ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 532 Raid on Mayaro

"A few years ago, there was thick smoke coming from the top of Mount Etna..." Seeing that Antonios was fascinated, Laodicean was about to tell an interesting story about the eruption of Mount Etna that he had witnessed, but he heard that Szekeli Ann shouted: "Naxos, come and tell me where is the beach to land?!"

"Okay! Okay!" Laodissian hurriedly ran to the bow of the ship.

Antonios cheered up. This was his first time to lead an army independently, and it was also his first time to land a battle across the sea. Whether he could defeat Syracuse, the performance of the army he led was crucial, so he knew very well the burden on his shoulders. With a heavy burden, I was both nervous and excited: "Brothers, quickly put on your armor and pick up your shields and spears, we are going to land soon! Don't stay after landing, let me immediately charge towards the city of Naxos! Capture it , our relatives are waiting for the news of our victory! It’s time to win honor for the First Army and yourself!..."

Antonios loudly encouraged the soldiers lying on the deck to rest.

"Don't worry, legion commander. The brothers have been tired of staying on the ship for the past two days. They have long wanted to fight in battle. How can a town with wooden walls block our attack!" Melisanda responded loudly.

The unit that Melisanda belonged to was assigned to take the flagship. This was of course not a coincidence, it was a special arrangement by Antonios.As a close comrade-in-arms of Felicius, under normal circumstances he would not mind giving some care to Felicius' adopted son.

"Boy, you better be careful not to fall into the sea when landing." Antonios smiled and patted him on the shoulder a few times.

The soldiers immediately whistled, booed, and heckled their young squad leader.Melisander fell into the sea twice during the Battle of Crotone and has become a topic of conversation among the soldiers before and after meals. Of course, this does not affect the respect of his men for the squad leader, because Melisander has always been Fight bravely, take the lead, and share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers.

At this moment, Melisander glared at him: "Whoever dares to yell and yell again, I won't let him play next time we play rugby!"

Melisander's threat made the soldiers boo even louder.

Antonios shook his head helplessly at the soldiers' play, and once again turned his attention to the land.

At this time, the sound of bugles echoed in the fleet, and Sekerian's flagship took the lead in turning left and approaching the bay.

Ahead is an arc-shaped bay.White sandy beaches, blue sea water, a dozen fishing boats are fishing with nets on the calm sea.

The fleet broke in aggressively like this, breaking the peaceful scene here.

When the fishermen saw the giant trireme approaching quickly, they panicked and tried to avoid it, but it was too late. The bronze horn on the bow of the ship easily smashed the fishing boat into two pieces like a knife cutting cheese...

The sailors did not stop paddling until they were almost close to the beach, and the warship relied on inertia to rush onto the beach.

The soldiers immediately put on the pedals and quickly went down to the beach. Some impatient soldiers jumped to the bow of the ship, threw their shields, spears and helmets on the beach, and jumped directly from the deck to the beach.

Soon, the empty beach was filled with fully armed Dionian soldiers.

"The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming!..." The fishermen who were drying their nets on the beach and handling their goods fled into the city in horror.

Before boarding the ship at Lijim Port, Antonios had already summoned the officers of all levels of the First Corps to hold a combat meeting. Therefore, after the soldiers of each squadron of the First Fleet disembarked, they did not form a unified team at all. Under the leadership of the squad leader, Under the guidance of the guides equipped on each warship, they marched towards the city of Naxos.

Today's Naxos is not actually a city, but a large village.This started after Dionysius became the tyrant of Syracuse six or seven years ago. In order to accumulate strength and counterattack the Carthaginians, he began military operations to conquer the southeastern corner and the east-central part of Sicily. Among them, Sicily The Catania Plain, the only plain on the island, became the focus of his strategy. Therefore, he attacked the two most determined city-states in this area to resist Syracuse - Catanai and Naxos. The most severe punishment was imposed after the city was captured.The entire city of Naxos was destroyed, the city walls were torn down, and all the captured Naxos people were reduced to slavery.

However, Sikuli, another small city-state just 25 miles south of Naxos and only [-] miles away from Naxos, was rewarded for its early surrender to Syracuse. The land was handed over to Sikuli for governance.The Siculians were naturally overjoyed when they got the land of Naxos, which was larger and more fertile than their own, but the tragic fate of the Naxos also frightened the Siculians. Hughes did not dare to ask the tyrant directly about the intention of destroying the city, so they did not restore the old city of Naxos, but moved south to a place two miles away from the ruins, in Alcantara. A town was built on the north bank of the river. In order not to cause Dionysius' displeasure, they did not build a stone city wall, but made a simple wall with wooden fences, and named the new town—Mei Yarrow (meaning "big").

