Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

After a while, a young man holding the child handed the child to a woman beside him and stood up.

The woman grabbed him and whispered with concern, You have to be careful!

The young man avoided the woman's gaze with some guilt in his heart, and whispered back: You too! After speaking, he strode out of the crowd.

Under his leadership, many people also said goodbye to those around them and walked out.

Fagris patted the young man on the shoulder and asked in relief, Young man, what's your name?

Printols.

Fagris glanced at the woman holding the child and comforted him: Don't worry, when the enemy is defeated, you will be able to reunite with your wife soon.

He thought the two were husband and wife, and the young man nodded solemnly.

………………

The 5,000 soldiers of the Third Army led by Hieronymus who came to Asporustum were not because they had to carry the siege equipment they had made last night, so they moved faster than they attacked Neto. The Laos troops on the north bank of the river were much slower, but such a time difference was deliberately set so that the plan could proceed smoothly.

At this time, Hieronymus followed the team and spoke to Izam: Are you sure that all your soldiers have entered the city of Asproustum?

Of course! I watched them go in with my own eyes. If it wasn't because my appearance was different from that of the Greeks, I would have accompanied my brothers in with them! Commander, I hope you can rush to attack the city as soon as possible. I'm afraid it will take a long time. They'll be found! Izam pleaded.

I understand. Hieronymus immediately promised, and at the same time asked: How many people went in?

Fifty-six soldiers, Izam blurted out, knowing his team like the back of his hand. The alliance expanded, the corps expanded, and his mountain reconnaissance team also expanded, and now there is a company formation.

Hieronymus was a little surprised. He did not expect that there would be so many soldiers sneaking into the city, which made him more confident in capturing Asprostum. He told the trumpeter and urged the troops to speed up.

In fact, without the urging of Hieronymus, the marching speed of the soldiers is constantly accelerating, because these 5,000 soldiers are all from Niutum, they missed the previous battle, and are eager to fight and make merit.

The river upstream of the Neto is neither deep nor wide, but the banks are higher. Hieronymus rushed to the north bank first, and saw many enemies on the opposite bank with bows and arrows, and immediately gave the order: The seventh brigade attack!

The light infantry of the 3rd Corps quickly formed long, single skirmish lines, scrambled to slide down the bank, and braved the arrows shot at them, striding across the river without fear. After paying very little casualties, they climbed to the opposite bank, and the enemy had already run away.

The heavy infantry who followed later carried ladders and wooden rafts made of trees and waded across the Neto River with ease.

The city of Aspurustum is not far ahead. It is located on a high terrain. It is actually climbing a slope all the way. It is easy for the Lucanian soldiers living in the mountains. In the end, they stopped in front of the city of Asprostum and began to line up under the orders of the team officials.

The soldiers of Aspurustum looked nervously at the dark enemy below the city wall. Behind them are the newcomers, more nervous.

General Fagris saw an old man trembling all the time, the round shield in his hand fell to the ground many times, he stepped forward and comforted: Don't be afraid, the enemy can't attack! Since this city belongs to our Croto After the concubine, it has never been attacked by the enemy! Decades ago, we lost a battle in the south (referring to the war between Locri and Lijim against Crotone), and the Brutians want to take the opportunity to retake the city , there are more people coming than the Dionians in the city now, and the result is a disastrous defeat!

His words reassured the soldiers.

When Fagris patrolled the entire defense from west to east along the aisle of the pheasant, and saw that there were enough soldiers on each battlement,

He has his own confidence.

Although Asproustum is a small city like Castellon and Crimesa, due to its important geographical location, the Crotones have expanded and strengthened its defenses many times, so it has a length of seven meters. The high city wall, the four-meter-wide city wall trench, and the water from a tributary of the Neto River is poured into it to form a wider moat, and it is adjacent to a steep mountain in the west and another large tributary of the Neto River in the east, which is also a cliff. Cliffs, rivers wide and deep. Therefore, it has only two gates, north and south, and the troops are concentrated and easy to defend.

Izam carefully observed the enemies on the city wall, and suddenly he had a happy face, ran to Hieronymus, and shouted excitedly: Lord Legionnaire, my brothers are on the city wall! They will In the city!

Hieronymus, who has always been serious, couldn't help but be moved at this moment, and asked eagerly: Where?!

Although Izam was excited, he remained cautious. Instead of using his fingers, he whispered, On the far left of the city wall!

