Chapter 212: Offensive and Defensive Battle of Xiliting Camp (1)

Testis looked at him innocently and said solemnly: "It's not that I want to run away, but the sailors don't want to fight, even if I turn the rudder, the sailors don't want to row, this warship is more likely to become Dio. Nia's booty!"

"Don't make excuses, turn the rudder back! We must defeat the Dionians with all our strength, or the Syracuse Navy will be finished!" The captain shouted bitterly.

"It's better when it's over! If Syracuse is defeated, we won't have to be transferred to Great Greece to fight again, and we won't be levied war taxes again!" A voice came from behind the captain.

The captain turned around and saw that it was the bosun. He immediately pointed at him angrily and threatened: "You...you dare to do this, aren't you afraid of the punishment of Lord Dionysius?"

The captain smiled: "Of course we are afraid, but the navy has been defeated, can Dionysius come back!"

The captain was speechless for a while.

Tessitis sighed.

The escape of this warship triggered a chain reaction. Under the frenzied attack of the Dionians, warships followed and left the battlefield, which eventually led to the retreat of the entire Syracuse combined fleet...

"Lord Sekelian!!"

"General Cykrian!!"

...

Several Dionian warships rushed to the area where the flagship sank, and there were many drowning sailors floating on the sea.

"Lord Sekelian is here!" Someone shouted from the sea.

Sekelian was lying motionless on a piece of broken wood, and he was dying of breath after being hit by an arrow shot by an archer on the enemy ship's deck on his shoulder.

Soon, he was carefully carried aboard the warship.

After a simple dressing of his wound, he was awakened with pain, and the first sentence was to ask: "...are we winning or losing?"

"We are victorious, my lord!"

"...That's good." Sekelian put down his worries and said weakly: "...Fleet command is temporarily... temporarily handed over to Flanios... After cleaning the battlefield... After saving our people ...return to Lijim immediately..." After speaking, he fell into a deep sleep.

Naval Battle of Naxos (although the city of Naxos has been destroyed,

But this curved bay is still known locally as the Gulf of Naxos) as a result of which the Dionysian side sank 15 triple oars, the Syracuse side sank 18 triple oars, other There were four warships, and the battle losses on both sides were not too different, but the Syracuse Navy attempted to defeat the Dionysian fleet, control the dominance of the Sicilian waters, and completely surround the Dionysian army in the town of Meyaro. The strategic intent was defeated.

To make matters worse, the Dionysian Fleet, without the help of the Raven Suspension Bridge, was able to defeat the Syracuse Navy, which had an advantage in numbers, which greatly encouraged the confidence of the Dionysian sailors and suffered heavy losses. improved the morale of the Syracuse Navy.

Marcias did not expect that he would witness the defeat of the numerically superior Syracuse Navy by the enemy for the second time on land in five years. The incompetence of the Syracuse Navy really left him speechless and even more Let him be more vigilant about the Dionysian army, firm up his determination to continue to attack Meyaro, and wait for the arrival of reinforcements tomorrow, and then concentrate on attacking Meyaro with all his strength.

Syracuse's ballista forces have been advancing, during which the counterattack of the six ballistas of the First Army was only a small episode. Without the protection of the tall stone walls, nearly a hundred ballistas were in Syracuse. Under the concentrated bombardment, they were like stones thrown into the rapids, just splashed some water, and disappeared in an instant.

Syracuse's ballista pushed all the way to the Alcantara River. Although the town of Meyaro has only been established for a few years, its area is not small, even more than the city of Xikuli. It is also blocked by the Alcantara River and the river banks on both sides. The Syracuse ballista uses five The kilograms of stone projectiles have a maximum range and can only cover 1/2 of the area in Meyaro, so Antonios ordered the First Army and the exiles to retreat to the north of Meyaro to avoid being hit by ballistas. to preserve strength. At the same time, he also ordered all the people under the command of the engineering battalion to urgently build an earth wall to defend the south of the town with the bricks and soil of the destroyed houses.

Seeing that the ballista's range was limited and could not completely destroy the town of Meyaro, Macias decided to let the ballista troops replace them with cups, and attempted to eject into the town, setting a fire, burning down the town of Meyaro, and consuming the enemy. The physical strength, the morale of the enemy, and even completely drive the enemy out of Meyaro, which is more convenient for the Syracuse army to attack.

Fortunately, the soldiers of the First Legion and the exiles dug a trench from east to west for the convenience of borrowing soil while building the earth wall, preventing the spread of the fire and preserving the integrity of the residential area in the northern part of the town of Mayaro.

