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Asistes did not answer. He just sat by the bed and placed his hand around his wife, “Is our child asleep?”

“Mizha had put him to sleep.” Dina reached out and pointed to the bedroom next to her.

Asistes hesitated for a moment and said seriously, “Tomorrow, take our child and go to Consentia.”

Dina\'s eye immediately widened. She then shouted, “I am not going! I am the daughter of the Senate statesman Vespa, my brother is the Praetor of Grumentum, and I am the wife of the acting Praetor of Clampettia! While everyone in Clampettia is defending against Syracuse\'s invasion of their homes, what would the people here think if I left together with our children?! Will they still wholeheartedly obey your command?!”

Asistes was unable to say something for a while. He then hugged his wife, gritted his teeth and said, “You are right! I was so focused on your and our child’s safety that I forgot about that! Our whole family…will stay here, all of us.”

Dina then comforted her husband, “With Hades\' protection, Clampettia will be able to hold on! And once Lord Davos comes back, Syracuse would be driven away!”

Asistes stared at his Lucanian wife. Unexpectedly, she had more confidence in the war result than himself. Asistes then began wondering what was happening to Davos in Lucania now.

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

After a long afternoon and evening journey, the messenger sent by the Samnites army stationed in Poseidonia finally arrived at the Samnites\' camp not far from the city of Potentia.

“What did you say?! The Theonians surrounded Poseidonia?!” Tolek, the great chieftain of the Pentri tribe, couldn\'t sit still after hearing the report. After all, there were 3,000 Pentri warriors left in Poseidonia.

“Have you found out which legion of Theonia is it?” Berani, the great chieftain of Hirpini, asked the messenger.

“We are sure that it\'s the third legion of Theonia! As almost all the soldiers were talking in Lucani while building their camp.” The messenger answered confidently.

Berani knew that the third legion of Theonia was mainly Lucanians. So after hearing the messenger, he became relieved: Thinking about it, it has only been less than ten days since he led his own army to invade the territory of Potentia, based on his years of experience in fighting the Greeks in the Campania region, the Theonians would need to first mobilise their citizens in Thurii, gather their troops, prepare their supplies, and then lead the large army through the rugged Lucanian mountains to get here, which would take more than half a month at the earliest. Just like how their huge momentum is due to them mobilising and preparing for two months after reaching an agreement with the Syracusans.

“How many are they?” Asked Tolek.

“Including Elea\'s army, their total number exceeds 10,000.”

“Berani!” Tolek looked at the great chieftain of Hirpini.

Berani stared back at Tolek as he already knew what the great chieftain of the Pentri tribe wanted to say.

At this time, Garni interrupted, “The third legion of Theonia run away very fast! Father, it would be hard to wait until uncle Tolek\'s return with his army as we may be able to capture Grumentum tomorrow with an all-out attack by using Syracuse\'s ballistae!…”

The more Garni says, the more excited he became, “The cunning Theonians dare not fight us head-on and want to disrupt our plans by attacking the city of Poseidonia, so why can\'t we-”

Berani interrupted him in a loud voice, “Poseidonia has a large amount of food for our army, which is very important to us, so we must not allow the Theonians to take it. Thus we need to rescue Poseidonia!”

Berani ‘s words made Tolek a bit pale, “Berani, I will lead my warriors to rescue them.” After saying that, he stood up and was about to head out.

“Tolek, relaxed.” Berani turned and looked at the great chieftain of the Caudini army, “The third legion of Theonia is a slippery fish. I fear that they will run away again this time and continue causing us trouble. Chief Kinduk, can you lead the warriors of Caudini and the warriors of Pentri to catch and completely wipe them out together with Elea\'s reinforcements?!” Berani\'s right fist waved hard in the air, “You can even continue to march towards Elea and try taking over this Greek city-state. In this way, the safety of Poseidonia will be more guaranteed.”

“The Caudini warriors will agree to your request.” Kinduk immediately agreed. After all, being able to go and plunder the Greeks made him excited, so he immediately got up and went out with Tolek.