The beach where the First Army landed was part of the former port of Naxos, which has now disappeared.The soldiers went to the coast. After running a few steps to the south, they saw a large area near the seaside covered with weeds and piles of rocks.

Laodicean stared there blankly, tears streaming down his face: that was his former home - the city of Naxos!

"Laodissian, don't stop! Run! We still need you to show the way!" Melisander urged from the front.

Laodicean quickly followed.Although he is over middle-aged, he still insists on exercising, practicing fighting and fighting, hoping to return to his homeland one day, so he thinks that he has good physical strength, but after running with the Dionia soldiers for a while, he starts to feel a little out of step At the same speed as the Dionians are advancing.

You must know that these soldiers are fully armed and marching in a hurry. Such physical strength and speed are really scary. No wonder the Syracuse people can't defeat them!The amazed Raodisian did not know that in the military training of the soldiers of the Dionysian Legion every five days, one of the items was the armed rapid march, which was different from the "armed long-distance running" in the Olympia Games. Wearing only a helmet, holding a round shield, and a naked competition, and Dionia's armed rapid march is really fully armed, so if the Dionia can participate in the Olympia Games, in the "armed long-distance running" event, I can definitely compete with the Spartans who always win the championship.

"...That...that's Mayaro..." Laodicean pointed at the faint outline of the town in the distance and said breathlessly.

"Okay, you will follow." Melisander had no time to wait for him and directed the soldiers to move rapidly in that direction.

Although Antonios did not say it explicitly, the various detachments naturally started competing according to the legion's tradition: Who can reach the enemy town first? !Let's see who breaks into the enemy town first? !
Therefore, the First Army was divided into units. It was not like a rapid march, but like a competitive game. It spread out in a wide front and rushed towards the South Pole quickly, starting first and then in an uneven manner.

The leader is a team of hundreds of people. They can maintain a relatively complete formation while running fast.

"Damn it, which team is that?" Melisander looked at the leader diagonally in front of him unwillingly and cursed.

"Captain, it seems to be the first company of the fourth brigade." A soldier answered.

"It's the company of 'Mad Men'." Melisenda pouted.

"Madman" was Leotizides's nickname because he was famous for his intense training and high demands on his soldiers. Of course, his company also often won military competitions.

"Brothers, speed up, we can't fall behind!" Melisander shouted not to be outdone.

Wherever the First Legion passed, the people of Mayaro fled in panic, but the soldiers did not stab them with spears, but drove them towards Mayaro.

Although there is only a wooden wall in the town of Meialo, a moat was dug outside the town because of its proximity to the Alcantara River. Only the east and north gates are connected to the outside by a suspension bridge.The Sikuli people in Meyaro Town just received an urgent report from merchant ships: a fleet of hundreds of warships is coming from the north, and the sail pattern seems to belong to the Dionia Alliance.

The Sikuli people were shocked. They had just received the news that "the Dionians had defeated Syracuse in the battle". In a blink of an eye, the Dionia fleet appeared on the east coast of Sicily. The Dionian fleet, which defeated the Syracuse Navy not long ago, came with good intentions, but they had not had time to discuss the response measures. Some people had already fled back from the seaside, shouting in panic: "The enemy is killing them." Coming! The enemy is coming!..."

The Sikuli were frightened by the fast attack speed of the Dionysians, and hurriedly gathered some citizens to defend the enemy.

At this time, more and more people were fleeing to the town, causing congestion on the suspension bridge and the north gate.

Serofanis claimed to be a freeman who had been hired a few months earlier by a Sikuli citizen to help his employer cultivate the fields.It was now noon, and he who was supposed to be in the fields by the river outside the town now appeared in the town and stopped a citizen who had fled into the town: "Uncle, what happened?"

"There are... enemies... there are enemies... coming from the sea. Please pick up your weapons and go... go..." The man said in shock.

Serofanis interrupted: "Enemies?! What kind of enemies?!"

There was fear in the eyes of the people: "Black! All black! Like devils emerging from hell!"

Serofanis blinked and looked back at a group of Sikuli citizens who didn't even have time to put on their helmets and breastplates before they hurriedly picked up their shields and spears and rushed towards the crowded north gate.

　Thanks to Zhan Billy, Bubble Potato, zxcvbnmqdgn, Washburn, and Death Beast Sky Suzaku for their rewards!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)