Chapter 81 Ambush and Counter-Ambush

Since Asisters was engaged in local government affairs, Davos has never had a suitable herald, and with the expansion of the war, the number of people participating in the war has increased, and the situation has become complicated. Tormide is undoubtedly a suitable candidate. Davos first appointed him as the envoy, preparing him to slowly develop a staff team under the commander to assist him in dealing with the military affairs of the expedition.

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The Tarantum scout did not immediately return to the Anlern Hills, but ran to the Tarantum team and reported the situation to Diomilas in a more exaggerated manner.

Before Diomilas could respond, the surrounding soldiers shouted: "My lord, the Messapi people slaughtered our relatives and burned our fields, we can't ignore it! Those Gentiles pretended not to see, because they suffered It's not their city-state that is lost!"

"That's right! We can't obey the Gentiles! We're going to fight the Meshapi and avenge our loved ones!"

"Go to the Allen Hills, catch up with the Messapies, and kill them!"

...

The roars of the soldiers gradually let more Tarantum soldiers understand the situation. This collective fanaticism infected every Tarantum soldier, which in turn increased the commotion of the team, which was in danger of losing control.

Diomilas was also affected by it, but he thought more: after he was elected consul, he promoted the war on Messapi, and now the war has caused Tarantum to be hit hard, because the war is critical, Tarantum It was too late for the Mu people to settle the guilt. Now facing the boiling public opinion, I turn a blind eye to it, even if Brindisi is recaptured, the angry people will expel them from the city-state, and let themselves bear the humiliation of a lifetime!

Diomilas forcibly forgot the trace of fear that Davos had left in his heart when he was angry. Facing the army with boiling morale, he made up his mind: "Order the entire army to turn left and advance rapidly towards the Anlern Hills!"

The soldiers burst into cheers and immediately got into action.

The Tarantums left the team. The first thing they noticed was the Metapontums in front of them. Toudeples was shocked and immediately sent someone to quickly notify Davos in front of them.

"Bastard! Damn bastard!" Davos lost control of his emotions after hearing the news, and yelled, what he was most worried about still happened.

But his mood was more stable, he turned his head to the other Tarantum consul who had been silent for a long time and said: "Lord Eumacas, the situation is urgent now, I need you to rush to dissuade Diomilas and let him Bring your troops back immediately!"

Yumachus shook his head: "I know Diomelas. He is as stubborn as a stone. Since he has decided to violate your order, it is impossible to persuade him!"

Davos looked directly at him and said with anger, "You mean you're not going?!"

Eumacas blinked: "I mean I can't persuade him back, it's useless to go."

"Thormid!" Davos roared, startling the somewhat disturbed Eumacas.

"Yes, Lord Commander!" Thormid replied forcefully.

"Go to that bastard yourself and tell him, 'If he doesn't come back, I'll immediately lead the troops back to take Dionia.' Go and go back quickly!" Davos gave an order angrily.

"Understood!" Thormid nodded cautiously, and got on his horse.

"Da... Lord Davos, do you really want to—" Eumacas asked cautiously, and Davos roared impatiently, "Shut up!"

Davos's anger is hard to dissipate: since he was in command, this is the first time that his generals do not obey orders! The two Tarantum consuls sang together, and they were completely a nest of snakes and rats. after. Coalition forces like this can no longer participate. Since its establishment, he has not been as happy as he likes. Most of his energy has been spent on how to balance the relationship with the Tarantum army. Now he has to be dragged down by them and is in danger of failure. , do you really want to return immediately?

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"My lord, if the Dionians do go,

Just our strength can't match the large number of Maple coalition forces! "The adjutant of Tarantum's army looked at the departing Dionysian herald and said worriedly.

"Don't worry, the Dionias will follow! Didn't Dionia always call herself 'keeping promises'! Now I want to be the ally of the Greek city-state in southern Italy. If there is no war, I will abandon allies and flee the battlefield. This kind of cowardly behavior is known by other city-states, and who else is willing to trust Dionia!" Diomilas was confident on the surface, but he was still uneasy in his heart.

So, he ordered again: "Let the soldiers advance a little slower."

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When Thormid told Davos of Diomilas' refusal, he had recovered his composure.

"Understood." Davos replied lightly.

"Lord Davos, what should we do now?" Tudpres asked hurriedly.

