ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 403 The Dionian Legion arrives
You know, in order to prepare for this huge war, Dionysius not only increased taxes on the people of Syracuse and depleted his treasury, but also borrowed money from the African city-state of Cyrenaica. He even mobilized He came up with the idea of ​​​​looting the sanctuary of Delphi, because there were not just tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands or millions of gold and silver properties donated to Delphi by various Greek city-states over the centuries (in real history, During the occupation of Magna Graecia, Dionysius actually sent mercenaries pretending to be bandits in an attempt to rob Delphi, but the plot failed in the end).

And if Ligem is captured, not only can he directly obtain a large amount of wealth to make up for the treasury deficit, but he will also completely monopolize the Strait of Messina. He can maintain the cost of his long-term occupation of Magna Graecia with only the tax revenue from passing merchant ships.As for the purely military point of view of pulling out the "nail" Lijim behind him before the army went north to attack, he really didn't care too much.

Phoebus was not in Dionysius's position, and certainly could not have considered the war from an economic perspective and thus understood Dionysius's hesitation.As a stubborn Spartan, although he had already stated his reasons for choosing Colonia before setting off, he decided to say it again to strengthen Dionysius' determination: "Although Ligem was cut off by Locle , isolated outside the South Italian League, but it is not easy to attack it! I have seen the map you gave me. There is an insurmountable mountain range in the center of the north of Lijim. The east coast can only be reached by narrow mountain roads. Take The west coast must first pass through the Maro River, and its sub-state Taurina must be captured before the road to Ligem can be opened. The Ligem people and Taurina will definitely defend the south bank of the Maro River, where the area is narrow , is not conducive to the deployment of Syracuse's large forces at all. It will take some time to invade the territory of Lijim. However, the South Italian Alliance will use this time to form a good army and prepare a good defense against Corunnia and Trina. , and may even attack Locri when we attack Lijim, leaving us vulnerable to enemies from both sides... If the consul who was dragged to Dionia leads the main force to return from the Lucania area, our battle in Magna Graecia will The war will be difficult to fight!"

The last two words of Phoebidas shocked Dionysius, although he seemed to say indifferently: "If the Dionysian army led by Davos wants to come back from the Lucania Mountains, I’m afraid it’s not that easy, his troubles have just begun!”

"As long as we seize the time, take advantage of the fact that the South Italian Alliance is not ready for war, and continue to attack northward, we will be able to completely defeat their alliance. By then, Lijim will be just a fish in the net, and there is no way to escape. Even if the main force of Dionia can come back from the Lucania area, it will not be of much help to the entire battlefield."

Dionysius said nothing, but Phoebus's persuasion had made him make up his mind.

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

At dusk, the door of the South Italian Alliance headquarters was suddenly pushed open, and Eulipatos's entourage shouted: "My lord! My lord! The Dionian army has arrived!"

Eulipatos, who was falling asleep from exhaustion, couldn't believe his ears: It's here so soon!
In the afternoon, at his urging, he saw with his own eyes that the City Hall of Xiliting dispatched cavalry into and out of the city to inform all citizens.According to the common practice in Greek city-states, when the citizens of Xiliting were notified of joining the war, it would take at least one day to finish their family affairs, and then they would pick up the weapons and equipment stored at home and rush to the square in the city of Xiliting.It would be relatively fast to complete the gathering and roll call of the citizen soldiers the day after tomorrow, and the formation of the troops, the preparation of the baggage... when all preparations are completed, and the final expedition... Pletinis, the chief general of Xiliting, assured him Try to lead the team to set off in three days.

Eulipatos compared his city-state's previous war preparations and was quite satisfied with Siliting's performance today. Therefore, what Ansitanos said before, he only regarded it as the scholar who wanted to show Dionia's positive attitude. In his heart, he didn't think that the Dionysians could really do it, so Dionysia really sent out troops on the day he learned of the invasion of Syracuse, and really rushed to Siriting. , the surprise for Yulipatos is conceivable.

"Lord Ansitanos, that's great! Thank you so much!..." He hurriedly thanked Ansitanos who was also tired.

Ansitanos was not arrogant, waved his hand and said: "This has nothing to do with me. You should thank the soldiers of Dionia who rushed all the way. You know, there are more than 80 kilometers from Asprostum to Siliting. Li Di! It’s really not easy to get there within one day!”

"You're right!" After being reminded by Ansitanos, Eulipatos hurried out of the city.

