ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 574 Agesilaus’s Expectations
When Dionysius saw the enemy in black helmets and black armor rushing up, his heart was half cold.Seeing that the situation was not good at this moment, they immediately blew the trumpet and retreated.

Antonios considered that the soldiers had not recovered their physical strength after marching all the way, so he did not order a pursuit, but let the troops rest on the spot.

Herolis, who had escaped the disaster, saw the Dionian soldiers taking off their armor, eating rations, and sitting and lying on the land in the city of Syracuse to rest, with mixed feelings in his heart.

But no matter what he thought in his heart, he always had a smile on his face at this moment, and said gratefully to Antonios: "Apollo bless you! Thank you for Dionia's timely assistance! Without you, it would be a trivial matter for us to sacrifice our lives, Syracuse Zacho will be reoccupied by the evil Dionysius, which will be a disaster for the people of Syracuse and for Dionia, who is fighting Dionysius!"

Antonios brought up the meaning of Herolis's words. Not only did he not care, but he answered seriously: "Dionysius is the maker of war, and the people of Dionysia and Syracuse who yearn for peace both I don’t want him to hold power again and provoke war. I brought my troops here with only one purpose - to expel him from Syracuse. As for what to do next, we will listen to your opinions."

Antonios' low profile made Herolis and others relax, so Herolis's response became much simpler: "General, I hope you can lead your troops and help us recapture Dionysius. The occupied main city."

Antonios immediately agreed to Herolis's request, and after letting the soldiers rest for a while, they immediately marched to the southeast of the city.

In fact, Dionysius had already led the mercenaries to retreat to Ortygia Island at this time.When he saw the Dionian Legion soldiers appearing, he knew that his army would not be able to resist in a short time.

He did not expect the Dionian reinforcements to come so quickly, and he always regretted it: after learning that Herolis and others defeated his pursuit force in the Epipolai Highlands last night, he should not have acted on the safe side. He was busy organizing slave soldiers and dividing Herolis' troops, which took a lot of his precious time.Instead, you should immediately lead all the mercenaries to Epipolai, completely eliminate Herolis and others, occupy the northern city wall of Syracuse, and block the passage of the Dionians southward!

It was too late to regret now. Dionysius' cautious character led to the final defeat. Seeing that the victory that was about to be won was spit out in the blink of an eye, he felt extremely regretful.

Antonios led the troops to advance quickly. He soon realized the vastness of the city of Syracuse, and of course the sparse population. This was probably related to the fact that Dionysius dispatched a large number of citizens, sailors and auxiliary personnel to the expedition to Magna Graecia. .

It took nearly an hour for the Dionysian coalition forces to arrive in the main city. The mercenaries who were driving and looting the people saw their arrival and hurriedly fled to Ortygia Island.

Herolis and others who arrived later were wailing because the entire square was covered with corpses and wounded. Most of them were family members of the rebels and the people who most firmly supported them.

Antonios led his army in pursuit to the isthmus of Ortygia Island, and saw the towering fortress and the tall and strong city wall behind it. In order to prevent too many casualties during the siege, he gave up the attack and retreated behind the newly built city wall.

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

Sparta also looked depressed.

Sparta was always fighting on two fronts.Archilidas led allied troops and mercenaries to continue fighting against the Persians in Asia Minor. The civil war in the Isthmus of Corinth in the Peloponnese Peninsula continued for a long time. Although the main force of the battle was either allied troops or mercenaries, the war continued. Bada's own citizens also suffered many casualties.

The Council of Elders had to order that citizens over 50 years old should also put on armor, pick up shields and spears, and serve as patrols in Sparta to prevent the helots from moving around.They even decided to hold a "hunting operation" in advance (that is, planned killing of helots to reduce their population and ensure the security of Sparta).

The clouds of war enveloped Sparta, and the people were in a state of high tension.

At this moment, Phoebias, who had returned to Sparta, met Agesilaus at the king's palace.

The Spartan king, who had already achieved great fame in Asia Minor, Central Greece, and the Isthmus of Corinth, had already won the respect of Spartan citizens. Some even called him "the Spartan hero after Lysander."But at this time, he looked a little tired. He was sitting on a wooden chair, straightening his right leg, and flexing the limp of his left leg. This was his habitual action, making it impossible to see the problem with his left leg. .He leaned over and listened carefully to Phoebedas' story about his experience with Dionysius in the Western Mediterranean.

