Looking at the influx of enemies, Pangaru's expression was grim, and the fearful expressions on the faces of the soldiers around him worried him, he suddenly drew his sword and shouted loudly: "Warriors of Knapatia, you have successfully held back the mighty enemy for nearly a month, and now the greatest test has arrived. Think of your parents, your wives, and your children, who are right behind us and need our protection. Show your courage and with the help of Brutus, you will be able to repel these cowardly enemies! Our warriors of Bruti will not be slaves! ”

"The Great Chief is right! We can't be defeated, we can't be slaves! ”

"We fought with the Greeks!!"

Encouraged by Pangeiru, the Knappetia warriors began to pull their bowstrings at the approaching trenches......

……………………

Diolidas, a member of the Council of Hundred of Crotone, as a representative of Crotone, came to Trina with tons of grain and dozens of sheep to comfort the Fourth Legion of Dionya in the name of the Southern Italian Alliance, mainly to observe how the Dionian war against Bruti was progressing, and happened to witness this siege battle with his own eyes.

Later, when he returned to Crotone, he described the day to the council with a look of astonishment: "...... The Dioonians invented a terrible siege weapon, they called it the ballista, which, like a bow and arrow, could shoot a dozen pounds of stone from a distance of several hundred meters, and could hit the city wall more accurately. A large opening appeared in the stone wall of Knappetia after several days of continuous bombardment by this new siege machine.

The Dioonians also made something called the Siege Tower, which resembled a movable wooden tower that was taller than the walls of Knappetia, and the archers at the top of the tower kept shooting arrows at the enemies on the walls as the Dioonians pushed it towards the city of Knappetia. As soon as they approached the siege tower, a heavy drawbridge was lowered from the siege tower and placed on the top of the city, through which the Dionian soldiers rushed to the head of the city of Klapetia.

The Dioonians not only used ballistas and siege towers, they also used ladders to climb walls as much as we did. I saw that every one of their soldiers rushed to attack, rarely flinching because their teammates fell from the city, and they were no less courageous than our citizens of Crotone. But the Cornapetya warriors were not as fierce as they were when they faced us. It may be that they are too few in number, or they may be frightened by the terrible siege engines of Dionia...... In short, the battle lasted only until the afternoon, when the Fourth Army of Dionya entered the city of Cornappetia, and Pangherul, the great leader of Cornapettia, was killed......"

When Diolaidas finished speaking, the council fell silent.

Not long ago, I received news that Dioonia had conquered the city of Bissinia, and now the city of Knappetia has been breached...... When did the Brutis who gave Crotone a headache become so weak?! Or did Dionia's army become stronger, not comparable to the citizen militia of Crotone?! The Crotone people were at a loss: they had seen the war break out and hoped that Dionya would make a big fight in front of the Brutis so that Crotone could take advantage of it. But now it seems that this is nothing more than a beautiful fantasy of Crotone, and the strength displayed by Dionya has made those present feel terrified.

"That's a good thing!" General Sisprotis stood up and said loudly, "The nightmare that has plagued the people of Crotone and the other city-states for a hundred years is finally hopefully over! The people of Crotone will be very happy to find out! ”

Sisprotis's words made those who had other thoughts realize that even if they wanted to pull Dionia back, their proposal would probably not pass the citizens' assembly.

At this time, the chief general, Lycias, stood up and said: "As a member of the Southern Italian Alliance, we should rejoice in the victory of Dionia!" Although Diony did not invite Crotone to join the war, as part of the Southern Italian Alliance, Crotone should unite with other allies to send enough military supplies to Dionya to show our support for Dionia! ”

……………………

On the day of the Fourth Army's siege, the army led by Davers remained in the camp on the banks of the Punat River.

The soldiers were busy bringing the sick and wounded back to Bissinia while the baggage battalion brought back to the camp the rations that Turii had brought to Bissinia.

Davers was staring intently at the map of the Bruti Mountains in his tent, contemplating his next move.

At this time, Tolmid came in: "My lord, there are many Brutis from outside the camp, and the leader is a man named Hegesitus who has asked to see you. ”

Davers's heart moved, and he immediately said, "Let him in!" ”

It turned out that the rebellion before Cosenza was instigated by Hegesitus, and as the army of Piaren who attacked the fortress returned, these rebel tribes, who knew that they were invincible, fled from the city of Cosenza in a hurry. At that time, Pianren was too busy dealing with the Dionian army to have the energy to attack them, but these tribes did not have much food with them, and they went into the mountains and suffered a lot, not to mention that the food was almost exhausted in more than two days.

