Chapter 393: Davos Strategic Plan
Davos continued to say, “The landing of their soldiers, labours and supplies…will make the place to be quite chaotic and lack of organisation, so Dionysius would never dare take a risk and land elsewhere besides its ally, the port of Locri. Thus after the Ministry of Military received the report of Syracuse’s attack, they would send our fourth and fifth legions to Caulonia to quickly reinforce our other allies. They would then use the narrow terrain of Caulonia and the Savuto river to the south of Terina to build a solid camp to defend against the enemy’s attack and buy more time for us to defeat the Samnites and lead the main troops back on a decisive battle with Syracuse.
For the sake of a unified command of the fourth and fifth legion, I will make Lord Philesius be the commander of both fourth and fifth legions and be responsible for the war in the south.”
Davos chose Philesius not only due to his seniority but also because he was in charge of military work, not to mention that he could even make the stubborn Drakos and the jumpy Epiphanes listen to him. However, his character is not tough, making him be swayed by the opinions of his subordinates. Still, he could do nothing as the commanders among the strategoi who are more capable have the same qualifications as Drakos and Epiphanes, such as Kapus and Antonios. On the other hand, if you place those who have lower qualifications than them, such as Hielos and so on, at the top, the two legatus of the legion will not accept it, and it will instead affect the operation.
The statesmen seriously considered Davos’ plan of “defence first and counterattacked later”, with most of them thinking it was feasible. After all, they had great confidence in Davos ability and thought that as long as he was in command of the battle against Syracuse, their chance of winning was great. At the same time, they also accepted the candidate that Davos proposed as the commander temporarily in charge of the military In the south. After all, Philesius had always been kind to others in the Senate, giving everyone a good impression of him.
“Then who will take over the position of Praetor of Consentia? Or will Philesius still hold it?” Cornelius asked because Philesius is still Consentia’s praetor.
After all, there is a precedent of “concurrently serving as Praetor and Legatus”, such as Hielos, who served as the Praetor of Aprustum and the legatus of the fourth legion after the second Crotonian War, and so did Bagul in Grumentum.
But Davos said, “Our war with Syracuse will determine the survival of our union. It is the most important event, so we must go all out! Hence we can only find another person to take over as the Praetor of Consentia!”
Davos’ gaze swept through everyone in the Senate. He saw most of the non-military statesmen showed yearning in their eyes, especially the Bruttian statesmen. It is understandable; after all, even though there are currently several cities within Theonia Union, only three are important: Thurii, the centre of Theonia Union. Grumentum, the largest city in the Lucanian region and the hub of the northern part of the union. Consentia, the central city of the Bruttian region. Although each praetor has the same ranking, the praetor of these three cities is virtually superior to others, and it is also an honour to serve as one.
Of course, Davos knew what the statesmen were thinking about, so he patiently explained, “Considering that once the war with Syracuse begins, the Bruttian region and the Crotone Plain will soon become the frontline of Theonia closest to the battlefield. Thus, the Praetor of these regions needs to cooperate with the army’s military operations and meet their operational needs, such as housing the wounded, providing new soldiers, transferring food supplies…and so on. Therefore, we need a statesman who has both administrative experience and understanding of the operation of the military, for the time being-” Davos emphasise the word “for the time being” strongly as he does not want to disappoint some of the statesmen too much, “As for the Praetor of Consentia, I propose that Hielos temporarily take up this position.”
The statesmen did not oppose Davos’ proposal due to Hielos’ outstanding performance during his term in Aprustum, which was evident to all. Only Petaru, Kaduk and some others showed disappointment. Moreover, since the trial of Pollux and the others, there were lesser statesmen who opposed Davos’ proposal. Hence, this proposal was easily passed.
Then Hielos, who had just been appointed, asked, “Archon, since I am going to Consentia, who will take over my current post?”
“Lord Hieronymus, I hope that you can temporarily take the post of quartermaster.” Military matters need to be decided by Davos, and others can’t intervene. Davos has long thought of a good candidate; after all, the war is about to start, which means that military training will naturally have to stop.
“Yes.” Hieronymus answered lightly.
Although he didn’t express his enthusiasm, knowing Hieronymus, Davos still felt assured. Unlike Drakos, who was stubborn and only wanted to command the battle, the taciturn Hieronymus was serious and pragmatic, so as long as he was given the respect and space to use his talent, he would complete his task without a word.