When the only one left in the main tent were the chieftains of the Hirpini tribe, Garni complained loudly, “Father, it was not easy for us to gather an army and prepare to launch a fierce attack on the city of Potentia. But now, you did not only agree about Tolek leaving, but you also asked Kinduk to help him. With so many warriors going all at once, when can we capture the city of Potentia?!”

Some chieftains echoed his words.

“Garni, if the great chieftain didn\'t allow Tolek to leave, so he won’t leave?! Don\'t forget that there are still 3,000 Pentri warriors in Poseidonia. Tolek is the great chieftain of the Pentri and not a chieftain of Hirpini, so how can the great chieftain stop him! If we forcibly stop him, it will only lead to a quarrel between our two tribes, which is unfavourable to the whole war! That is why the great chieftain has to do this.” Said Lesguk, chieftain of Beneventum, to defend Berani.

Garni only snorted.

Berani smiled and nodded his thanks to Lesguk, who many tribal chieftains favoured as the best candidate for the next great chieftain. Berani then explained, “If Theonia\'s third legion had not come too soon that the Pentri warriors did not even have the time to repair the city\'s defence, Tolek would not have been so alarmed. That\'s why I asked Kinduk to go with him together with the Caudini warriors so that the total number of the rescue force was 25,000, which is enough to crush the third legion of Theonia, stopping those Theonians from further troubling us.”

Berani then looked at the chieftains in the tent, then continued, “While they are fighting in Poseidonia, we can\'t stay idle. Didn\'t the Syracusan says that Potentia has high terrain and sloping mountains roads, so…it would be difficult to place and aim the ballista! Hence we will take advantage of this time and follow what Syracuse advise by building a platform to place the ballistae, continue the camp\'s expansion and intensify the siege of Potentia…”

“Understood.” Garni answered weakly.

Berani stared at him and said with a smile, “It\'s actually good for us not to attack Potentia now.”

This sentence successfully aroused everyone\'s doubt, including his son.

“When the Syracusans brought grain a few days ago, they told us that ‘Dionysius\' army will attack Magna Graecia in a few days.’ So if that is the case, we should slow down our offensive and just let Potentia be safe for now. What do you think will the Theonians choose? Meet Syracuse\'s army on the flat seashore? Or risk their territory being empty and send reinforcements to Potentia to deal with us, who won\'t threaten Theonia for the time being?”

“Naturally, they would turn their main force to meet the Syracusans because they are more threatening!” Lesguk said loudly.

At this time, Garni also understood and said excitedly, “So we can safely eat Potentia and even the Lucanians without worrying about the Theonian reinforcements?!”

Seeing the fervent atmosphere in the main tent, Berani took advantage of the situation and said, “Hence we must tighten our hold and never let anyone in Potentia slip away. After all, they are our wealth!”

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

Since the various tribes of Potentia retreated into the city, the Samnites did not attack the city during this period. However, the people in the city did not become assured. After all, they all could see the newly-built Samnite camp at the bottom of the mountain and the endless military tent extending to the west from the top of the mountain, and the bonfire lit at night were like countless stars in the sky, turning their heart cold. Moreover, the Samnites wanted to catch everyone…so they began deepening and extending the trenches, with an abatis standing in front of the trench…

Even though the enemy is so powerful, there is no news about reinforcements at this time moment. The city of Potentia is like an isolated island from the world as panic and anxiety gradually swallow the courage of the people who share a common hatred.

Pamot tried to calm everyone down by giving them inspiration and confidence, but he would wake up from nightmares every night. In less than a month, he had lost more than ten kilograms.

Last night, he could not sleep because the Samnites had gotten new siege equipment, which could shoot helmet-sized stones from a hundred metres away, cross the city wall and destroy several wooden houses.

Pamot remembered the panic in the eyes of every soldier around him being so clear that even he himself doubted whether he could defend the city.

At this time, he no longer had the appetite to drink the broth brought by the slave. He could only casually bit a few rough wheat cakes and braced himself and prepare to continue his daily work – patrolling the city.

Just as he put on his armour, the gatekeeper hurried into the hall and shouted excitedly, “Chieftain, lord Polet is back!”