Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

In the centre of the command tent, Davos sat facing a large wooden table with a detailed map of Rome where Tolmides was busy leading the young officers of the army staff to record the battle situation reported by the mounted scout and mark it on the map with icons and numbers.

“Your Majesty, the mounted scouts discovered four to five hundred Roman soldiers about five kilometres east of the city of Rome. They are probably from Fidenae…”

“Your Majesty, the Latin city-states' army is gathering eight kilometres southeast of Rome, and they reached about a thousand soldiers…”

“Your Majesty, there is a Roman army in the southwest direction of our camp with approximately five thousand soldiers…”

“From the report delivered by the herald of the Third Legion, their scouts discovered Rome's colonial city of Veii had sent nearly two thousand Roman soldiers. While the several Etruscan city-states such as Caisra and Tarchuna had also sent two to three hundred reinforcements each and are now rushing to Veii…”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

While listening to their reports, Davos gazed a the map filled with red and black dots. The red dots represent the Roman army and Roman reinforcements, while the black dots represent the Theonian army, with each dot marking a thousand soldiers. The red dots are mostly concentrated in the city of Rome, encircled by the black dots. But after some time, several more red dots got added a distance away from the black dots, gradually converging into a large circle and surrounding the black dots…this is a battle of encirclement and counter-encirclement, which concerns the survival of both sides.

Although Davos' expression remained calm, the young officers of the army staff, including, Crotokatax, looked a bit nervous as the report continued to arrive. Even Tolmides could hardly keep his composure, making him step forward and say, “Your Majesty, the current battle situation shows that our Second, Fourth and Fifth Legions would likely be the first to breach the city, but…the Roman reinforcements are now coming, especially this Roman army and-”

Tolmides first pointed at the flower-like pattern made up of five red dots gathered in the southwest of Theonia's main army camp on the map and then moved his finger towards four red dots north of the Third Legion's camp on the north bank of the Tiber and said, “Here, which would pose a great problem for our attacking army! So shouldn't we eliminate this Roman army first to relieve our scattered defence?” Tolmides' finger paused on the flower-like pattern once again.

Davos nodded but calmly said, “Tolmides, your thinking is correct. However, we must first find out the movement of this Roman army before making the correct response. Remember, the enemy should be the one panicking, not us because we have the initiative in this war.”

Davos spoke with a hint of lecturing in his words. Tolmides immediately relaxed after getting reminded, and the somewhat heavy atmosphere in the command tent dissolved. While Tolmides discussed plans for the subsequent battle with Davos, the officers recorded the data and discussed something in a low voice, and Henipolis observed the crowd and wrote down the scene. Crotokatax, on the other hand, was on stand-by while waiting for the arrival of the mounted scouts.

Suddenly, the mounted scouts brought an intelligence report that shocked him, “Report! The number of the Roman army in our southwest has increased to…eight thousand!”

After Crotokatax relayed the report, Davos said deeply, “Don't panic.”

Davos' encouraging smile calmed Crotokatax, who was about to panic and immediately replied, “Yes!”

And upon hearing that, the officers also exclaimed, “Eight thousand soldiers?!”

Tolmides carefully examined the map and said nervously, “Your Majesty, it seems highly likely that they are the reinforcements sent by the Latin city-states such as Tusculum, Aricia and Bolae and had merged with the Roman army!”

Davos remained calm, saying, “This Roman army is close to Lake Alba, and that area has already been the centre of the Latins. Although the Romans had long destroyed the city of Alba Longa, I heard that the Latins worshipping Jupiter would always hold the annual celebration on Albanus Mons, so there are quite a few Latin tribes living near Lake Alba, and it seems they still have room to send reinforcements… On the contrary, this is better for us since we can catch all the fish in one go now that they are all gathered!”

Tolmides remembered something when he heard Davos' confident tone, which calmed him down. After sitting back and thinking for some time, Tolmides said with slight concern, “Now I am just worried that this Roman army will continue to move eastward and merge with the Latin reinforcements in the southeast. If that happens…”

“If that happens, we only need to mobilise our troops to the southeast to intercept the enemy. But for the Romans, it would mean they would have to spend more time organising and waiting even though they were near the city of Rome. But can those Roman soldiers, worried about their homes, have patience for that?” Davos said unhurriedly.

