“Hurry up! Go! If you don’t listen to orders, you will be punished according to the military….the military law!!” Solikos roared with beads of sweat and tears running down on his face.
The rest of the Theonian cavalries finally turned around.
Seemingly exhausted his strength, Solikos fell with his right fist still firmly pressed to his chest.
The blue sky, the white clouds and the dazzling sun shining on him were so warm…that a smile showed on Solikos’ face…
“Long live Theonia…” He murmured. At this moment, the thing that he thought was not Thurii, who had given birth to him and raised him for decades, but Theonia Union, which had been established for only a few years.
And when the enemy’s spear stabbed him in the chest, Solikos did not dodge and just closed his eyes. But when he closed his eyes, what he saw was the beautiful Elysium that revealed itself in its entirety…
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In Terina, there are only about 500 soldiers left in the city and no other people, making the city almost empty.
Why does this happen?
It is due to Siprus proposal to send most of the soldiers to participate in the battle at the ecclesia, so when the citizens questioned him, “If the enemy suddenly attacked Terina during the war, how would we defend the city with so few soldiers?”
He answered, “Let the people temporarily move to Clampetia and be sheltered by the Theonia Union and return after we are victorious.”
In the end, the ecclesia passed this seemingly absurd proposal due to the Syracusan camp was not far from the riverbank, and Syracuse’s huge fleet is lingering in the bay, like tigers lurking in the grass, ready to pounce at any time. This has frightened the citizens day and night, and the only thing they hope is that the victory of this war will eliminate this huge threat.
With the consent of Asistes, the acting Praetor of Clampetia, the more than 4,000 Terinians went north for refuge with their food and wealth.
So after Siprus led 8,500 soldiers to leave, only less than 500 soldiers were left in the city. They then closed the city fate and monitored the movement outside the city at all times.
“Look, the Syracusan fleet!” A soldier shouted nervously, pointing to the sea outside the port.
These two days, ships from Syracuse came and went at the entrance of the Allaro River, causing the Terinians to get used to it. But this time, not only transport ships had come, but also warships at an astonishing number, which looks like no less than 200.
“There are soldiers on board!” When the Syracusan fleet sailed into the Allaro River and gotten close to the city of Terina, the soldiers at the top of the city wall could clearly see that the fleets entering the river were two ships abreast, one right behind the other and that each ship was filled with soldiers.
“I…I am afraid that they have no less than 10,000 soldiers!”
“It is impossible to defend the city with our meagre number!”
“We should just…retreat now. Anyway, Siprus said that we could retreat if we were unable to hold it anymore. Just like how Athens gave up their home when faced with the invasion of the Persian army, and returned later to rebuild their homes.”
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The Terinian soldiers shouted in panic but soon discovered that the huge fleet did not anchor on the riverbank near Terina. Instead, they went straight upstream.
The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, but Phromelas – a Terinian strategos, who was watching the two long lines in the Allaro River, looked dignified as a terrible thought came into his mind.
“Immediately send someone to tell the alliance commander that tens of thousands of Syracusan soldiers are on their way to the battlefield. Hopefully, they would-” Phromelas said until here, then he suddenly thought of something making him unable to continue.
According to the scout’s report, the alliance troops have already begun fighting Syracuse, so the alliance should have invested all their troops now. Then even if the commander learned about this, what could he do to stop the enemy’s reinforcement?
Looking at the equally nervous herald, Phromelas tried his best to calm down and said, “Go!”
“…yes!” Just as the herald was about to climb down the city wall, Phromelas said with caution, “After reporting this, you need to stay near the battlefield and immediately inform us once there is a result about the battle!”
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“Faster! Faster!!” Leptines ordered the sailors oaring the ship.
Under the fast-paced drum beatings, the dozens of sailors rowed the wooden oars desperately. At the forefront is a 50 oar-warship, moving rapidly on the water. Furthermore, with the addition of the southeast breeze, the speed of the whole fleet did not slow down even when going upstream.
Despite the fleet’s speed, Leptines still looked serious. As the navarch, he almost lost his brother – Dionysius’ trust because of the disastrous defeat in the naval battle with Carthage a few years ago. Therefore, at the start of the war, he secretly decided to prove his abilities to Dionysius and to the Syracusans, who ridiculed him for getting his position through blood rather than by ability. That is why he must arrive in time for this battle, as he could no longer disappoint his brother Dionysius and shame himself!
