Chapter 314: Fortress offense and defense (I)
“Everyone, Consentia’s army has entered the Bruttian camp not far away. According to the reports of the scouts, the number of the enemy may be more than 20,000.” Drakos told the crowd. Instead of feeling nervous learning about the enemy, he was relieved.
Drakos had a headache about placing the two thousand Besidisian warriors who had voluntarily surrendered. It was Baripiri who had given him a suggestion saying that since Likumu will soon lead Consentia’s army back for revenge, then except for a few wounded warriors who need to return to Besidice to recuperate, the others should stay in the newly built fortress and assist the Theonians in defending against Likumu’s attack. To prevent Drakos from suspecting that he had too much military power, Baripiri also proposed that the chieftains of each tribe should lead their warriors.
Bagul was very grateful for Baripiri’s understanding, but after all, the battle between Theonia and Besidice had just ended, and some families of Besidisian warriors had died in the hands of Theonian soldiers. Thus eliminating the hatred between the two groups would not be easy. A conflict between the two groups would be inevitable in such a small fortress, which was what Drakos and Baripiri most worried about. Drakos had always been bad at dealing with such matters, so he was desperate to divert the soldiers’ attention in resisting the enemy’s attack.
When Drakos finished speaking, Adepiges translated his words into Bruttian while the senior centurions were all itching for a battle.
Although Kreru was nervous, he knew that he had to help the Theonians block the Bruttian union or else the enemy would get inside. And what he fears the most is that he would be the first person that Likumu would kill.
Baripiri sat still, but his thoughts were similar to those of the young Kreru.
Only Burim, who was covering his abdomen with one hand, which had been stabbed with a spear by a Theonian soldier and was later wrapped tightly with cloth by a physician, said in astonishment, “Twenty thousand Consentian warriors?! Consentia have that many warriors now?”
“I think Pian had also gathered the warriors from Anbania and other tribes.” Said Baripiri.
It had slightly reduced Burim’s astonishment, but he still exclaimed, “Twenty thousand warriors! That is a powerful army that Bruttii has never had!”
“Just those?! Theonia had defeated forces that have more than 20,000 troops, Crotone in the south! And Messapi and Peuceti across the gulf!…rather than fearing enemies coming in large numbers, we are more afraid that the enemy that comes would be too little!” Said Trotidis with great enthusiasm. He was the son-in-law of Anticles and was only a squad captain when they first arrived in Thurii as mercenaries, and now he is a senior centurion.
The other senior centurions nodded at his words.
Burim was still not convinced and wanted to say more but was stop by Baripiri.
The senior centurion, Adrian, watch the situation then looked at Drakos. Noticing that the legatus doesn’t seem to have the intention to speak, and from knowing his old friend’s temperament, he had to stand up and mediate, “Although Consentia’s army is huge, we also have tens of thousands of soldiers and a fortress as a defence. According to lord Davos, ‘it’s very difficult for the attacking side to defeat the defending side without having several more times of their strength.’ Besides, lord Davos will soon arrive together with the army he led.”
Obviously, the name of Davos made Burim lose the desire to retort.
Seeing silence returned to the hall, Drakos then ask, “Cid, how is the training of the two thousand newly arrived Theonian freemen that was handed to you?”
Cid then said with satisfaction, “These freemen sent by the Senate have been strictly selected and have all gone through much military training and can obey orders properly. While archery and javelin are their strong points, they could also fight in close combat for a while. I have already grouped them into teams and are perfectly capable of being useful in defending the city.”
“Excellent.” However, despite his satisfaction, there was no smile on his face, and he continued with a stern expression, “Given the small size of the wooden wall’s walkway, it definitely won’t be able to accommodate too many soldiers. That is why when the enemy attacks, you will lead the light infantry brigade and the two thousand freemen to carry out continuous long-range attacks until the enemy reaches the wall. Afterwards, you will immediately command them to retreat while letting the archers continue shooting the enemies to disrupt their rhythm.”
“Rest assured, legatus! With Hades blessing my brigade, my men would repulse the enemy that you won’t even have the chance to fight!” Cid said confidently.
Drakos was happy seeing such morale among his men, but he won’t praise and encourage it or even joke and enliven the mood as Davos does. He just nodded slightly without responding. Then he looked around at the other senior centurions to tell his battle plan “Once Cid’s troops retreat from the wall, the first and second brigade and the Besidisian warriors would quickly go up the city wall! The first and second brigade will defend the southern wall while the Besidisian warriors would defend the northern side, leaving no gap for the enemy’s attack!
