“Usebek is right! This is our mountain, and when night falls, we become the wolves, with the Theonians as our prey!”
“That's right! Let's go with that!”
The chieftains expressed their approval and finally agreed.
Fifty metres from the Theonian formation, the nearly seven thousand Samnite warriors began surrounding Theonia's west and north sides in a highly loose formation, with some warriors even lying in the grass.
Observing the situation from within the formation, Alexius didn't let the soldiers launch a surprise attack because he knew that once the soldiers charged, these seemingly idling Samnites would dart away like rabbits to lure the soldiers into the mountains and become a disaster.
So, with a distance of tens of metres separating the two sides, time trickled away.
While the Samnites were fearless, the Theonian soldiers grew increasingly anxious as they were in an unfamiliar land.
Despite each senior centurion asking Alexius repeatedly whether they should retreat, Alexius only rejected them firmly.
Adjutant Umateseus, who was beside him, couldn't help but say, “Lord Commander, this is the first time we've cooperated with the people of Abellinum… I think-”
“I don't trust them,” Alexius interrupted him before continuing, “But I trust Polet more, and the thing that reassures me most is that with Xanticles around, he will definitely do his best to carry it out as he had already agreed to this plan!”
Umateseus remained silent, understanding the reasoning behind Alexius's words. Their shared experience in the South Italian War, where Alexius had fought alongside Polet, played a significant role. Meanwhile, Alexius and Xanticles had served as mercenaries during the expedition to Persia, forging a deep bond through combat and fostering a high level of mutual trust.
But as the sun in the sky gradually shifted west, the expression on Alexius' face became increasingly serious as the surroundings remained calm…
Eventually, he ordered Umateseus, “Quickly call those people from Abellinum!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Samnite chieftains became confused when they saw the Theonian army remaining still.
“Could it be that these Theonians aren't worried about having nowhere to sleep after it got dark?” Usebek muttered.
“The Theonians might be under the impression that we'll retreat before nightfall, so they are competing with us who is more patient.” One of the chieftains sneered.
“I, on the other hand, believe they are waiting for reinforcements from their army by the riverbend. However, even if many more Theonians arrive, nightfall is approaching, and they will simply become our prey.” Another chieftain said confidently.
‘Reinforcements?’ Usebek became startled and quickly asked the chieftain of the Hirpini, “Is there something unusual going on in Abellinum?”
“Unusual? They are the same as usual. As soon as they saw our tribesmen herding their livestock near their territory, they would send a group of warriors to stand on the border and threaten us. But once our warriors rushed over there, these cowards would run away… If we weren't fighting a war with Theonia, we would have asked the great chieftain Lesguk to lead us to beat them!” A chieftain from Beneventum said with disdain.
But another Hirpini chieftain noticed what Usebek meant and said, “Do you suspect Abellinum had defected to Theonia?! You don't have to worry since even if he is a bastard, he won't throw his weapon at his kinsmen. Furthermore, he also made an oath in the name of Savoni in front of the High Priest, so it's impossible for him to break it! Besides, great chieftain Lesguk sent scouts to watch Abellinum from outside daily. So even if there were anything unusual, those people would have already come to inform us by now.”
“Usebek is right. We, the Hirpini tribe, won't kill each other even if we are in conflict.” Several Hirpini chieftains agreed to his words, with another chieftain even saying sympathetically, “To be honest, the great chieftain was a bit too harsh on Abellinum that it really wasn't easy for Garni all these years.”
The chieftain of Beneventum's expression soured, while Usebek became gloomy, suspecting that these Hirpini chieftains were secretly ridiculing the plan of the great chieftain of Caudini, Segobani, to lure and eliminate Kinduk and conquer Nuceria.
Silence suddenly descended, and the chieftains of the other two tribes saw Usebek's face turn ugly and were about to say something to defuse the awkward mood.
But a scout suddenly came rushing down from the western mountain range, saying, “Everyone…chieftains, terrible news!…to the south…an army appeared, with many warriors rushing towards here!”
The chieftains became shocked hearing that.
