Published at 23rd of August 2023 8:26 am

Chapter 828: Garnis Decision

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Giorgris quickly ordered the four heavy infantry brigades and one light infantry brigade he brought to form a curved defensive line within the opening of the city wall, like a sturdy fishing net that surrounded the Roman soldiers rushing into the gap.

As more and more Roman soldiers rushed into the defensive line, the space became narrower as the number of people became denser, making it easier for the defenders atop the wall to attack.

Especially when they threw pots of burning oil and burned many Roman soldiers, resulting in the tragic sight from a day earlier at the gap in Rome's western wall reappearing again, but this time, they had swapped roles.

With the formidable offensive of the soldiers from the Fifth Legion, the already disorganised and weary Roman troops were ultimately overwhelmed by fear and succumbed to defeat.

Upon receiving the report from his subordinates, Titus reluctantly issued the order to retreat. Though unwilling and pained to do so, he still ordered it to prevent a potential counterattack from the enemy, which could result in further losses.

And just as he feared, the soldiers of the Fifth Legion rushed out of the gap and continued pursuing the enemy. Fortunately, the Roman's Etruscan allies, lined up in the rear, managed to intercept them.

Despite intercepting the enemy, the Etruscan soldiers weren't strong enough to harm the soldiers of the Fifth Legion. Still, the cautious Giorgris promptly ordered the soldiers to halt their advance after learning of the situation. With the darkness concealing what lay outside the city, he dreaded encountering another Roman ambush, especially with Prince Crotokatax among their ranks.

.............

When the next morning arrived, not long after the end of the Battle of Ostia, the city hall of Rome held a public gathering in the Roman Forum per Davos' order.

Davos praised the bravery of the Roman soldiers led by Sextus for breaking away from the Roman army and defecting to Theonia. He even rewarded them with more land, arousing the people's enthusiasm to join Theonia and making contributions. Naturally, it also deepened the resentment of the noble houses against the Roman plebeians.

During the gathering, Davos received a report from the defenders atop the city gate regarding the movement observed in the Roman military camp outside the city. It seemed there were indications that they might be preparing to depart.

Despite his concern about the movement of the Roman army outside the city, Davos believes it is more important to speed up the return of the plebeians inside the city. Thus he held a gathering before going to the city's southern end.

It was already noon when he arrived and found that the Roman army had demolished most of the camps they had built yesterday, with almost no one moving around.

From the soldiers' reports, they could hear constant noise throughout the morning and even the sound of fighting.

And according to the report of the mounted scouts, the Roman army had split into several routes as they slowly marched westward.

As a result, Amintas, Matonis and several other legates suggested taking advantage of the enemy's panic retreat to send out their armies in pursuit and even force them to fight a sudden battle.

But after careful consideration, Davos didn't implement this proposal as he didn't believe Camillus to be negligent in their retreat. He also didn't want to let the legions that had just experienced a battle fight against the Roman army, even if the enemy was significantly weakened from dividing their troops. After all, it was highly probable that the grieving Roman soldiers would explode with great strength and cause the Theonian army to suffer huge losses.

Instead, Davos summoned the new senior centurion of the Roman reserve unit, Sextus. He then told him to select Roman soldiers good at riding to ride the horses collected from the city and follow the cavalry legion out of the city to perform special tasks.

After giving that order, Davos convened an emergency war council to discuss with Tolmides, Phryntor and the legates the issue of reinforcing Ostia. After all, the direction in which the Roman army was travelling proved that their goal was the small place at the estuary of the Tiber.

Meanwhile, not far west of the city of Rome, two cavalry legions overtook the advancing Roman army and lured away more than a thousand Roman cavalry responsible for protecting the flank. Then Sextus led dozens of plebeians eager to make new contributions to the Roman army.

Then seeing the enemies dressed in Rome soldiers' attire approaching them made the Roman soldiers surprised. Once the enemy was only twenty to thirty metres away, they shouted loudly, “Citizens of Rome, I am Sextus. I was once a plebeian of Rome but had now joined the Kingdom of Theonia! Why did I join them? Because the Kingdom of Theonia has bestowed me a more and better land in Rome, a more luxurious and spacious home, and access to more equal rights that only belonged to the nobilities of Rome!

