"I'm worried that Tarantum won't save Manduria first, but let's go and relieve Brindisi first! Because Manduriya is safe at least for now, Brindisi, which is only 2,000 soldiers and far from Tarantum, is much more dangerous! Cappus said worriedly.

"If that's the case, we absolutely can't agree!" Dracos looked at Davers and said firmly.

"My lord, if you don't repel the enemy of Manduriya, go north, and once Manduriya is captured, the Mesapi will cut off our lines of transport, and we will be in danger of being caught on both sides. Therefore, it would be best if you could get the command of the coalition forces. If not, the autonomy of our Ionian army is also guaranteed! Phellisius also solemnly suggested.

Davers nodded in agreement.

…………………………

After Capuz and Drax left, Davers left Felicius alone.

"How's the preparation for the march going?"

"All the soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Legions have returned to the city and are on standby, but there are still many soldiers who have not changed their weapons and equipment." Phellisius said, seeing that Davers's face was slightly uncertain, and he hurriedly explained: "It's not that they don't actively replace, but there are only three weapon shops in Turiyi and Amendolara, and it is impossible for them to complete the production of tens of thousands of new armor and shields in a few months, and the tanning of cowhides alone is a very time-consuming process, and its quantity is so large, if it weren't for the large number of cattle and sheep grazing by the citizens of Lucania in Niutum and Grummentum, It would take years just to raise cowhides......"

"In that case, let's use the old equipment for this battle. Have the soldiers go to the weapons shop to temporarily change back to their original bronze helmets and shields. Davos said with a little regret. Suddenly, he remembered something: "I have heard that a Corinthian merchant has built a large weapons workshop in the handicraft area of Amendolara, and may consider giving him a part of the order, but I don't know if he will accept the terms of bartering the old for the new." ”

"The merchant's name is Theos, and I've spoken to him, and he's more than happy to accept it."

"Oh, that's a clever man, but it's a pity that he's a foreigner." Davers remembered that the Institute of Mathematics had successfully developed a simple hydraulic forging hammer, and was considering finding a suitable large business to cooperate with it, as a machine that could greatly save manpower and improve the efficiency of forging copper and iron, Davers of course had to put it in his own hands to use, in order to play a role in secrecy.

"In addition, I have contacted the civil ship association of the port (a non-union official shipping organization proposed by Davers and planned by Marigi, in which all Dionian merchant and passenger ships are joined, the purpose of which is to maintain order in the port, prevent vicious competition, improve the efficiency of the industry, and facilitate cost management), Polydorus also said that when the time comes, the ships of Tarantum will also come to the port to help with transportation, so that we can transport all the soldiers of the two legions to the port of Tarantum at once. Probably the day after tomorrow our army will be ready to take a boat to Tarantum. Felicius continued with a little excitement.

"Phellisius, how many days does it take for a normal Greek city-state to go to war from the mobilization of citizens to the time it goes to the time of the expedition?"

Felicius was stunned by Davers's question, and he thought that Davers was going to make a comparison, so he said: "From war mobilization, to the selection of citizens, to the arrangement of family affairs, the preparation of weapons and equipment, and food, the formation of the army, and the determination of officers...... It takes about three or four days, and we only have two days at most. ”

"What if tens of thousands of people are dispatched?"

"Then it may be longer, six or seven days, but for us Dionia-" Before Phellisius could finish his sentence, Davers waved his hand and said, "Then don't be too anxious, let's go on the expedition in five days." ”

Thinking that he had misheard, Davers leaned forward, looked at Phelicus, and said in a deep voice: "Although Tarantum has often fought with Mesapi in the past, he has never completely disregarded the lives of his citizens and attacked Mesapi with all his might like this time, do you know why?" ”

Pherisius was not a fool, not to mention that after more than a year of training since he became a military officer, both his administrative experience and his vision have improved a lot, and he immediately replied: "It's because of us." ”

"Yes, us!" Davers repeated forcefully: "The rapid strength of our alliance has put pressure on Tarantum, Italy in the south is not too big, it can only accommodate one overlord, and this overlord can only be Dionia!" Now Hades has helped us and put Tarantum in a difficult situation and we have to take this opportunity. ”

Davers sneered: "You can keep the covenant and help Tarantum repel the Mapu coalition forces, but it is by no means to help Tarantum destroy his enemies and stabilize their newly occupied territory!" ”

Davers was calm, even cold, and his friendship with Acheta did not affect his political decisions.