The third and fourth brigades will wait in the fortress as reserves and immediately give support as soon as a dangerous situation arises!
While the fifth and sixth brigades would stay in Besidice!…do you understand your task?!”
“I understand! With Brutus’ blessing, we Besidisian warriors will never allow a Consentian to climb up the wooden wall!” The young and patriotic Kreru was the first to respond. While also making a commitment to Drakos on behalf of Baripiri and the silent Burim.
“Legatus, that’s not fair! Our fifth and sixth brigade also want to go to the fortress and kill the enemy!” Trotidis, the senior centurion of the sixth brigade, protested.
Although the senior centurion of the fifth brigade did not say anything, just the expression on his face had explained it all.
“That’s an order!” Drakos said firmly with a scowl on his face.
“But-” Trotidis wanted to refute but was interrupted by Adrian, “Trotidis, you must understand that the city of Besidice is very important to us! If Consentia were to break through the fortress, you who are left in Besidice would be our last line of defence to stop the enemy from blocking the mountains and also to welcome the army led by lord Davos!”
In order to wake him up, Adrian had to be that person. Even though Trotidis is impulsive, he is not a fool, and he immediately understood the meaning of Adrian. If there are no Theonian soldiers stationed in Besidice and got taken back, then the third legion’s way out would be cut off. Not only will they fall into great danger, but they will also make the plan made by Davos fail!
“I…accept the order.” Answered Trotidis.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
A Bruttian’s horn sounded from a distance.
Cid, standing on the battlement, looked at it: The yellow-green grasses in front were covered by a dense number of enemies, like a black tide rushing to the wall…
The formation of the Bruttians could be said to be relatively neat and compact, unlike the loose formation of the Lucanians. The Bruttians then stopped their advance, two hundred meters away from the fortress.
“Get the slaves. Have them fill up those traps for me!” Pian ordered.
Two thousand slaves, mainly Greeks, who have been captured from Magna Graecia by the Bruttian tribes over the years, came to the forefront under the threat of the warriors with spears, carrying a sack full of soil and began moving forward…
“Strategos, they have entered the trap area!” The soldier next to Cid reminded him anxiously.
Cid looked at him, then laughed and said, “You’re a new recruit, right? No need to fret and let more enemy come into range.”
A slave then dropped the sack on his back, turned and ran, then came another slave to fill the next gap…one after another, the scene was both tense and somewhat chaotic. From time to time, a slave would accidentally step on a trap and let out a shrill scream, which made more slaves nervous about throwing sacks.
But for the Bruttian warriors who were supervising the slaves, not only did they beat the slaves with whips, but they also stabbed them to death with their spear.
Facing the threat of death, the slaves did not dare to be sluggish. They ran to the rear of the formation obediently and then picked up another sack to continue paving the road.
“Archers, ready!” Cid felt that the time was ripe and raised his right hand.
Standing on the four metre-high wooden wall, the more than 500 archers of the seventh brigade and two thousand freemen drew their bows in succession.
Eighty metres, which is precisely within the range of the archers! After silently praying to Hades, Cid swung his right downward with force, “Fire!”
“Swish! Swish! Swish!…” With the continuous sound of bowstrings, more than 2,000 sharp arrows soared into the sky. In an instant, they whizzed down and scattered evenly among the slaves.
Pian’s countenance change from witnessing this sight. It was not because of the casualties of the slaves, but because he did not expect that Theonia has so many archers, and from judging the fall of the arrows, their archers’ skill was not even bad.
‘Could it be that the Theonian army here was not haphazardly put together but the main force of the enemy?!’ The report of the Besidisians that have fled to Consentia had told him that the enemy that attacks Besidice was not too many, and they should not be more than a thousand! And according to Likumu, who escaped back to Consentia yesterday, the number of the enemy had increased by another two thousand…all this information made him have considerable confidence in retaking Besidice. However, after coming here, he was already surprised by the size of the fortress that had begun to take shape and became even more alarmed by a mere round of arrows from the Theonians.
“Grand chieftain, the enemy has too many archers!” Petaru had obviously realised this and said with some concern.
Pian remained calm, “Let these Greek slaves, even if they all die, continue consuming the arrows of the Theonians!”
The Bruttian warriors then executed a dozen slaves that escaped, shocking the others. As a steady stream of relentless arrows were fired from the wall, the slaves were once again forced to fill in the trench…