Ansitanos said his judgment without hesitation, “Maybe in their eyes, Theonia's chance of winning is not big. In fact, Carthage didn't even pay any attention to us, Theonia, as even Hanno didn't come to meet me…”
Davos honestly did not expect Carthage, which was able to fight with Rome in his previous life's history, would be so weak. However, thinking of it again, Carthage and Rome's battle for supremacy happened a hundred years later, so Carthage's development a hundred years earlier is naturally not comparable. Thinking about how Carthage, who he is fond of (mainly due to Hannibal's influence), actually looked down on Theonia had made him a bit depressed. He then noted it in his heart, “One day, you will regret your contempt of Theonia!”
“Lord Ansitanos, do you think Dionysius instigated the Samnites to invade Potentia?” Davos asked to confirm his judgment.
“I heard about that as soon as I came back.” Ansitanos drank a mouthful of water and continued to say, “Hmm…I think that it is plausible. You should know that Syracuse and Campania had close relations since the time of Gelon, with both sides having frequent trade exchanges and Syracuse even sending troops several times to help the Greek city-states in Campania to defend against the Samnites' attack… And most of Dionysius' mercenaries had come from Campania, so Dionysius should be more familiar with the Samnites in the mountains of Campania. Thus it is not impossible for him to persuade the Samnites as long as he is willing to pay the price. Moreover, I am afraid that the Samnites has long been worried about the powerful Theonia.”
Reminded by Ansitanos, Davos suddenly remembered that since Potentia's joining of the Theonia Alliance, the Samnites’ invasion of Lucania has stopped happening. Obviously, it is due to their fear of Theonia…
Davos secretly regretted that he had focused on stabilising the union in the past few years and had devoted too little effort to the situation around Theonia and the Mediterranean as a whole.
‘This is a lesson for me!’ Davos warned himself and then asked Ansitanos, “Where else do you think Dionysius might use such plot like the Samnites against Theonia?”
Hearing him, Ansitanos stroked his grey beard and began to ponder. After some time passed, he suddenly opened his eyes and said, “Taranto! There is a possibility that it would be Taranto!”
Davos became surprised, ‘Indeed, Taranto is very likely!’ Syracuse and Taranto have few contacts with each other, but as an ally of Sparta, the mother-state of Taranto, both sides have good relations, which is likely to lead… Furthermore, due to Theonia taking Heraclea and Metapontum from Taranto(most Tarantines think so), the relationship between the two sides has become a bit stiff, so much so that despite the alliance agreement, there are still some small frictions between them from time to time. This time, since Theonia declared war on Locri, Taranto, as Theonia's ally, has not expressed its support or opposition as before. There is not even a single movement, which is not normal!
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The following day, the Senate of Theonia immediately sent an envoy to Taranto at the request of Davos.
The Tarantine Council became impatient at the Theonian envoy, who kept asking for their opinion on their “declaration of war on Locri” and stated that Taranto needed to rest and recuperate from the last war.
The envoy could only return to Thurii and report the attitude of Taranto to the Senate in detail. Most of the statesmen became relieved, but Davos didn't relax his vigilance. He then sent someone to remind the archons of Metapontum and Heraclea to improve their defence against Taranto and asked Aristias to pay more attention to Taranto… That is all he can do; after all, Taranto has not yet done anything unusual so far.
At this time, Davos focused more on the Lucanian region in the north.
The next day, the third legion sent an urgent report to Thurii.
Compared with the scouts of Potentia, the reconnaissance soldiers of the third legion are much better, as they have all undergone rigorous training under the reconnaissance brigade of Izam. Izam, under the guidance of Davos, combined with his own experience in scouting operations in the past few years, has worked out a complete set of training methods for surveillance, mountain climbing and wading through water, ambush, camouflage, scouting…and much other training. The reconnaissance brigade even has several ways to judge the enemy's strength, such as they can infer it from the size of the enemy camp, the number of tents and the number of supplies. Of course, the most direct way is to count the number of people, so most of the soldiers in the reconnaissance brigade are from citizens engaged in bookkeeping, banking, trade and other industries that require strong mathematic skills.
