Davos stood up and looked around at the crowd, his voice low and powerful: "The battle in the early hours of tomorrow will decide the belonging of the Xubari Plain!" Decide the future of our Amendola citizens! When the battle is launched, there are no trumpets and no shouting! We're going to be ruthless! Be fierce! Be quick! Wipe out your enemies in your sleep as quickly as possible! Rush to the center as fast as you can! The faster we advance, the tighter and thicker the array will be, and the more panicked the enemy will be, and we will be able to encircle them in the center and force them to surrender! Brothers, the Crotone people are now like a pot of fragrant barley porridge, and I want to see which brigade eats the fastest and eats the best! ”

Everyone didn't speak, but their round eyes burned with fierce battle intent......

…………………………

The early summer nights in the southern Apennines are still relatively cool, but unfortunately there is no moon or stars in the dark sky. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Amendolara's troops began to set out, starting with the first detachment of the first wing of the first brigade and the first detachment of the battalion, the leader of each company holding aloft a lit torch to light the way, and the large force of 5,000 men marched quietly and in good order. The sound of the rushing river, the chirping of insects and frogs, and even the howls of wild beasts in the distance drowned out the footsteps of the troops and the clashing of armor, and only the faint flickering fires every few hundred meters could be seen from afar.

Crossing the pontoon bridge at night was the biggest trouble of the march. The troops marched in two columns to ensure that there was enough space on the bridge deck and that both sides had a lookout. Fortunately, most of the soldiers of the first brigade who walked in front had participated in the Persian expedition, and they were very experienced in walking at night, and they successfully crossed the first pontoon bridge, and then the second, and their good performance gave confidence to the follow-up troops.

The second brigade also successfully reached the opposite bank.

By the third brigade, the speed of crossing the bridge began to slow down. Arcinis stepped on the undulating plank, looked at the dark river flowing under the pontoon, imagined its depth, and his body involuntarily swayed with the bridge, and saw that his body was about to lean out, when a hand grabbed his arm strongly.

"Don't panic, look up, don't look at your feet!" It was the voice of the squad leader who was running alongside him, Ktipps. He stabilized his emotions and followed the team leader's method, and it was really much better.

He had only taken a few steps when he heard a thud behind him, followed by a cry for help.

Someone overboard! He was shocked.

"Don't look back, move on!" Ktipps, who usually loves to chatter, has an unusually calm voice at this time.

Arcinis finally set foot on the triangular area in the middle of the confluence of the two rivers, and with the experience, it was much easier to cross the second pontoon bridge.

In order to help the Lucalians cross the river smoothly, Epitenis came up with a trick: let a Greek and a Lucalian walk side by side on the pontoon bridge, and with the help of these veterans, most of the Lucanians also crossed the river smoothly.

When he arrived at the south bank of the Klatti River and stepped on solid ground, Arcinis's nervous mood fell to the ground, and only then did he ask the squad leader: "What about the comrades who fell into the water?" ”

"The commander of the regiment asked the military officer Philicius to arrange some rescue people on both sides of the river, as long as they throw away the round shields, bayonet guns, and helmets, and swim to the shore should be no problem, of course, it depends on whether they are usually seriously trained to swim. Now you realize the importance of training, and every project should be done carefully, because maybe you will use it one day in the future. "Ktipps took every opportunity to educate the recruits.

Arcinis nodded earnestly.

Two hours later, the troops approached the city of Castron, and the whole army extinguished all the torches. Led by the Izzam squad, they came to the middle reaches of the Trionto River (at the mouth of the Trionto River at the mouth of the Trionto River), formed eight columns, and the soldiers crossed the Trionto River without causing any trouble to the soldiers except for the pebbles on the banks.

The camp in Crotone is not far away.

It was still very late at night, and it was not yet dawn. Under the leadership of the mountain squad, the teams quietly and unhurriedly entered the predetermined position and began to lie down and rest to recover their strength. The officers went closer, observed the camp in Crotone, and began to adjust and arrange the attack positions of their subordinate teams against the previous map.

As soon as there was a glimmer of light in the eastern sky, the officers began to wake up the resting soldiers, and while they were sorting out their weapons and equipment, the detachment leaders whispered to the pre-battle mobilization: for the veterans, it is enough to say things like, 'These arrogant Crotoneians have dared to insult our Lord Davers, burn our houses, and now we are going to make them pay the price of blood with our shields and spears', and for the recruits, in addition to encouragement, remind them of some details that need to be paid attention to in battle, such as ' Don't just charge on your own, move forward with the whole team. When the bayonet pierces the enemy's body and cannot be withdrawn, do not waste time pulling it out, draw out the saber and continue to cut' and so on.

