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Upon hearing this, Polet turned to Alexius and asked, “It appears that the people of Beneventum are ready. Should we set up camp here?”

“This location is too distant from Beneventum to exert any pressure on them,” Alexius said as he gazed at the terrain ahead.

He then pointed his finger at the long line of hills on the west side that appeared to be about a hundred metres high and asked, “How far away is the mountain pass that connects Caudium to Beneventum?”

“That’s hard to say, given the presence of several mountains in between,” Garni shook his head after thinking for a moment as he could not give a specific distance.

Alexius then pointed to the rows of smaller hills on the eastern side and asked, “The terrain over the hills on the east should be flatter, right?”

“Indeed, Commander Alexius. I distinctly recall that you’ll reach the Volturno River if you proceed eastward from this hill. While there are a few smaller hills, the terrain should be reasonably flat,” replied Garni.

Alexius then instructed his adjutant to retrieve a simplified map of Samnite created from the information given by Garni and the others. Then, while consulting Garni, he also compared the actual terrain to the ones drawn on the map.

After a moment of contemplation, Alexius decisively declared, “We will start building the camp after advancing for another kilometre. Chieftain Garni, you will lead your warriors to establish camp in this valley and safeguard our grain supply route.”

Garni immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said, “You can count on us. We will secure this location tightly, ensuring the enemy won’t slip through.”

The Sabato River is not just a grain transportation route for the Abellinum warriors; it’s also their sole path from Beneventum to their homes. Since they’ve left Abellinum empty, these troops that Garni mentioned will undoubtedly put in their maximum effort to defend this place.

That was what Alexius intended exactly, and then he pointed to the map and said, “Chieftain Polet, your camp will extend from the south bank of the Volturno River to this side, with our military camp situated between your two camps.”

Alexius arranged the camp this way after considering the decade-old grudge between Abellinum and Potentia. Moreover, this would mark their first time fighting together, and Xanticles had reminded him that Abellinum had limited manpower while the Potentians lacked combat experience. Hence, placing Theonia’s camp in the middle would help balance the left and right. At the same time, they could control both rivers once they built the camp, which would not only ensure a ready supply of drinking water but also exert significant pressure on Beneventum.

“I have no objection. However, I hope the commander can send someone to guide us in building the camp,” Polet has participated in Theonia’s military training, so he was aware that the Theonian army had researched deeply on camp construction to ensure the safety of the soldiers’ camping. Hence, he shamelessly requested this.

Before Alexius could respond, Garni also said after getting reminded, “We also hope for the general to send someone to help us build the camp.”

Although Garni didn’t participate in the Theonians’ military training, he had visited the military base in Thurii multiple times. There, he had seen the Theonian citizens’ training, which he also had some understanding of. Moreover, after considering Abellinum had the fewest people, he needed the help of their allies to build the camps while also guarding against the enemy’s assault.

“Naturally, I have no problem with this. I will certainly do my best to assist you!” replied Alexius. He was pleased with their request because it would streamline the overall camp planning and personnel allocation.

After reaching an agreement, Garni led his men north, while Alexius and Polet led their respective troops over the hills, heading east and northeast.

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

Upon receiving the report that the Theonian army had entered Abellinum the previous evening, Lesguk, worried about the safety of Beneventum, couldn’t wait for the other tribes’ armies to withdraw. Thus, on that same night, he ordered the over three thousand Hirpini warriors to ready a rapid retreat from Abela, despite their fatigue, setting off early the next morning and reaching the city of Beneventum by noon.

He had already left a thousand warriors in Beneventum to guard against any threat from Abellinum to the south, which allowed the total number of warriors in the city to exceed four thousand once Lesguk returned with his men. Then, when they learned that warriors from other tribes would arrive later, the people’s confidence immediately surged.

Meanwhile, Lesguk wasn’t content with merely waiting and defending. Having a clear understanding of the enemy’s movement through the scouts he had dispatched, he promptly led a thousand warriors who were originally guarding Beneventum to manoeuvre into the eastern mountain range covertly. Their target was the Abellinums, who were about a kilometre and a half south of Beneventum. (The other warriors needed to rest after their continuous and rapid marching.)

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

As the commander of the Theonian army, Alexius led his forces through this unfamiliar mountainous terrain with even more caution. He repeatedly demanded the people of Abellinum and Potentia allocate half of their troops to defend the campsite under construction.

