ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 573 Rescue
Dionysius left 200 men to garrison and immediately led more than 1800 mercenaries to storm the military camp below the city. Most of the citizen soldiers in the military camp did not spend the night in the military camp because their homes were not far from the main city. A few soldiers stayed in the military camp. After hearing the news that "the enemy was incoming", they hurriedly put on their armor and went out to meet the enemy. As a result, the fiercely attacking mercenaries easily broke into the camp, and the citizen soldiers were immediately dispersed.

Dionysius did not stop the attack. He led the army to quickly advance towards the center of the main city.

The spies of Hyparinus took advantage of the darkness to shout loudly throughout the main city: "Lord Dionysius is back with his army! Lord Dionysius is back with his army!! Those who surrender are not guilty. !!He who captures the leader of the rebels will receive meritorious service!!..."

In the main city of Syracuse shrouded in dim skylight, residents were awakened by the screams and piercing sounds of fighting in the streets, and were shocked when they heard the spies shouting loudly: "Dionysius is back. !" This sentence immediately made them feel afraid.

Just as the residents of the main city were in chaos, Herolis, who was busy with city-state affairs and did not go home last night and went to bed directly in the city hall, was woken up by his close slaves and was shocked when he learned the news that the enemy was coming. .

After calming down his panic a little, he wanted to go out immediately to organize citizens to resist the enemy's attack.

At this time, several generals such as Stasikos, Kuzias, and Falaikus broke in: "Herolis, go quickly! Go quickly! The enemy will come soon! Our army has been broken up and there is no way to stop it. !..."

For a moment, Herolis' mind went blank, and he murmured feebly: "Let's go...where else can we go?..."

"Go to the Epipole Highlands! There, we still have more than 2000 soldiers stationed in the north city, and there are also the poor troops of Thesitis in the port area outside the city... We will take back this place after dawn to figure out the situation in the city. !”

Kuzias's words reminded Herolis and his party. They had no time to pack their luggage and notify their families, and fled to the epipole heights northwest of the city.

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

After a night of killing and chaos, order was finally restored in the main city of Syracuse.

Dionysius's military adventure was successful, but he was disturbed that Herolis and other rebel messengers were not captured.The troops he sent out to capture them were also repulsed by the defenders of the northern city led by Kuzias.

And Herolis and the others also learned that Dionysius had indeed returned, but the army he led to attack the city was recognized by the people. They were all the two thousand mercenaries on Ortygia Island. It was obvious that he had not been able to withdraw the army from Magna Graecia, so they immediately asked for help in the port area.

Dionysius had already learned from Hyparinus about the conflicts between the rebels in the city and the poor at the port, so he sent an envoy to the port early in the morning and clearly told Theisitis and other poor leaders: as long as The people of the port sided with Dionysius, and he forgave them for the mistakes they had made in the previous riot, and after quelling the riot, he would allocate ten acres of land on the outskirts of the city to each poor person in the port...

At the same time, he also asked Hyparinus to send spies around the port area to publicize the fact that "he negotiated and reached an agreement with the poor people in the port area."

In fact, the negotiations with the poor people of the port area did not make immediate progress, but it caused the division of the port area.

The people headed by Theisitis believed that Dionysius was not trustworthy and they should stand with Herolis and the others to completely defeat Dionysius in order to ensure their safety and the benefits they would obtain!

Others believe that the conditions given by Dionysius are better, because the area of ​​land he promised is twice that offered by Herolis and the others, and it is also land on the outskirts of the city. Obviously Dionysius Pay more attention to them!

The two sides were arguing and could not reach an agreement. Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible to provide reinforcements to Herolis and the others.

Dionysius also issued a ban: no residents in the city were allowed to go out and walk around during the day or at night. They could only stay at home!If you need to buy food, you can only send slaves there, and they must get approval from the patrol, otherwise they will be shot!

Dionysius's prohibition reduced the danger of crowds gathering and causing chaos.

He also asked mercenaries to take the slaves who were mining stone mines in the Akradina area to the main city square, and then told them: As long as they are willing to fight for him, they will all be free when the riot is calmed down!Those who perform well can also become Syracuse citizens! …

Dionysius' bold promise gave hope to the quarry slaves. Although the tyrant was tyrannical and dictatorial, these slaves at the bottom could not feel it. On the contrary, they knew that Dionysius was decisive and bold in doing things. These Years have already allowed too many mercenaries and refugees to become citizens of Syracuse, and they have also been given land.So they chose to believe Dionysius's words and picked up the shields and spears he had collected from people's homes, thus allowing Dionysius's team to increase from the original 1800 mercenaries to more than 7000. .

