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Although Davos was in a good mood, he did not joke with this ever taciturn man, so he seriously said, “As an important force to stabilise the Lucanian region, your third legion will be stationed on Nerulum and Grumentum. With Theonia at war with the Bruttians, wouldn’t Pyxous and Potentia take this opportunity to start a war to take back Grumentum?”

The words of Davos made Sesta, and Hieronymus thought about it.

After a while, Hieronymus said dejectedly, “Milord, do you mean to keep the third legion in place to prevent the invasion of Pyxous and Potentia?”

“Not just for defence.” With a soft smile, Davos said in a deep voice, “If they dare to tear up the peace agreement, then Theonia would conquer Bruttii and take Pyxous and Potentia at the same time!”

War on all fronts?! Sesta and Hieronymus looked at each other and marvelled at the young archon’s extraordinary courage, but it had also made them worried.

“Don’t forget, ELea.” Reminded Davos.

“What good is that meagre strength of Elea?” Sesta said, unimpressed.

However, Hieronymus, who had long experience in battle, suddenly thought of something and became more sure after seeing Davos’ smile, “Milord, I will discuss with Bagul how to lure them.”

“When we meet Avinoges, I will also ask him the use of their port, and I am sure he will agree.” Laughed Davos.

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

“Lord Avinoges, I haven’t seen you for just two months, but you seem to have gained a lot more weight.” Davos said half-jokingly to the archon of Laos, who had come to meet him.

Avinoges patted his protruding belly with a smile, “Who told Theonia to be so good! With you protecting our a**, everything is developing so well in Laos that I don’t even need to worry about anything besides what new food your wife’s restaurant would make. Could I be the first one to taste it?!”

Looking at his trembling fat face, Davos could not help but caution, “I suggest that you still try to keep your weight down a bit by not eating too much at each meal. It will also be good for your health.”

Avinoges thought of something. He then patted his head with his right hand and said, “Oh, I almost forgot that, milord, is also a miraculous doctor! Since you have said that, I will try to control my weight gain.”

“Thank you for trusting me.” Davos picked up on the implication that he was going to control his weight rather than lowering it. It was clear that he does not care much about his body.

Thinking of the first time he saw Avinoges, his muscular body has now increased a size, but all of it was fat. And then, looking at Alobamus, who was beside him, had become even thinner than he was a year ago. Davos had also heard that Avinoges left most of the administration of the city-state to his brother. Once they have lost their sense of worry, lost their goal to strive for, and learned to crave for pleasure, they would have difficulty getting back on their feet..Davos lamented it in his heart.

“Lord Davos, this…the second legion of Theonia seems to be…there seems to be something wrong!” Alobamus, looking at the troops marching past them with the flag held high, exclaimed in disbelief.

“Brother, I heard that the Theonian army is recently replacing their weapons and equipment into a new one, so it is natural that it is different from before!” Avinoges interrupted Alobamus then ordered his brother, “The war with Bruttii is about to begin, immediately go and blockade the port as well as all the passages outside the city and forbid anyone to enter or leave!…”

Davos couldn’t stop himself from nodding. Avinoges was still the leader of the descendants of Sybaris who had dared to unite with Theonia and overthrow the rule of the Lucanians. Although his body had changed significantly, his mind was still clear, his military sense was still very sharp, and his political reactions were extremely quick that he could complete all the deployment without Davos having to ask.

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

With the rapid sound of the salpinx, the soldiers quickly retreated down the slope of the mountain as rocks and logs rolled downward, chasing after them. If a soldier were unfortunately struck, his nearby comrades would rush forward to help, as screams rang out from time to time…

Kapus, who was was the foot of the mountain, had a gloomy expression from seeing such sight and he couldn’t help but sigh, “Such terrain is too unfavourable for us that we couldn’t even bring to play the advantage of the legion.”

“It’s not like our attack in these past few days were in vain, as we at least manage to capture one of the enemy’s camp and advanced our line of attack here.” Antonios comforted him.

“We did not capture it. It was the Bruttii taking the initiative in giving up on it. Up to now, we haven’t even seen a shadow of the enemy, but our brothers had suffered 300 casualties!” Kapus said with pain in his heart.

