Compared with that, what is this suffering?

Only the elders of Turiyi listened to the howling of various beasts in the mountains and forests at night, and thought of the insects and ants that were drilling into the soil, and they couldn't help but feel creepy. However, the consul took the lead in sleeping on the ground wrapped in a wool blanket, and they could only follow suit. They were tossing and turning and unable to fall asleep. When they heard the voice of the Lukariya veteran Vesba: "Sir, I would like to ask... After taking down Niutum, do our alliance plan to continue to attack north?"

Although his voice was small, it was extremely clear in the darkness.

The elder Turiyi, who couldn't sleep, couldn't help but say, "Just take Niutum and prevent the Lukari from attacking Turiyi. It is impossible to attack northwards. Look, this mountain road is so difficult to walk, and it will become very difficult to transport food. Moreover, we are not familiar with the terrain on the north. The mountains are rugged and uneven. Our heavy infantry cannot be deployed and are easily ambushed by the Lukari. I don't want to see again... The tragedy of Turiyi's army being annihilated by the Lukari people..."

Listening to the voice of the elder, Davers recognized that it was the elder N'anilus of Turiyi. His family was famous for shipbuilding. He once owned two shipyards in the port of Turiyi and was able to skillfully build three-layer oar warships. Unfortunately, they were all destroyed when the Crotones burned the city. Now they are rebuilding the shipyard. One of his younger brothers died in battle when Turiyi's army attacked Laus.

"Nanilus is right. We are not ready to attack north now. We need to gain a foothold in Niutum, we need to slowly integrate into the alliance, and we need to make more Lukari tribes in the north identify with our alliance. It will take time."

What Davers said made Weisba breathe a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Davers would get angry and would continue to attack north after taking Niutum. Then his tribe members would definitely take the lead and the losses would be heavy.

However, N'anilus heard what Davers meant: "Sir, what you mean by your words, are you still going to attack the Lukaria area north of Niutum in the future?"

"Of course. When the news of the victory was sent back to Turiyi, weren't you all shouting to defeat all the Lucans? I remember who else said he wanted to capture Poseidonia!" Davers said with a smile.

"That's what I said." Another voice came, and through the bonfire, Davers recognized the speaker as Turiyi's elder Masesacus.

Masesacus sat up next to N'anilus and said embarrassedly: "It was an impulse at that time. After walking this stretch today, I realized that the reason why Turiyi's army was annihilated was not only the commander's negligence, but also related to the harsh environment here..." Masesacus's family became rich by mining. Before Crotone attacked Turiyi, his family had more than a thousand mine slaves and contracted a stone mine in the city-state. After the war, the remaining slaves in the family were no more than fifty, and now they mainly undertake the polishing and carving of some stones in the temple, the Senate's House, and the Grand Plaza.

Davers noticed that most of the members were awakened and surrounded him, so he said seriously: "What is impulse? Why can't we attack north and take down Poseidonia and Picossis? After all, Laus is just our alliance. We need to have our own port cities on the west coast so that our maritime trade will be more convenient and our treasury revenue will increase significantly. Picoses and Poseidonia have better ports. Because of race, the Lukari people did not play their role well, and our alliance can be easily done. Are you right, Lord N'anilus?"

"Yes, Lord Davers. But..." N'Anilus was still hesitating whether to say whether this was too risky.

Davers had turned his head and looked at Vesba: "I heard that there are several small iron ores in the Lukaria area, right?"

"It is true that they are mainly distributed in the mountains between Potendia and Grummentum." Vesba said proudly: "This is why the Lucanians are not like the Brutis, who can only use simple spears and make armor and daggers."

"With iron ore, maybe there are other minerals, such as copper, tin, lead... and we will discover it in the future. In addition to wood, fur, livestock, etc., the mountains of Lucania also contain huge wealth. Do you think, right? Massacus." The dark night covered the meaningful smile on Davers's face.

"Yes...yes!" Masesas's voice became a little excited.

