Chapter 129 The Battle of Taranto (1)

"Anyway, come and take a look at our little Eunice, right?" Asuna bent down and said softly to the little baby in the small wooden wheelbarrow.

The originally quiet little Eunice saw someone close to her, and immediately shouted "Yah", dancing with her hands and feet, kicking the thick wool covering her body away.

"Madam, look, even little Eunice is protesting!" Asuna said jokingly as she covered the baby with a quilt. That is, in the Davos mansion, which treats servants kindly, and because Azuna is Cristoia's confidant, she dares to speak like this.

Cristoia looked at her daughter with a gentle light in her bright eyes. She remembered something and sighed softly: "Little Chloe didn't see his father when he was born, who is President Dionia. It's the war going on..."

While the three were sighing, a cry came from the front yard.

It's little Chloe! Agnes and Azuna's expressions changed, and Azuna hurriedly said, "I'll go take a look."

"There's no need to go. With Henney and Cynthia here, there's nothing to worry about." As a mother, Cristoia was much calmer than Agnes and Asuna.

Due to the expansion of the war, Dionia constantly sent young and middle-aged people to the front line. Many institutions in the entire Turii stopped operating due to lack of manpower, and the same was true for schools. The guards and instructors either joined the new army or became sailors or Join the transport team. Although the teachers are not required to go to the battlefield because of Dionia's special law for the purpose of protecting high-quality talents, they still go to the places where they are needed under the arrangement of the city hall, and contribute to the war, such as becoming a teacher. The statistician of the Ministry of Military Affairs, the bookkeeper of the baggage transportation...

As a result, teaching in schools has come to a standstill. And without the protection of guards and instructors, the safety of the students could not be guaranteed, so Ancitanos had to announce that the school was temporarily closed.

For safety, Cynthia, Adoris, and Little Chloe were ordered not to go out. The suffocated little guys who stayed at home were excited to pester him to play when their elder brother Henepolis came back. Son.

The innocuous Henepolis had to take them to the playground in the front yard atrium and play a game of football toss (because the children were old and energetic, Davos simply put the The pool was demolished and the whole was converted into a small sports field, so that children could play happily in it and exercise their bodies at the same time).

The four-year-old little Chloe also ran around excitedly with his brother and sister, accidentally tripped on the ground, and cried.

Adoris was having fun, and said impatiently, "There's no bleeding, what's there to cry about!"

Cynthia glared at him,

Adoris stopped talking immediately, he had always been a little afraid of his sister who was two years older than him.

Cynthia rushed over, helped the crying little Chloe, patted the dust off him lightly, and said softly, "Little Chloe, you are a brave warrior, and a warrior will not cry."

When little Chloe, who often learns from Adoris at home and wants to be a heroic soldier, heard it, he immediately wiped his face with a small hand and said with a pouted mouth, "I didn't cry!"

"Okay, let's rest for a while." Henepolis breathed heavily and sat on the sidelines. Unlike the citizens of the Union who often undergo military training, he spends most of his time in the academy looking up materials and practicing writing. He exhausted his energy: "I'll tell you a story."

"What story?" Adoris asked immediately with interest. Henepolis was very good at telling stories and used to tell children.

"The story of Hades' wife, the goddess Persephone, and the sea monster, this is what I collected last time I went to Sicily, you must not have heard of it."

"I want to hear!" Adoris shouted immediately.

"I want to listen too!" Little Chloe shouted louder.

Cynthia didn't speak, and sat quietly beside Henepolis.

When Aristillas walked into the house, he happened to see three children sitting around Henepolis, listening intently to his vivid storytelling.

Seeing this warm scene, Aristiras naturally remembered the news about the "Arobmas Rebellion" he had just received, and couldn't help but sigh...

………………………………

On the morning of December 6, the weather was clear and cloudless, with a light breeze.

Davos gathered all the soldiers of the First and Second Legions at the barracks, and then led them to the foot of the mountain of the Temple of Hades, where a lot of people had already gathered, as well as the elders of the Senate.

Davos was the first to go up the mountain, followed by the elders of the Senate and two legion commanders.

The chief priest, Plessinas, had already been waiting in front of the temple, and a group of people headed by Davos walked into the hell hall of the Temple of Hades with a solemn expression.

