Arsinis saw Philesius outside the courtyard and called out with respect “Lord Philesius!”
“We are at home, so just call me uncle!” Said Philesius amiably.
“Uncle Philesius!” Arsinis said it obediently.
“Father.” Said Melisander in a low voice. Compared to before, he was now able to say “father”, but he is still not used to it.
Philesius didn’t care about this, and he then comforted Melisander, “My son, I just saw your battle with Arsinis. Your strength and speed are no less than that of your good friend, but you are still inexperienced, especially experience in the battlefield. You will only be able to understand it once you experienced war several times.”
“But I have to be eighteen to go to war! Father, why don’t you talk to Lord Davos again-” Said Melisander eagerly.
“Didn’t I try it several times already?! Lord Davos values military law very much and will not take the lead in setting a precedent for you.” Said Philesius with seriousness.
Melisander could only hit the pillar in frustration
Philesius did not pay any more attention to him. He turned to look at Arsinis and said, “We will set off tomorrow, are you ready?”
“Uncle, I can’t wait to defeat the Lucanians and capture their towns under the command of Lord Davos.” Said Arsinis excitedly.
Philesius looked at him with a smile and said, “Tomorrow, Lord Davos will not lead the army. He will just stay in Thurii to deal with the unions affairs, and guard against the Crotonians!”
“Then who will lead us to attack Nerulum tomorrow?” Asked Arsinis eagerly.
Philesius then laughed.
“Uncle, is it you?!” Exclaimed Arsinis.
“Is that true?! Father, have you become the army commander?!” Melisander looked surprised, and the “father” that he said was so loud.
At that moment, Philesius was filled with pride, and the tension in his heart was swept away. He would win the battle and let the children be proud of him!
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
On the third day, when it was about to dawn, and most of the union’s people were still asleep, about 4,000 people from the second, third and seventh brigades and also the Lucanian brigades were about to leave outside the northern part of Thurii. 𝘦𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝗇𝓔t
Davos, as the founder of this army, did not personally command the battle for the first time, and the soldiers will also fight without the command of Davos for the first time. Both sides were more or less uneasy. So Davos rode pass all the soldiers on the expedition, and every time he passed a unit, he would glanced at the soldiers with trusting eyes and tell them, “Brothers, I await the news of your victory! By the time you come back, the Apsída tou Thriámvou* should be completed. Then I will hold a triumphal victory for you, so that all the people in the Union will be proud of you!” (T/N: Arc de Triomphe/Triumphal Arch)
Because of the regulations in advance, the officers and the soldiers, who will go for the expedition could not shout for joy, but their morale was high, and their spirit was ignited.
The officers of the first brigade also came to see them off. Their way of seeing them off was different from that of Davos. They played various jokes on the officers of the expeditions, such as Drakos, Sesta, Hieronymus and Epiphanes, “If it wasn’t due to our brigade shouldering the responsibility of protecting the Union, then it wouldn’t even be your turn to capture Nerulum! I heard that there will be a triumphal ceremony for you! Damn it, you are really luck. If you lose in this battle, then don’t bother to return!” There was a strong jealousy in their words, but it also aroused the competitiveness of the officers, such as Drakos, Hieronymus, Epiphanes and so on.
In the end, Davos came to the front of the Lucanian brigade. He did not say much. He first made a solemn salute and then said in a loud voice, “Congratulations, our Lucanian brothers! You are about to become citizens of Thua Union, and from today on, we will be one family!”
The Lucanian soldiers have been playing rugby with the Union’s soldiers for months. In the soldiers’ training days, Davos would even allow the Lucanians to stop building the roads, so that they can participate in the military training, so now, they could uniformly do the union’s salute.
Seeing this, Davos was very happy. He took a new flag from the guard’s captain, Martius, and held it high to show it in front of the Lucanian soldiers. This is a beautiful brigade flag, it has the same bronze statue, the god of death and a bright red star below which represents the brigade participating in the battle against Crotone and won.
Most of the Lucanian soldiers have started to study Greek, though they still couldn’t read the Greek characters yet. However, this flag belongs to them, which is no different from the other flags, and had made them happy. And Bagul saw the words on the flag. The fourth brigade of the first legion!
They truly are now a family! Bagul took over the flag excitedly, and then said, “Legatus, you can rest assured that the fourth brigade will successfully complete the mission and guide the Lucanians to join our union!”
