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Even after Xanticles’ troops decreased to seven thousand, it was still three and a half times more than the ones Segobani led.

Despite the Caudini warriors successfully repelling the enemy’s attack for two consecutive days, it came at a significant cost in casualties, and the city of Abella suffered further damage.  Because of that, Segobani had begun contemplating retreating when he suddenly received the dire news of Beneventum’s fall. That night, he covertly led his army to withdraw to Caudium, leaving behind the people of Abella and Suessula.

However, the Nucerian warriors, fueled by hatred and having suffered significant losses, strongly opposed this decision. Xanticles, too, refused to accept surrender as he had to follow Davos’ instructions. With Abella occupying a too important position as a small town connecting Caudium and Beneventum on the eastern plains of Campania, they must put it under complete control. And Xanticles believed it would be better for them to occupy the town to prevent potential troubles in managing it later.

Therefore, they launched a direct assault on the city and swiftly entered, fully occupying Abella.

The Nucerian warriors then brought the Captured Caudini warriors to the corpses of their former chieftains and used them as a sacrifice.

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

To the east, after Alexius rested for a day in Beneventum and briefly dealt with some matters of the city, he asked Polet to detach his troops and station them in this city. Meanwhile, he would lead the rest of the army to march westward through the mountain pass and arrive at Caudium.

After Xanticles captured Abella, he also marched eastward without stopping and successfully met up with Alexius in Caudium with their combined force of nearly thirty thousand.

With Caudium having fewer than two thousand defenders, panic spread among the various tribes in the city. Some chieftains even joined forces to suggest to Segobani the possibility of surrendering to the Theonians to protect their people.

Segobani immediately declined without even thinking about it.

The reluctant chieftains continued to argue with him, but to their surprise, this only angered Segobani. Segobani had become increasingly irritated due to his repeated defeats, so he had his men capture these chieftains, expelled the others, and told them they would fight the Theonian to the end.

This madness had caused some tribes to forsake him, resulting in many of them sneaking out of the city that night to communicate privately with the Theonians.

How could Alexius miss such a good opportunity? Thus, he immediately launched an attack the next day.

Caudium quickly fell, and Segobani died in battle atop the city wall. At this moment, the two strongest tribes in the Samnite Tribal Alliance, the Hirpini, were completely conquered, with Caudium mostly conquered as the remaining Caudini towns in the north, such as Capua and Calatia, couldn’t even support themselves, and it was only a matter of time before they were conquered.

When both the Theonian army met in Caudium, Konteruk and Badani had mustered all the warriors they could, numbering five thousand warriors, and intended to make a surprise attack on the Theonian army in the east.

Unfortunately for them, after occupying Aequum, the cautious Kapus refrained from continuing the advance into the mountains. Instead, he continuously deployed scouts to thoroughly explore the surrounding terrain and environment while stabilising the local order.

Because of that, Kapus managed to detect the Samnite army’s movement, allowing him to prepare for defence immediately.

The surprise attack of the two Samnite tribes eventually turned into a frontal assault, and after some casualties, they had to choose to retreat.

Following that, the news of Beneventum and Caudium’s fall came one after another. In shock, Konteruk and Badani had to lead their respective armies and retreat to their tribal territories to prepare for the upcoming attack of the Theonians.

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

“Your Majesty, I bring you good news! The army that Xanticles led had not only captured Nola but also defeated Caudini’s main force that came to reinforce Nola!…” Tolmides hurriedly walked into the command tent and exclaimed excitedly.

“Oh!” Davos immediately took the battle report. A smile suddenly spread on his face as he carefully read it and laughed, “This is indeed good news! With the failure of the Caudini and the Nucerians adding to our fold, the victor of this Samnite War is decided! And Xanticles has made a great contribution! Isn’t this his first time leading an army independently?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Xanticles was close to retiring from the military before the Ministry of Military temporarily enlisted him to head to Lucania to form the reserve brigade. He then went to lead the war in Campania because of the outbreak of the Samnite War…” Tolmides had a selfish reason for speaking in such detail. He and Xanticles were quite close; both came to Magna Graecia together back then, so he hoped that Xanticles, already over sixty years old, would still have a promising career in the kingdom.

