ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 277 Military Discussion
"What's the matter with a war! Before any war, I, Timias, did not provide good services to the soldiers. Even you, Eumacus, I came to your door to serve you more than once, and I never saw you say anything that affected you. Rest!" Timias said loudly and confidently, and several women also winked at Umacus and supported him in sweet voices.

"Okay, okay, if you want to stay here, just stay here! I have something urgent to do!" Umarcas was anxious and angry, and it was difficult to get angry in public, so he finished angrily, He drove his horse forward and asked the gatekeeper to go in and report.

"Lord Uumakas, when you see the Dionian consul, can you help us and let us in..." Seeing that Uumakas was about to enter the camp, Timias came up with a playful smile, Umarchus ignored him and went straight in.

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

When Davos left the camp, Timias and the women wanted to surround them, but Martius led the guards and drove them aside. He was so angry that he cursed.

Umarchus pretended not to hear, while Davos laughed. He pointed to a noisy area in front of the camp and said: "The minds of the Tarentum people are flexible. Yesterday we just built the camp. Today A lively market will automatically form here. To be honest, it provides great convenience for our army to purchase necessary supplies. However, prostitution is strictly prohibited in the military. According to the "Dionysian Military Law", violators He will be deprived of his citizenship. Therefore, even if that person walks into the military camp, no one would dare to violate military law and contact him."

Yumakas blushed slightly, echoed a smile, and sighed: "Your military law is strict, no wonder your record is outstanding."

The war meeting was held in the manor of Uumachus on the outskirts of Tarentum.

In the meeting room, Davos not only met Diomelas, but also Trifias, one of the consuls of Heraclea, and Tudorpress, one of the consuls of Metapontum.

Diomiras still had the same expression as yesterday, and at least he didn't say anything. The bad news of the navy's defeat probably depressed him.

Tude Presi greeted Davers very politely and behaved quite well.On the other hand, Triphias and Daves shook hands and hugged each other, talking and laughing.After all, Heraclea is close to Amendolara. When Davos led the mercenaries to establish a foothold in Amendolara, they had contact with Heraclea. In less than two years, a relatively close relationship was established. relation.

After everyone sat down, Umarchus said seriously: "My lords, thank you for your selfless help when Tarantum encountered difficulties! Diomeras and I represented Tarantum. The Senate of Tum and the people of Tarantum would like to express their heartfelt thanks to you!" After saying that, Umarkas saluted the three of them seriously.

Diomeras reluctantly followed suit, and Davos and the other three responded politely.

After this formality, we got down to business.

Diomelas stood up and said: "Mandulia has less than 4000 soldiers stationed, and it has been besieged by the Map coalition for two days! According to reliable information, the Map coalition has a total of 3 soldiers. If If we don't take action immediately, Mandulia will suffer the same fate as Brindisi! The Tarantum Senate has made a decision and sent us to immediately rescue Mandulia and look for opportunities to communicate with Maple Do you have any objections to the decisive battle between the coalition forces?"

His eyes swept over Tudeples, Triphias, and finally fell on Davos.Heraclea and Metapontum, as subsidiary city-states of Tarantum, have always obeyed orders, so Diomeras' question was of course directed at Dionia.

Both consuls answered in the affirmative, but Davos did not speak immediately. Instead, he stood up and walked around Umarchus. On the wooden table in front of him was a detailed picture of Tarantum. On the map, it could be clearly seen that the marked Mandulia was not far south of the Tarantum icon. He gestured with his finger and asked: "How far is Mandulia from here?"

"Less than fifty miles," Umarchus answered.

50 miles.Davers estimated: According to the normal marching speed of the Dionysian Legion of 15 miles per hour, it can be reached in three hours.Manduria is located on a "coastal corridor", with the sea on one side and the mountains and forests on the other. However, the city of Manduria is not located on the seaside, but relies on the mountains and forests.But think about it, not far to the north is Tarantum. The Messape people must have considered Tarantum's naval strength when building this city, so they used their strengths to avoid weaknesses.

"How wide is it here?" Davos stuck two fingers on the "corridor" on the map.

"The narrowest is six miles," Umarchus answered.

Six miles. The 3-strong troop leader's array has already exceeded this length.Davos thought for a while, and asked again: "How many soldiers are Tarantum going to send?"

Just as Eumacus was about to answer, Diomelas could no longer hold himself back and shouted: "Whether you agree to send troops or not, decide quickly. Don't waste our time by asking this or that!"

