Chapter 254

Some mercenaries on the east gate wall, holding shields and spears, rushed down the wooden wall to attack the Potentia warriors inside the city, supporting the Grumentumians who were on the verge of collapse. The rest of the mercenaries ran to the gatehouse and turned the locked winch. The east gate was opened, and the follow-up soldiers swarmed in.

The Potentia soldiers defending the east gate suffered attacks from both front and rear, struggling bitterly to hold on.

Lusau was startled upon receiving Polet’s order. He hadn’t expected the tribes inside Grumentum to rebel again. His first reaction wasn’t worry about the situation at the east gate, but fear that his own warriors might also have problems. More than half of his thousand-plus warriors were tribal warriors who had submitted to him after entering the city. Coupled with the fierce enemy attack at the south gate, he dared not disperse his forces at all, so he refused to send reinforcements.

However, the Potentia warriors stationed halfway up the mountain immediately went down to rescue upon receiving the order. When they arrived, their companions in the east gate district were in a difficult situation. The leading officer charged into the enemy formation without any hesitation.

Potentia’s reinforcement complicated the battle situation on the east side: mercenaries and Grumentum tribal warriors attacked the east gate garrison from front and rear, while Grumentum warriors were attacked from front and rear by Potentians. Four forces fought each other in a chaotic melee in the narrow area within the city district and before the entrance to the mountain path…

The first to react was Xanthipparis. Thanks to the “Theonia Military Law,” during this period of training, Xanthipparis had been repeatedly required: unless under special circumstances, the army commander must not fight on the front line.

So in this siege, he followed in the rear. Encountering such a chaotic battle, with his rich battlefield experience, he quickly made a decision, ordering the mercenaries to retreat slowly towards the city wall. Simultaneously, he notified Cxima to lead his soldiers around those houses from both sides to surround the enemy.

The mercenaries’ retreat gave hope to the Potentia warriors in the bitter fight. They thought the enemy couldn’t hold on, so their morale soared. The Grumentumians felt despair; being a motley crew originally, their fighting spirit almost collapsed. However, as the Potentia warriors advanced, gradually surrounding them completely, unable to escape, they had to fight desperately for survival.

However, Polet on the hilltop watched with fear and trepidation. What he saw was: the enemy was retreating in an orderly manner with their formation basically intact. Meanwhile, the enemies pouring into the city gate went around between the houses on both sides, gradually forming a large encirclement, pincering the Potentia garrison and reinforcements in the east city, including the Grumentumians. Moreover, some enemies stood on the city wall, raising javelins in their hands. From a high position and such a close distance, it could almost be said that every throw hit its target…

Polet closed his eyes in pain. Now he could be certain: the enemy came from that terrifying Theonia City-State Alliance. Lucanian warriors were full of fighting passion but always had loose formations, never such strong organization and tight formations.

While cursing Lusau for disobeying orders, Polet hesitated whether to send his last bit of troops to this hopeless eastern battlefield…

The deadly rain of javelins and the fierce attack of the mercenaries finally led to the rout of the east gate garrison. The shrinking of the encirclement was like a noose tightening around the necks of the Potentia reinforcements. Hopeless, they finally chose to surrender.

Polet, worrying about gains and losses, ultimately did not send his remaining 500 warriors but held fast to the hilltop.

Next, Xanthipparis and Cxima led their troops to attack south. Lusau, already struggling to hold on, was no match. During his retreat westward, he was killed by out-of-control Grumentum warriors.

By nightfall, the Theonia army had routed the defenders on the east, west, and south sides. The entire army entered the Grumentum urban area. Only the 500 warriors led by Polet on the hilltop were terrified as the great army approached.

At this time, Hermon held a torch high and went up the mountain alone, preparing to persuade Polet to surrender.

To preserve the lives of his clansmen, Polet finally agreed to surrender. The warriors had to lay down their weapons, open the mountain gate, and follow Hermon down the mountain empty-handed.

Polet said resentfully to Hermon, “You help Greeks slaughter your own kin and seize their land. Aren’t you afraid of the wrath of the mountain god Asinu?!”

Hermon looked back and said meaningfully, “You are wrong. I am not helping Greeks, but Lucanians. God Asinu will only be happy about this!”

Theonia captured Grumentum with 600 casualties. Lusau and his followers were all slaughtered.

A few days later, Potentia signed a truce with Theonia. The more than one thousand captured Potentia warriors were sent back safely to Potentia city.

Unlike the fall of Niutum, the news of Grumentum changing hands spread quickly throughout the Lucania region, causing huge waves among many small tribes and even multiple forces.

