ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 545 Attack and Defense of Xiliting Camp ([-])

Tacitus looked at him with an innocent face and said solemnly: "It's not that I want to escape, but that the sailors don't want to fight. Even if I turn the rudder and the sailors are unwilling to row, this warship will be more likely to become Dio." Nia’s spoils!”

"Don't quibble, turn the rudder and go back! We must defeat the Dionians with all our strength, otherwise the Syracuse Navy will be finished!" the captain shouted sadly.

"It's better if it's over! If Syracuse is defeated, we won't have to be sent to fight in Magna Graecia anymore, let alone be levied war taxes!" A voice came from behind the captain.

The captain turned around and saw that it was the boatswain. He immediately pointed at him angrily and threatened: "You... how dare you do this? Aren't you afraid of the punishment of Lord Dionysius?"

The boatswain laughed: "Of course we are afraid, but the navy has been defeated. Can Dionysius come back?"

The captain was speechless for a moment.

Thesitis sighed.

The escape of this warship triggered a chain reaction. One after another, under the crazy attack of the Dionians, the warships followed and left the battlefield, eventually leading to the retreat of the entire Syracuse United Fleet...

"Lord Cyklian!!"

"General Sekerian!!"

……

Several Dionian warships rushed to the area where the flagship sank, and there were many sailors who fell into the water floating on the sea.

"Lord Cyklian is here!" Someone waved and shouted from the sea.

Sekerian was lying motionless on a piece of broken wood. His shoulder was hit by an arrow fired by an archer on the deck of an enemy ship, and he was dying.

Soon, he was carefully carried onto the warship.

After simply bandaging his wounds, he woke up in pain, and his first words were: "...are we winning or losing?"

"We are victorious, my lord!"

"...That's good." Sekerian put down the worries in his heart and said feebly: "...The fleet command is temporarily... temporarily handed over to Franios...after cleaning the battlefield...after rescuing our people. ...Return to Lijim immediately..." After saying that, he fell into a deep sleep.

The result of the Battle of Naxos (although the city of Naxos has been destroyed, this arc-shaped bay is still called Naxos Bay by the locals) was that the Dionian side sank 15 triremes. The Syracuse side sank 18 triremes and four other warships. The battle losses between the two sides were not much different, but the Syracuse Navy attempted to defeat the Dionian fleet and control the dominance of the Sicilian waters. , the strategic intention of the Dionian army that completely surrounded the town of Mayaro failed.

What's worse is that without the help of the crow suspension bridge, the Dionia fleet was able to defeat the superior Syracuse navy with fewer victories and more numbers. This greatly encouraged the confidence of the Dionia sailors and severely damaged them. Destroyed the morale of the Syracuse Navy.

Macias did not expect that for the second time in five years, he would witness the defeat of the Syracuse Navy, which had a numerical advantage, by the enemy on land. This made him more vigilant against the Dionian army, and strengthened his determination to continue attacking Meyaro, and wait for reinforcements to arrive tomorrow, and then concentrate all his efforts on attacking Meyaro.

Syracuse's ballistae units have been advancing forward. During this period, the counterattack by the six ballistae of the First Army was just a small episode. Without the protection of tall stone walls, nearly a hundred ballistae in Syracuse Under the concentrated bombardment, they were like stones thrown into a torrent. They just splashed some water and disappeared in an instant.

Syracuse's catapults advanced as far as the Alcantara River.Although the town of Meyaro was only established a few years ago, its area is not small, even larger than the city of Siculli. It is also blocked by the Alcantara River and its banks on both sides. Even if the Syracuse Ballista uses five The maximum range of the kilogram stone projectile can only cover 1/2 of the area in the town of Mearo. Therefore, Antonios ordered the First Legion and the exiles to retreat to the north of the town of Mearo to avoid being hit by the crossbows. To preserve strength.At the same time, he also ordered all the people, under the command of the engineering battalion, to urgently build a defensive earth wall to the south of the town using bricks, tiles and soil from destroyed houses.

Seeing that the range of the ballistae was limited and unable to completely destroy the town of Meyaro, Mathias was so cruel that he ordered the ballistae troops to replace the fire cans with fire cans in an attempt to eject them into the town, ignite a fire, burn down the town of Meyaro, and consume the enemy. The enemy's physical strength, demoralized the enemy, and even completely drove the enemy out of Mayaro, making it easier for the Syracuse army to attack.

Fortunately, while building the earth wall, the soldiers of the First Legion and the exiles dug a trench from east to west to facilitate the acquisition of earth, which prevented the spread of the fire and preserved the integrity of the residential area in the northern part of the town of Mayaro.
Syracuse's ballistae troops bombarded them non-stop for a whole day with stone bullets, short spears and cupping jars. Nearly half of the ballistae were damaged alone, and almost half of the town of Mearo was reduced to ruins. The fire continued until evening. It was still burning, but it provided convenience for the sentries of the First Legion to observe the enemy's movements and prevent sneak attacks.