Davos looked around the crowd, took Eumacas' concern, Tudples' uneasiness, and Triphias' randomness into his eyes, and then resolutely said: "The whole army turns around and reinforces that idiot!"

Eumacas showed gratitude, Tudpres relaxed, and only Triphias asked urgently, "What if there is an ambush in the Anlern Hills?"

"That's even better, not to save Diomilas, but to save thousands of Tarantum citizens!" Now that he has decided to go for reinforcements, Davos certainly wants to speak more beautifully. In fact, the reason why he wants to reinforce is not only the reason that Diomelas said, but also that Heraclea has moved closer to Dionia, and Metapontum is also shaking, but if Tarantu The Mu people suffered a crushing defeat in this battle, then it will no longer be able to stop the Mesapis and Puchetti, these fierce natives can go north along the coast at any time, invade Metapontum, and threaten Heraklia. At that time, Dionia will have to send troops to rescue. It is better to rescue Tarantum's army, repel the Maple coalition, and maintain the balance of power in this land while it is already on the battlefield. As the founder of Dionia, for the sake of the power of the alliance, it was nothing to temporarily hold back his disgust for the Tarantum Archon.

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The Anlern Hills are actually the junction of two mountains, so there are large and small hills. Most of these hills are tens of meters high and the tops are round. A peculiar natural beauty.

But for those who want to pass here, it is a disaster. Although the hills are not high, they have a large range and a high slope, making it difficult to climb, and the hills are continuous one after another. The route that was not too far away became tortuous. Moreover, few people have passed by here for decades, and the green grass has grown everywhere, which has long submerged the paths that were once opened.

Fortunately, there were reconnaissance horses who had followed the Maple coalition before to lead the way, and there was a smoke pillar sitting in the distance. The Tarantum army saved a lot of trouble finding the way. Along the way, apart from complaining about the difficult mountain road, everything went smoothly. They didn't even see the shadows of Messapi and Puchetti.

And when he got the news of the scout cavalry that had caught up and that the Dionysian army had also entered the Anlern Hills, Diomilas laughed: Childish young man, fight with me, you are still far behind!

He exhaled a bad breath and looked into the distance. He was not too far away from the thick smoke soaring into the sky. It was estimated that he could reach it by going around a few hills.

The corpses of the people of Tarantum can already be seen on the grass, and they all died miserably. This stirred up the anger of the soldiers. They seemed to hear the helpless calls and screams of their relatives not far away. They were tired. Their bodies seemed to be full of strength again, they involuntarily accelerated forward, and the entire column elongated by the narrow mountain road became more scattered and weaker.

"Woo! Woo!..." The Messapier's bugle suddenly sounded among the hills, hitting the hearts of every Tarantum soldier like a heavy hammer. Dai, who was originally proud of fooling Davos, rang out. Omelas' face turned pale in an instant...

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"Come after them! Don't let them escape!" Thorikos shouted anxiously at his men.

Although the Diorian cavalry pursued at full speed despite the danger, and from time to time some teammates fell off their horses because of the rough mountain road, the distance between them and the fleeing Messapi cavalry was getting farther and farther.

Those Mesapis flexibly manipulated the horses they sat down, as if the horses were a part of his body, running at full speed between the narrow mountain roads without any obstruction at all, which made Thorikos and the others feel inferior, and in the end they were helpless. Watching the Messapien cavalry go away.

At this time, there was a shout of "Captain" from behind Thorikos. He looked back and saw that Ryders was riding over.

So he held the reins with one hand and saluted Ryders with the other. The Dionian cavalry is an independent arm, with a total of less than a thousand people, and is not affiliated with any legion. Although Ryders is only a captain, his status is equal to that of an infantry legionnaire.

Ryders looked at the retreating back of the Mesapi cavalry with a solemn expression, and turned back to Solikos and said: "There may be a lot of Messapi and Puchetti cavalry attacking, we must do our best to block, try our best to do as much as possible. Don't let them detect the direction of the army in a short time!"

"Yes!" Solikos responded immediately, but he felt the weight of the task in his heart: I heard that there are thousands of Messapi cavalry, and their horsemanship is superb. can stop. Fortunately, there are hills everywhere, which is not conducive to the deployment of troops and the detour of the cavalry, and the advantage of the enemy's cavalry in large numbers cannot be exerted.

Ryders saw his nervousness and added: "Commander-in-chief Davos has sent more than two hundred light shield soldiers to assist us, and they will arrive soon."