As a result, Lesguk’s attack was unsuccessful and quickly turned into a battle between Beneventum and Abellinum. Initially, both sides exchanged javelins before engaging with their spear. While Lesguk led a smaller force, his warriors possessed abundant energy, providing them some advantages.

However, when the thousand Theonian light infantry rushed in from the east to reinforce, Lesguk had no choice but to retreat.

Rather than giving up, Lesguk dispatched an additional two thousand warriors, who had been resting in Beneventum, to harass the Potentians from the east, once again diverting the attention of the Theonian army. Simultaneously, he personally led two thousand warriors straight to the Sabato Valley to launch another attack on the people of Abellinum.

Unfortunately for the Hirpini, the Theonians had over twice the number of troops allocated for defence compared to the warriors currently in Beneventum. Once Alexius understood that Abellinum was their main target, he positioned the light infantry brigade in front of the Abellinum camp.

As a result, the attack by the people of Beneventum didn’t cause much trouble to the Abellinum army and instead just increased their casualties. For Beneventum, who lacked troops, every warrior’s life was precious, so Lesguk could only lead his men back in frustration.

But upon his return to Beneventum, he unexpectedly received an emergency report from his subordinates about thousands of approaching enemies from the east.

This made Lesguk nervous, so he immediately gathered his men and led them to defend Beneventum.

While Alexius led the heavy infantry brigade and three thousand Potentian warriors, he began recalling some of the information provided by Garni about Beneventum after seeing the seven-metre-high stone wall a hundred metres away, “

More than a decade ago, Beneventum’s structures were mostly wooden, with its simple wooden fence on the outer perimeter often broken. However, it was used to protect against wild beasts, not against enemies. This was because there were few civil wars between the various Samnite tribes, and foreign enemies had never threatened the mountains. As a result, they had never worried about the security of their homes.”

But the situation changed with the rise of the powerful kingdom of Theonia in the south. After the Samnite Tribal Alliance lost and submitted to it in disgrace, the Theonians began interfering with their internal affairs, creating a rivalry between Beneventum and Abellinum. As a result, the deeply alarmed Great Chieftain Lesguk repeatedly appealed for Beneventum to be rebuilt into a fortified city to defend against possible foreign invasions. And the tribal chieftains within Beneventum, who were equally unsettled, eventually agreed to his proposal.

As the Hirpini didn’t have experience building stone structures, Lesguk borrowed many Campanian slaves from Caudini, who could rebuild the city. Not only did they complete the city’s planning, but they also found good stone materials for building the city on the north bank of the Volturno River, which is very close to the city’s location. After six long years, they finally completed the new city of Beneventum under the joint efforts of all the tribes in Beneventum. Lesguk then invited the group of priests of the Samnite Tribal Alliance to hold a sacrificial ceremony in Beneventum to celebrate the new city, thus triggering the events that followed.

Naturally, Garni didn’t say anything good about Lesguk and the other tribes in Beneventum. He even accuses Lesguk, who proposed the construction of a new city, of having long prepared to go against Theonia. At the same time, he said, “The drawings of the city designed by the Campanian slaves included the idea of an acropolis, which so intrigued the people of Beneventum that they simply encompassed the end of this line of hills to the east that ran parallel to the Sabato River, which accounted for half of the area of Beneventum and also built an inner city atop the hill.”

Since then, the city of Beneventum has had the Volturno River as a barrier to the north, the Sabato River to the west flowing through the front of the city, the hills to the south serving as a barrier, and only the east remaining relatively flat… Thus, this is why Alexius led his team to attack from here.

Alexius’ gaze crossed the seven-metre-high stone wall and at the hill that rose from south to north inside the city that blocked his view. It was at least thirty metres high, with no lush tree on top, only densely packed houses and another stone wall atop the hill… This was one of the reasons why he didn’t boldly order the twenty thousand soldiers to attack the city immediately, as they had just completed an arduous journey to reach this place.

“Commander, we have deployed the ballistae.”

“Start shooting,” Alexius gave the order. After a moment, ten stone projectiles roared and hit the city wall, causing the Hirpini warriors to exclaim in surprise.

The deterrence caused by Alexius leading his army to attack Beneventum led to a confrontation with the main force led by Lesguk, reducing the troops harassing the Theonian army building the camp.

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