ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 219: Attacking Asprostum?
After a while, a young man holding a child handed the child to a woman beside him and stood up.

The woman grabbed him and whispered with concern: "You have to be careful!"

The young man avoided the woman's gaze with some guilt, and whispered back: "You too!" After saying that, he strode out of the crowd.

Under his leadership, many people also said goodbye to those around them and walked out.

Faglis patted the young man on the shoulder and asked comfortingly: "Young man, what is your name?"

"Printoles."

Fagris glanced at the woman holding the child and comforted him: "Don't worry, you will be able to reunite with your wife soon after the enemy is defeated."

He thought the two were a couple, and the young man nodded solemnly.

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

What came to Asprostum was the 5000 soldiers of the Third Legion led by Hieronymus. It was not because they had to carry the siege equipment they had made last night, so they were moving faster than the attack to Neto. The Laos troops on the north bank of the river were much slower, but the time difference was deliberately set so that the plan could proceed smoothly.

At this time, Hieronymus was following the team while talking to Izam: "Are you sure that all your soldiers have entered the city of Asprostum?"

"Of course! I watched them go in with my own eyes. If it weren't for my appearance being different from the Greeks, I would have accompanied my brothers in! Legion commander, I hope you can rush to attack the city as soon as possible. I'm afraid it will take too long. They will be found!" Izam pleaded.

"I understand." Hieronymus promised immediately, and at the same time asked: "How many people went in?"

"Fifty-six soldiers." Izam blurted out, knowing his team well.The alliance expanded, the legion expanded, and his mountain reconnaissance team also expanded, and now there is a company establishment.

Hieronymus was a little surprised. He did not expect that there would be so many soldiers sneaking into the city. This made him more confident in capturing Asprostum. He told the trumpeter to urge the troops to speed up.

In fact, without Hieronymus' urging, the soldiers' marching speed continued to accelerate, because these 5000 soldiers were all from Niutum. They had missed the previous battle and were eager to fight and perform meritorious deeds.

The upper reaches of the Neto River are neither deep nor wide, but have higher banks.Hieronymus rushed to the north bank first and saw many enemies on the other bank with their bows and arrows ready. He immediately issued an order: "The seventh group attacks!"

The light infantry of the Third Army quickly formed a long, single-file skirmish line, scrambled to slide down the river bank, and braved the arrows fired at them without fear, striding across the river.After suffering very few casualties, they climbed to the other side. The enemy had already fled.

The heavy infantrymen who followed carried ladders and rafts made of trees and easily forded the Neto River.

The city of Asprustum is not far ahead. It is located on a relatively high terrain, and it is actually a climb all the way, which is very easy for the Lucanian soldiers living in the mountains.Finally, they stopped in front of the city of Asprustum, and began to form under the orders of the team officers.

The soldiers of Asprustum looked nervously at the dark crowd of enemies below the city wall.Behind them came the newcomers, even more nervous.

General Fagris saw an old man who had been trembling and the buckler in his hand fell to the ground many times. He hurriedly stepped forward to comfort him: "Don't be afraid, the enemy can't attack! Since this city belongs to us, Croto Since then, we have never been conquered by the enemy! We suffered a defeat in the south decades ago (referring to the war between Locri and Ligem against Crotone), and the Brutians wanted to take the opportunity to recapture the city. , there were more people coming than the Dionians under the city now, and they returned in a disastrous defeat!"

His words reassured the soldiers a little.

When Fagris followed the corridor of the battlements at the head of the city, inspecting the entire defense situation from west to east, and saw that there were enough soldiers at each crenel, he also gained confidence.

Although Asproustum is a small city like Castellon and Crimesa, due to its important geographical location, the Crotones expanded and reinforced it many times, so it is seven meters tall. It has a high city wall, a four-meter-wide wall trench, and is filled with water from a tributary of the Neto River to form a wider moat. It is also surrounded by steep mountains to the west and close to another large tributary of the Neto River to the east, which is also a cliff. Cliffs, wide river and deep water.Therefore, it has only two gates, the north and the south, and its forces are concentrated for easy defense.

Izam carefully observed the enemies on the city wall. Suddenly, he looked happy, ran to Hieronymus, and shouted excitedly: "Master Legion, my brothers are on the city wall! They are right there. In the city!"

Hieronymus, who had always been serious, couldn't help but be moved at this moment, and asked eagerly: "Where?!"

Although Yizam was excited, he still remained cautious. He did not use his fingers, but whispered: "On the far left side of the city wall!"

