ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 522: Soldiers surround Xiliting

The Hibernian defenders watched in horror as their compatriots were easily defeated by Lijim's army outside the city. They fled in all directions, but they did not dare to go out of the city to respond, and instead closed the city gate tightly.

An hour later, more than 5000 Lijim soldiers surrounded the city of Hibernian.

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At this time, Davos had led the army into the territory of Xiliting.During the march, he had been thinking about what military action should be taken next to completely defeat Syracuse and end the war, so he remained quiet along the way.

Next to him, Henipolis looked high-spirited.Last night in the big tent, Davos finally confirmed his idea and seriously conceived several proposals for him to safeguard his interests. Therefore, when he got up early today, he no longer had to think about the city of Laos. , my whole body felt extremely relaxed.

He was excited to talk to Tormid for a while, and then chatted with Martius for a while, wanting to know more about the process of yesterday's battle, and he seemed very active.

Dionia's army arrived outside Xiliting City in a mighty manner without any hindrance.

This was what Daves had expected. He led the escort around the city to conduct reconnaissance: the Xiliting city wall is about seven meters high and the city wall is more than a mile in circumference. It does not have a moat, but has a trench in front of the city and a west There are three city gates, south and north, and the port is surrounded by the city wall and integrated with the city.Compared with Turui and Crotone, it is not a big city, but it is much bigger than towns such as Trina and Hibernian.

According to the results of the interrogation of the captives last night, Davos has a general understanding of Syracuse's military strength in Xiliting City: there were 4000 troops stationed in Xiliting City, in addition to 2 civilians and slaves from Syracuse and allies There are many people, and they are mainly responsible for the transportation of food baggage.

In addition, there is a special group of people. Dionysius collected nearly 1000 knowledgeable mathematicians, highly skilled construction engineers, equipment manufacturers, carpenters, shipwrights, etc. in Sicily. Dionysius The reason why they were able to break through the city of Crotone was that they relied on the ballistas, siege towers, belly bows...all kinds of siege equipment and facilities they made. This is also the group of people Davos covets most.

In addition, there are also Crotone and Silitine soldiers captured in the battle of the Ramato River in the city. Dionysius has sold some of the captives to slave traders, as well as 4000 people.

In addition, the defeated troops of Syracuse have now returned to Xiliting, and the number of people in the city may be as high as 6.If Dionysius hadn't already killed, sold, and plundered all the people in Xiliting, the city of Xiliting wouldn't be able to accommodate so many people.

Davos looked at the dense crowd of Syracuse soldiers on the city head, and imagined whether these Syracuse soldiers who had just experienced a defeat would remain calm at this time when he issued the order to attack the city.

Of course, Davos would not rashly attack a town with more than 3 soldiers and possibly 2 reserve soldiers. He had other plans to implement.

On the top of the city, Dionysius looked down at the group of people running fast a hundred meters away from the city with a complicated expression. A gloomy voice squeezed out from between his teeth: "I heard that Davos of Dionysia is here every day." Before a war, he liked to go to the front line to observe the enemy's situation in person, so he must be among them!"

"Do you want to fire a ballista at them, hoping that with the blessing of Apollo, the stone will hit him on the head?" Phoebidus said mockingly, his hands, arms and waist were wrapped with bandages. Like a mummy, he was seriously injured in yesterday's battle and escaped by chance. After treatment, he fell asleep until noon today. When he heard that the Dionian army was coming, he still managed to get to the top of the city.

Dionysius said nothing. Phoebidas guessed correctly that he really had such a thought in his heart.

"I really didn't expect that such a powerful army of ours would be defeated by this young man we talk about?!" Phoebidas sighed with doubts. He fled back to the city yesterday and had no time to explore the detailed process of the battle. So he still hasn't figured out how Syracuse's army failed.

"It is precisely because your battle deployment was completely seen through by the Dionians, and they made targeted arrangements, that we will fail..." Dionysius closed his eyes with a painful expression: Temporary changes in formation, the spear phalanx hidden behind the cavalry, the back attack from the right wing of the Dionia reserve...

He did not want to recall yesterday's nightmare battle scene. He resentfully placed the main responsibility for the failure on the Spartans, but did not want to admit the fact that the quality of Syracuse soldiers was not as good as that of Dionia. , even though the left, center, and right had more troops than the other side, they failed to put enough pressure on the other side to dare to boldly deploy their troops and implement their own plans.

