When trumpeters played heart-pounding high-pitched whistles and Spartan warriors charged at them in unison as they sang shuddering hymns to ancient heroes, the Greek city-state soldiers were often psychologically broken, turning and fleeing before the battle was engaged, rather than risking the battle against Sparta. The Spartans relied on this atmosphere of terror and bloody slaughter created by the army as a whole on the battlefield to terrorize the other city-states of mainland Greece for centuries.

The sheer size of Syracuse's army did not disturb Phoebidas in the past. But the stubborn obedience and uniform attire of the Dionian army aroused fear in him at this time, as if he saw another Spartan army, although they were dressed in black instead of red, they had many more soldiers than Sparta......

All you need in the Mediterranean is one Sparta! Phoebidas thought strongly in his heart.

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As soon as Alexis's Third Army arrived at Picosis, Davers didn't even have time to say a few words to him, but directly told him about his battle plan, and after obtaining his consent, he immediately ordered him to lead the Third Army north to attack Poseidonia.

The seaside area from Picosis to Poseidonia is not as flat as the east coast of southern Italy, from Turiyi to Crotone to Lokri, but is mostly mountainous and hilly, with rugged and undulating ground.

The Third Army had to pass through Elia on its difficult march.

As the city-state of the Dionian League, the chief general of Elia, Canios, did not hesitate to gather 1,500 citizen soldiers after receiving the news, and then joined the ranks of the Third Legion. After all, after the Samonians took Poseidonia, Elia was directly under the fierce forces of the Samonians, and the Elias hoped that Dionya would repel the evil wolf from the north and restore peace to Elia.

Half a day after the departure of the Third Corps, Davers led the First and Second Corps to the north.

Anooris, the administrator of Picosis, was not idle, and he was to help prepare the provision of the 30,000 soldiers. The food consumed by such a large army must have been staggering, and the city of Pikosis alone could not meet it, but fortunately, Dionya had built a reserve granary in Grummentum, which could temporarily meet the needs of so many people to fight for a short time. If the battle is prolonged, it will be necessary to call on Cosenza's granary, which is why Davers wants to speed up his operation. Antaoris also had to prepare pack wagons and manpower to transport the grain baggage to the front-line camp in Davers under the command and leadership of the Legion's baggage battalion. This was supposed to be a complicated and cumbersome task, but with the operation of the experienced baggage battalion, with the assistance of the capable Antaoris, and with the active cooperation of the Grumentum Administrator, Bagul, everything went smoothly.

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In the afternoon, the Third Army, having joined up with Elia's army, turned northeast, preparing to bypass the vast ridge on the coast of the sea directly north of Elia, with Poseidonia to the north.

Halfway through, the Third Army stopped advancing and began to build camp.

The movement they made was so great that it was easily detected by Samonai spies.

"What do you say?! The Dioonians appeared to the south of Mount Styra and camped on the banks of the Alento River?! "The chief of Pentney, Picini, who was in the mansion of the lord of Posedonia, was surprised by the feast.

"Yes, Chief. There are more than 10,000 of them! And we snuck close to their camp and found that a large banner had been erected in their camp that read 'Third Legion'! The agent's anxious words were mixed with a bit of smugness.

"The Third Legion of Dionia! Aren't they supposed to be in Grummentum?! How did you get here?! Picini lost his appetite at this moment, and threw the lamb he had just nibbled on the table, and lowered his head to wipe his mouth full of grease stains on his already dirty leather robe.

"I think the Dionians must have heard that Poseidonia had been taken by us, and they hurried to take it back." The other leader, Mobuk, speculated.

"Dionya is 10,000 men, and we only have 3,000 soldiers! And they came so quickly, the place that the city of Poseidonia was destroyed by us with ballistae before has not had time to repair, how can they prevent their attack! Picini paced back and forth in the room irritably.

"So we must immediately send someone to Pothenia and ask the Great Chief for help!" Mobuk reminded.

"Of course! And also...... Go and tell the warriors at once, no matter how late you work tonight, to fill the gaps in the walls for me!" Picini slammed his fist on the wooden table.

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At dusk, Alexis sent all the members of the reconnaissance team to chase and kill Samonai spies in the surrounding area.

