ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 282 The conspiracy of the Maple Alliance

Heraclea and Metapontum had both sent troops to participate in the last siege of Brindisi, so the two consuls and Umarchus also learned a painful lesson.

Davos agreed. Although he vaguely felt that something was wrong, he couldn't tell what it was exactly.Because no traces of the enemy were found in the direction of Ugentum, at least the possibility of another front and rear flanking attack by the Maple coalition was ruled out.

In order to catch up with the enemy, the entire army moved quickly, and all the baggage trains stayed in the city of Manduria. At the same time, 3000 Manduria defenders were taken away, bringing the total number of Tarantum troops to 13000. The number of soldiers is as high as more than 3.

The whole army followed yesterday's marching order to speed up and chase northward. After traveling ten miles, they received a report from the reconnaissance cavalry: Maple's coalition forces entered the northern mountains.

Why would such a huge army not go to Brindisi at the front, but instead go into the mountains? !Davers was a little puzzled.Umarchus, who was beside him, pondered for a moment, with a look of astonishment on his face.

"They may want to go to the Anlern Hills!" Diomiras, who came after hearing the news, said nervously.

After listening to the two of them, Davers realized that the corridor between the east and west coasts is not all thorny, overgrown, rugged mountains, but there is a section of hills between the mountains, and the road is not counted. Too difficult to walk, it is possible to pass through it and reach the eastern part of Tarentum.In the early days, the Mesapi people often sprang out from there to harass the Tarantum people. Later, the Tarantum people gradually became stronger and built defensive camps and sentry towers near the exit of the hills to strengthen the investigation. The tired Messapians were often repulsed by the Tarantums, who were waiting for work.Later, under the influence of the Greeks, the Mesapi people gradually became civilized and were not used to fighting in the mountains. Coupled with the establishment of Manduria, it was easier to attack the base of Tarantum. Over the years, the Mesapi have never used the Anlern Hills to break into the territory of Tarantum.

"That is to say... the defensive camp there has been abandoned?!" Davos immediately realized this.

"Uh..." Yumakas was still pondering his words, but Dionysus had already said, "The camp is not abandoned, it's just that after Archita's army was completely wiped out, the Mesapi-Puchetti coalition forces launched a massive attack. , most of the people outside the city have hid in the city, and of course the soldiers in the camp have also withdrawn, so the Mesapi can easily enter our land, destroy the fields we are about to harvest, burn our villages, and kill those who have not yet left People! We must catch up immediately and stop them! Fight them off!"

Diomelas looked excited, and Yumakas also looked worried, but Davos was unmoved. He paced back and forth, his brain thinking quickly.

"Why are you still hesitating! If we don't act, we won't be able to catch up!" Diomelas urged loudly.

"Why are you chasing them!" Davers stopped and reminded with a serious expression: "Don't forget what you said before, 'If the enemy retreats, we will immediately attack Brindisi and force the Mesapi You have to fight us.'"

Diomelas was at a loss for words, and Eumacus hurriedly explained: "The situation is different now. Messapian's army will rush into our territory of Tarantum and wreak havoc. This will cause panic among the people and may even attack. Tarantum City!"

"Although the Maple coalition forces are large in number, the city of Tarantum is not easy to capture, but Brindisi can be easily obtained." Daves pointed to the front and said earnestly: "The heavy infantry is chasing the infantry. If you want to catch up, It's very difficult to go up. Instead of passively chasing the Mepp coalition and being led around by the nose, we should take the initiative to attack and capture Brindisi. If they still don't come, we will continue to attack Igratia to the north! I don’t believe it, they won’t come here for a decisive battle!”

Yumakas bit his lip, unable to make a decision for a moment.Diomelas still shook his head stubbornly: "No! It's not your land of Dionia that the enemy wants to destroy. Of course you don't feel bad! But that is our land of Tarantum. I would rather capture Brindi later." West, we must drive them out of Tarentum first."

Upon hearing this, Davos also became angry: "Can you blame me! When discussing, you didn't mark it on the map or explain it yourself. There is also a damn thing that the Anleen Hills can pass through the mountains! I You are not allowed to go because you said the roads there are complicated and the terrain is unfamiliar. If the enemy sets up an ambush there——"

Speaking of this, Davos's brain was aroused, and he caught the flash of inspiration: "I understand! I understand! Because of the cavalry! You said before that the Mesapi cavalry wanted to intercept and kill Tarantum The reconnaissance cavalry caused great losses to your cavalry. But this time, we have not been attacked by the Messapian cavalry until now. Why? Could it be that all the Messapian cavalry got the plague and died?"

