! As you had said, in such a situation, Crotone might consider negotiating with us again. If they still don’t move-” Davos’ voice suddenly became as cold as the wind, “I will order Hieronymus to send troops across the Neto river and destroy the farmland, villages and canals…and all the facilities outside of Crotone and force them to come to negotiate with us!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
On the second day, Lysias and Sisticos entered the main camp of Theonia.
Davos looked at them and said with a smile, “Lord Lysias, I had said that we will meet again, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.”
Lysias ignored the teasing of Davos and said seriously, “Lord Davos, the conditions that you have put forward last time had been discussed by the council of Crotone. They had agreed to give up Krimisa, and to hand it over to Theonia and we are also willing to pay a certain amount of money to promote peace! As for the dissolution of the Crotonian alliance-”
Lysias stopped talking for a moment in order to think how to word it better in order to persuade Davos. However, Sisticos cut in and answered, “The council of Crotone had considered it all and agreed to dissolve the alliance, but now that Locri is attacking Caulonia. Based on the deep friendship between Caulonia and Crotone for hundreds of years, Crotone must give assistance to Caulonia, and having the identity as the alliance leader is favorable for Crotone to gather the citizens to form an army to reinforce Caulonia and repel Locri….after we beat Locri back, we will…disband….” Sisticos suddenly choked up and couldn’t even continue his sentence. The century old hegemony of Crotone in Magna Graecia was built by their ancestors, who had strove to get stronger and fought bloody battles, but now, all of it is going to be wasted…so he was unable to hold back his emotion.
Lysias complained at Sisticos throwing away all their cards to the other side as soon as he spoke, which was totally foolish and at this moment, his heart was filled with sadness.
“You don’t need to disband the alliance of Crotone!” But the words that Davos said were beyond their expectations.
Looking at their surprised expression, Davos continued, “Theonia can even release the tens of thousands of Crotonian citizens who have been captured!”
Lysias and Sisticos looked at each other and could not believe what they were hearing.
“But I have one condition.” Davos then slowly said, “Theonia does not have the habit of returning what we have gotten.”
Lysias responded quickly, “You mean…Aprustum?”
Davos smiled, “It isn’t only that.”
He walked to the map and pointed out a place, “Our army has already begun to camp here!”
Lysias stepped forward and took a look. Then, he was unable to stop himself from sucking a breath of cold air, “You still wanted the land on the north bank of the Neto river?”
“It’s not that I wanted it, but it is the condition that must be met if you want to negotiate peace!” Davos then added solemnly, “Crotone is the aggressor and had launched two wars against Thurii and Theonia Union. You have burned the city of Thurii, plundered its wealth and wantonly slaughtered the people of Theonia. Driven by the goddess Nemesis, we had fought back bravely, and with the help of Hades, we have won one victory after another. The confidence of the people of Theonia is high, and they also want to let Crotone suffer the pain of having their city burned! If there is no rich spoil, our people will never agree in negotiating peace with you! Many people have even suggested that the more than 10,000 captives should be sent to mine, just as how Syracuse had dealt with their Athenian captives!”
The tone of his voice had made Sisticos’ hair stand on end. He naturally know what happened to the Athenian soldiers who were captured, and he said in a trembling voice, “Aprustum plus the land on the north bank of the Neto river, occupied almost one third of the territory of Crotone, and there are so many people who used to live on these lands, so if we were to give all of these to Theonia, then what should Crotone do?! It is impossible for the council to agree to this!”
“These two wars had cost Crotone and Aprustum the lives of no less than 20,000 citizens, right? So their land should now be free and by moving the people to the city of Crotone, it will enrich your manpower and by redistributing lands that lacks labor force is a good way to reorganize Crotone, while at the same time, you will reach a peace agreement with Theonia, and it will also allow the returning citizens of Crotone to once again form an army to help Caulonia and repel Locri, this is like hitting multiple birds with one stone!” Said Davos in a deep voice.
There seems to be some temptation in the words of Davos, which had made Sisticos to want to nod his head, but he subconsciously looks at Lysias. Lysias, however, shook his head slightly, so Sisticos opened his mouth, but did not speak and then kept quiet.
“Of course, you can all go back and slowly discuss it. I am not in a hurry, and maybe after just a few days, it will not be you who will be standing in front of me, but Locri. As long as they can work with Theonia, I don’t think that Locri would even care how much the land of Crotone be divided.” Said Davos leisurely, with an air of indifference.
Lysias and Sisticos suddenly felt cold, and Sisticos hastily said, “Esteemed lord Davos, it is indeed true that it will be really hard for the council to agree in…giving the land on the north bank of the Neto river to Theonia, but part of the land…can still be given to you…and we can discuss the exact portion. As for Aprustum-”
On hearing this, Davos immediately cut him short, “Aprustum must be controlled by Theonia. This is not negotiable! To prevent Crotone from breaking your words again, and tearing up the agreement and launching a war!”
Sisticos stood embarrassedly not knowing what to say.
Lysias sighed at the bottom of his heart, the way how Sisticos had easily compromised, his incompetence and his weak performance had made him speechless, but the council had chosen him! As a matter of fact, Lysias also understood that Crotone has been completely passive since the war. So even if he is confident that the army of Theonia will not be able to break through the sturdy city of Crotone, and could even force Theonia to withdraw, but so what! The farmlands, villages and other facilities would have been destroyed, and they are lacking young and middle-aged citizens, and it will take a long process for Crotone to return to their former prosperity. And their grave situation does not allow Crotone to have the luxury to take their time, and the panicked people do not have the determination to fight. Therefore, compromising in exchange for peace and reducing losses for their future revival had become the best choice of the council.
Lysias no longer hesitated after he thought about it, “Aprustum is Crotone’s northern barrier, so once it falls into the hands of the enemy, it will only make the people of Crotone to feel more uneasy. I think that even if the council agrees, the ecclesia will oppose it!”
“So you reject the terms of Theonia.” Davos looked at Lysias.
Sisticos anxiously pulled the clothes of Lysias, while Lysias said calmly, “The people of Crotone are against Aprustum falling into the hands of the enemy, but they won’t necessarily be against it if it is being occupied by allies.”
“Ally?!” Davos, who has always been calm and steadily held the pace of negotiations, also appeared to be a little surprised.
“That’s right!” Lysias raised his head and said in a loud voice, “As long as Theonia and Crotone form an alliance, it will not be a big problem for us to hand over Aprustum and part of the north bank of the Neto river to Theonia.”