That night, Davers' army of 20,000 men quietly entered the city of Elia, and the Elians, who had been notified by Alexis in advance, had already made room for the Theonian army to live.

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On the same day, at Lokry, the army of Syracuse was finally assembled, and the return of the scouts surprised Dionysius and others: in just a day and a half, the camp of Dionysa had begun to take shape.

This news strengthened his new plan: to divide the army into two parts, more than 20,000 of them under the command of Fasipesas, and unite with more than 10,000 soldiers of Lockry, a total of 40,000 men, and try to attack the Dionian camp in order to contain them. He himself led an army of more than 50,000 troops to the west through the ancient roads between the mountains to the west coast of Great Greece, and then turned north to march ......

In order to prevent a drag and slow down the advance, Dionysius's army did not carry a large number of baggage, but let the fleet at Lokry depart from the port laden with supplies, and sail south around the Strait of Messina, and then along the west coast of Greater Greece, and north to accompany the army on land.

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When the Lijim people saw one after another, continuous Syracuse ships sailing by the sea in the distance, the fear in their hearts can be imagined, and some even shouted in panic: "The Syracuse people are here!" They're going to land!! ……”

This turned out to be a false alarm, but it did cause great panic among the people of Lijim at the time, and many members of the council even demanded that the troops in Taurina be repatriated to defend against the landing attack of the Syracuses.

Attilikruz had no idea for a moment, and immediately sent an emissary to the Taurena.

Fidun in Taurina was first rewarded by the scouts: they found that the army of Syracuse had crossed the ancient road in the mountains and was advancing in the direction of Medma, and the cavalry as the vanguard had already passed the city of Mademar and continued to advance.

Then the harbor lighthouse came with an urgent report: the Syracuse fleet of thousands of cargo ships had been spotted passing through Taurina and sailing north.

An hour later, a merchant ship from Lijim, which had hurried into the port of Taurina from the north, reported that the fleet of Syracuse had not entered Medmar, but had continued northward.

"It seems that Syracuse is preparing to attack Trina to the north, and we are safe for the time being." Krilottas, the general in charge of leading the army, breathed a sigh of relief.

Fei Dun's expression was not relaxed, and he said with a gloomy face: "If the Southern Italian Allied forces in the north are defeated, it will be a matter of time before Lijim and Taurina are attacked. ”

"Then it depends on whether our allies can withstand the attack of Syracuse, and even defeat them......" Kerrylotas was reminded by Fitun's words, he said with some expectation, and then seemed to feel that this hope was a little slim, and sighed and said: "It's a pity that the consul of Dionia, Davers, led his main army to defend against the Samoneh!" If he can lead his team back in time, the Allied army's chances of victory can increase a lot! ”

"So we can't let the Syracuse attack so easily!" Fei Dun's face was calm and resolute, and he said loudly.

Kriotas was shocked.

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In the afternoon, Ligem's envoys rushed to Taurena and sternly demanded that Fedun lead his army back.

While deliberately delaying time, Fei Dun urgently sent his men back to Lijim.

By dusk, Fei Dun was still unable to gather the soldiers, and as a result, it was postponed to the next day on the grounds that it was "dark and could not march".

Early the next morning, Attilicruz, who had discovered that the Syracuse fleet had long since left Taurina and had not launched an attack on Lijim, canceled the order to recall the troops at the request of Fidun's men.

His men galloped back to Taurina with his urgent letter, and it was only then that the needless march of the Lijim army was stopped.

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On this day, in order to speed up the march of the large mixed army of Syracuse, Dionysius devised a number of methods, the most effective of which was to send men to each army to preach that whoever rushed to Hibernian first would allow them to advance the city after the defeat of the enemy's city, and that the army that arrived last would not have the right to share the spoils.

Dionysius's troops were not as disciplined as the Dionian army, because of the large number of mercenaries, and in order to maintain high morale, his soldiers often burned and plundered the city after breaking through it, as well as in Mothea, as well as in the Greek city-states of Catana and Naxos in Sicily. In fact, Syracuse devastated the Greek city-states of Sicily no less than the Carthaginians, which is why the Sicilian Greeks feared but hated Dionysius.

Dionysius's words had an encouraging effect, and the various forces rushed forward in a hurry, with the Numibian and Celtic cavalry rushing to the front.