ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 948 Offensive Strategy against Syracuse
Davos had no doubt about Sipulos' ability, so he just made a few remarks, then looked away, looked forward, and said in a heavy tone: "Everyone, before we march towards the Carthaginian army, we There is one important thing to do for all the soldiers who are about to fight the enemy - go to Paragonia to pay tribute and pay tribute to the first battalion of the [-]th Legion who tenaciously defended the city of Paragonia and eventually all died heroically. And all the soldiers of Katanai's two reserve brigades!"

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After the military meeting, Davos left Sipulos and Leotizides alone and expressed his sincere thanks to them for carrying on their own mission when the main force of Dionysia was unable to reinforce Sicily. Taking on the heavy responsibility of defense, he not only successfully resisted the invasion of the Carthaginian army and ensured the integrity of the Sicilian territory, but also caused a lot of damage to the Carthaginians, which greatly exceeded Daves' expectations.

In the face of Davos' unstinting praise, Sipulos behaved very modestly: "We in Sicily were able to hold on until your Majesty led your troops to arrive. Lord Prosaus made the greatest contribution. If he hadn't decisively attacked, we would have been defeated in Mino." Adam defeated the Carthaginians, captured Selinus, and disrupted the entire west—"

Leotizides interjected: "Without the full support and guarantee of Sir Sipulus, I would not dare to lead the army to attack rashly, especially since the Carthaginian army later invaded the Catania plain. It was only because of Lord Sipros’ understanding and comforting the people in the city that I was able to hold on to Katanai until today…”

Davos looked at the two of them with a smile and said: "They say that Proseus is difficult to approach and difficult to deal with. I think you cooperate very well!"

Sipulos looked at Leotizides and defended him: "Your Majesty, everyone may have misunderstood this. Lord Proseus is not sociable just because he devoted all his energy to military research. On."

"Of course I know that." Davos smiled, and then led the topic to the next battle: "What do you think about the attack on Syracuse?"

After staying in Catanay for so many years, Leotizides certainly spent his spare time thinking about how to attack this close neighbor who had many disputes with Catanay. He even went south in disguise several times to secretly survey Syracuse. After receiving the appointment from Davos, he had already initially conceived an attack plan in his mind, so he immediately said: "Your Majesty, according to past intelligence, Syracuse can organize at least 2 troops. , and if it is to defend the city, the number of soldiers will only be more. However, the citizens of Syracuse lack sufficient military training, and they have basically not experienced major wars for more than ten years, and they lack sufficient combat experience. They decisively They dare not go out of the city to fight us, but will only defend the city. Although the wall of Syracuse is tall and strong, I am confident that it can be captured——"

Having said this, Leotizides turned back and shouted to his adjutant Tagru who was waiting outside the door: "Go get the Syracuse city defense map from my room!"

Leotizides suddenly shouted loudly in front of Davos. This behavior was extremely disrespectful, but Davos didn't care. He even stopped Henipolis from reprimanding him. He listened carefully and was already intoxicated. The story of a thinking young commander.

"Since Your Majesty will lead the army to the west to fight against the Carthaginians, there is no threat from the Carthaginians in the east for the time being. In addition, it is the off-season for farming. We can travel from Naxos, Siculli, Catanai, Leotini, Taunis, Sikelians, and even Agrigento, Gela and other fleeing people gathered more men to participate in the siege of Syracuse nearby..."

While Leotizides was talking endlessly about his thoughts, Taglu had already brought the wooden map. He immediately put it on the table, pointed at it, and said: "Your Majesty, please look at it! Scylla Kuza is a large city with a large area and a large wall length, but more than half of it is built on the coast and hills. There are two main sections that are really suitable for large armies to attack the city. One section is the east wall, which is mainly The Hekesa Gate and its nearby wall section, not far from Taunis, are about one mile in length; the other section is on the west wall, from Puska Gate southward to the main port of Syracuse, and is about four miles in length. Rideau...

The siege plan I envision is... to camp here with the main force composed of the Seventh and Eighth Legions -" Leotizides pointed to the area between the west of Syracuse and the Alapus River on the map. Flat areas.

"There is Lysimiele Swamp nearby! It is easy for soldiers to contract diseases!" Sipulos, who also looked closely at the map, changed his face and reminded loudly: "You must know that the Carthaginian army attacked Thera twice before. Everyone under Kuza City was tortured by the plague, which ultimately led to a disastrous defeat."

