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After quickly reading the letter, Bodiam cautiously said to Likumu, who had not yet regained his composure, “The letter says that some of the survivors of Besidiae have fled to Consentia…Likumu, you can go to Consentia first to confirm whether this matter is true.”

After saying that, he handed the letter over.

Likumu dumbfoundedly looked at the letter Bodiam handed to him as if it was not a papyrus but raging flames. He hurriedly avoided it and sat back in his seat and said with blank eyes, “What should I do? What should I do?…”

Listening to Likumu’s helpless murmur, Pangam and Bodiam looked at each other, feeling both shocked and confused. Just now, they were still celebrating their victory and even had the confidence to go out of the city and fight the Theonians. However, in the blink of an eye, this confidence and arrogance were shattered by this shocking news. What should they do now?

They were also lost in their thoughts…

“I have to go back! I have to go back at once! Take back my Besidiae and save my people!” Likumu sprang to his feet and strode out the door.

On hearing this, Pangam hurriedly stepped forward to convince him, “Don’t worry. It is still not clear what’s going on in Besidiae. We will first send someone to take a look as we wait for the news from Pian and the others. It’s still would not be too late to act once everyone has discussed it.”

“You are naturally not in a hurry as it’s not Clampetia that is occupied! If I wait any longer, all my people will be dead!” Likumu unceremoniously threw down these words and left Pangam’s residence without even looking back.

“Great chieftain Likumu is right. This is not the time for us to just wait.” Bodiam came over and said to Pangam, who was still somewhat absentminded, “With the fall of Besidiae, our defensive plan against Theonia has failed. Now what we are most worried about is that the Theonian troops will slaughter their way out from the city of Besidiae, and we will all be in danger! I must immediately lead my warriors to Consentia, where I will meet with Pian and discuss what do to next.”

“If you all go, what about the enemy here?!” Pangam said in alarm.

“Can’t you see that the Theonians have deceived us?!” Bodiam said with some irritation, “The enemy here is just a lure for the Theonians to attract us. Their real focus of attack is in the direction of Besidiae!”

Pangam was taken aback for a second as Bodiam leave, and could only cursed, “Damn cowards!…” No one knew whether he was cursing the Theonians or the two great chieftains.

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

In Vergae, the chieftains of Consentia, Pian and Petaru, and the great chieftain of Vergae – Sedrum, are discussing the withdrawal of troops.

It turned out that, except for the first few fierce attacks and the capture of a camp, the attacks of the Theonians were gradually weakening due to the tenacious resistance of the Bruttians and had almost stopped attacking these days. As a result, Sedrum suggested to Pian, “Grand chieftain, judging by the state of Theonia’s action now, their morale is weakening, and we would be able to withstand their next attack. Therefore, I propose that a small number of Consentian warriors be left to assist in defending Vergae while the main force can return to Consentia and become the reserve force for the whole war to deal with Theonia’s attack from other directions, which will also greatly reduce the pressure on our rations…”

Indeed, there are ten thousand Consentian warriors stationed in the city of Vergae without a thing to do. It is important to know that it has only been two years since the tribes of Bruttii have united together, and the conflicts and grudges in the past decades will not disappear so quickly. Moreover, the first close contact between the two cities had lasted for so long that conflicts and clashes would inevitably happen. Thus Pian thinks that Sedrum’s proposal is acceptable, and this will also help reduce friction.

After thinking about it, he finally decided to lead 8,000 warriors back to Consentia while Petaru would lead 2,000 men to continue helping Vergae defend the city.

Petaru is one of the members of the highest authority of the Bruttii Tribal Union, the “Seven Elders”, and is also the youngest. With Pian having no sons and no capable figures in his tribe and as a great chieftain of the tribe with lofty aspirations, Pian was not narrow-minded and worked hard to unify the tribes of Brutii. Therefore, he wed his daughter to Petaru, the chieftain of the second-largest tribe in Consentia, and did his best to help and insisted on promoting Petaru to become one of the elders of the newly established Tribal Union, regardless of the opposition of his people and other great chieftains. It was not only due to Petaru would strengthen the weight of Consentia in the Union’s elders as his son-in-law, but also because he hoped that after his death, Petaru could use his identity as his son-in-law to truly make the first and second tribe of Consentia merge and become the most powerful tribe in the Bruttii region. Then Petaru’s position in the Union would be unshakable, and the Tribal Union would be able to continue its stable development.

