On the third day, the fully-staffed III Corps left Grummentum, sailed to Poseidonia, and entered the port of Naples by sea.
Naples, a pearl in the colonial city of the Greeks in central Italy, is the second colonial city built by the Greeks in Italy after Kumai, with a long history. But at first it was nothing more than a small port called Partenope (meaning pure eye, which was the name of a siren in ancient Greece), and over time it continued to expand and eventually became Campani The largest city-state in Asia was later renamed Naples, which means "new city".
Syracuse was a great help in the development of the city of Naples. A hundred years ago, Dillon, the tyrant of Syracuse, sent a large army to help Cume and Naples repel the attack of the Etruscans. Later, the Syracuses sent troops many times to assist Naples in resisting the invasion of the Samonais. Therefore, in the past, Naples and Syracuse had close relations and were close alliances.
But since the rise of Dionysus and the complete destruction of Syracuse's hegemony in the South-Italian War, Naples, who had strongly supported Dionysius in the South-Italian War, had to turn to Dionysius ( A large number of Campania mercenaries under Dionysius were provided by the Campania League headed by Naples).
In the process of expanding the city of Naples, the Samones also helped it a lot. For hundreds of years, the Samonites have been continuously invading from the eastern mountains to the western lowlands, capturing many towns established by Etruscans and Greeks in Campania, and even the ancient city of Kumai was destroyed. Pua was also occupied by them, and a large number of fleeing people poured into Naples, which they believed to be the safest, which made the population of Naples surge and flooded, which was why there were so many Campania mercenaries in the Western Mediterranean in the past.
Under the constant invasion of the fierce Samonais, the Campania League, which was formed for the purpose of defending the natives and protecting the security of the city-state, has only a few towns lined up along the coast. If the Campania Alliance did not form an alliance with Dionia in time, I am afraid that within twenty or thirty years, most of this land will be owned by the Samonais.
On this day, the Neapolitans who had been notified in advance specially vacated half of the port to allow Dionia's nearly 1,000 passenger ships carrying soldiers to dock.
Many Naples people came to the port with their families and watched curiously.
"I heard that this time it was Dionia's Third Legion who came to Naples..."
"What does this 'Legion' mean?"
"That's a unique army of Dionia. It's very different from our other city-states. I heard that this kind of army has many advantages, so it will have an advantage in battle..."
"Since the third legion is here, then there must be the first and second legions. Why didn't the first and second legions come to us in Naples? We must know that Naples is the leader of the Campania Alliance!"
"Idiot! It's not that Dionia looks down on us, it's that its Third Legion is the closest to us. It is stationed in the Lucania region, and it is most convenient to come to our Campania. And don't underestimate this Third Army. The three legions, in the South-Italian War more than ten years ago, they defeated the army of the Samonites who invaded Potentia, and also captured Capusa and Enona alone, so they dealt with the Samonites, They are very experienced!"
"The third legion is so powerful, isn't Dionia's first and second legions even more terrifying?!"
"I heard that there are ten legions in the kingdom of Dionia, and each of them has won a lot of military exploits in the past wars. I think any legion is enough to fight against the fierce Samonais."
"Ten legions?! My God, how many soldiers does Dionia have to have with Apollo!"
"So the alliance of Campania and the kingdom of Dionia is quite right! With Dionia's help, we will no longer fear those Samonais who are like wolves."
"Look! Look! The Dionian soldiers have begun to come ashore. Why, why is the armor on their shoulders black?"
"I know this. Dionysus regards Hades as the protector of their kingdom, advocating blackness, and their king is said to be a descendant of Hades."
"Speaking of Hades, a temple of Hades was built in our city last year. It is said that the priests were all sent from Turii. They were very enthusiastic about the people who came to worship, and they not only took the initiative to answer various questions. , and also provide free medical treatment to believers and provide some useful help...
I just visited once a few days ago, and a well-respected priest devoted a lot of time to listening to me about my distress and enlightening me... Therefore, other temples are completely incomparable to the Temple of Hades, and it is no wonder that this The god of heaven is so popular in southern Italy, I heard that even the Samonites in the city of Narsera have begun to believe in him. "
"Is it so good?! Then I will also go to the Temple of Hades tomorrow to worship!"