Davos looked up at the statue of Pluto, who held a double fork, had black hair, and glared angrily. There was a kind of intimacy in his heart: from his rebirth to the present, he had forged an indissoluble bond with Hades, and now he is even more connected with Hades. He rests with him. As long as Dionysus exists, the Davos royal family must be a family with him, worship him, and be blessed by him...

Thinking of this, Davos knelt down reverently and said aloud, "God of justice and selfless Hades, your earthly kingdom of Dionysus is surrounded by war and is in danger, your descendants ( That is, Davos himself) is about to lead the army to fight the Syracuse people in a desperate battle, I hope to get your blessing and return with a great victory!"

After that, Davos stood up, lit an oil lamp, and placed it respectfully on the offering table in the center under the statue.

Then, Plessinas led a black calf specially selected from among the many Lucanian cattle, it seemed to know its own destiny, but when Davos held it with his left hand, it did not bark. Jump.

Davos drew out his dagger, touched its back and neck, ruthless, and stabbed in with a forceful sword, the calf let out a whimper and fell to the ground and died.

The priests quickly carried it to the sacrificial table, cut open the abdomen, and took out the internal organs for inspection. How can there be lesions in the internal organs of healthy calves? Therefore, after reading it carefully, the divination priest said loudly: "Good omen! It's a good omen!!"

Everyone's expressions were relaxed, showing joy, singing Hades' odes, and watching Plessinas solemnly enshrine fresh blood and food in front of the statue...

In addition to the Hell Hall, Davos and the two legion commanders also paid homage to the Valhalla...

"Boom!...Boom!..." Nine long and majestic bells rang from the top of the mountain, and a strong one sounded, and the people and soldiers below the mountain were all excited.

"It's a good omen! It's a good omen!!..." When Davos and his party came down from the mountain, the bottom of the mountain had become a sea of ​​joy, as if the battle had been won.

Just as Davos led the First and Second Corps to the military port, Sekelian was mobilizing nearly 30,000 sailors in the military port before the war: "Brothers, you have been training hard for so long, and today you will finally be at sea with the enemy. The war started. Yesterday, I was recruited by Davos... Your Majesty to discuss the naval battle. There were also several legion commanders accompanying me. They even dissuaded His Majesty to stop fighting the Syracuses at sea, saying, 'Our Navy Newly formed, inexperienced, it is impossible to be an opponent of the Syracuses'. I argued with them, but was reprimanded by them, 'Our navy has no merit and is not qualified to speak to them...'"

The sailors were indignant at his words, and he took the opportunity to shout: "Fortunately, the wise King Davos said, 'He believes that the sailors of Dionia will fight valiantly like the civic soldiers, and lead the Union Come to victory!'. Brothers, let's not live up to His Majesty's expectations and tell the proud Army with a glorious victory that we are also heroes in the hearts of the people! And with this victory, we can also be like legionnaires , get citizenship faster (because most of the sailors are free people)! Get the allocated land faster! Brothers, for your better life in the future, let us do a good job and defeat Syracuse Get the navy!"

"Defeat the Syracuse Navy!!!"

"Dionia Navy Victory!!!"

"His Majesty Davos is victorious!!!"

...

The sailors who were so excited by Sekelian's speech raised their arms and shouted. The shouts made the people who got the news and were on their way to the coast looked sideways. Even Davos, who was on the way, heard their shouts and couldn't help laughing. Said: "The morale of the navy is very high!"

Although there were some quarrels with Sekelian yesterday, before starting the fight, Amintas also put those small disputes behind him and said happily: "This is very good, and we have increased our chances of winning a little bit more."

"Now I order—" Cykrian looked around at the sailors, heaved a sigh of relief, and shouted: "Tug into the water!!"

The sailors immediately rushed to the dock where the warships they were in charge of were kept.

Warships that do not usually fight are stored in dry docks, and are regularly exposed to sunlight, so that the ship maggots that have done great damage to the ships cannot survive. Therefore, the military port of Turui is different from the commercial port. It has no wharf, but the river bank is built into a sloping causeway with a certain angle, and a dock is built on the causeway. After the warships are in port, sailors will drag the warships along the slope of the causeway into the dry dock for storage.

Since this military port in Turii was built hastily without careful planning in advance, not only was each dock built simple, but also the area was cramped. It extended eastward from the Temple of Hera to the part outside the market. On the banks of the river, large and small docks are densely arranged on both sides of this section of the Krati River.