ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 875: Facing Cavutini’s reinforcements
"Attack! Attack me quickly!..." The Campania team officers eagerly urged these distracted soldiers.

The Dionian heavy infantry who had been prepared for a long time were already shouting excitedly, covering their heads with long shields, blocking the stones and wood hurriedly dropped by the city defenders, and rushed towards them in a loose formation. A gap in the city wall.The Campania light infantry in front of the trench also stepped up their attack on the city head.

After the city wall collapsed downward, a slope was formed on both sides of the gap. The Dionysian soldiers stepped on the gravel and hurriedly jumped onto the gap that only allowed three people to pass.When the defenders of Lola South City saw the city wall collapse, they immediately sent some soldiers to the city to intercept it.

In the close fight, the Dionian soldiers holding daggers had the advantage, but the Lola warriors were not afraid of casualties in order to defend their homeland. The narrow gap made the Dionian soldiers attack quickly, but in a short time No progress can be made.

"Woo!..." Just as Dionia soldiers and Campania soldiers poured into the two gaps in the city wall, the attack bugle sounded outside the west city at the right time.

The Campania light infantry in front of the trench immediately lowered the arrow shields and laid them on the trench, which was only three meters wide. The remaining coalition soldiers rushed up from the rear carrying ladders, stepping on the arrow shields. With the "wooden bridges" one by one, they easily bypassed the sparsely arranged Luzhai and put the ladder on the city wall.

Part of the original west city defenders were sent to rescue the south city, and part of them rushed down to the city to block the gap. There were not many soldiers left at the top of the city, and they had to help attack the enemies in the gap. They could not give a big blow to the enemies close to the city wall. Killing, it is also difficult to stop the enemy's ants from attacking the city, so they have to ask for help.

But now the Dionian coalition forces in Nancheng are attacking fiercely, and the Lola warriors in armor are not as protective as the opponents. In frontal battles, they often win less and lose more, so they can only support themselves.The defense of the east and north sides of the city mainly depends on the people in the city. It is a great sacrifice to be able to fight until now without being attacked by the enemy.Now the entire Lola city is being attacked from all sides, and the whole city is in a tight situation, and there are no extra troops to send.

The battle continued until noon. Zantiparis, who was watching the development of the battle outside the southern city, received the long-awaited good news: Allied soldiers had captured the western city!
Zanti Paris suddenly let out a sigh of relief and relaxed: Lola City was finally taken!

Although for him, this is the first time he has independently led a battle since joining the Kingdom of Dionia, but he has achieved such great results in his first battle, and it may be possible to realize his original wish in his lifetime - —Become a real legion commander and wash away his previous shame (referring to the Laodicean case, when he was serving as an inspector in the Ministry of Military Affairs, but he did not perform his duties conscientiously, resulting in poor supervision and letting some incompetent people Team officer gets promoted).

But at this moment, he was a little unhappy: from the siege of Lola City to the present, the army he led had suffered more than 500 casualties. Although most of them were injured, this ratio was already very high for a team of only 4000 people. , I'm afraid I will be criticized afterwards.

Therefore, he issued an order to the messenger: "Inform all the brigades not to rush in too much after entering the city, to slow down the attack speed, to protect themselves and to reduce casualties!"

The new recruits were inexperienced, so they could only keep reminding them... Watching the messenger leave, Zantiparis sighed softly, rubbed his sore old waist with his hands, and said: "Go and bring me a chair. "

Lola City's defense was like an inflated pig's urine bubble. Once it was broken, it quickly collapsed.However, Zantiparis's worries soon came true. The Lola defenders and people who retreated from the city head to the city did not surrender. They still stubbornly blocked the coalition's advance in the city. This angered the people who were attacking the city. The coalition soldiers who suffered a lot of casualties, especially the Campanian soldiers who had been tortured by the Samnite army before, not only increased their offensive efforts, but also regarded all men, women, old and young in the city as enemies and killed them.

The people of Lola were outnumbered, and there was no acropolis in the city for final defense as was common in Greek city-states. By the afternoon, almost all the people in Lola were killed in the battle and it was completely occupied by the coalition forces.

However, the coalition leaders did not feel the joy of victory, because a spy from Abenirum brought them bad news: thousands of Kautini warriors left Beneventum early in the morning. Marching westward.

The coalition generals headed by Zantiparis and Aialos immediately became nervous. They were worried that this Samnite army was coming to rescue Lola. Fortunately, they no longer needed to worry about the instability of order in Lola City.

