ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 406 Dionysius’ anger and Phoebidas’ hatred

"Sobokos, what happened?" Felicius asked hurriedly when he saw his serious expression.

"Commander." Sobokos, who was already in his 50s, still had strong skills and a loud voice. He gave a military salute simply: "My scout reported that about 500 cavalry came from the south and were approaching the camp. .”

"Are they from Syracuda?" Felicius asked in a deep voice.

"I think it should be...those cavalry have no protection and are good at throwing javelins. They are very different from the previous Greek cavalry." Sobokos answered seriously.

"Then what are you waiting for! Send your cavalry quickly and drive these Syracuseans away! Don't let them interfere with our soldiers building camps." Dracos said immediately.

Sobokos was a little embarrassed and said in a low voice: "Our cavalry may not be their opponents...According to the reports from the scouts, their horse control skills are very superb, and their javelin throwing is also quite accurate. Our ten cavalry were defeated by them." We were chasing after them at a distance of 50 meters. They threw a javelin, and we lost... five brothers..."

"The cavalry of Syracuse are so powerful?!" Epithenis was a little surprised. He knew the strength of the Dionysian cavalry regiment. Due to regular training, whether it was riding skills, fighting skills, or tactical execution, He felt that he was much stronger than the cavalry of those Greek city-states.

"Maybe they were cavalry hired by Syracuse. When Syracuse was at war with Carthage, it was said that they had hired Celtic and Numibian cavalry. They were all races that grew up on horses. It's normal for us to be better at riding than us... Lord Davos reminded me before I came here." Felicius said solemnly.

"Then let the light infantry brigade of our Fifth Legion go out with Sobokos and your cavalry to drive away these cavalry!" Dracos made a decisive suggestion.

Felicius nodded in agreement.

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Dionysius led his men to move forward. When they approached the city of Coronia, they saw a spectacular sight a few hundred meters away: thousands of men wielding picks and shovels on the vast flat land. Digging trenches, transporting soil, building earthen forts, and some building wooden fences and sentry towers... Everyone is busy, but they appear to be in order.This busy construction site is not the only one in front of you. It extends east and west, threatening to block access to the coast on this side of the mountain range.

Dionysius, Phoebus, Fasipesus and Astagras fell silent for a moment when they saw this.

After a long while, Dionysius pointed to the Dionysian camp under construction ahead, and said to Fasipesas and Astageras in a reproachful tone: "Look at them, and then look at the camp you are leading. army!"

Fasipesas and Astagras looked ashamed. They understood what Dionysius meant: they also arrived in a hurry, and the Dionians were able to build the camp regardless of fatigue, while Syracuse The army camp was not called a camp at all. It was messy and disorderly. The soldiers were sleeping peacefully in the tents they had set up haphazardly...

"My lord, the Dionians built their camps desperately to defend against our attack, and no one dared to attack our army, so—" Astagoras just wanted to defend himself, but Dionys Hughes interrupted sharply: "So the troops you lead can sleep peacefully and wait for the Greeks to surrender!"

The reason why Dionysius was angry was that in the past few years, on the one hand, he learned some of the strengths of the Dionysian army based on the intelligence from Dionia; on the other hand, Syracuse and Carthage Some problems in the base operations also prompted him to reform the Syracuse army.He clearly organized the heavy infantry, cavalry, infantry, cavalry, siege troops and navy into separate organizations to coordinate operations under unified and more effective command.In order to enable generals and soldiers to use new tactics proficiently, he also studied Dionia, increased the number of military training for citizens, and formulated stricter military regulations to ensure that the army could implement them.After these reforms, Syracuse will always have the upper hand in the second war with Carthage.But the scene in front of him made him feel the gap in spiritual will and order execution between his army and the Dionian soldiers. Therefore, the fire originated from his jealousy and anxiety, and Astagras was just a tool for him to vent his anger. That’s all.

This was indeed a bit unfair to Astagras, but when he wanted to defend himself, Fasipesas, another important general of Syracuse, tugged at his clothes and said respectfully: "My lord Don’t worry, we will gather the troops when we get back and let them rebuild the camp.”

Dionysius' expression brightened slightly.

At this time, Axirita, the leader of the Numibian mercenaries, stepped forward and said, "My lord, the enemy is building a camp now. This is a good opportunity for a sneak attack. Let me lead the tribe to charge for a while."

