ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1005
Upon seeing this, subsequent warships also docked one after another, lowered the suspension bridge, and groups of Dionian Legion soldiers boarded the embankment one after another to join the battle.

Some warships directly bypassed Stefankas's ship and landed on the embankment further forward, trying to allow the legionnaires to surround the enemy from the rear.

In just a few minutes, hundreds of Dionian soldiers appeared on the natural breakwater bank, and many warships were approaching the bank one after another, while the city of Carthage, which was slowly hanging down the city by ropes, There were only a few dozen soldiers, and they were surrounded.

Ragnaka, who saw this scene on the city wall, was shocked and realized that he could not prevent the Dionians from landing on the embankment. He immediately stopped the soldiers from continuing to go down the city and decided to defend this section of the city wall on the natural breakwater.

Then, he saw through the light of the fire on the city wall: the Dionian soldiers who came up later lined up in a loose queue along the city wall in front of the lighthouse, and then each made a throwing motion, and countless javelins flew to the top of the city. , followed by screams.

Ragnaka suddenly remembered in panic that the Dionian heavy infantry could throw javelins. He had to change his mind again and asked the troops to quickly withdraw from this section of the city wall and concentrate his forces to guard the entrance to the natural breakwater - the tower door.

The Carthaginians retreated, and the mountain scouts who were struggling to hold on finally breathed a sigh of relief. They had no time to feel sad for their dead comrades, but took the time to treat their injured comrades, clean up the corpses in front of the lighthouse entrance, and then watched them come up from the tower. Legion soldiers continued to rush to the city.

One team member held the arrow shaft exposed outside his arm tightly, and another team member aimed a sharp dagger at the arrow. Terentus gritted his teeth and nodded towards him.

A cold light flashed, and the entire arrow shaft was cut off. Terentus breathed a sigh of relief and gently shook his painful left hand. Although the arrow tip was still in his arm, at least it was not in the way of movement.

"Terentus!" Heavy footsteps sounded behind him. After Terentus turned around to see the person clearly, he quickly performed a military salute: "Commander of the Matonis Army!"

"Congratulations on your great contribution to the kingdom! Next, our Second Legion will be responsible for the offensive task. You and your men will recuperate here. The medical battalion will arrive soon to treat you." Tonys looked at the arrow wound on his arm and said with concern.

"Yes!" Terentus responded respectfully. He thought for a moment and then reminded: "Commander Matonis, the tower door on the walkway of the city wall in front is more difficult to attack than the Carthage prisoners described. The long-range attacks on the towers on both sides pose a great threat to the soldiers, so be careful!"

"It's not easy to attack, but we have to attack. We are running out of time!" After Matonis said this, he strode up to the top of the wall.

Terentus understood the meaning of what Matonis said: Lilibi is too important to the Carthaginian army, and the attack of the Dionysian army is bound to alarm the Carthaginian military commander outside the city of Serinus Mago, if the city cannot be captured as soon as possible, Carthaginian reinforcements will definitely arrive from Selinus after dawn, and the night attack will fall short.

Thinking of this, Terentus couldn't stay any longer and followed Matonis' footsteps, wanting to watch the Second Legion conquer the tower gate with his own eyes.

As soon as Ragnaca led the Carthaginian soldiers to retreat to the gate of the tower, Ymisrei rushed to him angrily. When he saw him, he immediately questioned him, "Why did you retreat before the battle?! So easily let the enemy Control the lighthouse! Ragnaca, you are afraid of fighting and abandoned the breakwater. If Lilibi misses, you are not afraid of being interrogated by the Senate and crucified?!"

"Sir, the people of the Magonid family regard honor as their life, and will never be greedy for life or fear of death!" Ragnaka responded sternly: "The reason why I ordered the army to retreat is because Dionia landed on the embankment. There are too many people, and fighting there is very disadvantageous for us. In the short battle just now, we lost nearly 200 soldiers. If our troops suffered too heavy losses on the breakwater, we still have enough troops to defend the entire city. ! So it’s better to retreat and defend here. No matter how many people are transported by the Dionia warship, as long as we hold on until tomorrow, Lord Mago will arrive with his army, and we will win! "

Ragnaka's words reminded Yimiserei, and he asked: "How many soldiers came from Dionia?"

"Nearly 1 people!" Ragnaka said as much as possible.

Imisele was startled, thought for a while, and said decisively: "I will hand over the command of the entire Lilibi garrison to you. You must resist the attack of the Dionians and hold on until Lord Mago leads the army. Until then!"

"Please rest assured, sir, I will do my best to protect Lilibi!" Ragnaka immediately expressed his stance.

As soon as he finished speaking, the defenders in the artificial breakwater tower sent someone over again, and shouted eagerly: "Report, my lord, a large number of Dionian warships are coming outside the port!"

"What?! Are the Dionians really planning to concentrate their forces to attack Lilibi City from the port?!" Imisele was panicked.

