ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 405 Dionian Warriors
"Sir, do you already have a plan?" Antonios asked hurriedly.

Davos looked at the two legion commanders with bright eyes: "Judging from how the Samnites treated the Third Legion, their commander is a decisive and very capable person. In addition, The Samnites are quite arrogant, so..."

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Syracuse's army worked hard all night, and accidents occurred frequently.Therefore, on the second day, almost all the soldiers were resting.

The Syracuse army's camp stretched for more than ten miles, occupying all the open space from the mountains on the west side of Locri to the coast, and also blocked the traffic from the north to the south.It was said to be a camp, but it was actually a hastily built tent by the soldiers. There were not even simple fences or earthen barriers around the perimeter, so there was no protection at all.Of course, the neighboring hostile city-states Corunnia and Taurina to the west of the mountains had long been frightened by Syracuse's huge military strength. Self-protection was not enough, so how could they dare to take the initiative to attack.

At noon, Dionysius woke up from his deep sleep. He had just had breakfast and was about to discuss sending troops with his relative Demodokas when he received an urgent report from the guards: there was a presence in Coronia. About [-] South Italian Alliance troops!

Dionysius was shocked: As soon as his army arrived in Lochry, reinforcements from the South Italian Alliance arrived. How could it be so fast?Unless the enemy already knew that he would set out on that day, so he made preparations in advance.But how is this possible?He also decided to go out based on when the Samnites attacked Potentia and when Davos of Dionia led his army to leave Thurii.There was only two days between the arrangement of the expedition and the departure of the fleet (although the army had already begun to gather outside Syracuse and the fleet had been prepared for a long time, it had not moved yet). It was such a short period of time. It was impossible for these city-states in Greater Greece to respond so quickly, so he decided to go find out personally.

As the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius was not a behind-the-scenes manipulator who only played tricks. He was once a hero who fought against the invasion of Carthage, otherwise he would not have been panicked when Syracuse was in danger. The people had high hopes, and he was eventually elected as a general with all power.Even after he was firmly on the throne of the tyrant and no longer needed to personally charge into battle, he still took the lead from time to time to set an example.A few years ago, when he led his army to attack the important Carthaginian town of Mortia in Sicily and was unable to capture it for a long time, he heard from the surrendered soldiers that "there is a secret passage that can directly reach the core area of ​​Mortia." He immediately led 2000 suicide squads and climbed the steep back mountain trails in an attempt to raid the Motians. Unfortunately, he was discovered by the enemy and was besieged. Fortunately, he was rescued by his subordinates and the blessing of the goddess of fate. He was able to escape. disaster.

At this moment, he quickly brought with him the military advisor Phoebus, the important generals Fasipesas and Astagras of Syracuse, the leader of the Numibian mercenary Asirita, and 500 Nuns. The Mibia cavalry galloped north.

It was more than 60 miles from Locri to Coronia. Along the narrow and winding coast, the war horses walked on some bad and undulating mud roads. After two hours, they entered the territory of Coronia, and then Dionysius Hughes saw the enemy cavalry patrolling ahead.

Seeing their all-black attire, Dionysius, who had already carefully studied the armies of the Magna Graecia city-states, immediately made a judgment: "They are the cavalry of Dionia!"

Hearing this, Phoebidas, who was also surprised as to why the South Italian League's reinforcements came so quickly, seemed to have the answer: He had been paying attention to this alliance of Magna Greek city-states that had humiliated him in the past few years. The Dionysian army also understands that this alliance, which like Sparta attaches great importance to military affairs, is indeed very different from other Greek city-states in terms of military affairs, and it is possible to arrive quickly.

The Numibian mercenary leader Axilita blew a few whistles, and 30 Numibian cavalry rushed over. The ten Dionian scouts turned around and ran away.

The two sides began to chase, and the Numibian cavalry actually let the distance get closer and closer. They saw that their legs were tightly clamped on the horse's belly. During such a fast gallop, they did not use their hands to pull the horse's reins, but freed up their hands. , holding several javelins in his left hand, he took out one with his right hand, leaned back slightly, and then threw it with all his strength.

More than a dozen javelins crisscrossed in the air, followed by several screams. Three Dionian cavalry were hit by javelins and fell off their horses. Two more horses were hit by javelins and jumped wildly, knocking the cavalry on their backs. Fell down.

In just one encounter, the ten Dionian scouts were reduced by half, causing the remaining Dionian cavalry to desperately run towards the camp.

The Numibians captured two horsemen alive and brought them before Dionysius.

Dionysius sat high on his horse, looked down at them, and said coldly: "Tell me, how many soldiers have come from the Dionians? Who is leading the army? What is the battle plan in Coronia? Who said If it’s good and the most detailed, I’ll let him go.”

