Chapter 97 Expedition to Rome

"Your Majesty!" The three henchmen directly under King Dionia: Martius, the chief of the palace guard, Henepolis, the secretary, and Aristillas, the messenger, have respectfully stood in front of the checkpoint and waited.

"I made you wait for a long time." Davos jumped off the war horse, looked at Martius, and asked, "Have the guards of the palace and the mansion been arranged during my absence?"

"According to what I reported to you last time, half of the soldiers (that is, 250 people) were left, led by Xenophanes, to ensure the safety of the palace and the king's hill, as well as the princesses and princes." Martius replied. .

Davos nodded, walked to Xenofannis who was standing behind the three, and said sincerely, "The safety of my family will depend on you next!"

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will successfully complete the task you assigned!" Xenophonis gave a military salute confidently and powerfully.

Davers glanced at his left hand unconsciously.

Xenofannis salutes with his left hand. He was originally a member of the Persian Expeditionary Force, a senior officer of the First Corps, and a friend of the current commander of the Ninth Corps, Tegetinos. He was seriously injured in his right hand in the fierce battle with the Allied Forces of Syracuse when the First Corps landed in Sicily more than ten years ago, and became disabled due to ineffective treatment. In this case, he should have retired from the army, but he himself strongly expressed his willingness to stay in the army. After many setbacks, Davos finally elected him to the palace guard as a team officer. After all, the chances of the palace guards going into battle to kill the enemy are very small, and he does not need to kill the enemy himself, but he needs to bring his rich combat experience and strict legion discipline to the palace guards. So far, he has performed very well, which is why Davos agreed with Martius to give him the responsibility of staying behind.

Davos patted him on the shoulder forcefully to express his hope, then turned and walked towards Aristillas.

Although Davos stared at him and did not speak, Aristillas understood the king's expectations for him: during his personal expedition, he would closely monitor the entire kingdom, work closely with the palace guards and the patrol department, and ensure the stability of the king's power. , The family is safe, and if there is an abnormality, report it to him far away in Latam.

Aristillas solemnly salutes Davos again, without saying anything.

Davos finally looked at Henipolis and asked softly, "Heney, are you ready to write a wonderful "Latin War"?"

"Your Majesty, I have prepared enough papyrus and pens." Henipolis replied skillfully, making Davos laugh.

"Let's go." He said quietly.

Martius led 250 court guards,

Surrounded by Davos. Davos, accompanied by Clotokatax and Henepolis behind him, galloped to the north gate under the salute of Aristiras, Xenophanes, and the rest of the palace guards.

"Salute!" The vigilante at the North City Gate shouted excitedly.

The sentries hurriedly turned the noose, opened the city gate, and stood upright on both sides.

"Thank you, Timias!" Davos called out the vigilante's name accurately and gave a proper military salute on the horse, which made the vigilantes and sentries excited.

The reason why Davos set off so early was because some Turiyi residents had just woken up during this time period, and there were few pedestrians in the streets of the outer city, and it was almost unobstructed.

The sound of "rumbling" hooves broke the tranquility of the outer city, and when the curious residents came out to check, the cavalry had already left.

"It's the palace guard!" The people made an accurate judgment based on the attire of the soldiers: "His Majesty Davos must be inside!"

"His Majesty Davos went to the barracks so early, let's stop dawdling, hurry up to finish breakfast, and rush to the barracks to see off the army!"

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This time, because there were too many soldiers on the expedition, which had exceeded the capacity of the Victory Square in the city of Turii, the final assembly and departure place of the army was set at the Turii Barracks.

At dawn, Davos rushed to the Turii barracks. At the commander's mansion, he summoned several ministers of the military affairs department, as well as the commander of the Second Legion, Martonis, the commander of the Fourth Legion, Olivers, and the Fifth Legion. Georgris, commander of the Sixth Legion, Trotiras, and commander of the Mountain Reconnaissance Corps, Izam, asked them about the recruitment status of each unit, the morale of the soldiers, the weapons and equipment they carried, and whether they carried five The daily rations, whether the auxiliary troops of each legion are fully staffed, the maintenance of siege and defense equipment, whether the equipped pack team is sufficient...

