ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 889 Night Attack
Carthage is not Rome. Years of war with Syracuse have made its army rich in siege experience, and it has sufficient technical capabilities to implement the siege plan.Mago saw that the attack effect of the ballista was not obvious. After thinking about it, he ordered a city wall to be built a hundred meters away from the city of Selinus. Not only should it completely surround the city of Selinus, but its height should not be lower. For the city wall of Selinus, this can not only prevent the Dionians from raiding, but also suppress the long-range attacks on the opponent's city head, which is conducive to the next attack.

Mago gave an order, and nearly [-] soldiers and countless workers transporting baggage in the entire military camp began to take action under the guidance of engineers.

The Dionian defenders discovered the enemy's attempt and made several raids out of the city, but were repelled by the well-prepared Carthaginians.

Three days later, a prototype of an earthen wall surrounding the city of Selinus was rising.

Just when the Dionian soldiers were shocked, at the palace of the Lord of Selinus, Leotizides, commander of the Sicilian theater of the Dionian Kingdom, met with Miltias, commander of the Sicilian fleet.

Ever since Leotizides incorporated the Sicilian fleet crew into his own army without the approval of the Ministry of Military Affairs, which violated the interests of the Dionian Navy and was discovered by the newly appointed Milchias, the two sides have been at loggerheads. , Miltias moved to the port and never met Leotizides again. The reason why he came to the city to discuss this time was out of necessity.

Because Miltias was worried about the occurrence of a storm, he stopped the warships from patrolling the western waters of Sicily, which caused the Carthaginian army to easily land in Sicily. This was a huge military mistake.If Leotizides added insult to injury at this time, he reported it to the Ministry of Military Affairs and said, "He has reminded the Sicilian fleet many times not to stop the blockade of the western sea area because of bad weather, but the commander of the Sicilian fleet has always been stubborn and refused to listen, which led to the Sicilian war situation. There have been huge changes..." This will not only increase the resentment of King Davos and the Ministry of Military Affairs towards Miltias, but may also ruin his future military career, so Miltias came with a soft mentality. .

When Leotizides saw him, he did not mention a word about "the landing of the Carthaginian army", but said directly: "Miltias, I am preparing to attack the Carthaginian camp at night, and I need you. Navy help.”

Upon hearing this, Miltias' thoughts changed quickly, and then he said hesitantly: "...A night attack on the Carthaginian camp? Are you planning to attack from the sea? The Carthaginians are in Selinus. There are many sentries deployed along the coast, and they are well prepared... It is said that it is a camp of 10,000+ people! How many soldiers do we need to invest in a raid to cause chaos in the Carthage camp! If we fail, There is a danger of the whole army being annihilated!"

Leotizides heard the hint of heartbeat in Miltias's hesitant words. In order to convince this colleague who had the same position as him, he had to take some time and patiently explain: "I don't know how to do it." Let the soldiers land on the nearby coast, that way they will be easily discovered by the Carthaginians. The place I chose is here——"

Leotizides pointed to a rough sketch on the table depicting the surrounding environment of the city of Selinus and the Carthage camp.

Miltias hesitated for a moment, then approached Leotizides, and after a closer look, he found that his finger was exactly between Selinus and Germe.

Since taking office as the commander of the Sicilian fleet, Miltias has commanded the flagship and repeatedly cruised the south coast of Sicily to become familiar with the sea environment here. This is also a skill that a senior general of Deolia must possess.At this moment, a rough picture of the location emerged in his mind. There was indeed a small beach there, which was easy to land on, but he reminded: "The coast road from Germe to Selinus is undulating, and it is not very good during the day." Let’s go, I’m afraid it will be even more difficult at night!”

"This is the reason why I chose to land here." Leotizides said confidently: "The coastal environment there is complicated, and the Carthaginians who just landed in Sicily are still not familiar with the coast leading to Germe. If you are not familiar with it, this can prevent our landing from being discovered by the enemy. I asked the fishermen at the port that tonight will be a full moon night. After landing, the soldiers can use the moonlight to sneak into the mountains and forests near the coast for about two or more An hour's march would bring us close to the Carthaginian camp."

Leotizides moved his fingers to the pattern of the Carthage camp and continued: "Based on my careful observation at the top of the city during this period and the reports from the soldiers who raided the city, I think that Mago led The Iberian army camp should be to our north, and the army camp from Carthage should be on our east and west sides. Most of their soldiers should be Numibians, and they are also the main force in building earth walls in the past few days. They must be very tired after being busy during the day and fall into a deep sleep at night.