Dionysius also sent people to Herolis's army to disseminate his new order in the name of General Plenipotentiary: Any citizen who had been deceived by Herolis and other traitors immediately left his team and returned to his home , he will be exempted from the responsibility for the crimes he committed!Citizens stranded in rebel camps before noon will be considered traitors and their families will be executed immediately!

Many citizen soldiers whose homes were in the main city were frightened when they learned about it, and they fled the team and ran back to the main city.

After these measures were effective, the proud Dionysius also sent an envoy to Herolis to deliver the heads of his wife and son who had been captured by him.

Then he left Mejikolis to lead 500 mercenaries and 500 slave soldiers to guard the main city, while he led 1300 mercenaries and more than 4500 slave soldiers to advance towards the location of the rebels. He wanted to completely eliminate them.

The grief-stricken Herolis, Stasikos, and Curzias knew that the situation was urgent and decided to fight Dionysius to the death.He led the remaining nearly [-] soldiers to retreat to the Hexa Gate on the northern wall of Syracuse with its back to the coast.

In the first riot ten years ago (405 BC), Dionysius led mercenaries to occupy the main city and basically quelled the riot in Syracuse.But in these ten years, under his rule, the city area of ​​Syracuse expanded several times, and the entire Epipole Highlands was included in the city of Syracuse, which made Dionysius' team spend a lot of time. It took more than an hour of precious time to arrive at the Hexa Gate.

It was already afternoon. When Herolis asked to talk to Dionysius in front of the battle, Dionysius didn't want to waste time with him and immediately ordered a fierce attack.

The number of soldiers under Herolis was originally much smaller than that of the enemy, and the morale of the army was not stable. Even if most of the enemy's soldiers were slaves, the rebel soldiers soon became unable to resist.

But at this moment, a high-pitched bugle sounded outside the gate of Hexa, followed by a deafening shout: "Hades!!!"

Dionysius' complexion changed drastically.

The Dionia-Katanai coalition forces arrived immediately!
.......................................

When Herolis and others fled to the Epipole Highlands and learned that the attack was carried out by Dionysius himself, Herolis felt the hope of retaking the main city and eliminating the mercenaries. It was slim, because he knew the tyrant of Syracuse too well: Dionysius would not take risks easily without careful preparation!
After discussion, Herolis, Stacekos and others finally decided to put aside their pride and ask for help from the Dionians.

Their location was originally the closest to Taunis, and the envoys they sent arrived at this city that had already belonged to the Dionysian Alliance in the early morning. After Si learned the news, he immediately sent a clipper to Catanay first, and he led the fleet to arrive soon after.

While Antrapolis, the temporary administrator of Catanai, received a message from Herolis asking for help, he also received a letter from Davos from Silitium: Dionysius had fled back to Syracuse. , I hope they pay close attention to the developments in Syracuse and must not let Dionysius regain control of Syracuse!

After a brief discussion between Antrapolis and Antonios, the commander of the First Army, they immediately decided to send troops to rescue Herolis.

The First Army sent 2500 heavy infantry and 500 light infantry, and Catanai sent 3000 heavy infantry.In fact, as soon as they heard that they were going to attack Dionysius, the people of New Catanai eagerly signed up to participate.But time was running out, and Antrapolis only recruited citizens within the city of Catanai.

A total of 6000 troops, led by Antonios, boarded the Sekerian fleet.

It was already noon when we arrived at Taunis Port.

According to Dionia's living habits, it is lunch time.But Antonios did not let the soldiers stop to eat and rest. Instead, he gathered the 500 soldiers provided by Taunis and urged the army to advance faster. Finally, when Herolis' army collapsed, he rushed into the Hexamen .

These days, the soldiers of the First Legion are stationed in Catanai. While resting and recuperating, they also help Antrapolis stabilize the situation on the Catania plain, train the citizens of Catanai, and clear out the broken troops running in the countryside. , assist Catanai, Leotini, Siculi and other Sicilian city-states that have newly joined the Dionian Alliance to attack the remnants of Dionysius... etc., life is relatively easy, and I have accumulated enough energy. Finally got some relief today.

Therefore, the army of Dionysius, who had just won and was chasing the defeated army, was hit head-on by the soldiers of the First Legion who served as arrows. The slave soldiers who had not received special military training were quickly attacked by the fierce group attack of the soldiers of the First Legion. It will collapse soon.The mercenaries can still resist, but the Dionia coalition has a large number of people and has already outflanked them from both wings.

　Thanks to Yijian68, Vanishing Maple, and XYRA for the rewards!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)