It was not long before a figure waded into the water of the camp in the light of the torches attached to the wooden fence of the camp, dressed in thin clothes, mostly without armor and armed with javelins or bows and arrows...... At a glance, there were hundreds of them, and the enemy was constantly entering the flames.

Laquelesis did not dare to slack off, and immediately sent soldiers to inform the Chinese army of the big tent.

Alexis was not asleep at all, and when he received the news of the enemy attack, he immediately sent two light infantry brigades to reinforce him.

By the time they had gathered and hurried to the south of the camp, Laquelesis was leading his detachment of soldiers to defend themselves with long shields, and then with some difficulty they had returned fire with javelins, many of which had several javelins stuck in their long shields.

Due to the rush of time, the army did not have time to dig trenches and build earthen walls, and a simple wooden fence could only play a role in blocking and could not give the legionnaires the height of defense, so when the Samonai approached within 20 meters of the camp and both sides carried out medium and long-range attacks, the legionnaires lost the advantage of defense, on the contrary, the Samoneh, with their large numbers, suppressed Rachalesis and them with javelins, and the Samoneh archers behind took the opportunity to fire rockets into the camp.

According to the Dionian Military Law, "the construction of field camps is required to be more than 20 meters from the fence. "This will not only ensure the smooth passage of soldiers when defending, but also avoid being easily attacked by the enemy from a distance.

Considering that the camp was not fortified, Alexis also increased the distance between the tent area and the wooden fence to 30 meters, but Samonai's archers were too close to the wooden fence, and the rockets fired still set fire to several tents, causing some chaos in the camp, and the soldiers had to get up to put out the fire.

The arrival of 2,000 Dionian light infantry quickly changed the situation, and the Samonai retreated with dozens of dead and wounded people, but instead of staying away, they circled the Dionian camp, making strange roars, occasionally attacking the sentries with javelins, or firing rockets into the camp, disturbing the camp throughout the night.

But the next morning, they all disappeared without a trace.

The legionnaires had been tossed around for the night, and many had not rested well, so Alexis gave an order: the whole army continued to build the camp, and by dusk, the trenches were dug up, the strong earthen walls were built, and a few more watchtowers were erected...... At the same time, the captains should make reasonable arrangements for the rest of the soldiers and ensure that they have sufficient energy.

In this regard, the adjutant Utatius wondered: "Commander, why don't we attack Aquilonia immediately?" An additional day of delay here will consume one more day's rations, and it will also give the Aquilonians time to prepare for the defense, making it more difficult for us to attack......"

"Even if Aquiloña is given one more day to prepare, I am afraid it will not have much impact on our attack." Alexis looked at the vast mountains on the other side of the Ovantto River, and his eyes flashed with a deep light: I am more concerned about the state of the soldiers than the hasty attack, they are all from the Apulia region, although they have been trained in mountain combat in the barracks, but they have never had the experience of living in the mountains, they need a little time to adapt quickly, maintain their physical strength and energy, in order to cope with the difficult battles that may be encountered next. ”

"Fight hard......" Utseus pondered the unclear meaning of the words.

At dusk, with the joint efforts of more than 6,000 soldiers, a three-meter-high earthen wall and a trench outside the camp were erected, so that night, despite the attack of the Samonai, the threat to the camp was almost negligible, and the soldiers slept relatively peacefully.

After daybreak, Alexis left 500 heavy infantry in the camp, with 5,500 soldiers and some auxiliaries, carrying five days' rations, crossed the Ovantto River, and marched towards the city of Aquilonia.

Although the march was in the lowlands between the mountains, the lowlands were not low, and the further north they went, the higher the terrain became. The soldiers trudged through the rugged mountain roads, and when they looked up, they could see a narrow blue sky cut off by the mountains on both sides.

In order to prevent being ambushed or attacked by the Samoneans, Alexis scattered all 100 soldiers of the mountain reconnaissance team and walked with the large army on the ridges on both sides, while reconnoitring the surrounding anomalies.

With the exception of the 1,500 heavy infantry, who were not armoured and were carrying them on their backs, the rest of the soldiers were heavily armed (of course, they had no multiple layers of protection), and even then, most of them began to gasp before they were halfway through the journey.

Fortunately, this mountain road is not untraveled, on the contrary, the Aquilonian people often take this road to the river bay to fish, bathe, draw water, and graze cattle and sheep...... As a result, there are almost no thorn bushes and rocks on the trail.

