“A few years ago, smoke rose from the top of Mount Etna…” Once Ladician noticed Antonios' fascination, he planned to tell the exciting story of Mount Etna's eruption that he saw with his own eyes, but Seclian shouted, “Naxosian, tell me where I should land?!”
“Alright! Alright!” Ladician hurried to the bow.
This was the first time Antonios would independently lead the army and the first time they would land across the sea. So even after knowing the heavy burden on his shoulders, he feels nervous and excited, “Men, don your armour, take up your shields and spears, we are about to land! Once we get ashore, don't stop and charge immediately towards the city of Naxos! Conquer it as our loved ones await the news of our victory! The time has come to give honours to the first legion and yourselves!…”
Antonios loudly cheered up the soldiers lying on the deck resting.
“Don't worry, legatus. Our brothers are already tired of staying on the ship these two days and were long eager to fight, so how can a city with only a wooden wall stop our attack?!” Melisander responded loudly.
It was no coincidence that Melisander was there. As Philesius' close comrade, Antonios doesn't mind giving some care to Philesius' adopted son, so he deliberately arranged for Melisander's platoon unit to be assigned to the flagship.
“Kid, you should be careful not to fall into the sea when landing.” Antonios smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
The soldiers immediately whistled and booed at their young platoon leader as Melisander falling into the sea twice during the Battle of Crotone became the soldier's discussion before and after meals. Still, that did not deter his men from respecting their platoon leader. After all, Melisander always fought bravely and led his men in battle, sharing weal and woe with the soldiers.
At this moment, Melisander glared at them and said, “Whoever yells and screams again won't be able to play rugby the next time we play!”
Yet Melisander's threat made the soldiers boo even more.
Antonios could only shake his head helplessly at the soldiers' jokes. He then turned his attention to the land.
At this time, the salpinx echoed in the fleet as Seclian's flagship led the way, turning to the left and approaching the bay.
In front is an arc-shaped bay with a white sand beach. And on the azure blue water were more than a dozen fishing boats, fishing with their nets on the calm sea.
But the tranquil picture was broken by the aggressive storming of the fleet.
At the sight of the fast-approaching behemoth – a trireme, the fishermen panicked and tried to steer their boats out of the way. However, they were simply too late as the bronze ram on the ship's bow easily split the fishing boat in two like a hot knife through butter…
It wasn't until they were almost close to the beach did the sailors stopped paddling, leaving the ship to rush to the beach through its inertia.
The soldiers immediately put down the ladder and quickly went down to the beach, while some of the impatient soldiers simply threw their shields, spears and helmets on the beach and jumped directly from the deck to the beach.
Soon, heavily armed Theonian soldiers filled the open beach.
“The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming!…” The fishermen drying their fishing nets and handling their goods on the beach fled to the city in panic.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Before they boarded the ship on Rhegium, Antonios gathered the first legion's officers of all ranks for a meeting. Hence the first legion’s soldiers did not form a unified group once they disembarked and directly marched towards Naxos under the leadership of their platoon leader and the guidance of the guides onboard the ships.
The current Naxos is no longer a city but a large town. Six or seven years ago, after Dionysius became the tyrant of Syracuse, he began his military campaign to conquer the south-eastern corner and the east-central part of Sicily to build up his strength and fight back the Carthaginians, of which the only plain in Sicily – Catania Plain, became the focus of his attack. Hence, after capturing the two city-states that resisted Syracuse the most – Catania and Naxos, he was determined to give them the harshest punishment.
While Sikuri, another small city-state just 12 kilometres south of Naxos, was rewarded for its early surrender to Syracuse, with Dionysius giving them the land of Naxos for governance. Thus the Sikurians were overjoyed when they received the land of Naxos, which was larger and more fertile than their own. However, the tragic fate of the people of Naxos frightened them, so they tried to guess Dionysius' intention in destroying the city and razing its wall. As they did not dare to ask the tyrant directly, instead of restoring the old city of Naxos, they rebuilt it south to the northern bank of the Alcantara, a kilometre away from the ruins. However, rather than building a town with a stone wall, they made it a simple wooden wall for fear of displeasing Dionysius and named the new town Megalos (which means great).
