Chapter 329: Persuasion

He reached out his hand and stopped Sedrum, who wanted to speak more, “In this battle, Bruttii suffered five thousand casualties, and with the help of the Besidisians, we have confirmed that most are from Consentia. And at the same time, we also captured more than five thousand men who are mostly also from Consentia.” During the war, Pian placed the main force of Consentia in the centre and the right flank, which was the focus of Theonia’s counterattack, leading to such a result.

“And the others are from Vergae and Anbania. In other words, the important power of the Bruttii Union in maintaining your rule and subduing the other smaller tribes has been greatly weakened. As far as I know, Consentia has forced many smaller tribes to settle in the outer part of Consentia. Therefore, as long as I let the Besidisians make a promise to these tribes and give them freedom and more benefits…tell me whether these tribes will take the opportunity to resist and help us capture Consentia?!”

After hearing Davos, Sedrum shuddered and bowed his head because two days ago, there had been a riot in Consentia, so the words of Theonia’s archon could become a reality!

“Besides, our troops will not immediately attack the city after arriving at Consentia! I heard that the city of Anbania’s defence is extremely simple. Perhaps if I were to send four thousand men, I could easily capture it. And Vergae-” When Davos mentioned Vergae, Sedrum shuddered again.

“How many warriors have you taken from there? Do you think that I can take Vergae by sending ten thousand soldiers with the help of Laos?”

Sedrum clenched his fist, gritted his teeth. Even though his expression was painful, he still did not say a word.

“After taking Anbania and Vergae, we would then attack Consentia. Oh, you must be wondering why I did not mention Clampetia?”

After a pause, Davos continued, “Because the fourth legion of Theonia will soon capture Clampetia, you don’t believe it? I think that Clampetia must have already asked Consentia for reinforcements because their stone walls could not resist our ballistae and siege towers.”

“Ballista?” Sedrum finally raised his head in doubt.

Davos then generously briefed him on the newly developed siege equipment of Theonia.

Sedrum’s face became very unsightly. From what he can remember, Pian did not say anything about Clampetia, but he knew that Consentia had sent two thousand reinforcements. He had raised an objection to Pian on this matter, but Pian did not budge, which was completely unlike his previous practice. According to various signs, he felt that what Davos said was probably the truth, and Pian had long known that Clampetia could not hold on and was afraid that it would just cause panic to the Bruttians, so he chose to hide it and decided to make a desperate struggle.

Sedrum’s heart became cold, and he squeezed out a sentence, “Could it be that Theonia is trying to kill all the Bruttians?”

“Kill all? No, we Theonians are not that cruel.” Davos then seriously said, “In my eyes, whether Bruttians, Lucanians, or Greeks, they are all the same.”

Sedrum then stared at him in disbelief.

“You might want to ask, ‘If that’s the case, then why did you attack Bruttii’?” With a sigh, Davos picked up grass in his right hand and wound it around his finger, “For hundreds of years, the Bruttians and the Greeks regarded each other as enemies, killing each other without stop. If the Bruttii Triban Union is established, the conflict with the Greeks will only intensify. Thus Theonia was forced to take the lead in attacking, not to destroy Bruttii, but to bring the Bruttians into the Theonia Union and become a part of the union. The Mediterranean is big enough to accommodate us Greeks and Bruttians to explore, plant and graze…so why do we have to fight for such a little barren land?!…”

Sedrum stayed silent for some time and finally said in a low voice, “Do you want the Bruttians tribes to be allies of Theonia?”

“Theonia has paid so many lives of so many citizens, just to make the Bruttians an ally?!” Davos’ expression changed. He then increased his voice, “The people of Theonia will not agree, nor will the Senate!”

“Do…do you want to make us like the Lucanians of Nerulum?…” Sedrum said bitterly, with Vergae close to Nerulum, he certainly knew something about the situation there.

“If Bruttii were to integrate into Theonia, the Bruttians will become Theonian citizens. While the tribal chieftains will still be in charge of their respective tribes, the ones who will be in charge of Vergae, Consentia, Clampetia, Anbania, and other cities will be appointed by Theonia’s Senate…Besidice has agreed to join Theonia Union, and Baripiri and Burim have also become members of Theonia’s Senate. If you want to learn more about it, you can go to Burim and asked him.”

