A little uneasiness rose in Diomiras's heart.

"I ...... I abstain ......," Tud Pres said reluctantly.

"What did you say!!" Diomyras knocked over his chair in a faux puff.

"I abstain!" Tud Pres's words of affirmation fell on the head of Eumacus like a bolt from the sky, and his eyes were black.

………………………

Eventually, Davos became commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, and he invited Umacus to serve as his adjutant, which not only facilitated the coordination of command, but also gave the Tarantum a step down.

As soon as the meeting was over, Trifias followed Davers, and the two of them walked out of the room laughing and laughing, and walked straight away.

Tud Pres hesitantly walked behind, but was caught up by Diomillas, who asked, "Tud Pres, what do you mean?!" Are you ready to betray our allies too?! ”

Looking at Diomiras's flushed face, the consul of Metapontum sighed and said guiltily: "To the north of Metapontum, on the upper reaches of the Bradano River, there is a city where the Lucarian tribe gathers, Galaguso. You know, we used to have conflicts with these Lucalians, but they were all minor issues. But the conflict has intensified in the last two years, and according to the information we have received, the main reason is that the Lucarians in Galaguso are growing, and the barren mountainous terrain there is no way to support more people, and some tribes are said to be arguing to move south for more land. If they do go south, it will be a big problem for us Meta Pontum! ”

"If the Lucanians dare to invade the land of Metapontum, Tarantum will definitely help you defeat these natives!" Diomyras blurted out.

"In Tarantum's current condition, are you ready for a long war with the Lucanians?" Tud Pres asked rhetorically.

Diomyras was dumbfounded. Now, Tarantum has two big enemies, Mesapi and Puchetti, and they can't bear it, and if they provoke the Lucalya again, not to mention the Senate, any citizen of Tarantum will think twice.

"I have heard that when Dionya celebrated the completion of the temple of Hades, the Lucarians of Galaguso went to Turriyi to express their wish for peace to Dionia. Therefore, Dioonia occupies most of the land of the Lucanians and has become the most important force there, and no Lucalian tribe dares to ignore it. I think that if Dionya had protested to Galaguso, the Lucanians of Galaguso would have considered it carefully...... The people of Metapontum want to avoid war. Metapontum will not be able to assist you in defending against the Mesapi while also facing the Lucanian invasion. Tud Pres euphemistically expressed Metapontum's sacrifice to Tarantum. Then he said to Diomillas with a slight apology: "It's just a commander-in-chief. Lord Davers is a good fighter, and you Tarantum are in desperate need of a victory, isn't it! Meta Pontum is always Tarantum's best ally! ”

Tud Pres knew he couldn't be as careless as Trifias, after all, Heraclia had only been established more than 30 years ago, and his relationship with Tarantum was not as strong and complicated, and it was so close to the Dionian territory. Metapontum is different in that it has a friendship with Tarantum for more than 200 years, and most of the citizens of the two countries have close or distant kinship, which cannot be broken by saying that it can be broken.

Watching Tud Pres leave, the resentment in Deomiras's heart could not be dissipated.

"Now that Davers has become the Supreme Commander of the Coalition Army, it may seem a good thing that he will have to make his army fight at full strength when he fights the Mesapis, otherwise it will damage his reputation." ”

Diomillas snorted, but did not lose his temper again, he was a little dazed: he was able to become consul because of the rapid rise of Dionia, which stimulated the people of Tarantum, and his radical ideas were approved by the people and passed at the citizens' assembly. The first large-scale attack on the Mesapi in Tarantum's history without regard for the lives of its citizens, but he didn't expect that perhaps it was Tarantum's strength that frightened the surrounding neighbors, and actually united the two races that had always been in conflict and had never been united, causing Tarantum to fall into the current predicament.

"The most important question now is that we must convene a Senate meeting right away! Tell the senators that Heraklia and Metapontum's attitude towards Tarantum has changed! Eumacus looked serious.

Diomiras's heart was shocked, and then he was gloomy: in just a few months, Tarantum's status as a strong state was under great threat! How did this happen? Is it true, as the damned young man said, that war is about the rise and fall of a city-state? But why did Dionia, which was founded less than two years ago, never stop fighting, but it became stronger and stronger?

