Chapter 396: Samnites Attack

His question made Garni look up, while the other chieftains that were present became interested.

‘Theonians!’ Hearing this name, Garni felt hatred in his heart. He tried his best to recall what happened, “…most of their soldiers are heavy infantry, but their heavy infantry is different from the other Greeks we have seen before…their helmets are very similar to ours, and what they held is not the round bronze shield, but a large shield similar to ours…”

“Ah?!” The Samnite chieftains were surprised.

“Their heavy infantry is outright the same as ours…they could even throw javelins!” Garni recalled the painful scene.

Causing commotion among the chieftains, “Since when did the Greeks start learning our tactics?”

“The Theonians have never been in contact with us, so how could they learn our tactics?”

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

As the chieftains discussed it, Berani asked with concern, “So do they have other equipment that is the same as our heavy infantry?”

“It’s not the same, but their chest armour offers much more protection, their arms, front chest, back, crotch and thighs are covered, and they also have shin armour on their legs…”

“That means we will suffer more when we fight them by throwing javelins.” Lusen, the chieftain of Compsa, said with concern.

“The reason why we only have a large shield is that no matter how thick an armour is, a thrown javelin is still enough to cause harm. On the contrary, the Theonian heavy infantry’s equipment is heavy that it is not beneficial in moving in the mountains.” Said the chieftain of Maloenton, Lesguk, without care.

“Chief Lesguk is right!” Kinduk, who was responsible for leading the Caudini warriors to battle, said confidently. “We have fought many times with the Greeks in Campania, and their heavy infantry’s heavy equipment made it difficult for them to traverse in the mountains, so they were not able to catch up to us at all. Moreover, they are not flexible enough to avoid the javelins we threw at their flanks and rear. And don’t forget, we will never easily fight the Greeks on the plain.”

“What chief Kinduk said is our experience in dealing with the Greek hoplites for decades. The mountains are the world of us, Samnites, so if the Theonians dares to come in, we will not allow them to leave again!” Lusen exclaimed with encouragement.

“You are right! Wipe out the Theonians! Show them the might of us, Samnites!” Many chieftains followed.

“However…the Theonians are not all heavy infantry.” Garni had to remind these overconfident chieftains, “They also have archers, javelin throwers without armour and shields, and a kind of light infantry with small shields and short swords that are fast even in the mountains. I reckon they might be Lucanians… And what we should pay more attention to is that the Theonian army, whether it is their hoplites, archers, peltasts, and that kind of light-armoured infantry, is that they cooperate well with each other, which is obviously due to their long periods of training. While those temporarily recruited soldiers of the Greek city-states in Campania could not compare at all…”

What Garni had said made the chieftains ponder.

Berani then said, “Those Theonians were able to arrive at Potentia so soon means that this army must not be their main force stationed in Thurii, and their number must not be too large. Since they dare come, we will have them taste the strength of our warriors!”

His words made the chieftains cheer.

“Kinduk, you stay in the camp together with the seven thousand Caudini warriors, while the other chieftains will lead all warriors to attack the arriving Theonians with me.”

“Chief, you mean all the Hirpini warriors?” Lesguk asked in surprise.

“Yes, all twenty-five thousand Hirpini warriors!” Berani said clearly.

“Wouldn’t that be too much?”

“It’s still not enough. If Torik had not taken his 18,000 Pentri warriors to attack Poseidonia, I would have asked him to come with us.” Berani continued with pride, “This time, I will eat this Theonian army that dares to enter Potentia alone in one bite!”

“What if the Lucanians in the city of Potentia suddenly comes out?” Lusen asked with a bit of worry.

“I am more worried that they wouldn’t dare come out.” Kinduk looked at Berani and laughed.

Berani nodded and said, “There are only ten thousand warriors in Potentia, so they dare come out…hmph, Kinduk, don’t be anxious to fight them, rather entangle with them while I lead the army back as soon as possible. We would then attack them at the back and front, wiping them all out!”

“Understood.” Kinduk’s eyes glimmered with cold light.

