Chapter 71 Dionysian Interests Part 1

"I was worried that Tarantum would not save Manduria first, but let us go to Brindisi first! Because Manduria is at least safe now, and there are only 2,000 soldiers stationed and far away. Tarantum's Brindisi is much more dangerous!" Capps said worriedly. Free serial novel reading network

"If that's the case, we absolutely cannot agree!" Drax looked at Davos and said firmly.

"My lord, go north without repelling the enemies of Manduria, and once Manduria is taken, the Messapis can cut off our line of transport, and we will be in danger of being caught on both sides. So , If you can get the command of the coalition army, it is best. If not, we must also ensure the autonomy of our Dionian army!" Felixius also solemnly suggested.

Davers nodded in agreement.

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After Capps and Drax left, Davos left Felixius alone.

"How are the preparations for the troops going?"

"All the soldiers of the First and Second Corps have all returned to the city to stand by, but there are still many soldiers who have not replaced new weapons and equipment." Felixius said, seeing Davos's expression slightly hesitant, Busy explained: "It's not that they are not actively replacing, but that there are only three weapon shops in Turii and Amendolara, and it is impossible for them to complete the production of tens of thousands of new armor and shields in a few months. , the tanning of cowhide alone is a time-consuming process, and it is such a large number, if it were not for the large number of cattle and sheep that we have grazing by the Lucanian citizens of Niutum and Grummentum , it would take years just to raise the cowhide..."

"Since this is the case, let's use the old equipment for this battle. Let the soldiers go to the weapon shop to temporarily replace their original bronze helmets and copper shields." Davos said with a little regret. Suddenly, he remembered something: "I heard that a Corinthian businessman built a large weapons workshop in the handicraft area of ​​Amendolara. We can consider giving him part of the order, but I don't know if he is willing to accept the terms of trade-in. ."

"The merchant's name is Theos. I have spoken to him, and he is very happy to accept it."

"Oh, this is a smart person, but unfortunately he is a foreigner." Davers remembered the simple hydraulic forging hammer that had been successfully developed by the Mathematical Research Institute, and was considering finding a suitable big business to cooperate with it, as a way to greatly save manpower , To improve the efficiency of forging copper and iron, Davos must of course use it in his own hands in order to maintain confidentiality.

"In addition, I have contacted the Civil Ship Association of the port (this is an unofficial shipping organization proposed by Daves and planned by Marigi, which is an unofficial shipping organization of the Union, and all Dionysian merchant ships and passenger ships have joined it, and its The purpose is to maintain port order, prevent vicious competition, improve industry efficiency, and facilitate cost management),

Polidorus also said that Tarantum's ships will also come to the port to help with transportation, so that we can transport all the soldiers of the two legions to the port of Tarantum at one time. Probably the day after tomorrow our army will be ready to sail to Tarantum. ' Felixius continued slightly excitedly.

"Philicius, when a typical Greek city-state is at war, how many days does it take from mobilizing citizens to setting off on an expedition?"

Davos' question surprised Felixius for a moment. He thought that Davos was making a comparison, so he said: "From war mobilization, to selecting citizens, arranging family affairs, preparing weapons, equipment and food, compiling troops, It takes about three or four days to determine the team leader, and we only need two days at most."

"What if tens of thousands of people are dispatched?"

"Then the time may be longer, it is estimated to be six or seven days, but for us Dionia—" Before Felixius finished speaking, Davos waved his hand and said, "Then don't be in a hurry. , and set off again in five days."

Felixius thought he heard it wrong, Davos leaned forward, looked at Felixius, and said in a deep voice: "Although Tarantum and Messapi often fought in the past, they never This time, I don't care about the lives of citizens and attack Messapi with all my strength, do you know why?"

Felixius is not a fool, not to mention that after more than a year of experience as a military officer, he has improved a lot in terms of administrative experience and vision, and he immediately replied: "It's because of us."

"Yes, us!" Davos repeated forcefully: "The rapid strength of our alliance has put pressure on Tarantum, the southern Italy is not too big, it can only accommodate the next overlord, and this overlord can only It's Dionysus! Now that Hades has helped us and put Tarantum in a bind, we must seize this opportunity."

Davos showed a sneer: "Abide by the covenant and help Tarantum to repel the Maple coalition can be done, but it is definitely not to help Tarantum destroy his enemies and stabilize their newly occupied territories!"

Davos was very calm, even callous, and his friendship with Archita could not affect his decision on political affairs.

