Chapter 70 The Dionian Legion Arrives

You know, in order to prepare for this huge war, Dionysius not only raised taxes on the people of Syracuse and exhausted his treasury, but also borrowed from the city-state of Cyrenaica in Africa, and even he moved The idea of ​​robbing the sanctuary of Delphi, because there are hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of gold and silver goods donated to Delphi by various Greek city-states over the centuries (in real history, During the occupation of Great Greece, Dionysius really sent mercenaries to pretend to be bandits in an attempt to rob Delphi, but the conspiracy failed in the end).

And if Lijim is captured, not only can he directly obtain a lot of wealth and make up for the deficit of the treasury, but also completely monopolize the Strait of Messina, and only rely on the taxes of the merchant ships in the past to maintain his long-term occupation of Great Greece. As for the purely military view of pulling out the "nail" of Lijim behind him before the army goes north to attack, he doesn't really care too much.

Phoebe Das was not in Dionysius' position, and of course it was impossible to understand Dionysius' hesitation by considering the war in economic terms. As a stubborn Spartan, although he had already stated his reasons for choosing Corenia before departure, he decided to say it again to strengthen Dionysius' determination: "Although Lijim was cut off by Lochry , isolated from the South Italian Alliance, but it is not easy to attack it! I have seen the map you gave, there are impenetrable mountains in the center of the north of Lijim, and the east coast can only be reached by a narrow mountain road. The west coast must first pass through the Maro River and capture its sub-state Taurina before opening the road to Lijim. The Lijim will definitely defend the south bank of the Maro River with Taurina, where the area is narrow. , it is not conducive to the development of the Syracuse army at all. It will take some time to invade the territory of Lijim. However, the South-Italian Alliance will use this time to form a good army and do a good job in the defense of Coulonia and Trina. , and maybe even attack Lokri when we attack Lijim, and let us face the enemy... If the consul who was dragged to Dionia led the main force from the Lucania region, our battle in Greater Greece War is not easy to fight!"

The last two sentences of Phoebe Das shocked Dionysius, although he said indifferently: "If the Dionysian army led by Davos wants to drive back from the mountains of Lucania, I'm afraid it's not that easy, his troubles have just begun!"

"As long as we hurry up and continue to attack the South-Italian Alliance before it is ready for war, we will be able to completely destroy their alliance. At that time, Lijim is just a fish in a net, and there is no way to escape. And Even if the main force of Dionia can return from the Lucania region, it will not be of much help to the entire battlefield."

Dionysius did not speak, but Phoebedas' persuasion had already made him decide.

……………………

At dusk, the gate of the South-Italian Alliance headquarters was suddenly pushed open, and Yulipatos' entourage shouted: "My lord! My lord! Dionia's army has arrived!"

Yulipatos, who was so tired and sleepy, couldn't believe his ears: It's coming so soon!

At his urging in the afternoon,

He saw with his own eyes that the Siliting City Hall sent cavalry to the city and outside the city to inform all citizens. According to the common practice of Greek city-states, the citizens of Silitin received a notice to participate in the war, and it would take a day at the earliest to finish the affairs of the family before picking up the weapons and equipment stored at home and rushing to the square in the city of Silitin. To be able to complete the assembly and roll call of the citizens in the day after tomorrow is already relatively fast, and the formation of the troops, the preparation of the baggage... After all preparations are completed, at the end of the expedition... The chief general of the Celestial Court, Pretinis, assured him. Try to lead the team out after three days.

Compared with the preparations of his city-state in the past, Yulipatos was quite satisfied with the performance of Sirius today, so what Ancitanos said before, he just regarded it as a positive that the scholar wanted to show Dionia. In his heart, he didn't think that the Dionysians could really do it, so Dionysus really sent troops to go out on the day he learned of the invasion of Syracuse, and he really rushed to the Siridium. , the surprise to Yulipatos can be imagined.

"Master Ancitanos, that's great! Thank you so much!..." He hurriedly thanked the equally tired Ancitanos.

Ancitanos was not arrogant, waved his hand and said: "This has nothing to do with me, you should thank the soldiers of Dionia who rushed all the way. You must know that from Aspurustum to Siriting Eighty How many miles! It's really not easy to get there in one day!"

"You're right!" With Ancitanos' reminder, Yulipatos hurried out of the city.