"Stop talking, look at the Dionysian soldiers have already started to form a team. Wow! They move really fast, and almost no soldiers are talking, it's like our citizen soldiers are assembled, the sound will be so loud that even ten miles outside the city. You can hear it, this is the army that can fight against a strong enemy!"
"Oh, you see! There are so many flags in the Dionysian Legion, all of them are glittering with gold, so beautiful!"
"Idiot, those flags are for commanding battles, not for looks."
"Look! The Dionysians even sent so many cavalry, which probably exceeds the number of cavalry in our Campania alliance."
"What's so strange, I've heard that Dionia had four cavalry regiments, each with nearly 2,000 cavalry."
"Oh, Apollo is above, Dionysus is such a mighty nation!"
…
The people of Naples commented and talked a lot about the Dionysian III Corps who landed in the port, but few people accused the third legion of so many aliens (mainly Lucanians), because Naples Since its establishment, it has been surrounded by many alien races, the Oronchi and Etruscans to the north, the Samones to the east, the Lucanians to the south, and the Philippians of Sardinia to the west. Nicky people. Hundreds of years of life have made them accustomed to living next to these alien races, and they have cultural infiltration and deep influence on each other, so the Neapolitans are far less exclusive than the Greeks in other city-states, and many people in their city-states are still mixed races. , the tolerance of aliens can be imagined.
For the first time, the army of the Kingdom of Dionia set foot on the territory of the Campania Alliance, and the Third Army immediately won the applause of the surrounding Naples people with its strict discipline and mighty military appearance. It can be said that it was a successful preliminary establishment of Dai Image of the Onian army.
Just as the brigades of the Third Army and some of the cavalry of the second cavalry regiment were lined up in neat columns, the commander of the Third Army, Lizaru, and Dionysian Foreign Ministry official Karias were meeting with the former. Come meet them for the high-level talks in Naples.
"Welcome, great Dionysian allies! Thank you very much for your timely arrival, we can be relieved! Kautini warriors have been crossing Nola and Sarsera to the east these two days. Suessula), making the entire Campania League people very uneasy!" Naples Chief General Onossius said excitedly.
"Has Kautini's army started to attack?" Lizaru asked immediately after hearing the words.
"Not yet. However, based on past experience, they may rush into the land of the Campania Alliance in the next two days. This time the scale of the Samone invasion is probably far greater than before!" A member of the prestigious council in Naples Miteds replied with a somber expression.
Dionysian messenger Karias also looked bad. He is a Turian and a student of Ancitanos. A few years ago, he was studying history at Dionysian Academy while serving as a teacher at Turian School. After Ancitanos became Minister of Foreign Affairs, due to lack of manpower, he recruited several of his students from the academy to serve as public officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before, Karias had also been sent to foreign countries several times, and successfully completed the tasks assigned by the kingdom, but he did not expect to be humiliated in Kautini, and Kautini then launched such a big attack, obviously A warning to Caoutini before retaliating against him.
Lizaru smiled: "The Kautini people came just in time, and the soldiers are eager for a big battle!"
"This must be the commander of the Lizaru army, I have heard of your name for a long time!" Onosius said flatteringly.
"Have you heard of me?! I haven't fought any big battles, am I so famous?!" Lizaru's face sank, and he subconsciously thought of his joke at the Corinth Games, which was his of heart disease.
Onosius was stunned, he didn't know why his enthusiasm was exchanged for the other party's cold face.
"Commander Lizaru, who doesn't know that you played an important role as the first captain of the Third Army when the Samonais were defeated! We are all looking forward to you in the fight against the Kautini invasion this time. The Dionysian 3rd Legion led by them has made a name for themselves in Campania!" Mitedes said sincerely, obviously he knew about the army sent by Dionia beforehand.
At this time, Lizaru was a little embarrassed.
Fortunately, another Neapolitan general, Aeros, diverted his embarrassment with a timely question: "Excuse me, General Lizaru, how many reinforcements did you bring this time?"
"Ten thousand people." Lizaru replied simply.
Ten thousand! Several generals in Naples were a little surprised.