Davos looked around at everyone confidently and said with emphasis: "No! The Messapians want us to know where their army is going. They want us to follow them because they must have set up an ambush in the Anlern Hills! So we We cannot go through the hills of Anlern, and we cannot bury the only army that can save Tarantum there!”

These words moved Uumachus and left Diomelas silent.

"I agree with Lord Davos! Let's attack Brindisi!" Triphias said loudly.

"I agree too." Tudeples also nodded in agreement.

The clear statements of the two army commanders allowed Davers' proposal to be adopted.

Diomelas jumped on his horse with a look of unwillingness.

"Lord Diomelas!" Davos shouted: "Please remember that Dionia is here to help Tarantum, not to accept humiliation! As the governor of Dionia, At the same time, he was elected as the commander-in-chief of this expedition. If the bad behavior of disrespecting the commander and disobeying orders occurs again, I think there will be no need for the coalition forces to exist!"

Daves' words were resounding, and the surroundings suddenly fell into a deathly silence. Even Trifias and Tudorpress were shocked by the toughness of this seemingly gentle young consul.

Umarchus had to cough a few times and said, "Lord Diomelas is also worried about——"

Daves waved his hand to interrupt him and said coldly: "Why is the Dionysian army always victorious? It's because of discipline and obedience! If an army of more than 3 people does not have unified command and disobeys orders, it will surely It's a mess! Since I knew it would be a failure, why bother to go out again!"

Under Daves' intimidation, under the gaze of everyone, Diomelas blushed, and under invisible pressure, he finally squeezed out a sentence: "Got it."

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On the hills of Anleen, King Tremoni of Puchetti and the consuls of the city-states of Mesapi were looking forward to it, but the news from the spies dampened their enthusiasm.

"What are you talking about?! The Greeks didn't come this way, but continued east...Brindisi, their goal is Brindisi!" He cared more about the seaside city, because to the various consuls of Mesapi, Brindisi was just an ally, but to Tremony it was a part of his newly-acquired territory, the source of his wealth. source.

"Don't worry, King Pucheti." Udia Consul Paximerus persuaded: "Our cavalry went to Brindisi yesterday. We believe that the residents have temporarily left before the Greeks arrived there. Even if the Greeks enter the city, they won't get anything. If they dare to move to Brindisi again, we don't mind getting a group of Greek slaves when we recapture it! I think we should wait a little longer and let the cavalry Make the fire that burns the villages in Tarantum territory even brighter! I don’t believe that after the people of Tarantum learn this news, they can continue to go east regardless!”

Paximerus' words calmed down Tremoni. He thought for a while and said viciously: "Kill some Greeks captured in Brindisi, throw the bodies on the road, and see how the Greeks react. !"

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"Report!...More than a dozen thick smoke rose from the Anleen Hills, and the entire sky was blackened. There were many corpses of Tarantum people along the way, including women and children..."

"I just need you to monitor the enemy's movements and observe whether the enemy has come out of the hills!" Davers interrupted the scouting cavalry bluntly: "Go back and tell your captain, and send a Dionian cavalry back to report the situation next time !"

The Tarantum scout rode away angrily.

Davos only looked at Yumakas who was silent beside him, and reminded again: "The Mesapi are tempting us to go to the Anleen Hills, we can't go!"

Eumacus frowned and remained silent.

Davos said no more. He turned around and whispered to the herald Thormid: "Notify the team officers in the front row to speed up the march and stay away from that dangerous place as soon as possible."

The mercenaries led by Zantiparis have all been turned into reserve citizens because of their repeated military exploits.Military officer Felicius organized them all into the vacant first and second legions, and Zantiparis served as the acting captain of the fifth legion of the sixth legion of the first legion.For a reserve citizen, this position is on the high side, but most of the team officers and generals in the army were members of the Persian Expeditionary Force. They felt that Zantiparis' position was low. After all, he was one of the five leaders. one.So once he becomes an official citizen, his position will probably be promoted rapidly.

And Tormid used to have the reputation of "the first herald" among the mercenaries. He could handle the relationship with all parties well, convey the orders of the leaders in a timely and accurate manner, and make even the stubborn team officers accept it. and execution, winning the trust of the leaders.

(End of this chapter)