Chapter 240 Rescue

Dionysius left 200 people to garrison, and immediately led more than 1,800 mercenaries to storm the barracks under the city. Most of the civilian soldiers in the barracks did not spend the night in the barracks because their homes were not far from the main city. After hearing the news of "the enemy's attack", he hurriedly put on his armor and came out to meet the enemy. As a result, the fiercely attacking mercenaries easily broke into the camp, and the citizen soldiers disbanded immediately.

Dionysius did not stop the attack, and he led the army to quickly advance towards the center of the main city.

The spies of Hyparinus, taking advantage of the dark night, shouted loudly from all over the main city: "Lord Dionysius led the army back! Lord Dionysius led the army back!! The surrenderers are innocent. !! Catch the leader of the rebel army and make a contribution!!  …”

In the main city of Syracuse shrouded in the dim sky, the residents were awakened by the shrill screams and piercing fighting on the streets, and they were shocked when they heard the loud cries of the spies: "Dionysius is back. !" This sentence immediately made them feel intimidated.

Just when the residents of the main city were in chaos, Haroris, who was busy with city-state affairs and slept in the city hall, was woken up by his confidant slave and was stunned when he heard the news of the enemy's killing. .

He calmed down the panic a little, and wanted to go out immediately to organize citizens to defend against the enemy's attack.

At this time, several generals such as Staceikos, Kuzias, Falecus broke in: "Herolis, go! Go! The enemy will kill soon! Our army has been disintegrated and cannot be stopped at all. ! …”

For a while, Hololis' mind was blank, and he murmured weakly: "Go... Where else can we go?..."

"Go to Epipole Heights! There, we still have more than 2,000 soldiers stationed in the northern city, and the poor troops of Tecitis in the port area outside the city... We will take this place after dawn finds out the situation in the city. return!"

Kuzias’s words reminded Herolis and his party that they didn’t have time to pack their luggage and inform their families, and hurriedly fled to the Epipole Heights in the northwest of the city.

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After a night of killing and chaos, order was finally restored in the main city of Syracuse.

Dionysius's military adventures were successful, but he was uneasy that he did not capture the main messengers of the rebellion, such as Hololis. The troops he sent out to capture them were also repelled by the northern city defenders led by Kuzias.

And Herolis and the others also learned: Dionysius did come back, but the army he led to attack the city was recognized by the people, and they were all the two thousand mercenaries on Ortigia Island.

It was obvious that he had not been able to withdraw the army from Greater Greece, so they immediately called for help in the port area.

Dionysius had learned of the contradiction between the rebels in the city and the poor people in the port from Hiparinus in advance, so he sent messengers to the port early in the morning, clearly telling Thesitis and other poor leaders: as long as The people of the port stand on the side of Dionysius, and he forgives the mistakes they made during the riot, and after the riot is quelled, he will allocate ten acres of land on the outskirts of the city to each poor port...

At the same time, he also asked Hiparinus to send spies around the port area to preach about "he negotiated and reached an agreement with the poor of the port area".

In fact, the negotiations with the poor of the port area did not make immediate progress, but it caused the division of the port area.

The people headed by Thesitis thought: Dionysius is not credible, they should stand with Hololis and the others and completely defeat Dionysius, in order to ensure their safety and the benefits they will obtain!

Others believe that the conditions given by Dionysius are better, because the land he promised is twice the size of the land given by them, and it is also the land on the outskirts of the city. Obviously, Dionysius Pay more attention to them!

The two sides were arguing and could not reach an agreement. Under such circumstances, it was natural that they would not be able to provide reinforcements to Harolis and the others.

Dionysius also issued a ban: No city residents are allowed to go out during the day or at night, but stay at home! If you need to buy food, you can only send slaves, and you must get the approval of the patrol, otherwise you will be shot!

Dionysius' prohibition reduced the danger of crowds gathering and rioting.

He then asked the mercenaries to escort the slaves who were digging quarries in the Akradina area to the main city square, and then told them: as long as they were willing to fight for him, when the riots were quelled, they would all be free! And those who do well can become citizens of Syracuse! ...

Dionysius' bold promise gave the quarry slaves hope. Although the tyrant was tyrannical and dictatorial, these slaves at the bottom couldn't feel it. On the contrary, they knew that Dionysius acted decisively and boldly. Years have turned too many mercenaries and refugees into citizens of Syracuse, and have also been given land. So they chose to believe what Dionysius said, and they all took up the shields and spears he scavenged from the homes of the people, which suddenly increased Dionysius' team from 1,800 mercenaries to more than 7,000. .