“Not many have died. All of those are mainly from injuries and fractures. After treatment in the medical camp, most of them could recover. That’s already very good enough, as there is no war where no one died, like when we were in Persia…” Antonios continued to comfort him.

“But our brother’s did not die from fighting the enemy. Such a way of death is unjust to our brothers! According to the guide, there is still five kilometres till we reach Vergae! Five kilometres! On such a difficult mountain road! I am afraid that by the time we reach Vergae, all of our men would be dead!” Shouted Amintas irritably, “When will the second legion start to move?! A long time has already passed, and yet there is still no movement! If we had known that this was the case, Kapus, you should have strongly demanded that our first legion should have carried out that mission!”

“Who told our first legion to be too famous?! If we don’t attack here, how could we possibly convince the Bruttians that our focus of attack is here! Only in this way can we attract the main force of Bruttii!” Alexius then said calmly and admiringly, “Only the Grand Legatus dared to do so! Who would have thought that we would attack Vergae at the risk of the lives of our citizens just to mobilise the enemy!”

“Quiet!” Signalled Kapus. He then looked around and said quietly, “I hope that the second legion can accomplish their mission so that our brother’s sacrifice won’t be in vain!”

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

“Chieftain, the Greeks are retreating!”

Hearing the report from his excited subordinate, Saru not only did not rejoice but was somewhat disappointed, “The Theonians fled as fast as rabbits. If only they had gotten over that ridge, more of them would have died when we pushed down the rocks on the mountain path!”

“Don’t worry, as long as they are still going to attack Vergae, there will be more opportunities like this!” Sedrum stood up and praised him, “We have resisted the enemy for three days! Despite Theonia sending their first legion, which they called the ‘strongest army’, to attack, instead of making any progress, many of their soldiers were either wounded or died! Saru, you have done a great job!”

“If this situation continued like this, we can completely keep the Theonians from reaching Vergae for a month!” Saru then said confidently, “Great Chieftain, we could deal the Greeks by ourselves and just let the Consentians go back. The soldiers are angry at them, as they had occupied our house and ate our food, but they did not fight!”

“The Consentians is still mainly eating the food that they brought with them, Consentia and we are now united, and there are still many opportunities to fight together in the future. Therefore, you should get used to it and persuade our soldiers not to complain too much.” Sedrum said to him patiently, “Besides, from the looks of things, the Theonians have not done their best, as they should still adapting to the terrain here. Don’t forget, they still have a force made up of Lucanians and the troops from Laos, who we have not yet seen. So we can’t be rash! Have you forgotten how the Lucanian coalition attacked our city?!”

“I haven’t forgotten it!” Saru clenched his fist.

“Yesterday, a report came from Clampetia that the Greeks there were trying to sneak in through the trail but were fortunately spotted in time to repel them. We should have also been on guard against the Lucanians coming from the mountains, but it is because of Consentia’s large army defending the city that we can fight the enemy here with confidence and boldness.” Sedrum continued to persuade.

Saru nodded in silence.

“The later the Theonians reach Vergae, the faster their morale will drop, the more food they will consume and the more chance we have in defeating them! By then, the glory of the Bruttii will come!…” He initially intended to persuade and motivate Saru, but as he spoke, the more excited Sedrum become.

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

The setting sun was almost behind the mountain, and the earth gradually descends into darkness.

The herdsman drove the cattle and sheep early, and the children who ran wildly in the mountains during the day were also called home by their parents because at night, the mountains are the world of wild animals.

The wilderness outside the city of Besidiae has been deserted; occasionally, one could hear the wolves howling. In the silent dusk, the roaring of the Crati River during the day is more magnificent, which has been the case for thousands of years, and the residents of Besidiae has long been used to it, and they feel that the louder the sound of the waves is, the more the protection of the Crati River is shown, so they all sleep peacefully with the sound of the waves.

But they have no idea that on the other side of the river, in the thick woods, thousands of Theonian soldiers were marching, and all the sounds they made were covered by the sound of the river.

The upper reaches of the Crati River have steep cliffs on both sides, but not all places are like this. In front of the levelled ground in the location of Besidiae is a riverbank about ten metres long, where the people of Besidiae often go to draw water and do their laundry. On the other side of the river is a gentle slope where you can use to go down the river, and the jagged rocks could accommodate ten people.

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