Timocrates had truly lifted a stone only to drop it on his own foot. A retreat during battle, even by a small portion of the forces, was extremely dangerous; one careless move could lead to a total collapse.

Fortunately, the Taranto soldiers had been in a state of total defense for so long that when the enemies in front of them disappeared, most had not fully reacted. Seeing the enemy retreat before them, revealing a large gap, the exceptionally exhausted Taranto soldiers could hardly believe their eyes, yet they were ecstatic.

“We beat the enemy back!!!”

“The enemy is running away! We… We won!!!”

In the midst of the battlefield, shrouded by the shadow of death for over an hour, how could soldiers consider so much? Like drowning men who would clutch tightly even at a floating straw, they cheered, joy seemingly replacing their exhaustion. They rushed recklessly out of the gap, their movement involuntarily dragging the adjacent soldiers to run outward with them.

By the time Achilita discovered the anomaly, the entire army was like a bursting dam. Not only were the soldiers surging toward the gap, but the high morale that had been accumulated was also rapidly washed away.

“Stand still, all of you! Do not panic! Maintain formation before charging out! …” Achilita desperately tried to calm the chaotic soldiers, but it was in vain. On the contrary, the Peucetians intensified their attack, forcing the Tarantines to flee even faster toward the gap. Achilita himself was swept up by the crowded stream of people and pushed toward the opening.

“General, it’s useless! We should flee quickly!” his adjutant urged anxiously from his side.

The soldiers, their fighting spirit shaken, were completely unable to withstand the full-force attack of the Peucetians, and casualties began to mount. The continuous screams piercing Achilita’s ears made him increasingly anxious. Seeing the panic on the faces of the guards around him, he forced himself to rally his spirit and shouted hoarsely, “Charge out with me! Follow me and charge out!! …”

Achilita attempted to command the soldiers to concentrate their strength and charge west, striving to widen the gap or even crush the Egnatians so that more men could escape the encirclement. However, with victorious enemies on one side and soldiers with no will to fight on the other, most men cared only for flight and ignored his orders.

Taranto’s citizen-soldiers still lack training and experience! He sighed gloomily in his heart. At this moment, a thought actually crossed his mind: If it were Davos leading the Theonian army facing this situation, what would he do?

Just as his mind wandered, his guards clustered around him, and under the pushing and shoving of the soldiers, they rushed out of the gap.

“General, let’s flee quickly!” the adjutant urged again.

Flee? Flee to where? In Achilita’s field of vision: in the distance, squads of enemy cavalry were galloping across the flat plain, harvesting the lives of fleeing Taranto soldiers with javelins and spears; nearby, several squads of enemy cavalry were charging aggressively toward him, shouting something loudly…

“A pity, the crane mechanism I haven’t finished researching…” Achilita sighed again. In academia, he had regrets; in politics, he had always advocated that the Greek city-states of southern Italy should unite against foreign enemies. And this ideal, Theonia seemed to be fulfilling…

At this moment, he cast all attachment and regret to the back of his mind, drew his military sword, took the lead, and charged toward the enemy…

***

The sun set in the west, weary birds returned to their nests. The dust and fog of the battlefield dispersed, the sounds of killing faded away, leaving only corpses strewn across the field and blood flowing enough to float a shield.

Tremoni, accompanied by Timocrates and the Peucetian generals, came before Achilita’s corpse.

This Greek mathematical genius, the young military commander upon whom the people of Taranto had placed such high hopes, lay among the carcasses of several horses, struck by three javelins. Strangely, his ashen face showed no pain or anger; instead, it was extremely serene…

“I thought he was some remarkable figure, but he’s just a beardless youth!” a Peucetian general muttered disdainfully.

Tremoni glared at him until he shut his mouth.

He gazed at Achilita’s corpse, and after a moment, said, “Cut off his head. Show it to the Greeks in Brindisi. Bury his body.”

***

It was not until late at night, when a few soldiers exhausted all hardships to escape back to Taranto, that the populace learned the news that the 6,000 soldiers had been almost completely annihilated. The entire city plunged into immense grief.

Compared to the defeat in battle, the sacrifice of a large number of citizens, and the unknown whereabouts of Achilita, the Senate was more shocked by the alliance between the Peucetians and Messapians, which doubled the pressure Taranto faced.

The Taranto Senate convened an emergency meeting late at night, only to discover that the defeat of this battle had reduced the number of Senators by nearly one-twentieth, as at least six Senators who had accompanied the army, including Achilita, remained unaccounted for.