“Where did the army come from?!” Usebek hurriedly asked. It was because the scout didn't point to the riverbend but to its west, to the southwest of this mountain range, where, as far as he knew, there were no tribes or towns there.
“I…don't know, they wore neither red(the Samnites often wear red upper clothing) nor pure black, but black and yellow.” The scout said unconfidently, as he had just seen them from a distance on the mountain and had hurriedly reported instead of going closer to investigate carefully.
“Black and yellow?…” a Hirpini chieftain suddenly said, “Could they be the Potentians?”
Everyone became shocked again from hearing that, as they all knew there was a plant in the Lucanian region that could make yellow dyes, so in the past, the Lucanian warriors mostly fought in yellow attire. Could it be them?
After the South-Italian War, the Potentians didn't participate in any battles. Thus, the Samnite chieftains' impression of Potentia remained the same more than a decade ago when they had gone to plunder the Potentian's territory and almost wiped them out.
‘The situation became pressing!’ Usebek had no time to figure out where this army had come from; all he knew was that they could never be an army of a Samnite tribe.
‘What should we do now?! Should we retreat quickly?!’ Worried, Usebek looked at the panicking chieftains and then at the encircled Theonian army in front, realising that he had to decide quickly.
But before he could decide, a loud military salpinx sounded in the southwest, followed by a powerful horn sound in the northwest.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
“…My Lord, it is impossible for our scouts to miss such a large-scale military deployment. I am sure that chieftain Garni will join up with the Potentians and head this way,” The Abellinum guide, dressed in Theonian attire, struggled to explain the situation to Alexius when he suddenly heard the sound of a military salpinx from the west followed by the sound of a horn, which made his face filled with joy, “They are coming! Our warriors are coming!…”
Alexius no longer listened to him after hearing the sound of the horn. Instead, he immediately told Umateseus, “Quickly order the light-armoured soldiers to attack! And have the other brigades follow behind!”
Umateseus became surprised and said, “Commander, our reinforcements haven't yet arrived. Shouldn't we wait a little longer?”
“The enemy will run if we wait any longer!” Alexius said without hesitation.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Samnite chieftains quickly realised that they had fallen into the Theonians' trap by the time the horn sounded. They knew they had to retreat as one due to their vast numbers; otherwise, they would easily turn the retreat into a rout. However, the direction of the retreat posed a dilemma: the Theonian army was to the east, while a large enemy force approached from the northwest and southwest. With steep and impassable mountains to the north, the south seemed the only safer option. But the issue was that the southern path led to the Ofanto River, and they had no way of knowing if the Theonians had set an ambush there.
The chieftains recognised the situation's urgency and swiftly agreed to force a retreat towards the west before the enemy reinforcements could arrive.
Just as the chieftains prepared to return to their ranks, the Theonians' shield formation suddenly opened numerous gaps to allow two thousand light-armoured soldiers to rush. They brandished leather shields and short swords, launching an attack on the Samnite warriors.
The standoff between both sides lasted for over three hours, yet Theonia's steadfast defensive stance gradually eroded the spirit of the Samnite warriors. Many were already lying on the ground and only rose to their feet when they heard the distant horn from the west. But before they could stretch their bodies, they witnessed Theonian soldiers on the opposite side charging at them like ravenous beasts. The distance of just over fifty metres was too short, and many Samnite warriors, who had been at ease for quite some time, found themselves without time to retreat as the Theonain soldiers closed in on them.
Finally, Alexius had the buglers sound the attack.
The assault of the Theonian light-armoured soldiers disrupted the already loose formation of the Samnite army, with some warriors retreating and others going to fight the Theonian soldiers, resulting in the whole place becoming chaotic.
Usebek originally wanted to wait for the chieftains to reorganise their troops before retreating. But, out of helplessness, he had to order to sound the retreat.
At the sound of the horn, all the remaining fighting spirits of the Samnite warriors dissipated.
“Run west! Follow me and run west!…” The chieftains frantically shouted, leading the surrounding warriors to retreat towards the mountains behind them. They aimed to exploit the Theonian soldiers' shortcomings in mountainous terrain, hoping to evade the enemy's pursuit.
