ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 283 Ambush and Counter-Ambush
Since Asistes engaged in local government affairs, Davos has never had a suitable herald. Moreover, as the war expanded and the number of participants increased, the situation became complicated. He gradually found it difficult to deal with it and was in urgent need of help from others. Tormid is undoubtedly a suitable candidate. Davos first appointed him as the acting herald, preparing him to slowly develop a staff team under the commander to assist him in handling military affairs during the expedition to Sri Lanka.

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The Tarantum scout did not return to the Anlern Hills immediately. Instead, he ran to Tarantum's team and reported the situation to Diomelas in an even more exaggerated manner.

Before Diomelas could respond, the surrounding soldiers began to clamor: "Sir, the Messapians slaughtered our relatives and burned our fields. We cannot ignore it! Those foreigners pretended not to see it, because they suffered It’s not their city-state that’s losing!”

"You're right! We can't listen to the orders of foreigners! We want to fight the Meshapi people and avenge our relatives!"

"Go to the Allern Hills, catch up with the Messapians, and kill them!"

……

The roars of the soldiers gradually made more Tarantum soldiers understand the situation. This collective fanaticism infected every Tarantum soldier, which in turn increased the commotion in the team and threatened to get out of control.

Diomelas was also infected by it, but he thought more: after being elected as consul, he promoted the war against Messapius, but now the war has caused Tarantum to be severely damaged, because the war situation is critical, and Tarantum It was too late for the Mu people to settle the blame.Now, in the face of the boiling public opinion, if he continues to turn a blind eye, even if Brindisi is recaptured, the angry people will expel him from the city-state and burden him with a lifetime of humiliation!

Diomeras forced himself to forget the trace of fear left in his heart when Davos 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 sprang into action.

The Tarantum people broke away from the team, and the first thing they noticed was the Metapontum people in front of them. Tudepreis was shocked and immediately sent someone to quickly notify Daves in front.

"Bastard! Damn bastard!" After hearing the news, Davos lost control of his emotions and cursed. What he was most worried about happened.

But when his mood became more stable, he turned to the other Tarentum consul who had been silent and said: "Lord Eumarcus, the situation is urgent now. I need you to rush to dissuade Diomelas immediately and let him Bring your troops back immediately!"

Umarchus shook his head: "I know Diomeras. He is as stubborn as a stone. Now that he has decided to disobey your order, it is impossible to persuade him to go back!"

Davos looked directly at him, holding back his anger and said, "You mean you won't go?!"

Umacus' eyes flickered: "I mean I can't persuade him to return, and there's no point in going."

"Tormid!" Davos roared angrily, startling Uumakas who was a little uneasy.

"Yes, Commander!" Tormid replied forcefully.

"Go find that bastard yourself and tell him, 'If he doesn't come back, I will immediately lead my troops back to bring Dionia.' Go back quickly!" Davos gave the order angrily.

"Understood!" Tormid nodded cautiously and got on his horse.

"Da... Lord Davos, do you really want to-" Umarchus asked cautiously, but Davos shouted impatiently: "Shut up!"

Davos was furious: since he commanded the army, this is the first time that his generals have disobeyed orders!The two Tarentum archons sang in harmony, and they were like a den of snakes and rats.after.He can no longer participate in a coalition like this. From its establishment to now, he has never had a smooth life. 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 faces the risk of failure. , do you really want to return immediately?

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"Sir, if the Dionians really leave, our troops will not be able to match the large number of Maple coalition forces!" The adjutant of Tarantum's army looked at the leaving Dionian herald and said worriedly .

"Don't worry, the Dionians will follow! Didn't Dionians always claim to 'keep their promises'! Now they want to become the leader of the Greek city-state in South Italy. If the war does not start, they will abandon their allies and flee the battlefield. This cowardly behavior is known to other city-states, who else is willing to trust Dionia!" Diomelas was confident on the surface, but still uneasy in his heart.

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

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When Thormedes told Davos of Diomelas's rejection, he had already regained his composure.

"I know." Davos replied calmly.

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

Davos looked around at everyone, taking in Uumakas' concern, Tudeples' uneasiness, and Triphias' casualness, and then resolutely said: "Turn around and reinforce that fool!"

