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Garni seized upon the Nucerian incident to rally his people in the region, implementing martial law under the pretext of safeguarding against the invasion of the Samnite Tribal Alliance’s army. Then, on the agreed day, he departed his territory with his army while leaving only a thousand warriors to guard his territory and covertly entered Theonia’s territory with his three thousand men. Fearing the potential enemy spies, he didn’t enter the city of Compsa. Instead, he hid in Potentia’s territory south of Compsa, joining forces with them. Subsequently, he dispatched scouts back into the Samnite mountains to gather intelligence on the enemy’s movements.

Compsa is situated atop the Ofanto River, south of Lake Conza. In contrast to the relatively flat terrain around Compsa and Lake Conza, the upper reaches of the Ofanto River had a somewhat unusual topography with high mountains on the northern bank to the east is high and difficult to climb, while the southern bank is more gentle, which is why the Samnite Tribal Alliance forces gathered in the Compsa area during the South-Italian War to invade Potentia.

Upon leading his army into the mountains and establishing a camp near the riverbend, Alexius promptly dispatched a messenger to travel along the south bank of the Ofanto River to the west. Once the messenger entered Potentia’s territory, he went to inform Xanticles, who coordinated and commanded the combined forces of Potentia and Abellinum.

It was only the following morning that Xanticles, Polet, and Garni, who were carefully observing the enemy’s movement, received a report from the scout: Six to seven thousand Samnite warriors appeared in the mountains to the north and marched southeast.

Then, they immediately led these fifteen thousand warriors northward into the upper reaches of the Ofanto River and rushed eastward along the southern bank.

With Compsa being more than fifteen kilometres away from the riverbend, the army only arrived to the west of the riverbend after more than four hours of marching. Seeing the terrain on the northern bank become more level, Garni made a suggestion just as Xanticles was about to order his army to cross the Ofanto River and move towards the northern bank.

With his familiarity with Aquilonia’s terrain, he believed the Theonian army would lure the Samnite army into the valley. However, if they were to rush together from the south to Aquilonia, they would cause too much movement, leading to the Samnite army fleeing earlier towards the northwestern part of the valley, which was easier to climb. Therefore, Garni proposed he and his army would head north first and take a long detour to reach Aquilonia’s northwestern part. From there, they would join forces with the Potentian army to encircle the Samnites.

Polet expressed his opposition without explaining his reason and only winked at Xanticles. He didn’t trust the Abellinum people to be left alone, afraid they would go and tell the enemy.

However, Xanticles agreed to Garni’s suggestion after careful consideration. After all, they could easily defeat the Samnites with their huge army. However, the Ministry of Military hoped they could use the element of surprise with the Potentia-Abellinum joint army while the enemy remained unaware to encircle and defeat the Samnite forces left in the mountains, which would greatly benefit the subsequent attack of the Theonian army. So, despite Xanticles not knowing Garni well either, he decided to take the risk as Garni’s suggestion was the most in line with the requirements of the Ministry of Military.

Half an hour after the Abellinum army’s departure, the Potentian army began crossing the river…

Because of those reasons, the reinforcements arrived almost an hour late.

Alexius’ expression eased up a little after listening to the trio’s explanation; after all, the battle’s final result proved that their actions were correct. Thus, after looking at the sky, he said, “We should immediately lead the army back to the camp to the south as it would soon be dusk so that the soldiers could rest after fighting the whole day.”

All three agreed because despite already destroying the main force of the Samnite in the mountains, they are vulnerable to the harassment of small groups of enemies and sneak attacks of wild animals. Hence, it is much safer for the several troops to camp together, but they couldn’t cram such a massive army into the current military camp. Thus, they would have to simply build a new camp next to it, hence the need to seize the time.

Xanticles was staring at the mountains to the east when he suddenly asked, “What’s your plan for tomorrow? Take Aquilonia first? But it seems it wouldn’t be easy to attack it.”

Alexius smiled. His voice, although not loud, was filled with confidence, “I believe today’s victory no longer needs us to occupy Aquilonia, as it won’t significantly impact the overall war situation. Instead, it would be best for all our troops to advance directly to Beneventum tomorrow!”

After observing that Aquilonia showed no signs of movement even after the Samnite army arrived and surrounded the Theonian army, giving them the opportunity to encircle them, Alexius concluded that Aquilonia didn’t have many defenders.

