Chapter 75 Military Discussion
"What's the matter with the war! Before any war, I, Timias, did not provide good service to the soldiers, even you, Yumachus, and I served you more than once, and I did not see you saying that it affected you. Rest!" Timias said aloud confidently, and several women were also winking at Yumachus, with eloquent help.
"Okay, okay, if you want to stay here, just stay here! I still have something urgent!" Yumachus was anxious and angry, and in the public, he didn't have a problem, and he finished a little angrily, Before driving the horse, let the guards at the gate go in to report.
"Lord Yumachus, when you see Consul Dionia, can you tell us to let us in..." Seeing that Yumachus was about to enter the camp, Timias came up with a smile on his face. Eumacas ignored him at all and went in.
…………………………
When Davos was out of the camp, Timias and the women wanted to surround them, but Martius led the guards to drive them aside, and he yelled in anger.
Yumachus pretended not to hear, Davos laughed, he pointed to a noisy area in front of the camp, and said, "The Tarantum's mind is flexible, we just built the camp yesterday, today This will automatically form a lively market. To be honest, it provides a lot of convenience for our army to collect necessary materials, but sex prostitutes are strictly prohibited in the army. According to the "Dionysian Military Law", offenders will be stripped of their citizenship. So even if that person walked into the barracks, no one would dare to approach him against military law.”
Yumachus blushed slightly, smiled in agreement, and sighed: "Your military law is strict, no wonder your record is excellent."
The place where the battle meeting was held was on the outskirts of Tarantum, in the manor of Eumacas.
In the conference room, Davos not only met Diomelas, but also Triphias, one of the consuls of Heraclea, and Tudpres, one of the consuls of Metapontum.
Diomilas still had the same expression as yesterday, and he didn't say anything at all, and it was estimated that the bad news of the navy's fiasco broke his heart.
Tudpres greeted Davos very politely and behaved quite well. Instead, Triphias and Daves shook hands and hugged, talking and laughing. After all, Heraclea is close to Amendolara, and when Davos led the mercenaries to establish a foothold in Amendolara, they had contacts with Heraclea. In less than two years, they established a relatively close relationship with Heraclea. relation.
After everyone sat down, Eumacas said heavily: "My lords, thank you for your selfless help when Tarantum encountered difficulties! Diomilas and I represent Taran. The Senate of Tum and the people of Tarantum would like to express their heartfelt thanks to you!" After speaking, Eumacas saluted the three of them earnestly.
Diomelas also reluctantly saluted, and the three of Davos also politely returned the salute.
After this etiquette, we got to the point.
Diomilas stood up and said: "Mandulia has less than 4,000 soldiers stationed, and it has been besieged by the Maple coalition for two days! According to reliable sources, the Maple coalition has 30,000 troops. If If we don't act now, Mandulia will suffer the same fate as Brindisi! The Tarantum Senate has made a decision to send us immediately to clear Mandulia and find a chance to meet Mape The coalition forces will fight, what do you disagree with?"
His eyes swept over Tudpres, Triphias, and finally fell on Davos. Heraclea and Metapontum, as the city-states of Tarantum, have always been obedient, so of course Diomilas' question was directed at Dionia.
Both consuls answered in the affirmative, but Davos did not speak immediately, but stood up and walked around to Yumachus' side. On the wooden table in front of him was a detailed picture of Tarantum. On the map, you can clearly see that the marked Manduria is not far south of the Tarantum icon. He gestured with his finger and asked, "How far is Manduria from here?"
"Less than fifty miles.
' replied Eumacas.
50 miles. Davos estimated: According to the normal marching speed of the Dionian Legion of 15 miles per hour, they could reach it within three hours. Manduria is located on a "coastal corridor", with the sea on one side and the mountain forest on the other, and the city of Manduria is not located on the seashore, but relies on the mountain forest. However, think that Tarantum is not far to the north. The Mesapi people must have considered Tarantum's naval strength in building this city, so they make use of their strengths and avoid weaknesses.
"How wide is this place?" Davers stuck two fingers on the "corridor" on the map.
"Six miles at the narrowest," Eumacas replied.
six miles. The 30,000-strong army commander's array had already exceeded this length. Davos thought for a while, then asked, "How many soldiers is Tarantum going to send?"
