Chapter 229 The Victory of Ifikrates

As a general, who doesn't want to win, if he can completely capture Syracuse, the first Greek city-state in the Western Mediterranean, this glorious record will not only win the attention of the people of Dionia, but also make the whole of Greece The world is amazed, who will make fun of his success only under the command of an undercover agent.

Antrapolis saw his thoughts, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Lord Antonios, I hope... oh no, I suggest that the First Army should not go south and enter Syracuse's territory for the time being."

"Oh?" Antonios glanced at him, and although the remark made him unhappy, he knew that Antrapolis, who had been rooted in Sicily for so long, was able to start this huge riot. He knew more about the situation here than he did, so he humbly asked, "Why?"

"The Syracuses have a characteristic. During a period of peace and tranquility, they will reject any politician with ambition and strong appeal, and choose a mediocre democracy with many people; but when they encounter danger and face destruction, they will Voluntarily choose a strongman and accept dictatorship..." Antrapolis said with a serious expression: "And Syracuse has been the largest Greek city-state in Sicily and even the entire Western Mediterranean for many years, and its citizens are often proud of it. It is very sensitive for the army to enter its territory! The officials of Syracuse who were planning to launch a riot before refused my request to enter the city and assist them with my men, for fear of being found by the people and causing their disgust, and at the same time It is also wary of us.

Lord Antonios, if the First Legion appears under the city of Syracuse, the people of Syracuse in the riot will not regard us as reinforcements, but most likely as enemies! If Dionysius's men take the opportunity to provoke them, it is very likely that Dionysius' forces will regain power and deal with us together! …”

Antonios pondered for a long time: Before he came, he had a basic understanding of the situation of Syracuse. Syracuse is not a small town like Sikuli. It is said to be a huge city with a population of 400,000. If it is really like Ante Lapolis said that the thousands of his men went over and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to capture the city of Syracuse and end the war completely. Not only is it impossible, but the entire army may be wiped out!

Antonios looked at the soldiers who were chasing and defeating the enemy on the battlefield: from the time they landed in Sicily to now, they have been fighting with life and death for three consecutive days. It is not easy to have today's victory! As Legion Commander, he wants to take them to the glory of victory, not to be in unknowable danger...

Thinking of this, Antonios said slowly, "What advice do you have?"

What Antrapolis was waiting for was his words, and hurriedly said: "The riots in Syracuse should never stop, let them kill each other, consume Syracuse's own strength, and fight against us Dio. Nia, it is good for other city-states in Sicily!" At this time, Antrapolis, who was once a Catane, showed his hatred for Syracuse, and said with hatred: "While taking advantage of the civil strife in Syracuse, time, we should hurry up to get Sikuli, Katanai, Leotini, and—”

Antrapolis pointed to Taunis not far away: "Let these city-states restore order,

And agree with our Dionia leader status. His Majesty mentioned in his last letter to me, 'The Catania Plain is a wider and more fertile plain (mainly volcanic soil) than the Sybari Plain, and he wished to have Dionysas directly administer it as much as possible. area'……"

After hearing this, Antonios took a deep breath: He was still focusing on how to defeat the powerful enemy, but Davos was already thinking about how to annex this land. Could this be the gap between him and Davos? !

Looking at the shocked Antonios, Antrapolis was equally uneasy. When he first saw the meaning revealed in Davos' letter, Antrapolis himself felt a little uncomfortable. After all, he used to be a Katanai. What he had always hoped was that Catane could overthrow the puppet rule of Syracuse and the exiles could return to their homes, but he never thought that Catane would accept it again. The reign of another powerful force, although this force is now his own country.

But along with the letter written by Davos came the letter from Aristillas. In the letter, his brother said: "Even if the city-states such as Catanay and Leotine can gain independence in this war, they are too weak against Syracuse or Carthage. It is inevitable that the same disaster will happen in the future. But once it is under the rule of Dionysia, the safety of Qatar will be guaranteed, and the people of Qatar will not have to worry about being oppressed by the government that Dionysia is currently implementing. There will also be more political rights...

My brother, more importantly, judging from the current progress of this war, the defeat of Syracuse is certain. Although Dionia has paid a huge sacrifice, she will gain a lot of land! His Majesty's biggest headache in the future is not how to get too many towns, but how to get more people to fill the vacant land in Great Greece. Therefore, it is unlikely that there will be too many Dionian immigrants in the Catania Plain. The original The Catanes will be the true masters of their homeland and will occupy a certain place in Dionysian politics.

