ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 474 Syracuse’s Response

At this time, Dionysius glanced at the people in the tent, and his eyes fell on a person in the corner: "Androsthenes, what's going on with you?! The Dionysian fleet used such a strange device, You didn’t realize that your fleet suffered such heavy losses, do you think you should be punished?!”

Androsthenes suddenly turned pale.In fact, the intelligence chief of the entire Syracuse was Hyparinus, and he was just one of the leaders, following the army on the expedition.The Dionian fleet was already training new tactics before the war began. Androstheni remembered the intelligence coming from Thurii at the time and said that the Dionian fleet was conducting closed training in the Craty River.It's just that neither Dionysius nor Hyparinus took it to heart. At most, they paid attention to the number of Dionysian triremes, who the generals were, etc. After all, Scylla Kuza's advantage in the navy was too great, and no one took Dionia's humble fleet seriously.

Who knew that now Dionysius seemed to be placing all the blame for this failure on Androsthenes, but he did not dare to refute, because he was neither the tyrant's brother nor his father-in-law?
Androsthenes cursed secretly in his heart, but said with fear on his face: "Sir, I...I..."

Dionysius waved his hand: "Your guilt will be investigated in detail after the war is over! From now on, you must collect information about Dionysia more carefully, and there must be no more omissions, you know! "

Although Dionysius hated his brother's incompetence, he had to defend him, because defending him was to maintain his own dignity.Therefore, he cleverly shared the blame for the failure of the naval battle.

Although Androsthenes was not punished for the time being, he was secretly complaining: now that Turiyi and Krimisa have implemented a strict military blockade, it is already very difficult to convey information.

"Leptiles, do you think it is feasible if the wooden bridge on the Dionys warship is installed on our warship?" Dionysius turned his eyes to the naval commander who was still kneeling on the ground.

All the generals were a little surprised: this was tantamount to giving up the naval experience and traditions of Syracuse and even the Greek city-states that had proven effective for hundreds of years to learn from a new city-state alliance that had only won one naval battle. Is it possible? !
But Dionysius was not a conservative person. On the contrary, he was a reformer and a pragmatist. This was proved by his reorganization and reform of the army and his advancement of siege technology.

"I...I don't know, because I have never been trained in this area..." Leptinius was obviously a conservative. He reluctantly bit the bullet and said: "And the people on the Dionia warship The wooden bridge rotates so flexibly. I'm afraid there are some special devices. I think... it won't be done in a short time, and... it also needs to be equipped on the warship to fight the Dionians. This... all of this It takes time to train..."

"Then study carefully with the engineers and craftsmen!" Leptinius' dullness made Dionysius' anger emerge again: "It's really too late. When the Dionian fleet attacks, in our There are also enough soldiers on the warship! Don’t the Dionians want to turn the naval battle into a land battle? Then let us have a good fight at sea! "

"But my lord..." Leptinius reminded carefully: "We no longer have enough triremes..."

"Idiot!" Dionysius cursed: "Recruit me the fleet in Messina, as well as the port of Syracuse! In addition, send someone to notify Philistus and let him Speed ​​up the construction of new warships, do you understand?!”

Leptinius's head was nodding like a chicken pecking at rice.

"Get out of here and execute it quickly!" As soon as Dionysius finished speaking, Leptinius left the tent much faster than when he came in.

Dionysius had no intention of paying attention to this. He knew very well that despite taking these measures, in a short period of time, Dionysian fleet strength had gained the upper hand.

For Syracuse, which is fighting across the sea, command of the sea is crucial. Once it is lost, it means that the expeditionary army will be cut off from the mother state.The fluctuating morale of the Syracuse army is a trivial matter. Dionysius is most afraid of not being able to obtain local resources and control Syracuse's political affairs.Moreover, Daves has led the main force back, and now without the harassment and restraint of the Syracuse fleet, he can lead the army south at any time, which makes Dionysius wonder whether "whether to attack Crotone with all its strength" There was a wavering.

At this moment, Dionysius forced himself to be calm and said: "Now that our fleet has suffered a defeat, please tell us, what should we do next?"