Just as Eumacas was about to answer, Diomilas couldn't hold back and shouted: "Do you agree to send troops or not, decide quickly, don't ask this or that, it will waste our time!"
"Diomilas!" Eumacas shouted hastily, lest he would provoke Davos with his rhetoric.
Diomilas just saw that Davos not only failed to show respect for himself as a consul, but also seemed like he was the host of this meeting, which made him angry for a while. At this moment, remembering the advice of the elders of the Senate and the dangerous situation of Tarantum, he snorted coldly and swallowed his anger.
Davos looked calm, looked at Diomelas, and said slowly: "Starting a war is not only related to the life and death of a citizen soldier, but also to the rise and fall of a city-state. As the decision-maker of war, we must Think carefully, does Tarantum have another chance to fail?!"
Everyone else was moved by Davos' words, and Diomilas snorted again, carefully muttering: "This is just to find a reason for your cowardice."
Davos laughed and said nothing.
timid? No one else in the room would agree with Diomilas' words. After all, the battles that Davos commanded in the past have always been to win more with less, which has proved everything. On the contrary, Tarantum faced the attack of the Maple coalition before and eagerly urged Dionia's reinforcements. Who was timid?
Eumacas saw Triphias winking at Tudpres, showing a little sarcasm on his face, his face could not be hung, and he hurriedly came out to round up: "Lord Davos, please forgive Diomilas for being rude. , he was also anxious about Tarantum's current... bad situation, and he just spoke impulsive and without consideration!"
Eumacas apologised and winked at Diomelas.
Diomilas held his breath and didn't apologize, but he didn't speak anymore.
"Tarantum will send 10,000 soldiers to the expedition." Eumacas continued: "With your reinforcements, the entire army will reach 27,000 troops, which is not much different from the number of the Maple coalition. After Manduria is released, the number of soldiers in Tarantum will increase to 14,000, and the entire army will be 31,000, which is a considerable number, and repelling the Maple coalition will not be a problem at all."
"It's best if things develop as you say, but—" Davos tapped the Manduria icon on the map forcefully: "If the Maple coalition instead of fighting with us, instead retreats, Have you considered it?"
"That's impossible! Messapies are irritable and tyrannical, love fighting, and regard retreat as cowardly." Diomilas immediately retorted.
"The Mesapi people were able to ambush Achieta with the Puchetti. Obviously, they didn't just know how to be brave and ruthless." When he arrived at Tarantum, Davos also learned the truth of Achieta's defeat. At this time, he Patiently analyzed: "As far as I know, the Mesapi people's infantry is not as good as our heavy infantry, and I believe that the Puchetti are even more so. Their cavalry is strong, but the area in Manduria is narrow. If the two sides engage in a battle, It's not good for their cavalry attack, but it's good for our heavy infantry. Smart people will not ignore this... This may be their ideal battlefield," Davos pointed to Manduria and Brin There is a relatively large gap between the two cities of Dixi, where there is no sign of mountains and forests.
"However, once the enemy retreats, we join up with the Manduria defenders, and the strength increases again. The Maple coalition faces a difficult choice, and it is not impossible to choose to retreat directly." Davers reminded again.
"It makes sense." Triphias nodded in agreement. Heraklia's strength was not too strong. He had already suffered a lot of losses with Tarantum in the Mesapi area. Of course he hoped that he would not be able to. If one soldier is lost, the Mesapis will be forced to retreat, and the duty of the allies will be successfully fulfilled.
Tudpres also holds the same mentality.
Eumacas and Diomilas looked at each other with worry on their faces, and they both knew in their hearts: If the Maple coalition really chose to retreat as Davos said, it would not be good for Tarantum.
Greek city-states organized tens of thousands of troops to go out to fight, often benefiting from quick battles. After all, after a long time, not only the consumption of materials is huge, but also a large number of citizens are not in the country for a long time, and most of the city-state affairs are abandoned. Therefore, so far, only Athens, Sparta and Syracuse have the ability to fight for a long time, and they all have strong city-state alliances behind them to provide support.
The Maple coalition retreated, and of course the tens of thousands of Dionysian reinforcements could not stay for long. When the Mesapis attacked again, could Tarantum go to Dionia to ask for reinforcements? Tarantum finally gathered such a huge army, and only hoped that it would be able to complete its efforts in one battle and inflict heavy damage on the Maple coalition, so as to change the decline of Tarantum.