Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece
chapter-317

Cincinnag thought to himself in anger, ‘A small Greek city-state like Elea which have been oppressed and nearly destroyed by us dares to make trouble in my territory?! Is it because they have become a part of the Theonia Alliance that these Greek cowards who only know how to hide in their city became courageous?! Do they not know that no one can save them after provoking us!’

He swore to himself that he would destroy Elea after conquering Grumentum.

But dreams are just dreams, and he must solve the current problem. Although it is impossible for only a thousand Eleans to break through Pyxous, just letting them wreak havoc outside the city would shake the tribe's support for Cincinnag. It should be known that although Cincinnag has made his tribe the dominant among the tribes in Pyxous through various means over the years, his tribe is not the only tribe in Pyxous. After all, even in his tribe, the elders and priests are not in unity with him. During their miserable defeat in Grumentum last time, some of the people of his tribe were already discontent with him. And this time, he must take immediate action against Elea's invasion. Otherwise, the anger of his warriors alone will give him a headache.

Thus he had to end the impending attack by sending Gennat together with three thousand warriors (two thousand Pyxousian and a thousand warriors from the other tribes) to return to Pyxous and wipe out all the invading enemies as soon as possible.

At the same time, this delay meant that the pressure on his military supplies has increased. Thus he needed to send another team of warriors to go collect supplies, and what he meant by “collect” is through burning, slaughtering, and plundering, which forced those neutral tribes to flee into the mountains or join the tribes in the south of Grumentum, that is, the Theonian side…

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

In Clampetia, the ballistae of the fourth legion of Theonia shoot their stone balls for most of the day, causing the walls to crack in many places. And the splattering rubbles also killed some of the defenders scaring and demoralising the Bruttian warriors.

Pangam could only make up his mind to send his troops out late at night to destroy these terrible siege weapons!

As a matter of fact, the reason why Hielos, who had always been cautious, had not moved the ballistae back to the camp once darkness came and just built an earthen barricade was not due to it being heavy, but it was to lead the snake out of the hole.

As a result, the soldiers of the fourth legion who were waiting around the ballistae ambushed Clampetia's assault troops, almost completely wiping them out.

After losing hundreds of warriors, Pangam no longer dared to act blindly.

The next day, with the ballistae and light infantries’ long-range attack acting as a cover, the three siege towers built by the soldiers and the Terinians approached the moat. Afterwards, they began laying slabs of stone on the front of the towers.

Then the Clampetian warriors were surprised to see three siege towers slowly being ushed up the paved embankment.

These siege towers are five metres high, two metres higher than the stone wall. The top and bottom’s width is the same, two metres, while the front and rear’s width is three metres. It is made of wood, covered with wet cowhide, with huge wooden wheels at the bottom and wooden crenels and merlons around the top, which can accommodate three~four archers. It also has a suspension bridge at the top, and behind it is a long wooden ladder. Once the siege tower gets close to the city wall, the suspension bridge would be lowered until the top of the wall, and the soldiers would then climb up using the ladder and attack directly into the wall through the tower and suspension bridge, making the siege easier.

The siege tower designed by the Theonian engineers and carpenters was relatively simple and had a single function that could not even compare to the giant siege tower made by Syracuse. The only highlight of it is that the safety of the labourers was considered, with wooden bars protruding from the top of the wheel on both sides of the siege tower, and a shed-like barrier was placed on the top of the bars. Allowing the people pushing the tower to just stand as the wooden barrier will block the enemy's arrow for them, allowing them to concentrate on pushing the siege tower forward.

As the siege tower advance slowly, the warriors of Clampetia became stunned. Although the siege tower has been used in Mesopotamia for a long time, it had never appeared in Greece, where there are many small countries and city-states. Even though Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, had taken the lead in innovating the siege technology of Greece, it had only just started and not yet spread, let alone the secluded Bruttians, who had never seen such colossal siege equipment. Arrows and javelins couldn't even damage it, and a thrown stone couldn't even reach it; maybe the Theonian siege weapon that could launch stone balls could destroy it, but Clampetia doesn't have one. Thus the warriors could only watch as it approaches the moat.

Then the archer in heavy armour got into the siege tower, went up to the top through the ladder and began shooting at the warriors on the wall.