"My lord, of course we must capture Crotone with all our strength as we said before!" Astagras said without hesitation: "Although we no longer have the advantage at sea, on land, Dionia No one can resist our such a powerful army! As long as we capture Crotone, there will be no big obstacles to the north. We can reach the city of Thurii. No matter how many warships Dionia has, it will be useless. , when the time comes, it will be up to you, my lord, to decide whether it is war or peace!"

"My lord, I also agree with General Astagras." Fasipesas seemed to sense Dionysius's thoughts and said: "While the Tarentum people are still threatening Tutu in the north, Rei, we should hurry up and capture Crotone! If we retreat at this time and allow the Dionians to join the Crotones, the number of soldiers they have gathered will probably cause us even greater harm. Trouble!"

"Lord Dionysius." Campania mercenary leader En Amenas also stood up and said: "The soldiers are now very motivated because they all know that Crotone is a very wealthy city-state. If we give up To attack it..."

The generals in the tent all focused on attacking Crotone, which made Dionysius's mind tilt towards the attack side. However, he did not make a decision immediately, and turned his attention to the only person who did not speak. Asked: "Phoebe Das, what's your opinion?"

Phoebidas, who had always been outspoken, had a rare moment of hesitation.From Sparta's perspective, it is more beneficial for Sparta to maintain a balance between Syracuse and Dionia, so peace talks are actually a better option.But Phoebias, who was among them, was aroused by Davos's outstanding performance. He wished he could personally defeat this young consul who was hailed as a "famous general" by the Magna Greeks, so he said: "They all said it." It makes sense. Attacking Crotone can give us the initiative. More importantly, it can force the Dionians to rush to rescue Crotone before they have completely settled other wars and are not fully prepared. Tone, thus ensuring that we have an advantage in the decisive battle with Dionia. If you are worried that the Dionia army may suddenly attack when we attack the city, don't you have so many cavalry? Why not Let them scout further north?!"

Dionysius glanced at Phoebidas, then at the generals, and laughed: "What do I have to worry about! The Dionysians only won one naval battle, and they thought they could defeat us Scylla." Are the Kuza people holding back! No! This will only make us focus more on the land attack!"

Dionysius stood up suddenly, drew out his saber, and with a bang, slashed it into the table, and said sternly: "From now on, all the troops will hurry up and prepare for the siege. In two days Then attack the city of Crotone with all your strength!”

"Capture Crotone!!" Everyone shouted in unison.

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

"Mother, I'm back!"

"We're back!"

With a "bang" sound, Cynthia pushed open the wooden door of the backyard.

"Mother, we won! We defeated those terrible enemies! Even though they had many ships, they were all captured by us!" Adoris ran to Christoya excitedly.

Before Christoya answered, a woman next to her smiled and said, "I'm right, Davos... His Majesty has Hades' blessing, and he will definitely win. You don't have to worry about it." !”

Before she finished speaking, Agnes stood up with a face filled with joy: "I'm going to express my gratitude to Artemis!"

As she spoke, she hurriedly walked towards the statue of Artemis on the other side of the garden with her belly bulging.

"Go slower, be careful of the fetus!" Christoya said with concern, and Agnes's personal maid had already rushed to help her.

"Isn't Agnes a priest of Hera?" The woman was slightly surprised.

"You have to know that Agnes was the chief priest of the Temple of Artemis in Lijim City before she came to Thurii. During this period of time, she stayed at home because of her pregnancy, so she could only pray to the goddess of hunting every day. In order to keep Davos safe, it’s really hard for her!” Christoya said with emotion.

"Hello, Aunt Andrea!" At this time, Cynthia saluted the woman and said hello.

"Cynthia, I haven't seen you for a few years, and you have turned into a big girl!" Andrea looked at Cynthia happily, and then held her in her arms.

"Mother, let me tell you a secret. When we were celebrating our victory, there was a boy who hugged-"

"Shut up, Adoris! If you dare to talk nonsense, be careful I'll beat you up!" Cynthia's face turned red and she threatened loudly.

"What happened?" Crystal asked with a smile.

Adoris didn't dare to speak under Cynthia's glare.

　Thanks to A Little Light, pr Pei Luo pr, and book friend 20170422215919371 for the reward!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)