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“What’s wrong if there is a war?! Before the war I, Timias, had not only provided good service to the soldiers, we had even served you, Umakas, at your door on more than one occasion, and I have not heard you say that it had interfered your rest!” Timias said out loud, and some of the women were even winking at Umakas.

“Hmph…if you want to stay here, then stay!” Umakas was furious and angry, but he could not show it in public, so he ended the discussion with some annoyance and drove his horse forward, asking the guards to go in and report.

“Lord Umakas, when you see the archon of Theonia, can you help us…to get us inside…” Seeing that Umakas was going to enter the camp, Timias went near him with a smile, while Umakas just ignored him and went straight in.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

When Davos left the camp, Timias and the women tried to surround him, but Martius led the guards and drove them aside.

Umakas pretended not to hear it, while Davos just laughed and pointed to a noisy area in front of the camp, “The mind of the Taratines is so flexible. We had just built the camp yesterday, and today, a lively market was immediately built here. To tell you the truth, it has made it convenient for our army to gather necessary supplies; however, prostitutes are strictly prohibited in the army, and according to the 《Theonian Military Law》, offenders will be deprived of citizenship. So even if they were to enter the camp, no one would dare to get in contact with him in violation of the military law.”

Umakas blushed slightly, and he sighed, “Your military laws are so strict, it is no wonder that you have such an excellent record in battle.”

The meeting was held in the manor of Umakas, on the outskirts of Taranto.

In the meeting room, Davos met not only Diaomilas but also the archon of Heraclea – Teriphias, and the archon of Metapontum – Taudeles.

Diaomilas still has the same expression as yesterday, but he at least didn’t say anything; presumably, the bad news of the naval fleet defeat had knocked the wind out of his sails.

Taudeles greeted Davos very politely while Teriphias did not only shake the hands of Davos, he had even given him an embrace while talking and laughing. After all, Heraclea is next to Amendolara, and when the mercenaries led by Davos had just established their foothold in Amendolara, they had constant dealings with Heraclea, and in less than two years, the two had established a relatively close relationship.

After everyone sat down, Umakas once again said, “Esteemed lords, thank you for the selfless help that you have offered us in Taranto’s time of trouble! On behalf of the Council of Taranto, and the people of Taranto, Diaomilas and I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to you! Having said that, Umakas bowed his head earnestly to the three men.”

Diaomilas also reluctantly followed suit, and the three men had also returned their politeness.

After all the courtesy, it was finally time to get down to business.

Diaomilas then stood up and said, “Manduria, with less than 4,000 soldiers, has been under siege for two days! According to reliable information, there are 30,000 men in the Messapi-Peuceti alliance. If we don’t act immediately, Manduria will suffer the same fate as Brindisi! Hence why the Council of Taranto has decided to immediately dispatch the soldiers to liberate Manduria and to find an opportunity to fight the Messapi-Peuceti army, do any of you have an objection?”

His eyes then swept over Taudeles, Teriphias and finally on Davos. Heraclea and Metapontum, city-states affiliated with Taranto, have always obeyed their orders, so the question of Diaomilas is naturally aimed at Theonia.

The two archons have given a positive answer, but instead of speaking immediately, Davos stood up and walked to the side of Umakas, who had a detailed map of Taranto on the wooden table in front of him and could see that the icon representing Manduria was not far from the south of Taranto, after making a gesture, he asked, “How far is Manduria from here?”

“Less than 25 kilometres.” Replied Umakas.

25 kilometres. Davos then estimated that with the normal marching speed of the Theonian army at 7.5 kilometres per hour, they would arrive in three hours. Manduria is located on a “coastal corridor”, with the sea on one side and mountains and forests on the other; however, Manduria is not located on the seashore but on the mountains. Considering that Taranto is not far to the north of the city, the Messapians must have considered Taranto’s naval strength when building this city so that they could make full use of their strengths while avoiding their weaknesses.

“How wide is it?” Davos pointed on the “corridor” on the map with his two fingers.

“The narrowest part is 3 kilometres.” Replied Umakas.

‘3 Metres. A formation spread by a commander with 30,000 troops can already exceed this length.’ After thinking about it, Davos asked again, “How many soldiers are Taranto going to send?”

As soon as Umakas was about to answer, Diaomilas could not stop himself and shouted, “DO YOU AGREE TO SEND TROOPS OR NOT? Make a quick decision and stop asking about this or that, as it will just delay our time!-”

“Diaomilas!” Shouted Umakas in a hurry, for fear that Diaomilas’ words might infuriate Davos.

