Published at 14th of January 2024 5:06 am

Chapter 871: Division

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Despite feeling angry, Segobani could only follow this decision.

After Alexius had learned of the entry of Samnite's main force into Beneventum, he no longer sent troops to besiege the city and began withdrawing the ballistae unit. Still, the improvement and fortification of the entire camp continued.

Although the Samnites intensified their attack on the enemy camps, the increasing completion of the camp's fortifications provided sufficient protection for the soldiers. In addition, The Potentian and Abellinum warriors, who hadn't fought in more than a decade, gained a lot of experience from the successful defence, improving their response.

The Theonian army's camp was constantly under fierce fighting, digging deep trenches, building thick earthen fortifications, erecting sturdy wooden enclosures and sentry towers after another, and laying out dense abatis and traps…

Meanwhile, the warriors sent by the Samnites to attack the transportation route were left idle as Alexius had stored enough food in the camp and didn't need any supplies for the time being.

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

The following day, terrible news spread to Beneventum as the Theonian army began besieging the city of Aequum.

Aequum, a Hirpini town lying directly east of Beneventum on the edge of the Samnite mountains, not far from the Dauni region, is neither easily defensible like Aquilonia perched on top of a mountain nor as populous as Beneventum, where even half of their already small number of tribes have been conscripted by the tribal alliance. Yet, it is said that a Theonian army, nearly ten thousand strong, has now encircled the town.

The four great chieftains all understood that Aequum would fall quickly without reinforcements.

When Lesguk saw Segobani sneering at him, he remembered what he had advised him yesterday. Thus, Lesguk made no mention of sending reinforcements at all and instead pondered how to persuade the Aequum warriors who were in the army as well as pacify the other tribes who were unsteady.

Badani, on the other hand, became anxious, “Given the Theonian kingdom's large population and several allies, they can muster many more soldiers than us. Currently, they are leveraging this advantage to expand the areas they can attack. On the contrary, we have less than twenty thousand warriors. Even if we gathered them all and defeated the enemy outside Beneventum, our disadvantageous situation wouldn't change.

Even though we're unaware of the war situation between Theonia and Carthage, it's evident that Carthage doesn't hold the advantage, or else the Theonians wouldn't have committed such a significant number of troops against us. What should we do now that Carthage's support is seemingly impossible?…” Badani contemplated proposing a truce and peace with Theonia multiple times, but he hesitated as he didn’t want to get reprimanded by that stubborn old man again.

The other three naturally understood the meaning of his words, but even Konteruk had remained silent as each of the four began thinking of their own plans.

In the evening, Segobani, anxious about the current situation, received another urgent plea for help from the messenger of Nola: The Theonians, along with their Campanian allies, have begun attacking with great haste. They've even erected earthen ramparts higher than our walls and deployed siege equipment we've never encountered before, posing a significant threat to Nola's defences. Without immediate reinforcements, Nola is on the brink of being breached!

Segobani finally could no longer sit still as he immediately went to find Lesguk and demanded he be allowed to lead the troops back to Nola.

Lesguk, on the other hand, certainly didn't want Segobani to lead his troops away because Caudini is currently the strongest of the four major tribes. If they were to leave, the entire tribal alliance's troops would probably be reduced by half.

So, Lesguk quickly advised, “Given that Theonia's main force is concentrated here, they should have fewer troops attacking Nola. Therefore, sending only one to two thousand warriors to reinforce Nola would be enough. Remember that our top priority now is to defeat the enemies outside!”

“Defeat? How?!” Segobani interrupted coldly, “By your cowardly method?! Our warriors have been guarding the mountain range for two days, but we still haven't seen a single wagon carrying provisions! Even if we wait until we manage to intercept Theonia's supply someday, I am afraid we would have already lost all of Caudini's towns on the Campanian plains!”

Lesguk could only ignore Segobani's mockery and simply advised, “If you really want to hurry back, why don't you do this instead? We will go and discuss with the other chieftains and launch an attack on the Theonian camp within two days. First, defeat them, and then return to Nola together-”

“Enough! Lesguk, do you still treat me as a fool like Konteruk and Badani, who you can fool at will?!” Segobani glared at him and cursed loudly and angrily, “We've launched multiple attacks on the enemy's camp in the last two days, resulting in significant casualties. So, I'm sure you understand how challenging it is to assault the enemy's camp. But now, you are suggesting assaulting them forcefully? Do you want all of my men to perish?!

