ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 497 Seclian’s Voyage ([-])
Davos sighed, held his shoulders with both hands, and said sincerely: "Even if I have a great advantage in facing Syracuse, the ocean has become the world of their navy, and Dionysius As the commander-in-chief of this terrible opponent, in such a bad situation, I will lose! And you successfully saved most of the soldiers of the two legions, and at the same time cooperated with Crotone to hold on until the reinforcements arrived, allowing us to turn defeat into victory. hope. Not only should I thank you! All the people of Dionia should thank you!"

Felicius burst into tears at these words, tears of relief.

"Drakos's death is not your fault! I know him well. He never admits defeat, so whether he takes the initiative to cut off the enemy and is captured, or crashes to the ground and dies, it is the choice he made that he thinks is the most correct! All we can do is capture Dionysius and use his head to pay homage to Drakos!"

"Yes!...Yes!!" Felicius nodded repeatedly.

"How's the mood of the soldiers of the Fifth Legion?" Davos asked again with concern.The Fifth Legion, this legion composed of Brutis, the soldiers witnessed the sudden death of the leader of the legion who created it, and during this period of turmoil in the Bruti area, Davos must be worried about their status.

"The soldiers can't wait to fight the Syracuseans and avenge Dracos!" Felicius replied immediately.

"That's good." Davos encouraged him and said, "I met your wife Delia when I led the army to leave Turui, and she asked me to bring you a message, 'She and the child are fine now, I hope you can lead the soldiers to drive the enemies out of Magna Graecia as soon as possible!'"

Felicius was depressed when he came, with his head lowered and his body shrunken; when he left, he was relaxed and had a long stride.

Davos looked at his leaving back, but he was thinking in his heart: Felicius was too gentle in character and not strong enough in will. He was really not a general who could stand alone. In the future, he would still be engaged in document work in the Ministry of Military Affairs.

In fact, there is another reason why he thanked Felicius that he did not say: the failure of the battle of the Ramato River greatly weakened the power of Greece in the southern part of Greater Greece, and he no longer had the ability to resist Syracuse. Is Oniya not the same?

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

The Dionysian fleet continued to sail south, approaching the sea near Locri City.

It can be said that among these port cities on the east coast, only the port in Lockley still has frequent merchant ships coming in and out, and it is even busier than before the war.Because the Syracuse Navy blocked and suppressed the ports of the South Italian Confederate city-states, merchant ships traveling on the east and west Mediterranean routes could transit or trade at the Port of Locri.

"Lower the sail!" Sekerian looked at the sail shadow in the distance, with a cold light flashing in his eyes: "Attack!"

As the horn blew, the warships of the fleet gradually unfolded, and the sailors excitedly speeded up their paddles. The merchant ships did not pose any threat to them, which gave them a sense of pleasure and allowed them to exercise their actual combat experience.

Driven by the high-speed oars, the warship reached a terrifying speed of 13 knots. Other merchant ships could not escape without the help of strong winds. Compared with the trireme warship, the size of the merchant ship was undoubtedly a child facing an adult. They were no match at all and soon capsized under the impact of the warships.

Broken ships, people calling for help, large and small cargos were floating everywhere on the sea... Seeing this tragic scene, the ships in the distance were frightened and fled in all directions. Soon, except for Dionia on the sea outside Lockli Port, No other ships could be seen outside the fleet.

Seclian led the fleet to cruise back and forth outside the port for several times before departing.

Lockery was angry about this, but was helpless because the Syracuseans took away their 30 triremes two days ago on the grounds of fighting against the Dionian fleet.Seeing the arrogant enemy ships outside the port, everyone had a bad feeling in their hearts.

"It seems that Syracuse's fleet has been defeated again!" Demodokas said with a gloomy look.

"Yes!" Panticapace said worriedly: "From now on, the Dionian warships will control the east coast, which will have a huge impact on our maritime trade! I am more worried about Syracuse He was also defeated by Dionia on land. You must know that the young governor of Dionia has returned to Thurii."

"It is impossible for the Syracusans to be defeated on land!" Demodocus retorted without hesitation: "You and I have both seen with our own eyes the Syracusans' army of more than 8 people, isn't it? Any Greek city-state can resist it, including Sparta!”

