The next morning, reinforcements from Sirittin and Trina arrived, and Crotone received information from Turiyi: about 4,000 reinforcements from Amendolara had arrived in Turiyi, and the Dionian citizens of the plain of Supari had entered the square one after another, and it was said that about 8,000 men had been assembled, and then they were stationed in the military camp north of the city of Turiyi, and no further action was seen, and Dionia seemed to be waiting for reinforcements from Niutum and Laos.

This news prompted Milon to decide to act immediately, and under his active promotion, the council passed a resolution to attack Turiyi, with the chief general Milon as the commander of the army, and another general with the ability to command the army, General Philadvous, as the adjutant, with about 27,000 soldiers, including 20,000 heavy infantry, 6,500 light infantry, of which 4,000 were light armor men in leather armor and armed with leather shields and spears, and did not have the ability to project, as well as 800 cavalry. In addition to the regular troops, there were also a large number of slaves and freemen transporting baggage, bringing the actual number of the entire army to 40,000.

To this end, Crotone organized a large fleet of ships in the port, and it took nearly three hours just to load supplies and get soldiers on board. Until noon, the troop convoy sailed north, escorted by the Crotone fleet. By the time of the passage through Crimesa, five hundred more soldiers had joined, bringing the number of combat troops to 27,500.

Because the process of embarking at the port of Crotone was cumbersome and chaotic, Milon feared that it would be even worse when he landed on the beach. He and Philadelfoss were quite concerned about what Tratus had said about "the coastline of Dioonia was monitored by cavalry", and for the sake of safety, they did not dare to land on the coast north of Castelón, but immediately after passing through the swamp, they docked and stopped their ships on the beach where the Marson's mercenaries had landed a few days earlier.

Milon first asked the cavalry to disembark, extended the warning area to a radius of two miles, and only after making sure that there was no enemy situation did he begin a large-scale landing. Countless soldiers carried weapons and equipment, and some even led war horses, jumped off cargo ships, waded through the sea, and reached the shore. Because there were no docks, slaves and freedmen had to carry food, tents, and other supplies to the shore......

As far as the eye could see, the whole beach was full of black and pressed human heads, a mess, people shouted and neighed, and the officers broke their heads in a hurry; And the pile of baggage, which was placed haphazardly, affected the whole team of soldiers, and Philadfus beat and scolded the slaves...... It took a long time to put the entire landed troops in order and to straighten things out. And after this toss, people are sleepy and tired, and the sky is at dusk.

After determining the nearest campsite, Milon issued an order, strictly demanding: each team should build a strong camp and set up sentry posts, and there must be no negligence!

The defeat of Melanthius is a lesson from the past, and this time Crotone has an absolute advantage, has the opportunity, and only needs to move forward steadily, and victory is just around the corner.

Tomorrow will capture Castron first, making it an advance base for Crotone's army and fleet...... Milon conceived in his mind about the next military plan of action, and gradually fell asleep.

……………………

In the tent of the Turii barracks, Davers, military officer Philicius, the commander of the 1st Corps, Kaps, the commander of the 2nd Corps, Drax, and the captain of the cavalry, Ryders, were analyzing the enemy situation.

On the wooden table in the center was a two-meter-square smooth wooden board, on which was drawn a detailed map of Great Greece, Felicius held a wooden stick, pointed to the map on the board, and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have just received information from the front that Crotone has sent about 30,000 soldiers, and they have landed here, on the coast south of Castron, and it is estimated that they will be able to attack Castron tomorrow!" ”

"30,000?!" Cavalry Captain Ryders took a breath of cold air: "In order to deal with us, Crotone is afraid that all the citizens of the city-state have been sent!" ”

"What is 30,000 people!" Unconvinced, Drax shouted, "If the Third Army can arrive in time, plus those conscripted freedmen, our strength will exceed 30,000!" And even if there are not 30,000 men, Crotone is no match for us! ”

"But the soldiers of Crotone are citizen soldiers!" Cappus looked at Davers with a little worry: "My lord, we really didn't wait for the arrival of the Third Legion, and rushed directly to Castron?!" ”

Davers said calmly: "There is no time, Crotone is determined to destroy Dionya this time, so he has been prepared for a long time, and the speed of the march is so fast!" If we wait, it will mean abandoning Castelon and not only undermining the prestige that Dionia has only built, but also breaking our promise by allowing the enemy to enter the plains of Sybari! We are not sure of victory in the battle against the citizen soldiers of Crotone on the plains, and with the defense of the walls, it will take too long and will not be good for our nascent alliance!" Davers took the stick from Phellisius, pointed to the curve of the Trionto River on the map, and said in a deep voice: "So we must make the most of it!" ”

