Chapter 211 Naxos Naval Battle

Therefore, Leotidides, who had a cold and arrogant face to everyone, only showed respect on his face when facing Parmanus.

"Help him." Leotidides said, reaching out his hands, grasping the end of the short spear, and pulling it out.

However, the force of the abdominal bow was too strong, and Leotidides was not able to pull out the short spear.

"Another one with more strength!" As he said, he squatted down and set up a horse stride, ready to use all his strength.

At this time, another squad leader shouted urgently: "Company leader, listen! The enemy's attack is coming again, wait until this round is avoided, and then clean up the body of the squad leader Parmanus!"

Leotidides ignored it.

The squad leader shouted helplessly: "Shield formation defense!"

The soldiers hurriedly and skillfully stacked long shields together to form a shield array, protecting Leotidides in the center.

"Captain of the company of Hyterbarus!" With this shout, Hyterbarus squeezed in and stood opposite Leotidides, the captain of the company who was also a soldier under Parmanus. Holding the short spear with both hands.

In the sound of the stone bomb hitting the wooden wall, the two of them worked hard at the same time, and finally pulled out the short spear. Fortunately, the abdominal bow did not launch the short spear in this direction this time, otherwise the long shield might not be able to block it.

Leotizides laid Parmanius' body flat, took off his helmet, reached out and closed his painful eyes, and whispered, "May the Elysees be open to you."

After he finished speaking, he stood up and said, "Sitarsis, you take over the position of sub-commander of Parmanus, and send two people to send Parmanus' body to the rear."

"Yes!" Sitarsis, who used to be Leoticides' direct commander, saluted and replied.

"Prosous, we will use the blood of countless Syracuses to pay homage to Parmanus!" Heitbarus said bitterly.

Leotides did not speak, but his face was equally gloomy and terrible.

After this round of stone bombardment was over, the sentry ran forward to observe the enemy's situation. The wooden walls were basically collapsed, and the front view was wide: "Report, the enemy's ballista moved forward!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a "... squeak... bang!" The crumbling sentry building finally collapsed, and the dust was flying.

Leotizides glanced at the dense Syracuse army on the south bank of the Alcantara.

The order was issued: "The whole team of soldiers immediately retreat!"

Not just his company, other companies are doing the same thing.

And Marcias on the south bank was giving an order to the ballista unit: "Move the ballista forward another 10 meters!  …".

As the general who was appointed by Dionysius to guard the city of Syracuse and was once the leader of the mercenary army, Macias was not only experienced in combat, but also prudent in military use. He once asked the messenger who came back for help. The combat experience of the army in Greater Greece, so I have some understanding of the combat characteristics of the Dionysian army, and I have paid enough attention to the combat effectiveness of the Dionysian army. Although Philistos urged him to eliminate the invaders as soon as possible and ease the anxiety of the Sicilian allies, he still decided to follow his own battle plan and proceed step by step.

According to the news that the spies kept returning, Marcias estimated that there were about 6,000 soldiers in the Syracuses, plus those exiles, the total strength might be seven or eight thousand. Although the number of troops he led was much larger than that of the opponent, he did not intend to attack rashly. Instead, according to the method that Syracuse had summed up in the continuous siege battle, he first concentrated on the ballista to continue bombarding, weakening the defense of the opponent's city. Destroy the morale of the defenders, and finally send troops to attack.

Meyaro's poor city defense further demonstrated the power of Syracuse's ballista units. Even though the wooden walls and towers in the south had been swept away, Macias did not launch an army attack. His plan was to continue bombarding with ballistas. One day, the town of Meyaro will be completely turned into ruins, so that the Dionysians and Sicilian exiles will consume their energy in anxiety and panic, and wait for the allied reinforcements such as Gera and Camerina on the south coast of Sicily to arrive tomorrow. Come, after the troops are strengthened again, annihilate these Dionians in one fell swoop. Therefore, the most common sentence that Macias said on this day was "Move forward! Keep moving forward! Hit me with Meyaro!  …"

Syracuse's style of play was beyond Antonio's expectations. He did not wait for the attack of Syracuse's army. Instead, the leaders of the exiles frequently came to complain, because it was not only the Dionian soldiers who kept retreating. , as well as these exiles and their families, the whole town was filled with the cries of children and the screams of women, as Torylaus even hoped that Antonio would lead his army to Syracuse on his own initiative. People attack.

After being flatly rejected by Antonios, he was so angry that he called the Dionians cowards.

Antonios didn't care too much. Although Syracuse's ballista gave him a headache, their non-attacking also bought time for the First Army. Antrapolis' suggestion made him see that the other party must be planning. What, this gave him hope, but he wouldn't pin all his hopes on these spies who hid in the dark like mice and snooped on secrets.