Umarchus showed gratitude, and Tudeples also relaxed. Only Triphias asked urgently: "What if there is an ambush in the Anlern Hills?"

"Then it's even more important, not to save Diomelas, but to save thousands of Tarantum citizens!" Now that he has decided to go for reinforcements, Davos of course wants to speak more beautifully.In fact, the reason why he wanted to go to reinforcements was not only the reason Diomelas said, but also Heraclea had moved closer to Dionia, and Metapontum was also wavering, but if Tarantum If the Meta suffered a disastrous defeat in this battle, they would no longer be able to stop the Messapians and Puchetis. These fierce natives could go north along the coast at any time, invade Metapontum, and threaten Heraclea. , when Dionia will have to send troops to rescue again, it is better to rescue Tarantum's army while it is already on the battlefield, repel the Map coalition, and maintain the balance of power in this land.As the founder of Dionia, for the sake of the strength of the alliance, it does not matter what he temporarily tolerates his dislike of the Tarantum Archon.

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The Anlen Hills are actually the junction of two mountains, so they are dotted with hills of all sizes. Most of these hills are tens of meters high and have round tops. Looking from top to bottom, they look like big green mushrooms. A unique natural beauty.

But for those who want to pass here, it is a disaster.Although the hills are not high, they are large and steep, making it difficult to climb. The hills are one after another and continuous. If you want to save effort, you can only pass through the gentle places between the hills, which makes the original straight line The route, which was not too far away, became winding.Moreover, few people have passed through this place for decades, and the ground is covered with green grass, which has long submerged the trails that were once opened.

Fortunately, the scouts who had followed the Maple Alliance Army before were leading the way, and there were smoke pillars in the distance as markers, which saved Tarantum's army a lot of trouble in finding their way.Along the way, apart from complaining about the difficult mountain road, everything went smoothly. They didn't even see the shadows of the Mesapei and Puchetti people.

And when he got the news of the scouts who had caught up and the Dionysian army also entered the Anlern Hills, Diomelas smiled: Naive young man, fight me, you are still far away!

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

The corpses of the people of Tarantum could already be seen on the grass. Each one died in a miserable state. This aroused the anger of the soldiers. They seemed to hear the helpless calls for help and screams of their relatives not far away. They were originally tired. Their bodies seemed to be full of strength again, and they accelerated forward involuntarily. The entire column, which was stretched by the narrow mountain road, became more scattered and weaker.

"Woo! Woo!..." The Messapian bugle suddenly sounded in the hills, hitting the hearts of every Tarentum soldier like a heavy hammer. Dai Vos, who was originally proud of having fooled Davos, Omelas's face instantly turned pale...

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"Hurry up and catch them! Don't let them escape!" Solikos shouted anxiously to his men.

Although the Deolian cavalry pursued them at full speed regardless of the danger, and from time to time teammates fell off their horses due to the rugged mountain roads, the distance between them and the escaping Messapian cavalry became wider and wider.

Those Messapians flexibly controlled the sitting horses, as if the horses were part of their bodies, running at full speed through the narrow mountain roads without any hindrance, which made Solikos and the others feel inferior to themselves. In the end, they had no choice but to Watching the Messapei cavalry go away.

At this time, a shout of "Captain" came from behind Solikos. He looked back and saw Ledes riding over.

So, he grabbed the reins with one hand and saluted Leders with the other.The Dionysian cavalry is an independent force with a total number of less than a thousand and is not affiliated with any legion. Although Leders is only the captain, his status is equal to that of the infantry legion commander.

Ledes looked at the retreating backs of the Messapian cavalry with a solemn expression. He turned back to Solikos and said: "There may be many Messapian and Puchetti cavalry coming next. We must try our best to stop them. We won’t let them detect the direction of the army’s march in a short period of time!”

"Yes!" Solikos responded immediately, but felt the weight of this task in his heart: I heard that there are thousands of Messapian cavalry, and their equestrian skills are superb, which is not what the Dionysian cavalry who only came with more than 200 cavalry can do. blocked.Fortunately, there are hills everywhere here, which is not conducive to the deployment of troops and the detour of the cavalry. The advantage of the enemy's large number of cavalry cannot be used.

Leders saw his nervousness and added: "Commander Daves sent more than 200 light shield soldiers to assist us. They will arrive soon."

(End of this chapter)