With grief in their hearts, everyone discussed how to deal with the difficult situation ahead. After this battle, Brindisi would inevitably face a siege by the Messapian-Peucetian coalition, while the main Peucetian force was still besieging Manduria. With nearly 6,000 young and strong citizens dead or wounded, added to the casualties from continuous battles in previous months, Taranto’s loss of citizen-soldiers had reached as high as ten thousand. It could be said they were hurt to the bone—not to mention the nearly 6,000 citizen-soldiers trapped in the two cities. Therefore, Taranto’s remaining strength was sufficient for defense but insufficient for offense.

But to abandon the territories that citizens had exchanged their blood and lives for was something neither the Senators could accept nor the populace would ever agree to. Thus, the only solution was to request reinforcements.

But who to ask for help became the focus of everyone’s debate.

As it stood, the strength of their vassal allies, Heraclea and Metapontum, allowed them to send three or four thousand men at their limit. Against a potential attack of twenty or thirty thousand from the Messapian-Peucetian coalition, this force was far from enough. Asking a powerful city-state for help was Taranto’s only choice, so their targets were few.

Sparta to the east was Taranto’s mother city, and relations between the two had always been good. In the Peloponnesian War, Taranto had stood on Sparta’s side, adding weight to the friendship between the two cities. This was the choice of some conservative Senators led by Archon Diomilas.

Theonia to the west was Taranto’s ally. Within two years, it had rapidly become a league possessing six cities and two vassal city-states. It had almost never failed in the battles it participated in; once, it even deployed an army of twenty thousand, showing its immense power. It was capable of dealing with the numerous Messapian-Peucetian coalition forces. This was the opinion of the other Archon, Eumachus, and some Senators.

A few individual Senators mentioned Syracuse to the south. Due to Sparta, there was some interaction between Taranto and Syracuse. However, as a city-state of Magna Graecia, Taranto was equally wary of Syracuse intervening in South Italian affairs. Moreover, Syracuse was currently at war with Carthage; how could it have spare energy to aid Taranto? Thus, it was not within the scope of consideration.

By the end of the discussion, the majority inclined toward asking Theonia for help. Just as Eumachus said: “When the Theonian Archon Davos was still a mercenary leader, we of Taranto helped them selflessly. Achilita led our citizen-soldiers to assist them in defeating the Lucanians. When they secretly occupied Amendolara, it was us who risked offending other Magna Graecia city-states to help them selflessly, recognizing the legitimacy of their occupation, providing them food, and shielding them from Thurii’s attacks. When Thurii was burned, when Theonia was attacked by Croton, it was still us who extended hands of friendship… It is precisely because of Taranto’s selfless help time and again that the Theonian City-State League exists today (of course, Eumachus directly ignored the fact that Taranto had failed to send reinforcements according to the treaty)! We Tarantines do not demand repayment just because we grant favors to others. But we should give the Theonians, who have enjoyed our help and felt uneasy in their hearts, a chance to repay us! …”

“Well said, Lord Archon! We should generously give Theonia a chance to repay us! …”

In truth, regardless of the distance between the city-states or the current state of power, Theonia was the best choice for help. There was already a treaty between the two, and Sparta was occupied with the Persian war. It was only the shame of Taranto’s previous failures to send troops to aid Theonia, and the reserve of a historic great power of Magna Graecia, that caused such hesitation. Eumachus’s tactful words satisfied the Senators’ vanity perfectly, finally bringing the opinion on requesting aid to a consensus.

***

“Achilita is dead?!!” Davos looked incredulous.

“Yes, Lord Archon. This morning, several soldiers who escaped back to Taranto said they saw the Messapians carrying away General Achilita’s corpse on the battlefield…” The Taranto envoy, Polydorus, said with a heavy tone.

“How could a group of soldiers busy fleeing for their lives see clearly?!” Davos was still unwilling to believe this fact. “Perhaps he was wounded and captured?”

“We also hope General Achilita is still alive. But even if he is alive, falling into the hands of the Messapians, he would…” Polydorus trailed off, unable to continue.

Davos understood his meaning: As the primary leading general of the Taranto army, the Messapians had almost never won against Achilita. Especially with this attack on Manduria and Brindisi dealing such a huge blow to the Messapians, they likely wished to drink his blood and eat his flesh! If he truly fell into their hands this time, Achilita’s fate could be imagined!