Sedrum slightly wavered from Davos’ words, but he still asked with reluctance, “Can’t you just let us…manage our cities? I fear that there will be trouble because the Bruttians are not used to having other races lead us…”

Davos firmly said, “All the territories of Theonia will be governed by the Senate, which will never change! But if you join the Senate, then one day, you might get elected as the praetor of Consentia by the Senate, or even govern the whole Bruttii region…”

Dravos drew a big pie, which more or less lessens the resistance of Sedrum. He pondered for a moment and reluctantly said, “…I am just the chieftain of Vergae.”

“It doesn’t matter as the only thing you need to decide is the ownership of Vergae.” Davos, seeing that Sedrum still kept his head down, hesitating. He added, “You can go and think about it. There is no need for you to rush in making a decision.”

Sedrum replied hurriedly and was about to leave.

“Wait. I still have one more thing I need your help with.”

Davos’ words made Sedrum flustered. He staggered a few steps and nearly fell down.

“You need to go and appease the captured Bruttian warriors and tell them, ‘as long as they follow our orders, the Theonian soldiers will never harm them, and they will be able to return home safely after a while. However, if they were to gather to make a mess and try to escape, our soldiers will not hesitate! Moreover, once Bruttii belongs to Theonia, their families will also be punished!’” Davos said sternly.

“…I’ll go talk to them.” Sedrum looked melancholy, the wrinkles on his face deepened, and he seemed to age a few more years after his conversation with Davos.

Watching Sedrum walk unsteadily and being escorted away by the soldiers, Martius asked, “Milord, will that old man surrender?”

Davos smiled, “It’s a good start that he agreed to my request just now. However, if he doesn’t hurry, we won’t need him by then.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The battle of Clampetia has come to a critical moment, after days of attack by the ballista, the city wall started crumbling, the trenches had been filled in many places, and the warriors defending the city had suffered many casualties from the long-range attacks of the ballistae and the archers on top of the siege towers.

However, the third legion had also paid the price. Five ballistae were damaged because of long-term wear and tear. Two siege towers were burned because of the Bruttians’ fire attack. And they had suffered more than four hundred casualties, most of whom were archers. Still, Hielos kept the intense offensive to pressure Clampetia every day, always remembering what Davos had said to him in person, ‘Now in the Mediterranean, whether it is a Greek city-state or another country, attacking a city poses a huge problem. Therefore, I hope that after you go to Clampetia, you won’t fear the difficulties and the number of casualties. You must conquer that kind of stone city and sum up a set of experience on sieging a city for Theonia.’

In the early morning, the soldiers of the fourth legion and Terina lined up two hundred metres south of Clampetia. In front of the huge army were five ballistae and three siege towers. (The requirements for making a ballista is very high, and the key components are very intricate, especially the set of springs. It had taken the Institute of Mathematics a lot of time and money just to build ten of them, which the engineers can not repair in just three days. Although the siege tower is large, making it is not complicated as long as there are enough people.)

The exhausted Clampetian warriors had never seen so many enemies that they could not help but shudder.

The crows hovering in the air seemed to sense the danger and flew away with a “kaw”.

“Legatus, the preparations are ready!” When Hielos heard the report from his men, he immediately said, “Ballista!”

“Ready the ballista!” The officers gave the orders.

The axle rotates, the bowstring is pulled, the stone ball is loaded into the slider, and the angle and range are set.

“Fire!”

Then five stone balls flew out and bombarded the most damaged section of the wall, opening the prelude to the siege.

Soon after, the second and third round of continuous bombardment enlarges the cracks on the city wall…

The city wall that had only gotten a night’s repair was overwhelmed, piece by piece the stone wall crumbling down…finally, with a loud roar, a section of the wall collapsed, giving rise to a cloud of dust.

The Theonian soldiers were jubilant, while the Clampetian warriors turned pale.

“Attack!” Hielos gave the order promptly as the soldiers’ morale soared high.

In an instant, the salpinx sounded, and the battle flag was waved. The drums rang, and the soldiers roared at the same time. Under the officers’ leadership, the soldiers carried the ladders and marched forward in a loose formation in small groups. The huge siege tower also rumbled along the flat road towards the city wall with the full force of dozens of labourers pushing it.

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