The messenger goes on to relay the order of the Senate: "Lord Diomyras thinks that the Mesapi army attacking Manduria is probably the last force of the Mesapi. Therefore, the Senate orders you to lead as many soldiers back as possible while ensuring the safety of Brindisi, rendezvous with the reinforcements of Heraclia and Metapontum, march towards Manduria, and defeat the Mesapi once and for all! Secure your newly occupied territory once and for all! ”

Acheta bowed his head and pondered: in the past, Tarantum had paid nearly 5,000 dead and wounded for the battle for Manduria and Brindisi, and the casualties of the Mesapi would not be lower than those of Tarantum, as can be seen from the corpses of the Mesapi buried after the war. Don't look at the seven or eight city-states in the Mesapi League, the only city that is really big is Rudiae, and if it can send tens of thousands of troops, Mesapi's manpower should have reached its limit...... But why not attack Brindisi, which was wedged into Mesapi territory, and attack Manduria, which was closer to Tarantum and easier to rescue?

But when he thought about it, he immediately scolded himself for being confused: Brindisi was garrisoned by 8,000 Tarantum citizen soldiers, and Mandunia had only 2,000 men, and it was obvious which city would be easier to capture.

He glanced up at the messenger who was still waiting for his reply, and asked, "How many men have Metapontum and Heraclia sent?" ”

"Since their losses were not small last time, this time it is said that only 3,000 people were sent from the two cities." The messenger replied.

Acheta's expression was slightly gloomy: he had fought side by side with the allies before, and of course he knew in his heart what their casualties were. But in the end, Tarantum was the only one, and Heraclia and Metapontum were only paid for something. But isn't this how Dionia defeated its opponents and grew rapidly?

Thinking of this, he no longer felt guilty in his heart, but cared about the city-state alliance on the other side of the bay that made him feel complicated: "Senate...... Did you send an emissary to Dionya for help? ”

The messenger stopped talking, shook his head, and looked strange.

Acheta's mind turned, and he immediately understood that not only was Diomiras, one of the newly elected consuls this year, always disliked the Dionian League, but others also had this mentality. As a 300-year-old southern Italian state, it would be a shame to turn to a new alliance of city-states that had only been established for less than two years, what would the allies and the other city-states of Greater Greece think? What's more, Dionia is not like Heraclia and Metapontum, they are mainly based on Tarantum, and Dionia and Tarantom are equal offensive and defensive alliances, and it may be that its overall strength is now better than Tarantum...... Be stronger. Asking for Ionia's help, it will not work without paying a certain price. Therefore, Tarantum will never send a messenger to Dionia until it is in a critical moment.

Acheta pondered for a moment, and said simply: "I'm going to let Pebaricius lead two thousand soldiers to stay in Brindisi, I'll take 6,000 people back, and you go with me, because I don't have enough cavalry to escort you back alone." ”

The messenger breathed a sigh of relief and hastened to agree. Frightened by the elusive light cavalry of the Mesapi, the cavalry squad that escorted him cost more than a dozen lives to get him safely into Brindisi.

In the afternoon, the freedmen who had heard the news rushed to see 6,000 Tarantum citizen soldiers out of the city with trepidation. Although Tarantum despised the new, unhistoric Dionian city-state alliance, he had begun to learn from Dioonia in how to deal with the territory he occupied. Immediately after the seizure of the two towns, the Senate promised the Gentiles and freedmen in Tarantum that if they were willing to move to Brindisi and Manduriya, they would receive land and become citizens of Tarantum, and that Brindisi and Manduria would also become vassals of Tarantum. Therefore, despite knowing the risks, many freedmen still came with their families and families. Now that the war has broken out again, and Brindisi's defense is more than half gone, how can it not make them nervous.

Brindisi on the east coast of Apulia and Tarantum on the west coast are separated by an east-west ridge, but other than that, there are all smooth roads. Thus Acheta's army could lead to Tarantum in two directions: one was to go north around the mountains and west to Tarantum; Or head straight west, passing through Manduriya and around the mountains to Tarantum. Acheta chose the former, of course, because the road to the north was safe except for the only Mesapi town, Igratia, which had to be careful. Choosing the latter means being on the lookout for raids on some of the Mesapi towns centred on Oudière, hidden in the dense woods to the south.

Not long after Acheta's army left the city, they bypassed the mountains. At this time, the Malay newspaper found a small group of Mesapi cavalry snooping nearby.