As a result, the tribes began to complain to Hegesitus, and their gaze at him became more and more unkind.

At the same time, the people who had gone out to inquire brought back the astonishing news that a great battle had taken place between the Bruti League and Dioonia on the banks of the Punat River, and that Bruti had been defeated, and that Pianlun had fled back with a large army that had fled from the city of Cosenza.

This news immediately caused the tribes to change their attitude towards Hegesitus.

Hegesitus took the opportunity to lead these tribes to seek refuge in the Dionian army.

Davers didn't care too much about adding more than 2,000 mouths that consumed military rations at once, he was interested in Hegesitus, which was originally an idle move he used on his brains, but he didn't expect Hegesitus to submit the first answer sheet that exceeded his expectations.

He looked at the man who looked like a Greek, but had a height and physique different from that of a Greek, and had long messy hair, and asked curiously, "How did you convince them?" ”

"Your Excellency." Hegesitus knew that his opportunity had come, and he explained in detail: "Before the formation of the Bruti tribal alliance, the large tribe of Cosenza, led by Piaaren, was constantly forcibly annexing the surrounding weak tribes. Since the establishment of the Bruti Alliance, in order not to arouse the resentment of the great leaders such as Vig and Bissinia, Pianlun proposed that this alliance establish a 'Federation of Chiefs', which would gather all the tribal leaders who had voluntarily or forcibly submitted to it, saying that they would manage and decide the affairs of the alliance in a unified manner, but in fact these tribal leaders had no power at all, and the affairs of the alliance were decided by the Council of Elders of the Alliance composed of several high chiefs and high priests (i.e., the Council of Elders of Seven). The tribesmen of these tribes were completely broken up and forced to form a single family, which was directly administered by the Union, and of course paid taxes directly to the Union every year.

The tribal leaders will not be reconciled to the loss of all rights, and the warriors of the tribe are not used to it. My lord, you should know that each tribe of these indigenous people is basically the same bloodline, multiplied for hundreds of years, they are all related by blood, and they usually help each other in any difficulties, and now they are suddenly separated from the tribe's dependence and want to live independently, and the life of many warriors is worse than before. And in the city of Cosenza, they are vulnerable to bullying by the warriors of the Great Tribe. Therefore, whether it is a leader or a warrior, of course, there will be dissatisfaction in their hearts......"

Davers listened attentively, nodding from time to time. He felt that in fact, this set of measures of the Bruti Tribal Alliance went further than the original system of the Lucaria Tribal Alliance, which was to completely dismantle the old tribal system and highly concentrate power at the top of the alliance. If they do, it will be a formidable opponent for Dionia.

"My lord, in order to protect the Xilu tribe, you do not hesitate to start a war with the Buruti tribal alliance!" Hegesitus gave Davers a small flattery, and then said: "In order to meet the war, the Bruti Alliance had to suspend the disposition of these tribes that surrendered later, so when I infiltrated Cosenza, I said to them, 'Dionya will defeat the Bruti Alliance and restore the rights and freedoms of your tribe!'" At this, Hegesitus gave Davers a cautious look, a little worried that he would be criticized by Davers for his own assertions.

"You're doing the right thing!" Davers complimented. From the bottom of his heart, he also hoped to be like the Bruti Alliance, to seize the power of the various tribes and bring all the Brutis directly under the rule of Dionia, but he knew that the result of such brute action would only intensify the conflict between the Greeks and the Brutis and destabilize the region, which would not be worth the loss for Dionia. As an organization of the same race, the Bruti Alliance has a strong strength far beyond other tribes, and it still makes these small tribes rebel and even riot. After the conquest of the Bruti, Davers still decided to carry out the same strategy as in Lucania, that is, boiling frogs in warm water, ostensibly promising the privileges of the tribe, and secretly exerting subtle influence on the Bruti warriors through the army and culture, and finally breaking them out of the control of the tribe.

"These tribes were initially a little tempted by my proposal, but they hesitated until the Lord's army suddenly captured the city of Bissinia and shook the whole of Cosenza, and they made up their minds!" Hegesitus said excitedly: "Now that the army of the Lord has once again inflicted heavy losses on the army of Bruti, I think this victory will have a huge impact on the situation in the city of Cosenza!" ”