These Sicilian exiles surprised Antonios. Except for young children and women, these young and middle-aged exiles were able to remain calm, maintain order, and not panic in the face of the powerful ballista bombardment, and also actively asked to fight. After being rejected by him, he can continue to carry out his orders, which is commendable.

After Laodician's explanation, he learned that these Sicilian exiles fled to the inland mountains after their homes were destroyed, and gradually built settlements one by one, but they had to face the looting and looting of Syracuse's allies. The Sikelians are harassing from time to time. Over the years, these surviving exiles have exercised their courage, improved their fighting skills, and developed the habit of obeying the collective, because in a dangerous situation surrounded by enemies, they can only be destroyed if they do not unite.

The performance of the exiles has given Antonio an extra confidence, and his biggest worries right now are two things.

The first is grain. The grains collected by Antonios after the capture of Meyaro and transported by Lijim's fleet are concentrated in the barn near the center of the town. In the near future, I am afraid that it will also enter its attack range. He can only order Laodician, Lexi Peratus and others to organize the exiles to urgently rush the grain to the north of Mayaro Town.

The second is the Dionysian fleet...

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Compared with the just beginning of the land battle, the sea battle is intensified.

Syracuse originally had 50 three-deck oar warships, and on the way north, they gathered the warships of Taunis, Catane and other city-states. There were a total of 65 three-deck oar warships, which seemed to be the same as Dionia's 60. The three-tier oar warships are not much different, but the Syracuse Navy has 16 other small and medium-sized warships. With the strength exceeding the 21 warships of the Dionysian Fleet, they should have the upper hand in this engagement. However, from the perspective of the battlefield situation, the two sides are actually evenly matched.

Although the Dionysian fleet was small, but under the leadership of Seikelian personally led the ship and took the lead, other warships launched a frantic attack on the Syracuse fleet, whether it was the speed of the warship, The reaction is still a lot faster than the Syracuse fleet, especially Syracuse's own warships seem to be sluggish, only relying on the experience of sailing the ship is richer than the other party, and they are passively dealing with it.

Seeing this situation, Paronisus, who was at the rear of the fleet, was anxious but could not do anything about it. What he was worried about finally happened: during this time, the resentment of the people in the port of Syracuse to the city-state seriously affected the sailors' fighting spirit!

At this time, the watchman on the mast shouted excitedly: "Sir, the enemy's flagship was hit by our ship, and it is going to sink!"

"Great!" Paronisus shouted excitedly.

Although the naval battle is different from the land battle, due to the vast combat area, it is more about catching and fighting, and the flagship of one party is sunk, which will not lead to a fragile defeat of the army like the killing of the commander of the land army, but it will also have a certain impact. Perhaps this This is the turning point of this naval battle! Paronisus excitedly and loudly ordered: "Blow the horn of attack and urge all warships to step up their attack!"

The sound of the bugle pierced the fog of war on the sea. The first thing that stimulated was not the warships of Syracuse and its allies, but the sailors of Dionia. In their eyes, the red battle flag flying high in front of them was slowly moving. whereabouts……

Lord Sekelian is in danger! Whether it was the captain or the sailor, such a thought popped up in their hearts.

As the hero of the victory of the Bruti War and the first sailor to hold the flag on the triumphal ceremony, Cykrian can be said to make the sailors proud and regarded as the pride of the navy! Afterwards, Cykrian became the commander of the navy. Although he was young and vigorous, and sometimes cursed because of his poor performance, he was cheerful and straightforward, able to get along with the sailors, and for the interests of the navy, he dared to speak to Davos many times. His Majesty fought for it, so he won the support of the sailors and his generals.

As a result, each of Dionia's warships started an even more frantic attack, because every sailor knew very well that it was impossible to get to the wrecked site of the flagship immediately, only to sink as fast as possible The enemy ship in front of you, to win this naval battle and force the enemy to retreat, may have the opportunity to rescue Sekelian who fell into the sea!

Inspired by such spiritual power, the sailors seemed to forget their exhaustion, and the paddle speed returned to the peak level at the beginning of the battle. Short-distance sprints, emergency stops, reverse strokes, hovering... The Dionysian sailors worked together. , to control the warship as freely as his own body.

The sudden increase in the speed and agility of the Syracuse warship made it too late for the Syracuse warship to react. Pinch off, a period of time after the sinking of Dionia's flagship, the situation of the Syracuse fleet not only did not improve, but became worse.

When Paronisus was in a state of turmoil, the lookout exclaimed: "My lord, there is a warship... A warship has escaped!"

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"Testis, I order you to turn back immediately! Otherwise, I will sue General Paronisus for escaping, and you wait to be punished by military law!" The captain roared loudly at Testis, the helmsman of the warship.