Petaru gladly accepted this decision. He is willing to stay in Vergae for a longer time to deepen his understanding and to enhance his friendship with the chieftains of Vergae. Although Likumu looked down on Sedrum and secretly called him “Traitor and Coward”, but the strength of Vergae is not weak and is deserving to be a friend of Consentia.

Even though the battle is still ongoing, the several chieftains all felt that the situation of Bruttii is good, so their worries about Theonia’s powerful force lessened. Thus the men happily discussed with each other until the messenger broke into the assembly hall in panic.

The shocking news of the “fall of Besidiae” had alarmed everyone present.

Pian, who had always been calm, had actually shown strong doubts about this news like Likumu and seemed unwilling to believe this fact until confirming the letter from the high priest – Phitara.

He was doubtful not to mention the other people, and the whole hall fell into silence.

After a long time passed, Sedrum bitterly said, “We have been deceived! The Theonians had attacked Vergae and Clampetia just to distract our troops and divert our attention. Their real target should be Besidiae!”

As the grand chieftain of the recently established Bruttii Tribal Union, Pian had already adjusted his thoughts after that silence. He then suppressed the pain brought by the sudden blow and said loudly, “We still have hope! The main force of Theonia is certainly here, and there are nearly ten thousand Theonians in Clampetia, so there should not be many enemies in Besidiae. Therefore, we should immediately mobilise a large number of troops to quickly recapture Besidiae before they could gather a large number of troops in there!”

Sedrum also immediately said, “Even if we can’t take back Besidiae, we should at least block the road from Besidiae to the Consentia Plateau!”

Pian glanced at Sedrum. He felt that the chieftain of Vergae was a bit pessimistic, but at this time, he obviously did not have the time to worry too much. He then said to Petaru, “I will first rush back to Consentia and urge the other tribes that have just joined the union to provide as many warriors as possible. At the same time, I will send someone to inform Likumu and Bodiam to lead their warriors back to Consentia to rendezvous, while you lead the ten thousand Consentian warriors to rush back!”

“I understand, grand chieftain!” Petaru became calm after hearing the arrangement of Pian.

“I apologise, elder Sedrum. You can only rely on yourself here!” Although the other great chieftains were still not used to it, Pian always insisted on calling them by their new position in the union.

“Don’t worry, grand chieftain.” Sedrum responded confidently, “Since Vergae is not the aim of Theonia, I am confident in defending it! But…I don’t know what would great chieftain Likumu would do when he heard what happened.”

Pian’s expression change after Sedrum’s words reminded him, “You’re right! I must leave immediately.”

Pian and Petaru left one after another, while Sedrum remained lost in his thoughts.

Salu, who had been silent, came forward and said, “Chieftain, do you think that…we could take back Besidiae?”

Sedrum sighed, “Who knows…the archon of Theonia made a fool of us. Wouldn’t he already prepared after capturing Besidiae?”

Salu opened his mouth and stutteringly said, “You…you mean…that we are going to lose?!”

Sedrum sighed again, “I’m afraid that only Amara and Brutus would know…”

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

When the war broke out between Theonia and the Bruttians, more than half of the citizens of Thurii went to war, and the city became somewhat desolate, except for the Temple of Hades, which was overcrowded. After the spectacular ceremony and the relentless propaganda of Plesinas’ subordinates, the people of Thurii and Amendolara have become very trusting of this great god, who is famous for his cruelty and terrifyingness among the Olympian gods.

All over the hillside were people prostrating and praying that the Theonian army would soon defeat the Bruttians so that their loved ones could return safely.

Plesinas led the priests, priestesses and holy women of the Temple of Hades…to comfort the people who come to pray every day and do their best in helping them, providing drinking water, shelter and even physicians…

For the safety of Thurii, the Senate decided to strictly check the people that are entering the city gate temporarily, only allowing the citizens to enter.

Compared with the desolate Thurii, the port and market are still busy: Wagons of grain, salted fish, meat and weapons were pulled out from the port and market to the outside of Thurii, where Mersis then distributed them. At the start of the war, some of these supplies were sent to the camp in the west of the city (where the second legion initially hid), while most of them went through the mountains to Laos, and finally, a small portion was then shipped by sea via the port to Scylettium and then to Terina.

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