“Your Majesty, you mean to say…this Roman army would likely attack us immediately?!” Asked Tolmides hurriedly.

Davos was about to reply when Crotokatax came to report, “A report came saying that the eight thousand-strong Roman armies in the southwest of our camp are bypassing us and heading north!”

Upon hearing this, Tolmides stood up immediately and said nervously and excitedly, “Your Majesty is right! This Roman army is about to attack us, and their target is probably here!”

Tolmides' finger pointed to the southwest corner of the Roman wall on the map, where the soldiers of the Fourth and Fifth Brigades are. Behind them was a vast gap between Theonia's main camp and the western camp(the camp of the Fourth Legion), through which the Romans could quickly pass and directly attack the Theonian army attacking the city.

Davos also arrived at the same conclusion. Thus instead of sitting firmly in the command tent, he immediately gave an order, “Tolmides, I appoint you as the temporary commander to immediately lead a brigade of the Fifth and Second Legion, two brigades of the Sixth Legion, as well as the First and Second Cavalry Legion, left behind in the main camp, to intercept the approaching enemy! At the same time, I will send a messenger to notify the two defending brigades of the Fourth Legion to meet up with you!”

Although the six infantry brigades plus the two cavalry legions reached close to ten thousand, which surpassed the incoming enemy in terms of number, Tolmides didn't rejoice and instead expressed his opposition due to his concern, “Your Majesty, it's too dangerous only having two brigades of the Second and Fifth Legions protecting your side! Moreover, two thousand soldiers aren't enough to defend such a large camp-”

“You don't need to worry about my and the camp's safety since the more soldiers you bring, the faster you can end the battle, return faster, and reduce the pressure on the entire battlefield!” Davos said confidently. He then smiled and said, “Or are you worried that you couldn't control so many soldiers, so you are looking for a reason for me to reduce your troops?”

Tolmides knew Davos was just provoking, but he also understood that this meant Davos wouldn't change his mind. So he finally stopped persuading him and gave a military salute, “Understood, Your Majesty! Please take care of your safety!”

Davos nodded.

Tolmides was about to leave when Crotokatax said loudly, “Father…Your Majesty, I request to participate in this battle!”

Silence suddenly shrouded the command tent as all eyes focused on the young prince. Even Davos was surprised, but before he could speak, Tolmides objected immediately, “This isn't possible! Your Highness, it's too dangerous! The Roman army must be desperate, seeing how much they are hurrying to rescue Rome! Although our troops seem to outnumber the other side, we remain at a disadvantage because half of them are cavalry! Your Highness, please stay here and assist His Majesty in commanding the battle and ultimately becoming the victor by capturing the city of Rome!”

“If it's dangerous for me, it’s also dangerous for the other soldiers!” Crotokatax's face flushed red with agitation, and he exclaimed, “I am a citizen of Theonia! And a soldier of this great army! I must contribute my own strength to the entire battle instead of sitting here and watching the others fight, bleed, and even sacrifice themselves!”

Crotokatax said those from the bottom of his heart. At this moment, he thought of his elder brother Adoris and his comrades, who used to train in Thurii and are now fighting in the frontline or about to join the battle, so he could not allow himself to stay as an audience like a coward. In fact, he was already thinking of this ever since he set foot on this land.

Davos looked at his son and saw the stubbornness in his eyes. After hesitating for a moment, Davos simply said, “Go.”

“Your Majesty-” Tolmides wanted to keep persuading, but Davos just waved his hand and said, “Croto is right. Although he is my son, he is also a citizen of Theonia. If the other children are fighting on the battlefield, he should also!”

“Thank you, Father!” Crotokatax became thrilled. Then afraid that Tolmides would continue to persuade him, he shouted. “Commander, if we don't go now, the enemy's reinforcements will reach the city soon!”

After seeing Davos' serious expression and having no intention of changing his mind, Tolmides could only salute again and said, “Your Majesty, please rest assured!”

Davos naturally understood what Tolmides meant. At the same time, Crotokatax also saluted to him quickly and hurriedly followed Tolmides.