And as a former Catane, and now a citizen of Dionia, you have been lurking in Sicily for more than half a year and have gained the recognition and respect of many exiles. If you want to enter politics after the war, you must Catane played a huge role in the process of integrating into Dionia! And you will have a brighter future! …”

Antrapolis was quite tempted after reading the letter at the time, and now, after being stimulated by Antonios, it was the first time that he felt that he was so eager to get the title of "Elder Dioria", so he Not only did he not resist the matter of "merging Catane into Dionia", but he was determined to try his best to facilitate it!

"What about the city-states in the south?" Antonios asked a little unwillingly.

"Those city-states in the southeastern corner of Sicily have always been allies and close ties with Syracuse. Even if they overthrew the tyrants established by Dionysius, their friendly relations with Syracuse would not change much. , our rash entry will only prompt them to lean more towards Syracuse!" Antrapolis told Antonios the conclusions he had drawn from his careful analysis over the past six months: "As for the likes of Gera, Agrijan Entrusting these city-states on the south coast, His Majesty hopes to maintain friendly relations with them, and has no intention of letting them join the Dionysian League, so as not to cause Carthage's vigilance and dissatisfaction..."

Antonios nodded thoughtfully: "It seems that the brothers can have a good rest."

………………………………

In the Corinthian port of Lycaion, as occupiers, some of the Amicles of the Peloponnesian coalition led by Sparta returned to their hometowns to celebrate the Hyacinthus according to custom.

Considering that these soldiers had to pass through the city of Corinth on their way back, in order to be safe and to show the importance Sparta had for the Allies, it was the high-spirited Agsilaus who sent 300 Spartan hoplites to escort them back. Family.

As the escort sent the Amickles to Sigion and then carelessly returned to the port, passing under the walls of Corinth, the Athenian general Ifikrates led his light infantry out of the city gates and launched on them attacked.

Although the heavily armored Spartan infantry responded hastily, they were not timid because of their small numbers. Instead, they thought it was a great opportunity to annihilate the defenders of Corinth City, so they stepped forward to fight.

However, the Athenian light infantry did not fight them in close quarters, but took advantage of the lightness of their bodies to distance themselves from the Spartans, throwing javelins, and making long-range attacks.

The Spartan soldiers charged many times, but couldn't get close to the enemy, and instead consumed their physical strength in the movement. And in the rain of javelins flying all over the sky, teammates were constantly hit by javelins and fell to the ground...

This way of fighting did not allow the Spartan soldiers to exert their bravery at all, but made the soldiers tortured by the groans of their teammates. After fighting for an hour, the fighting spirit of the Spartans dropped to the bottom, and the Spartans who "regard death in battle as honor and flee as shame" turned around and ran away.

However, how could they, who were wearing heavy armor, outrun the light infantry and were almost wiped out by the Athenians.

When the battle was over, the Athenians themselves could not believe it was true, and ifikrates and his troops gained confidence from it.

And when the victory quickly spread throughout the anti-Spartan alliance, the people who were being shrouded in fear of defeat erupted into enthusiastic cheers. Although this was only a small battle, the nearly 300 heavy infantry that could be eliminated were real Spartan citizens, and the entire Sparta was only three or four thousand strong citizens (not counting the Pythias and Helots), the myth of the invincibility of the Spartans was broken, and all the shaken city-states regained their confidence in resistance, and the previously unknown Ifikrates also became famous.

When the news reached the Spartan coalition, Agesilaus was receiving the envoys of Thebes for peace with the arrogance of a victor, and made very harsh demands. When he received the news at this time, his arrogance instantly turned into annoyance, and the entire army fell into grief.

The Thebes messenger heard the news and quickly left the Spartan camp, never proposing any more peace.

Just as Agesilaus was pondering how to avenge the dead warriors and restore the prestige of the Spartan army, Ifikrates was not satisfied with this victory, after two days of preparation, He led the light infantry troops on the warships of Athens, bypassed the northern end of the isthmus, and raided Clone Leon, which was occupied by the Spartans. He still used the same tactics to hit the defenders again and recapture Clone Leon.