Acheta didn't pay much attention. Although Tarantum took Brindisi, the Mesapi cavalry still roamed the area from time to time on the road from Tarantum to Brindisi, and affected the flow of people and supplies between Tarantum and Brindisi. Tarantum sent his soldiers to attack the cavalry on several occasions, but they were able to run early without a shadow on their horses, and when the troops returned in vain, they reappeared. Tarantum had no choice but to consider waiting for the complete stabilization of Brindisi and then building new villages and strongholds between the two cities to completely occupy the area. Prior to this, Tarantum had formed a special force to ensure the connection and transportation between the two cities, and the heavy infantry and archers could deal with these swift cavalry, and Akita did the same.

After rounding the ridge, the terrain leading to Tarantum was flat and open, and Acheta divided the marching column into five columns, with a smaller number of light infantry in the center and heavily armored citizen soldiers on the outside, and the entire marching column was about three miles long. Tarantum and Brindisi were about 100 miles away, and Acheta estimated that at the current rate of the new army, it would be possible to reach it in the evening.

Acheta controlled the pace of the troops, moving forward unhurriedly.

However, as time went on, more and more Mesapi cavalry appeared, and they roamed around the marching troops, attacking Tarantum's scouts, forcing Acheta to retract his small cavalry, and thus no longer be able to understand the surroundings outside of the troops' field of vision.

As a commander, although Acheta was well aware that after the last war, there was no Mesapi near the northern side of the hills between Brindisi and Tarantum, this feeling of being a blind man made him uneasy, and he immediately ordered his troops to speed up their march and reach Sikat as soon as possible.

Sikat is a village north of Tarantum that was built as a small stronghold with strong earthen walls and multiple watchtowers to defend against Mesapi infestation before the capture of Brindisi, because of its proximity to the territory of Mesapi.

The trumpets were blown, and the officers who had been ordered began to urge the soldiers to laugh and play.

At this moment, a loud military horn sounded at the same time in front of the team.

The soldiers of the vanguard were stunned: Could it be that our army is coming?

"It's the call to attack!" Some soldiers have already begun to exclaim.

Just as there was a commotion in the ranks, Acheta's order came: Stop! Immediately spread out the formation to the west, with the light infantry in front and the heavy infantry in the rear!

The officers immediately sprang into action and directed the soldiers to begin to line up.

Accompanied by cavalry, Acheta rode to the front of the group.

A hundred meters away, the loose Mesapi cavalry stared at him like wolves, while he peered further ahead through the gap in the enemy horse. He wondered in his heart: now that the main forces of the Mesapi were in Manduriya, if it was their army, how many soldiers could they draw to prevent their troops from returning to Tarantum?

As he pondered, Tarantum's marching column began to slowly unfold its array to the west. Officers and soldiers shouted to each other, looking for their positions, and the noise shook the sky.

In front of the array, Acheta confronted the Mesapi cavalry not far away......

Here it comes! Acheta's eyelids jumped, and he blinked hard, widening his gaze: a row of small black dots appeared on the horizon a few hundred meters away, gradually growing larger and longer......

As the team got closer, Acheta saw it more clearly: the same round shield, bronze helmet, and spear, the same dense queue, but it was not certain that it was Tarantum's team, because the Mesapi soldiers were also the same equipment, and this was the work of the Athenians!

When he got closer and could see the banner held high, the adjutant exclaimed, "General, it's Igratia's troops!" ”

Igratia is the northernmost city-state of the Mesapi territory, adjacent to the territory of the Puchetti, and whenever there is a conflict between Mesapi and Puchetti, Igratia bears the brunt, so as a border city, its military capabilities are stronger, and it is the closest to Brindisi. During Tarantum's assault on Brindisi, the Igratians came to reinforce them, but they were repulsed by Acheta.

Acheta also set up a guard post northwest of Brindi to monitor Igratia's movements, and now that Igratia's troops were here, Acheta was not warned, and it was obvious that the guard post in the north had been mishap.

At this moment, Acheta was not in the mood for silent mourning, he stared at the enemy array, and with the mind of a mathematician, he quickly calculated that the enemy's strength was less than 3,000 men.

Nearly 3,000 people dare to stop themselves from going home?! Instead of feeling relaxed, Acheta was even more puzzled.

But at this moment he was no longer allowed to think about it, and the originally quiet Mesapi cavalry rushed forward with a shout, and he led the cavalry to hurriedly turn their horses' heads and retreat into the middle of the formation, while the light infantry, who were already at the forefront of the phalanx, stepped forward, ready to shoot the arrows in their hands.