Hearing this, Davos calmed down and listened carefully. It seemed that the voice outside was much lower, calming him down. He then yawned, “It seems that the battle is over. Both of you can go to sleep.”
Tolmides and Rodom then left.
“ It would be better to keep Amintas’ strong desire to fight until the battle against Syracuse…” Davos murmured as he went to sleep.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Early the following morning, Pamot and Polet came to visit Davos.
After a friendly conversation, the two left with satisfaction.
And Davos, who is also satisfied, quickly called Alexius, the legatus of the third legion, and said to him, “Just now, the great chieftain of Potentia came here and offered to hand over the city of Poseidonia to Theonia.”
“That's wonderful!” Alexius said excitedly.
“Indeed, I didn't expect him to make such a decisive decision. Many Lucanians look down on Pamot, saying that he was neither as brave as Akpir nor as clever as Cincinnag and a coward who only stays at home and sleep with his wife. But those two men have perished while Potentia continued to exist! Those who could understand the general situation and follow it are the one who really has great wisdom. Pamot is an amazing person to be able to make such a decision and give up when he can.” Davos was impressed.
He then looked at Alexius and continued, “I called you today because I have an important task for you to do.”
Hearing this, Alexius immediately sat straight.
“Although the Samnites were defeated, there are still nearly 20,000 defeated Samnites who managed to flee. From the investigation of the mountain reconnaissance unit, in addition to the three larger tribes retreating to the north, the other defeated warriors were scattered in the mountains around Potentia, suffering from hunger and disease. But their presence would hamper the plans of the Potentian tribes to return to their settlements. Thus I have decided for the third legion to station here and eliminate these Samnites. And Polet will lead the Potentians to cooperate with you.”
As soon as Davos finished speaking, Alexius impatiently said, “Milord, now that the war with the Samnites is over, and the Syracusan army is attacking our Magna Graecia, we should instead return to Thurii immediately and concentrate our forces against Syracuse.”
“There is no need for you to worry about Syracuse as I have already made arrangements. To tell you the truth, I always thought that the Samnites would be a headache opponent when we expand our union northward in the future. But unexpectedly, they have gathered a large number of troops this time and took the initiative to leave their familiar mountains and attack Lucania on a large scale. Under the blessing of Hades, the Samnites suffered a disastrous defeat, while we only suffered a minimal loss. Thus in the face of a wounded beast, what we should do next is to seize this opportunity and take advantage of its weakness and kill it, rather than letting it go and make trouble for us once it recovers.
That is why the third legion must eliminate and capture the Samnites that are stranded here as much as possible, rather than letting them escape back to the north. While completing this task, you can try attacking the Samnite’s mountains and see if we could get any further harvest. Still, you should be careful not to expand the scale of the war and usher in new enemies! You must understand that Theonia's current situation cannot support two fronts!” Davos warned solemnly.
“Understood. I will try my best to expand our achievements!” Alexius was excited after understanding Davos' intention. After all, conquering an area by independently leading an army is the greatest goal of any commander.
“I have also found a good helper for you.” Said Davos. Then he shouted, “Martius, let him in.”
Alexius looked curiously at the door and saw a thin young man.
“Grand legatus.” The young man then gave a standard military salute.
“Phryntor, the senior centurion of the reconnaissance unit, and the one who planned the defeat of the Samnite camp!” After returning the military salute, Davos looked at him and couldn't help exclaim, “Remarkable! Truly remarkable! The victory you created saved Theonia time and allowed us to focus on Syracuse! On behalf of the people of Theonia, I thank you. And your name shall be remembered in the Hall of Valour!”
Phryntor was excited and also embarrassed by Davos' praise. So he quickly and humbly said, “Milord, I was inspired by the previous plan you made to capture the city of Aprustum!”
‘Winning without getting conceited!’ Davos nodded and became more and more satisfied with the young man, “I will transfer two centuria from the mountain reconnaissance unit, with a total of 400 men, to your command to assist the third legion and Potentia's army in tracking down the remnant Samnite warriors and invade the nearby Samnite territory. Can you accomplish this task?”
“I can!” Phryntor replied with confidence.