However, more than 1 exiles and their families in the town gathered in a small area of ​​​​the town. The roar and fire throughout the day have made them physically and mentally exhausted.The same was true for the soldiers of the First Legion. Although the casualties were not large, such long-range attacks made the brave soldiers of the First Legion feel powerless, and at the same time increased their worries about tomorrow's war.

In this day's bombardment, the most tragic thing was the hundreds of young and middle-aged citizens of Sikuli who were captured but had not yet been released. Because everyone was busy dealing with the ballista attack from Syracuse, no one paid attention to these captured people. The prisoners who were imprisoned were all burned to death in the fire...

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

At dawn the next day, at the Dionia Central Army Camp outside Xiliting, a team of the Fourth Army was patrolling the wooden wall.

In early spring, when it turns warm and cold, and the rain begins to increase, there is often heavy fog in the early morning in southern Italy, which often does not dissipate until the morning. Xiliting is no exception. Especially today, it is filled with heavy fog. It was a vast expanse of fog, with people walking in it, and the fog was so thick that it seemed like you could reach out and grab a lump. You couldn't see people five meters away, and it was even difficult to breathe.

In such difficult weather, the soldiers not only did not slack off, but became even more vigilant.

Squad leader Ephialt repeatedly reminded the soldiers to cheer up and listen to what was going on outside the camp.Before the Syracusans invaded Magna Graecia, he was just a legionnaire. After the Battle of Crotone, the original squad leader was injured, and he was elected by his teammates to take over this position. Examples like this are in Dionia It is very common in the army. War will take the lives of countless soldiers, but it will also make real warriors stand out and take orders in times of danger.

Suddenly, a soldier shouted: "Captain, there seems to be a noise outside!"

Ephialt was startled and hurriedly signaled the soldiers to be silent. He grabbed the battlement, leaned out, and listened carefully.

Other soldiers also performed the same actions.

There seemed to be a small whispering noise ahead, but the thick fog made it difficult for everyone to hear it clearly and they were not sure.

Send a warning or not?Effialt was a little nervous under the gaze of the soldiers, because once the warning of "enemy attack" was issued, the entire Dionia camp and tens of thousands of soldiers would have to crawl out of the warm bed in this cold early morning and put on their clothes. They put on their armor, took out their shields and spears, and quickly gathered them together, immediately rushing to the designated defensive positions of each legion, each brigade, each company, and each detachment.This is still in normal times, and in a rare thick fog like today, such a large-scale emergency preparation operation will inevitably cause some chaos. If it is finally determined that there is no enemy attack, the responsibility faced by Efialt's team can be imagined.

Ephialt swallowed and said to his men: "Immediately notify the archers on each watchtower and ask them to shoot an arrow forward. You each stand in front of the watchtower and listen carefully to the movements outside the camp! "

Orders were quickly carried out.

Effialt looked back at the archers in the sentry tower three meters away from him, bending their bows and setting arrows. Shortly after the arrows were shot, they were swallowed up by the thick fog...

Effialt listened intently. A few minutes passed and there was no unusual movement outside the camp. He was temporarily relieved, but felt a little disappointed.

At this moment, a sharp scream diagonally ahead cut through the thick fog, and then came suddenly again.

"Captain, there are enemies!" a soldier not far away shouted urgently.

Effialt immediately became nervous and excited: "Notify the camp immediately!"

"Woo! Woo! Woo!..." The high-pitched bugle sounded through the Dionia camp, and the originally silent camp suddenly boiled...

Davos was also awakened by the roar. As soon as he turned over and sat up, Clerk Henepolis hurried in: "Your Majesty, the Syracuseans are attacking the camp!"

When Davos heard the news, he calmly opened the leather robe covering his body. The servants brought him clothes and armor. As he put them on, he said: "Dionysius finally left the city. They are here." how many people?"

"There is heavy fog outside now, and I don't know how many enemies are out of the city."

"Oh, heavy fog! Dionysius is very good at choosing time." With the help of his servant, Davos put the thick breastplate on his body, patted it with his hand, and felt that the tightness was just right: "Left , how is the situation in the two battalions on the right?"

"There has been no news yet. Could it be that -" Henipolis boldly guessed: "Dionysius concentrated his troops and focused on your Majesty's central camp?"

Davos smiled: "Good idea, but don't rush to conclusions. We just need to follow the previous deployment, guard the camp, and then slowly observe the enemy's movements."

"Do you need me to call Amyntas, Matonis and other corps commanders? Do you want your Majesty to deploy tasks and issue orders?!" Henipolis asked again.

　Thanks to BingHuo, Zhanbili, Candy Crush Saga, XYPA, and Handsome West Big Fat for their rewards!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)