Chapter 191: Corenia's Choice

"And now, Syracuse's huge army is contained by us in Great Greece. The news of his navy's disastrous defeat and the failure of the battle will be sent back to Sicily, which will inevitably make the people there have new ideas! Dionia's strength is comparable to that of Sicily. Go to Syracuse, even if we wipe out the army in the city of Sirius, Syracuse will only need to rest for a few years before it can regain its strength and become a big trouble for Dionysian, so for Dionysian For the sake of Asia's future, I want to take advantage of this opportunity for Syracuse to be severely damaged to completely destroy its hegemony in Sicily!"

Davos's words greatly touched the generals present. Just as they were thinking about it, Davos continued to say to Antonios: "I have already sent people to eastern Sicily to contact the various city-states against Thira. The people and forces in Kuza believe that the news of "the fiasco of the Syracuse army in Great Greece" will be sent back to Sicily, and they will definitely take action!

When the First Army arrived in Sicily, the important thing was not to annihilate many enemies, but to contact these forces that were dissatisfied with Syracuse, overthrow the tyranny of its city-state, break away from the Sicilian alliance under the leadership of Syracuse, and finally isolate Syracuse. ! …”

Davos's words lifted Antonios' spirits, and he now understood a little: one of the reasons Davos sent him to be the commander of the army on the expedition to Sicily was because he was the most sociable of the army commanders.

At this time, Henepolis also unfolded the map of Sicily on the grass, and everyone gathered around.

Davos asked, "Commander Antonios, where do you think it would be better for the First Army to land in Sicily?"

This is a test for Antonios, not only him, but several others are looking at the map and thinking. They were not like Davos. They considered things comprehensively and long-term. They were very familiar with Great Greece, but Sicily was relatively unfamiliar.

Antonios squatted on the ground, staring at the map that was still unfamiliar to him, wanting to remember every city, every river, every mountain range marked on it, his eyes from the tin. Rakuza, Taunis, Leotine, Katanai, and Naxos moved north all the way, and finally stopped at the corner that was only separated by a strait from Lijim...

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At dusk, the city of Colonia suddenly became lively, because more than 2,000 civic soldiers who had been forced to follow the army of Syracuse to go on the expedition returned.

The people embraced their relatives, asked for warmth, and at the same time thanked Dionysus for his kindness. The bereaved people wept bitterly, cursing the Syracuses for bringing them disaster. And the people whose relatives were besieged in the Sirius were worried and prayed to Apollo to bless them with safety in the next battle.

At this time, in the Council of Columbia, MPs were arguing over a letter from Davos that the soldiers brought back.

Chief General Fernyris finally couldn't help standing up and said loudly: "Citizens of Coulonia, now is a critical moment for Coulonia's survival or death, if you still hold a vague attitude If you want to keep delaying and don't give a clear answer to the South Italian Alliance, the situation of Coulonia will be very dangerous!"

His speech made the quarrel in the meeting room a little quieter, and someone stood up and retorted dissatisfiedly: "Lord Fernyris, you said the opposite, now Dionia has defeated the Syracuses, and By besieging them in the Siri Court, we have escaped the danger of being killed and looted by the Syracuses, and we are completely safe!"

"Completely safe?!" Freeniris sneered a few times, looked around at the others, and asked loudly, "You all think so?!"

"Of course not!" A person stood up in the hall, and Verniris recognized that it was Euripatos.

"I agree with you, Phryniris, Corenia is in danger now! Everyone, when you listened to the letter from the Dionysian Consul Davos, I wonder if you noticed what the letter said,'" ...after repeated discussions with Crotone and Trina generals, it was unanimously agreed that more than 2,000 Coulonias were captured in the battle with the Syracuses and in the capture of Trina. Soldiers return home...'

You may have only seen Dionia's goodwill for the safe return of our civic soldiers, but you have not seen the phrase 'repeated discussions' mentioned in the letter. What does this mean? ! Euripatos emphasized his tone: "It means that some of the Crotones, Trina, and even Dionia are dissatisfied with our sending troops to participate in the military operations in Syracuse!" Defending Trina, taking Crotone, and taking part in the battle with Dionia, we've made them grudge! "

"But we are forced!" someone in the crowd shouted: "If we don't do this, Corenia will suffer the same disaster as the Siridinians!"