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

“Philesius, I am glad to see you back.” Davos happily greeted him in the living room. He then grabbed Philesius’ hands and said with a smile, “I heard of your great work in Consentia. The chieftains of the Bruttian tribes and herders lined up in front of your official residence every day, wanting to see you… Haha, they are reluctant to see you leave even though you were only the Praetor for more than a year!”

“Milord, please don’t make fun of me. I don’t want to be the Praetor in the Bruttian region anymore, even if you try to persuade me.” Philesius smiled bitterly and shook his head, “The people there don’t trust the judge at all, so no matter how small the dispute is, they would come to me. If it weren’t for the full assistance of Hegesitus, I don’t think I would even be able to stay in Consentia for three months.”

“Yet you have been in Consentia for more than a year, and the several investigations that the Senate Administration Committee had made found that you have done an excellent job in Consentia. Hence I believe it will be very easy for you to serve as the Praetor of other cities.” Davos smiled and praised him, “Come on, let’s go inside.”

After both of them sat down, the slaves came offering drinks.

Philesius was not in the mood to drink, so he immediately said to Davos, “Milord, you have proposed for me to be the commander of the southern Theoni. I have no problem commanding the fourth and fifth legions, but it would be difficult for me to be the overall commander of the entire South Italia Allied army and command the whole war! Would the great city-states such as Crotone and Rhegium willingly follow my command?!”

After hearing this, Davos persuaded him with seriousness, “Philesius, this task is indeed troublesome. But even if it is troublesome, you should still try your best to accomplish it! You should know, although the agreement with our allies said that ‘all city-states, whether it is large or small, are treated equally.’ But all our allies understand that Theonia is the alliance leader, so if we are not the overall commander of the alliance, not the one responsible for organisation and command, which city-states dare to be the commander?! So you should boldly manage and command the allied army without worries! Moreover, I have written letters to the Council of Crotone and Rhegium, asking them to cooperate actively. At the same time, the Senate also arranged for Lord Ansitanos to be your diplomatic liaison officer, responsible for coordinating matters with the various city-states.”

“Wonderful!” Philesius felt much more relaxed after hearing it. However, he continued, “Milord, you asked us to set up defences in Caulonia and Terina, but Syracuse has still not declared war. So would Caulonia and Terina allow us to arrange our camps on their land in advance? And once Syracuse declared war, their army would quickly land in Locri, while we would need to wait for our allies to assemble as they had come from various city-states, not to mention needing to rush to Caulonia and Terina to build camps. Besides, what if the Syracusan army broke through Caulonia before we could even build the camps?”

“This is indeed a problem. Once the war starts, there will be many unexpected factors, and no one could make an accurate prediction.” Davos tapped on his armchair with his finger. After pondering for some time, he finally said, “Try your best in following the initial plan, but if things go awry, try to preserve our strength and don’t fight blindly. However, there is a bottom line that you must keep in mind!”

Davos pointed at the table and said firmly, “Defend Clampetia and Aprustum, and help the Crotonians keep their city! As long as this line of defence is not lost, we can keep the enemy out of the territory and gather our strength for a counterattack!”

“Milord, I will defend our territory in the south until you come back!” Philesius promised, but he continued to ask, “What if Syracuse were to use their fleet to bypass Crotone and land behind us?”

Davos was disappointed a bit at Philesius’ foresight. So he said impatiently, “It is not easy to have tens of thousands of soldiers disembark on our land, don’t forget that we still have the two newly established legions. And this is Seclian’s concern, not yours.”

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

“Seclian, once war breaks out between Theonia and Syracusan, what preparations do you have for your navy?” Davos asked with a serious expression.

Seclian said confidently, “Milord, we planned to gather the warships of our allies and direct them…with Rhegium taking the initiative to hand over their 35 triremes to our navy, Caulonia and Terina have also merged their fleet with us. Although Scylletium had expressed its consent, they had not yet put it into action, while Crotone is hesitant, but I think they will soon agree. At that time, Theonia will have a powerful fleet of nearly 200 large and small warships, while I will install the ‘corvus’ on all the triremes…”

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