………………………

Meanwhile, in the tent of the Meppu coalition camp outside Manduria, the consuls of the city-states of Mesapi and King Teremoni of Pucciti were deliberating on the newly obtained information.

"Are you sure Tarantum was reinforced by more than 10,000 Gentile soldiers?" Tremoni asked with a solemn expression.

"The news came from our people who infiltrated the port of Tarantus. For this reason, Lord Timogolas also sent cavalry to venture into the vicinity of the port of Tarantum, where a huge military camp had indeed been built. To be precise, it should have been reinforcements sent by Tarantum's ally, Dionia. Said Pasimerous, the consul of Udière.

"Dionia, a union of city-states only formed to the west of the bay of Taranto. I heard that their consul was a young man and had never lost a battle. Said Kalminus, the consul of Ugentum. Ugentum is located directly south of Tarantum and on the east coast of Taranto Bay, so he knows more about Dionia on the west coast than the other Mesapi city-states.

"Never lost a battle?! How many battles did this Ionian consul take part in?! The head of Archeta, the military genius of Tarantum that was boasted by the Greeks, is still hanging on the gates of Brindisi! Teremoni said disdainfully, he looked at Parsimerous, the leader of the city-states of Mesapi, and said cautiously: "But the more than 10,000 reinforcements of Daihonia are a big problem. We stormed Manduriya for two days without any progress, but lost a lot of warriors. This damn city! You built it too strong! Now that Tarantum has reinforcements, it will inevitably be reinforcements of Manduria, and their strength will not be less than ours, and we are very tired from fighting for days, so I suggest a temporary retreat, anyway, those Greek gentiles will not be able to stay in Tarantum for long, and after they leave, it will not be too late for us to take Manduria. ”

"The king is right! Our warriors fought continuously, suffered many casualties, and ran out of food, and Manduria could not be captured in a day or two. The enemy's reinforcements are coming soon, and if we fight the enemy head-on at this time, we do not have an advantage, and retreat is the best way. The generals behind Tremoni expressed their support.

The Archons of Mesapi exchanged glances. Indeed, unlike Brindisi, Manduria was originally founded as a forward base for the Mesapi to defend and attack Tarantum, so the city was small but the walls were high and strong. But the Esapi consuls believed that Puchetti did not want to fight again because they had already enjoyed the sweetness of the covenant, that is, after retaking Brindisi, Messapi and Puchetti would jointly govern one of the most important port cities on the toes of the Apennine Peninsula, and from then on the Puchetti people could also enjoy the benefits of sea trade, and under the pretext of siege difficulties, they did not want to pay anymore, they wanted to pay the bills!

Instead of accusing Tremoni of wanting to break the treaty, Pasimerous said quietly: "O king of the Puchetti, you should be able to see with your shrewdness that if we retreat at this time, then all the victories we have won before will be lost again!" The Tarantumites will not stop attacking because they have saved Manduriya, and Brindisi will be their next target, will Brindisi's few defenders and tattered walls be able to withstand Tarantum's army? And once we retreat, it will be impossible to gather such a large combined army in a short period of time! When the time comes, we will only be able to watch our people in Brindisi slaughtered by the Greeks or become their slaves! ”

Tremoni was stunned: just now he had the mentality of only taking advantage and not taking losses, but he didn't even take this into account, more than 2,000 Pcheetti people had just moved to Brindisi!

Seeing that he did not speak, Pasimelus continued: "In addition, we have made such great efforts and how many warriors' lives have been paid to inflict a heavy blow on Tarantum that has never been done before. According to the information received, the current citizens of Tarantum are either killed or disabled in battle, and most of the citizens who can fight are young and senior citizens, and if we can still inflict heavy losses on Tarantum in the next battle, Tarantum will be unable to resist our attack for a long time. Although it will be difficult for us to capture Tarantum, the lands outside the city, especially to the west, will be owned by us Mesapi and Pucheti! ”

Tremoni was moved. He rubbed his hands against each other, thought for a while, and then said slowly: "If we really want to continue fighting, we can't have a head-on battle with the reinforcements of Tarantum, the Greek heavy infantry in formation is like a stone, too difficult to gnaw!" ”

"You are a battle-hardened commander, how to fight next, we listen to your opinion." Pasimeros lowered his profile and said humbly, much to the satisfaction of Tremoni.

His tone also became softer: "My advice is to induce the Tarantum people to ......"