Theonia did not take further military action but implemented the plan drawn up beforehand step by step: Bagulos served as the city Chief Executive of Grumentum, Hermon as the Intermediate Judge of the city, Axistes transferred to Grumentum as Intermediate Inspector, and Cxima appointed as Captain of the Patrol, among a series of other appointments.

The first thing Bagulos did after taking office was to take over the camp at the pass between Niutum and Grumentum. Secondly, only 2,000 warriors remained in Grumentum. The remaining 3,000 warriors and the mercenaries commanded by Xanthipparis returned to their respective cities—Niutum, Thurii, Asprostum, etc.—to relieve the pressure of military grain supply. Accompanying them south were several tribes from within Grumentum city.

The next step was to fulfill the promises Vesba and Hermon made to the small tribes around Grumentum, accepting them into the Theonia City-State Alliance, delineating settlements and pastures for them, and abolishing the various exploitations previously imposed on them by Grumentum and Potentia…

Upon learning that the Theonia City-State Alliance occupied Grumentum, Cincinnag cursed their insidiousness and cunning. But on the surface, Pyxous, having suffered heavy losses, had to send envoys to Thurii to express peaceful goodwill.

Even Garaguso, which rarely participated in Lucanian tribal disputes, sent envoys, wanting to know the intentions of this powerful new neighbor.

Potentia was forced to sign a truce with Theonia because of the captives. However, as the dominant Lucanian tribal alliance in northern Lucania, Theonia’s surprise attack hurt its dignity and angered the tribal chiefs of Potentia. But it was suppressed by the steady Great Chief Puamote, who chose to endure.

The strong Greek atmosphere of the Theonia City-State Alliance was so unique in the Lucania region that it immediately attracted the attention of another Greek city-state in the region: Elea.

Elea was also one of the many Greek colonial cities established on the Italian peninsula during the Great Greek Colonization era, decades later than the earliest established city, Cumae. Elea, Pyxous, and Poseidonia, three adjacent coastal cities, were established successively. Compared to the other two cities, Elea, sandwiched in the middle, seemed somewhat obscure. During the massive southward migration of Lucanians a century ago, Poseidonia and Pyxous fell successively, while the weaker Elea stubbornly survived. However, Elea, surrounded by Lucanians, was in danger of destruction at any time. If not for the conflicts between several Lucanian tribal alliances later, such as Potentia and Pyxous, Potentia and Grumentum… making Elea a buffer zone, the Lucanians’ full-scale attacks on it ceased.

But for decades, life in Elea had not been easy. Parts of the land outside the city were occupied by foreign races, and harassment occurred from time to time. Going out of the city became extremely dangerous for the people, easily captured by raiding Lucanians and turned into slaves. Therefore, the Eleans relied on making and processing handicrafts, as well as developing maritime trade, cargo transshipment, port services… to barely maintain the operation of the city-state and the lives of the people.

Now the emergence of Theonia allowed the Eleans to see the dawn.

Thus, after discussion among all citizens, they decided to send an envoy to Theonia—this emerging Greek city-state alliance—to express their willingness to form an alliance.

Council member Kanios gladly accepted this glorious mission.

However, going to Theonia by land was obviously impossible. Potentia and Pyxous would not allow him to pass through their lands, so he could only go by sea. The passenger ship did not need to bypass the Strait of Messina because the Eleans knew Laos was an ally of Theonia.

Carrying Kanios, the passenger ship sped south like an arrow, aided by the strong south wind.

Kanios stood at the bow, pondering the mission. His Etruscan slave, Eno, pointed east and suddenly shouted, “Pyxous!”

Kanios looked up. In his field of vision, the distant eastern land was just a thin green ribbon with a small white dot on it. That was Pyxous—once Elea’s sister city, now a nest of foreign races, Elea’s nightmare.

While mourning for the former people of Pyxous, Kanios also secretly resolved: I will never let Elea repeat the same mistake!

Because of the favorable wind, the ship sailed for two hours and arrived at Laos.

Kanios had been to Laos before and knew the port situation relatively well. At that time, although Laos was occupied by Lucanians, trade with Greeks was not prohibited. However, the Lucanians’ habits—fondness for looting and racial discrimination—made its reputation poor, so there was not much direct trade between Greeks and Laos.

But today, what Kanios saw at the port of Laos was: merchant ships coming and going in an endless stream; densely packed laborers at every pier loading and unloading goods without pause; on the sea surface of the harbor, in the foamy seawater, besides ships, there were also many remnants of food and garbage floating, attracting countless seabirds to hover and peck above.