After hearing what Davos has said, Agasias looked at the distant ship, remembering the complaints of Cleanor and the others about themselves during this period. Agasias nodded and said, “You are right!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Half an hour later, the transport ship was far away from Thurii and was heading south on the route leading to Syracuse.
Timasion, who was in the first ship, gave an order, and the soldiers on board immediately took action to capture the captain and the sailors and said aloud, “We will not hurt you, we just want you to go off course!”
While appeasing the frightened captain and sailors, they raised the red flags on the main mast and scattered them on the other ships. The officers who had been secretly informed by Timasion a day before their departure, saw the signal flag flying high on the first ship and immediately started to take control on the other 40 ships.
“Go to the beach between Krimisa and Roscianum!” Timasion gave the order to the captain.
“What are you going to do?!” The captain, though flustered, still shouted.
The soldier who held him gave him a kick and said, “Hurry up and do what our leader had ordered!”
Seeing that the captain was hurt, the sailors began to be agitated. They only shrank back after two of them got stabbed by a mercenary.
“We are all registered freemen of Theonia Union. Are you not afraid to arouse the anger of the union?!” The captain looked at the wounded sailor who was struggling on the deck and shouted out angrily.
‘This is really a problem!’ Timasion had spent more than two months in the union and knew about the law of Theonia. Even those sailors who have only registered but have not yet become a preparatory citizens, if they are treated unfairly in foreign city-states, according to the law, Theonia Union is obliged to negotiate with the concerned city-state, not to mention their protection of official citizens. If they were to really kill them, he fears that the statesmen who were once their comrades in the senate of Theonia will be infuriated and say that ‘The law is the law’, and they will no longer be able to use Theonia to keep Krimisa.
So he sent someone to help the two wounded sailors and bandaged their wounds and then said to the captain as kind as possible, “In the name of Zeus, I, Timasion, have no intention of infringing upon the union. As long as you send us ashore, you can sail away!”
The captain then turned to the helmsman in doubt.
Timasion hurriedly but quietly told his men, “Try to tell our companions on the other ship to not hurt anyone as much as possible!”
Why is it trying? It is because this is a makeshift team, and they are also a mercenary, it is only because they do not want to be bound by the union, and because the two leaders, Timasion and Cleanor, have high prestige that they are willing to follow their command. However, if they were to control them, Timasion himself has no such ability.
Another half an hour later, under the guidance of the two guides who they paid expensively, the fleet landed on a sparsely populated beach closer to Roscianum in order to avoid being discovered by Krimisa.
While the captain was still worried about whether there would be damage to the bottom of the ship, the soldiers then pushed them off the ship.
“You said that you would let us go!” The captain yelled to Timasion in panic.
“I did, but not now. We will need you to stay here a little bit longer so that you will not report us back!” Said Timasion coldly. He then ordered the soldiers to pull the boat to the beach, then tie up the captain and the sailors and throw them into the grass. While implementing it, the sailors resisted, and naturally, there will be casualties, but Timasion doesn’t have the time to worry about them at this time. He and Cleanor and the other officers had quickly gathered the mercenaries together, and then took out some timbers hidden under the tent that was given by Davos and their former comrades, then they all worked together to quickly make a ladder.
Timasion knew that Davos was very cautious. So he only asked for tents and food, not only to hide some siege equipment, but also to numb him. And now, after each soldier had carried enough ration for two days, he then said to the captain, “The supplies on your ship belong to your archon, Davos. So don’t forget to return it back to him when you go back.”
Afterwards, he ignored the crew’s cry and led the mercenaries to the south.
During daytime, it is difficult to hide the trace of 1,700 people moving on the plain, especially in the sunny season of spring sowing. Timasion’s initial idea was to disembark at night, but that meant that the fleet of more than 40 ships could only roam around the sea during the day. If they are too close to the coast, it will easily arouse the vigilance and suspicion of patrol boats and the merchant ships that are passing through Crotone and Krimisa, if it is too far away from the coast, it would be difficult to distinguish the direction and make an accurate landing in the dark, and are also prone to accidents.
Therefore, Timasion and the others had prepared to strike Krimisa by surprise and the key was to move quickly! Fast enough to make Krimisa not able to react quickly even if they learned about it.
Between Roscianum and Krimisa is a relatively large marsh, which was caused by the long-term flooding of the Traeis river and its tributaries. At the beginning of December last year, Timasion had come here to check the terrain. It was completely easy to traverse on the coast, and also, in order to facilitate the land exchange and trade between Krimisa and Roscianum, a fording place and pontoon bridge were also built.
