Polydorus said: "...In the ancient times, the king of Arcadia, Lycaon, was arrogant and disrespectful to the god Zeus. One day he came up with an evil idea to tease Zeus, So he killed one of the servants, made his flesh into a gravy, and invited Zeus to a feast. Zeus saw through his tricks, struck down the palace with lightning, turned Lycaon into a wolf, and destroyed his kingdom... "
"I know this legend that the king of Arcadia blasphemed the main god, and it was normal for him and his kingdom to be punished by Zeus, but what does this have to do with the Mesapi people?" Felixius interjected curiously.
Polydorus looked at Davos and saw that he was also interested, so he smiled: "Yes, everyone in Greece knows the story of Lycaon, but his story is not over... Lycaon There were three sons who, when the kingdom was destroyed, sailed across the Adriatic with their own people and slaves, and fled to settle in southern Italy."
Pollidorus glanced at the crowd and said in a deep voice, "The names of these three sons are Downey, Puchetti, and Messapi."
"Oh." Felixius was a little surprised.
"After hundreds of years, the tribes led by these three sons have grown and grown, and they named their tribes after the first three leaders to distinguish them from each other... This saying has always been circulated among the Mesapi people. , we Tarantum have been at war with them for a long time, that's why we know."
After Polidorus finished speaking, Capps asked worriedly: "There is another Downey?! These three races turned out to be the same race. When we fought the Maple coalition, would the Downey suddenly join in? ?!"
Polidorus explained: "Although they used to be the same race, over the past few hundred years, whether Mesapi, Puchetti, or Downey have dozens of tribes and more than 100,000 people. The big races each have their own fixed territory. Not only do they have different political systems, but they also have conflicts of interest with each other, and even become mortal enemies.
The Dauni people are in the north of the Puchetti people. It is said that they have a large river plain, the land is fertile, and there are four or five large towns. The Puchetti people are sandwiched by the Downeys and the Mesapis. They have neither fertile land nor good port cities and trade channels like the Messapis, and it is the most difficult to develop, so it has always been with Downeys before. Humans fought for land on both sides of the Ovanto River, so the two races were enemies of life and death, and it was impossible for them to unite. And to the south, the Puchetti and the Mesapis also clashed from time to time, and it was only because of our Tarantum that the fighting between them was less intense..."
Davos listened to his story while looking down at a sketch of Tarantum and surrounding forces that Polydorus had drawn at his request. At this time, he suddenly asked: "What is the difference between the political systems of the three races of Downey, Puchetti, and Mesapi?"
Polydorus didn't expect Davos to ask this, he frowned, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Well... Now the political systems of the various city-states in Messapi are somewhat similar to our Greek city-states, but after more than ten years Before, they were still a unified kingdom. King Attas once warmly entertained the Athenians who were going to attack Syracuse, and also sent a large number of soldiers to join..." As he spoke, Polydorus showed a face. Sneer: "Messapi's territory is surrounded by our Greek city-states, and there are frequent trade exchanges. Therefore, the Messapi people have long been influenced by the democratic thinking of the Greeks. For a long time, those nobles, tribes, and towns have been clamoring to restrict the king's Power, but Attas was a fool and had close contacts with the Athenians. How could he know the insidiousness of those Athenians, and as a result, within a few years after the fall of the Athenian army in Syracuse, the Mesapi nobles launched a riot, Arthas' rule was overthrown, and he himself lost his life... Then, the various towns of Messapi became independent one after another, and now it is basically ruled by aristocrats, who elect a consul and aristocratic councils every year to rule the city-state, these The city-states of the Messapi people and Udière formed the Messapi city-state alliance, and they rarely fought with each other, but were more united—”
When Polidorus said this, his tone was rather low, which made Davers realize that this emerging Messapi city-state alliance seemed to give the Tarantum more headaches.
"And Puchetti and Downey are still ruled by kings..." Polydorus quickly turned the topic to the other two races: "The difference is that the Puchetti king is more powerful, while the Downey king... It is said that Be subject to the constraints of various city lords…”
Davos listened thoughtfully, and then asked: "Since Messapi and Puchetti have always been in conflict, how could they be allied?"
Polidorus smiled bitterly and said, "You can stop me... However, according to the analysis of our senate, the reason why the Mesapi people are willing to form an alliance with Puchetti is probably scared by our Tarantum attack. Scared!"
