Chapter 283: Ambush and Counter-Ambush

With Asistes occupied with the local government matters, Davos has been without a suitable herald. And as the war expanded and the increasing number of men, Davos has become overwhelmed with the complexity of the situation and is in urgent need of assistance, and Tolmides is undoubtedly a suitable candidate. Therefore, Davos first appointed him to act as the acting herald, with the intention of slowly developing a team of staff to assist him in dealing with military matters of the expedition.

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Instead of returning immediately to the Anlen Hills, the Tarantine scout went to the Tarantine army and reported the situation to Diaomilas in a more exaggerated way.

Before Diaomilas could respond, the soldiers around him began shouting, "Milord, we can't ignore the Messapians slaughtering our families and burning our fields! Those outsiders pretended that they do not know anything, for it is not their city that suffered!"

"That's right! We can't take orders from those outsiders! We will go fight the Messapians and avenge our loved ones ourselves!"

"Go to Anlen Hills, chase those Messapians and kill them!"

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The roar of the soldiers gradually made the Tarantine soldiers find out about the situation, and this collective fanaticism infected every Tarantine soldier, which in turn increased the commotion of the army and in turn got out of hand.

Diaomilas was also infected, but he could still think more. After getting elected as an archon, he himself promoted the war against the Messapians, but now that the war has caused severe damage to Taranto, however, due to the war situation being critical, the Tarantines still did not have the time to deal with the one responsible for this mess. Now, in the face of boiling public opinion, if he still ignores it, then even if they take back Brindisi, the angry citizens will expel him from the city-state and leave him to bear a lifetime of humiliation!

Diaomilas forced himself to forget the fear that Davos had left in his heart when he lost his temper. Facing the army with boiling morale, he finally made up his mind, "Order the whole army to turn left and hasten towards the Anlen Hills!"

The soldiers erupted into cheers and immediately began to move.

When the Tarantines army left, the first to notice was the people of Metapontum that were in front of them, which alarmed Taudeles, so he immediately sent someone to inform Davos.

"Bastard! Bloody bastard!" Davos lost control of his emotions after hearing about it, for his worst fear has come true.

After calming his mood, he turned to the other archon of Taranto, who had been silent, and said, "Lord Umakas, the situation is urgent. I need you to dissuade Diaomilas and let him return together with his troops at once!"

Umakas shook his head, "I know Diaomilas. He is as stubborn as a rock, and since he has decided to disobey your orders, it is impossible to persuade him to return!"

Davos looked at him in the eye and said in anger, "So you mean that you are not going?!"

Umakas' eye twitch, "I mean, it's useless to go as I can't persuade him."

"Tolmides!" The roar of Davos startled Umakas, who was uneasy.

"Yes, lord commander!" Came a powerful reply from Tolmides.

"Go find that bastard and tell him, 'If you don't come back, I will immediately lead my troops back to Theonia.' Go and return quickly!" Davos gave the order with indignation.

"Roger!" Tolmides nodded cautiously and mounted his horse.

"Da...lord Davos, will you really-" Umakas asked cautiously, but Davos shouted at him impatiently, "Shut up!"

Davos was furious as this was the first time that someone has disobeyed orders since leading an army! The two archons sang in chorus like a snake and mouse. At the same time, he thought that he should no longer participate in such a coalition in the future. Since its creation, he had not had a smooth ride, and he had spent most of his on balancing the relationship with Taranto's army, and now, they had dragged them down and were in danger of defeat. Is it really necessary to return immediately?

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"Milord, if the Theonians were to leave, our forces will no longer be equal to the large number of Messapi-Peuceti!" The adjutant of Taranto's army said anxiously while watching at the departing herald of Theonia.

"Don't fret. The Theonians will definitely follow! Isn't the Theonian always claiming that they keep their 'promises'?! Since they want to be the leader of the Greek city-states in South Italia, if they were to abandon their allies and flee the battlefield before the war even begins, then who will be willing to trust Theonia if such cowardly behaviour is known to the other city-states!" Diaomilas was confident on the surface but was still uneasy on the inside.

So he ordered, "Have the soldiers slow down their march."

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When Tolmides told Davos of Diaomilas' refusal, Davos had already recovered his composure.

"Got it." Davos replied lightly.

"Lord Davos, what shall we do now?" Asked Taudeles.