“I am in favour of Commander Alexius’ plan!” Polet, who knew something about the Samnites, loudly voiced his support, “We need to use this victory to increase our advantage and not give the Samnites a chance to breathe, especially since we could finish the Hirpini as long as we capture Beneventum! And through Beneventum, we can also directly threaten Caudium, the capital of the Caudinis!”

Xanticles naturally agreed, with only Garni being lost in his thoughts.

“Could chieftain Garni regret leaving the Samnite Tribal Alliance?!” Polet said sarcastically after seeing him lost in thought.

Garni hurriedly explained after coming back to his senses, “I was wondering if I could persuade Aquilonia to surrender because we have captured a few people from Aquilonia from the previously captured Hirpini warriors(because of its proximity to Dauni and Peuceti; they naturally contributed the most during the previous attack on Dauni). Moreover, they’ve once again witnessed the Samnite army’s defeat…I know the chieftain of Aquilonia, and he’s an old man who doesn’t care about friendship but only about strength-”

Garni gritted his teeth after saying that because before the South-Italian War, the chieftain of Aquilonia was his father’s most loyal supporter. Yet he had immediately surrendered to Lesguk after the war and gave him full support in the issue against Abellinum.

“In the current situation, there is a high possibility for the people of Aquilonia to surrender,”

Alexius would certainly not object to being able to persuade Aquilonia as it would save them from a lot of trouble. Thus, he immediately promised, “If they are willing to surrender, Theonia can allow them to become a free city in the kingdom.”

This wasn’t Alexius acting on his own initiative. In fact, after the Ministry of Military briefed the five rotating speakers on the attack plan, they seriously considered the issue of ‘What if some Samnite towns seek to surrender to the kingdom?’ Understanding that most of the towns in the Samnite mountains had poor environmental conditions and limited output, they decided to allow the Samnites to manage their own affairs rather than drain the kingdom’s resources by directly incorporating them. For example, Aquilonia, due to its high altitude, limited transportation options, and only relying on herding for its livelihood, had made most of the Theonian statesmen and officials hesitant to take up positions as Aquilonia’s praetor and civil servants.

“I will send someone to negotiate their surrender immediately so that we can expect results by the time we reach the riverbend,” declared Garni as he prepared to make the necessary arrangements.

“Wait!” Polet stopped him and said, “I suggest to bring this with you when persuading the Aquilonians!”

His men brought over a corpse after Polet waved his hand.

Upon closer inspection, Garni couldn’t help but gasp for breath. He recognised the deceased; it was Usebek, the chieftain of the Caudini tribe. Usebek had held a high reputation among the Caudini and was a strong contender for the position of Caudini’s great chieftain. However, he had voluntarily withdrawn from the competition against Segobani.

“I heard from the prisoners that he was the commander of this Samnite army but got stabbed to death by my warriors when he tried to break through the defensive line! So I want to send him along with your envoy so the Aquilonians can better understand their current situation!” Polet spoke loudly to both proclaim his own feats and, at the same time, to warn Garni.

Alexius immediately spoke while Garni remained silent, “I think this is a great idea.”

Garni immediately overcame his sadness and said simply, “I will have my men carry him up the mountain immediately!”

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

During the evening, when the soldiers of the Theonian joint army were still recuperating in the riverbank, the envoys sent by Garni returned, bringing back more than ten hostages the Aquilonians offered, including one of the sons of the chieftain of Aquilonia.

Alexius felt overjoyed and immediately comforted the Aquilonians with good words, promising that Theonia would soon release the previously captured Aquilonian warriors once they arrived in Thurii.

Although Aquilonia’s surrender made the entire southern territory of Hirpini a safe area, Alexius still didn’t relax his vigilance and ordered the camp’s lookout to strengthen their patrols.

And thus, they passed the evening uneventful.

The following day, the Theonian joint army of twenty thousand strong marched westward, following the southern bank of the Ofanto River and first arrived at Compsa.

Here, Alexius dispatched two thousand soldiers to escort the captives while bringing the Aquilonian hostages back to Thurii. In addition, he also discussed the supply and transportation of military rations with the praetor of Compsa, Kesima.

Xanticles also left the army at this moment and continued westward towards Irna to lead the remaining half of the reserve army stationed there, ready to show his skills in the upcoming battle.

In the afternoon, the Theonian joint army left Compsa, bypassed Lake Conza, marched northwest and entered Abellinum by dusk.

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

At this moment, outside the city of Neapolis and in the Samnite Tribal Alliance’s camp, the great chieftains of the four major Samnite tribes sat around the command tent, each with a grave expression, as they had just received the news that their enemy had brutally defeated the army they left behind in the mountains.

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