ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 213 The Crotone Controversy

Just as the Dionian army arrived in the city of Crimesa, the news that "the Crotone army failed in the battle, the entire army suffered heavy casualties, and only more than 5000 people fled back to Crimesa" spread to Crotone The whole city was shocked.

To say that the failure of the first battle was caused by Melanthius's negligence and the shameless sneak attack of the Amendolara people, this time Crotone formed a much stronger army than last time, and there were soldiers they trusted who were fighting the same battle. The experienced and stable and reliable chief general Milon served as the coach. He thought that he could avenge his past humiliation, but the news returned was even more depressing.The Crotone army was defeated again, and more than 2 people did not escape. Did they die in battle?Or was it captured?No news yet.

This time, every citizen family in Crotone was worried about the life and death of their loved ones and shed tears. At the same time, the pent-up anger also burst out under the guidance of the Dionian spies. The people gathered and went to the city hall to protest. Strong demands were made for an immediate citizens' meeting.

Faced with the angry people who broke into the meeting place, the council was forced to respond to the demands of the people, and the citizens' assembly was held hastily immediately.

At the assembly, the people angrily criticized the incompetence of the generals and members of the council, which led to repeated defeats of the Crotone army, which had an obvious advantage, and instead put the city-state in a dangerous situation.They proposed that Milon be dismissed from his position as chief general and be escorted back to the city for trial.At the same time, immediately start peace talks with Dionia and redeem the captured citizen soldiers.

The proposal was successfully passed with the support of the majority of citizens.

At this moment, the messenger sent by Milon rushed back to Crotone, bringing the request that "the Dionian army surrounded Crimea, and Milon requested reinforcements."

This news immediately caused the Citizens Assembly to panic. As long as they are not fools, everyone understands that once Dionia captures Crimea, they can enter the Croton Plain, destroy their farmland, and burn their villages. , approaching the city of Crotone.If the situation of the battle really turns out like this, after being invaded by Sybaris a hundred years ago, the Croton Plain will be invaded again by the northern enemy. This is unacceptable to the people.

"Reinforce Crimesa and defend the city of Crimesa" has become the consensus of the citizens of Crotone. However, the young and middle-aged citizens in the city have basically been mobilized. To send more soldiers, the only way to relax is the age limit of 18 to 50 years old. Years of military service and recruitment of freedmen.Fortunately, it was just a matter of defending the city, as long as they could shoot arrows and throw javelins, which were what freedmen and sailors were good at, so it was not a problem to piece together a considerable amount of reinforcements.But the generals became a problem, because all the citizens who knew and could fight were in Milon's army, including Milon himself.

The citizens debated for a long time and finally reached an agreement and selected several candidates, but the chosen ones refused to take office.When everyone accused them, they said plausibly: "Even those who are good at fighting like Mylon and Philadephus were defeated. How can people like us who rarely go to the battlefield command troops lacking citizen soldiers to resist Dio?" An attack by the Nians? It’s not that we don’t want to take responsibility to fulfill our obligations as citizens, but we are worried that we will not be qualified for this vital position and our city-state will suffer another disaster!”

After they finished speaking, the citizens' assembly of several thousand people suddenly fell into deathly silence, and the warlike Crotone people were in an embarrassing situation without any generals available.

At this time, Lysias stood up and said in a deep voice: "Citizens, you all know that Milon and I often have disputes over some issues, and our relationship is not good. But I also have to respect Milon's contribution to the city. Contribution. He led troops to repel the Brutian invasion of the allied city-states many times, and twice forced Locri to withdraw from the Corunnia territory. This is an important reason why you have elected him as your chief general many times! To be honest, his military talent has always made me very jealous. But now he has failed. Myron, who has always won more than he lost and was steady in his work, actually suffered a disastrous defeat in the battle that decided the fate of the city-state. Do you believe that he was negligent? Are you treating this important battle as a game?!"

Nicias's words caused the impatient citizens to ponder.

"Of course not. This only shows that the military ability of Davos, the governor of Dionia, is stronger! Yes, now, this is something that any Crotone has to admit and must face bravely. Fact!" Nicias sighed and said loudly again: "After the failure half a year ago, I think you all should understand Davos. After he led the mercenaries to Thurii, he personally commanded He won all the battles, and defeated more with less on several occasions. That's why there is today's Dionia Alliance! Now, among the citizens of Crotone, there are people who are more capable than Myron and can fight against Dionia. A citizen of Onian Archon Davos?!”

Although the pale-faced citizens whispered and whispered in the audience, no one stood up to recommend or recommend themselves.