Fellow plebeians, you shouldn't hesitate to leave this hopeless army! Instead, join us! Join Theonia! You will have everything you ever wanted! And you can reunite with your loved ones! So don't hesitate to leave…”

Sextus and the other's shouting had stirred up waves among the Roman soldiers…

.............

Garni was sitting in the tribal leader's residence in Abellinum. Despite looking serious, he no longer felt nervous like the previous days. Instead, his eyes were gazing keenly at the door.

Not long after, several of his trusted subordinates rushed in one after another.

He then said, “I have decided to follow the Theonian envoy's request to send messengers to the Hirpini tribes in the other areas!”

The others understood what Garni meant about sending messengers, which was actually sending people to sneak into other areas in Hirpini to spread the words about accusing Lesguk of disregarding their trust and breaking the treaty to wage war against Theonia without authorisation, demanding Lesguk's punishment as that had led to the tribes suffering significant losses. At the same time, the messenger made great fanfare about chieftain Garni of Abellinum, helping the tribes to buy their captured people from Theonia.

After all, the previous decision of the Hirpini Tribal Alliance had resulted in the exclusion of Abellinum from the alliance and any Hirpini tribe is prohibited from interacting with them.

“Wonderful news, chieftain! We've been waiting for you to make this decision for a long time!” Tatoni shouted excitedly, “We had long been holding back ourselves during this time, especially since the envoys of Caudini, Pentri and Caraceni tribes kept warning us not to mess around during the war! Ptoeey, it's now time for these bullies to taste the wrath of the people of Abellinum!”

“Chieftain, we really shouldn't just wait quietly for this war to end. Although the Samnite priests had sent people to say they would forgive all past grievances as long as we accepted Lesguk as the leader, everyone understood that Lesguk would definitely move against us as long as they won this war and removed the Theonians' obstruction! So for our safety's sake, we must seize the favourable moment to deal them a blow preemptively!” Maigum, likewise, voiced his support for Garni's decision.

“I naturally knew Lesguk's conspiracy and the dangerous situation we are in now,” Garni sighed, “The reason for my hesitation was because I was considering that we might not only have a war against Lesguk but also worsen our relationship with the other tribes and the priests that would trigger an even bigger war.”

Tatoni shouted again, “Do we even have a good relationship with the other tribes and priests?! Chieftain, do you still remember that they almost united to sanction you at the tribal ceremony assembly a few years ago? So if a war breaks out, we can just defeat them completely, and then…then you, chieftain, will become our…the first supreme chieftain of the entire Samnites!”

As soon as Tatoni uttered those words, the expression of everyone changed.

Garni glared at him and said, “Stop speaking nonsense! With our strength, it would be difficult even to defeat Lesguk, let alone the other tribes. The only thing we can do now is to assist Theonia in return for the help they had given us!” In fact, Garni envies Tatoni for his straightforwardness, just like his demeanour during his youth. But ever since he had become the chieftain, he suffered several setbacks, and for the sake of his people's survival, he needed to consider many issues, so it was simply impossible for him to do whatever he wanted anymore.

Garni glanced at everyone's faces, who were excited after getting suppressed for so long. He then took a deep breath and said loudly, “Since you all agree with my decision, we need to reconsider our relationship with Theonia. As you all know, King Davos suggested to me a few years ago to make Abellinum a free city like Potentia. However, I didn't agree at that time.

But if we implement Theonia's plan this time, it means we will fight against Beneventum and other Samnite tribes in an extremely tough war! So we need to gain the full support of Theonia to win. Thus I have decided to have Abellinum join Theonia and become a free city in this kingdom!”

The hall was shrouded with silence after he said that out, which increased Garni's concern. So after clearing his throat, he hurriedly added, “If you don't agree-”

“Ha ha ha!…” Tatoni laughed loudly and said, “Chieftain, we are relieved you have finally made this decision! When I participated in Theonia's Rugby Championships last year, the Gela payer we played against had asked me with a strange expression, ‘Since Abellinum and Potentia are both free cities of Theonia, why can the Potentian player speak Greek while most of you don't?’ From that, we can see that some city-states and forces see us as part of Theonia and envy us. However, that often made us feel embarrassed because we are not, but now we can finally feel relieved!”

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