Lesguk, you're someone who talks and plays tricks but acts hesitantly, lacking decisiveness and ruthlessness. More than a decade has passed, and yet you still failed to finish off Garni and pacify Abellinum, allowing them to become a serious problem for us! In addition, most of the plans implemented when waging war against Theonia came from you, and by now, we've lost more than half of our warriors without winning a single victory!

Two days ago, if you had followed my advice to launch an assault on the Theonian camp when it wasn't as troublesome as it is now, we would have made significant gains. However, you had dissuaded us from doing so, and now, when the Theonians have completely reinforced their camp, you are telling us to attack them…Lesguk, I have seen through you. You don't deserve to be the great chieftain of Hirpini, nor are you worthy of being the commander who leads an army into battle! You are nothing but a pathetic man who the Theonains defeated more than a decade ago and has always harboured a fear of them!”

After Segobani exposed his past wound, Lesguk felt ashamed and angry. With a wave of anger rushing to his brain, he pounced on Segobani, holding Segobani's hand with one hand and grabbing Segobani's neck with the other.

Segobani tried to struggle but couldn't break free. His complexion suddenly changed as he hissed, “Les…guk, what are you…doing?!”

“What do you think I want to do?!” Lesguk neared his face with a scowl, “You say I don’t deserve to be the great chieftain of Hirpini, yet you think you are? Look at your scrawny body. Do you deserve to be called a valiant Samnite warrior? It is no wonder the former great chieftain of Caudini and his people had always favoured Kinduk as the next great chieftain! If it wasn't for you secretly working to discredit Kinduk, how could you have become a great chieftain?! But what did you do after you became a great chieftain? You tore up the alliance agreement with the Theonians by invading the Campanian League several times, which triggered the war with Theonia. Not only did you suffer a crushing defeat, but you had even become their prisoner!…

You said I am unworthy to be a great chieftain, but are you worthy?! You claim I'm unfit to lead troops into battle, yet without my intervention, you would still be languishing in Theonian prison. Instead of gratitude, you offer insults to your benefactor. Have you forsaken the Samnite tradition of repaying kindness?! You assert that I was powerless against Garni, but was it your strategy that dealt with Kinduk?! It was a collaborative effort of the other great chieftains. Do you genuinely believe your feeble mind could conceive a solution on its own?!”

“What are you two doing?!” Konteruk, who came later after receiving the report, walked into the room and saw the two entangled together, causing him to shout, “As the great chieftain of the Samnite major tribe, you should be contemplating how to defeat our enemies. Yet, you are still in the mood to argue with each other here, not afraid of letting your tribesmen see such a ridiculous spectacle!”

Lesguk took the opportunity to release his hand and took a few steps back. His face was immediately regretful as he loudly explained, “We just had an argument over something, and I became too heated. Segobani, I apologise and hope you can forgive me!”

Segobani rubbed his neck as he coldly gazed at Lesguk, “Forgive you?! Unless you die!”

After spouting this sentence, he turned around and started walking out.

Konteruk frowned and said, dissatisfied, “Segobani, some small disputes shouldn't affect our unity; otherwise-”

“Shut up, old man!” Segobani interrupted Konteruk's sermon without hesitation, “You three can unite together. I am leaving and will lead my tribal warriors away tomorrow morning. I want to see how long you can hold onto Beneventum!” He then strode out of the room.

“What…the hell happened?!” Konteruk, who seldom gets insulted, became flushed with anger.

Lesguk's expression also became unsightly, but he didn't reply.

Badani, who had just arrived outside the door, heard the conversation between the three and quietly turned around and left.

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

That night, despite the persistent efforts of the two great chieftains, Lesguk and Konteruk, Segobani kept his word and refrained from meeting anyone. The following morning, he led eight thousand warriors of the Caudini out of Beneventum.

As the two great chieftains gazed at the deserted Caudini camp within the city, criticising Segobani for his narrow-mindedness and recklessness, they received another piece of grim news: Great Chieftain Badani was gathering over four thousand Pentri warriors to depart through the north gate and return to their territory.

With the Caudini army already departing and the Pentri following suit, the Samnite Tribal Alliance could be considered on the verge of collapse. There would be less than seven thousand tribal warriors left in the city, placing them at a significant disadvantage against the more than twenty thousand enemies outside the city!

So he hurriedly headed north of Beneventum, wanting to dissuade Badani.

Konteruk, who was initially following closely behind, began slowing down. He suddenly felt that Badani's departure might be a good thing as long as he blocked the enemy's invasion on the east. Because by defending Pentri's territory, Caraceni, which is north of Pentri, would naturally be safe.

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