Chapter 278 Ballista Attack and Defense

Not only a small fortress was built in just three months, but a new military camp was also built not far north of Leotine.

The Palagonia fortress is not a La River fortress, it is only used for card charges. It is a real defensive fortress.

A 5-meter-wide and 5-meter-deep ditch surrounds Paragolia, the bottom of the ditch is covered with pointed wooden stakes, and the two sides of the ditch are full of dense deer villages, which makes it quite difficult for siege equipment to reach the city. difficulty.

Although the outer city wall is only 4 meters high, its structure from inside to outside is rammed earth, stone brick, strip stone and cement. Powder, this is not for aesthetics, but has a certain tactical effect. The white city walls will reflect light under the sunlight, which will affect the attacking soldiers, and will make it more difficult for the ants to climb the city. At the same time, it can also reduce the stone The impact of the bullet on the city wall.

The outer city wall surrounded by a circle can allow the defenders to better concentrate their forces on defense, and also make it easier for reinforcements dispatched from the city to reach the city head.

At every other section of the city wall, there are circular towers protruding from the wall, which can strengthen the side attack on the enemy who is huddled under the city or the enemy who is attacking the city, and its circular wall can also weaken the impact of external forces. .

The aisle at the head of the city is not narrow, and the top of the wall tower connected to it is even wider. At the top of each wall tower is a ballista and an abdominal bow side by side, and there are several boxes of stone bullets and iron pieces on the ground. There are still many defending soldiers beside the battlements, and it does not seem crowded.

Leotizides gathered all the ballistas and abdominal bows in the Cataner camp to Palagonia, not only on the turrets of the outer city walls, but also on the tops of the towers in the center of the city. This tower with a height of more than 6 meters is also a circular building with a diameter of 50 meters. Not only are multiple ballistas and abdominal bows placed on the top of the tower, but also a large number of soldiers can be deployed. They are protected by battlements and can be commanding. Attack enemies who climb the outer walls or enter the city. There are also multiple windows under the tower, which can also be used by soldiers to attack the enemy under the tower.

What Margo did not see was that between the outer city wall and the central tower, there was a wall of the same height as the outer city wall, which surrounded the central tower. You can quickly retreat to the second city wall for defense. If the Carthaginians think that they can capture Paragonia by breaking the outer city wall, and relax their vigilance, they will undoubtedly suffer a big loss.

It was the commander in charge of the defense of Paragonia who was speaking to the men with the ballista on the alcove. His name was Teminides, the Lokri, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the Seventh Legion, who took over this place. It didn’t take long for the fortress to be built. Seeing that the fortress, which is usually only accessible during training, was actually used in actual combat, and that the fortress was larger and more complete in facilities, he was very excited and was full of confidence in defending Paragonia. , has been leading the soldiers of the Seventh Legion to familiarize themselves with the structure and facilities of the fort these days, so as not to be hectic during the battle.

Today there are nearly 4,000 soldiers in the fortress, including the 1st Heavy Infantry Brigade of the 7th Army, the 7th Light Infantry Brigade, and a Sicilian Legion Heavy Infantry Reserve Brigade and Light Infantry Reserve Brigade. A total of 2,000 heavy infantry, 2,000 Light infantry (excluding ballista units and medical battalions). Teminides felt that the number of soldiers and the proportion of troops in the garrison were just right for this small fortress.

Although there are 4 captains in the fortress, and Teminides is new to the scene, the first captain of the official legion has a higher status than the other captains of the same legion.

It is usually the future commander of the legion. According to the "Dionysian Military Law", "in the event of the unfortunate death of the legionnaire during the battle, the first commander shall take the responsibility of the legion commander", so the other three commanders are still relatively to him. Respect, in the fort he can do what is forbidden.

Teminides walked along the aisle of the city, inspecting the defense work of the soldiers, and chatting with them from time to time. The main object of the conversation was the Sicilian soldiers. The purpose of the conversation was not only to understand their state, but also to let these Sicilian wear The Onian civic soldiers were familiar with him as a commander, which was convenient for commanding operations in the future.

The Lokrey soldiers of the Seventh Legion were conscientious, hard-working, but reserved, with the exception of Teminides, who was extroverted, approachable, and good at mingling with the soldiers, which was why Brelu sent him to Pasadena. One of the reasons Lagonia was the commander was because he was able to bring together Locri and the Sicilian soldiers so well.

"Captain, the enemy may be attacking!" A soldier pointed outside the city and said loudly.

"That's great! The Carthaginians are ready to give us credit!" Teminides said with a smile.

The surrounding soldiers also burst into laughter, their faces were full of excitement, and the tension in their hearts also dissipated in the laughter.