Davos nodded quietly. He then turned around and said to the legatus of the third legion, “Alexius, are you satisfied with the assistant I sent you?”
“I couldn't be more satisfied!” Alexius laughed, “But this increased my pressure. After all, if I still don't get a decent result even with the help of such a hero, I would be embarrassed to go back to Thurii.”
“It's good if you understand this.” Davos smiled and continued, “If possible, I hope you can capture Compsa.”
‘Compsa?’ This is the first time Alexius heard this place.
“That's a Samnite town closest to Potentia, about 20 kilometres away.” Phryntor answered Alexius. As a scout who had stayed here for nearly a day, he would naturally first learn about his surroundings.
“This is also what the great chieftain of Potentia hopes! If we captured Compsa, Potentia will be completely under our protection and will no longer worry about the Samnite's invasion…” Davos further explained. When Pamot made this request to him in the morning, Davos understood that Potentia was determined to be completely dependent on Theonia Union.
“Naturally, there is no need to force yourselves, and you can just do what you can. The next battle in the south will be very fierce, and the supplies will be tight. That is why you should pay special attention to this problem and not induce another big war in the north!” Davos emphasised this sentence once more.
Alexius and Phryntor looked at each other and immediately expressed their understanding.
“One more thing…Pamot hopes to build a road to strengthen ties with our territories in Lucania. As this is a good thing, I have agreed and would let Bagul take over this matter while having you, Alexius, as his assistant.” Seeing Alexius wanted to speak, Davos waved his hand and said, “After all, you have served as aedile and are very familiar with road construction. At the same time, you have a good relationship with Bagul, so I believe that both of you can work well together. Even though we have tens of thousand Samnite prisoners as ready-made labour, you must not exhaust them to death as these prisoners will be of great use to me in the future.”
“I accept this task.” Alexius said helplessly.
Seeing his reluctant answer, Davos reminded him, “The construction of this road can strengthen not only our connection with Potentia but also smoothen the expansion of Theonia to the central part of the Apennine in the future. Thus, the construction of the road and the chasing of the remnant Samnite warrior are equally important and do not conflict.”
“I understand, milord. I will try my best to help Bagul and the others to construct this road!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
On the same morning, Sesta was rushing his way to the Senate.
The city of Thurii suffered a considerable impact from the outbreak of this war. After all, most of the soldiers of the first and second legions were Thurian citizens. Furthermore, the soldiers of the two newly formed legions were mainly Thurian citizens, who needed to train every day in the military port on the Crati River to the east of the city of Thurii. Hence there were almost no young men in the city. On the other hand, the elderly and the women were worried about their loved ones, so they spent less time in the square and more time at home or in the temple to pray.
Seeing the empty Nike Square, Ssta felt a little disappointed.
“Lord Sesta!” A cry sounded behind him. When he looked back, he saw that it was Baripiri, a statesman from Bruttii.
“With Lord Sesta as my companion, I no longer need to feel afraid even if I arrive late.” Baripiri said half-jokingly. Baripiri, who was wearing black-trimmed white chiton clothes representing his identity as a statesman, was like a wide cloth hanging on a thin bamboo pole, so he needed to use both his hands to pull the corners of his falling clothes, which is rather comical.
However, Sesta didn’t laugh. As the grand inspector, he was responsible for supervising the statesmen’s performance during the Senate meeting. Moreover, after the treason case of the statesmen such as Pollux and the other statesmen, Davos gave the grand inspector greater authority in supervising the violations of the statesmen and union officials.
Because of the heavy responsibility on his shoulder, Sesta had to set an example always. Yet, he unexpectedly arrived late today, so he could only explain, “I was busy sorting out the information about the city elections and the establishment of the local council last night so that I could report it at the meeting today. As a result of working late at night, I got up late today.”
“We will still hold the election of the local council even with the pressure of the Syracusan army? You know, I couldn't even sleep last night after hearing that the South Italian Alliance's army was going to fight Syracuse in Scylletium!” Said Baripiri with unease. After all, the fifth legion is almost composed of Bruttian citizens, and the Bruttian region is at the forefront of this war. So once they are defeated in this battle, it will have a greater impact on the Bruttians than the other city's citizens in the union.
