ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 547 Riot ([-])

The soldiers issued shields and spears to the returning freedmen and slaves. A small team of ten people, led by a citizen soldier, fought towards the Dionia camp again.If anyone refused to fight or run away, the soldiers would capture them and execute them on the spot, as a deterrent to the fear of death.

In front of these improvised troops were nearly [-] Syracuse soldiers and moving siege engines.They were arranged in an extremely loose formation, carrying ten-meter-long ladders, pushing various heavy siege equipment, and walking on the mud ground that had just been leveled by freedmen and slaves.Since many of them lost their armor and shields in previous battles, everyone's equipment is now relatively crude, almost the same as the free people in the rear. Arrows, which they didn't worry about at all, have now become the most troublesome long-range weapons for them. .Fortunately, most of the arrow rain was blocked by the towers, arrow-blocking vehicles, and siege vehicles at the front of the queue.

It can be seen that the astonishing stone bombs whizzed down from time to time, and the sand splashed everywhere, but the Syracuse soldiers were not as panicked as the free people. After all, they had seen too many ballistas attacking them, but everyone was praying "Apollo Bless you, don't be the unlucky one who gets hit directly by the stone bullet."

With a loud "bang!", an arrow-blocking cart was hit by a stone bullet and immediately disintegrated. The broken pieces of wood also injured several slaves pushing the cart, scaring the soldiers behind them to subconsciously move away from the siege equipment. Those who are most worried about ballista attacks are these big guys!
The Dionian light infantry heard the sound of "rumbling" coming from the front on the wooden wall, and the sound became louder and louder, as if the spring thunder of lightning was about to be released. They all felt nervous, and the speed of bending their bows and arrows became faster. Every time they heard a scream, they felt relieved.

Soon, there were vague objects and figures in the white fog ahead. When more than a dozen towers that were taller than the wooden walls of the camp emerged from the thick fog and appeared in front of the trench, the Dionysian soldiers were stunned. Feeling nervous about these behemoths.

"Defense!" The heavy infantrymen quickly raised their long shields above their heads, forming a shield formation.

A continuous crisp sound of "dang, clang..." was heard. It was the sound of the javelins thrown from the tower colliding with the central metal horn of the long shield. There were also a very small number of javelins that pierced the long shield, causing damage to the legionnaires. harm.Obviously, the Syracuseans knew that archers posed little threat to Dionia's heavy infantry, so the top of the tower was all harpooneers.

The light infantry hiding behind the Dionian heavy infantry also immediately fired arrows and javelins at the tower eight or nine meters away outside the wooden wall.

The Syracuseans at the top of the tower relied on the protection of the wooden fence. Even if someone fell with an arrow, new light infantry would soon enter from the entrance at the back of the tower and climb to the top via wooden ladders to replace them.

Relying on the suppression of the long-range firepower of the tower, the soldiers of Syracuse braved the arrows and javelins, rushed to the front of the trench, and built a ladder more than ten meters long on the wooden wall.

Due to the rigorous construction of the camp by the soldiers of the Dionia Legion, the trenches they dug were four meters wide and three meters deep. A wooden wall was built on the earth rampart, so the earth rampart plus the wooden wall were nearly five meters high.The Syracuse soldiers could not gain a foothold under the wooden wall at all. They could only stand directly opposite the trench and use extended ladders to attack the city.

The increased length of the ladder has a reduced inclination after being built on a wooden wall, which not only makes the body of the siege soldiers more exposed to the opponent's attack, but also makes the ladder more likely to sway, and it is easy to fall into the trench if you are not careful, and you will be caught by a sharp wooden stake. Pierce the body.But the Syracuse soldiers were not afraid, they set up wooden ladders and climbed to the top of the wall one after another.

While the towers and ladders attracted the attention of the Dionian defenders, hundreds of free people, carrying sacks filled with soil, concentrated and quickly ran towards the trench in front of the camp gate.Some people continued to fall down after being hit by arrows, but more people successfully threw the sacks into the ditch.

Stationed at the Dionia Central Army Camp were Dionia's Fourth Army and Seventh Army, a total of 11000 people, who all rushed to the east wooden wall for defense.Since the walkway inside the wooden wall was not wide, the archers retreated under the wooden wall or on the watchtower, continued to snipe at the towers outside the camp, and focused on long-range attacks on the Syracuse soldiers who came later.

On the wooden wall, a mixed force of heavy infantry and javeliners threw javelins at the enemies in front of the trench or on the ladder, and used shield spears to knock down the enemies trying to climb the wall, while protecting the javelin attacks on the tower.

When the thick fog gradually dissipated and the sun rose into the sky, the offensive and defensive battle of the Dionia Chinese Army camp entered a fever pitch...

