ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 489 Crotone Naval Battle ([-])

Davos could feel the heavy expectations in their words. He smiled casually and said, "You don't have to worry about the people of Syracuse. What you should worry about is whether we will have anything after defeating the people of Syracuse." Enough manpower to govern those lands in southern Magna Greece!”

While the senators were stunned, Davos turned his head and took a deep look at the hills facing the river in Thurii City to the east. He knew that his wife and children must also be staring here, looking forward to his early triumphant return. ...

"Let's go." He coughed lightly, turned the horse's head, and led the escort onto the wooden bridge.

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The soldiers of Syracuse burned, killed, and looted the city of Crotone all night. Those who suffered heavy losses were mainly the free people and foreigners in the port area, and nearly half of the Crotone people who failed to escape into the Acrotone in time. .

By noon of the next day, most of the Syracuse soldiers were still sleeping in the military camp or in private houses in Crotone to recover from the excessive physical exertion of yesterday.

Dionysius got up early in the morning and led his men to deal with military affairs.

The first thing that urgently needs to be solved is the problem of the wounded.Although yesterday's victory was brilliant, the losses were also huge.According to preliminary statistics last night, more than 5000 soldiers were killed or seriously injured, and more than 4000 soldiers were slightly injured to varying degrees. After this battle, Syracuse lost about 1/8 of its troops. troops.A series of tedious tasks such as treating the wounded, replenishing soldiers, and reorganizing troops must be completed as soon as possible.

The most time-consuming and labor-intensive task of clearing the battlefield and burying corpses is actually the easiest to complete.All that is needed is to use the tens of thousands of Crotone people who have become prisoners as laborers.How many prisoners howled while carefully sorting out the remains of the Crotone soldiers who died inside and outside the city walls!How many prisoners dragged the bodies of Syracuse soldiers while quietly kicking and cursing them to vent their anger!
For Dionysius, this was not something he cared too much about. The second thing he cared about was the acropolis of Crotone.This Acropolis is located south of the center of Crotone and is built on a hill. Inside the Acropolis is the largest temple complex of Apollo in Magna Graecia. Therefore, the Apollo Acropolis of Crotone is also one of the largest city-states in Magna Graecia. biggest.

Although when the city was lost, retreating to the garrison was the final defensive strategy that Greek city-states often adopted. Dionysius should have taken precautions. However, after breaking through the city wall last night, the Syracuse soldiers suffered heavy losses due to the fierce battle during the day. He was so sexually aroused that he carried out crazy killings and looting in the city. Because of the darkness, Dionysius could not effectively command the troops. As a result, the fighter plane was delayed, causing more than half of the Crotone people (including many soldiers) to Under the organization of Myron and Lucias, they fled into the Acropolis, which allowed the Acropolis to have sufficient manpower for defense.

At the same time, the Acropolis is located on a high terrain and is surrounded by residential buildings in the city. Large siege equipment cannot reach the city wall at all.Unless the surrounding residences and buildings are demolished and a strong and wide causeway is built to fill the hills, siege towers, siege engines, etc. can reach the city. Otherwise, relying solely on soldiers to attack from the bottom up will not only cause casualties Disastrous, and difficult to succeed.

But such a siege method requires a long time of preparation, and what Dionysius lacks most now is time, because he still has to lead his army to attack Dionysia, and he will never allow his biggest enemy to have more Take a breather to stabilize the territory and form more troops.

Therefore, Dionysius sent an envoy to threaten the lives of the captured Crotone people and soldiers to persuade the Crotones in the acropolis to surrender.

However, the Crotones hiding in the acropolis last night witnessed from a high position the various atrocities committed by the Syracuseans in the city, and suffered all night amid the heart-rending wails of their compatriots. The people of Syracuse both feared and hated them. In addition, they regarded Syracuse as "man-eating beasts" and did not believe the envoy's words "as long as they are brutal." Become an ally of Syracuse and send troops to join the army of Syracuse, and Dionysius will release all Crotone prisoners and return the city of Crotone."

Because in order to prevent the Syracusans from attacking the city and plundering it, and to protect the people who were fleeing to the Acropolis, Askamas tried his best to regroup the defeated troops, fought with the enemy on the streets of the city, and eventually died in battle.The Crotones, who had lost their top military general, urgently elected Myron, who had saved them, as their general in grief, and Lysias did not object.At this time, the senior Crotone leaders headed by Lysias and Myron not only flatly rejected the envoy's request, but in order to show their courage and determination to fight to the death with the Syracuse people, they cut off the envoy's ears and nose, driving him off the Acropolis.

