Chapter 419: Crushing Defeat
“Quickly! Have someone call Garni…and immediately bring your men to put out the fire!” Berani hurriedly called the guards to inform his son.
But just after the guards left, he realised that he was so anxious that he became confused. So he ordered the captain of his personal guards to lead his men to put out the fire.
“Chieftain, what about your safety?” The guard captain asked worriedly: with the camp being so chaotic, who would protect their great chieftain once they leave?
“What’s the use of my safety when our whole army is in danger once our food is gone!!” Berani stomped his feet in anxiety.
Thus the guards had no choice but to rush to the fire hurriedly.
However, with an army of more than 25,000 men in a camp that was only 3 kilometres long, it made the camp and roads to be crowded.
Unfortunately, not only did the guards advance slowly, but because of their impatience to move forward, it annoyed their already panicking warriors, which gradually expanded into a conflict…
Currently, it was early winter with dry winds, so when the camp was set on fire by the Theonian scouts who had infiltrated the camp, the wind made the fire spread rapidly, burning the whole supply camp and continuing to expand in all directions, setting fire to the surrounding wooden fences and tents…
Berani watches the flames on the rear, ultimately crushing his heart.
‘It’s over! It’s over!!…’ He sat on the cold ground lifelessly.
However, this night was destined to be his nightmare.
A powerful horn suddenly rang out around the camp, followed by the cries of countless men…
But since the Potentians have hundreds of warriors, they could not enter the enemy camp silently like the Theonian legion. In the end, Polet’s boldness and persuasion still made Pamot make up his mind as he painfully sent out 5,000 warriors. They divided into five groups and quietly went down the mountain, hiding everywhere outside the Samnite’s camp.
As soon as he saw the flame, Polet couldn’t wait for the horn to sound, so when the horn finally rang out, the Potentian warriors, with vengeful fury, went around the obstacles, climbed over the trenches and scaled the earthen walls. At this time, inside the Samnite camp, the Samnites were already terrified as they watched the flames that they did not pay attention to the camp’s surroundings, allowing the Potentians, who all became bloodthirsty wolves, to enter easily, slashing all the figures they see and stabbing whenever they heard voices. The sound of slaughter and screaming echoed all over the camp…
The frightened Samnites became even more frightened. In the darkness of the night, they all held their weapons tightly for their safety as they could not even see their fingers, so if anyone were to come near, they would slash and stab indiscriminately, causing the camp to be even more chaotic.
But in such a chaotic situation, the Theonian scouts who had long sneaked into the camp shouted everywhere using the Samnite language they learned, “The Theonian army is coming!! They are going to kill us! Run!!!…”
And the darkness of the night only magnified their fear, finally crushing the Samnites’ morale, and just like a flood, they all desperately run towards the outside of the camp. Due to this, they lose their sense as they push down their companions, cut down their comrades who hinder their escape, trampling on the groaning people on the ground, and the darkness had once again become their accomplice in killing…
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pamot, who was worrying about the battle, had been standing on the wall watching: He heard the clamour of the Samnite camp, saw fires lighting up the sky in the distance, heard the sound of fighting and screaming…this sight lasted until late at night, and gradually faded into silence…
The scouts who went to the foot of the mountain to inquire about the situation came back and excitedly shouted, “The enemy was defeated! The enemy was defeated!…” Suddenly, the whole city became an ocean of joy.
Pamot became relieved. However, he is still worried about the burning camp, but he still doesn’t dare to send someone to put out the fire.
But who knew that even the gods were looking after the Potentians that night as it suddenly rained, completely relieving Pamot. Finally, he slept until dawn under the constant onslaught of sleepiness.
The following day, he hurried towards the city. On the way, he saw the previously lifeless people have smiles on their faces now as they gathered in groups of twos and threes, talking excitedly about the battle last night, thanking Asinu for his blessing. And from time to time, someone would come to ask Pamot, “When can we move back to our homes?”
Pamot stood at the top of the city wall and looked down: The Samnite camp, which once stretched for kilometres and had countless tents, had basically turned into scorched land, and countless clusters of green smoke surrounded the area, making Pamot unable to see clearly.
“Did Polet and the others return?” Pamot asked Wolle, the tribal chieftain on duty today.
“They still haven’t come back, but he sent someone back and said that they wanted to clean the battlefield, so they won’t be able to return until later.”
