“Navarch Seclian really hopes to do that!” Fulalios immediately echoed.
“The soldiers already had a full day of rest yesterday, and they had just been staying on the ship today, so they are still physically and mentally energetic. But if you look at that-” Hielos pointed to the dense transport ship waiting at the port. Then he said with some anxiety, “It is unknown when will it take for more than 6,000 soldiers to disembark! After being the Praetor of Consentia, I know how big the area of Clampetia is. Furthermore, Clampetia would be too crowded after you had resettled Terina's refugees.”
“I will try to arrange for the accommodation, so there is no need for you to worry about that! If it still isn't enough, you can camp out in the city.” Asistes said confidently.
“The land outside Clampetia is mountainous, so we might as well camp on the plains, where the soldiers can sleep better than camp here.” Hielos remained unmoved and continued, “And since you kept watching Terina's movements, I fear that our enemies in Terina are also watching this place. With our fleet staying outside the port for so long, the enemy would certainly find out about it! So even if we attack Hipponion, they will instead strengthen Terina's defence since they know of our arrival! Rather than that, it would be better for me to lead the army to attack Terina first and attract the defenders of Hipponion to their rescue. Afterwards, Seclian would lead the Rhegians on the defenceless Hipponion, which has a greater chance of success!”
After saying this, the others' thoughts changed. In fact, Asistes and Fulalios understood Seclian’s selfishness as he planned to make the Theonian army obtain more achievements. However, Hielos' didn't care about that at the moment, as he cared more about the benefit of the whole war situation.
“Actually, attacking either Terina or Hipponion is not the most important! The most important thing is-” Hielos looked at Asistes and said seriously, “The army led by his majesty is now confronting the Syracusan army in Crotone. Hence, the sooner we attack the enemy's rear, the sooner we can trap the enemy into a passive position and let his majesty gain the war initiative, increasing the chance of defeating Syracuse's main force and becoming the victor of this war! I had already delayed quite a bit in Laos, so now we must act as soon as possible!”
Asistes was deeply moved by Hielos' words, so he immediately said, “Understood, lord Hielos! I will no longer stop you from landing in Ophemia plain. I would instead organise my men to transport supplies for the troops and immediately gather a thousand soldiers to meet you in Ophemia by land!”
“Lord Hielos, I will go and assemble the Terinian soldiers now. They long been looking forward to this day!” Phromelas said excitedly.
“Lord Hielos, my ship will set out with you and let navarch Seclian know about the plan as soon as possible!” Fulalios immediately said.
“Alright, let's all meet at Terina!” Hielos saluted.
“Alas, I had prepared a banquet tonight to invite you to my home and meet my wife and children. Unfortunately, I won't get the chance this time!” Asistes sighed and gave a few orders to the port official beside him, who ran to the port to direct the ships, allowing the transport ships to leave the port smoothly.
“Lord Hielos, may Hades bless you for everything to go well!” After giving his sincere blessing, Asistes asked, “Lord Henipolis, would you like to be a guest at my house? We could discuss how to become a good clerk to his majesty; how about it?”
Henipolis was somewhat interested, so he looked at Hielos.
So Hielos suggested, “You should stay in Clampetia. It still wouldn't be too late if you wait for his majesty to lead his army into the Ophemia plains.”
Henipolis slightly hesitated and finally said, “Lord Asistes, many thanks for your invitation! However, I came together with Lord Hielos, so it is better if I go with him.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yesterday, the Syracusans attacked the Acropolis with flaming projectiles for most of the day, so Lysias and the others led the citizens to work until the evening. They were so exhausted and thirsty that they directly collapsed in the square outside the temple and slept until dawn.
But suddenly, on the next day, the flaming projectiles they were most worried about did not come again. So when they looked down from the Acropolis, they could not even see the enemy's shadow. After a discussion, Lysias, Milo and the others decided to send their men out to investigate.
They learned about Syracuse’s plan yesterday after they kept sending messengers to Theonia's camp for help many times, yet they were able to return safely, again and again. However, it only slightly weakened the resentment of the officials of Crotone, such as Lysias, against Theonia's refusal to lend a helping hand.
Soon after, the scouts returned to the Acropolis and reported that the enemy hiding inside the city and the Syracusan camp outside had disappeared.
