Chapter 460: War Preparation (II)

Although Theonia was now at a disadvantage in the war, it was surprising that the statesmen felt relieved hearing Davos' words. It's as if victory was in the young man's hands, a confidence that was beyond words that made any wavering they might have had due to the results of the previous battle disappear.

"Lord Sedrum." Davos turned to another Bruttian statesmen and exclaimed in praise, "As far as I know, the north-western part of Bruttii, centred on the city of Vergae, has remained mostly stable and free from any unrest like Besidice during this insurgency. With you and Lord Saru playing a major role in that! It is because of you that I don't have to worry about Petaru and his men's rebellion at all!"

"Your majesty, you flatter me! As citizens of Theonia Union, it is our duty to maintain its unity and the region's peace! Furthermore, as Bruttians, we don't want another war in Bruttii!" Sedrum sincerely said.

Davos looked at him, and before he went back to his seat, a decision was brewing in his mind, "Petaru's rebellion is just a small blemish on Theonia. However, as I have more important enemies to fight, I cannot personally deal with them for the time being, but we must resolve this matter as soon as possible. After all, further delay will affect the normal life of the Bruttians and take away a lot of our strength and energy from fighting a decisive battle with Syracuse. Thus, I have decided-"

Just as Davos was about to say what he was thinking, Rodom - the acting guard captain, went inside and said, "Your majesty, Lord Kunogelata and Lord Cornelius asked for an audience."

"They're just time. Have them come inside." After thinking about it, Davos knew what they had come for.

"Understood!" Rodom immediately turned around and went out without looking at his uncle.

Davos then praised him, "Rodom is now an excellent guard captain, so I think he is fully capable of performing more important tasks!"

When Baripiri heard this, he became excited but humbly said, "There is no more important task than serving as your guard, your majesty!"

Davos laughed and said, "Young people need more experience, so if they always stay by my side, they will have no future."

"Majesty, surely you jest..."

While the three chatted, Kunogelata and Cornelius entered the quarter. But when they saw Baripiri and Sedrum were also inside, they became slightly stunned. However, they smiled and greeted them.

"The two lords are just in time as I have a few suggestions that I have to discuss with you." Davos then asked them to sit down and immediately got to the point.

"Lo...your majesty, please say it." Kunogelata and Cornelius straightened themselves.

"We must soon resolve the rebellion caused by Petaru, Kaduk, Bodiam and the others in the Bruttian region, while also stabilising the situation in Bruttii in order for this region to become one of the key forces in our next battle with Syracuse." Davos continued in a decisive tone, "Hence I propose to send Sedrum as the Praetor of Consentia and also as the wartime governor of the Bruttian region, responsible for policing and maintaining the stability of the entire region. Besides Besidice, Sedrum will have administrative authority over the entire region, to which Clampetia and Vergae must also follow his orders."

As soon as he said this, the other four people became dumbfounded.

"Your majesty, do you mean to...appoint Sedrum as governor, just like Persia's...satrap?!"

"It is not the same as Persia's satrap! Nor is it like the Spartans!!" Davos somewhat chided Cornelius for making a fuss, "All of you, listen carefully! The wartime governor of Bruttii that I just said has only policing and administrative authority but do not have the authority to collect tax and military powers. And it's only a temporary appointment that will be revoked once the war ends. And-"

Davos then said with a straight face, "I think it's crucial to have it in place during wartime! After all, with the Bruttian region being somewhat unstable right now, no one would be able to know what else would happen in the future. So in the event of a major change, the several praetors wouldn't dare take the initiative to act without any authorisation and would need to consult the Senate back and forth, resulting in them failing to make targeted plans to deal with the situation. Furthermore, they wouldn't be able to gather the resources and the strength of the entire region to deal with a bigger crisis, which would only lead to the danger becoming bigger, and finally spiralling out of our control...but with a wartime governor in charge of Bruttian's matter, we would be able to respond in time!"

"Your majesty, there is some truth in what you say. But Sedrum is-" Cornelius was about to say more when Kunogelata sneakily tugged at him and asked aloud, "Your majesty, with Sedrum as the praetor of Consentia, would we recall Hielos?"

