Plesinas had indeed not seen any warships of Taranto patrolling the coastal waters when he entered the great port of Taranto. Nevertheless, he still continued to brazenly ask the council of Taranto, ‘Even if you only send a few warships to Thurii.’
It was a part of his petty calculation that Crotone would never dare provoke Taranto while they are at war with Theonia. Therefore, even if only a few warships of Taranto patrol the coast of Theonia, it will be enough to serve as a facade, and it can also play a role of deterring them, thus ensuring the basic safety of the coastline of Theonia.
However, even with the persuasion of Plesinas, the council of Taranto firmly refused, and let this brazen man go back in vain.
As soon as Plesinas returned to the port of Thurii, the fleet of Crotone arrived and the maritime trade route of Thurii was immediately cut off, and made the port fall into panic.
Olivos with a large number of patrolmen arrived to help Marigi maintain the order.
After finding out the decision of Taranto, Davos pondered for a while and said to Aristocrates, who was beside him, “I seem to remember that the envoy of Sparta had been to Taranto?”
“Yes, Aristias reported ‘The Spartans hope that Taranto would abolish their alliance with us and take the lead to be against us, but it was rejected by the council of Taranto.’”
“But it had still worked.” Sighed Davos, then he sneered, ‘Taranto wants to just sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight! In the end, this war will depend on us!’
“Tell Aristias that you can now close the net for that Crotonian spy.”
“Roger!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Theonians closed the port, just like what Teratus had expected, and so, he had already made arrangements in advance that a fast-moving ship of Crotone would receive the information from him every night on a particular beach at the estuary of the Crati river.
Just as he was about to start writing the confidential report again, the door of his house was suddenly opened and five people came rushing in.
In his panic, he subconsciously grabbed the parchment in his hand and just as he yelled, “Who are you-” he got pushed down to the ground by the person who had rushed in, then the man broke the clenched hand of Teratus and took away the parchment, and the expression on Teratus' face suddenly changed.
“This afternoon, about 10,000 soldiers were stationed in the military camp of Thurii, and a thousand hoplite were stationed in the port. I have also heard that the soldiers of Amendolara are on their way to Thurii. Nerulum-” A clear voice sounded above his head, “Teratus, I have to admit that your observation and calculation skills are very good. The information written to Crotone is also in accordance with facts. It's no wonder that Crotone has sent you here to Thurii and made you stay for half a year. I wonder what your impression of this place is?”
At hearing this, Teratus already understood that his whereabouts were in the hands of the Theonians.
When he was forced to stand, he saw a tall and thin middle-aged man with elegant appearance standing in front of him and was looking at him with great interest.
“What do you plan to do with me?” Asked Teratus with a hoarse voice.
The tall and thin person did not speak, and he instead took an object from someone else's hand and brought it near to Teratus: It was a small wooden knife that was carved roughly.
Teratus' eyes suddenly widened and looked shocked. He struggled and shouted, “What have you done to my son?! You have captured my son didn't you?!! He is only seven years old! Hera watches from above, please spare him!! Spare him!! I will do whatever you want me to do!!….” Teratus begged bitterly and finally broke down in tears.
Then, the tall and thin person said coldly, “Your wife and son are still in Crotone, but they are being watched by our men. My name is Aristias, the chief intelligence officer* of the archon, Lord Davos. I will give you a choice. Work for Theonia. If you refuse, not only do you die, but your sick wife will also die due to lack of money and your son will become a slave. But if you agree, you will become a preparatory citizen of Theonia, and we will try our best to rescue your wife and son, and will let the physicians of the union treat your wife. You should already know that our union's physicians are better than Crotone!” Aristias paused for a bit, and seeing Teratus lowering his head, he then continued, “You can choose whether to live or die.” (Though Davos had promised him this position, he is still currently a freeman, so he still has not become a formal official yet.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
At dusk, the polemarchos of Crotone, Milo, received a confidential report from Thurii saying that this afternoon, Thurii had begun to gather their soldiers. According to the report, about 4,000 citizens in the city have gathered in the Victory Square. While the villages outside the city are still being gathered and no large number of citizens have entered the city. And Thurii has also sent about a thousand soldiers to the port and has sent many cavalry to inspect the coast, and there are no troops from Amendolara and Nerulum that have arrived yet.