There was a hint of pride on Polydorus' face. Davos nodded. He looked at the map again, but he was thinking: Before Tarantum's attack on Messapi, I heard Tarantum's attack. Mu's casualties were greater, but they captured Brindisi and Manduria, and once the newly occupied territories were secured, Messapi could be cut off from the north, and Tarantum's navy The strength is one of the best in Greater Greece, so Tarantum can surround the Mesapis and slowly eat it. The Tarantum people died in battle, and there were free people to supplement them, but the Messapi people died one less, and they would only become weaker and weaker. This is probably the original plan of the elders of Tarantum.
"As for the Puchetti people, perhaps they would rather have the Mesapi people with the same bloodline adjacent to their territory than be a foreigner! Besides, after forming an alliance with the Mesapi people, the Puchetti people can deal with them with all their strength. Nepali…”
This is just Pollidorus' guess, and Davos thinks: there must be other reasons, otherwise Puchetti's own situation will not be good, and he is willing to take the risk to offend a great Greek power!
"The Pucherti sent a large army out to fight, aren't they afraid that the Downeys would take the opportunity to attack?" Kapus asked.
"I heard that Puchetti attacked Downey last year, was defeated, and lost the land they occupied on the south bank of the Ofanto River. Puchetti finally signed a truce with Downey."
"A truce will ensure that the Downeys don't take advantage of it to attack?"
Polydorus shrugged and said angrily: "Who knows what the stupid minds of these natives are thinking, anyway, the Puchetti are already on our land!"
Drax yawned, not interested in what Polydorus said, but seeing Davos listening seriously, he was embarrassed to interrupt.
At this time, he saw that Polydorus had stopped speaking, and couldn't wait to ask: "What are the characteristics of the Mesapi and Puchetti armies?"
Speaking of this issue, Polydorus obviously has another mood: "The Mesapis used to be like the Puchetti, they had a lot of cavalry, but their infantry was not good, there was no good armor, and the formation was loose and lacking. Discipline, I don't know how to arrange a square, so I never dared to fight us head-on. I only know sneak attacks and intrusions, like cowardly robbers! But the Athenians-" Polydorus's voice doubled: "We are Spar Da's son state, of course, sided with the mother state in the Peloponnesian War, but the Athenians actually went to help the aliens because of this, providing the Mesapis with armor and weapons, and sending people to help them train heavy infantry, Encouraging the Mesapis to oppose us! The Messapis have mastered our Greek tactics, and with the support of Athens, they have done more damage to our Tarantum than ever before! If it weren't for the Archita—" said here , Polydorus looked slightly gloomy.
Drax didn't take into account the change in Polidorus' mood at all, and continued to ask: "What are the combat characteristics of the Messapi cavalry?"
Polidorus glanced helplessly at the others, and seeing that they were all very interested, he had to say: "The Messapies are good at riding. It is said that they can control the direction of the horses with their legs alone without holding the reins. They are good at throwing spears on horseback and are a certain threat to our heavy infantry."
Davos and Felixius looked at each other.
Polidorus saw it in his eyes and said hurriedly: "Although the Messapi cavalry is stronger than our cavalry, the cavalry is only an auxiliary in battle after all, and the heavy infantry really plays a role on the battlefield. With the help of the Athenians, their hoplites still can't compare to the real Greek hoplites!"
Drax asked again: "How many people are there in the Maple coalition? How many citizens can you send to the war in Tarantum?"
Poridorus looked at him, spread his hands, and said, "I'm just a messenger. It's up to the Senate to decide how many citizens to send to the war. I can't be the master. As for how many people in the Maple coalition... we even Architect are It is not clear whether they are alive or dead, let alone the specific number of the Maple coalition. However, I personally estimate that it should not exceed 30,000, and the citizens of our Tarantum who can fight now are counted in Brindisi and Mandu. There are at least 16,000 young and strong citizens in the garrison of Ria, and you are joined by 14,000 Dionia, plus 3,000 in Metapontum and Heraklia, our total coalition is far more than 30,000 people, it shouldn't be difficult to defeat the Maple coalition!"
…
After sending Polydorus away, Davos and the others returned to the mansion and continued to discuss.
"Lord Davos, if it is as the messenger said, Tarantum can send tens of thousands of people to join us, then we can go to aid Manduria first." Drax pointed to the map, full of confidence. Said: "Our strength is twice that of the Messapi and Puchetti coalition forces, not only can we defeat them, we can even consider eating a part of them. In this way, when we go north to reinforce Brindisi, it will be a lot easier. "
Thanks to Xiaox Niu, book friends 20170214135030192, Yuyun Yushi, ﹑﹑︴﹟tongyi for their rewards! Your support is the biggest motivation for my writing! ! Today, I posted the updated power map of Dionia on the public account. Welcome to watch: Public account Chen Rui's novel world