‘Polet is fine!’ Pamot rejoiced.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The cleaning of the battlefield that Polet mentioned is not so simple. When taking a closer look in the Samnite camp, under the ashes of the burning flames and mud caused by the heavy rains were bodies of both the enemies and theirs lying everywhere. Some are dead and have even gotten scorched, some are seriously wounded and unconscious, and some are still struggling and groaning…
Last night, due to their lack of experience in attacking at night, the Potentian warriors led by Polet had suffered heavy losses in the chaotic battle, suffering nearly 2,000 casualties. But even after the fierce battle and despite their fatigue, they still recruited more people to carry the wounded and the corpses back to the city and began cleaning the battlefield.
They killed those struggling Samnites with their blades to make sure they were dead and find their own people mixed with the enemy’s corpses… During their searching, the Potentian warriors still face danger due to some less seriously wounded Samnite warriors pretending to be dead, waiting for the Potentians to approach. After several such surprise attacks, the Potentian warriors became more cautious and armed themselves with spears, stabbing the corpses a few times after making sure they were not their own.
And cleaning such a vast area would take up time. Behind these Potentians are members of the Theonian reconnaissance brigade who were carefully counting the casualties of the Samnites.
In the afternoon, the clean up came to an end. 5,439 Samnites died with 0 wounded because even if they managed to survive the chaotic battle, the angry Potentian warriors would make sure to kill them mercilessly when cleaning the battlefield, while those Samnites who managed to flee far away had scattered around Potentia. However, when the Samnites first invaded, they had wiped out the areas around the city of Potentia, so now the hungry Samnites will have to swallow the consequences of what they had done. At the same time, their biggest problem is how to escape the pursuit of the Potentians while enduring hunger and their wounds and return to their territory safely.
After making great sacrifices, the Potentians finally defeated the powerful Samnites with the full help of the Theonians. As they rejoice after the disaster, they unknowingly buried a bigger surprise in that huge Samnite corpse burial pit. Berani – the great chieftain of the Hirpini and the supreme commander of the Samnite invasion of Potentia, had sent all his personal guards to maintain the order and put out the fire. So when Polet led the attack on the camp and caused the Samnites to panic more, the somewhat old and the lone Berani died in the chaos…
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
In the early morning of the same day, in the Temple of Hades in Thurii, Cariades, A Scylletian, got up early as usual and walked into the temple’s main hall.
He then went to the other hall, the “Prison of the Wicked”, where he had spent so much time here that the gruesome images of the prison of the wicked and the fearsome statue of Hades only had little impact on him. He then carried an oil lamp towards the throne of Hades with respect, whose stern and solemn face was enhanced by the fluctuating light on the oil basin in front of the statue, pulsing with a greenish-red flame.
Cariades, with a calm expression on his face, turned using his feet and lit the oil lamp in his hand. Then he knelt in front of Hades’ status, slightly closed his eyes and opened up his palms, spreading them on the ground as he prayed sincerely to the king of the underworld, hoping that he could protect the people of Scylletium.
After hearing that the Syracusans had landed in Locri, he anxiously wanted to return to Scylletium. In the end, Plesinas came and persuaded him.
Plesinas told him that even if he returned to Scylletium, he would only be an ordinary soldier of the city-state. But if he were to stay here, he would be able to pray and get the help of the powerful and mighty king of the underworld.
Cariades thought that the grand priest was right. Thus he chose to stay in Thurii. At this moment, he placed the oil lamp representing his wish on the altar, where a single lamp was placed as it was still early and the temple had not yet opened. But in the evening, the altar and the grounds would be filled with oil lamps that they had to stay late to clean.
“Cariades, with your sincerity, I am sure that Hades will respond to your wish!” A voice sounded behind him.
Cariades turned around quickly and greeted, “Good morning, Plesinas.”
The Temple of Hades is now all over the territories of Theonia, with many priests, priestesses and believers…who are responsible for managing the temples, having different statuses among themselves. However, in terms of addressing each other, the Hades scripture states that they can only use their real name to address each other to highlight the concept of “equality” in the Temple of Hades.
“According to the latest war report obtained by the Senate, the fourth and fifth legions of Theonia repelled Syracuse’s attack in Caulonia, capturing hundreds of enemies. And these captives are now on their way to Thurii. With Hades watching and protecting Theonia, there is nothing for you to worry about!” Plesinas, with a gentle expression, comforted him.