“Good!” Davos turned his expectation into a fist and strike his chest hard…
Leaving them, Davos came to the commander of this military expedition, Philesius, “It’s all up to you now!”
Philesius suppressed his nervousness and responded with a powerful salute, “Legatus, you can rest assured!”
“Depart!” Nodded Davos.
Under the guidance of the legion’s Hades flag, the troops quietly headed west…
Davos gazed at the long line, and stood for a long time…
Some of the preparatory citizens and slaves who got up early and worked in the fields west of Thurii were so surprised that they forgot their work, when they saw the Union’s troops marching along the road besides the fields.
Of course, the military action of Thua Union could not escape the eyes of those that are paying attention.
Due to Crotone suffering a great loss in the last attack by Amendolara, in order for them to grasp the movement of Thua Union, they have sent several landless citizens to enter the port of Thurii as a freeman in order to collect intelligence, one of them was Teratus.
Because the statesmen of Thua Union had frequently went to Amendolara for meetings two days ago, it had attracted his attention. Therefore, he had a hunch that there was a major event that happened in Thua Union, so he paid close attention to the city of Thurii. And so today, he found that the army of Thurii went out, so he sat in the grass and determined the approximate number of troops before he made a leisurely and slow walk to the port.
What he did not know was that there were also people staring at him not far behind him. Of course he doesn’t know that due to him advocating the alienation of the people of Thurii in the Thua Union, and also the relationship between the people of Amendolara and the former mercenaries, it has aroused the vigilance of Davos, which in the end, had exposed himself.
“Brother, this man is collecting important information about our Union again. We should go forward and catch him immediately, so as not to reveal the fact that we have sent our troops to an expedition!”
“Brother, no. Asistes had once told us that ‘We should not disturb them.’ So, we should first go and tell it to Asistes.”
When they returned to the city and came to the residence of Asistes, they were told by the slave who opened the door that Asistes was not there, and that he had joined the expedition as an adjutant of the fourth brigade.
The two men were in a daze. The person in charge of them is not present, ‘What should we do?’
At this time, the slave of Asistes asked, “Any of you is called Aristias?”
“I am.” One of them answered.
The slave looked at him curiously, and then said, “The goddess of faith has blessed you! The master told me to tell you that you should go straight to Lord Davos!”
They were very excited and did not hesitate for a moment to go to the mansion of Davos, and they were easily received by Davos.
After listening to their reports, Davos was not surprised. Instead, he looked at them with interest. The short man seemed nervous and anxious, while the tall and thin one was much more calm. Davos looked at him, and he was also looking at Davos.
“Do you know why I didn’t let you go after this spy of Crotone?” Asked Davos suddenly.
The short man didn’t know what to say, but the tall and thin man said calmly, “I believe that Milord must have your own plan. This spy may be able to play a certain role, and Milord is not afraid of Crotone knowing about our troops being dispatch!”
Davos’ eyes lit up, he then looked at him and said, “Your name is Aristias?”
“Yes, Milord.” The tall and thin man nodded.
Davos then look at the other person, “Your name is Antrapolis?”
“Yes! Yes! Antrapolis is me!” The short man replied excitedly.
“Thank you very much for your effort for the city! Asistes once introduced you to me in detail, and he said ‘The two of you are brothers, and are from Katane, Sicily, and have applied to be a preparatory citizens of Thua Union…’ Asistes also specifically mentioned you, Aristias, and said that you used your wisdom to quickly find the spy of Crotone, and did a good job!” Praised Davos.
After hearing the praise of the Archon, who is also a military genius, and the “God’s favored” of Thua Union, the calm Aristias has also showed a trace of complacency.
“You have received education?” Asked Davos again.
“Yes. When we were young, our parents have hired tutors for us…” Aristias’ calm words were mixed with some pain.
“The vicious Dionysius had not only captured Katane, but also turned most of its people who did not manage to escape into slaves. A small part of them were forcibly moved to Syracuse, and the bandits of Syracuse occupied our lands!…” Antrapolis said angrily.
“Hm, Sicily is like a volcano that is about to erupt!” Davos said with a sigh, remembering what he had learned these days. Then he changed the conversation, “Don’t you think that this Crotonian, who was sent to collect intelligence, is stupid, by trying to spread rumors, which ends up exposing himself?”