Alcinis began to line up with his comrades, and then put on the heavy Corinthian helmet, but he did not have the usual sense of loneliness isolated from the world, although he could not feel the force of the push of his teammates behind him (because it was a single column), but through the eyeholes of the helmet, he saw not only the tent set up randomly by the Crotone people a hundred meters away, but also the thin line formed by Amendolar's comrades in the corner of his eye, which extended infinitely according to the terrain, and surrounded the camp in an arc until it was out of sight......

Arcinis strode lightly, approaching Crotone's nearest tent less than 40 meters away, and there was still a deathly silence ahead.

Alcinis was both excited and a little regretful, and he was eager to show off his growing skill by fighting the sober Crotone.

At this moment, there was a loud scream from the front on the right, which was particularly piercing in the silent camp, and it was the first brigade that began to attack.

Ktipps whispered, "Forward! ”

Everyone began to stride forward, the round shields next to each other rubbing against each other, making a low "clang" sound, and the feet in leather sandals stepped on the mud soaked in the morning dew, leaving rows of clear footprints.

Alceris had already spotted a few of the enemies in front of him who were sleeping outside the tent, but when he stood in front of them, he hesitated again.

"Do it!" The teammate next to him urged, and at the same time plunged the bayonet into the throat of an enemy, only to see that the man's eyes suddenly widened, his hands grabbed his throat, he wanted to scream but could not make a sound, his expression was extremely painful, and his whole face was distorted.

The teammate pulls out their spears, and the blood from the wound shoots out like a fountain, and the wounded enemy begins to gasp for air, causing the other enemy to wake up in his sleep.

"Don't do it yet!" His teammates shouted again, and Alceris finally stopped hesitating and quickly stabbed a shot through the enemy's chest.

His teammates turned their heads and nodded at Arcinis, who could guess that it must be a satisfied smile even though he couldn't see the expression on his face because of his helmet, and he was encouraged to endure the discomfort in his stomach and continue to move forward as he cleared the enemies sleeping outside the tent.

There was a tent in front of him blocking the path of the Ktipps team, Ktipps made a gesture, and ten soldiers surrounded the tent, ten bayonets pierced into it, and there was a flurry of stabs, accompanied by screams, and blood splattered on the curtain.

"Arcinis!" Ktipps shouted.

Alcinis immediately held up the round shield, bent down into the tent, and soon came out, saying, "There are four people, two...... Vomit...... Two seriously injured, others ...... Vomit...... All dead. ”

"Leave them alone, keep going!" Ktipps waved his hand, then looked at Arsinis and said in a deep voice, "Even if you vomit, don't stop me from moving forward." ”

Alcinis and they advanced for a long time, only to see the enemy in front of them out of the tent, they were wearing short-sleeved linen clothes, some were even naked, most of them had no weapons in their hands, they did not seem to have fully woken up from drunkenness and sleepiness, they looked at Arsinis and they were dumbfounded, and they did not understand what was going on, until they saw Arsinis they stabbed some of them down, and the screams woke them up, but instead of rushing up and fighting hard, they cried out in panic: "There are enemies!" There are enemies! ...... "Alcinis fled in all directions under the advance of Arcinis, and his panicked appearance reminded Alcines of sheep chased by hungry wolves when he was a child when he went up the mountain with his father to graze.

………………………

Kolebus's ancestors were the earliest immigrants in Crotone, so they were given a large and fertile "share", and the whole family lived a relatively prosperous life of farming and pastoralism. However, with the passage of time and the rise of trade, many of the citizens who engaged in business gained astonishing wealth, and used the wealth they earned to gain considerable power in the political arena of Crotone, and they became the new nobility of Crotone. Colebs's grandfather was an ambitious man who envied these businessmen and was no longer satisfied with farming, but was determined to join the business and win a brighter future for the family. He mortgaged the land, borrowed a considerable sum of money, bought a few ships, and began a port transshipment trade, full of goods, sailing between the Greek city-states of Sagunto in the Iberian Peninsula, Massilia in Gaul, Napoli on the west coast of Italy, and Crotone in Ben-Bang.

At first everything went well and a lot of money was made, but then when a full load of goods passed through the Strait of Messina, it was swept into the great whirlpool of Credis, and the ship was wrecked and killed. The Colebs family began to decline, and by the time he grew up, his life had been ruined, and he had nothing other than being a citizen of Crotone, but unlike the freedmen, he could vote in the citizens' assembly and join the army to fight.