Chapter 496: Seclians Voyage (I)
“Your majesty, we won’t fight a decisive battle against Syracuse?!” Amintas asked in surprise.
Davos looked at Amintas, then at everyone before calmly saying the situation he analysed, “Amintas, you should understand that our fleet defeated the Syracusan navy twice, allowing us to control the coastline of Magna Graecia and giving us the initiative of war! And by making full use of our fleet to land at any point on the coast behind Syracuse’s camp, we could attack their weakly defended cities, cut off their food transportation lines, and return the tricks the Syracusans previously used on us to them. It would make Dionysius, even with his larger army, be exhausted by our mobilisation and have nowhere to use his strength. That is what worried Dionysius and why the Syracusans are desperate to fight a decisive battle with us to turn the tide and even deliberately send an envoy to provoke us! Hence you should not easily fall for the enemy’s trick!”
Although Davos was saying this to Amintas, it also told the other legatus the strategy they would take.
Once they restored the peace in the command post, everyone began thinking about Davos’ words.
Amintas scratched his head. Still, he reluctantly said, “Will we not fight the Syracusans then?”
This question caused Davos to ponder for a moment before saying, “It depends on the following development, so we first need to be patient and do our own thing. Hieronymus’ troops are still on their way while Hielos’ troops are besieging Laos, and the sarissa legion still needs more training… Thus, as long as all our plans are in place, we will weave a great net that would catch the Syracusans and control their fate at any time. At that time, I will use Dionysius’ head as a sacrifice for the dead Drakos and the warriors!”
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Dionysius was equally puzzled by Davos’ words while listening to the envoy’s report, ‘Does that mean that Davos wanted to consult with his men first and then send an envoy to inform me of the date of the battle?’
So Dionysius subconsciously tried to think in a good direction and decided to wait and see first.
But suddenly, a lookout from the port came to report and said, “We spotted dozens of Theonian ships passing Crotone and are heading south.”
After hearing that, Dionysius’ expression suddenly changed.
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Under Davos’ instructions, Seclian formed a fleet of 60 triremes that he personally led to go around the southern coast of Magna Graecia. Mithridates, on the other hand, led the main fleet composed mainly of corvus and began blockading the sea between Crotone and Scylletium to monitor the military movements of Crotone.
For the first time since the establishment of the Theonia Union, its fleet has finally going to complete the voyage around the coast of Magna Graecia. Thus both Seclian and the sailors are highly excited.
Before their departure, the sailors brought all the sails with them. And they all raised the sails to the mainmast even if it was only a weak south wind, which caused Theonia’s emblem to flutter in the wind.
Seclian’s fleet sailed fast that after they bypassed the Cape of Crotone, it only took them more than an hour to reach the sea near Scylletium.
“Get closer!” Seclian commanded the fleet to approach the port of Scylletium.
By this time, Scylletium, which had served as the main base of the South Italian Alliance, had long lost its liveliness. In the large city, the Scylletians had disappeared, and only the Syracusan soldiers, freemen and slaves were left. So when the Theonian fleet arrived, they all became nervous that they immediately armed all their men and sent cavalry to inform the camp in Crotone.
Although there were only more than 3,000 defenders currently left in the city, they concentrated the supplies for the entire Syracusan army here. Furthermore, there are still hundreds of transport ships moored in the port after transporting the supplies from Sicily. In addition, there is also a fleet of transport ships tasked to transport the supplies from Scylletium to the Syracusan camp in Crotone. But now, they could no longer transport it by sea and could only transport it by land. Although there are numerous ships in the port, there are no warships. So in case the Theonians force their way into the port, it is highly likely for them to cause damage.
However, Seclian’s fleet had no plan to take action in Scylletium for the time being. So after making the defenders have a cold sweat, they continued to sail south and reached Caulonia.
This time, Seclian no longer bluff and had sent out a boat to demand access to the port.
The Caulonians had heard the news of the Theonian fleet defeating the Syracusan navy, giving them varying degrees of surprise and expectations. But when the Theonian fleet had really arrived, they were at a loss. Finally, the polemarchos – Phlarinus, decided, “Meet them! We must meet them!”
