Chapter 209 Syracuse Allied Forces Attack

As a result, Hiros slowed down the progress of the siege again, cut down trees and made siege equipment.

As the Dionysians were about to start their attack on Maidma, the Lokri who were facing off against the Corenia army wanted to rescue them, but they were powerless.

What worries them even more is that once the Dionysians capture Medema and the Daly coalition forces pour out of the ancient road from west to east, the situation in Lokrie will become very dangerous!

Therefore, Loclery dispatched five fifty-barrel fast ships, at a huge risk, paid a heavy price for two ships to be sunk and two captured, to break through the blockade of the Dionysian fleet and enter the Siriting port.

Only then did Dionysius know that he was not only using the peace talks to delay time these days, but Davos was also not idle. Not only did he force Corenia to surrender, but he also dared to divide his troops to defeat him while besieging himself. Lockley's army took Trina, Hibernian lightly, and even Medma was at risk, completely separating Siridium and Lockley. From this, it can be seen that Davos may not have the sincerity of peace talks at all!

This discovery saddened Dionysius: apparently the young consul was not as naive as his age, but as insidious as his military commander, numbing himself while rapidly devouring Thera Kuza's allied forces in Greater Greece hope to completely annihilate his army here!

Aware of Davos' true intentions, how could Dionysius sit still, no matter when the reinforcements could arrive, he had to prepare first.

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On the second day, Antonios met the men sent by Antrapolis, the head of Davos' intelligence department in Sicily. Luo used as bait to induce Syracuse and its allies to attack, so as to cause the emptiness of the internal defense forces of the city-states such as Catane, Leotine, and Syracuse, and was the opponent of Dionysius. They created the conditions for rioting.

After having a rough understanding of the arrangement of Antraporis in several major city-states in the eastern and central parts of Sicily, and in order to reduce the hindrance of future attacks, Antonios agreed after thinking.

While waiting for the enemy to attack, he released the old people, women and children of Sikuli who had been imprisoned before, on the one hand to reduce the consumption of food, and on the other hand to let these people speak to the people of Sikuli: Dioni The Asians came to Sicily just to avenge the Syracuses who invaded Greater Greece. They had no intention of occupying the territory of any city-state, nor had they become enemies with other city-states, and were willing to join the Sicilian city-states to overthrow the tyranny of Dionysius. rule.

Antonios likewise sent a brave Naxos to Tauromenian to the north, and conveyed the same to them. However, the messengers sent did not return, which shows the malice of these Campania mercenaries towards Dionia.

But these mercenaries did not rush out of the city and down the mountain to attack the crowd of exiles that were advancing eastward along the Alcatara Valley.

These exiles were entering Mayaro in an endless stream, and were warmly welcomed by the soldiers of the First Legion in the town. The available soldiers of Antonios gradually became sufficient. While he let Laodician and Lacey Peratus be responsible for the placement of these newcomers, he also recruited the young and strong, and issued leather shields and spears for them. In less than two days, he had nearly 2,000 more available reserve soldiers.

This afternoon, just as Antonios rejoiced at the increase in the strength of his army, he received a report from the scout: an army with a "three-legged pattern" high and a large number of soldiers was entering Sikuli.

Antonios knew that the army of Syracuse was coming.

Soon, his few reconnaissance cavalry were driven by the Syracuse cavalry and had to retreat to the north bank of the Alcantara River. On the south bank, there appeared several generals wearing colorful crown helmets under the protection of the guards. , gestured in the direction of Meyaro, and left after a while.

Antonios knew: The coming of the war is only a matter of one or two days. Even if the time is too late today, the Siracusa people will not be able to attack, and tomorrow there will be a fierce battle in Mayaro Town!

He suppressed the nervousness in his heart and carefully recalled the deployments he had made in the past two days in order to find out if there were any negligence or omissions...

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The next day was sunny and windless, just right for battle. For Antonios, this is not good news. He hopes that it will rain heavily, which will undoubtedly increase the difficulty of Syracuse's attack on Meyaro, especially the soaring Alcantara River will make Syracuse. Zaren felt a headache even crossing the river.

By morning, the sentry on the outpost could already see the billowing smoke from the south.

But it was the port that first discovered the enemy, and the fleet of Syracuse appeared on the sea of ​​the port.