In the military reform of the year before last, Davos transferred personnel from the reconnaissance brigade of Izam and gave each legion a squad of 100 scouts, thus giving them eyes and ears. Since Italia is a mountainous region, scouting horses were often useless.
This military report from the third legion described the Samnites in more detail: …according to the intelligence we gathered, the Samnites' army assembled in Copsa is composed of the whole Hirpini, Pentri and a part of Caudini warriors. Its current military strength has reached more than 40,000. Seeing that the Samnites' camp is not expanding in the past few days and the Samnites entering the city of Copsa from the north has significantly reduced, it is highly likely that the Samnites would attack in the next two or three days! With the urgent situation, we, the third legion, requested to carry out “emergency command*” and asked the Senate to send more reinforcements!
-Signed: Alexius, Legatus of the third legion.
(In a state of emergency, when the war situation is complex and rapidly changing, repeatedly requesting the Senate of Theonia for every major military operation would only delay the battle and even put the legion in danger. Davos realising that he could not take care of the whole territory every time after the expansion of Theonia’s territory had formulated this important military regulation to give the legatus in the battlefield the autonomy of military action, to avoid sluggish and rigid command that would kill the desire and motivation of the legion commanders and soldiers!)
‘40,000?!’ The statesmen of the Senate were shocked by Samnites' strength, but they still argued about whether to send more reinforcements. However, Davos has finally made up his mind. He stood up and said firmly, “Everyone, the military situation in Potentia is urgent, and we can't delay any longer! The huge force of more than 40,000 Samnites is beyond the resistance of the third legion and Pamot's army! Thus in order to prevent the Samnites from defeating and occupying Potentia and taking advantage of the situation to enter our Lucanian territory, I decided to lead the first and second legions to reinforce Potentia and try to repel the enemy in the shortest time!”
“I support the archon's decision!” As soon as Davos' voice fell, Vespa jumped with joy, and Hemon shouted his support. Still, others were quiet for the time being.
The status of Davos naturally did not allow the statesmen to remain silent for long. Soon after, Cornelius stood up and asked, “Are we still going to attack Locri?”
“Temporarily stop! The fourth and fifth legions are to return to their post and stand by. At the same time, send envoys to our allied city-states such as Crotone and Scylletium to explain the situation. I believed that they could understand our situation, but-” Before Davos finished, Kunogelata anxiously interrupted, “But Syracuse may attack Magna Graecia while our main force goes north!”
Kunogelata's words aroused discussions among the statesmen.
Amintas shouted, “It would be best if Syracuse were to come, as we won't have to go to Sicily anymore and just beat them directly in Magna Graecia!”
“But when they come, Lord Amintas, you and the bravest and strongest citizens of Theonia may still be playing hide and seek with the Samnites in the mountains of Lucania!” Scambras retorted.
“We will immediately defeat the Samnites and come back soon!” Amintas argued loudly.
“That's hard to say. In the mountains, we Greeks won't be able to catch up with those Samnites who are good at climbing. So if you can't catch them, how will you beat them?” Scambras retorted uncompromisingly.
“Old man, you should understand that it is the Samnites who are attacking us. There is no need for us to chase them at all as they will take the initiative to fight us!”
“Everyone, please keep quiet!” Davos shouted, “The situation is clear. If we don't act, I am afraid that Syracuse would only watch in Sicily and wait for the right moment. After all, we will still suffer because the threat of the Samnites is right in front of us, so if we just sit idly by, the situation in Lucania would be unimaginable…” Davos paused for a moment to give the statesmen time to think. He then continued, “Therefore, we can only seize every minute and seconds, concentrate our forces and give priority to the enemy that we can strike! Thus, no matter how far the enemy comes from, we must concentrate our forces on one attack to ensure the greatest victory!”
The statesmen began whispering again.
Kunogelata asked again, “Archon, what should we do if Syracuse were to really attack Magna Graecia after you leave?!”
Davos was prepared for this. After calming down, he slowly told the statesmen his speculation and plan. “If Syracuse wants to attack Magna Graecia, Dionysius should not dream of taking Magna Graecia without having more than 50,000 men! And with such a large number of men and materials, it would take a long time for them to land safely on the land of Magna Graecia…”