“At the front is where the rivers converge!” Shouted the sailor who was at the top of the mast.
Leptines hurried to the bow of the ship. In front of him was a calm river, dozens of metres wide that branch to the left and the right.
Leptines’ serious face finally showed a trace of excitement, “Prepare to turn the rudder to the left!”
In fact, even without his orders, the experienced helmsman was already adjusting the course of the warship.
Seeing the warships turning smoothly into the river on the left and continuing to pierce through the waves, Leptines finally revealed a smile. After all, he knew that according to the map Dionysius sent yesterday, they would land 2 kilometres ahead on the right side of the river, where there is a flat riverbank.
In order to ensure the smooth landing, Leptines did not even include a trireme in his fleet this time because a trireme was too large and too long, which was inconvenient in docking on the riverbank, and would easily hinder the navigation of the other ships.
“Enamenus!”
“Milord.” Replied the Campanian mercenary leader who was on board the ship.
“Get ready. The rest will be up to you!” Leptines encouraged him.
Unlike the soldiers of the city-states, these experience mercenaries could fight alone without relying on formations, which was why Dionysius chose them for the landing. For this war, Dionysius worked hard and considered some details into his plan.
However, Leptines disliked these mercenaries, especially the Celts and Numidians, as he believed that these aborigines were savages and bloodthirsty, slaughtering indiscriminately, plundering and disobedient. So much so that if he were not thinking of this war’s victory, he wouldn’t even want to get close to them.
“Hahaha! My brothers could no longer wait to kick the Magna Graecian’s asses! This is arguably the easiest battle we’ve fought for Lord Dionysius!” Enamenus laughed loudly. He wanted to get Dionysius’ appreciation by making a huge contribution. After all, Macias, who had come from Campania and was a mercenary and has become a courtier of Dionysius, is his role model.
“Leader, you are right. We only need to charge at the enemy one time to make them kneel and surrender!” The mercenaries on the ship said with confidence.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dionysius was indeed cautious. But he didn’t expect that even after repeatedly reminding the leaders of the Numidian cavalries and the Celtic cavalries to assist the right flank before the battle, these aggressive races returned to their old habits. After defeating the alliance’s cavalries, they were so busy chasing, killing and scavenging for loot that they had long forgotten Dionysius’ orders.
As a result, the right flank led by Phidias retreated in the absence of support, causing the whole right flank, which was still struggling, to almost squeeze out of their arc formation.
But what Dionysius didn’t expect was: In the centre, the 15,000 Syracusans elites heavy infantry, on which he had placed his greatest hopes, were slowly falling back against a similar number of Theonian legionaries, except at the beginning when they are a stalemate for a short time. And the retreat of the centre had also affected the left flank.
After receiving the urgent reports from the left, centre and right, Dionysius realised that the whole front was retreating. Yes, the whole battlefront! So he no longer had the leisure mood he had at the beginning of the battle. Then he ordered his adjutant – Damocles, and his retainers to stand tightly behind the rear of the centre formation, shouting to the soldiers, encouraging them to fight and push back the enemy’s attack.
However, the great noise they created by shouting was almost negligible amidst the screams and clashes of spears and shields. And the centre is still slowly retreating.
“What’s happening?! Why haven’t the reinforcement of Phacipessas arrived yet?!” Dionysius became so anxious that he questioned loudly, and his annoyed mood affected the warhorse he was riding, which kept swinging its head and neighing.
“Milord, the herald has just returned and said that the troops led by Phacipessas are only a kilometre away from the right flank.” Damocles answered immediately.
“Hurry and go!” Dionysius pointed at him and continued, “Have Phacipessas speed up their march and guided his troops towards the right and attack the enemy’s flank!”
“Yes!”
“Where is Leptines’ fleet?”
“Leptines had acted quickly this time, and they are about to land!” Hearing the news that the reinforcements were about to go into battle, Dionysius relaxed a bit, “Beat the drum and blow the salpinx, so that the soldiers not only hold on but also start preparing for the attack!”