ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 274
The battle lasted four hours. In the end, Tarantum lost 15 warships, including four triremes, and four troop carriers; the Mape Combined Fleet lost 23 warships, including seven triremes. Warship.In the end, the Maple Navy took the initiative to retreat, while the Tarantum Navy, which was busy rescuing the fallen soldiers, had no intention of pursuing it. It just wanted to leave this unfamiliar sea area as soon as possible, reach Brindisi, and complete the reinforcement mission.

During the fierce battle on the sea, the Maple Allied Forces had learned that Tarantum was about to reinforce Brindisi from the sea, and launched the largest siege regardless of fatigue.Carrying ladders and pushing siege engines, [-] soldiers from the Maples coalition stormed the city of Brindisi one after another...

The Tarantum garrison, which had been fighting hard for two days, only had a few hundred men left, and it was only through the help of the free people in the city that they could survive until today.Facing the influx of enemies, the freedmen who lacked combat experience panicked...

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The Tarentum navy rushed to the port of Brindisi and had just put the soldiers ashore, but had not yet assembled them into a team.The city of Brindisi was captured. The defeated soldiers, free people, and family members ran towards the port in panic, trying to find a sail plank and leave the fallen city as soon as possible.The soldiers who came for reinforcements also felt bad and asked to get on the boat again and leave.Everyone rushed to the ship, followed by the defeated soldiers and their families crying for help. The entire port and pier was filled with a dark crowd, the order was chaotic, and many people fell into the sea during the pushing...

Faced with this situation, the commander of the navy lost his mind for a while, and let his warships save people.However, the pursuit of Maple's coalition forces caused people who were eager to escape to push each other and scramble to climb onto the ship, which actually caused the two warships to capsize due to overload.

The naval commander felt something was wrong and had to urgently order the fleet to leave the dock.During this process, soldiers and sailors fought, causing several warships to fail to escape from the dock.

At this time, the soldiers of the Maple Alliance Army had already arrived. They pounced on the Tarantum people who were trembling with fear like hungry wolves. They used spears and swords to kill them who had raised their hands to surrender. The blood flowed quickly. It dyed the sea surface of the port red...

The soldiers, sailors and survivors of the Tarantum Navy, as well as the survivors on the ship, could not bear to witness this tragic scene and fled the port in a hurry.Unexpectedly, their disaster was far from over. They were soon intercepted by the previously defeated Map United Navy. Although Tarantum had more ships, the fleet full of people lost its speed and flexibility and became a collision with the Map League warships. target.

During the fierce battle, the Tarantum battleship was knocked over, but there was no ship to rescue the people who fell into the water. The sailors were frightened by the tragic scene in the port, and they only wanted to go home. The two sides changed their positions offensively and defensively. Recently, Tarantum The remaining 45 warships and some troop transports left the battlefield.

However, the victorious Mapu United Fleet is still pursuing...

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On the fourth day after Polydorus asked for help from Dionysia, the Mepp coalition forces that recaptured Brindisi moved westward in a big way after a short rest. By the afternoon, they once again surrounded Manduria and Tarantum. The whole city fell into panic, and messengers sent to Deolia for help one after another...

In the early morning of the fifth day, the Dionia reinforcements finally set off.

It is already early September, and the weather is starting to get cooler in the morning.

Soldiers of the [-]st and [-]nd Corps gathered in formation in Victory Square after saying goodbye to their families.

After counting the number of people, Commander Daves announced the departure.

The whole army first marched to the northwest of the city, came to the foot of the Temple of Hades, and knelt down to pray devoutly.

The bronze bells in the temple were ringing, and the priest in charge, Plessinas, led dozens of male and female Hades temple priests to sing Hades hymns for the soldiers and gave them blessings.

If in other city-states, divination may be required before going on an expedition, but Davos canceled this procedure. He believed that war is a major event related to the life and death of the alliance, and victory depends on strength, strict training, and Careful planning, rather than relying on illusory divine grace. He did not want his soldiers to develop this bad habit.

After the prayer, the entire army turned around and headed eastward, exiting the city gate and reaching the port of Thurii.The families of the soldiers and the people who were seeing them off lined both sides of the road to see off the troops.

What made Polydorus feel emotional was that very few family members cried and did not want the soldiers to go out. While they wished the soldiers safety, they also encouraged them to gain military exploits.Other people were more envious of the good luck of the soldiers who went on the expedition, and were unconvinced that they would perform better if they went on their own.