Diaomilas was just angered by the fact that Davos had not only shown any respect for himself as an archon but had acted as if he were the one presiding over the meeting. At this moment, he remembered the advice of the statesmen of the Council and the dangerous situation of Taranto, so he could only snort and swallow his anger.

Davos looked at Diaomilas calmly and said slowly, “Starting a war is not only related to the life and death of the soldiers but also the rise and fall of a city-state. As the decision-makers of the war, we must carefully consider whether Taranto has a chance to experience another defeat?!”

Everyone was moved by what Davos had said, and Diaomilas only snorted again while he cautiously muttered, “That’s just a reason for your timidness.”

Davos laughed and said nothing.

Timid? No one else in this room will agree with what Diaomilas said. After all, the battles commanded by Davos in the past have always been against superior numbers, which has proved everything. Rather, Taranto was the one that was eagerly urging the reinforcements from Theonia in the face of the Messapi-Peuceti alliance, so who was being timid?

Umakas noticed that Teriphias was winking at Taudeles with a slight sneer on his face. He couldn’t remain calm from his shame, so he quickly mediated in a roundabout way, “Lord Davos, please forgive Diaomilas for his rudeness, he was just too anxious about the current…situation of Taranto, and it was only on impulse on why he had spoken those words carelessly and without consideration!”

As he apologised, Umakas winked at Diaomilas.

And Diaomilas could only hold his anger, but he did not apologise, and he just stops talking instead.

“Taranto will dispatch ten thousand soldiers.” Then Umakas said, “With your reinforcements, the total force will reach 27,000, which is not much different from the number of Messapi-Peuceti troops. After we liberate Manduria, the number of soldiers of Taranto will increase to 14,000, so the total number of troops will be 31,000, which is already a very large number that it wouldn’t be a problem to repel the Messapi-Peuceti alliance.”

“It’s best if things go as you say, but-” Davos exerted his strength on the icon on the map representing Manduria, “Have you thought about if the Messapi-Peuceti retreated instead of fighting with us?”

“That’s impossible! The Messapians are hot-tempered and have a ruthless nature; they love fighting and regard retreat as cowardice.” Diaomilas immediately retorted.

“The fact that the Messapians were able to join hands with the Peuceti in ambushing Archytas is already an obvious fact that they do not only know how to fight bravely and fiercely.” By the time he reached Taranto, Davos had also learned the truth about Archytas’ defeat, at which point he patiently analysed, “From what I had heard, the Messapians’ infantry is not as good as our hoplites, especially the Peucetians who is much worse. Even though their cavalry is strong, the area in Manduria is narrow, so if the two sides fight, it would not be good for their cavalry’s attack but would be favourable for our hoplites, and wise men will not fail to take this into consideration…here, perhaps this is their ideal battlefield.” Davos pointed to the relatively large gap between Manduria and Brindisi, where there are no symbols of mountains.

“However, if the enemy were to retreat, we would then be able to join up with the defenders on Manduria, which would cause our strength to increased, so the Messapi-Peuceti alliance would then be faced with a difficult choice, and it is not impossible for them to choose to just directly retreat.” Cautioned Davos.

“That makes sense.” Teriphias nodded in agreement. Heraclea’s strength was not very strong, and they had already suffered considerable losses following Taranto’s previous conquest of the Messapi region. Therefore, he naturally hopes to repel the Messapians without losing a single soldier and just fulfil his obligations as an ally without any accidents.

Taudeles also had the same mentality.

Umakas and Diaomilas then looked at each other, and there was worry on their faces, as they knew in their hearts that it would not be good for Taranto if the Messapi-Peuceti were to choose to retreat just as Davos had said.

The Greek city-states organised tens of thousands of soldiers to go out and fight, often in the interest of a quick battle. After all, if it takes too long, not only would the supplies be consumed, but a large number of citizens would be gone for a long time, which would cause the affairs of the city-state to be largely on hold so that by the time the war is over, the city-state would be in disorder and the houses and farms to be vacant, and the crops would have already died. Therefore, to date, the only ones capable of fighting for long periods have been Athens, Sparta and Syracuse, all of whom had the support of powerful city-state alliances behind them.

If the Messapi-Peuceti alliance were to retreat, the tens of thousands of Theonian reinforcements would surely not be able to stay for an extended period, so once the Messapians were to attack again, could Taranto ask Theonia for reinforcements again? Taranto had finally gathered such a large army, and the only thing they hoped for was that they would be able to deal a serious blow to the Messapi-Peuceti alliance in one fell swoop to change the fate of Taranto.

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