The two Dionian prisoners looked at each other without speaking.

Dionysius didn't have the patience to wait for the two unknown men to speak, and snorted coldly: "Since you don't say anything, let the Numibians send you across the River Styx! Axirita!"

"Lord Dionysius, I'm here!" Axilita smiled ferociously, showing his jagged yellow teeth, and his long unkempt hair covered most of his face. He jumped off the horse and took out the hair from his waist. Dagger, as he approached step by step, one of the prisoners began to become nervous.

When Akhilita grabbed his shoulders and pointed the sharp sword tip at his throat, he shouted in panic: "I said! I said!"

Axirita looked back at Dionysius, and Dionysius nodded.

He released the prisoner and waited for him to speak again.

At this time, another prisoner shouted loudly: "Lasibulus, are you crazy! Do you want your family and children to never be able to hold their heads up and be despised in Thurii! Do you want to die? Unable to pass the judgment of Hades, the soul is pushed into the terrifying hell of mountains of swords and seas of fire!..."

"What are you waiting for!" Dionysius shouted hurriedly when he saw that the hesitation and anxiety on the prisoner's face was dissipating after hearing his companion's call.

Axilita immediately charged at the other prisoner with his sword in hand.

The soldier looked at the Numibian men who were charging towards him with a calm expression, and shouted to his teammates: "I'll wait for you at the Elysee!"

The sharp sword cut his neck, and blood spurted out like spring water, but he did not cry out in pain, gritted his teeth, and finally fell straight down.

Lacibulus looked sad, but his eyes became determined. He closed his eyes, straightened his chest, and shouted loudly: "Come on, give me a sword! My name will be on the Hall of Valor!"

Achilleta looked at Dionysius again.

Dionysius became inexplicably irritable, waved his hand vigorously, and then rode forward.

Phoebidas watched the prisoner being executed, then caught up with him on horseback, and sighed at the same time: "What two warriors! If the Dionian soldiers were like them, this war would be difficult to fight!" You must know that in the wars between Greek city-states, most of the two sides were ordinary citizen soldiers. Once the war went unfavorable, it was easy to flee. It was common to surrender when caught. For example, Leonidas led 300 Spartan warriors to defend Thermopylae. It is rare that everyone dies in the end.Now in addition to Sparta, there is also Dionia, how can Phoebidas not be shocked.

"That Davos boasted that he was the 'favored one' of Hades, and these stupid Greeks actually believed it!" Dionysius said angrily, and then he emphasized again: "The outcome of a war is determined by strength. Counterfeiting gods cannot change the situation of the war!"

Phoebus didn't speak, but he felt uneasy in his heart.

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"Commander, you see our legion has been marching since yesterday and building camps at night. We rushed to Corunnia early this morning and haven't had much rest yet. Can we just build trenches and earthen forts today? , let the brothers have a good sleep and improve the camp tomorrow?" Epithenes requested Felicius.

Felicius was a little hesitant. Of course he could see the exhaustion of the soldiers, but now he was at the forefront of the battlefield, and Syracuse's army might overwhelm him at any time. According to the "Dionian Military Law", it was necessary to step up Build a strong camp.So he turned his head and asked Drakes, the commander of the Fifth Army sitting on the other side: "What do you think?"

Of course Dracos answered without hesitation: "No matter how tired they are, the soldiers must build camps according to military regulations and have a good rest at night."

"If your army continues to work, you can do it yourself. Our army dug a camp for your army all night last night. Of course, it is much more tiring than you!" Epithenis glanced at Dracos and said dissatisfied.

"Okay, okay!" Felicius hurriedly came out to smooth things over: "Brothers are indeed very tired, but..."

Felicius was thinking about how to express his decision in more tactful words when he saw Sobokos, the captain of the cavalry legion, rushing over.

While Davos reformed the heavy infantry corps, he also upgraded the original cavalry brigade to a corps.Cavalry, unlike infantry, was small in number and expensive, and only citizens with war horses could do the job.Davers set up the headquarters of the cavalry regiment in Thurii, and sent training officers to various cities in peacetime. The cavalry was organized and trained as planned. During wartime, it was concentrated and assigned to commanders in various theaters according to the needs of the battlefield situation.Up to now, the cavalry legion has a total of 2000 cavalry. The legion commander Ledes has four subordinate captains. Each captain leads 500 cavalry (for the military strength of the Magna Greek city-state, 500 cavalry is already a considerable number. assault force).This time Davos went to Potentia and took away 500 cavalry from two brigades. 500 cavalry were sent to the southern front and were under the command of Felicius. Only [-] cavalry were left behind in Thurii to patrol the coastline. Prevent enemy surprise landings.

(End of this chapter)