When Davos discussed the expedition with the generals, under the leadership of Tolmead, Clotokatax also met with the staff team assigned to Davos by the Ministry of Military Affairs. The officers who performed well in the legion were then transferred to the staff of the Ministry of Military Affairs to study for a year or two, so they were basically around twenty-five or six years old. Clotokatax stayed in the Ministry of Military Affairs for more than a year, and Most of them knew each other. Although he was a prince, he had a friendly personality and soon chatted and laughed with them.

Everyone excitedly talked about their expectations for this war. Under such a lively atmosphere, Clotokatax completely forgot that he was going to visit his elder brother Adoris at the station of the Second Legion before departure. of.

But in fact, even if he went, he could not speak to Adoris, because the soldiers in the barracks had long been awakened by the sound of the bugle. , hanging on a special wooden staff, carried on the shoulders, wearing only short-sleeved lining, with a dagger around the waist, the long shield, lance and javelin are all handed over to the legion's baggage battalion for transportation, so it is convenient They traversed the mountains with less effort and faster in the next march.

At dawn, most of the elders of the Kingdom’s Senate also rushed to the barracks. Among them, Cornerus, Sedorum, Vesba, Lysias, and Antaoris were the five presidents in charge of the Senate. Some of the elders came to see off King Davos and the army, and also came to express his position: during his expedition, they will do their best to ensure the smooth operation of the kingdom's government affairs.

The other small group of elders, such as Asistes, Antrapolis, Nicomarcus, Triphias, etc., are preparing to lead many officials of the kingdom who voluntarily come and follow them on the expedition. The army went to Ladrum. In fact, they could take the large grain fleet that left the port yesterday, bypass the Strait of Messina, and head to Wolsey, but even the most distinguished King Davos had to accompany the army. On the march, of course, they can't show fear of hardships and leave a bad impression on the ruler of the kingdom, so they will follow the trailing baggage team to the north.

At dawn, Davos took the oath before the expedition in front of nearly 40,000 soldiers on the large playground of the Turii military camp. Clotokatax, who had experienced such a grand and solemn occasion for the first time, listened to it. After his father's speech, he was also very emotional, and together with the soldiers with high morale, they raised their arms and shouted: "King Davos is victorious!!! The kingdom of Dionia is victorious!!!..."

And when the army started to leave the camp, the people of the kingdom, especially the people of Turii, were already waiting on both sides of the road. As always, they sent their relatives to the battlefield with cordial shouts and sincere blessings, and won glory for the kingdom. victories, bringing them glory and rich rewards. The farewell procession stretched all the way to the small town of Yamaguchi, cheering all the way, and even sprinkled with flower petals, as if they had come back victorious.

"This is why the kingdom is strong!" Davos, who was riding in the middle of the team, said softly to his son who was following him.

Clotokatax looked at the cheering people on both sides of the road and nodded deeply.

At the beginning of March of the 14th year of the Kingdom of Dionia (ie 379 BC), King Davos personally led the second army, fourth army, fifth army, sixth army, part of the first cavalry army, and mountain reconnaissance brigade, a total of 40,000 men marched westward, passed through the mountains, reached Laos, and then took ships in batches to the Latium area. In fact, this team also includes some 200 elders and low-level officials of the kingdom, a team of about 600 engineers, craftsmen, blacksmiths... Therefore, the whole team appears huge and bloated.

In addition, the merchants of Turii and Lijim took their own fleets, loaded with rations, and passed through the Strait of Messina, bypassing the west coast of Italy, and preparing to join the army of King Davos at Latium.

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While Davos's army was marching towards Ladium, the Spartans in mainland Greece were gathering troops and planning to regain control of Thebes. The news of the direct participation of the Athenians in the process of the riots in Sparta surprised and worried them. After all, if the two powers of Central Greece were reunited, the plan of the Spartans to regain dominance in Greece would be greatly affected. hindrance.

So, the two inspectors of Sparta rushed to Athens immediately and aggressively questioned the Athenians: Are they going to tear up the King's peace treaty and go to war with Sparta.

Although the Athenians were dissatisfied with Sparta and secretly helped the people who resisted in Thebes, Sparta has not only recovered its strength over the past ten years with the support of the Persians, but they also stopped the war in Asia Minor and put all the After the power was poured into the hegemony of the Greek mainland, all the Greek city-states felt great pressure. The Peloponnesian Peninsula was completely controlled by it, and even Corinth and Argos were obedient and dared not do anything. In an unusual move, the northern Greek city-states became its allies, and the central Greece was messed up by it. ()

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