"That's right! As Corenia's allies for many years, they should understand that we had to make this decision before!" The people in the venue shouted in agreement.

"Yes, they understand, so they released our citizens. Now it's time for us to respond to Dionysian kindness!" Euripatos said solemnly: "Don't forget Davos at the end of the letter. Said, 'After winning the battle, the South Italian Alliance is fighting back against the Syracuses and their accomplices, the Locri Alliance, and is determined to completely eliminate them! Therefore, I hope that Corenia will seriously consider returning to the South Italian Alliance. the question, pick up the shield and spear, join the team to resist the invaders, all the allies of the South Italian Alliance are eagerly waiting for your answer!  …'

Ladies and gentlemen, is this the request of Dionysian Archon Davos? Do not! This is his warning to Coulonia! It is the ultimatum given to us by the South-Italian Alliance! If we don't make a clear statement on this, the South-Italian Alliance will regard Coulonia as an associate of Syracuse and Locri. It is their messenger, but the army! "

The venue suddenly became quieter, but there were still people who objected: "Eulypatos, it's not that we don't want to rebel against Syracuse. Don't forget, we still have a thousand civic soldiers in the Siri Court! Dionysius knew that Corenia had betrayed him, and with his brutal character, our compatriots would probably die tragically at his hands! Then in the face of the anger of the dead soldiers' families, who would dare to take this responsibility!"

"Yeah, it's not that we don't want to go to war with the Syracuses who oppress us, but it's about the lives of our citizens, and we must be careful! At least compared to the vicious Syracuses, Crotone, Special Reina has been Colonia's ally for decades, and Dionia has always been known for her generosity, so we should forgive our hesitation!" There were also people in the room.

Fernyris finally couldn't hold back, and said loudly again: "Everyone, you think too well about your former allies! Sirius was slaughtered! Trina was captured and the people were displaced! Even the city of Crotone was burned to the ground. It is said that almost half of its people were killed or injured! The civic soldiers of the Dionysian Union are said to have lost ten thousand people. Compared, even if we count the loss of this thousand soldiers in Corenia, it is still relatively minor!"

"Lord Freeniris, what do you mean by these words! Don't the lives of our thousand soldiers not matter!" Someone asked immediately.

"The South Italian Alliance will not think they are important, they will only think that we have sacrificed too little! Don't forget that our soldiers have invaded their territories and attacked their cities, although only forced, but if we put them If the last kindness given is regarded as a kind of tolerance towards us and not a quick decision is taken, anger and jealousy will grow in their hearts like weeds, and will prompt them to list Coulonia as something like Syracuse, Locke. It is the same target that must be eliminated, who can Corenia rely on then?! Syracuse? We all know that if this war is won, Syracuse will only support Locri to annex us! In this great war involving the entire city-states of Greater Greece, either fight to survive or fight to perish. No city-state can survive without fighting! Ladies and gentlemen, you decide on Columbine The fate of Asia, and I am willing to bear the anger of the people, be the first to vote for Coulonia to rejoin the South Italian Alliance and declare war on Syracuse and Locri!"

In the deadly silence of the venue, Freeniris' heavy and emotional speech deeply touched everyone present, prompting them to weigh the pros and cons more deeply.

"I would like to be the second to support Corenia's declaration of war on Syracuse!" Euripatos stood up.

Then the third person...

In the end, the council passed the proposal to "declare war on Syracuse" by a narrow majority. Then in the urgent citizens' assembly, although many citizens expressed strong opposition, and even once rushed to the stage, trying to beat Feniris, the more than 2,000 citizens who were sent back by Dionia played the key role. role, and even allowed Coulonia to return to the South Italian Alliance with more votes than the council.

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The 15,000 soldiers of Loclery have guarded Medema since Loclery's army repelled the Lijim attack on Medema.

The leading general Diopantos kept receiving the news that "Syracuse is victorious in the north". , in order to wash away the shame that he was driven back by the Dionians without fighting in Crotone.