Davos looked at everyone. After taking into account the concerns of Umakas, the uneasiness of Taudeles, and the casualness of Teriphias, he firmly said, "Have the whole army turn around and reinforce that idiot!"

Umakas showed his gratitude, and Taudeles became at ease, and only Teriphias asked, "What if there is an ambush in Anlen Hills?"

"All the more reason to go, not to save Diaomilas, but to save thousands of Tarantine citizens!" Now that he has decided to go, Davos will undoubtedly have to make his words sound better. In fact, the reason why he wanted to reinforce is not only what Diaomilas has said, but also the fact that Heraclea had already become close with Theonia and Metapontum is already starting to waver, but if Taranto were to suffer a heavy defeat in this battle, it would no longer be possible to stop the Messapi-Peuceti, and these fierce aborigines could always go north along the coast and invade Metapontum at any time and threaten Heraclea, so Theonia will have to send troops to rescue them. Therefore, it's better to save Taranto's army while they are on the battlefield, repel the Messapi-Peuceti and maintain the balance of power in this land. As the founder of Theonia, temporarily bearing his dislike of the archon of Taranto is nothing as long as it is for the sake of the union's strength.

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The Anlen Hills are, in fact, the junction of two mountain ranges and dotted with large and small hills, most of whom are several dozen metres high and rounded at the top, which, when viewed from above, looks like large green mushrooms, which present a strange natural beauty.

But for those who want to pass through it, it is a disaster. Although the hills are not high, they are wide and sloping, not easy to climb. Besides, the hills are continuous, so the only way to pass through them with less effort is to pass through the gentle areas between them, making the original straight path become tortuous. Moreover, as few people have passed through here for decades, the green grass has now grown everywhere, submerging the paths that were once on the open.

The Tarantine army saved a lot of trouble finding their way with the scouts, who had followed the Messapi-Peuceti, leading the way, and the pillars of smoke in the distance as a mark. During their journey, everything went well except for the soldiers complaining about the difficult path and that they didn't even see any sign of the Messapians or even the Peucetians.

And when he received words from the scouts who had arrived that the Theonian army had also entered Anlen Hills, Diaomilas laughed, 'Young man, you are not even close to beating me!'

He breathed out his displeasure and looked into the distance, the heavy smoke was not too far, and he estimated that they could probably reach there after a few more hills.

They could already see the corpses of Tarantines on the grass, each one dying a miserable way, which aroused the anger of the soldiers as if they could hear the helpless cries of help and the screams of their loved ones not far away, and as if their tired bodies were filled with strength again. Hence, they involuntarily sped up, and the whole column was soon stretched out due to the narrow path and becoming even more scattered and weak.

Then the Messapians' salpinx suddenly rang out among the hills, which struck the hearts of every Tarantine soldier like a heavy hammer, and Diaomilas, who was pleased with himself for having fooled Davos, turned instantly pale...

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"Catch up with them! Don't let them escape!" Solikos anxiously yelled at his men.

Although the Theonian cavalry chased at full speed regardless of danger and even having their teammates occasionally falling off their horses because of the rough mountain path, the distance between them and the fleeing Messapian cavalry was still getting farther and farther.

The Messapians manoeuvred their horses as if they were part of their bodies, running at full speed through the mountain path without any obstacle, leaving Solikos and the others sigh in disbelief and watching helplessly as the Messapians cavalry got away.

At this time, the shout of their "legatus" came from the rear of Solikos. When he turned around, he saw Ledes coming.

With one hand on the reins, he saluted to Ledes. The Theonian cavalry is an independent unit, with a total number of less than a thousand men, and does not belong to any legion. Although Ledes is only a senior centurion, his position is somewhat similar to that of a legatus.

Looking at the back of the Messapians who are already far away, with a serious expression, he turned to look at Solikos and said, "A lot of Messapi-Peuceti cavalries might soon come, so we must do all our might to stop them from finding out the direction of the army for as long as possible!"

"Roger!" Solikos responded at once but felt the weight of the task in his heart. He had heard that the Messapian cavalries could number in the thousands and were highly skilled in horse riding, not something that the Theonian cavalry, which had come with only 200 riders or so, could stop. Fortunately, the hills are numerous, which is not only not favourable to the spreading of troops and detouring off the cavalries, but they also cannot bring the advantage of the enemy's large number of cavalry into play.

Seeing his nervousness, Ledes added, "Lord Davos has sent over 200 peltasts to help us, and they will soon be here."