As the deputy of the army, Phellisius assisted Davers for more than two years, knowing his leader better than other generals, such as deliberately delaying the attack and causing heavy losses to the citizens of Amendolara, deceiving Cornerus to make himself a consul for life, etc., this young consul was not as honest and honest as he appeared, but perhaps because of this, he led the mercenaries to the heights they are today, which is something that no rough man like him, Kapuse, Amintas, etc., who only knows how to fight.

Philicios exhaled lightly, exhaling from his mind the enthusiasm that Davers had just faced Polydorus and the grim expression he was now ongoing......

"I see, sir." He said.

………………………

In the days that followed, Davos commissioned Avenogis, the consul of Laos, who was still watching and tasting food in Turiy, to find out what he could to find out about the situation of the Brutis in order to confirm whether the words of Cipros the Trina were true.

The rest of the time, he perused some of the information that Aristiras had gathered about Tarantum and Mesapi at the mansion. In his free time, he also accompanies his wife Christoya and his one-year-old son Crotto Katuques.

Polydorus's mood became more and more anxious day by day, and he went to Davers or Pherisius several times, but they were persuaded to quit on the grounds that they had just caused. It is true that the number of soldiers gathered in the city of Turi is increasing day by day, and it is true that it will take a long time to mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers to go on the expedition, but the situation in Tarantum is getting worse day by day, and it is urgent for the help of Dionia's army.

The day after Achita's defeat, Brindisi's clippers returned to Tarantum and informed the Senate that Achita had died in battle, and that the Maple coalition had thrown his head into the city, and built a "mountain of corpses" with thousands of Tarantum soldiers' corpses outside the city to intimidate the Brindisi defenders into surrendering, and the people in the city were very panicked. The coalition forces waited for a long time, but did not receive an answer, and began to siege the city.

Brindisi urgently appealed to Tarantum for help, claiming that the enemy was strong, the defenders were small, and that after the last capture of Brindisi, the dilapidated walls had not been fully repaired, and if there were no reinforcements, it would fall in two or three days.

While the Tarantum Senate was urgently deliberating on "how to rescue Brindisi", news came again: the Mesapi army besieging Manduria had disappeared!

The senators of the Senate, led by Eumacus and Diomillas, did not feel relaxed when they heard the news, although because of the blockade of the Mesapi cavalry, they could not detect the whereabouts of the main force of Mesapi, but everyone did not need to think about it, and they could roughly guess: the Mesapi people are most likely to march eastward and join the Puchetti army, and Brindisi is in danger!

Although he has been rewarded by Turii, Dionya will send tens of thousands of soldiers to reinforce him. But it will definitely not be able to reach it in a short time, but if Tarantum himself sends troops to reinforce from the land, and in the face of tens of thousands of Meppu coalition troops blocking, the senate felt that this was simply going to die, so it was finally decided: to transport troops from the sea to reinforce Brindisi, so that it could hold on until the rescue of the coalition forces of Tarantum and Dionia.

Tarantum sent 80 large and small ships, including 40 three-layer oars, which was almost the entire naval force of Tarantum, to escort a convoy full of 4,000 soldiers to Brindisi.

After bypassing the "heel" of the Italian peninsula, the fleet was intercepted by the combined fleet of Mesapi near the coast of the city-state of Hodrum.

Puchetti's navy was not strong, and there was only one seaport city, Barium, and it was good to be able to scrape together six or seven ships. However, unlike the Mesapi people, most of its city-states were port cities, with Igratia, Brindisi, Ugentum, Mesane, and Hodrum all harbor cities, but the largest city-state, Udié, was an inland city, located in the center of the Mesapi region, and was once the capital of the Mesapi Kingdom. Therefore, the Mesapi people's seafaring ability is not weak, and the maritime trade is also more developed, and later because of the help of the Athenians, they can not only make their own three-layer oared warships, but also skillfully use the advanced naval warfare skills of the Greeks, and before at sea also brought a lot of trouble to the Tarantum people, and this time, it was the largest naval battle between Tarantum and Mesapi, the Mesapi gathered all the warships of all the city-states, a total of 58, including 25 three-paddle warships, plus six warships of Puchetti, In total, 64 warships.

One was in a hurry to reinforce it, the other was desperately trying to intercept it, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle at sea......

Although Mesapi's ships were few, they attacked bravely; Although Tarantum had many ships, he had to take care of the troop convoy behind him, but he attacked and retreated.