"Of course I know the dangers of the Lucimerai swamp." Leotizides explained with confidence: "It is almost November now, the weather is getting cooler, and the mosquitoes have decreased. In addition, the civilians in Syracuse have been constantly The area of ​​the swamp is much smaller than it was 11 years ago. Besides, our legionnaires have camping training on how to deal with such harsh terrain in their daily military training. I don’t think it will be helpful What a problem the presence of troops creates! . . . "

When Davos heard this, he remembered the Samnite battle report he had received when he was in Rome: Alexis led the army into the mountains and also stationed near the swamp, and there were no major problems.

Therefore, he said in agreement: "As long as you are well prepared, I think it won't be a problem for the army to be stationed here. You can continue."

"Another army composed of some reserve soldiers from our Sicilian territory, allies and friendly soldiers is stationed near Taunis. According to the covenant, the commander of such a mixed force must be a Dionysian general, and The current senior generals basically have their own appointments. In order to ensure that the attack to the east of Syracuse can be carried out well, I think..." Leotizides hesitated for a rare moment: "Can you let Brelu Take this position temporarily?”

When he said these words, both Davos and Sipulos were surprised.

Davos looked at him meaningfully and thought: They all said that Proseus was cold, but he didn't expect him to be quite humane. He wanted to use this opportunity to make Brelu meritorious and reduce the public's accusations against him, so that he could be better in the future. Penalties can be reduced after the war.

Being watched by Davos like this, Leotizides felt slightly unnatural. The reason why he made this suggestion was, on the one hand, to meet the needs of the next battle, and more importantly, to make up for the guilt in his heart, because in this battle During the military meeting, he suddenly realized: With the Carthaginian army pressing down, no matter who was in Brelu's position, they would face the same dilemma. Brelu led the Seventh Army to help, which just happened to hold the tank for him.

Davos coughed dryly: "I can understand your desire to help Brem. But if you let him lead the army, it will confuse everyone, and then the previous punishment will be meaningless, so I can't agree. The eastern army The commander can be Xantiparis. He led mixed armies to conquer Samnite towns several times in Campania and should have considerable experience in this. During the attack on Syracuse, you temporarily perform the first task for him. The position of commander of the Seventh Legion.”

"Yes." Leotizides responded with an unchanging expression, and continued: "I heard that when His Majesty led the army to land in Catanai, there was also a team of several engineers and highly skilled craftsmen in the team. An engineering team of one hundred people, I hope your majesty will allow this team to assist us in manufacturing various siege equipment to make it easier for the soldiers to attack the city, thereby putting more pressure on the people of Syracuse."

"Of course that's no problem." Davers nodded in agreement, and then asked: "The focus of your attack is on these two wall sections, but I'm afraid you won't neglect the other wall sections of Syracuse City. ?”

He is indeed a famous general who has won every battle, and his senses are quite sharp!Leotizides changed his mind and said immediately: "Except for the city wall on the coast, the other wall sections are built on high ground. It is relatively difficult to attack, but I will also send soldiers to attack and disperse the Syracuse people. strength, and at the same time confuse them..."

On the map, the east and west sections of the city wall of Syracuse extend along the edge of the Epipole Highlands, diagonally extending to the north, and finally merge together, looking like a pointed hat, and the columns Ortizides' hand was pointing to the intersection of the two city walls, and he said in a deep voice: "It is said that it was when Athens besieged Syracuse that the Syracusans realized that they must not let the enemy occupy the commanding heights of the city. ——Epipole Highlands, so after Dionysius became the tyrant, he mobilized the people of Syracuse and surrounded the entire Epipole Highlands with walls and became part of the city. The highest in this city The place is here - the west side of the Eurealus Peak.

Dionysius called this place the 'key' to Epipolae and the entire city of Syracuse, so he originally built a fortress here.However, the Epipole area is already sparsely populated, and it is even more uninhabited because it is 5 or 6 miles away from the main city of Syracuse and the transportation is very inconvenient, although Dionysius believes that its location is very important. , but no enemy has ever attacked here over the years, and the Syracuseans don't seem to pay much attention to it.

I have carefully inspected this place several times. The city wall on the west side of Mount Euryalus has been in disrepair for many years. The number of sentries on the city has never exceeded 10, and most of these sentries stay in the fortress and rarely patrol the entire wall section regularly. , it seems that they are very confident in the city wall defense in this area.But in fact, the height of the slope on the west side of Euryalus is no more than 200 meters, and it is not difficult to climb——"

(End of this chapter)