Not only him, but the surrounding team officers and soldiers felt nervous.

Seeing this, Ragnakar smiled confidently: "The Dionians came by boat, it is impossible to carry large siege equipment, and the port area is narrow, no matter how many soldiers they come, they will not be able to use it." Take a good look, we have such a tall and strong city wall and complete defense facilities, not to mention sticking to it for a day, or a month, it will be very difficult for them to break into the city from the port."

"Moreover, it is a good thing that the Dionians are attacking from the port in large numbers. We all know that during this period, Lord Mago wanted to fight a decisive battle with the Dionians, but the Dionians were huddled in the city and camp. Here, they have always been unable to avoid the battle. Now they are finally here. This gives Lord Mago the opportunity to lead the army to annihilate them. It also gives us the opportunity to make meritorious deeds. This battle may determine our Carthage's victory in Sicily. !”

Ragnaka's words inspired the confidence of the people around him, and also made Yimisere feel that his decision just now was not wrong.

"General, the Dionians are coming!" shouted the team officer on the tower.

"You, immediately lead 500 soldiers to carry large rocks and completely block the tower door!"

"You, lead four teams of soldiers to collect a large amount of tar, wood, and stones and take them to the tower."

"You, line up your archers behind this tower gate, ready to shoot!"

……

While Ragnaca was making detailed arrangements, a unit of the Second Dionysian Legion slowly approached the tower gate in a tortoise formation on the aisle of the city wall. Countless arrows bypassed the tower gate like raindrops If you hit the long shield, you can't damage it in the slightest.

On the contrary, the javelins thrown hard by the Carthaginian light infantry on the tower hit the long shield with a loud bang, and even splashed sparks in the dark night. A few javelins penetrated the long shield, accompanied by the muffled groans of the legionnaires.However, with the mutual support of the Dionian soldiers, the integrity of the entire formation was still maintained.

As he approached the tower gate and endured another round of javelin throwing, the captain of the Dionia squadron shouted: "Remove the shield and throw it to the left!"

Too late but not too late, the legionnaires took off their long shields with their left hands and threw out the javelins already held in their right hands. Dozens of javelins flew towards the tower on the left, and the Carthaginian light thrown downwards was leaning out of the tower. The infantrymen were caught off guard and were stabbed one after another, screaming in agony. Some even fell out of the tower and hit the ground of the port.

After throwing a javelin to the tower on the left, the Dionysian team quickly threw a second javelin to the tower on the right without looking at the result, and the javelin attack of the Carthaginian light infantry on the right tower also came at the same time. It was too late to close the distance and raise the shield for protection. Six soldiers in the Dionian Legion unit were shot and fell immediately.

"Raise your shield and retreat!" the squad leader hurriedly ordered.

The Dionian soldiers raised their shields while dragging their injured comrades back.

At this time, several Carthaginian soldiers once again appeared on the left tower, and they threw the clay pots in their hands at the retreating Dionian soldiers.

The clay pot shattered and liquid splattered.

The faces of the Dionian soldiers changed: "It's asphalt! Go back, go back!"

Just as the Dionian soldiers retreated in a hurry, several burning torches fell near the clay pot, and a wall of fire suddenly ignited, turning several Dionian soldiers who were left behind into burning people...

Matonis, who was standing in the distance, saw all the detachment's attack and felt heartbroken. He shouted loudly: "Inform Tritias (Captain of the Light Infantry Brigade of the Second Army) immediately and let him know." He led the archers to the corner of the city wall and attacked the enemies on the two towers! And... hurry up and bring me the wood!"

"Legion Commander, the soldiers have carried the wood into the lighthouse, but the stairs are too narrow and it is difficult to transport it up... They are thinking of a way." The adjutant explained.

"I don't care what method they use, what I want is as soon as possible! Listen clearly, the wood is transported to the city as soon as possible! If it is delayed, don't blame me for military punishment!" Matonis shouted anxiously.

"I'm going to notify them right now!" The adjutant also felt the urgency of the situation. He turned around and ran into the tower, but was stopped by Matonis: "You also need to inform the engineering battalion and ask them to speed up and assemble the crossbow. Then carry them up to the city, I will use them to attack the two towers!"

"Yes!"

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

The warships of the Third Fleet entered the port of Lilibi, and Midorades breathed a sigh of relief. You must know that the Third Fleet had just arrived in the western waters of Sicily and was not familiar with the sea conditions here, and it was difficult to reach the sea from Palermos. There were many islands on the route to Lilibi, and it was a night voyage. Midorades was afraid that the warship would hit the rocks and sink, so not only did the entire fleet sail at a slower speed, but every warship was equipped with a Palermos weapon. The old sailor, who was in charge of navigation and guidance, was able to successfully reach the port of Lilibi, so he could finally rest assured.

(End of this chapter)