The wooden chairs the two of them were sitting on were close to each other, which showed the importance he attached to Phoebus. Although there was no banquet with fruit or wine (in Syracuse, Phoebus often enjoyed such treatment), this was This simple environment made Phoebe Das feel more at ease.

Phoebidas tried his best to describe the entire process of the Magna Graecia war that he knew from a neutral perspective, and then picked up the crude clay pot next to him. The pot was filled with cool river water. He took a big sip and immediately felt... Some thirsty throats were moistened.

Agesilaus recalled Phoebeidas' narrative, imagining the battles fought by thousands of soldiers from both sides on the land of Great Greece. He couldn't help sighing: "I didn't expect The mighty Great Greek War is coming to an end in less than half a year, but the result is completely beyond our expectations!"

"Yes, no one thought that the weak Dionia would become the final winner!" Phoebidas also sighed with emotion. You must know that when Syracuse's army landed in Magna Greece, it was unstoppable. At that time, I was afraid that Spartan Da's elders were all worried that Syracuse would win too easily, including himself. Who knew that the result would be just the opposite? It is estimated that many Spartans were shocked.

"According to your judgment, is it possible for Syracuse to turn defeat into victory?" Agesilaus asked again with a hint of luck.After all, Syracuse has been Sparta's ally for many years. Its failure will mean the bankruptcy of Sparta's original Western Mediterranean strategy, and may lead to a complete change in Sparta's entire foreign strategy. For this reason, Teacher Agassiz has no choice but to Not cautious.

"It's basically impossible." Phoebidas answered directly, and then he hesitated and said: "Unless... God's blessing allows the plague to spread in the Dionian army..."

In the eyes of outsiders, during the years when Dionysius served as tyrant, Syracuse was attacked twice by the Carthaginians (the first time was not long after Dionysius took office as general general, about A.D. 406 BC), the result was that the Carthaginians were infected with the plague and were eventually defeated. It seemed to outsiders that Dionysius was also blessed by the gods, but in fact the port of Syracuse To the south of the region, there were a large number of swamps near the Anapus River. Every time the Carthaginian army camped nearby, a large number of mosquitoes found many hosts for spreading bacteria.

For the Dionian army, the possibility of plague is extremely small, because the "Dionian Military Law" requires that the army shall not camp near mosquito breeding areas.After a battle occurs, the bodies of both the enemy and ourselves must be cremated and buried in a timely manner.Soldiers had to drink boiled water.Moreover, the baggage camp carries lime (produced from the Turiyi quarry). After the camp is established, unclean places in and around the camp must be sprinkled with disinfectant...

Davos, who came from his previous life, certainly knew the cause of the plague, and took so many measures to basically minimize this possibility.
Of course Agesilaus would not know this, but a mature commander would never pin his hopes on "unpredictable gods". The words of Phoebeidas actually closed the coffin for the outcome of the Great Greek War The verdict is finalized.

Agesilaus tapped his left leg with his left fist a few times with a solemn expression, and asked: "Do you think Dionysius can defeat those rebels and regain the rights of Syracuse?"

"It's difficult!" Although Phoebidas had been with Dionysius for several months and had only met the rebels once, he still said matter-of-factly: "Dionysius lost his strong and loyal The mercenary force lost his huge navy, and also abandoned the army and became a deserter. Not only the people of Syracuse abandoned him, but most of the allies in Syracuse also abandoned him, not to mention Dio. Nea's army is stationed in the city-state near Syracuse. Dionysius is surrounded by enemies and isolated, unless we, Sparta, send reinforcements to support him!"

"Sparta has no reinforcements to send." Agesilaus said simply.

This was expected by Phoebus.

"What a pity. We have supported Dionysius for so many years, but in the end..." Agesilaus sighed, with a look of regret on his face.

"We can instead support the Syracuse rebels. Their leader promised me that they are willing to continue to make Syracuse an alliance with us, Sparta, and send reinforcements to us after the Magna Graecia War to help We defeated those allies who rebelled against Sparta."

Phoebus's words did not make Agesilaus happy. He pondered and said: "For us, this is a last resort. But... this new Syracuse regime probably implements democracy. System."

Phoebidas recalled the "nearly ten generals" he saw at Syracuse City Hall, nodded and said, "Probably so."

"The democratic system is very uncertain. Ignorant people can easily be incited by people with good intentions and suddenly force the leadership of Syracuse to tear up their alliance with us... This is why the Council of Elders was willing to negotiate with Dionysius. Reasons for the cooperation of tyrants." Agesilaus expressed his concern.

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(End of this chapter)