ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 861 Marching West
Taking advantage of the Naconia incident, Guerni claimed to prevent the invasion of the Samnite coalition forces, summoned the people in the territory, and instituted military martial law. However, on the agreed day, only 1000 soldiers were left to garrison the territory. With 3000 warriors, he quietly entered the Dionysian territory to the south, but did not enter the city of Copsa, because there were probably spies from the Samnite coalition to the north of the city of Copsa, so Abenirum's army He hid in the Potentia territory south of Copsa City, joined his troops, and sent some men back to the Samonei Mountains to investigate the enemy's situation.

Kopsa is located at the uppermost reaches of the Ofanto River and to the south of Lake Konsa. The terrain of the upper reaches of the Ofanto River is somewhat special. In addition to the relatively flat terrain around Kopsa and Lake Konsa, mountains stand towering on the north bank to the east. It is difficult to climb, and the terrain on the south coast is relatively gentle. This is why the Samnite coalition forces gathered in the Copsa area during the South Italian War and invaded Potentia.

When Alexis led his army into the mountains and camped in the River Bend, he sent a messenger, walked west along the south bank of the Ofanto River, and finally entered the territory of Potentia, notifying the person responsible for coordinating and commanding Potentia. Xantiparis of the coalition of Asia and Abenirum.

Zantiparis, Pollet, and Garni, who had been carefully observing the enemy's movements, received reports from spies early the next morning: six or seven thousand Samnite warriors appeared in the mountains to the north and were marching southeast .

They immediately led the 15000 soldiers northward into the upper reaches of the Ofanto River and advanced eastwards along the south bank.

Copsa is more than 30 miles away from the Reach. More than four hours later, the army arrived at the west of the Reach. The terrain on the north bank here has become relatively gentle. Just as Zantiparis was about to order the army to cross the Ofanto River, As they entered the North Shore area, Gairny made a suggestion.

Since he was familiar with the terrain of Aquilonia, he believed that the Dionian army would lure the Samnite coalition into the valley, but their armies rushed to Aquilonia from the south together. The movement was too great and would This caused the Samnite coalition forces to escape earlier from the northwest direction of the valley, which was easier to climb, so he suggested that the Abenirum army go north first, quietly make a large circle, and reach the northwest direction of Aquilonia. Launch an attack and encircle the Samnite coalition forces together with the Potentian army.

Pollet expressed his objection to this, but he did not explain the reason and just winked quietly at Zantiparis. In fact, he was worried about the Abenirum people acting alone, fearing that they would tip off the news.

However, Zantiparis agreed to Galni's suggestion after careful consideration. After all, it would be easy for such a large army to defeat the Samnite coalition, but the Ministry of Military Affairs hoped that if the Samnite really If there are troops left in the mountains, it is best to make full use of this large Potentia-Abenirum coalition before they know it, so as to keep the Samonite force in the mountains as much as possible. Encirclement and annihilation are conducive to the next attack of the Dionia army.Although Zantiparis didn't know much about Gharni, Gharni's suggestion was most in line with the requirements of the Ministry of Military Affairs, so he decided to take the risk.

Half an hour after Abenirum's army left, the Potentian troops began to cross the river...

For these reasons, the army arrived nearly an hour late.

After hearing the explanations of the three people, Alexis' face became slightly brighter. After all, the final result did prove that the actions they took were right, so he looked at the sky intentionally, and then said directly: "We will be there soon. It's dusk, we should immediately lead the army back to the barracks in the south, so that the soldiers who have been fighting for a day can take a good rest."

The three of them all agreed with his opinion. After all, the main force of the Samnites in the mountains has been completely destroyed, but harassment by small groups of enemies and even sneak attacks by wild beasts may still exist. It will be safer for several troops to camp together. , but for such a large army to arrive in the Reach, it is impossible to squeeze it all into the existing military camp. A new camp must be simply built next to it, so time must be seized.

At this time, Zantiparis looked at the mountains to the east and asked: "What are your plans for tomorrow? Capture Aquilonia first? It seems that this city is not easy to attack."

The corner of Alexis' lips curled up slightly. Although his voice was not loud, his tone was still full of confidence: "In my opinion, with today's victory, even if we don't occupy Aquilonia, it won't have any big impact on the entire war situation." Influence. My opinion is that tomorrow all troops march directly to Beneventum!"

After today's observation of Aquilonia, it has been silent, especially when the Samnite coalition forces arrived and surrounded the Dionian army. The Aquilonian army did not come down the mountain and took the opportunity to attack Dionia. Onia launched a flanking attack, and Alexis judged that there were not many defenders in Aquilonia.