"No need. We would assign Hielos as the commander of the Bruttian region to command the troops and assist the wartime governor in stabilising Bruttii." Davos had already thought of this through.

'So that was it!' Kunogelata, after all, was no ordinary person as he immediately understood Davos' intention. For Davos' sudden proposal of "establishing a new post with such great power", Kunogelata believed that it is indeed an appropriate measure to deal with the volatile areas during wartime. As for appointing Sedrum, putting aside his wariness of non-Greeks, he also thought it was a good proposal as it would show the absolute trust of the Theonian Senate to the Bruttians. Also, having a Bruttian governs Bruttii would be more acceptable to the Bruttians at this sensitive time...

And the fact that Davos gave Hielos the control of the Bruttian army had made him completely comfortable with Davos' seemingly risky proposal. Even though Hielos would listen to the wartime governor, who would Hielos that was loyal to Davos, listen to once the governor had a change of heart? So what more could Kunogelata ask?!

Kunogelata gazed deeply at Davos, a young man who often had such bold proposals that seemed out of the blue but were effective and sensible with the implementation. And it was this kind of political manoeuvre that made Kunogelata respect and fear Davos, so once Davos makes a major political decision, Kunogelata does not rashly oppose it, including the 'becoming the king' thing.

"Your majesty, I agree with your proposal to make Sedrum the Praetor of Consentia and also the wartime governor of the Bruttii region, while Hielos to be the commander of the Bruttian region." Kunogelata instantly agreed.

Cornelius immediately figured out that even if he disagreed, so what? Now that the Theonian Senate had few statesmen participating in the meeting, and with Davos, two Bruttian statesmen, one Lucanian statesman, Marigi, Mersis, Plesinas, and now even Kunogelata... Davos has already obtained more than half of the votes. Furthermore, the mild-mannered Cornelius does not want to upset Davos, who had just become king. Thus he could only agree with reluctance.

Sedrum, on the other hand, did not expect Davos to place him in such an important position. He was so shocked and excited that Cornelius' wariness had shown towards him and Davos making Hielos in charge of the army were not on his mind at all. Since the years of Bruttii's integration into Theonia Union, the number of Bruttian statesmen of the Senate was much higher than that of Lucania, but their authority is much worse. So much so that in the earlier days, none of the Bruttian statesmen even left Thurii and became praetors of any city of Theonia until last year when Saru was elected as the praetor of Vergae, the least important city in the Bruttian region. The Bruttian statesmen certainly have complaints, which is also one of the reasons for Petaru's rebellion. Hence how could he not be thrilled when Davos resolutely entrusted him with such an important task in such a sensitive period of unrest and racial suspicion in the Bruttian region! This is a recognition of his ability and the trust of Davos!!

"Your majesty, I will quell the rebellion and restore peace to Bruttii as soon as possible so that we could use the soldiers and resources to fight the Syracusans!" Sedrum immediately gave his pledge.

"Do you have a good way to resolve Bodiam, who has been wandering in the mountains?" Asked Davos.

Sedrum knew that this was Davos' test and a chance for him to show his abilities to Kunogelata and Cornelius, so after thinking it seriously for a moment, he said, "The mountain's terrain is complicated which is not suitable for a large army to move and fight. Thus I suggest that Lord Hielos stationed an army near the lake to force Bodiam's rebel army not to dare go out of the mountains... And at the same time, we issue a decree that any tribes that help Bodiam or even just conceal his whereabouts will be considered an accomplice that, once found, their whole tribe would be reduced to slavery! On the other hand, we would reward those who reported the rebels' location while giving the lands of Bodiam's tribe as their settlement to those who took the initiative to fight the rebels and capture Bodiam! And if the people of Bodiam repented and captured Bodiam for their surrender, Theonia would forgive them of their treachery! Also, we should gather squads of Bruttian hunters to go into the mountain and search for any signs of the rebels. Once they found them, they would constantly harass them. Furthermore, with the mountain being sparsely populated and lacking food and the help of other tribes, those rebels would soon fall into chaos because of hunger and fear..."

"What do you think of Sedrum's counter-insurgency proposal?" Davos smiled and looked at Kunogelata.