In the past six months, Milo knew a lot about Theonia due to the intelligence that Teratus has sent and also the information he learned from the released soldiers, and so, he was very vigilant towards Theonia. Therefore, he had been prepared in advance and immediately did a war mobilization after he helped Krimisa take out the mercenaries. This time, in order to completely defeat Theonia, Crotone and its subordinate city-state, Aprustum have assembled all the forces that they could muster: Twenty thousand in Crotone and three thousand in Aprustum; Scylletium, an ally of Crotone, who is a big city, but due to the last attack on Theonia Union, they have suffered the most serious losses, but for revenge, they still squeezed out and dispatched 2,000 troops. Terina, a city-state close to the Bruttians, have also sent a thousand men, and this time, Crotone did not refuse them. Only Caulonia was refused by Crotone, because south of Caulonia is the enemy of Crotone, the Locri and its allies. Although in recent years, there hasn't been any changes, Crotone knew that Locri had been eyeing the north all this time. If Locri were to suddenly attacked and capture Caulonia while they were fighting Theonia, then they would be able to easily take Scylletium which is currently short of soldiers and strategoi, and approach the empty Crotone from the rear….therefore, their vigilance and defense against Locri must not be relaxed.
At the same time, the battle with Theonia should be started as soon as possible, without waiting for the troops of Theonia to arrive. Therefore, Crotone's protracted pre-war preparation against the Greek city-state seemed particularly efficient this time. Not only did they completed the assembly in one day, but their reinforcements from their allies have also stepped up their pace by their urging
As a matter of fact, Locri was extremely pleased to learn of the outbreak of war between Crotone and Theonia. After a discussion, the council of Locri has sent an envoy to Theonia. However, Crotone had not only blocked the road to the north by land, but had also sent their warships to patrol the sea, which have forced the envoy of Locri to change course by first changing direction of the transport ship to northeast of Taranto and disembark then take a large circle by land.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Davos was analyzing the military intelligence of Crotone with the high-ranking officers of the army and discussing the countermeasures against the enemy, when Aristocrates came in and whispered a few words to him. Davos nodded and said, “Let them come in.”
Davos then turned to the officers and said, “Brothers, Xanticles and Tolmides have come.”
The living room which was noisy due to their argument has soon become quiet.
Xanticles and Tolmides came in with a worried expression on their faces. But they didn't expect that there would be so many people in the living room, which has made them freeze.
At this time, Davos said with a smile, “I was just about to call you two, but you unexpectedly came here first. We are just about to begin discussing how to deal with the Crotonians. Come in and tell us what you think.”
Xanticles and Tolmides looked at each other, then knelt on the ground and said apologetically, “Lord Davos…and…fellow comrades, we are…very sorry! We have brought war to Theonia and have troubled you! Timasion and Cleanor have been in contact with the mercenaries some time ago and have even repeatedly asked us for our opinions, which made has thought that they just wanted to leave here, but we didn't expect…we-”
“What Timasion and the others did, it has nothing to do with you!” Davos interrupted them and said with a serious expression, “Everyone has their own thoughts and a life they like to live. You and the other mercenaries have chosen to stay instead of leaving, which shows that you agree with the system of Theonia, and like to live here and are willing to become citizens of Theonia. Therefore, come fight with us! In front of the army of Crotone, the time of your test has come! Use your braveness to fight back the doubts of others, prove to the Theonians that we didn't misread your characters, but also to prove your determination to defend Theonia to the death and let the Theonians open their arms to welcome you!”
“Davos is right! Xanticles, Tolmides, let's fight together and defeat the Crotonians! And avenge Timasion and the others!”
“Wonderful, we can finally fight together in battle again!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Amintas and Antonios extended a warm welcome to Xanticles and Tolmides, which made them relieved.
Author's Note: The fourth volume has come to a close after the Crotonians have assembled their large army to attack Theonia Union. Want to know if Theonia can survive the fierce attack of the Crotonians? Can they reverse the situation and win? Continue reading the next volume: The Overlord of South Italy
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