Felixius, as the deputy of the army, assisted Davos for more than two years, and knew more about his leader than other generals, like deliberately delaying the attack and causing heavy losses to the citizens of Amendolara, deceived Cornerus to make himself the leader. Lifetime consul, etc., this young consul is not as honest and honest as he appears, but perhaps it is because of this that he will lead the mercenary army to the heights it is today. Mintas and other rough people who only know how to fight can't do it.

Felixius sighed lightly, and exhaled from his mind Davos's enthusiasm towards Polydorus just now and his now cold expression...

"I see, my lord," he said.

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In the following days, Davos entrusted Avinogis, the consul of Laos, who was still watching the game and tasting food in Turui, to try his best to understand the situation of the Bruti people, so as to confirm the situation of the Trina people. Is Prose's statement true?

The rest of the time, he carefully read some information about Tarantum and Messapi collected by Aristillas at the mansion. In his free time, he also accompanies his wife Christoya and his one-year-old son Krotokatax.

But Polydorus was getting more anxious day by day. He visited Davos or Felixius several times, but they were all persuaded to leave with justifiable reasons. It is true that more and more soldiers are gathered in the city of Turii day by day, and it does take a long time to mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers to go on an expedition. However, the situation in Tarantum is getting worse day by day, and Dionia is in urgent need. Army rescue.

On the second day of Archita's defeat, Brindisi's Clippers returned to Tarantum and informed the Senate: Archita was killed, and the Maple coalition threw his head into the city and used it outside the city. Thousands of corpses of Tarantum soldiers built a "corpse mountain", intimidating the Brindisi defenders to open the city to surrender, and the people in the city panicked. The Maple coalition has been waiting for a long time, but no reply has been received, and the siege has already begun.

Brindisi urgently asked Tarantum for help, claiming that: the enemy is strong, the defenders are few, and after the last capture of Brindisi, the dilapidated city walls have not received sufficient time to be completely repaired. When reinforcements arrive, I am afraid it will fall within two or three days.

While the Senate of Tarantum was urgently discussing "how to rescue Brindisi", another news came: the Messapi army besieging Manduria disappeared!

The elders of the Senate, headed by Eumacas and Diomilas, did not feel relieved when they heard the news. Although they could not detect the whereabouts of the main force of Messapi due to the blockade of the Messapi cavalry, everyone did not need to. If you think about it, you can roughly guess: the Mesapi people are most likely to move eastward and join the Puchetti army. Brindisi is in danger!

Although he has already been rewarded by Turii, Dionia will send tens of thousands of soldiers to reinforce him. But it will definitely be impossible to reach in a short period of time, but Tarantum himself should send troops to reinforce from the land. In the face of the blockade of tens of thousands of Maple coalition forces, the Senate felt that this was simply to die, so the final decision: transported by sea Reinforcing Brindisi with soldiers, enabling it to hold on to the rescue of the Tarantum Alliance and Dionia's coalition.

Tarantum sent 80 large and small warships, including 40 triple oars, almost the entire naval force of Tarantum, to escort a troop convoy full of 4,000 soldiers to Brindisi .

After circumventing the "heel" of the Italian peninsula, the fleet was intercepted by the combined Maple fleet off the coast of Hodrum, the city-state of Messapi.

Puchetti's navy is not strong. There is only one seaport city, Barium (now Bari). However, the Mesapi people are different. Most of its city-states are port cities. Igratia, Brindisi, Ugentum, Mesagne, and Hodrum are all seaport cities, but they are the largest city-states. ——Udière is an inland city, located in the center of the Messapi region, and was once the capital of the Messapi Kingdom. Therefore, the Mesapi people's sailing ability is not weak, and the maritime trade is relatively developed. Later, with the help of the Athenians, they could not only build three-tier oars by themselves, but also skillfully use the advanced sea warfare skills of the Greeks. The sea also brought a lot of trouble to the Tarantum people, and this time, it was the biggest naval battle between Tarantum and Messapi. The Messapis gathered all the warships of all the city-states, totaling 58, including 25 three-deck galleys, plus Puchetti's six ships, for a total of 64 warships.

One is anxious to get reinforcements, the other is desperate to intercept, and the two sides start a fierce battle at sea...

Although Mesapi had few warships, it was brave in attack; although Tarantum had a large number of ships, he had to take into account the troop transport fleet behind him, but he was shy in attack.