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At the same time, the city gate leading to the main city of Syracuse on Ortygia Island in Sicily opened, and the carriage and his entourage riding on Hipparinus filed out.

Ortigia Island was originally the earliest colonial settlement of the Syracuse people. It was not until Dillon became the tyrant that people from surrounding city-states were moved to Syracuse on a large scale to reclaim the inland areas connected to Ortygia Island. , while vigorously developing maritime trade.Since then, Syracuse has gradually become the most powerful of the Sicilian Greek city-states.When Dionysius became the tyrant, he not only moved more Greek people to Syracuse, but also almost overthrew his rule because of two riots, and almost endangered his life. In order to protect himself In order to ensure the safety of his life, he forcibly moved out the original residents of Ortigia Island, making the peninsula a residence and fortress for his family, supporters, and mercenaries loyal to him.The people of Syracuse joked in private that "Ortygia is the acropolis of Dionysius".

Philistus and Hipparinus, as loyal subordinates of Dionysius, of course also lived on the island of Ortygia, but the city hall of the entire city-state was outside the island, south of the Temple of Apollo. next to the square, so every day unless there are special circumstances, Philistus will rush to the city hall early to handle government affairs, and return to the palace on Ortygia Island in the afternoon to report the situation to Dionysius.

As the intelligence chief, Hyparinus, although he has a position in the city hall, actually works in his own mansion on Ortygia Island because it is more secretive.It was only during the time that Dionysius left Syracuse that he went to the city hall every day in order to understand the situation in the city more conveniently and quickly, and to monitor the officials in the city hall nearby.

Hipparianus and his entourage left the island of Ortygia and had to pass through an isthmus 500 meters long and 300 meters wide before entering the wide inner city of Syracuse.And in the middle of the isthmus, there is a small fortress with hundreds of mercenaries stationed there. It is the corner of the city wall that blocks the island of Ortygia. Dionysius has tried everything for his own safety. But the existence of this fort also made this not-so-wide passage narrower.

The carriage Hyparinus was riding in suddenly stopped at the exit of the isthmus. There was a noise outside and he hurriedly stuck his head out and looked out: he saw dozens of men fighting at the mouth of the isthmus. Many people were watching the fight, and even cheering, and the front was blocked.

"Go and see what happened?" Hippareinus said hastily.

Soon his subordinates rushed back to report: "Sir, I heard that it was because citizens were gathering in the square today to form reinforcements for Magna Greece. Some citizens here responded to the mobilization of the city-state and were about to go to the square, but other people thought they were doing this. It will only make... this war continue without an end, so it will prevent them from going forward, and as a result, both sides will..."

Hyparinus looked at the dusty front with annoyance and cursed: "What the hell is Philistus doing?! Why don't you send a patrol to drive these people away!"

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Philistus usually goes to the city hall early in the morning to work, and today it will be even earlier, because gathering citizens in the market and forming an army is a major event for the city-state, especially since Syracuse is now in a special period. , but also to maintain order in the city to ensure that this matter can be completed smoothly, so he must check various preparations in detail before the citizens gather in the square to avoid errors.

What made Philistus happy was that on the way to the city hall, he saw many citizens marching to the square one after another. It seemed that Herolis's mobilization work in the past two days was quite effective. Dionysius Master Si’s request should be successfully completed!
Just when he came to the city hall with gratitude to Herolis, he got bad news: "What did you say?! Herolis was beaten on the way to the city hall?! "

"Yes, sir. I heard that a few citizens were afraid of going out and resented Sir Herolis for trying to persuade citizens to participate in this square war mobilization, so they attacked him."

"Where is he? How is his injury now?!" Felistoschi asked hurriedly.

"I heard that he was hit hard on the head and fainted on the ground. He was carried back to the house by his family. The patrol team has already rushed to arrest the perpetrators."

When Philistos heard this, he couldn't sit still.In his opinion: he himself is responsible for the injury of Herolis. If he hadn't assigned this difficult task to Herolis and asked Herolis to do it with all his heart, Herolis would have done it with all his heart. There will be no resentment from these disaffected citizens of Dionysius.Moreover, the task of forming an expeditionary army in the square today is very important, and there are certain risks. If Herolis can assist, things will be much easier.

Therefore, he must visit both publicly and privately.

So, taking advantage of the fact that it was still early, he quickly arranged some simple matters for his men to complete, and then took 20 guards and hurried to Herolis's mansion.

　Thanks to Zhan Billy, Reuss, and handsome Xi Dapang for the rewards!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　Today I accompanied my child to participate in the Latin dance competition. After a busy day, I was exhausted. After I came back, I had no intention of writing.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)