Although it is already June and the temperature has begun to rise, not only does it not feel very hot when marching in the mountains, but the further you go, the cooler it becomes. But for the soldiers of Puchetti and Douni, who grew up in the Apulian plains, this section of the mountain road made them feel that they were suffering: the high and low, winding mountain road made them have to walk carefully, which was very physically exhausting; The bites of mosquitoes and the constant scratching of trees and weeds soon made them feel itchy all over their bodies...... The soldiers began to complain.

Lachalesis, however, was moving forward with great concentration, and a fire was suffocating in his heart, for his company had been killed and wounded 12 in the attack of the Samonai the night before, and several tents had been burned...... He has been blaming himself, thinking that he was late in calling for reinforcements, which led to such a bad result. In the previous two battles between Ascurum and Venosa, the Dionian army had easily won a big victory, giving him the illusion that the Samonai were easy to deal with.

But in the previous night's attack, the heavy javelins thrown by the Samonai were fierce and accurate, and when the long shield was hit head-on, it could sometimes cause penetration, which was the main cause of the soldiers' casualties, although Alexis did not criticize him, but he himself secretly determined: he must capture Aquilonia and avenge the dead and wounded brothers!

Therefore, along the way, he constantly cheered up the soldiers, encouraged them to cheer forward, and even saw that some soldiers were tired and fell behind, he would take the initiative to help the other party carry the armor.

Aquilonia was only ten miles from the newly built camp of Dionia, but the Dionian army had to trek for nearly four hours before finally getting out of the narrow lowlands and into a small semi-circular valley: one of the mountains on the east side was relatively low, and the slope of the mountain facing west was gentle, unlike other wooded and lush mountains, there were few trees on the slopes, but some houses were scattered among the mountains, and dozens of sheep could be seen grazing leisurely on the hills.

A sharp-eyed soldier could faintly see the wooden wall at the top of the hill, which was the city of Aquilonia, and although the mountain it was located on was shorter and steeper than the others, it was also hundreds of meters high! Just looking at this height, the soldiers felt a little worried in their hearts, let alone attack the city.

Alexis looked at the mountain where the city of Aquilonia was located for a moment, and then took a closer look at the valley.

The engineer came and told him that the floor of the valley was mixed with gravel, but it was still soft.

"Then let's set up camp." Alexis said lightly.

But the order was conveyed to the whole army, and the lamentations of the soldiers came and went.

However, before building the camp, the soldiers had to eat dry food and rest for a while to replenish the physical strength consumed by the march, and then under the orders of the officers, they reluctantly picked up their tools and began to dig the ground.

At this time, the leader of the mountain reconnaissance team ran to Alexis out of breath: "Commander, our reconnaissance soldiers have seen thousands of Samonai people rushing here from the west on the mountain range!" ”

When Alexis heard the news, instead of being shocked, he seemed a little relieved, and he asked unhurriedly, "How many people are there?" How far is it from here? ”

"Because of the obscuration of the mountains, it is impossible to see the whole picture of the enemy's ranks, and it is estimated that ...... There will be no less than 5,000 people, and when I came, they were at least three miles away. The scout captain replied, estimating.

Alexis turned to look to the west of the valley: not only were the mountains relatively low and easy to climb, but there was also a mountain road between the mountains that led to the west.

"Lord Commander!" Adjutant Eumattheus reminded: "If reinforcements from the Aquilonians arrive, we will be attacked on both sides, and we should immediately withdraw to camp and avoid fighting an equal number of Samonians in the mountains!" ”

"The Samonai have really hidden an army in the mountains to lure us into the bait!" Alexis sneered and said to his adjutantant, "Eumatseus, do you know what I've been communicating with Zantiparis, Pollet, and Gerni all these days? ”

A flash of inspiration flashed in Eumatseus's mind, and he exclaimed, "Is it—"

"Immediately go and inform the soldiers to stop camping, put on their armor, grab their weapons, and prepare for battle!"

………………………………………

In fact, the Samonai coalition gave up the raid on the Dauni region and attacked the Campanian alliance in favor of the Campanian League, not only to avoid the strong and weak, and continue to add trouble to the Dionia, but also the great tribal leaders deeply realized that they could no longer fight the Dionian army on the plains, even if it was just to harass, but should take advantage of the Samonai themselves and fight them in the mountains.

However, the Dionian army was very cautious and never marched into the mountains. Therefore, after deliberation, they decided to let the coalition forces attack Campania on a large scale, and they also wanted to achieve another purpose: to create the illusion that "Samonai's main force is in Campania, and the defense in the mountains is empty", and lure the Dionian army into the mountains.

。