“I’m just worried that Taranto won’t prioritize rescuing Manduria but will instead ask us to relieve the siege of Brindisi first! Manduria is at least safe for now, whereas Brindisi, garrisoned by only two thousand soldiers and far from Taranto, is in much greater danger!” Capus said worriedly.

“If that’s the case, we absolutely cannot agree!” Drakos looked at Davos and said firmly.

“My Lord, if we rashly march north without defeating the enemy at Manduria first, and Manduria falls, the Messapians can cut off our supply lines, trapping us in a pincer attack from both sides. Therefore, it would be best if we could obtain command of the allied forces. If not, we must at least guarantee the autonomy of the Theonian army!” Philesius also advised solemnly.

Davos nodded in agreement.

***

After Capus and Drakos left, Davos kept Philesius behind alone.

“How are the preparations for the troops’ expedition progressing?”

“All soldiers of the First and Second Legions have returned to the city to stand by, but many still haven’t replaced their old equipment with new ones.” Seeing Davos look slightly displeased, Philesius hurriedly explained, “It’s not that they aren’t eager to change, but Thurii and Amendolara only have three weapon shops in total. It’s impossible for them to complete the production of tens of thousands of new helmets and shields within a few months. Tanning oxhide alone is a time-consuming process, and the quantity needed is massive. If we didn’t have the large herds of cattle and sheep grazed by Lucanian citizens in Nerulum and Grumentum, just gathering the oxhides would have taken several years…”

“Since that’s the case, let’s use the old equipment for this campaign. Have the soldiers go to the weapon shops and temporarily exchange back their original bronze helmets and shields,” Davos said with a hint of regret. Suddenly, he remembered something: “I heard a Corinthian merchant built a large weapon workshop in Amendolara’s artisanal district. We could consider giving him a portion of the orders, though I don’t know if he’s willing to accept the trade-in condition.”

“That merchant is named Theos. I’ve already spoken with him, and he is very willing to accept.”

“Oh? That’s a smart man. Pity he’s a foreigner.” Davos thought of the simple hydraulic trip-hammer successfully developed by the Institute of Mathematics. He was considering finding a suitable large merchant to cooperate with. As a machine that could greatly save manpower and improve the efficiency of forging bronze and iron tools, Davos naturally wanted to keep its use in the hands of his own people to ensure secrecy.

“Additionally, I have contacted the port’s Civilian Vessel Association (a non-official shipping organization Davos proposed and Marigi planned, which all Theonian merchant and passenger ships joined; its purpose is to maintain port order, prevent vicious competition, improve industry efficiency, and facilitate cost management). Polydorus also indicated that Taranto’s ships would come to the port to help with transport. This way, we can transport all soldiers of the two legions to Taranto’s port in a single trip. Our army should be ready to board the ships for Taranto the day after tomorrow,” Philesius continued, somewhat excitedly.

“Philesius, when a typical Greek city-state goes to war, how many days does it roughly take from mobilizing citizens to setting out?”

Davos’s question stunned Philesius. Thinking Davos wanted a comparison, he said, “From war mobilization to selecting citizens, arranging family affairs, preparing weapons and food, organizing the army, and appointing officers… it takes about three or four days. Whereas we need at most two days.”

“What if mobilizing over ten thousand men?”

“Then the time might be longer, perhaps six or seven days. But for Theonia—”

Before Philesius could finish, Davos waved his hand and said, “Then don’t be too hasty. Let’s set out in five days.”

Philesius thought he had misheard. Davos leaned forward, fixed his gaze on Philesius, and said in a deep voice, “In the past, although Taranto often fought with Messapia, they never disregarded the lives of their citizens like this to attack Messapia with full force. Do you know why?”

Philesius wasn’t a fool. Moreover, after serving as Military Officer for over a year, he had gained much administrative experience and broadened his horizons. He replied immediately, “Because of us.”

“Correct. Us!” Davos repeated forcefully. “The rapid rise of our League has put pressure on Taranto. Southern Italy is not that big; it only has room for one hegemon, and that hegemon can only be Theonia! Now that Hades has helped us by plunging Taranto into a predicament, we must seize this opportunity.”

Davos revealed a cold sneer. “We can abide by the treaty and help Taranto repel the Messapian-Peucetian coalition, but we absolutely must not help Taranto destroy its enemies and stabilize their newly occupied territories!”

