Chapter 744: Brothers

"Suppose it's not the situation I expected, and the Carthaginians reinforce Sicily decisively again, outnumbering Prosous' army. Then just send the Seventh Legion and even the Tenth Legion under Alexius to Sicily since we no longer need to fear the Samnites, as they are no longer powerful, and Alexius doesn't need to keep too many troops there." Davos looked at everyone and said, "We are now at war with three forces. Although we can deal with them, we shouldn't spread our troops evenly since that would only prolong the war, increasing the consumption of our strength. Instead, we should concentrate our forces on solving one enemy before the others can do something to alleviate their current situation so that we can free our hands to deal with the other enemies."

Davos paused and glanced at the crowd, who was lost in thought, before continuing, "But which one should we focus on attacking? Certainly not Carthage since they are a powerful city-state with a vast territory, and a war with them won't end quickly.

Although the Samnites are now the weakest of the three, their home is in the mountains, and until now, we have lured them into fighting on the plains, often avoiding fighting them in the mountains, where they were good. Besides, only by destroying their nest can we defeat them completely, but our current situation needs us to be cautious, so we can't attack the unfamiliar Samnite mountains for the time being.

Lastly, there is Rome-" Davos pointed at the map again, "Although Rome is not weak, they had concentrated most of their forces in a relatively flat plain and river in the northern region of Latium, a good place for us to fight. What's more, Latium's coastline is mostly flat beaches, and the Roman navy is not strong, giving us the advantage in terms of landing our troops and transporting supplies. Finally, the Romans' wanton expansion has created a lot of resentment among the surrounding forces, which will help us to unite them and crush Rome together..."

Davos finally persuaded the officials of the Ministry of Military. Then Hielos immediately said, "Your Majesty, we will begin preparations for the expedition to Rome as soon as we return."

"Move quickly!" Davos emphasised as he reminded them, "We must take advantage of the fact that Rome has not yet destroyed the Hernicans and their main forces are still in the east to gather a large army, swiftly attack and destroy their scattered forces in the west, capture their Latin allies, weaken them and finally attack Rome directly! We would strive to wipe out their forces within six months and bring Rome and the surrounding Latin city-states under the rule of our kingdom... And I'd like to remind you that after such a huge war, more than a hundred thousand soldiers would need military awards, especially those new soldiers who still haven't received land after a long time. But currently, the kingdom has no land except the ones in the Dauni region. So Latium..."

Hielos and his comrades immediately understood what Davos meant, strengthening their resolve to support Davos in leading the army north publicly and privately.

"Your Majesty, the matter of your expedition to the Latium region is of great importance, and I fear the Senate may not approve this resolution," reminded Philesius. The last time Davos led his arm was during the battle with the Messapi-Peuceti Alliance a decade ago, laying the groundwork for the Kingdom of Theonia's victory in conquering all of Apulia. A decade later, most statesmen have grown accustomed to Davos sitting in the palace and senate. And since he is now king, which is a noble status, going on adventures in person would only worry the statesmen. Then there is the huge food consumption...

Davos smiled and said, "That's why I came to convince you first to get many votes in favour."

Hielos and Philesius also smiled since many statesmen in the Theonian Senate came from the military.

"Next, I will discuss the matter with the five rotating speakers on duty. As for the other statesmen... I think they won't refuse because once we conquer Rome, many positions will open up for those who aren't busy" Davos is confident that he can convince the Senate.

Then Tolmides asked, "Your Majesty, the Third Legion is currently defending against the Caudini in Campania. But what if the Caudini were to invade the Campanian league again after you have transferred them?"

"Wouldn't that be good?" Davos replied calmly, "We would feel assured once we lured out the Caudinis, who still haven't made any movements even after getting back their warriors. Besides, we can't protect the Campanian League alone in the current situation, and we should let the Campanians share the difficulties for us."

