“Commander, leave the battles ahead to us! The brothers of the Third Legion have long been eager to fight and win glory!” Bagulos patted his chest and declared loudly.

“Don’t rush, don’t rush. There will be plenty of battles for you!” Davos joked. “First, go report to your legion commander. He’s been dreaming of you, calling your names in his sleep!”

Everyone roared with laughter. Even the usually stoic Hieronymus cracked a grin.

“Lord Avenogis, thank you for your full support of Theonia and for leading the army here personally!” Davos stepped forward and bowed to Avenogis, expressing his sincere gratitude.

“It is Laos’s duty as an ally of Theonia to send troops!” Avenogis hurriedly returned the bow. “In Thurii, I heard of Lord Davos’s brilliant victory over the Croton grand army—another miracle of the few defeating the many! Your military talent astounds me. I believe the warriors of Laos will win more victories following Theonia!”

“As long as our Theonian League remains united, victory will never be lacking!” Davos replied passionately.

“You are absolutely right, Lord Davos!” Avenogis nodded in earnest agreement.

Just then, Axistes interjected, “Commander, I almost forgot. When we marched through the marshlands, the engineering battalion was nearly finished building the road through it. They should be able to transport supplies here by tomorrow.”

“Excellent!” Davos exclaimed happily.

***

Following Davos into the main tent were First Legion Commander Capus, Second Legion Commander Drax, Third Legion Commander Hieronymus, First Battalion Commander of the Third Legion Bagulos, Third Legion Adjutant Axistes, and Archon of Laos Avenogis.

In the center of the tent stood an exceptionally smooth wooden table, bearing a large map of southern Magna Graecia.

“Capus, please brief our new comrades on the latest situation,” Davos said.

“Yes, my Lord.” Capus approached the table, located the marker for Crimisa on the map, and pointed to it. “After the Croton army failed in the pitched battle, based on interrogations of captives, we estimate about 7,000 men fled the battlefield. They likely retreated here.”

Capus glanced at the group listening intently, then continued, “Subsequently, our First and Second Legions, totaling 14,000 men, arrived outside Crimisa and built a camp, besieging the city from the east, west, and north. Today, while we were building the bridge over the River Umbria, our troops on the south bank were attacked by nearly 8,000 light infantry. This indicates Crimisa received reinforcements from Croton within a day, likely bringing the city’s garrison to 14,000. With your arrival, our total soldier count has reached 22,000.”

Avenogis and the others gathered around the table, listening to Capus while staring fixedly at the map.

“Taking a city defended by 14,000 soldiers with only 22,000 men will be difficult!” Avenogis remarked based on his past experience.

“We don’t necessarily have to take Crimisa City,” Capus said, stunning the newcomers.

“If we don’t take Crimisa, how do we attack Croton?” Bagulos asked in surprise.

“We besiege it.” Capus pressed his right hand on Crimisa on the map and drew a circle. “If we storm Crimisa, facing 14,000 Croton defenders, casualties will be high. Moreover, if they can’t hold Crimisa, they might flee by ship back to Croton City and turtle up inside, making our next offensive even harder. By keeping them here, we let Crimisa City disperse Croton’s military strength, while we can split our forces—” Capus’s finger slid south of Crimisa City, toward the northern Croton Plain.

Avenogis, Bagulos, Axistes, and Lizaru stared wide-eyed at the map, lost in thought.

“What if the Croton forces realize our numbers have decreased and sortie to attack the camp?” Avenogis asked with some concern.

The others smiled simultaneously.

“We welcome them to come out and taste the power of Theonian camp defenses!” Drax said confidently.

“If we don’t attack Crimisa, the Crotoniates might realize our intentions. What if they voluntarily retreat to defend Croton?” Axistes raised his own question.

“Who said we won’t attack? We will launch appropriate attacks to pressure Crimisa. By the time they realize something is wrong, the troops we sent out will have turned Croton’s territory upside down. And when they do retreat to Croton, we can easily take Crimisa! In short, to use the Commander’s words… we must actively maneuver the Croton forces back and forth so they can never concentrate their strength against us…” Capus explained.

