On the third day, the fully loaded Third Legion left Grumentim and sailed to Poseidonia, entering the port of Naples by sea.

Naples, a pearl of the Greek colonies in central Italy, is the second colonial city built by the Greeks in Italy after Cumai, with a long history. But it started out as a small port called Partenope (meaning pure eye, which is the name of a kraken in ancient Greece), and over time it expanded to become the largest city-state in Campania, and later renamed Naples, which means "new city".

In the development of the city of Naples, Syracuse was a great help. A hundred years ago, the tyrant of Syracuse, Dillon, sent a large army to help Kumai and Naples repel the Etrunian attack. Later, the Syracuse sent troops to assist Naples in resisting the invasion of the Samoneh, so Naples and Syracuse had a close relationship in the past, and they were close allies.

However, since the rise of Dionysia, which completely destroyed the hegemony of Syracuse in the South Italian War, Napoli, which had strongly supported Dionysius in the South Italian War, had to turn to Dionysa (a large number of Campanian mercenaries under Dionysius were provided by the Campanian League led by Naples).

In the process of the expansion of the city of Naples, the Samonai also helped it a lot. For a hundred years, the Samonai people continued to invade from the eastern mountains to the western lowlands, conquering Etruscan, many towns established by the Greeks in Campania, even the ancient city of Kumai was destroyed, the big city of Capua was also occupied by them, and a large number of fleeing people poured into Naples in what they thought was the safest, which made the population of Naples explode and flood, which is why there were so many Campanian mercenaries in the western Mediterranean in the past.

Under the continuous invasion of the fierce Samonai, the Campanian League, which was originally formed for the purpose of defending the natives and protecting the security of the city-state, was only a few towns along the coast, lined up, and if it were not for the timely alliance between the Campanian League and Dionia, I am afraid that within twenty or thirty years, most of this land would be owned by the Samoneh.

On this day, the Neapolitans, who had been notified in advance, had set aside half of the harbor for the docking of nearly a thousand passenger ships carrying soldiers from Dionia.

Many Neapolitan people came to the port with their families and watched with curiosity.

"I heard that this time it was the third army of Dionya who came to Naples......"

"What does this 'legion' mean?"

"It's a kind of army unique to Dionia, it's very different from our other city-states, and I've heard that this kind of army has a lot of advantages, so it will have an advantage in battle......"

"Since the Third Legion is here, then there must be the First and Second Legions, why not the First and Second Legions coming to us in Napoli? Know that we in Naples are the leaders of the Campanian League! ”

"Stupid! It's not that Dionia looks down on us, but that its Third Legion is the closest to us, and it's stationed in the Lucania region, and it's most convenient to get to us in Campania. And don't underestimate this Third Army, in the Southern Italian War more than ten years ago, they defeated the Samonai invasion of Potentia's army, and also captured Capusa and Enona alone, so they are very experienced in dealing with the Samonai! ”

"The Third Legion is so powerful, so wouldn't the First and Second Legions of Dionya be even more formidable?!"

"I've heard that there are ten legions in the Kingdom of Dionia, each of which has achieved a lot of success in previous wars, and I think any one legion is enough to fight against the fierce Samonai."

"Ten legions?! Oh my God, Apollo is on top, how many soldiers must there be in Dionia! ”

"So the alliance between the Campania League and the Kingdom of Dioonia is quite right! With Dionia's help, we will no longer be afraid of the Samonai who are like wolves. ”

"Look! Look! The Ionian soldiers had already begun to go ashore. Hey, why is the armor on their shoulders black? ”

"I know that. Dioonia used Hades as the patron deity of their kingdom and worshipped black, and their king was said to be a descendant of Hades. ”

"Speaking of Hades, last year we have built a temple of Hades in the city, it is said that the priests are all sent from Turii, they are very enthusiastic about the people who come to worship, not only take the initiative to answer all kinds of questions, but also give free medical treatment to the believers, and provide some useful help......