After discussion, the coalition generals decided to let the soldiers repair themselves quickly and eat rations in order to regain their strength as soon as possible.The cleaning of the entire battlefield, the removal of military camps outside the city, and the inventory of materials in the city... were all handed over to the officials of Enona, and the people of Enona, Campania and Naconia were also responsible. In fact This is equivalent to handing over the management of Lola City to Dionia.

For the Campanians, there was no other way around it.The Samnite coalition invaded on a large scale, killing and plundering a large number of Camparians, destroying towns and villages. Dozens of miles around the city of Naples almost became a wilderness. Now the population of the Campania coalition is simply insufficient. In order to fill these wastelands, how can we covet the land in the eastern plain of Campania? What's more, it is close to the mountains and is more vulnerable to attacks by the Samnites. The Dionians stationed here can instead become Campania. The safety barrier of the Nia Alliance.

For Dionia, after the Third Army defeated the Cavutini invasion of the Campania League, it had formulated a punishment plan to occupy Lola, Sessala, and Capua. It's just about picking up this plan again.Adriankes sent Enona officials to lead the people here, on the one hand to help the coalition forces attack the city, and on the other hand, he also wanted to quickly take over the city after capturing Lola.

The Kingdom of Dionia and the Alliance of Campania naturally reached a tacit agreement without saying a word, each getting what they needed.But now, the Samnite reinforcements that may arrive at any time are likely to make the victory they bought with the blood of their soldiers come to naught.

Fortunately, it is about 90 miles from Beneventum to Lola, half of which is a mountain road, so several Campania League generals believe that it is impossible for the Cavoutini to reach Lola in one day. of.

As the saying goes, whatever you fear comes, come. As dusk approached, the reconnaissance cavalry sent to the north to pay close attention to the enemy's movements hurried back to report that a Samnite army had left the Abela Pass and was heading towards Lola. When they arrived, their soldiers numbered about ten thousand.

The generals of the Campania League were all surprised when they heard the news: they had heard from the Abenirum spies that the enemy only had a few thousand people. How come it turned into 1 people in just a few hours? !
Immediately, a general expressed doubts: "Have you properly detected the number of enemies?! Check it again!"

Some generals suggested: "The Samnite people are coming fiercely, and our soldiers have just gone through a fierce battle. Not only are they very tired, but they have also suffered some casualties and are in urgent need of rest. In addition, the Lola city wall is now broken and cannot hold on." , why not... why not lead the army to retreat first, and then fight again after being fully prepared..."

His suggestion was actually recognized by several generals. Even Aialos hesitated and could not make a decision for a while, so he could only turn his attention to Zantiparis.

Zantiparis looked around at the Campanian generals, and he understood in his heart: Although they captured the city of Lola and won a victory over the Samnites, the Campanian alliance had faced the Samnites for decades. The continuous failures of the Nai people have made them fear the Samnai people in their hearts. Once the situation becomes unfavorable, their first thought is to retreat. He must give them the courage to fight!

Zantiparis pondered for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "Everyone, if we want to retreat, there are several issues you must consider first. First, what should we do with these tens of thousands of people? They are not soldiers. They are young and strong. , and discipline. There are many old men and women among them. They move slowly and lack organization. Once they are allowed to retreat, the scene will be chaotic. The Samnite marches so fast. Once they catch up, it will be What a disaster!
Secondly, the war launched by the Samnites has caused huge losses to the Campania League. We finally captured Lola and were able to block the Samnites in the mountains and prevent their attack. Another invasion, but now we have to give up Lola. Once we give up, it will not be so easy to take it back again. The Samnites will definitely learn their lesson and deploy enough warriors here, which will form a stalemate. .

The main force of our Dionysian army is in the east, fighting in the mountains, which is the homeland of the Samnites. The battle must be very difficult. There will be no results in a short time, and it is impossible for me to get new reinforcements here. , for the kingdom was also engaged in larger wars in Sicily and Latium.

Once the war situation reaches a stalemate, it will be detrimental to you.Because the Samnites can use their best attack method - harassment. After experiencing the large-scale invasion of the Samnites, you originally needed to lead the people to rebuild their homes, harvest and cultivate the destroyed farmland, and there was not much grazing. cattle and sheep... But once the Samnites return to the Campania plain, will anyone dare to leave the town?There is a lack of food, accommodation is difficult, and it is difficult for the people to return home. They are bound to be full of dissatisfaction and complaints. The next governance of your city-state will become more difficult..."

(End of this chapter)