"If not, why not let Milon continue to lead the army! I believe that Milon, who has suffered a defeat, will definitely learn from it and fight to defend Crimesa for Crotone and himself! Citizens, Crotone Rotone is facing the biggest crisis in a century! I hope you can put aside your likes and dislikes of others, out of public conscience, and elect suitable candidates to defend our city-state!!!" Lysias shouted.

His words obviously had an effect. In the new round of elections by the Citizens' Assembly, Milon became the commander-in-chief with a slight majority of votes. However, he was deprived of his position as chief general and will have to stand trial when the war is over.

After obtaining a satisfactory result, Lysias did not look relaxed, because he knew that he would soon meet with Davos again as an envoy.Just a few days later, the entire situation had turned around.Lysias still remembered what Davos had said when he left Thurii, and now it had come true.

In the early morning of the next day, the Dionysian army also did not attack, but continued to improve the camp. Not only did they set up traps in front of the camp, but some of the soldier protection engineering battalions had begun to build wooden bridges on the Umbria River.

Milon witnessed all this on the city wall and was surprised: Davos, who had used cunning soldiers before, could calm down and continue to build the camp. Is he really preparing to besiege him?

He hesitated again and again, but still did not dare to send out the few troops he had to carry out the harassment.

In the afternoon, Myron breathed a sigh of relief. Crotone's 5000 reinforcements were transported to the city of Crimesa via fleet, bringing the number of troops in the city to more than 1.

At the port, he also saw Lysias who disembarked with the soldiers, and his expression couldn't help but change: "Did the council really send you to come for peace talks?"

"No, Myron." Lysias' negative answer made Myron sigh in relief, and he immediately said: "It was the Citizens' Assembly who sent me to conduct peace talks."

When the citizens' meeting was mentioned, Milon's expression became even more ugly. He said solemnly, "I don't think... the dominant Dionians will agree to armistice and peace talks at this time. Even if they agree, the conditions they proposed It must be very harsh too!”

"You are right, but the people of Crotone urgently need to know the safety of their relatives, and I can't help it if I can't think of it. However, it is also necessary to try to understand the requirements of the Dionians first." Lysias shrugged helplessly.

After listening to Lysias' words, Milon's face twitched. He coughed a few times and whispered: "I heard that at the Citizens' Assembly... it was your speech... that saved me from being escorted back to the country right now... ..."

"In fact, like other people, I wish I could let you stand trial and vent my anger for the citizens who died in this battle! But Crotone needs you urgently now, for the sake of the city-state and also For your own sake, I hope you can win a few battles in the next battle and lay a good foundation for future peace talks!" Lysias's heartfelt words made Milon feel ashamed. He did not speak and just pinched Clenched his fists.

Then Lysias, accompanied by Milon, went to the top of the city, holding on to the battlements, and looked forward: Not far from the city is the Dionysian camp, with a continuous line of tents from east to west, not only neatly arranged, One camp is one camp after another, and trenches, earth walls, fences, watchtowers... etc. are all available.

Even Lysias, who didn't know much about military affairs, could feel the tight defense of the Dionia camp while standing on the city wall.

Seeing Lysias' solemn expression, Milon said: "I think these Dionians are really not like Greeks. We Greeks like to fight, but we don't like to do these dirty and tiring jobs after fighting. . But as soon as the Dionians arrived here, they kept digging holes and building nests like mice. It only took more than a day to build the current camp, which also led me to send hundreds of soldiers last night. We suffered a loss when we attacked them secretly! Now they are actually building a bridge across the river, and they definitely want to build a camp on the south bank and completely besiege Crimesa."

Miron paused and said loudly: "Now with this batch of reinforcements, I want to teach the arrogant Dionians a lesson!"

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

The units ordered to cross the river to bridge the South Bank Protection Engineering Battalion were the Second and Third Battalions of the First Army, under the command of Matonis.This is what Matonis actively requested from Davers. In the last battle, he was the commander of the reserve team. He almost didn't win the battle, and he was exhausted. This time he must perform well.

When he led his troops to the surveyed bridge repair site on the south bank, he immediately used one brigade to guard and another brigade to dig trenches, taking turns until the trenches were dug and earthen ramparts were built, without any enemy sightings.

　Thanks to Destiny, Mo Ming Qi, Book Friends 161212140639474, Book Friends 150926222654400, and Miyu Qingfeng for their rewards!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing!
　　There were too many typos in yesterday's chapter, I apologize to the brothers, and I must check it carefully in the future!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)