Davos appeared calm, even cold. His friendship with Achilita could not influence his political decisions.

As the army’s second-in-command who had assisted Davos for over two years, Philesius knew his leader better than the other generals. From deliberately delaying the attack which caused heavy casualties among Amendolara citizens, to deceiving Cornelius to become Archon for Life, this young Archon was not as upright and honest as he appeared. But perhaps because of this, he could lead the mercenaries to the heights they reached today—something rough men like himself, Capus, and Amyntas who only knew fighting could never achieve.

Philesius exhaled lightly, expelling the image of Davos’s warm face toward Polydorus and replacing it with the cold expression before him…

“I understand, My Lord,” he said.

***

In the following days, Davos entrusted Avenogis, the Archon of Laos who was still in Thurii watching games and tasting delicacies, to find any means to gather information on the Bruttii, in order to verify whether the words of the Terina envoy Cipros were true.

The rest of the time, he carefully read intelligence on Taranto and Messapia collected by Aristelas in his mansion. When he had free time, he accompanied his wife Crystoia and his son Crotokatax, who was over six months old.

Polydorus grew more anxious by the day. He visited Davos or Philesius several times, only to be turned away with legitimate reasons. Indeed, more soldiers were gathering in Thurii every day, and mobilizing over ten thousand soldiers did take a long time. However, the situation in Taranto was deteriorating daily, urgently needing Theonian rescue.

On the second day after Achilita’s defeat, a fast ship from Brindisi returned to Taranto informing the Senate: Achilita died in battle. The Messapian-Peucetian coalition threw his head into the city and piled up a “Mountain of Corpses” outside utilizing over a thousand bodies of Taranto soldiers to intimidate the Brindisi garrison into surrendering. The people inside the city are in panic. After waiting a long time without a reply, the coalition has begun to siege the city.

Brindisi urgently requested aid from Taranto, claiming: The enemy force is massive while the defenders are few. Moreover, after Brindisi was captured last time, the damaged city walls did not have enough time to be fully repaired. If reinforcements do not arrive, I fear the city will fall within two or three days.

Just as the Taranto Senate was urgently discussing “how to rescue Brindisi,” more news arrived: The Messapian army besieging Manduria has disappeared!

Senators led by Eumachus and Diomilas did not feel relieved upon hearing this news. Although the Messapian cavalry blockade prevented scouting the main force’s direction, everyone could roughly guess without thinking: The Messapians most likely moved east to join forces with the Peucetian army. Brindisi is in danger!

Although they had received a reply from Thurii that Theonia would send over ten thousand soldiers to reinforce them, they definitely could not arrive in a short time. Yet for Taranto to send an army by land to reinforce, facing a blockade of tens of thousands of coalition troops, the Senate felt it would be suicide. Thus, they finally decided: Transport troops by sea to reinforce Brindisi, enabling it to hold out until the joint rescue of the Taranto-Theonia allied forces.

Taranto dispatched 80 warships of various sizes, including 40 triremes—this was almost Taranto’s entire naval strength—to escort a transport fleet filled with 4,000 soldiers to Brindisi.

After the fleet bypassed the “heel” of the Italian peninsula, it encountered the interception of the Messapian-Peucetian joint fleet near the waters of the Messapian city-state Hydruntum (Otranto).

The Peucetian navy was weak, possessing only one port city, Barium (modern Bari). Scrapping together six or seven warships was already impressive for them. However, the Messapians were different. Most of their city-states were port cities: Egnatia, Brindisi, Uzentum (Ugento), Mesagne, and Hydruntum were all seaports. Ironically, their largest city-state—Rudiae, located in the center of the Messapian region and the former capital of the kingdom—was an inland city. Therefore, the Messapians’ seafaring ability was not weak, and their maritime trade was relatively developed. Later, due to Athenian help, they could not only build triremes themselves but also proficiently apply advanced Greek naval tactics. They had caused trouble for Tarantines at sea before.

This time, it was the largest naval battle ever to erupt between Taranto and Messapia. The Messapians gathered all warships from all their city-states, totaling 58 vessels, including 25 triremes. Added to the six Peucetian warships, the total was 64 warships.

One side was anxious to reinforce, while the other was desperate to intercept. A fierce battle unfolded at sea…

Although the Messapian warships were fewer, their attacks were ferocious; although Taranto had more ships, they had to protect the transport fleet behind them, causing their offense to be timid and restrained.