Hieronymus immediately looked towards the city on the far left.It was noon at this time, and the sun was hanging in the middle of the sky, shining on the fully armed soldiers at the top of the city. It was emitting dazzling light everywhere, but the light in one place was special. The dazzling round shields were neatly connected in a row, and The reflected light flickered on and off very regularly. It was obvious that these people were flipping the round shields in their hands at the same time.Who would do such a boring, energy-consuming thing before a big war?Hieronymus showed a smile: "Izam, if we capture the city of Asprostum, your team will be the first to succeed!"

"Thank you, Legion Commander!" Izam was overjoyed.

With the mountain scouts as internal agents, Hieronymus quickly made a plan to "attack the city on the far right side openly, attract the attention of the defenders, and attack the far left side secretly".

When the attack bugle sounded, the soldiers were like hungry wolves in the mountains, howling loudly and rushing towards the city of Asprostum like a tide. Captains such as Si, Lizam, Kesima, and Ulazar also took the lead and personally led the charge...

The Crotone soldiers began to fire arrows at the enemies who entered the range. For the Dionian heavy infantry wearing thick armor and heavy helmets, there were very few casualties.The Tulukanian soldiers of the Third Army, inspired by the battle horn, even broke the arrow shafts that shot themselves in the arms and thighs, and continued to advance with injuries...

They quickly arrived at the moat. According to the previous drill, the soldiers at the front quickly put the five-meter-long and three-meter-wide wooden rafts on the moat; then the soldiers carrying the ladders stepped on The wooden rafts crossed the moat and went straight to the city wall; followed by soldiers holding round shields and sabers...

At this time, the attacks on the city wall also began to become fierce. Arrows, javelins, and stones rained down, and the casualties of the Dionian soldiers suddenly increased...

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

Lysias did not expect that the situation would become so bad as soon as he returned to Crotone.

The people who fled into the city spread the news that the Dionian army was coming, and panic spread in the city...

Many people in the council were also very flustered. They thought that Crotone's army was defeated again and the city of Crimesa was captured, which allowed Dionia's army to move south smoothly, so they angrily threatened: " As long as Milon dares to escape back, he must be punished!"

Lysias retorted: "I just came back from Crimesa. When I left, the city of Crimesa was still in Myron's hands. It is impossible that the city of Crimesa was captured by the enemy just a few hours later." captured, and also reached the north bank of the Neto River. Calculating the time, this is impossible, so the Dionians must have bypassed Crimesa! I have to admit that the Dionians are too courageous. Without a boat, it is impossible to cross the wide Neto River. As long as Milon still holds on to Crimesa, the Dionians who invaded the Croton Plain are like rootless duckweeds and will eventually have to retreat. "

"The Dionians can't cross the Neto River, but they can attack Asprostum!" someone said worriedly.

"Is Asprostum so easy to capture? How many times have the Brutians failed before! I would rather the Dionians attack it, so that they can hit the Dionians hard. !" someone retorted.

"What good will it do to us if we continue to fight like this! We in Crotone have already suffered huge losses, farmland has been destroyed, houses have been burned, prices are rising, the treasury is depleting, and due to the lack of labor, trade has also suffered a lot. Big impact, we still have a large number of citizens captured! The people are already dissatisfied with us, why not talk to the Dionians!" Someone said pessimistically.

"Peace talks?! Didn't you just hear what Lysias said about Dionia's peace talks?! That damn Dionia consul asked us to dissolve the alliance, can we agree! Once Aspuru Sturm is independent, and Coronia, Silitin, and Trina are no longer our allies, so maybe Locri and the Brutians will destroy them tomorrow and kill them at the gates of Crotone!" someone denounced. road.

"Peace talks are like buying and selling things. Dionia proposed conditions. We can continue to negotiate with them and lower their demands..."

"Peace talks are possible, but they must be after repelling the attack of the Dionians! This way we can stand upright and speak loudly to the Dionians!"

……

I don't know when the council began to debate endlessly on the issue of "whether to engage in peace talks with Dionia."Fortunately, they were able to distinguish their priorities, and some emergency measures were quickly implemented: warships sailed into the Neto River, patrolled the river banks, and prevented the Dionians from sneaking across and building bridges.At the same time, freedmen were hired in large numbers, some to guard the city of Crotone, and some to be stationed on the south bank of the Neto River to monitor the Dionians on the other side. A small number of them were sent to the city of Asprostum, to strengthen its defense.In addition, people were sent to Crimea and asked Milon to launch an attack on the Dionians besieging the city of Crimea to force the invading enemies to withdraw.

　Thanks to Redemption in the Abyss, Qin Churen, An Shura, and SoNaive for their rewards!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)