When they arrived, the soldiers of the Fourth Dionysian Legion had already begun to set up a simple camp beside the road south of Xiliting City. Yulipatos couldn't help but see that each of them was shirtless and dripping with sweat. I felt sorry in my heart.

Under the guidance of the soldiers, they found the commander Felicius who was sitting on the grass discussing matters with the legion commander Epithenes.

"Lord Ansitanos, why are you here?" Epithenis shouted first with sharp eyes.

"You have worked so hard to come here, of course I have to come and visit you." Ansitanos said seriously. The Fourth Army quickly arrived and shocked the residents of Xiliting and other South Italian Alliance city-states. It can be said that they made a A good example, and it also makes Ansitanos' voice in the alliance more weighty. He is so proud of it.

"Who would come to visit empty-handed!" Epithenes said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"Epythenes!" Felicius quickly gave him a wink, signaling him not to speak too much.

Ansitanus didn't pay too much attention. After all, they often met in the Senate. He knew what kind of character Epithenis was, so he also smiled and said: "Then what do you want me to bring?"

"It's not me, it's these soldiers who have been working hard all day. They are thirsty and have no time to find water, so they are busy building campsites..." Epithenes pointed to the soldiers who were still busy. They pointed to their dry lips: "Look, we are all dying of thirst!"

"Oh, you are really too—" Yulipatos was so excited that he didn't know what to say, he turned to his entourage and said, "Go back to the alliance station immediately, call everyone, and go to various restaurants in the city Buy slurry and have them deliver it..."

"Hey, we have nearly 1 people here. It is estimated that at night, about 1 people from the Fifth Army will arrive. It is not just a water problem. We arrived too fast, and the supply camp is still behind. It is estimated that we will not arrive until tomorrow. Just eating these cold and hard breads is not enough to replenish the physical strength of the soldiers during the long march." Epithenes took out his own rations, waved them in front of Eulipatos, and reminded him politely.

"He is kidding you!" Felicius glared at Epithenes and said, "We have bread and meat, which is enough to fill our stomachs, you don't have to worry."

"I can't solve the food supply problem for so many soldiers in Siliting, but as long as you arrive in Coronia, I guarantee that the people of Coronia will keep you well fed!" Eulipatos expressed While apologizing, he vaguely urged the Dionians, and at the same time he issued an order to his followers: "If there is not enough syrup in the restaurants in the city, send a message to the citizens of Xiliting, as long as they send homemade syrup here. , we will pay double the price for a can..."

Follow the call and go.

"Thank you so much!" Felicius stepped forward to express his gratitude.

"This is Eulipatos, the envoy of Coronia." Ansitanos introduced him hurriedly.

"Oh." Epithenis curled his lips and thought: It turns out that he is from Corunnia, so you should pay for the water.

"I really didn't expect you to come so quickly and didn't prepare anything. Otherwise, I should have given you a banquet to express my gratitude!"

"There is no need for a banquet. Our military laws do not allow generals and soldiers to eat and drink too much during the war. We have a few days of rations ourselves, just for fear that the supply camp and transportation will not be able to supply them at the moment. We really need to consider letting you take the exam. Lennia will provide us with food first." After becoming the commander, Felicius had to take some details into consideration.

"Of course there is no problem. Tomorrow I will send someone back to inform the city hall to prepare military rations. I just said that the people of Corunnia will definitely make the citizens of Dionia well fed!" Eulipato Si readily agreed.

Seeing the countless soldiers in front digging trenches with pickaxes, sweating like rain, but working enthusiastically, Yulipatos couldn't help but asked curiously: "You are already very tired when you get here. You can just set up tents and rest. Why do you need to dig trenches?" ?”

"This is a provision of the "Dionia Military Law", mainly to provide a safer and more comfortable camp for the soldiers." Ansitanos explained smoothly that Dionia has been established for a long time, like them " "Old people" also know some of the regulations of the army.

"Your military requirements are so strict!" As a citizen, Eulipatos certainly had many military experiences. Compared with himself and looking at the Dionian soldiers in front of him, he couldn't help but sigh.

"This is still the simplest way to build a camp. Because it is too late, it will be dark soon, so just dig trenches and build earthen forts. This is within the territory of the allies, and there should be no danger. If it is in a war zone , it will take several days just to build the camp!" Epithenes was both showing off and complaining: "The key is that our Fourth Army must not only build a camp for ourselves, but also for the Fifth Army."

　Thanks to Deutsche Stan and Qingshan Banfuyun for the reward!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)