Chapter 495: Invitation to a decisive battle
After Henipolis dodged the incoming arrows with the protection of his men, he took a deep breath and shouted with all his strength, “I, Henipolis, the true archon of Laos, solemnly swear on Hades and Asinu’s name that if you help me kill those wicked rebel, I would allocate you your lands, give you the right to participate in politics, take up public office, and have real freedom!!”
The warriors at the top of the city wall heard clearly about the land, power, freedom…which were all the things they dreamed of. Furthermore, because of the rumours that were spread in the city a few days ago, they felt Henipolis credible. The rumours let them know that this young man, just because he wanted to improve their situation, had his position usurped by the officials and chieftains who wanted to continue oppressing and exploiting them.
Then a great commotion suddenly arose among the warriors on the city wall, significantly reducing the number of people shooting at Henipolis.
Just as they were debating and their hearts were in turmoil, the spies that Teratus had placed in their ranks shouted, “We want land! We want freedom!…”
Their shouting resonated with everyone, which further added to the confusion at the top of the city wall.
Seeing this, Hielos became overjoyed and immediately ordered the attack.
With the continuous sound of the salpinx, the soldiers marched towards the city wall with siege ladders.
Furthermore, the chaos at the top of the city wall did not subside but expanded. So the chieftains and the officers rush to scold the rioting soldiers and tell them to concentrate on defence; otherwise, they would get punished. However, some people with intent instigated these warriors to beat up those powerful officials and chieftains who usually treated them like dogs and pigs.
After all, among these 5,000 or so warriors on top of the city wall, except for one-third who were the personal guards kept by the chieftains and officials of the various tribes, the rest had come from the poor people in the tribes and the port, who were the bulk that was impressed by Henipolis’ words. Thus the chaos spiralled out of control.
Although Alobamus was anxious at watching the Theonian soldiers quickly clearing up the traps under the moat, he couldn’t think of a good way to change their grave situation.
Suddenly, a herald hurriedly ran up to the city wall and said, “Lord Alobamus, it’s not good! It’s not good! Those beggars in the port are rioting! There are so many of them that we had to transfer most troops to defend the city. While the rest of the soldiers were either defeated or had voluntarily surrendered!”
“What?! What did you say?!” It was as if lightning struck Alobamus. His vision turned dark, resulting in his body swaying a few times and collapsing.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Davos stepped on the solid Krimisa-Aprustum road with the army he led and soon arrived about a kilometre away from the north bank of the Neto River and began building a camp.
At this time, Davos had more than 40,000 men from the combined second legion, sixth legion, seventh legion, sarissa legion, and the newly rejoined first legion*. (after the victory of the naval battle, the Theonian fleet entered the port of Krimisa, dropping off all the soldiers of the first legion on the ship and the captured Syracusan sailors. The prisoners will then serve as slaves to provide labour for the Krimisians in helping them rebuild their homes, while the damaged and captured ships will continue sailing north and return to Thurii’s military port for maintenance.)
Furthermore, after Philesius received the news, he and Epiphanes led the fourth legion and part of the fifth legion, totalling more than 12,000 soldiers, to travel through the main road and joined Davos’ army. At the same time, Philesius left behind 3,000 soldiers to defend the city of Aprustum together with the more than 1,000 reserve soldiers organised by Agasias.
In addition, after quelling the rebellion in the Bruttian region, Hieronymus led the 5,000 or so Bruttian reserve soldiers that he gathered earlier towards the Crotone Plain(which is why Hielos only brought 2,000 or so Bruttian soldiers to attack Laos.)
The navy’s navarch, Seclian, also sailed again to the sea near Crotone with one hundred corvus and forty regular triremes.
On this day, Theonia’s several armies rushed to the north bank of the Neto River one after another, rapidly increasing the troops that Davos led.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
On the Theonian camp, a spectacular and lively sight happened as thousands of bare-chested soldiers wielded shovels and pickaxes to dig trenches and build walls and tents…
Davos – the new king of Theonia, and several military commanders such as Antonios, Amintas, Epiphanes, Philesius, Olivos, Matonis and Kapus were preparing to discuss their next strategy in the temporarily built command post when Damocles – the messenger sent by Dionysius arrived.
After meeting Davos, Damocles presented him with a letter from Dionysius.