Moreover, in these days, the Carthaginian army has focused its entire defense on protecting the earth wall that is being built, and may have neglected to guard the rear of its camp. Our raid is highly likely to succeed... By then I will also gather 1 heavy infantry in the city. When the raiding force causes chaos in the Carthage camp, I will immediately leave the city, rush through the earth wall, attack the Carthage camp, and escort them back to the city. If the situation is very serious for us, If it’s beneficial, we can continue to attack——”

"What if the raid fails?" Miltias suddenly interrupted him.

Leotizides had already considered it, and he said calmly: "I will let them escape eastward into the mountains, and eventually return through Minoa."

Miltias stopped talking. He knew that there were allies in the mountains to the east, the Sikels. As long as he escaped into the mountains, there was a high possibility of returning safely.

He carefully studied the sketch on the table and focused on the target of the night attack - the Carthaginian camp located east of the city of Selinus. Perhaps because the Carthaginians had strong military strength, the camp was built. One mile away from the city, standing at the top of the city, one could indeed roughly see the Carthaginian camp. Therefore, Leotizides was able to deduce the general layout of the Carthaginian camp, and he did not have much doubt.

At this time, Leotizides said again: "I will send the light armored brigade of the Eighth Legion and 1000 reserve legion soldiers to carry out this raid mission. I hope that the fleet infantry belonging to the Sicilian Fleet will also participate in this operation. "

"No..." Miltias instinctively wanted to refuse. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he immediately realized that the fleet infantry could participate in this night attack. The mistake he made, he immediately changed his words: "Of course there is no problem. Our fleet infantry is best at landing raids. I will let them all join this raid!"

Previously, the 4th fleet led by Miltias had 3 three-tiered galleys, including 40 crow warships, so there were 30 fleet infantry, plus those who had survived the storm before, his men There are about 1200 fleet infantry in total.This brought the number of soldiers involved in the raid to 3000.

Leotyzides felt satisfied, which was one of the main reasons why he called Miltias.

With the fleet infantry joining the night attack, Miltias became much more active. He spent a long time perfecting the raid plan with Leotizides.

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

Mago was woken up in his sleep and was shocked when he heard the news of "the Dionysians attacking the camp".

At this time, there was already a faint sound of fighting reaching his ears. As he walked quickly out of the tent, he asked urgently: "Which camp was attacked?! How many enemies are there?!"

"It should be in the middle of Dongying. It's unclear how many enemies there are..." the adjutant replied hastily.

When Mago walked outside the tent, the sounds of fighting and screams became clearer, and there were constant exclamations. The Dionians' night attacks had begun to wake up the soldiers in other camps.

Mago looked eastward. Even with the moonlight shining, the camp of nearly 10 troops stretched for more than ten miles. The Chinese army camp alone was several miles away from the accident site. It was so dark that it was impossible to see at first glance. To what.

Mago listened carefully for a while. Although the shouts and screams were getting louder, he did not panic. During the conquest of southern Iberia, he had encountered too many night attacks and was already very experienced in this. He immediately Decisively said to the adjutant: "Send messengers to each camp and inform the generals to control the soldiers in their camps and prepare for defense. Without my order, no one is allowed to lead troops to rescue without permission! If anyone doesn't Do as you are told and I will crucify him!”

The reason why Mago spoke harshly is because the eastern camp is mainly stationed with troops formed by Carthage, and most of its generals are nobles from the basic city of Carthage. Mago has been away from Carthage for more than 10 years. Some people may think Ignore his presence and act without permission.

The messengers rushed away, and the generals of the Chinese army camp quickly rushed to the tent after receiving the urgent call.

Mago once again gave them a direct order: "Gather your soldiers immediately. Except for Talca who leads his troops to defend the camp, the other troops will follow me to rescue the attacked camp-"

Before Mago finished speaking, a deafening roar suddenly came from outside the tent, and the expressions of some people inside the tent changed when they heard it.

The adjutant rushed in and shouted urgently: "Sir, the Dionians sent troops from the city and attacked the camp to the east!"

However, Mago looked calm and smiled: "Listening to this voice, I'm afraid there are quite a few soldiers sent by the Dionians. That's great! We can just kill them all and then attack Selinus. It’s much easier when you’re in the city!”

(End of this chapter)