ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 402 Choice
Kunogorata, standing on the steps in front of the Senate, looked back at everything in front of him. The harmony and stability of the square touched the painful memories in his heart, and his expression gradually became resolute: "It is very unfortunate that the Dionia Alliance can be what it is today. Easy, we must not allow the people of Syracuse to destroy it!"

Cornelus, who also has painful memories, is no longer as gentle as usual at this moment: "Even if we donate all the gold and silver, we must win this war! Only in this way can the people of Dionia have a future!"

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

Sekerian has been very busy these days. On the one hand, he has to reorganize the mixed fleet from all the allies that has just been gathered in Thurii, establish the affiliation of each squadron, arrange accommodation and food for the sailors, etc., and also maintain it. Warships, installation of "Raven" and many other matters; on the other hand, he also has to participate in and guide the construction of dry docks, the construction of naval ports, and the establishment of cordons to prevent anyone from approaching to watch naval training to avoid leaking secrets...

Now the section of the river from the port to the Temple of Hera has become a large construction site. Thousands of Dionian people are enthusiastically building and expanding the naval base. With the assistance of the Ministry of Military Affairs and the Thurii City Hall, Sekerian is relaxed Quite a few, but what worries him the most is: the two new legions have not yet been formed, and his new tactics cannot be practiced at all.

So when the news came that "Syracuse's army landed in Lochry, Syracuse's fleet of nearly 500 warships deployed in the sea north of Lochry to protect Syracuse's troop transport fleet", not only Despite Davos' original warning and plan, he didn't even have the slightest desire to fight in his heart.

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

At the headquarters of the South Italian League in Siliting, representatives of the city-states headed by Ansitanos put aside unnecessary quarrels when the crisis came and quickly reached an agreement: the city-states in the South Italian League would do their best to send out all possible personnel. As many armies as possible formed a coalition, and the commander of the coalition was temporarily Felicius.If Davos leads the expedition, the position of commander will naturally belong to him, but he is not here, so representatives of each city-state believe that Felicius's prestige is not enough to fully respect the leading generals of other city-states, and can only be a temporary replacement. And for any important decisions, Felicius must discuss them collectively with the generals of other city-states.In addition, the coalition forces can freely march, stay and build camps in any city-state or territory of the South Italian Alliance. Military food supply is provided by each city-state in proportion to its strength. Of course, Dionia has the most, Crotone, Lijim Naturally, there is quite a lot. Fortunately, it is only the end of October and the autumn harvest has just ended. Citizens of each city-state have sufficient food surplus. The reserve granaries in the Dionysian Alliance set up a few years ago are even full, so there is no food shortage for the time being. worries.

Once the agreement was reached, representatives of each city-state immediately returned to the city-state to urge the dispatch of troops, but only two people did not move.

Ansitanos was because Dionia had already prepared a plan before Davos left, and he only had to sit in Siliting and wait for the arrival of the fourth and fifth legions.

The other person is Corunnia’s messenger—Ulipatos.Because Coronia is already at the forefront of the battlefield, the entire Coronia has begun war mobilization to prepare to defend against the Syracuse attack.As an envoy, he has a heavy responsibility and must stay here to urge reinforcements from other city-states to rush to Coronia as soon as possible.

"Lord Ansitanos, are you sure that Dionia's army has set off?!" He asked again eagerly.

"When I came here from Asprostum City, our Fourth Army had already gathered soldiers in the square. Based on my understanding of our alliance army, they should be on the way now."

"That's good! That's good!" Yulipatos said, his whole body fidgeting like a sore on his butt, and then asked: "Then...then your fifth legion has also set off. ?!"

"The commander of the Fifth Army of Dionysia has no other hobbies. The only thing he likes is fighting. As soon as he receives an order, he will definitely summon the army and set off immediately. I even think that the departure time of the Fifth Army may be earlier than that of the Fourth Army. Good morning." Ancitanos said seriously.

Yulipatos felt a little calmer.

Ansitanos saw that he kept tapping his feet and tapping the wooden table with his right hand, looking worried. He couldn't help but remind him: "I suggest you go to the nearby municipal government to urge him. Office, seize the time to mobilize citizen soldiers."

Xiliting?Eulipatos was a little confused: According to the agreement reached, their army would not go to Coronia.

Ansitanos explained to him seriously: "Although Siritin, Trina and Crotone are responsible for defending the north bank of the Ramato River, if the Syracuse people really rush across the Ramato River, By going around to the north of Colonia, wouldn’t our South Italian Alliance’s plan to block the Syracuseans within the territory of Locri and its allies fail?”