"The most important point is that our great Greeks love the sea too much. As a result, cities are built along the coastline. Although it is conducive to obtaining wealth from the sea, they are also easy to be attacked and not conducive to defense. The alliance should vigorously advance inland, expand our living space, and integrate with Lucania. In this way, even if we encounter a very powerful enemy invasion and cannot defend the coastal city, we can retreat to the mountainous areas. With the support of Lukari citizens, the mountainous areas are our home. We can attack any enemy who dares to attack the mountainous areas rashly and ultimately defeat powerful enemies!"

After Davers finished speaking these warning words, no one answered in the dark, and only a rapid breathing sound was heard. After a while, someone asked, "Sir, do you think there will be a powerful enemy to deal with our alliance?"

"As for now, isn't Crotone a powerful enemy? A hundred years ago, Eubaris was strong enough in Greece, and did not attract the enemy's attack! Didn't Athens, a former powerful state in Greece, also be attacked by the Peloponnese alliance? When a city-state becomes strong, other city-states will inevitably try their best to hinder its development and even defeat it! This is a chaotic world, and you must try your best to strengthen yourself, otherwise, like Turiyi before, the failure of a battle will make it decline..."

The people around, especially the elders of Turiyi, fell into deep thought...

"Why don't we attack Grummantum now?! We all know that Grummantum and Pixis had just had a battle, and both sides suffered heavy losses. Now is a great opportunity to attack it!" After Scomblas accepted Davers's point of view, he immediately became a little radical.

"If two brothers in a family are fighting, then outsiders come in and steal things. Do you think these two brothers will continue to fight, or should they work together to kill the outsiders away first?" Davers asked back.

"You mean our offense will bring the Lucanians together against us?" Scomblas immediately reacted.

“Yes, very likely!”

"But we have entered the Lukari family!" Protesilus continued by borrowing this metaphor.

Davers responded calmly: "Yes, but we can tell them, 'We are revenge on their last time they came to steal our things, and we only take this, and we will not take them again. We can also sign an agreement with them to stop stealing for a certain period of time, as long as there is Niutum, it is enough.' Even if they have some doubts, they will choose to believe that because compared to the Greeks who are not very interested in the mountainous areas of harsh environments, their hostile threats are greater. Once defeated, the entire tribe will be annexed and their families will become slaves. In order to defeat the opponent early and concentrate their efforts to drive us away, what will happen to them?"

Protesilous's eyes lit up and he said loudly: "The battle between them will become more intense!"

"In this way, more tribes who are impoverished due to war will be produced on the land of Lucania..." Davers said this, thinking something, and said apologetically: "Mr. Vespa, I say this, I hope you can forgive me!"

Weisba shook his head with a bitter expression and whispered: "It is common for war among tribes to take place here."

"Yes, these weak tribes had no choice in the past, but now they have it. On the one hand, they exploited their large tribes fiercely for the victory of the war; on the other hand, Niutum has a peaceful and peaceful life. It is obvious where they will choose." Davers sincerely asked Vespa: "In order to unify Lukaria as soon as possible, so that this mountainous area will no longer kill each other. I hope that after you arrive in Niutum, you can go to those tribes more and tell them that our alliance's friendship with the Lucanians will make them understand us and be more willing to join us..."

Weisba was silent for a while and squeezed out: "I'll do my best!"

…………………………………

At noon the next day, the group finally walked out of the pass and arrived at the La River Fortress.

After carefully checking the situation of Lahe Fortress, Davers praised the soldiers of the first company of the Second Battalion for their duty and responsibility to stick to Lahe Fortress and complete the final defense mission, and announced that when his visit to Niutum ended and returning to the fortress, they could return to Turiy with him and line up to play in the triumphal squad.

The soldiers cheered in unison.

The soldiers of the First Brigade muttered a little resentful when they heard this: "A bunch of new recruits is just lucky. If we were not guarding Tuliyi..."

Although the first brigade of soldiers complained, it did not affect their continued march north.

The area that can be accessed is much wider now, about one to two miles wide. There are mountains to the east and La River to the west. The La River is not wide, but most of the two sides are cliffs, with large water drops, deep ditches and rapid water, making it difficult for large troops to reach the other side.

Little Heraclid observed the terrain all the way, shook his head and sighed: "It may be difficult to build a bridge in the upper reaches of the La River!"

Thanks to the book friend Wu Shan Lai Shi for the reward!
Chapter completed!