Although the legati could not endure the tragic experience of Crotone, Davos knew that they must not let the Syracusans have the initiative and rashly cross the Neto River just to fall for Dionysius' schemes. More importantly, it would take time for Hielos to capture Laos and lead his army into the rear of Syracuse, just like what Antonios said. Thus, they need to delay until Hielos' army successfully attacks Terina, which would give Theonia the war initiative!
Unfortunately, they could not easily achieve Davos' beautiful plan. The Syracusans kept firing at Crotone's Acropolis, and the Crotonian populace tirelessly put out the fire while sending messengers to the Theonian camp again and again.
After being repeatedly and mercilessly rejected by Davos, some messengers burst into tears in front of the commander's post, “Please, save the people of Crotone! We are running out of water, and everyone began drinking urine…but what about the children? My child is only two years old! I'd rather give my life for him to stay alive; please save us!…”
On the other hand, some messengers cursed, “Davos, everyone says that you are a famous strategos of Magna Gracia who had won a hundred battles, but the only thing I see is a coward! O Theonians, are your hearts made of iron?! Even though you see your allies struggling in the fire, you are still unwilling to lend a helping hand!”
“Bah! The Theonians always preach that they always keep their promise, but all of that is just a lie! You liars, we will curse you in hell even if we, the tens of thousands of people of Crotone, are burnt to death!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hearing the messengers' bitter cries and angry curses, all the Theonian legati bowed their heads in shame. Even Philesius, Antonios and the other legati ask Davos several times, which shows the great pressure that Davos bears. Davos sat alone in the tent with hands clutching the armrests of his chair, and even though he hadn't said a word, his thoughts gradually loosened. After all, how could Davos remain indifferent while watching tens of thousands of living beings being burned to death because of their relationship with him?!!
Fortunately, it was evening. Thus the Syracusans stopped their attack on the Acropolis because the Theonian army could not cross the river at night.
That night, Davos did not sleep well as he knew that they were lucky today. But tomorrow, the vicious and cunning Dionysius will continue to force him to fight in the way he wants. So what should he do?… What's Hilos' situation? It has been a long without any report, and even though they built the road, it still takes time to transmit the report across the mountains!
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lysias and Milo had it hard; not only were they rescuing the wounded people and calming the restless, but they were also thinking of the increasing shortage of water.
Had it not for Milo's advice, who was versed in military matters, Lysias would have cussed at the Theonians and Davos for their “ruthlessness”, and he had even thought to, ‘If…we really can't hold on, we simply just…surrender…’
At the Syracusan camp, Dionysius was distraught and shaken by Davos' patience, ‘Could it be that Theonia would rather watch their allies die than lend them a helping hand?!… Perhaps Davos is really afraid to fight a head-on battle with us… If this continues, it will not be good for us… is our choice only to retreat?…’
That night, Dionysius was also not able to sleep well. Suddenly, he heard a noise outside his tent.
Just as Dionysius turned over from his bed and sat up, the intelligence officer Androstini broke inside. Then Dionysius yelled at the guard captain who had just followed inside, “What's going on?! What kind of a guard captain just let anyone enter at will?!!”
However, the terrified Androstini, beside the guard captain, hurriedly knelt down to apologise and said with a trembling voice, “Mi…lord…urgent report came from Terina… The Theonians had captured Laos!”
“What?! The Theonians captured Laos so quickly! Is this real?!” Dionysius' expression changed considerably as he loudly asked for confirmation.
“It came from one of our spies in Laos, who risked being chased by the Theonians as he covertly rowed a small boat to Terina. So the authenticity of it is without a doubt! He reported the Theonians had incited the vagrants of Laos to riot, so they could attack from both inside and outside, breaching the city of Laos.” Androstini had already calmed down at this moment and explained seriously.
“So the Theonians of Laos will soon head south?!” Dionysius muttered anxiously to himself.
“Milord, perhaps…perhaps we should retreat…” Androstini plucks up his courage to say it in a low voice.
“Retreat?!” Dionysius snapped at him, and the cold light in his eyes made Androstini fall to his knees again in terror.
Dionysius stared at him. Suddenly, a strange smile appeared on his face, “You're right, we should retreat!”
With that, he turned and gave an order to the guard captain, “Immediately inform Phacipessas, Astagoras, Acilita, Phidias…and the others to come for a meeting!”
