Chapter 68: Reconnaissance (I)

Kunogelata said, “The reason why Asikulodox failed was due to him leading his army to attack Laus. Because of the unfamiliar terrain, he was ambushed by the enemy on the mountain path. If it was on the plain of Thurii were we face the Lucanians, who are poorly equipped and are loosely organized, then they aren’t the opponent of our Greek’s hoplite, and even if our number is smaller, it still won’t be a problem.”

“Friis, we can’t afford this war. If we hide in the city and let the enemy trample on our farmland, burn our villages, fishing grounds and mines again, and needing to hold a citizen assembly every month in order to discuss whether to levy war taxes in order to pay the mercenaries’ salaries and food. I don’t think the citizens will agree.” Said Nianses as he stepped forward.

“Of course, the citizens will not agree! Friis, the citizens had chosen you as the polemarchos, because they think that you have the ability to quickly turn the tide of war, driving out the Lucanians, and ensuring the safety of Thurii. Just like how after you get into power, you had immediately sent Burkes out to recruit soldiers, and had then sent envoys to Taranto to ask for help. Now that the strong reinforcements have come, you should not hesitate any more. So you have to make a decision as soon as possible in order to live up to the expectations of the citizen!” Polyx, who had been silent before, had also spoke.

Burkes didn’t expect that Polyx would also joined in the urging of Friis. Having been noticed by Kunogelata, he retreated to the corner, and he had remembered something, ‘Important military meetings that involved the secrets of the city, must have the irrelevant people to take the initiative to leave’ for this reason, the guards brought Burkes out of the city hall.

Burkes stood on the steps of the city hall and stayed for a while: from a rational point of view, he felt that he should believe the judgment of Friis. After all, compared with the other strategos who had no experience in war, Friis, who was over 60 years old, took part in the war with Taranto when he was young, and successively served as the leader of the hoplites, and have a rich experience in fighting. But emotionally, he also hopes to defeat the terrible Lucanians quickly, because every Thurians wants those bandits to stay away from their homeland, and Davos’ troops had also given him the confidence.

Under the influence of this indecision, he subconsciously went to the port. After a while, he stopped, and although the strategos in the city hall had accepted the agreement that he had signed, but if he still had frequent contacts with the troops of Davos, then he might get criticized, and so he sighed and returned to his home…

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

Davos would not be aware that there was a dispute against them that had occurred in the city hall of Thurii. Although he found it strange that Burkes, who had promised him to report to the strategos of Thurii, had never came back. However, his main focus are invested on the construction of the camp.

These days, all the soldiers had worked together and made the camp in Thurii take shape. At this time, Burkes ordered his men to send four horses and said that they could use them.

Davos had been aware of the deliberate estrangement between Burkes and the top official of Thurii, but he didn’t care about it. After all, when their troops had passed through many Greek city-states along the Black Sea, those city-states had the same attitude towards the mercenaries.

He then asked for Burkes’ men to convey his appreciation to him, and then made Philesius to stay in the camp and deal with the military affairs. He took Asistes, Ledes, and a slave of Burkes as his guide and rode around Thurii to check on the terrain.

In the spring of April, the plain of Sybaris which is flat and fertile have grasses growing and birds flying, which makes a pleasing scenery. (although some Thurians call it the plain of Thurii)

Davos and his party were in a good mood as they rode their horses, while their gaze kept jumping into the green fields and canals, as well as the hard-working slaves and farmers. The wide dirt road was muddy due to the frequent spring rains, and from time to time, you can see slaves of a caravan pushing the carriages out of the mud…

A sudden though flashed through Davos’ mind: This situation was also common in the Greek city-states in the Black sea. The Greeks who are good at business are not very interested in constructing roads that can promote trade circulation. Their energy seems to be all invested in maritime trade and ships, but the Romans who rose after them had created the most complex and advance road work in the Mediterranean in their era.

About 10 kilometers west along the river Crati, you can see a big city standing on the north bank of the river.

At this time, the guide said, “That’s Thurii! When choosing the location of the city, the Athenians had found the junction of the river Crati and the river Coscile which was a good place to build the city. Because the river here is very wide and the flow is gentle, you can build a wharf that can accommodate a lot of merchant ships. When they were going to build the city here, they found that there was a huge natural fountain here, and the local people called it Thurii, and so they named the new city, Thurii…”

“It’s a very interesting story.” Replied Davos as he look up, and seeing lots of boats in the river Crati that made him not even see the other side.

“It would have been better to just rebuild the old city of Sybaris since it is better to build a port by the sea!” Said Asistes who was perplex.

Davos knew about it from Burkes, and so he didn’t want to discuss it, and so he points his finger forward and said, “Let’s go around the city.”

Because Thurii was built at the junction of the two rivers, and therefore, it was divided into three parts: South, North, and the delta that stick out at the junction of the two rivers.

Davos and his party walked about a kilo-meter along the moat outside the north city wall of Thurii which is made of large strips of rock, and the gap between the rock is closely connected. The wall is at least ten meters high, and twenty meters away from the wall is a moat which is five meters wide and is connected to the river Crati, and its depth shouldn’t be shallow. All of these are enough to give the invaders a headache. On the other hand, 3 – 4 squads of sentinels patrols the city back and forth, which made them feel the war is approaching.

The young Asistes had even jokingly waved at them.

Along the north bank of the river Coscile, Davos soon saw floating bridge on the river. He then noticed that the delta between the two rivers was not flat, but hilly. Listing to the guide: These uneven, undulating hills have become the key to prevent the spring river from surging and turning the land between the two rivers into a swamp.

After about 10 kilometers, the terrain began to rise gradually, and the ground had also change from pure soil to sandy soil. Fortunately, the riverside is relatively flat.

Davos and his party went a few meters further, and the upper reaches of the river Coscile had turned from west to southwest, while another river rushed down from the west, where it joined with the river Coscile.

“This is the river Tiro, a tributary of river Coscile. It’s the hated river of the Thurians.” Said the guide.

“Why?” Asistes asked curiously.

“It is because there are hotsprings upstream.” The guide gave an irrelevant answer.

“Hot Spring?!” Davos, on the contrary, became interested.

They sped up their speed, but when they got to the place, they were all dumbfounded. The river Tiro here has become a small river only several meters wide. On the south bank of the river, there are indeed pools of steaming hot water. However, countless streams flowed out from the rock crevices at the foot of the mountain, turning this area of rock and grass into a swamp.

“In spring, the snow on the mountain melts and they all become small streams and mixed together with the hot spring, and finally, they all flow into the river Tiro. During rainy season when the river Tiro surged, instead of overflowing the riverbank, it will flow back to the hot spring swamp on the south bank. As well as, the north bank, there-” The guide points to the front, “A big hirst.”

Davos looked at the front and saw that the bank that is in front of him seemed to have been bitten off, as it sank down to form a huge half bowl shape, and below it was the river bank that have tall gentle slopes surrounding it.

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