Lysias looked at Milo with surprise and disbelief and said, “Could it be that the Syracusans have retreated?”
“Most likely.” Milo thought about it and said, “Since the Syracusan wouldn't have dismantled their own camp if they would attack the Theonians on the north bank of the Neto river.”
“That means we can leave the Acropolis!” Siprus excitedly said while licking his dry lips.
His words received a warm response from the others as they hadn't drunk water for most of the day, resulting in everyone's throat burning.
Lysias, however, couldn't make up his mind at the moment, so he asked hesitantly, “Milo, what do you think?”
“From my understanding of Dionysius, he is an extremely cunning man, so he might deliberately try to lure us out of the Acropolis and let his thousands of cavalries quickly kill us. Furthermore, half of us are mostly women, children and elderly, so once we go down the acropolis, it would be difficult to escape their pursuit!” Milo said worryingly.
“So are we just to remain in the Acropolis and die of thirst because we fear it is a scheme of Syracuse?!” Siprus questioned loudly.
“Of course not.” Milo then positively said, “We can send people to continue scouting Syracuse's movement in the south while sending messengers to ask the Theonians on the north bank of the Neto river for protection. Besides that, we can also ask them to send a fleet to transport water to the port, and then transport the water to the Acropolis while there is no enemy in the city…”
“Great, let's go with that!” Lysias immediately decided while the others agreed.
Just then, a messenger sent by Davos rushed to the Acropolis.
The news of “the Theonian army has crossed the river” excited the officials of Crotone but became nervous about Davos' speculation that a battle with Syracuse might occur.
“Although I am dissatisfied with Theonia's ‘indifference’, now that they had really crossed the river, I don't want them to come over…” Lysias said with gloom.
“Right.” Milo felt the same way and said in a conflicted mood, “From the messenger's description, Theonia has about 55,000 troops. But from what I learned during Syracuse's attack, I fear that they have no less than 70,000 soldiers, a difference of more than 10,000! If Theonia and Syracuse really clash here today, we must give full assistance to Theonia! Otherwise…”
“That's a must! If they also defeated Theonia, we will all become the slaves of that Sicilian tyrant!” Unknowingly, Siprus arrived at the meeting place of Crotone's official and resolutely shouted, “We, Terinians, have decided to immediately go and join Theonia's army!”
The Crotonian officials began looking at each other and argued.
In the end, Lysias loudly said, “We, Crotonians, will also send strategos Milo to lead most of Crotone's soldiers to join Theonia's army!”
Squeezing out a smile, Milo said, “I will just go take the soldiers to ask for a cup of water!”
Milo wanted to make the atmosphere of the meeting place more relaxed, but everyone was so nervous that no one laughed.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Just as Crotone gathered the more than 4,000 soldiers and Siprus led Terina's nearly 900 men to prepare to go down, the Theonian troops had reached the front of Syracuse's former camp.
Although Dionysius relied on his numerous troops to build a tight military defence on the side facing Aprustum, they only placed earthen walls and wooden fences on the side of the camp located in the core area of Crotone. They did not even dig trenches as they hoped that the Crotonians would come out of the city to attack their camp. Hence it did not hinder the Theonian army's march as they only needed to push the earthen wall with their hands.
Suddenly, Davos received a report from the scouts that the retreating Syracusans stopped and quickly turned around to approach them with the enemy cavalry began their attack on the Theonian cavalries.
‘Dionysius had really come!’ Davos was not too surprised due to his prior speculation and preparation, so he began issuing his order, “The whole army is to retreat slowly and beware of the enemy cavalries' attack! Also, tell Ledes not to fight with the enemy cavalry and withdraw first!”
Despite his doubts, Tolmides still rushed to issue the military order.
The Theonian army did not adopt their usual marching method in columns after crossing the river. Instead, they lined up and marched southward together with a large front, with the 50,000 troops stretched over 4 kilometres from west to east. So Davos and Tolmides had to discuss with each other, finally deciding to station two heralds every kilometre in the rear of the whole army to ensure the quick and easy communication of orders between Davos and the legions.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The seventh legion was at the far right end of the army, adjacent to the Targines River.
After hearing the herald, legatus Matonis expressed his confusion, “Why should we retreat?! With the enemy coming after us, retreating at this time will only lead to a drop in morale and confusion in the formation! Instead, we should confront the enemy!…”