Androstini breathed a sigh of relief as he slumped on the ground; only then did he realise that cold sweat soaked his back.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Light fog shrouded the Crotone plain early the following morning, which added a chill to the originally warm coastal area.
And as usual, Davos got up early for breakfast; bread, wheat porridge and beef jerky, no different from the common soldiers, except for an additional fish gotten from the sailors of the Theonian fleet stationed at the estuary of the Neto River. In their spare time yesterday, they started fishing and brought a lot to Davos, who mostly gave it to the guards to share.
But Davos didn't have that much appetite even though the breakfast was good.
Suddenly, Martius accompanied Izam into his tent.
“Your majesty, my men brought good news! The enemy dismantled their camp and started retreating!”
Davos was a bit surprised when he heard the report brought by Izam.
“Afterwards, my men infiltrated near the enemy camp and heard those Syracusans whispering in a panic that our Theonian army attack Terina…” Izam excitedly elaborated further.
“Has lord Hielos captured Laos? Why haven't we received a report yet?” Martius was puzzled from hearing the report, so he interjected.
Izam explained to him, “It takes a different amount of time to cross the mountains to the west and get here as it does to take a boat to Clampetia and then to Terina.” then he excitedly said, “Your majesty, we-”
But before Izam could finish speaking, Martius shouted excitedly, “Your majesty!”
Looking at their eagerness, Davos knew what they wanted to express. After all, even the usually silent and cautious Martius is already like that, not to mention the other soldiers. So Davos sighed softly and shouted, “Martius, tell Tolmides to notify all the legati, Uhm…and Mithridates to gather here for a meeting quickly!”
“Roger!”
“Izam, order your men to continue monitoring the enemy's movements and report back to me as soon as you confirm that the enemy has all retreated!”
“Roger!”
After the two saluted, they quickly left.
Davos, on the other hand, felt relieved after giving the orders and became much more relaxed. Now, he felt a bit hungry, so he sat down, grabbed the bread and took a bite.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Mithridates.”
“Yes, your majesty.”
“Gather all the engineering camps of all legions and temporarily put them under your command. They would then immediately set up four pontoon bridges on the Neto River, so you must provide all the ships needed and meet the requirements of the engineering camp as soon as possible without any excuses!”
“Understood!”
“Furthermore, you should lead all the ships to ferry the legionaries in the lower reaches of the Neto River. After the whole army crosses the river, lead the fleet around the coast between Crotone and Scylletium to monitor the Syracusan army's movements. If there are any specific measures, I will leave it to your judgement.”
“Roger!”
“Ledes!”
“Here!”
“Your cavalry will be the first to cross the river. Afterwards, have them scout the south to observe the enemy's retreat and report back at any time. However, they shall not fight the enemy, especially if they encounter enemy cavalry!”
“Yes, your majesty.” Ledes was a bit frustrated as he knew that Davos was a little uneasy about the cavalry's fighting capability. But he could only covertly clench his fist as he had to reluctantly admit that those foreign cavalries were indeed better than his men.
“All the legati and officials, come over here and take a look at the place where your legions and troops will cross the river for final confirmation! I ask you to organise your soldiers and cross the Neto River as soon as possible, then quickly reorganise the formation. Can you do it?!”
“Yes!” The legati answered simultaneously, then huddled in front of the map to examine the marks Davos had made on the Neto River.
“Your majesty, why have you made these arrangements as if we were going to fight and not to pursue the retreating enemy?!” Amintas looked at them and couldn't help but ask.
It is not only him but also the other legati who had similar doubts. Davos’ plan for all the legions was to line up along the river and cross the river simultaneously. After crossing, they would quickly form up again with special considerations for the position of each legion. Moreover, he sent out the cavalry to only scout and not to pursue…
Davos gazed at them and said seriously, “There is no need for us to rush in pursuing the enemy. As long as the Syracusans retreat, we will follow them. After all, chaos would appear in such a large army, and I am worried about the enemy retreating and then returning. You should all know how cunning the supreme commander of Syracuse – Dionysius. Thus I would rather be cautious than reckless, especially now that we have the initiative!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
It was almost noon when the fog dissipated under the continuous sunlight.
After the engineering camp collaborated with the legionaries, they erected four pontoon bridges in the middle section of the Neto River. And in the downstream, hundreds of large and small ships were docked at intervals on the north bank.