"Dionysians love war!" Polydorus forgot who said this to him in the first place, and now it seems indeed unusual.He involuntarily looked at Daves, the commander of the army beside him. At this moment, the 20-year-old young man showed a calmness and seriousness higher than his age: In addition, the Dionians have a commander who is good at fighting. , they will have today's rise!

But with the enemy's army pressing down on the border, the strength of the Dionian army made Polydorus feel a little relieved, because the Dionian army could be relied on!
There are hundreds of cargo ships docked densely in the port, including Dionia's, Tarantum's, Metapontum's, Heraclea's, and even Castellon's...

Under the guidance of the port management personnel, the troops entered each dock in an orderly manner and boarded the ship one by one under the command of the squad leader and squad leader. Everything was in order.

The passenger ship that Polidorus was on was the first to leave the pier, because he had to go back to Tarantum to notify the Senate to prepare for Dionia's reinforcements.

Accompanying him is Antonios, who needs to coordinate with Tarantum on many matters such as the entry, settlement, and military rations of the Dionysian army. Originally, this task should have been undertaken by Felicius, but Davos left Dionysius. After Asia, Thurii still needs someone to guard it in case something unexpected happens. Felicius, as the second most popular figure in the army, is naturally the most suitable candidate.Felicius could not go, and the two legion commanders, Capos and Dracos, were people who only knew how to fight and were not good at socializing. Davos could only let Antonios, the first captain of the first legion, be responsible for liaison. In fact, the first captain of the first legion was Antonios. The second captain Alexis is also a suitable candidate, but Davos feels that compared to the slightly aloof Alexis, Antonios is more tactful.

There are also some special personnel of the Dionian Army on this passenger ship, such as the engineers of the Legion. Because the Dionian Army’s station in Tarantum has been determined in advance, the engineers will go to the site first to inspect the terrain. , plan in advance how to build the camp, the size of the camp, the layout of the tents, the width of the trench, etc., so that the army can start building the camp as soon as they arrive at Tarantum.

The soldiers stepped onto the rickety deck, put the helmets, linen breastplates, round shields, greaves, and the javelins and javelins that weighed dozens of kilograms on their backs against the side of the ship, and then communicated with their relatives on the shore. Friends wave goodbye.

One after another, the ships left the port.

In the morning, there was a strong northeasterly wind blowing in the Bay of Taranto. All the ships lowered their sails and took advantage of the wind to sail straight east. From time to time, waves hit the hull from the sides and rear, splashing water and wetting the clothes of the soldiers. But it didn't affect their interest at all.

"I heard that the Tarantum people are very rich. This time we helped them defeat the natives. Will they give us enough silver coins to thank us for our rescue?!" A recruit said excitedly.

"Fool, do you know how many soldiers we have going to Tarantum this time? It's 14000! This doesn't count the cavalry brigade, engineering battalion, and medical battalion... Even if Tarentum gives us dozens of talents, Excluding what is handed over to the legion fund, how much can be distributed to each person!" Another soldier warned him disapprovingly: "You might as well kill a few more natives and accumulate more battle merits so that the alliance can Give you a few more acres of land!"

"Speaking of this war, I get angry just thinking about it! The three armies were so lucky. They captured Asproustum and Grumentum. Why are there always wars?! Isn't that right? Most of them are Lucanians! We finally went out to rescue the city-states in the south, but before the war started, the Locri people sued for peace. Tell me, isn’t this infuriating! This time When we go to Tarentum, we hope that the indigenous people will never imitate the Lokeri people and make our trip in vain!" The words of another soldier resonated with the surrounding soldiers and aroused their concerns.

"Don't worry, the Messapians are no better than the weak Locris. I heard that they are very fierce. The Tarantum people have never taken advantage of them. Otherwise, Tarantum would have been nearby for such a long time. Several sub-states have been established, and this time Mesapi has united with the Pucheti people to defeat Tarantum one after another. The morale is high, and maybe they still have the intention to destroy Tarantum, and they will How is it possible to negotiate peace with us?" said a soldier who knew Tarantum's situation.

"That's great! Only by defeating the Meshapi people can we show the power of Dionia. We will become heroes and save Tarantum!" A soldier declared loudly, causing others to cheer excitedly.

"I heard that the women in Tarentum are all good-looking. When we become heroes, can we marry one back?" Someone said jokingly, and was immediately pushed by others: "Stop dreaming, Persiars. .Those citizens of Tarentum are so arrogant and have never looked down on people from other city-states in Magna Graecia. Do you think they would marry their daughters to us, ‘farmers’ in their eyes!”

"Is this really the case, Sitalsis?" Pesiales asked curiously.

(End of this chapter)