Several of the people present were very clear about Davers's plan, and Phelicus opened his mouth, and finally asked: "Lord Davers, will the Crotonians rashly lead their army across the Trionto River?!" I've heard that their manager, Millon, is a veteran general. ”

Davers smiled and said seriously: "There is no guarantee that any plan will be fully realized, but Milon was confused by the false news I released, seeing that he was so eager to gather his army, and wanted to come to the city before we completed the assembly, it is very likely that he will be tricked." Of course, if he hadn't been fooled, we could have withdrawn to Turiyi and fight a long defensive battle with the Crotonens! ”

"He's going to be fooled!" Drax spoke out the expectations of the generals present, who also did not want the Crotone to set foot on Dionian soil.

"How many cavalry are there?" Rides asked an important question.

"About eight hundred." Pherisius replied.

Ryders clenched his fists, and his cavalry had no upper hand in numbers or experience, and it was only up to Master Davers's wonderful tactics to work.

"Brothers!" Davers looked at these generals who were born and died together and were eager to try at this moment, knowing that there was no need to mobilize at all, and their fighting spirit would inevitably be high, so he said calmly: "It's not too early, you guys should return to their respective teams immediately and act according to the previous plan!" Hades will bless us and all the best tomorrow! ”

"Yes!"

……………………

That night, the camp in Crotone was uneventful.

The next morning, when the sky was clear and rainless, Milon woke up feeling light, and the information of Touriyi had arrived in time: the reinforcements of Laos and Niutum had not yet arrived, and in the afternoon Tourii had 3,000 men rushing to Castron.

This secret letter must have been sent last night, and the Crotone warships cruising the coast of Turiy in the morning found no sign of a large-scale troop movement on the Tourii-Castelon Boulevard...... Miron pondered: The Dioonians should have known about the arrival of Crotone's army, but they were still in the midst of war mobilization and only sent 3,000 reinforcements, but these 3,000 people wanted to hold Castron?! As far as he knew, even with the addition of Castron's soldiers, there were no more than 4,000 soldiers, and Castron's small city was less than four meters high, so it was impossible to stop Crotone's army from crossing the Trionto River and capturing Castron. The weather and the enemy situation are in Crotone's favor, this is Apollo's blessing! Crotone must seize the opportunity when the Dionian Alliance has not yet completed its mobilization for war and the large army has not yet been assembled and arrived, quickly cross the Trionto River, take Castelon as soon as possible, and then fight the Dionian army in a decisive battle!

Miron immediately consulted with Philadelfoss and devised a plan for crossing the river.

At Milon's repeated urgings, the army quickly assembled, of which 22,000 soldiers, led by Milon, marched northwest; Another 4,500 soldiers and 500 cavalry, led by Philadefus, marched north.

There are two ideal places to wade on the Trionto River: one is in the middle reaches, where the water is shallow, the beach is flat, and the section of the river that can be walked is more than two miles long, from which Davers crossed the river to attack Melancius; The other is downstream, west of the city of Castelón, and is short and deep.

The Crotonens' plan for crossing the river was that the five thousand men led by Philadevus pinned down and attracted the enemy, but did not cross the river immediately, but had Milon's army cross the wide stretch of the river from the middle with all his might.

The Crotone army led by Milon formed an eight-way column, and discharged a long line, which was four or five miles long.

The ears of Milon, who was riding in the center of the procession, were filled with noisy footsteps, the sound of armor clashing...... But he felt that it was very pleasant, and the large number of troops gave him full confidence, and he even had the leisure to think: the city of Castron and the city of Clemisa were built on the north bank of the river, because they were originally the sons of Syria, and they were pro-Syria, and they were guarded against Crotone. And after this war, they must be forced to move the city to the south bank! As for Turii...... If all goes well, he wouldn't mind destroying it for the fourth time!

"Report to the general, the scout cavalry crossing the river was surrounded by enemy cavalry, four died, and two escaped."

"Did you find anything?"

"They saw several thousand of the enemy marching along the north shore."

Thousands? Is it tailgating us? Milon thought for a moment and said, "Has Philadelfoss reached his destination?" ”