Before Dionysius answered, Phoebe Das, who had been closely observing the Dionysian camp, said, "Don't rush, the Dionysian army is coming."

I saw several groups of cavalry and infantry pouring out of several passages reserved for the Dionysian camp under construction. They quickly formed a formation at the front of the camp, with cavalry on both sides and light infantry in the middle. Then they marched towards Dionysian without hesitation. Hughes and the others marched.

"It's useless no matter how many Dionians come. Sir, please allow me to lead my people to attack. I will let my warriors go around their flanks first, attack their cavalry, disrupt their formation, and then Take advantage of the chaos to attack the light infantry among them, and let them taste the power of the Numibian cavalry!"

"We should go back!" Phoebus said suddenly, with a hint of panic in his voice.

Dionysius glanced at him in surprise. This was the first time since his departure from Syracuse that he had seen this cold and straightforward Spartan lose his temper.However, as the commander of the army, he had more important things to do, and there was no need to get entangled with the enemy's small forces at this time.So he listened to Phoebus's advice and ordered to return.

Although Axilita was unruly, he was still full of awe of his employer who kept his temper and anger secret. He helplessly called back the Numibian cavalry who were eager to try, and followed Dionysius.

When Felicius learned the news of the enemy's retreat, he said seriously to the two army commanders: "You have all seen that Syracuse's army will attack soon, and we must build the camp as soon as possible!"

Epithenes had no objection this time.

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On the way back to Locle, Dionysius asked: "Phoebidas, now that the Dionians are building a camp in Coronia, they obviously want to defend us from attacking northward. What do you think we will do next?" How to do?"

"We must not let the Dionians build a strong camp here and use the narrow terrain to offset our numerical advantage and waste our time! We must invade the territory of the city-states of Trina and Siliting as soon as possible, where The terrain is wide, which is conducive to our army's combat. We can force them to engage in a head-on battle with us, then defeat them and occupy their city! In this way, Dionia has no helpers, and the main force is still trapped in Potentia , is our chance to eliminate them!" When he said the last sentence, Phoebus's expression was even a little ferocious.

Dionysius looked at him curiously. Although he didn't understand why Phoebidas suddenly had a bad feeling for the Dionysians, this was exactly what he wanted.

So, after pondering for a long time, he made up his mind, called the leading generals, and issued an order in a deep voice: "Astagras, Fasipesas, you should reorganize the army immediately after you return. Tomorrow! I can do it tomorrow. Attack Corunnia and Trina!”

"Yes, my lord!"

Phoebidas listened to their conversation and was happy to see Dionysius making arrangements according to his suggestions, but he still replayed the scene he just saw over and over again in his mind: whether it was cavalry or light infantry, The Dionians are all uniformly black, and he can even vaguely see that the leather shields of their cavalry all seem to have the same pattern painted on them. Although the Dionian heavy infantry is not seen, the light infantry and cavalry are still like this. , the uniforms of heavy infantry must also be quite uniform.

Dionysius had obtained detailed information about the Dionian army in advance and was not too surprised.But for the Spartan Phoebus, through Dionia's uniform attire and the oppressive black color, he saw something deeper.

When citizens of Athens, Corinth, Thebes and other city-states showed off their colorful artistic aesthetics and entertainment, they even painted a variety of exquisite patterns on round shields that had not been used for half a year and accumulated dust to show their personality and The Spartan snickered secretly as he tasted it.Because since the regent of Sparta came to Cugu to implement reforms a hundred years ago, they have been trained under whips and sticks since they were young. In a hundred years of war, they have already summed up the essence of war: that is, not caring about any means, just for the end. victory!

The Spartans claimed to be descendants of Hercules, but in fact they worshiped wolves more.Their army fights like a pack of wolves, emphasizing discipline, unity and psychological deterrence. Even if each individual has a strong fighting ability, individuals are never allowed to fight alone.

Therefore, when other city-state armies fought with Sparta, what they saw were rows of dazzling copper and iron walls (because Spartan warriors had to wipe their shields and spears until they were shiny during battle) and dyed A scarlet cloak the same color as blood, and the uniform "∧" logo on the round shield.

(End of this chapter)