When the messenger covered his bloody wound and cried to Dionysius, he did not show much anger. He just sneered deeply and said: "Stupid Crotones, you think you are hiding on that hill. , Is there nothing I can do against you?! Hiding tens of thousands of people in that small acropolis can indeed improve the defense, but can it defend against hunger and thirst!"

Indeed, the food consumption of tens of thousands of people is a huge amount. People who rush up the mountain in a hurry cannot carry a large amount of rations. Even if Milon is prepared in advance, it cannot guarantee it for a few days.What worries the people of Crotone even more is that there is no water source on the hill. Usually the water used by the temple priests comes from the storage tank in the temple. Due to the heavy rains in the past few days, the storage tank is full, but for tens of thousands of people demand, it is just a drop in the bucket.

Therefore, Dionysius ordered: Send a small number of troops to surround the Crotone Acropolis.

He believed that the Crotones, who were short of water and food, could not hold on for a few days before they would surrender.

He originally wanted to order the ballistae to fire stone projectiles at the Acropolis to increase the fear of the Crotones and force them to surrender early.But then I thought about it, there is the Temple of Apollo in the Acropolis. If you deliberately destroy it, it may affect the morale of the soldiers.Moreover, the last sudden heavy rain also made him, who has always been arrogant, feel sad. At this critical moment, he didn't want any more accidents to happen.

Dionysius knew in his heart that the Crotones hid in the Acropolis to survive, hoping for rescue from the Dionians.Dionia was the target of the Syracuse army's upcoming attack, but the soldiers who had just experienced a tragic siege battle needed to rest. He could only continue to send mercenary cavalry deep into the north to reconnoiter the enemy's situation.

The greedy Numibians and Celts actually vented their dissatisfaction because they were not able to participate in the plunder of the city last night.

Dionysius actually didn't get angry, and even gave these foreigners a lot of trophies.Because Phoebidas once said: These foreign cavalry are a sharp weapon against the Dionians in the wild.

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A fast ship sailed into the port of Crotone.

"General, the Dionia fleet is here!" The captain hurriedly reported to Leptinius, who was inspecting the military port and commanding the berthed warships.

The Syracuse Navy just moved into the Crotone military port this morning.Compared with Siritium, Crotone's military port is much larger and can accommodate more warships, and its location is closer to the territory of Dionia, making it easier for the Syracuse Navy to understand Dionia faster. The movements of the sub-fleet are better coordinated with the land forces.

I just didn't expect that the fleet of Dionia had just arrived and the sailors had not completely disembarked, and the fleet of Dionysia attacked.Leptinius was pounding in his heart now, but he still maintained his composure on the surface: "How many warships have come?"

It is much more difficult to judge the number of ships at sea than to detect the number of people on land, because when a fleet of hundreds of warships sails on the sea, it often occupies a radius of five or six nautical miles. After all, human sight is limited, and there is no limit to the endless sea. A secret place for hiding, so you need to get close to observe, which requires taking a lot of risks.

"Well...it feels like the number is about the same as the last battle." The captain could only give a rough idea.

Then he emphasized: "Those Dionysian warships have suspension bridges hanging on the front masts!"

When Leptinius heard this, he felt a little panicked, and the tragic defeat a few days ago came to mind again.

To fight or not?He couldn't make a decision for a while, but ran to the city to ask Dionysius for instructions.

When Dionysius learned that the Dionysian fleet was attacking, he pondered for a moment, then resolutely gave the order: Attack!
He had several considerations about this.

First of all, since what has been detected is that the number of the Dionia fleet is not much different from the last time, and they are all equipped with the so-called suspension bridge, it means that the previous analysis is correct. Due to the number of sailors and the difficulty of modifying the warships, Dai The Onians still use the original warships, and the Syracuse Navy still has a slight advantage in terms of the number of triple-layer paddle warships.

Secondly, as a commander, Dionysius knew how much morale affected the combat effectiveness of soldiers. The Syracuse Navy suffered a major defeat not long ago. If they did not make up for it with victory in time and chose to give in, It is undoubtedly "destroying one's own prestige and boosting the enemy's morale". Then when encountering the Dionian fleet in the future, the Syracuse Navy will undoubtedly be a dwarf in terms of fighting spirit.

Furthermore, Syracuse's army is concentrated in Crotone. After another day of hard fighting yesterday, it is resting and recuperating. If the Dionian fleet is allowed to pass through the sea of ​​Crotone and sail towards the empty rear, For example, landing on the coast near the city-states such as Silitium or Coronia, which were not sincere surrenders, would cause the Syracuse army to be greatly passive, so Dionysius would never allow such a situation to occur.

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Although this is the second time that Cyklian has led a fleet on an expedition, in his mind, this is the real first time he has led a fleet independently. Without King Davos by his side, there is no sense of restraint.

(End of this chapter)