After discussing the northern expedition, Hielos and his colleagues left. Next, the Ministry of Military would become busy doing a series of complicated matters such as mobilising the soldiers, assembling the various legions, mobilising the fleets, collecting military rations...and so on., all of which would need to be completed as soon as possible...

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

Ever since Adoris moved out of King Davos' residence, claiming he was old enough to support himself, his room there has been empty. But recently, he had moved back, not because he missed his foster parents, but because he was wounded.

After violating the military code at the battle of Aphrodisia, Adoris' platoon leader reported his actions to the legion after the battle. But when Matonis, the Legatus of the Second Legion, read the report, he wanted to suppress the matter at first because he didn't want to make things difficult for him. But he knew he couldn't hide it from Davos, so he simply asked to see the king and explained the situation.

On hearing this, Davos became so angry that he didn't hesitate to say, "Just because he's my son, he can disregard the military code?! If you spare him, what will the other soldiers think?! Would they still obey your orders?"

In fact, Davos is trying to use this severe punishment to remind Adoris to follow orders in battle and work closely with his comrades rather than focusing on killing the enemy and taking risky actions, which is also for his own safety.

So Matonis announced that Adoris would be caned twenty times following the military code.

After getting caned twenty times, Adoris' bottom became battered, and even walking was difficult for him.

Cheiristoya was distraught when she heard that, so regardless of whether Adoris agreed to it, she forced him to move back so that he could be cared for and treated.

Adoris obediently returned to the Davos residence, unable to go against his adoptive mother.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Come in." Adoris breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the one to enter the room was Crotokatax. Then he said weakly as he unhurriedly covered his swollen and red bottom with his quilt, "Oh Croto, it's you."

"Brother, who do you think it was? Aedi?" Croto said with a sly smile.

"Nonsense! What do you even know?!" Adoris glared at him.

"I know a lot." Crotokatax winked at him, "You and Aedi, the daughter of Statesman Toriks, have fallen in love. Mother had even come to discuss with Toriks and arranged your marriage to Aedi in April. But now it may be postponed until the end of the year. Yesterday, she came to see you because she was worried that it might've resulted in a problem that you could no longer have a child with her..."

When Agnes' brother wished to become relatives with Davos through marriage, Cheiristoya used her network to keep arranging blind dates for Adoris, resulting in Adoris taking a fancy to Toriks' gentle and beautiful daughter. Toriks, besides being the chieftain of a large tribe in Peuceti, his family were also influential in the Peuceti region. But he had remained relatively inconspicuous after becoming a statesman of Theonia. So whether for political reasons, to win over the Peucetians, or in the hope of having a virtuous daughter-in-law, Davos and his wife were quite pleased with her. Hence they quickly planned the wedding.

"Damn you, Croto!" Adoris supported his body with his hand as he tried to stood up to teach his brother a lesson. But then, he immediately covered his bottom and yelled in pain.

"Brother, are you all right?" Crotokatax hurriedly leaned over and asked worriedly.

Adoris then grabbed him and tapped his head twice to teach him a lesson "Croto, you've learnt some bad things now. Be careful, or I will go and tell Mother about this."

"Brother, I'll go now since you don't seem to want to hear the good news," after saying that, Crotokatax headed out.

"Wait, Croto! What's the good news?! My dear brother, for the sake of my injury, please tell me the good news!..."

Seeing Adoris' pleading eyes, Crotokatax returned and sat down again. Then, he said with a slightly smug look, "Brother, Father is preparing to personally lead a huge army consisting of the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions, as well as the First and Second Cavalry Legions, to head north into the Latium region to fight Rome!"

"Is this true?!" Adoris immediately became excited hearing that.

"Of course! Father's decision was approved by the Senate this morning, and I believe the army will be leaving soon!" Crotokatax said excitedly.

"Excellent! There's finally another battle!" Adoris clenched his fist in excitement.

Crotokatax looked at Adoris, who was carefully sitting on the bed, "Brother, I'm afraid you would still not be fine when the army departed."