"Diomelas!" Umarchus shouted hurriedly, fearing that his words would be too harsh and anger Davos.

Diomelas just saw that Davos not only failed to show respect to himself as a consul, but also acted as if he was the host of the meeting, and he became angry for a moment.At this moment, thinking of the advice of the Senate elders and Tarantum's dangerous situation, he snorted coldly and swallowed his anger.

Davos looked calm, looked at Diomiras, and said slowly: "Waging a war is not only related to the life and death of a citizen soldier, but also related to the rise and fall of a city-state. As the decision-makers of the war, we must Think carefully, is there any chance for Tarantum to experience another failure?!"

Everyone else was moved by Davos' words, Diomelas snorted again, and murmured cautiously: "This is just an excuse for your timidity."

Davos smiled and said nothing.

timid?No one else here would agree with Diomelas' words. After all, the battles Davos directed in the past have always won more with less, which has proved everything.But before Tarantum faced the attack of Maple's coalition forces, he eagerly urged Dionia's reinforcements. Who was timid?
Umacus saw Triphias winking at Tudeples with a little sarcasm on his face. He couldn't keep his face and hurriedly came out to smooth things over: "Lord Davos, please forgive Diomelas for being rude. , he was also anxious about Tarantum’s current... bad situation, so he spoke impulsively and without thinking!"

Eumacus apologized and winked at Diomeras.

Diomeras held his breath and did not apologize, but he did not speak any more.

"Tarantum will send out 27000 soldiers." Umarkas then said: "With your reinforcements, the total strength of the army will reach 14000, which is not much different from the number of the Maple coalition. Wait for After the siege of Manduria is lifted, the number of Tarantum's soldiers will increase to 1000, and the total army will be [-]. This is a quite large number, and repelling the Maple coalition will not be a problem at all."

"It would be best if things develop as you said, but -" Davos clicked the icon of Manduria on the map hard: "If the Map Alliance army not only fails to fight with us, but retreats, Have you considered it?"

"This is impossible! The Mesapien people are irritable and violent. They love fighting and regard retreat as cowardice." Diomelas immediately retorted.

"The Messapians were able to unite with the Puchetis to ambush Achita. Obviously they were not just brave and ruthless." When they arrived at Tarentum, Davers also learned the truth about Achita's defeat. At this time, he Patiently analyzed: "As far as I know, the infantry of the Messapians is not as good as our heavy infantry, and I believe the same is true of the Puchetis. Their cavalry is strong, but the area in Manduria is narrow. If the two sides engage in a battle, It is not conducive to their cavalry attack, but is conducive to our heavy infantry combat. Smart people will not fail to consider this... This may be their ideal battlefield," Davers pointed at Manduria and Brin There is a relatively large gap between the two cities of Dixi, and there are no signs of mountains and forests there.

"However, once the enemy retreats, we join up with the defenders of Manduria, and our strength increases again. The Maple coalition faces difficult choices, and it is not impossible to choose to retreat directly." Davos reminded again.

"It makes sense." Triphias nodded in agreement. Heraclea's strength was not too strong. He had already suffered a lot of losses when he followed Tarantum in the Messape region. Of course, he hoped to avoid it. If you lose one soldier, you can force the Messapians back and successfully fulfill your obligations as an ally.

Tudepres also holds the same mentality.

Yumakas and Diomelas looked at each other with worries on their faces, and they all knew in their hearts: If the Maple coalition forces really choose to retreat as Davos said, it will not be a good thing for Tarantum.

Greek city-states organized tens of thousands of troops to go out to fight, often to the advantage of a quick battle.After all, as time went on, not only did it consume a lot of materials, but a large number of citizens were away from the country for a long time. Most of the city-state affairs were abandoned. Before the war was over, the city-state was in chaos and the houses and fields were vacant. It was probably time to die.Therefore, so far, only Athens, Sparta and Syracuse have the ability to fight for a long time, and they all have powerful city-state alliances behind them to provide support.

The Mep coalition retreated, and of course tens of thousands of Dionia reinforcements could not stay for long. When the Messapians attacked again, would Tarantum go to Dionia again to request reinforcements?Tarantum finally managed to gather such a large army, and only hoped that it could complete the victory in one battle and inflict heavy losses on the Maple coalition forces, so as to change Tarantum's decline.

(End of this chapter)