Having said that, Demodocus was still a little irritable in his heart. He knew very well that due to the support of Dionysius, Demodocus had controlled the supreme power of Locle for many years, which was de facto. "Tyrant".For this reason, he fiercely suppressed political opponents and brutally suppressed those who opposed him. The people were dissatisfied with him.During this time, this dissatisfaction intensified, because in order to ensure the supply of materials for the combat army and part of the Syracuse army, he levied a relatively high "war special tax" on the people of the city-state to increase treasury revenue to purchase war. supplies.Once the Syracuse army was defeated, it was difficult for him to imagine what those seemingly gentle and peaceful people would do under the instigation of his political enemies.
"The city is too empty now. If Dionia's army lands here, we will be in danger!" Demodokas suddenly said: "The troops stationed in Medema City must be transferred back."

Panticapace was stunned: "What should we do in Medema City?"

"Lijim's army has suffered heavy losses. Even if they want to attack Medema City, they will not be able to capture it quickly. We can provide reinforcements at any time." Demodokas replied.

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

The Dionian fleet continued to sail south and soon reached the southernmost tip of Magna Greece.

Sekerian's ship was at the forefront of the team, carefully leading the fleet around the tip of the peninsula, turning north and entering the Strait of Messina.

After sailing for a while, they approached Lijim.

It was already dusk now, and although Sekerian was more curious about the city of Messina, the port of Messina was at the narrowest point of the strait, at least a dozen miles away.

Previously, when the Syracuseans rebuilt the city of Messina that was destroyed by the Carthaginians, they moved the city site and the port was abandoned for a time, but it was soon dominated by the Syracuseans, Locle and their allies. The immigrants took it as their own and vigorously developed it.Before the outbreak of the Magna Graecia War, Syracuse also stationed a fleet to maintain port security, control ships entering and exiting the strait, and blockaded the port of Ligium.Although a few days ago, all the triremes in the Messina fleet were transferred to Xiliting to participate in the naval battle with Dionia. There were only more than 30 small and medium-sized warships left in the port, but this is not Lijim. Can fight against.If the Syracusans' clippers hadn't discovered the arrival of the Dionian fleet from a distance and quickly withdrew the warships to the port, the fleet led by Sekerian would have definitely seen Syracuse when it arrived at Lijim Port. Zha's warship was cruising outside the port, and a battle was inevitable.

Considering that it was already getting late and there were still matters assigned by King Davos to be handled, Sekerian temporarily resisted the urge to let the fleet continue heading north and took the lead to sail to Lijim Port.

The Lijim people hadn't seen foreign ships enter the port for two months. When they heard that Dionia's fleet was coming, they rushed out of the city and rushed to the port with great joy.

Under the guidance of the Lijim patrol ship, the Cyklian fleet entered the military port. The Dionysian sailors were still disembarking, and the Lijim people came over, surrounded the warship, and loudly asked about the battle situation outside.

No wonder they are so eager, because Lijim has been tightly blocked by the Syracuse fleet for more than a month, and they know nothing about the outside world.Generally speaking, it is difficult to completely blockade a coastal city. After all, warships cannot be soaked in seawater for a long time. They need to be repaired regularly, towed to the shore to bask in the sun, and to clean up shipworms. The door also needs to be ashore. Take a rest and have food and water.But Messina is too close to Ligem. The two cities are only a dozen miles apart across the strait, and the people of Syracuse are determined to completely blind the Ligem people, causing them to panic. , so the fleet stationed at the port of Messina was divided into several groups, taking turns to blockade Lijim without interruption.In addition, the land passage between Lijim and the outside world is blocked by Locri on the east side, and the army of Lockli is stationed in Medema City on the west, blocking the way. Since the failure of the last battle, Lijim-Taurina The coalition forces completely withdrew to the south of the Maro River.

Therefore, the arrival of the Dionian fleet gave the Lijim people a great surprise, especially when they learned that the Dionian fleet had completely defeated the Syracuse Navy and became the new controller of the coast near Magna Greece. There were bursts of cheers inside.The people of Lijim surrounded the Dionian sailors, singing and dancing, as if holding a celebration parade, and welcomed the Dionians into the city of Lijim in a lively manner.

That night, Atilicrus, the chief general of Lijim, hosted a banquet for Sekerian.

At the banquet, due to the request of the guests, Seclian told the story of the Battle of Taranto, which caused everyone to burst into cheers and admiration...

At this time, Atili Cruz coughed a few times and asked loudly: "General Sekerian, Lijim generously loaned all our triremes out of friendship to Dionia, even because There is no fleet and it has been blocked by the Syracuseans for a long time. Now that Dionia has successfully defeated the Syracuse Navy with our help, should we return our warships?"

　Thanks to Zhan Billy for the reward!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)