Still, considering that this is a big war, the pressure of the logistics’ quartermaster will be tremendous. Thus Davos still wants to find him a helper, “Mersis, you have to help Hieronymus!”
Mersis immediately express his hardship, “I am already busy with the things I am responsible for, such as the finance and taxation of so many cities…” But facing Davos’ stare, his voice gradually lowered. In the end, he could only reluctantly shrugged and said, “I…I…I’ll try my best.”
Davos then asked, “Lord Hieronymus, how many soldiers in the reserve legion are there in total in Thurii?”
“There are about two thousand two hundred men.” Hieronymus, who was very dedicated to his job, blurted out without thinking.
Davos nodded. He then looked at the crowd and said loudly, “Everyone, I propose establishing two reserve legions in Thurii. So that once the war breaks out, we could use them to defend our city and deal with emergencies.”
“I have no objection.” Kunogelata said.
“I agree.” Cornelius agreed.
Even the two statesmen who usually opposed war had agreed, not to mention the other statesmen. The point is that after Davos leaves with the first and second legions, the empty Thurii would make them feel insecure. Thus with the two new legions, they would feel much more at ease.
“Lord archon, even though the number of the soldiers in the new legion would be sufficient, they do not have the unified new legion weapons and equipment. You should know that most of these reserve soldiers are just preparatory citizens and registered freemen, and they do not have enough money to buy weapons and equipment.” Warned Hieronymus.
Davos thought for a moment and said, “You and Mersis must gather the several arms merchants such as Tios and the Legion’s weapon shop, as well as the manager of Bank of Cheiristoya, to discuss a feasible way to solve the problem of weapons and equipment for the new legion soldiers and try to achieve unity.”
“Understood.” Hieronymus replied straightforward.
Mersis whined, “This would costs money again!”
At this point, Kunogelata said, “If the war with Syracuse breaks out, it will be a great war that would consume a lot of our wealth on all fronts. Therefore, I suggest that the Senate step forward and replace the soldiers in making an agreement with the arms merchants to temporarily allow the soldiers to buy weapons on credit and then pay them back with interest after the war ends… I believe the credit of the Senate of Theonia is still worth the money.”
“Your suggestion is wonderful, Lord Kunogelata!” Mersis immediately cheered up and said, “As citizens of Theonia, these arms merchants should make such contributions!”
“I don’t care how you go about solving the problem of weaponry for the new legion, but you must not force them, else you will have to talk with Tritodemus.” Warned Davos.
“The lord archon is right. The union’s law protects the citizen’s properties, and no one is allowed to infringe it!” Warned Tritodemus.
A smile showed on Mersis’ fat face as he said, “Rest assured, milord. How could I, a statesman, a noble among Theonian citizens, make such a mistake?”
Without paying any further attention to him, Davos walked to the centre of the senate hall, stood upright, and looked at everyone. Afterwards, he said in a passionate and inspiring voice, “Esteemed statesmen, it is thanks to your hard work and dedication that the Theonia Union has become as strong and prosperous as it is today in just a few years! But now, we have encountered the greatest test since the establishment of the union. Syracuse, a Greek city-state that has dominated the western Mediterranean for a hundred years, is like a mountain in front of Theonia, which had blocked not only our progress but also crushed us! The statesmen of Theonia, the elites among the citizens, the leaders of the people, are you willing to succumb to this mountain and be crushed by it? Or will you face it bravely and go through hardship?!”
“Overcome it, and there will be a flat and smooth road ahead of Theonia!”
“If we defeat Syracuse, Theonia will no longer have a powerful enemy in the Western Mediterranean!”
“That’s why…even if all the citizens of Theonia starve, they will defeat Syracuse!”
“Under the protection of Hades, we will overcome no matter how great the difficulties and powerful the enemy is. We will eventually defeat them!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
With the guidance of Davos, the statesmen expressed their determination to fight Syracuse to death.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
When the Senate of Theonia received the urgent report from the third legion, the situation in Potentia had already changed. The Samnites, who were still gathering their warriors, suddenly launched an attack on Potentia’s territory. With the great chieftain of Potentia, Pamot, ordering all the tribes under them to retreat to the city, the Samnites became unobstructed and advanced rapidly, with some troops even bypassing the city of Potentia and continued to head south…