When the two of them arrived, the soldiers of Dionia’s Fourth Legion had already started to build a simple camp beside the road south of Siriding City. Yulipatos saw that they were all shirtless and sweating, and he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. I am sorry.

Under the guidance of the soldiers, they found the commander, Felixius, who was sitting on the grass and discussing matters with the commander of the legion, Epithenes.

"Lord Ancitanos, why are you here?" Epithenes shouted with sharp eyes.

"You came here so hard, of course I want to come and visit you." Ancitanos said seriously, the Fourth Army quickly arrived to shock the resident staff of Sili Court and other South Italian Alliance city-states, which can be said to have made a A very good example, and it also makes Ancitanos speak more weight in the alliance. He is honored.

"How can anyone come to visit empty-handed!" Epithenes said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"Epithenes!" Felixius gave him a quick wink, signaling him not to talk too much.

Ancitanos didn't care too much. After all, he usually met in the Senate. He knew what kind of person Epithenes was, so he smiled and said, "Then what do you want me to bring?"

"It's not me, it's these soldiers who have worked so hard to travel all day. They are thirsty and have no time to find water, so they are busy building the camp..." Epithenes pointed to the soldiers who were still busy. They pointed to their dry lips again: "Look, we're all dying of thirst!"

"Oh, you guys are really too—" Yulipatos on the side was so excited that he didn't know what to say, he turned to his entourage and said, "Go back to the alliance station immediately, call everyone, and go to various restaurants in the city. Buy the slurry and have them deliver..."

"Hey, we have nearly 10,000 people here. It is estimated that at night, there are about 10,000 people from the Fifth Army arriving. It is not only the water problem. We are coming too fast, and the baggage battalion is still behind. It is estimated that we will arrive tomorrow. Eating these cold and hard bread alone is not enough to replenish the physical strength consumed by the soldiers on a long march." Epithenes took out his rations, shook it in front of Yulipatos, and reminded bluntly.

"He's joking with you!" Felixius glared at Epithenes and said, "We have bread and meat, enough to fill our stomachs, you don't have to worry about it."

"I can't solve the problem of food supply for so many soldiers in Cilitin, but as long as you arrive in Corenia, I promise that the people of Corenia will make you full and well fed!" Yulipatos expressed While apologizing, he vaguely urged the Dionysians, and at the same time he issued an order to his entourage: "If the water in the restaurant in the city is not enough, please pass the word to the citizens of Sirius, as long as they send their homemade water here. , we'll pay double the price for a can..."

Go with the sound.

"Thank you so much!" Felixius stepped forward to express his gratitude.

"This is Yulipatos, the messenger of Corenia." Ancitanos hurriedly introduced.

"Oh." Epithenis curled his lips, thinking to himself: It turned out to be from Corenia, you should pay for the water.

"I really didn't expect you to come so quickly, and I didn't prepare anything, otherwise I should have entertained you to express my gratitude!"

"There is no need for a banquet. Our military law does not allow generals and soldiers to eat and drink during the war. We carry food rations for a few days, and we are afraid that the transportation of the baggage battalion will not be able to supply temporarily. At that time, we really need to consider letting you take the test. Lunia will give us food first." As commander, Felixius had to take into account some of the details.

"Of course there is no problem. I will send someone back tomorrow to inform the city hall to prepare rations. As I said just now, the people of Colonia will make sure that the citizens of Dionia will be well fed!" Yulipato Sis agreed.

Seeing the countless soldiers in front of them digging trenches with pickaxes, sweating like rain, but doing it in full force, Yulipatos couldn't help but ask curiously: "You guys are already tired when you arrive here, just set up tents and rest, why dig trenches? ?"

"It's a stipulation of the Dionysian Military Code, mainly to provide soldiers with a safer and more comfortable camp." Ancitanos explained that Dionysus has been established for a long time, like them " The old man" also knew some of the rules of the army.

"Your army's requirements are really strict!" Of course, as a citizen, Yulipatos had many experiences in the army, and he couldn't help but sigh when he looked at the Dionysian soldiers in front of him when he compared himself.

"This is still the easiest way to build a camp, because it's too late, and it will be dark soon, so just dig a trench and build an earthen fort. This is in the territory of the allies, and there should be no danger. If it is in a war zone , it will take several days just to build the camp!" Epithenes was showing off, but also complaining: "The key is that our Fourth Army not only builds camps for ourselves, but also for the Fifth Army."