Hieronymus immediately looked towards the city on the far left. At this time, it was noon. The sun hung in the middle of the sky and shone on the heavily armed soldiers at the front of the city. There was a dazzling light everywhere, but the light in one place was special. The dazzling round shields were neatly arranged in a row, and The reflected rays of light flickered and dimmed very regularly. It was obvious that these people were turning the round shields in their hands at the same time. Who would do such a boring, physically exhausting thing before a big war? Hieronymus showed a smile: Izam, if you capture Aspurustum City, your team will be the first!

Thank you, Lord Legionnaire! Izam was overjoyed.

With the mountain reconnaissance team as the inner responder, Hieronymus quickly made a plan of openly attacking the city on the far right, attracting the attention of the defenders, and secretly attacking the far left.

The trumpet of the attack sounded, and the soldiers were like starving wild wolves in the mountains, howling loudly, and the tide rushed towards the city of Asproustum, Bagule and Asist. The captains of Sri Lanka, Lizam, Kesima, Uraza, etc. also took the lead and led their troops to charge in person...

Crotone soldiers began to fire arrows at enemies who came into range, with few casualties for the heavily armored Dionian heavy infantry. Inspired by the horn of the battle, the feral Tulucanian soldiers of the Third Army even broke the arrow shafts that hit their arms and thighs, and continued to move forward with injuries...

They soon reached the moat. According to the previous drill, the soldiers who ran at the front quickly put the wooden raft five meters long and three meters wide on the moat; then the soldiers carrying the ladder stepped on The wooden raft crossed the moat and went straight to the city wall; followed by soldiers with round shield sabres...

At this time, the attack on the city wall also began to be violent. Arrows, javelins, and stones rained down, and the casualties of Dionian soldiers suddenly increased...

……………………

Lycias did not expect the situation to become so bad as soon as he returned to Crotone.

The people who fled into the city spread the news that the Dionysian army was killed, and panic spread in the city...

Many people in the council were also very flustered. They thought that Crotone's army was defeated again and the city of Crimea was captured, so that Dionysian's army could go south smoothly, so they threatened in exasperation: As long as Miron dares to escape, he must be convicted!

Lycias retorted: I just came back from Crimea, and when I left, Crimea was still in Miron's hands. It's impossible that the city of Crimea was attacked by the enemy after only a few hours. Captured, and also attacked the north bank of the Neto River, it is impossible to calculate the time, so the Dionysians must have bypassed the Crimea! I have to admit that the Dionysians were too daring, they Without a boat, it was impossible to cross the wide Neto River, and as long as Miron held on to the Crimea, the Dionians who invaded the Croton Plains were like rootless duckweeds, and eventually had to retreat.

The Dionians can't cross the Neto River, but they can attack Aspurustum! Someone said worriedly.

Asproustum is so easy to capture, how many times did the Brutians fail! I wish the Dionysians would attack it, so that they could hit the Dionysians hard. ! Someone retorted.

What good will it be for us to fight like this! We in Crotone have already suffered huge losses, farmland has been destroyed, houses have been burned, prices are rising, the treasury is draining, and trade has suffered due to lack of labor. Great influence, we still have a large number of citizens captured! The people are already dissatisfied with us, why don't you talk to the Dionysians! Someone said pessimistically.

Peace talks?! Didn't you hear the terms of Dionia's peace talks that Lysias said just now?! That damned Dionysian consul wants us to dissolve the alliance, can we agree! Once Aspuru Sturm is independent, and Corenia, Cilitin, and Trina are no longer our allies, so maybe tomorrow Lokri and Bruti will destroy them and kill them under the city of Crotone! Someone denounced road.

Peace talks are like buying and selling things. Dionia put forward conditions. We can continue to negotiate with them and lower their demands...

Peace talks are ok, but only after repelling the Dionian attack! So that we can straighten our chests and speak loudly to the Dionians!

...

The council did not know when, and began to debate the issue of whether or not to negotiate with Dionysus. Fortunately, they were able to prioritize their priorities, and some urgent measures were quickly implemented: warships sailed into the Neto River, cruising the banks, preventing the Dionians from smuggling and building bridges. At the same time, the freedmen were hired in large numbers, some guarded the inner city of Crotone, some were stationed on the south bank of the Neto River to monitor the Dionysians on the other side, and a small number of them were sent to the city of Aspurustum. to strengthen its defenses. In addition, he also sent people to Crimea, asking Miron to launch an attack on the Dionians who besieged the city of Crimea to force the invading enemy to withdraw.