The place where the first legion landed was the port of the former Naxos, which has now disappeared. So once the soldiers were on the shore, they didn't have to run more than a few steps south before they could see a large area overgrown with weeds and piles of rocks.
Ladician stared at it blankly and shed tears: This was his former home – the city of Naxos!
“Ladician, don't stop! Run! We still need you to guide us!” Melisander urged him.
Ladician followed quickly. Although he is over middle-aged, he still continued exercising and training, hoping he could be of use when he returns to his homeland one day. Thus he thought he was in good shape, but he began to be unable to keep up with the Theonians after running for a while.
‘It's no wonder the Syracusans couldn't beat them! These soldiers could still run even when fully armed!!’ The amazed Ladician didn't know that one of the military training of the Theonian soldiers every five days was rapid marching while fully armed, which was different from the Olympic Games' “Armed long-distance race”. The armed long-distance running was a competition in which the naked players only wore helmets and round shields, while Theonia's armed march was truly fully armed. Thus if the Theonians could participate in the Olympic Games, they could certainly compete with the Spartans, who always won the championships in the event of armed long-distance running.
“…that's…that's Megalos…” Said the panting Ladician as he pointed to the distant, faint outline of the town.
“Hmmm, follow us later.” Melisander had no time to wait for him and ordered the soldiers to move quickly in that direction
Although Antonios didn't say it clearly, each unit naturally competed according to the legion's tradition, ‘Let's see who gets to the enemy's town first?!’ ‘To see who attacked the enemy town first?!’
That's why the first legion split into platoons, not as if they are in a rush but as if they are in a competitive race, spreading out in a wide front and running rapidly towards the south, from first to last, irregularly.
Leading the way was a group of hundreds of men who maintained a complete formation while running.
“Damn, which team is that?” Melisander cursed as he reluctantly watched the leading group in front of him.
“Captain, it seems to be the first centuria of the fourth brigade.” A soldier replied.
“So it's that ‘madman's’ centuria.” Melisander sulked.
“Madman” was the nickname given to Leotychides, who was famous for his intense training and high requirements for his soldiers. Of course, his centuria often won the military competitions.
“Brothers! Speed up! We can't fall behind!!” Cried Melisander, who was unwilling to be outdone.
Wherever the first legion passed, the people of Megalos fled in panic. However, instead of thrusting their spears at them, the soldiers drove them towards Megalos.
Although the town of Megalos only has wooden walls, they dug a moat outside the town due to its proximity to the Alcantara River, with its eastern and northern gates connected to the outside by drawbridges. The Sikurians in Megalos then received an urgent report from the merchant ships about ‘a fleet of hundreds of ships coming from the north, and the sail pattern seemed to belong to the Theonia Union.’
After just receiving the news of Syracuse's defeat in their battle against the Theonians, the next thing the Sikurians knew, a Theonian fleet was spotted on the east coast of Sicily. Yet before they had even time to discuss a countermeasure, someone came fleeing back from the beach and shouted in panic, “The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming!…”
The speed of the Theonians' attack frightened the Sikurians, so they hurriedly summoned their citizens to fend off the enemy.
But as more and more people fled to the town, it resulted in the drawbridge and the north gate being congested.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Seraphinus, a self-proclaimed freeman, was employed by a Sikurian citizen a few months ago to help develop the fields. As it is currently noon, he should have been in the fields outside the town, yet he is now inside and stopped someone who fled into the town, “Uncle, what happened?”
“There are…enemies…there are enemies…coming from the sea to kill us, get your weapons and go…go…” The man explained in a frightened voice.
Seraphinus interrupted him, “Enemies?! What enemies?!”
A look of fear appeared showed in the man's eye, “Black! They are all black! Like demons from hell!” (Theonia's armour is all black)
Seraphinus blinked and looked back at the group of Sikurian citizens who didn't even have the time to wear helmets and armour as they hurriedly picked up their shields and spears and rushed towards the congested north gate.