Both sides shoot back and forth. Although there are only a few Theonian archers, they have the higher ground and are protected by their armour and the wooden barrier, which obviously gave them the upper hand.

And the Theonian soldiers took this opportunity to fill the moat with soil so that they could continue pushing the siege tower towards the city wall.

The restless Pangam could only desperately order his men to stop the enemy's attempt while sending some of his men to Consentia to ask for help. However, he himself knew that if he does not receive any reinforcement within a few days, the enemy will breach Clampetia…

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

Although the bloody and brutal battle in the fortress has just happened yesterday, it seemed that a long time had already passed.

Early this morning, Drakos, the legatus of the second legion, Adrian the senior centurion of the first brigade and other officers were waiting outside the city of Besidice with a smile on their faces to welcome the arrival of the archon of Theonia and the grand legatus of the whole army.

Among them are Baripiri, Burim, chieftains of Besidice, Kreru, a new chieftain, and some of the high-standing men in the tribes of Besidice. All of them were either nervous, excited, or thrilled as they await the archon of Theonia.

For precaution against accidents, Drakos deployed the fifth and sixth brigades in the city.

“Kreru, is it true that the archon of Theonia is younger than us?!” Rodom, Baripiri's nephew, couldn't help but ask Kreru. He and Kreru had an average relationship in the past, but after fighting side by side yesterday, the two young men quickly became friends.

“Yes, I even asked Drakos! But you should not treat him like a young man!” Reminded Kreru, while quietly pointing to the officers, “Look at Drakos, and the Theonians, who usually face us with their heads held high, but now they look completely different.”

“Of course I understand! I heard from uncle Baripiri say that Davos is a descendant of a Greek god and that he had never lost in battle, so there is no Theonian that dares to be disrespectful to him!” Replied Rodom.

At this time, some soldiers hurriedly ran from the eastern defensive camp and shouted excitedly, “Lord Davos is coming! He is coming!”

Drakos immediately shouted, “Ready!”

The officers began arranging their uniform, and the salpinx and drums rang out at the same time.

After a while, the sound of neat footsteps came with the slight vibration of the ground. Soon after, a long queue appeared in front of the crowd. The man at the front of the queue was in full military attire, leather sandals, bronze shin, linen breastplate, which was no different from that of average hoplites. The only difference is the helmet which is not the heavy Corinthian helmet but a new type of iron helmet, decorated with long red and purple plumes. The helmet’s front is open, so everyone can clearly see the face, broad forehead, thick eyebrows…even though his eyes are not big, it is extremely sharp, although he looks young, he doesn't look childish, and has a sense of majestic. Even though his pace is big and powerful, it is not too fast, and the whole person seems both full of life and composed…

‘He is Davos, the archon of Theonia?!’ The curious Besidisians found their answer from the straightened chests and reverent gazes of the Theonian officers and soldiers.

At the gaze of several hundreds pair of eyes, Davos got closer to Drakos, who gave a neat military salute, “Grand legatus, all the soldiers of the second legion welcome you!”

Davos immediately replied and teasingly said, “Okay, Drakos, you have made a huge stir! Since when did you learn about this stuff?!”

Drakos turned and looked at Adrian with embarrassment.

Davos understood it and laughed, “So this is Andrian's idea. It seems that his trip to the Isthmian Games was not in vain. However, such ceremonies should be held after the war ends, as everything should be kept simple during a war.”

If others had spoken in this way, Adrian would think that he exposed his scar, which would undoubtedly give birth to resentment in his heart. But due to it being Davos' words, he thought about it carefully and accepted it, “You are right, milord! The war has still not yet ended, so we must take it with seriousness!”

Davos came forward with a hearty smile and gave Adrian a warm hug, “I was startled when I receive the report. Adrian, you captured the city of Besidice with only 700 men, which is bold and decisive! Bravo! Excellent! You and your brigade can get a star all to yourselves! And the people of Theonia will gladly sing praise of your victory!”

This is exactly what Adrian was happy to hear. He is so delighted that he doesn't know how to respond.

Davos, on the other hand, gave back a salute on Drakos and said, “This time, the second legion not only won the victory of Besidice but also successfully defend it, laying the first contribution for our next step on conquering Bruttii! Drakos, on behalf of Theonia, I thank you and the brothers of the second legion for your contribution and sacrifice to the union!”