The officers began to urge them to prepare for the defense, and Teminides also stood behind the battlements to observe the Carthaginians carefully.

Obviously, the Carthaginians have realized that they can no longer follow the previous method. Under the long-range attack of the defenders in the city, they will directly send a large number of soldiers to clear the ground and get close to the city, so Marco asked the engineers to make it in advance. After dozens of arrow-blocking carts, the Carthaginian soldiers lined them up to form a wooden wall and began to push down the city. His plan was for the Numibian soldiers to keep up with the ground and fill in the road every time the arrow-blocker advanced.

But things were not that easy. After a while, either the legs and feet of the soldiers who pushed the cart were stabbed by wooden thorns and iron hooks buried in the ground, or the arrow-blocking cart fell into the trap and could not move forward. That "wooden wall" was very It's about to fall apart, and it's completely out of shape.

On the top of the city, Dionia's ballistas and abdominal bows also began to show their power. The stone bullets hit the arrow car, and the broken wood chips flew around, becoming a nightmare for the soldiers around. When the thick and long iron arrows flew in, not only a big hole was ripped out of the thick wooden plank, but the iron arrows that had not yet lost their strength could nail the soldiers behind the carts to the ground, and the death was tragic... Not just the carts. The soldiers, including the soldiers in the rear who were preparing to fill the soil, were all frightened and fled backwards, leaving only the wounded soldiers struggling and moaning in place.

Marco was not reconciled, and ordered the army to push the ballistas out to suppress the ballistas in the city.

However, Dionysian ballistas occupy a high place and have a longer range than the opponent, so the Carthaginian ballistas have not been advanced to the proper position, they are continuously attacked by the Dionysian ballistas, and they are often three times. , Four concentrated bombardment of one, thus increasing the hit rate.

Marco was cruel, he simply pushed out all the ballistas, and let them completely spread out, and spread them around the northern periphery of Paragonia City, trying to reduce the number of Dionysus by virtue of the number advantage and the angle deviation. Sub-ballista threat, gain a certain advantage.

But then he was surprised to see that not only stone bullets were continuously shot from the towers of the semi-circular city wall in the north, but soon the tower in the center of the city also began to shoot stone bullets. After a while, more than a dozen stone bullets were launched from the semi-circular city wall in the south, and they crossed the entire city and landed near the various Carthaginian ballistas. The accuracy rate was not low.

This was a large-scale ballista battle. While the soldiers on both sides were frightened, they also had an eye addiction, but the thrilling scene of dozens of stone bullets whistling in the air and constantly interlacing only lasted for more than 10 minutes. Nine ballistas of the Taiji army were destroyed and dozens of casualties were lost, while the Palagolia fortress was blasted with a few small pits except for the outer wall, and almost no one was injured.

Margo's face was ashen. He realized that he still underestimated the difficulty of Palagonia. He had to suspend the attack, return to the camp, gather his generals, and discuss together, how can we attack this difficult stone?

……………………………………

In October, the weather began to cool, but the temperature in Africa was still a little hot. At this time in the past, the citizens of Carthage liked to take their families to the inland of Numibia for leisure. There are a series of salt lakes, which can be Go for a swim in the lake, or sit by the lake, enjoy the view, taste a variety of freshly harvested melons and fruits, and enjoy the service of Numibian slaves.

But this year, very few citizens did this. As the Dionysian warships patrolled the western waters of Sicily for a long time, they attacked the merchant ships between Carthage and Sicily from time to time, which not only led to a lot of depression in the city's port trade, but also It made Carthaginian merchants cautious when setting up their ships to go to sea. Although the Carthaginian citizens got a bumper harvest on the land of Numibia, the recovered wheat and other crops, except for their own use, were almost bought by the Carthaginian government at a cheap price as preparations for the Carthaginian army. military rations...

Although the war between Carthage and Dionia only lasted for a few months, the ordinary people of Carthage have already felt the impact of this huge war on their lives, not only for the sharp drop in family income. The worry is also more worrying day and night for the relatives who went on the expedition to Sicily, so they pay attention to the progress of the war in Sicily every day. The Greek kingdom that was originally far north of Sicily and had nothing to do with them has now become the object of their curse day and night.

Some time ago, when the people of Carthage learned that "Marco led a large army to successively conquer many Greek city-states on the south coast of Sicily, and invaded the Sicilian territory of Dionia", there was cheers in the city, and everyone shouted Marco. They wished him well, hoping that he could drive the Dionians out of Sicily as soon as possible, and make the Sicilian waters a harbor for free trade of Carthaginian merchant ships.