Davos knew Tolmides was doing this for Xanticles but didn’t care about such small schemes. Instead, he sighed as he said regrettingly, “Whether it was the capture of Nola or defeating Caudini’s main force, it shows Xanticles’ excellent ability in commanding! I shouldn’t have let him become some kind of military inspector in the beginning, wasting all his years in vain! It seems my understanding of everyone is still not enough…”

Tolmides remained silent, but his heart was filled with joy for his friend.

Davos sighed for a while and then praised loudly, “This strategic plan against the Samnites that the Ministry of Military made is also excellent! Alexius in the east, Xanticles and our Campanian allies in the west, and Abellinum and Potentia in the centre, who cooperated closely and attacking in turn, hitting the Samnite who can’t take care of the west if they look to the east, and can’t take care of the centre if they look to the west, failure is inevitable!”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Henipolis also said with a smile, “As you once said, while the Samnite may be a hungry wolf, we Theonians are lions. Even if the vicious wolf manages to bite the lion a few times, it won’t inflict significant harm. However, with a single swipe of its paw, the lion can diminish half of the wolf’s life.”

“We’ll have to be a little more greedy and take the whole life of this vicious wolf,” Davos joked. He then continued, “Herni, get the map of the Samnite region and set it up.”

Henipolis nodded and then went to the bookshelf filled with various documents and materials, with Crotokatax also coming to help him.

“Tolmides,” Davos continued, “Regarding the letter from the Ministry of Military about the increase in the number of armies involved in the Samnite War straining the supply of military rations. After consideration, we would take on the burden of supplying the military rations for the armies led by Alexius and Xanticles from now.”

“Your Majesty, do you mean…for us to transport the military rations from Rome to Campania?” Tolmides asked this only out of politeness as he wasn’t surprised as the grain hoarded in Rome was indeed ample. They had not only seized military supplies from Rome but also looted from almost all the residences of the Roman nobles and collected grains from the captured Latin and Etruscan city-states. The quantity was astonishing as it was enough to supply the Theonain army in Latium and the people of Rome for six months.

“You led those young staff officers to draw up a more detailed plan for the food supply based on the army’s situation in Campania, as well as the food and transportation situation in Rome. Afterwards, give it to me to review, and send it to Asistes so he can take care of the arrangements.” Davos instructed.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Davos pondered momentarily before saying, “It seems we should also send someone to demand food supplies from our Etruscan and Latin allies…”

“Father, isn’t the reserve in Rome still sufficient?! And there will be another harvest in two months. With most of the farms outside of Rome, Veii, Gabii, and so on undamaged and now being well cared for by the Romans, it is believed that we would be able to harvest enough grain not only to supply the armies of Latium and Campania but even the armies of Sicily, so there is no need at all to demand grain from the new allies who are joining us, which would just deepen their discontent.” Crotokatax persuaded out of concern.

Davos smiled at him and said, “I am glad you didn’t remain idle in Rome and have gained a detailed understanding of the areas we occupy, which is how it should be! However, the reason we would still send people to demand food from these allies isn’t because we are in short supply of food, but to solve their doubt.”

“Solving their doubt?!” Crotokatax himself felt confused.

Davos smiled and patiently explained, “In the past, Rome had wars year after year and often asked their allies for food and soldiers, making them used to it. Yet despite these city-states defecting to us now, we have remained fighting alone and never asking them for help. I am afraid they will be bewildered and may even worry if we will turn against them after we destroy Rome.”

Crotokatax suddenly realised, “So asking them for food is to show them that Theonia does indeed see them as allies.”

Davos continued, “That is only one purpose. In addition, I will require the envoy not to impose any mandatory quantity when demanding. In this way, the amount of grain offered by each ally will be just enough for us to make a rough judgment as to how much sincerity they have towards Theonia!”

Crotokatax was lost in thought.

Davos then glanced at the map on the table and said, “Croto, you’ve just heard about how Xanticles led his army to a great victory against the Caudini’s main force in Nola. In addition, Alexius has already reached Beneventum, and Kapus is attacking the Hirpini from the east…it is only a matter of time before we defeat the Samnites. So, if I were to ask you how to deal with the conquered Samnite mountains, what would you do with them?”

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