However, there was no Theonian envoy on the boat. Instead, they handed over an open letter from Davos to the Council of Caulonia.
In his letter, Davos did not criticise the “surrender of Caulonia to Syracuse”. Instead, he apologised for the Theonian army’s forced retreat and expressed his deep sorrow for Scylletium’s tragedy and his anger at Syracuse’s cruelty. Moreover, he also expressed his understanding and gratitude for Caulonia’s choice in that grave situation.
Davos also confidently said that Theonia has come out of its predicament and is gathering its army for a decisive battle with the Syracusans, believing that the Magna Graecians will take the final victory! Furthermore, he reassured them that they would safely rescue the Caulonian that the Syracusans forcedly took as hostages!
Phlarinus read the letter several times and then handed it to others. His heart became so agitated that he couldn’t help but ask the Theonian sailors who delivered the letter, “I heard that Lord Davos became the king of Theonia Union?”
“Yes, all of us Theonian citizens agreed that only Lord Davos, with the blessing of Hades, could fully defend our homeland. Thus, we unanimously elected him to be our king. And on the day after he became king, we miraculously defeated the Syracusan navy, which had far more warships than ours! It just shows that Hades agreed with our choice!” The sailor excitedly said.
The surrounding people were affected by his words that they couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.
“Indeed, a man as great as Lord Davos should be king!” Phlarinus said this with heartfelt excitement. He then earnestly continued, “Please tell Lord Davos that we Caulonians have not forgotten that we are Magna Graecians! Thus we would try our best to fulfil Lord Davos’ requests, as long as it is reasonable, and we will not give in to the Syracusans!”
“Lord Phlarinus is right; we will not submit to Syracuse! Once the Theonian army steps into the Ophemia plain again, we will immediately rise and expel those bastard Sicilians out of Magna Graecia!” The others also gave their pledge.
After the council discussed with each other, Phlarinus immediately wrote a reply to Davos.
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In the large commander post temporarily built by the Theonian soldiers on the north bank of the Neto river, the rest of the military leaders have dispersed, with Philesius the only one remaining.
“Your majesty, I-” Philesius felt guilty and wanted to apologise to Davos.
As Davos could already guess what he wanted to say, he preempted him by saying, “Philesius, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to you! When thinking of the plan I made beforehand, it was indeed impossible to fulfil it… After all, Crotone, Terina and Scylletium are not city-states that have joined our Theonia Alliance, so how could they easily follow our command?! Besides that, the quality of their soldiers and the level of their military training are far inferior to ours, so there is no way for them to accomplish the task of blockading the Syracusans on the wide area on the south of the Caulonia-Allaro River!
What’s more, we all underestimated the Syracusan army, which was also an army with solid command, strict training, and could act boldly and rapidly! And their tyrant, Dionysius, was also not simple! He made a brilliant tactical deception before the battle and was able to get more than 20,000 troops to move quietly from Caulonia to Hipponion without you noticing it. And…he decisively appointed a Spartan as the commanding strategos of the mixed army before the battle, thus successfully resisting your left-wing’s fierce attack. Finally, he seized the opportunity to call on the reinforcements…your defeat in this battle is not without a cause!”
Some time had passed since the battle of Allaro River, so Aristias had already learned the entire process.
Although Philesius could understand it, he continued to say with guilt, “Your majesty, if I…I could have insisted on my opinion; we could have avoided that battle! But I-”
“No, we couldn’t avoid it at all!” Davos said with certainty, “Although you think we could avoid it, that is because you are thinking about this from our point of view. But for the Scylletian and Terinians…will they allow the Syracusans to burn and plunder their homes without attacking if they have the strength to fight them? Of course not!
Not only them, but the Crotonians will stand firmly on their side. And as the de facto ally of the entire South Italian Alliance, can we refuse?! We can’t!… The Magna Graecians are watching how we behave, and that is the responsibility Theonia must assume if we want to dominate Magna Graecia! In fact, it was you who helped me take on that responsibility!”