“To the young archon of Theonia. Ever since I landed in Magna Graecia at the head of my army, I have won many battles and conquered Terina, Scylletium and even Crotone one after another. At the same time, Caulonia expressed its submission while Rhegium, who was hiding behind the mountains and trembling with fear, could be overthrown with just the wave of my hand. Now, Theonia is the only enemy left before me. Do you, who the ignorant Magna Graecians praise as the strategos who won a hundred victories, have the courage to fight a genuine decisive battle with me? After all, whoever wins or loses, this long war with countless casualties would come to an end. Thus I look forward to your reply! Signed: Dionysius, the supreme military commander of Syracuse, the Master of Sicily and Conqueror of Magna Graecia.”
After reading the letter written by Dionysius, Davos inwardly laughed coldly, ‘This is a decisive battle invitation from Dionysius? This tyrant really treats me as a young child, trying to use such a clumsy provocation to make me accept this battle, hmm…’
After seeing Davos remain calm after reading the letter, Damocles – the envoy of Syracuse, immediately said, “Esteemed lord Davos, our supreme military commander also sent you a gift, but the guards took it.”
Davos became a bit interested, so he glanced at Martius, standing by his side.
Martius understood and immediately came out of the command post and soon brought in a Syracusan attendant holding a beautifully decorated wooden box in his hands.
“Is this Dionysius’ gift?” Davos asked while glancing at the wooden box.
“Yes.”
Davos nodded to Martius.
Martius then took the wooden box, placed it on the table in front of Davos and opened it, revealing a human head inside.
“Take it out.” Davos calmly said as he had already guessed it.
Afterwards, Martius carefully took it out and placed the head on the table.
Although lime powder covered the head and was slightly rotten, Davos could still tell who he was.
Amintas, on the other hand, curiously looked at it and exclaimed, “It’s Drakos!”
This immediately surprised the other legatus, causing them to rush towards the table confused.
Damocles still manage to say, “With it is the message that Lord Dionysius asked me to bring: This is only the first!” which caused Amintas to come forward angrily, grab Damocles and punch him hard. It resulted in Damocles falling on his back as his nose began bleeding.
“Go back and tell that shameless, savage tyrant of yours that he’ll be the second! We will cut off his head and kick it like a football, so you’d better tell him to wash his head clean so we can easily chop it!” Amintas pointed his finger at Damocles as he cursed.
The Syracusan envoy had already expected the anger of the Theonian strategoi, so it did not frighten Damocles even with a broken nose. Instead, he snickered a few times, covered his nose with his hand, stood up slowly and looked at Davos, who was looking at him coldly, and said in a jarring voice, “Lord Davos, when do you plan to fight the decisive battle so that I can go back and tell commander Dionysius to prepare?!”
Davos calmly said, “Let him wait.”
This vague response had taken Damocles aback.
But he had no chance to ask again as Martius removed him and his attendants out of the command post, blindfolded them and escorted them back to the south bank of the Neto River.
At this moment, Davos and the military commanders bowed respectfully and deeply to Drakos’ head to express their grief and respect.
On Drakos’ head was a smashed bloody hole in his forehead, which silently narrates the courage and unyielding of the deceased, reminding everyone present at that time that the tragic sight.
“Your majesty, when will we fight Syracuse?!” Philesius, who usually remained calm, couldn’t help but ask Davos.
“Your majesty, the fourth legion requests to be the main force of the battle!” Epiphanes asked Davos to fight with a serious expression.
“Epiphanes, don’t you dare take our moment! Drakos formed our second legion with his own hands, so it is the strong desire of our brothers to avenge Drakos’ death. Thus I hope your majesty will fulfil our request and place the second legion in the position where the Syracusan may attack the fiercest!” Amintas shouted, with an expression of giving up his life.
“If it is the legion formed by Drakos, then the same is true to the fifth legion. Moreover, Drakos was wounded, captured and killed in the hands of the enemy in order to cover the retreat of the fifth legion!” Philesius even took the initiative to fight for the chance as well.
Seeing the atmosphere in the tent getting more heated, Davos loudly interrupted Philesius, “Who said we would fight a decisive battle with Syracuse now?!”
Just as Davos uttered his words, Antonios, who remained quiet, had a “just as expected” expression, and the silent Kapus’ eyes flickered with cold light.
Although Matonis and Olivos, the two “younger” legatus, didn’t compete earlier, they were now also eager to try but were immediately discouraged at this moment.
Not to mention the three legatus who were still arguing.