"I agree with General Alexis' plan!" Polet, who knew something about the Samnites, expressed his support loudly: "We must use this victory to expand our advantages and not give the Samnites a break. Chance, as long as we capture Beneventum, the Shirpinians will be finished! And through Beneventum, we can also directly threaten the central town of the Cavutini - Cavutim!"

Of course, Zantiparis also expressed his approval, and only Gurney was lost in thought.

"Is Chief Garni regretting that he should not break away from the Samonai Tribal Alliance?!" Paulet said sarcastically when he saw this.

Garni came back to his senses and hurriedly explained: "I was wondering if I could persuade Aquilonia to surrender, because among the previously captured Shirpinian warriors, there were many tribesmen from Aquilonia (because It is close to Dauni and Pucetti, and naturally contributed the most in the previous attack on Dauni), and now they have once again witnessed the defeat of the Samnite coalition... I know the leader of Aquilonia, he is a The old guy who doesn't care about friendship and only values ​​strength——"

Speaking of this, Gearney gritted his teeth: Before the Southern Italian War, the leader of Aquilonia was his father's most loyal supporter. Full support for Nirum on the issue.

"Under the current circumstances, it is very likely that the Aquilonians will choose to surrender." Gairni finally said.

Being able to persuade Aquilonia to surrender would save a lot of trouble. Of course Alexis would not object. He immediately made a promise: "If Aquilonia is willing to surrender, Dionia can allow it to become a kingdom." Free City.”

This is not arbitrarily asserted by Alexis, but when the Ministry of Military Affairs briefly notified the five rotating chairmen of the attack plan, everyone had seriously considered "under force, in case there is a Samonei town requesting surrender" In view of the poor environmental conditions and limited output of most towns in the Samonite Mountains, directly merging them into the kingdom will consume administrative resources, so it is better to let them take care of themselves. For example, Aquilonia is located in such a high On the mountains, the traffic is very inconvenient, and they can only rely on grazing for a living. Most of the Dionia veterans and officials will probably refuse to come here to serve as chief executive and hold public office.

"I'll send people up the mountain to persuade them to surrender now, and when we reach the Reach, there will be results." After finishing speaking, Gearney was ready to make arrangements.

"Wait a minute!" Pollet stopped him and said, "I suggest it's better to take him with you to convince the Aquilonians!"

He waved his hand and his men carried a body over.

Gairni took a closer look and couldn't help but take a breath. He knew the deceased. Usibik, the leader of the large tribe of Cavutim, had a high reputation among the Cavutini tribe and was once a member of the Cavutini tribe. A strong candidate for Grand Chief, but he voluntarily gave up his rivalry with Segovani.

"I heard from the captives that he was the commander-in-chief of the Samnite coalition army. When they broke through, he rushed to the front and was finally stabbed to death by my warriors! I want the envoys I sent out to bring him, so that Ah The Quilonians understand their current situation better!" Pollett said loudly, not only touting his achievements, but also secretly warning Garni.

When Gurney was silent, Alexis said, "I think this is a good idea."

Galni immediately wiped away the trace of sadness in his heart and said simply: "I will ask my men to carry him up the mountain immediately!"

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

In the evening, the Dionian coalition soldiers were still resting in the river bend. The envoy sent by Gairni brought back more than a dozen hostages given by Aquilonia, including one of the leader's sons, Aquilonia. Lonia fell.

Alexis was overjoyed, and immediately comforted the people of Aquilonia with good words, and promised: after they go to Thurii, Dionia will soon release the previously captured Aquilonian warriors .

Although the surrender of Aquilonia made the entire southern territory of Shilpini a safe area, Alexis did not relax his vigilance and still ordered the sentries in the camp to strengthen patrols.

The night was uneventful.

The next day, 2 people from the Dionysian coalition broke out of camp and marched westward along the south bank of the Ofanto River, first arriving at Kopsa.

Here, Alexis assigned 2000 soldiers to escort the captives and escort the Aquilonian hostages back to Thurii. He also discussed the supply and transportation of military rations with Kesima, the chief executive of Copsa.

Zantiparis also left the coalition at this moment and continued to rush west to Enona, where he once again led half of the reserve army stationed there, preparing to show off his talents in the next battle.

In the afternoon, the Dionian coalition left Copsa, bypassed Lake Kangsa, marched northwest, and entered the territory of Abenirum at dusk.

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

At this time, outside the city of Naples, in the Samnite coalition camp, the leaders of the four major tribes were sitting in the big tent, all with solemn expressions, because they had just received the news that "the troops staying in the mountains suffered a disastrous defeat." news.

　Thanks to Sniper No. 11 for the tip!Your support is my motivation to write! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)