Syracuse's ballista units bombarded with stone bullets, short spears and fire pots for a day without interruption. Nearly half of the ballistas were damaged, and almost half of the town of Mayaro was turned into ruins. The fire continued until evening. It was still burning at the time, but it provided convenience for the sentries of the First Army to observe the enemy's movements and prevent sneak attacks.

However, more than 10,000 exiles and their families in the town gathered in a small area in the town, and the roar and fire throughout the day had exhausted them physically and mentally. The same is true for the soldiers of the First Army Corps. Although the loss of personnel was not large, such a long-range attack made the brave First Army soldiers feel powerless, and also increased their worries about tomorrow's war.

In this day's bombardment, the most tragic were the hundreds of young and middle-aged citizens of Sikuli who were captured but not released. Because everyone was busy dealing with the ballista attack of Syracuse, no one cared about these prisoners. The imprisoned prisoners were all burned to death by the fire...

………………………………

At dawn the next day, outside the Siri Court, at the Dionysian Middle Camp, a squad of the Fourth Legion was patrolling the wooden wall.

In the early spring, it is warm and cold, and the rain starts to increase. Therefore, there is often heavy fog in the early morning in southern Italy, and it often does not dissipate in the morning. Xili Ting is no exception, especially today, it is foggy. There was a vast expanse of people walking in the middle of it. The fog was so thick that it seemed like you could reach out and grab a ball. You couldn't see people at a distance of five meters, and it was a little difficult to even breathe.

In such difficult weather, not only did the soldiers not slack off, but they were even more vigilant.

Squad leader Effie Arte repeatedly reminded the soldiers to cheer up and pay attention to the movements outside the camp. He was just a legionnaire before the Syracuse invasion of Greater Greece, and after the Battle of Crotone, the captain of the squad was wounded, and he was elected by his teammates to take over the position, as in Dionia It is very common in the army of the army, and the war will take the lives of countless soldiers, and it will also make the real warriors stand out and be ordered in danger.

Suddenly, a soldier shouted: "Captain, there seems to be a voice outside!"

Effieart was startled, and hurriedly signaled the soldiers not to speak. He grabbed the battlement, leaned out, and listened carefully.

Other soldiers followed suit.

There seemed to be a slight murmur in the front, but the dense fog made it difficult for everyone to hear it and not be sure.

Issue a warning? Effieart was a little nervous under the watchful eyes of the soldiers, because once a warning was issued "there is an enemy attack", then the entire Dionysian camp and tens of thousands of soldiers must climb out of the warm bed in this cold early morning and get dressed. Armor, took out the shield and spear, assembled in a very short time, and immediately rushed to the designated defensive positions of each legion, each division, each company, and each division. This is still in normal times. In such a rare foggy weather like today, such a large-scale emergency preparation operation will inevitably lead to some confusion. If it is finally determined that there is no enemy attack, the responsibilities faced by Affierte's team can be imagined.

Effieart swallowed and said to his opponents: "Immediately go and notify the archers on the outposts and ask them to shoot an arrow forward. You are in front of the outposts and listen carefully to the movements outside the camp! "

Commands are executed quickly.

Effieart looked back and looked at the archers in the sentry building three meters high behind him, bending their bows and shooting arrows. Soon after the arrows were shot, they were engulfed by the thick fog...

Effieart listened attentively. A few minutes passed, and there was no unusual movement outside the camp. He was temporarily relieved, and felt a little lost in his heart.

At this moment, a fierce scream from diagonally ahead just cut through the thick fog, and then came suddenly.

"Captain, there are enemies!" The soldiers not far away shouted anxiously.

Effie Art immediately became nervous and excited: "Notify the camp immediately!"

"Woo! Woo! Woo!..." The high-pitched bugle sounded through the Dionysian camp, and the originally silent camp suddenly boiled...

Davos was also awakened by the roar, and as soon as he rolled over and sat up, Secretary Henepolis hurried in: "Your Majesty, the Syracuses are attacking the camp!"

When Davos heard the news, he unhurriedly lifted the leather robe covering him, and the servant brought him clothes and armor. how many people?"

"It's foggy outside now, and I don't know how many enemies are out of the city."

"Oh, the fog! Dionysius is very good at choosing time." With the help of the servant, Davos put the thick breastplate on his body and patted it with his hand, feeling that the tightness was just right: "Left , How is the situation of the two battalions on the right?"

"There is no news so far, could it be—" Henepolis boldly guessed: "Dionysius concentrated his forces and specialized in the central camp where your Majesty is located?"

Davos smiled: "Good idea, but don't jump to conclusions. We just need to follow the previous deployment, guard the camp, and slowly observe the enemy's movements."

"Do you need me to call Amyntas, Matonis and other legion commanders? Let Your Majesty give you deployment tasks and orders?!" Henepolis asked again.