I went there the other day, and a priest of considerable stature spent a lot of time listening to me talk about my anguish and enlightening me...... Therefore, other temples are completely incomparable to the temple of Hades, and it is no wonder that this god is so popular in southern Italy, and it is said that even the Samonai people in the city of Nasera have begun to worship him. ”

"Is it really that good?! Then I'll go to the Hades Temple tomorrow too! ”

"Stop talking, look at the Dionian soldiers have begun to form a team. Wow! Their movements were so fast, and there were hardly any soldiers talking, it was like our citizen soldiers gathering, and the sound would be so loud that it could be heard even ten miles outside the city, this is the army that can stand up to a strong enemy! ”

"Oh, you see! There are so many banners in the Ionian Legion, all of them are shining, it's so beautiful! ”

"Stupid, those flags are for commanding battles, not for good looks."

"And voila! The Dioonians have sent so many cavalry, which is probably more than the number of cavalry of our Campanian League. ”

"What's so strange about this, I've heard that Dionya has four cavalry regiments, each with nearly 2,000 cavalry."

"Oh, Apollo is on top, Dionya is such a powerful nation!"

……

The Neapolitan populace was full of criticism and discussion about the Dionian Third Legion that landed in the harbor, but few people blamed the Third Legion of having so many aliens (mainly Lucanians) because Naples had been surrounded by many aliens since its founding, with the Oronchi and Etrunian in the north, the Samonei in the east, the Lucanians in the south, and the Phoenicians on the island of Sardinia in the west. After hundreds of years of life, they have become accustomed to living next to these aliens, and they have been culturally infiltrated and influenced by each other, so the Neapolitans are far less xenophobic than the Greeks of other city-states, and many of the people in the city-states are still mixed-race, so it is conceivable that they are tolerant of foreigners.

The first time the army of the Kingdom of Dioonia set foot on the territory of the Campania League, the Third Legion immediately won the applause of the surrounding Neapolitan people with its strict discipline and mighty military appearance, and it can be said that it successfully established the image of the Dionian army.

While the battalions of the Third Legion and some of the cavalry of the Second Cavalry Regiment were lined up in neat columns, the commander of the Third Legion, Lizaru, and the official of the Dionian Foreign Ministry, Carias, were talking with the Neapolitan high-ranking who had come to greet them.

"Welcome, great Ionian allies! Thank you very much for coming in time as promised, we can be relieved! In the past two days, Kautini warriors have continued to cross the eastern borders of Lora and Suessula, much to the uneasiness of the entire Campanian League! Napoli Chief General Onosius said excitedly.

"Has Kautini's army begun to attack?" Lizaru immediately asked.

"Not yet. However, based on past experience, they may storm into the territory of the Campania League in the next two days, and this time the scale of the Samonai invasion may be far greater than before! Mitades, a respected member of the council of Naples, replied with a melancholy face.

The Ionian emissary Carias, also had a bad face. He was a native of Turiyi, a student of Ansitanos, and a few years ago he was a teacher at the Turriyi School while studying history in the Dionian Academy. After Ansitanos became foreign secretary, due to a lack of manpower, he recruited several of his students from the school to serve as civil servants in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously, Karias had also made several foreign missions and successfully completed the tasks assigned by the kingdom, but unexpectedly suffered humiliation in Cautini, and Cautini then launched such a large invasion, apparently in retaliation for his previous warnings to Cautini.

Lizalu smiled: "The Kautini have arrived just in time, and the soldiers are eager for a big battle!" ”

"This must be Captain Lizaru, I've heard of your name a long time ago!" Onosius said flatteringly.

"You've heard of me?! I haven't fought any big battles, am I that famous?! Lizaru's face sank, and he subconsciously thought of the joke he had made at the Corinthian Tournament, which was his heart disease.

Onosius was stunned, he didn't know why his enthusiasm had been exchanged for the other party's cold face.

"Commander of the Lizaru Legion, who doesn't know that when you defeated the Samonai people back then, you, as the first captain of the Third Legion, played an important role! This time against the invasion of the Kautini, we are all looking forward to the third Dionian army led by you to make a name for itself in Campania! Mitades said heartily, apparently knowing beforehand about the army sent by Dionia.

At this time, Lizaru was a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, another Neapolitan general, Aealos, diverted his embarrassment with a timely question: "May I ask General Lizaru, how many reinforcements did you bring this time?" ”

"Ten thousand." Lizaru replied dryly.

Ten thousand! Several of the Neapolitan generals had some surprise in their eyes.