“Brilliant! This must be a plan conceived by Lord Davos. It’s my first time seeing such an ingenious military strategy! Achieving our goals easily without fighting to the death!” Avenogis praised, half in flattery and half in genuine admiration.

His words met with unanimous agreement.

Davos smiled, then said seriously, “Right now, my biggest worry is one thing—”

“Our food supply?!” the taciturn Hieronymus interjected. As a commander without troops for the past two days, he had been staying with the baggage battalion, so he understood the situation.

“Correct.” Davos gave him an appreciative look and said gravely, “The rations carried by the soldiers are running out. We will rely on supplies transported from the rear. To feed 22,000 men, the amount of grain needed is enormous! The distance from Thurii to Crimisa is nearly a hundred li. We cannot fully protect such a long supply line! If Croton realizes this, their warships could land anywhere on the coast to attack our supply convoys, or even destroy villages and kill our people, causing us great trouble! Therefore, we must execute our plan as quickly as possible to leave Croton overwhelmed.”

“Hieronymus!”

“Here!”

“Lead the Third Legion immediately to build a camp on the south bank and besiege Crimisa!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Drax!”

“Here!”

“Draw three battalions from the Second Legion to assist Lord Avenogis’s troops in building the camp on the south bank. I require you to establish a preliminary camp by tonight and completely encircle Crimisa City!”

“Understood!!!”

***

That afternoon, over ten thousand Theonian soldiers crossed the wooden bridge and began working in shifts to construct the camp on the south bank of the River Umbria.

Milon did not rashly send troops to attack again.

By evening, the south bank camp was preliminarily completed. With this, the Theonian camps formed a massive semicircle surrounding Crimisa City. Apart from the port facing the sea outlet, which couldn’t be blocked, the city was tightly encircled by Theonian fortifications.

By early the next morning, as Theonian soldiers continued perfecting their camp facilities, the Croton envoy Lysias arrived at the Theonian north camp. Blindfolded, he was led into Davos’s tent.

“Lord Lysias, my apologies! As warring parties, we have to adopt this method.” Davos apologized verbally, but his face showed no hint of regret. Instead, he looked excited, like a hound spotting fresh meat. “I recall we just met four days ago. I didn’t expect to meet again so soon. You haven’t brought more harsh conditions to threaten Theonia, have you?”

Lysias naturally heard the thick sarcasm in Davos’s voice but pretended not to notice. He spoke directly, “Lord Davos, I have come to discuss peace. Croton is willing to sign an armistice with Theonia and compensate Theonia for its losses in the war. We only wish to extinguish the flames of war between Croton and Theonia and restore peace and tranquility to Magna Graecia!”

Davos laughed loudly. “You Crotoniates start a war when you want and stop when you want. Do you think this is children playing war games?”

Lysias asked calmly, “Then what conditions would make Theonia willing to accept a truce?”

“Conditions?” Davos snorted coldly, the impulsiveness fading from his face. He paced back and forth a few times, and when he looked at Lysias again, his piercing gaze had returned to its usual shrewdness. “Remember what I said when you left last time? My conditions are the same as those you presented in the Grand Council Hall of Thurii. Very simple!”

Hearing this, Lysias’s heart sank.

“First, Croton must pay Theonia 5,000 talents of silver in a one-time payment. Second, dissolve the Croton Alliance, and Croton must never ally with any other city-state again. Third, Crimisa is to be incorporated into the Theonian League!…”

With each condition, Lysias’s face grew darker. Finally, he shook his head decisively. “Your conditions are too harsh. The Croton Council will never accept them!”

“Even better if they don’t! Theonian soldiers still want to win more victories to earn more rewards from the Alliance!” Davos looked indifferent, yet his words carried even more threat.

“I admit, Theonia’s previous victories have caused us panic. But panic has also spurred us Crotoniates to act, uniting to resist any enemy that might invade Croton territory! From now on, the battles you Theonians face will only get harder! Lord Davos, I want to remind you: grapes only sell for a good price when they are fresh. Once they rot, they are worthless.” Lysias’s tone also hardened.