Eulipatos immediately woke up after this reminder, stood up immediately and said: "You are right, I will go find Master Pletinis right now."

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

On this day in Locle, Dionysius encountered difficulties.

His original plan was for the entire fleet to sail north from Syracuse early in the morning, reach Lochry in one day, and complete the landing as soon as possible.So he specifically asked the most experienced sailors to choose a day when the main force of Dionia would go on an expedition to Potentia and it would be a calm day.

The huge fleet did arrive at Lockley smoothly, but then encountered a lot of trouble while entering the port.

Lochry does not have a natural harbor like Syracuse, which can easily accommodate thousands of ships as a temporary dock, and Lochry's port is not as large as Syracuse's, able to accommodate five or six ships at a time. One hundred ships is already its limit. At the same time, Lockley, as a city-state, has limited manpower after all. It has never handled a series of landing procedures such as arrival, unloading, transportation, offshore, and rotation of nearly [-] ships at the dock. , This requires sufficient labor, orderly organization, strong management, rich experience...Lowry does not have these.

Moreover, in order to keep it secret and achieve the purpose of a surprise attack, Dionysius sent a clipper to rule Locle the day before, so Locle was not fully prepared.

As a result, a large amount of materials were unloaded from the ship and could not be cleaned in time. They piled up at the dock, blocking the soldiers' access to the shore. The Syracuse soldiers were also asked to clean up by themselves. The soldiers, who had been drifting at sea for almost a day, were very tired and anxious. Rest, of course, hold your breath in your heart, and you will have conflicts with the workers at the dock if you disagree.

And the ships that have unloaded the cargo are eager to leave the dense gaps between the ships, and the ships that come to unload the cargo are eager to dock at the dock. How can the Lockry officials in charge of the dispatch take care of so many ships? As a result, the ships collide with each other and the crew members fall into the water from time to time. It can be seen that there have even been tragedies in which several ships were hit and eventually capsized due to damage to their hulls and flooding.

Outside the port, thousands of ships stayed on the sea. Both sailors and soldiers were very eager to go ashore to rest early. The ship owners were anxious to complete the task quickly and then leave because they were worried that although the sea conditions were now good, , but the climate in the Mediterranean is constantly changing. If a storm suddenly comes, all these ships will be knocked to the coast. Everyone will not even have room to escape, and they will be crushed together...

Dionysius was among the first to go ashore. Seeing the chaos that quickly fell into the port of Locri, he was extremely anxious and even became angry with his elder brother-in-law, Demodokas, who had come to greet him.

But it's useless to get angry. The problem is there and must be solved as soon as possible.Therefore, Dionysius had to strictly order the people who had already gone ashore to serve as laborers and follow the instructions of the Lockley port personnel to help move goods, clear the docks, and mediate conflicts.At the same time, he reluctantly issued an order for all troop transport ships outside the port to land on the beach near Lockley and let the soldiers disembark.

After issuing these instructions, Dionysius knew that the bad situation at Port Locri would be greatly improved, but a myriad of affairs would follow. Without two or three days of processing and repair, Syracuse's army I'm afraid it is impossible to send troops.

In order to be out of sight and out of mind, Dionysius left several generals and ministers responsible for coordinating and directing the landing. He took Phoebidas and other people out of the port and entered the city of Locri.

It was the first time for Phoebidus to come to Locle. He was carefully looking at the buildings in the city when he heard Dionysius ask softly: "Phoebidas, do you think our first attack target should be where is it?"

Phoebidus glanced at him, and then at the other people who were far behind them and separated by guards. He felt strange in his heart: because he had already expressed his feelings to the tyrant when he was in Syracuse. How come you haven't made up your mind yet?

So, he affirmed again: "My first choice is still Corunnia."

Hearing this, Dionysius fell silent: he understood Phoebus's intention, and took advantage of the fact that the city-states in the South Italian League were not ready for war, so that they could not achieve unity with a rapid attack.But the reason why he hesitated was not because the Syracuse army's landing in Magna Graecia was like a wolf entering a flock of sheep, but there were too many fat sheep and he didn't know which one to eat first, which made him suffer from difficulty in choosing. Because he already had a goal in mind, and that was Li Jim.

Lijim opposed him many times and even humiliated him, such as rejecting his proposal and marrying the woman he proposed to to Syracuse's enemy, the governor of Dionia, but these were only secondary reasons.The most important thing is Lijim's wealth and geographical location.

(End of this chapter)