However, what Timasion didn’t expect was that by the end of December, when spring came, the snow melted, and the torrential rain in January this year has made the river water surge far more than in previous years, which naturally expand the march significantly compared with previous years, which brought great difficulties to the mercenaries’ rapid march.
While Timasion and the others trudged in the marsh, they occasionally saw farmers and slaves who were leading their livestock, chickens and ducks to the edge of the marsh to forage. When they saw the mercenaries in the distance, they immediately ran away in panic. Later, scattered cavalries began to appear in the sight of Timasion, which let them know that their surprise attack had failed.
Timasion immediately convened some of the officers, such as Cleanor and Toras, to urgently discuss whether to cancel their plan to attack Krimisa.
Mostly everyone such as Cleanor and Toras, insisted on moving forward, because they had already taken such a long time of waiting and careful preparation to get such a good opportunity. If they give up easily and return to Theonia, they will only be ridiculed. What’s more, if their attempts were to be found out by the others, Davos will definitely be wary of them, and the Thurians will no longer be kind to them. At that time, they can only leave Magna Graecia and will never encounter such a good opportunity again!
When Timasion saw that everyone had the same idea, he immediately put forward his revised plan after thinking about it: In order to speed up their marching, they should rush to the city before the Krimisians put up their defense, capture Krimisa in the shortest time and then defend against the possible reinforcements of Krimisa, and obtain the approval of Theonia Union for them to join the Theonia alliance after obtaining Krimisa. With the protection of Theonia, their safety will be guaranteed!
The officers had no objection to his new plan, so they immediately put it into action.
“Brothers, speed up! Pick up the pace! As long as we get out of here, Krimisa will be like a delicious olive waiting for us to pick!” Timasion cheered up the depressed mercenaries.
Cleanor, Toras and the other officers were also urging them.
The soldiers who had been fighting for such a long time also knew that the situation was urgent, so they could not tolerate the slightest hesitation. They cursed at the terrible environment while struggling to advance…finally, the army managed to get out of the marsh.
At this time, one of the cavalry, who had been watching them, came forward and shouted, “I am Timacharis, the captain of the patrol team of Krimisa! Stranger, you are trespassing on the territory of Krimisa! Immediately-” His voice stopped, as a javelin pierced his chest and he fell down on his horse, then the several cavalries who were nearby were immediately frightened and ran away.
“Damn it, who threw the javelin?!!” Timasion, who was walking forward, yelled. He wanted to cajole the Krimisians in order to buy some time for their attack, but he did not anticipate it to be immediately destroyed by these bloodthirsty mercenaries.
“Now that it has happened, don’t blame them anymore, lest it affect the morale of our brothers!” Whispered Cleanor.
Since the time they disembark, Timasion had experienced successive troubles, which had made him depressed. However, he had to restrain himself, ‘Cleanor is right! We need to hurry up!’
After spitting a mouthful of phlegm, he then asked the guide, “How much longer till we reach Krimisa?”
The guide could only swallow his saliva after he saw the twisted and ferocious expression of Timasion, and said in a trembling voice, “….about…about 5 kilomers away….”
Timasion looked at the sky and said to the herald, “Have the brothers work harder. We will continue on rushing, we will then rest once we get to Krimisa!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
While on their way, they could no longer see anyone. The farmers and slaves who had been working hard in the fields have apparently learned about them and had fled into the city.
Half an hour later, Timasion saw the city of Krimisa in the distance. He then immediately told the troops to stop rushing and advance slowly.
The city of Krimisa is located at Calabria in the region of Punto Alice. More than 200 years ago, it was originally the settlement of the indigenous people, and was then later occupied by the Sybaris, who had then built the city of Krimisa. It has since then become the sub-state of Sybaris until the fall of Sybaris a hundred years ago, and the weak Krimisa had to rely on its strong neighbor, Crotone. Decades later, thanks to the establishment of Thurii, Athens had reached an agreement with Crotone, which made Krimisa and Roscianum become independent. However, the war between Thurii and Crotone had broken the neutrality of Krimisa, because they wanted to join the powerful Crotone and to at least share some fruits of victory. However, they never thought that the powerful Crotone would be defeated by the weak Amendolara, and so Krimisa had also paid a heavy price of nearly 2,000 casualties.