ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 68 Investigation

"The reason why Asikurodoiax failed was because he led his army to attack Laos. Because the terrain was unfamiliar, he was ambushed by the enemy on the mountain road. If it was on our plain of Thurii In a face-to-face confrontation, how can the poorly equipped and loosely organized Lucanian mountain people be the opponent of the Greek heavy infantry? Even if the number is smaller, it is not a problem." Kunogorata retorted.

"Feris, we can't afford to delay this war. If we hide in the city and let the enemy trample our farmland again, burn our villages, fisheries and mines, but every month in order to pay the mercenaries' wages and food, we will We also had to hold a citizens' meeting to discuss whether to levy a war tax. I don't think the citizens will agree!" Neonsis also stepped forward and said.

"Of course the citizens will not agree! Ferris, the citizens elected you as the chief general because they believe that you have the ability to quickly turn the tide of the war, drive away the Lucanians, and ensure the safety of Thurii, just like when you first came to power. As was done, immediately sent Bulcos out to recruit soldiers, and sent messengers to Tarantum to ask for reinforcements. Now that powerful reinforcements have arrived, you can no longer hesitate and watch the property of the citizens be destroyed, Tuli Iraq's treasury collapsed, you must make a decision as soon as possible and don't let down the people's expectations!" Polyxes, who had been silent before, also spoke.

Burkos did not expect that Polyxes would also join the ranks of urging Pheres. When he was anxious, Cunogorat saw him retreating to the corner, and remembered something, "an important military meeting involving city-state secrets". , "Irrelevant people should take the initiative to avoid", and asked the guards to ask Burkos out of the city hall.

Burkos stood on the steps of the city hall and was in a daze for a while: from a rational point of view, he felt that he should trust Ferris's judgment. After all, compared to other generals who had been in peace for a long time and had no war experience, the young generals Ferris, who is over 60 years old, participated in the war with Tarantum when he was young, and successively held the military positions of heavy infantry squadron leader and group leader, and has rich combat experience; but emotionally, he also hopes The terrifying Lucanians could be defeated quickly, because every Thurii wanted this group of bandits to stay away from their homeland, and Daves' troops also gave him confidence.

Affected by this ambivalence, he subconsciously walked towards the port. After walking for a while, he stopped. Although the generals in the city hall accepted the agreement he signed, they still had frequent interactions with Daves' team. , I’m afraid it will be criticized.He sighed and turned to go home...

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Of course, Davers would not know about the dispute against them in the Tuliyi City Hall, although he was surprised that Burkos, who had promised him to report the situation to the generals of Tulii and rushed over, never showed up. , but his main focus was on the construction of the camp.

In the past few days, all the soldiers have worked together, and Camp Turiyi has begun to take shape.At this time, Bulcos sent his men to send four horses, saying that they would lend him money.

Davers was already aware of the intentional alienation between Burkos and Thurii's senior management, but he didn't take it to heart.After all, when the team passed through many Greek city-states along the coast of the Yuk Star Sea, those city-states had the same attitude towards mercenaries. This was the helplessness of the mercenaries.

He asked Burcos's men to convey his thanks to Burcos, and then asked Felixius to stay in the camp and handle military affairs. He took Asistes, Ledes and a slave who was one of Burcos's confidants as guides. Go on horseback and look around Thurii to get a feel for the terrain.

The flat and fertile Subali Plain (some Turiyi people call it Tuli Plain) is already full of grass and beautiful scenery in the spring of April.

Davos and his friends were riding in a happy mood, and what they saw constantly were patches of green farmland and canals, as well as hard-working slaves and farmers. The wide dirt road looked muddy due to frequent spring rains, and could be seen from time to time. The caravan slaves struggled to push the truck that was stuck in the mud...

A thought flashed through Davos's mind: This is also a common situation in the Greek city-states of the Uk Star Sea. The Greeks who are good at doing business actually don't have much interest in the construction of roads that can best promote trade flow. Their energy seems to be They all invested in maritime trade and ships, but the Romans who rose after them created the most complex and advanced Mediterranean road network of this era.

Walking west along the Kraty River for about twenty miles, I saw a large city standing on the north bank of the river.

At this time, the guide said: "That's Thurii! When choosing the location to build the city, the Athenians found that the confluence of the Craty River and the Corsene River was a good place to build the city. Because the river here is very wide and the water flow is gentle. , they could build a dock and accommodate enough merchant ships. When they were preparing to build a city here, they found that there was a large natural fountain here. The locals called it Turi, so they called the new city Turiyi..."

"It's a very interesting story." Davos said calmly and looked up: there were too many ships in the Craty River and he couldn't even see the other side clearly.

"It's better to rebuild in the old city of Sybaris. Wouldn't it be better to build a port directly on the seaside?" Asistes said in confusion.

Davos already knew this from Burkos, so he didn't want to say more. He pointed forward and said, "Let's go around the city."

Because Turiyi was built at the intersection of two rivers, it was divided into three parts by the river: the south city, the north city, and the delta protrusion at the intersection of the two rivers. The main body of the city is in the north city.

Daves and his party walked along the moat outside the wall of the northern city of Thurii for about a mile, and finally reached the bank of the Corseni River.In their eyes: Thurii's city wall is made of large strips of rock, and the gaps between the stones are closely connected. The wall is at least ten meters high, and there is a five-meter-wide moat 20 meters away from the city wall. It is connected to the Craty River, and its depth must be quite deep. All of this is enough to give every attacker a headache.And the three or four teams of sentries patrolling back and forth in the city made them feel the approaching atmosphere of war.

Young Asistes even playfully waved to the sentinels.

Going north along the north bank of the Corsene River, he soon saw the pontoon bridge on the river. Davers noticed that the delta between the two rivers was not flat, but hilly.The guide said: These rugged and undulating hills actually play a role in preventing the river from swelling in spring and turning the land between the two rivers into a swamp.

After traveling for about twenty miles, the terrain began to gradually rise upwards, and the ground began to change from pure soil to a mixture of sand and soil. Fortunately, the river bank was still flat.

The doctor and his party walked a few miles further, and the upper reaches of the Corseni River turned from due west to southwest, while a river rushed down from the due west and merged into the Corseni River here.

"This is the Tino River, a tributary of the Corseni River, a river that the Turii people hate," the guide said.

"Why?" Asistes asked curiously.

"Because there are many hot springs in its upper reaches." The guide answered the question differently.

"Hot spring?!" Davos became interested after hearing this.

They speeded up, but when they arrived, they were all dumbfounded: the Tino River had turned into a small river several meters wide. On the south bank of the river, there were indeed small steaming pools one after another, but countless small streams came from there. The water flowed out from various rock crevices at the foot of the mountain, turning this area of ​​​​rocks and grass into a swamp.

“In spring, due to the melting of snow on the mountains, it turns into small streams and hot springs mixed together, and finally merges into the Tino River. If there is a rainy season, the water in the Tino River will surge, but it will overflow the river bank and flow back to the south bank. The hot spring swamp, and there on the north bank—" The guide pointed forward: "The big river beach."

Davos looked forward and saw that the river bank in front seemed to have been bitten off a large piece, and it sunk down, forming half a huge bowl shape. Below was the river beach, surrounded by higher gentle slopes.

(End of this chapter)