Antonios, who received the news, did not show any abnormal emotions, but he knew clearly in his heart: the Syracuse people were advancing by sea and land, obviously to cut off the retreat of the First Army, cut off the support of the First Army, and to encircle and annihilate.

So, he hurriedly asked, "How many three-deck oars are there?!"

"The exact number is unclear, but it doesn't seem to be less than our fleet!" replied the sentry of the port lighthouse. The fleet at sea is not like the troops on the land. It can occupy the sea surface in a radius of more than ten miles when sailing.

Of course, Antonios also knew something about it. He couldn't fight at sea and had to rely on Sekolian.

"Let the people and patrols in the port withdraw to the town immediately!" Antonios immediately issued an order. The port is not in the town of Meyaro, and there is no city wall to protect it. Under the circumstance of the overwhelming army, there is no need to waste limited manpower to protect a port that is impossible to defend at all. He must concentrate his forces on the upcoming land attack. Even if the Syracuse fleet was to land on the coast near the port and burn the port where supplies were being transported for his First Army, he could not care at this moment...

But the Syracuse fleet did not land at the port, nor did it burn the port, because the Sicilian merchant ships that had traveled this route in the past two days had already informed Syracuse of what they had discovered: Dionia's fleet would leave Lijim every morning. Set off, arrive at the port of Mayaro, and patrol until the afternoon before returning to Lijim, so unless the naval commander of Syracuse is a fool, if you land at the port at this time, the warships moored at the dock will become the dais who arrive later. The target used by the Onia fleet to practice ramming.

The commander of this Syracuse fleet is called Paronisus. He was born in a noble of Syracuse. He was also one of the friends who supported Dionysius together with Herolis. There is some talent in command, so when the navy led by Leputines was defeated by Carthage, the people of Syracuse called for him to be the new commander of the navy.

However, when Dionysius led the army to invade Greater Greece, he still appointed his younger brother as the naval commander, which made Paronisus dissatisfied. He believed that this was Dionysius helping his younger brother to save his life. Reputation, everyone knew that Dionia's fleet was weak, and victory was easy.

Unexpectedly, when the news of the Syracuse Navy's defeat again and again came, Paronisus was shocked and also let out a bad breath. This time, in order to eliminate the Dionians who landed, and considering the resentment of the civilians and freedmen in the bay to the city-state, Philisto deliberately chose Palonisus as the naval commander, just to take advantage of his presence in the water. The prestige in his hand made the attack at sea smoother, and Palonisus also wanted to use a big victory to prove to Dionysius that his choice was wrong.

At this time, Syracuse's warships were all moored on the sea outside the port, with their bows facing north, waiting for the arrival of the Dionysian fleet.

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The Dionian fleet was heading south along the east coast of Sicily.

Day after day, the tasks of escorting Lijim's fleet and patrolling the sea near Meyaro have made Sekelian a little tired. The victory was brilliant, but the navy, which first laid the foundation for the victory of the Dionian Alliance, could only assist the army in escorting, patrolling and other innocuous tasks. Sekelian felt very helpless. If it weren't for the importance of this expedition to Sicily, he would rather stay. In Lijim, let subordinates do this boring task for him.

Just as he was sitting on the deck, thinking about whether to continue escorting the fleet this time, and whether to continue to explore the great port of Syracuse south with the fleet, the watchman on the mast suddenly shouted: "There is a fleet ahead. Lots of warships!"

Hearing this, Sekelian immediately got up: The fleet that can appear in this sea area can only be the Syracuse!

He finally got excited: "Syracuse's fleet is coming to attack, blowing the attack bugle, let's go!"

At this time, the captain of the ship said with some worry: "General, the Syracuses have come prepared, there are probably more warships than us, and none of our warships have 'crows', look...isn't it? For the time being—"

"Shut up!" Sekelian shouted, glaring at him with an indignant look, and reprimanded: "Why didn't I find out that you are a coward! Wouldn't you dare to engage in a naval battle without the Raven Suspension Bridge?! Are you a brave sailor! Just become a heavy infantryman!

Decades ago, the weak Athenian navy could defeat the Persians, and the inexperienced Spartan navy could defeat the Athenians. Today, Sekolian can defeat the Syracuses in the most orthodox naval battle without relying on infantry! "

Seklian looked forward proudly, and the captain lowered his head in shame.