Dionysius also sent to the army of Herolis to spread his new order in the name of the plenipotentiary general: any citizen who had been deceived by traitors such as Herolis immediately left his ranks and returned to his own home. , he will absolve him of his guilt! Citizens who remain in rebel camps before noon will be considered traitors and their families will be executed immediately!

Many citizens and soldiers who lived in the main city were terrified when they found out, they fled the team and ran back to the main city.

After all these measures were effective, the proud Dionysius also sent messengers to Haroris with the heads of his wife and son who had been captured by him.

Then he left Megicollis to lead 500 mercenaries and 500 slave soldiers to guard the main city, while he led 1,300 mercenaries and more than 4,500 slave soldiers to the location of the rebels, and he wanted to completely destroy them.

The grief-stricken Herolis, Staceikos, and Kuzias knew that the situation was urgent and decided to fight Dionysius to the death. He led the remaining nearly 1,000 soldiers to retreat to the Hexa Gate on the north wall of Syracuse, which was backed by the coast.

In the first riot ten years ago (that is, 405 BC), Dionysius led mercenaries to occupy the main city, which basically quelled the riot in the city of Syracuse. But in these ten years, under his rule, the urban area of ​​Syracuse expanded several times, and the entire Epipole Heights was incorporated into the urban area of ​​Syracuse, costing Dionysius' troops It took more than an hour of precious time to arrive at Hexamen.

It was already afternoon, and when Herolis asked to speak to Dionysius in front of the battle, Dionysius didn't want to waste time with him, and immediately ordered a fierce attack.

The number of soldiers under Herolis was originally much smaller than the enemy's, and the army's morale was not stable. Even if most of the soldiers on the other side were slaves, the rebel soldiers quickly became unstoppable.

But at this moment, a high-pitched bugle sounded outside the city gate of Hexa, followed by a deafening shout: "Hadis!!!"

Dionysius' face changed greatly.

The Dionia-Qatanai coalition has arrived immediately!

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When Herolis and others fled to the Epipoli Heights and learned that the attack was carried out by Dionysius himself, Herolis felt the hope of retaking the main city and eliminating the mercenaries. Slim, because he knew the tyrant of Syracuse too well: without careful preparation, Dionysius would not take risks easily!

After discussion, Herolis, Staceikos and others finally decided to put down their pride and ask the Dionysians for help.

Their location was originally the closest to Taunis, and the messengers sent out arrived at the city that was already part of the Dionysian Alliance in the early morning. After he heard the news, he immediately sent a clipper to rush to Katanai first, and he led the fleet to arrive later.

Catane's interim administrator, Antrapolis, received a letter from Haroris asking for help, and also received a letter from Davos from Xi Liting: Dionysius had fled back to Syracuse, I hope they will pay close attention to the movements in Syracuse, and must not let Dionysius regain control of Syracuse!

After a brief discussion with Antonias, the commander of the First Army, Antrapolis immediately decided to send troops to rescue Herolis.

The I Corps sent 2,500 heavy infantry and 500 light infantry, and Qattanay sent 3,000 heavy infantry. In fact, as soon as they heard that Dionysius was going to be attacked, the people of New Catanay signed up and asked to participate. But time was running out, and Antrapolis only recruited citizens within the city of Catane.

A total of 6,000 troops, led by Antonios, boarded the Cykrian fleet.

It was noon when we landed at Taunis port.

According to Dionysian habits, it was lunch time. But Antonios did not stop the soldiers to eat and rest, but after gathering 500 soldiers provided by Taunis, he urged the army to speed up, and finally rushed into the Hexamen just when the army of Haroris collapsed. .

These days, the soldiers of the First Legion are stationed in Catane, and while resting, they also help Antrapolis to stabilize the situation on the Catania plain, train the citizens of Catania, and clean up the defeated soldiers in the countryside. , to assist the Sicilian city-states newly attached to the Dionysian Union, such as Catanai, Leotini, and Sikuli, to attack the remnants of Dionysius... Wait, life is still easy, and I have enough energy Finally got a vent today.

Therefore, the Dionysius army, who had just won and was chasing the routed soldiers, was hit hard by the soldiers of the First Legion who served as arrows. Collapse soon. The mercenaries can still resist, but the Dionysian coalition has a large number of them and has already outflanked from both flanks.