Now it's Phoebe Das' turn to have nothing to say. Although he hasn't figured out the reason for the failure, it's a fact that his tactics didn't work.

"It was just a defeat in a battle. A few years ago, we were defeated by the Carthaginians in the battle. We were also surrounded by a large army, and even the people rioted. The situation was more critical than today. But under my command, in Spa With the help of his allies, Carthage was finally defeated. I heard that the Carthaginian general Himilco also committed suicide!" At this time, Dionysius looked around at his demoralized men, and he realized that he could no longer indulge in In the face of failure, you must cheer up, otherwise the next battle will be even more difficult.At the same time, he can no longer criticize Phoebus, because in such an extremely unfavorable situation for Syracuse, Syracuse will rely more on Sparta: "Don't look at the Dionians today. We are proud of our victory, but with the blessing of Apollo, we Syracuseans will let these Dionians, who were just free citizens a few years ago, know that the final victory will only belong to Syracuse!"

"Lord Dionysius is right. When facing Carthage in the past few years, we have not lost first and then won, and finally became the master of Sicily. Is Dionysia more powerful than Carthage!" Damocles immediately shouted in response.

"The Dionians have nothing to fear. We must re-energize the morale of the soldiers and wait for the opportunity to give the enemy a counterattack!" Fasipesas also said loudly.

The generals and ministers were encouraged, and their faces began to look brighter. Even Phoebidas's depression dissipated a lot. Only Androsthenes, the intelligence leader on the periphery of the crowd, wondered: Since Dionysius If you are not afraid of Dionia, why would you send an envoy quietly? …

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After Davos circled the city for a week, he returned to the army and issued an order to build a camp one mile away from the city.

His plan was to take advantage of the enemy's new defeat and low morale to set up camp so close to the city, and then quickly advance to the two wings and below the city to achieve the ultimate goal of completely besieging Xiliting City.

As soon as the order was issued, half of the 5-strong army began digging trenches and building earthen walls.The other half were fully armed and alert to the Syracusans' sneak attacks out of the city. Only Sipulos led more than 1000 Trina soldiers to march westward quickly. They couldn't wait to take back their homeland, the city of Trina.

Just when Davos was urging the entire army to speed up the construction of the camp, Tormid came to report: The envoy from Syracuse wants to see you!
"Oh, it's you again!" Seeing the Syracuse envoy, Davos smiled meaningfully: "This time Dionysius sent you, are you prepared to surrender to me?"

"Lord Davos, we in Syracuse are the overlord of Sicily. Not only do we have 7 citizen soldiers and a population of 50, but we also have more than a dozen big countries that are our allies and are ready to listen to our call." Damocles He said proudly: "Even if we failed in the naval battle, failed in the battle, and lost many warships and soldiers, this failure is nothing. We in Syracuse can organize another army at any time that is no less good than the current one. An army with the number of troops came to Magna Graecia, can Dionia do it?!"

"Since Syracuse is so powerful, you should go to the port of Silitium to welcome your new army, and why are you coming to us!" Clerk Henepolis sneered.

Damocles ignored him, but looked at Davos, and said solemnly: "Because if the war between Syracuse and Dionia continues, no matter who wins in the end, he will weaken us. The power of the Greeks in the Western Mediterranean will benefit the native forces like the Carthaginians, Messapians, and Samonites... who hate us Greeks. I think whether it is Lord Dionysius, Lord Davos is unwilling to see such a situation. Therefore, Lord Dionysius sent me to ask Lord Davos on his behalf. He proposed, 'The two sides have ceased fighting, ask Lord Davos do you agree?'"

"What an absurd joke! Who led the army to invade Great Greece before, burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil! How did your tyrant at that time not consider that such a brutal invasion and killing would greatly weaken the power of the Greeks on the Italian peninsula? , and let the nearby natives benefit! Oh, now that I have lost the battle, I think of wanting peace and safeguarding the interests of the Greeks—heh!" Holipolis laughed loudly: "I just want to know that Dio Does Nisius know the meaning of the word 'shameless'!"

Damocles avoided answering, but said confidently: "The one who started the war was not Syracuse, but the South Italian Alliance. If you hadn't wanted to attack Locri, we would not have accepted the invitation of the allies. Come to Magna Graecia—"

Henipolis laughed angrily and said angrily: "Do I know what it means now-"

At this time, Davos raised his hand and waved. Henepolis stopped talking and just stared at the Carthage envoy bitterly.

　Thanks to Zhan Billy for the reward!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)