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Chapter 1006

"Quickly send someone to check it out!" The unease in Imisere's heart grew, and he loudly ordered, "Send another 300 Light Infantry to the other side of the city wall."

"Yes, sir!"

… …

While Terentus led ten Mountain Scouts and rushed to the lighthouse, the rest of the team members rushed to the small barracks not far from the temple. They happened to bump into the Carthage officers who had come out of the barracks to check on the situation.

Since the construction of the lighthouse more than ten years ago, the alarm bell had never sounded at night. The Carthage officers who were woken up by the noise even thought that it was a mistake by the lighthouse guards. That was why they were stabbed when they were unprepared.

When more and more Mountain Scouts rushed into the barracks, some of the Carthage soldiers were wearing their armor, some had just gotten out of bed, and some were still sleeping … So it became a massacre.

After the team members easily dealt with the Carthage soldiers, they immediately rushed to the lighthouse.

This Mountain Scouts team that was left behind by the Devers in Catanai originally had 500 men. During the sneak attack on Syracuse, more than 100 of them had died. So, there were 360 people participating in this operation. Among them, 160 were disrupting the port area, while the remaining 200 were climbing up the embankment one after another. In the end, they would all enter the lighthouse.

When Terentus saw that more and more of his comrades had gathered around him, he could not help but feel proud. He had led the Mountain Scouts through the Tiber River and sneaked into the sewers, making an important contribution to the final capture of Rome. During the sneak attack on Caslela, the Mountain Scouts were the vanguard, and he was the first to capture the top of the city. During the siege of Syracuse, he was the one who led the team to capture the Euryalus Fortress, opening the door to victory for the capture of the entire city. Now that they had captured the lighthouse at the port and opened the water gate, they had already completed their mission, but he was not satisfied.

"Brothers, follow me to capture the sentry post on the wall in front of us. We will win even more merits!" Terentus raised his arm and shouted. The team members responded in unison.

He left ten team members to guard the lighthouse and led more than a hundred team members through the lighthouse and into the walkway on the wall.

A group of people sprinted forward along the walkway. Along the way, they bumped into the Carthage light infantry who were rushing towards them.

In the darkness of the night, these Carthage soldiers heard the messy footsteps in front of them and thought that the soldiers from the small barracks had already gone up the city wall. They were not prepared until they bumped into each other and realized that it was the enemy.

Other than bows, javelins, and daggers, these Carthaginian light infantrymen had no other weapons. How could they be a match for the mountain scouts who were armed with leather shields and daggers? They were quickly defeated.

On the way back, they shouted in terror, "The enemy is attacking the city! The Diónia army had arrived! … "

As the defeated soldiers approached the gate of the tower, their shouts could be heard clearly by Imisere. He panicked, because this meant that the Diónia had occupied the natural breakwater and the lighthouse. They could then control the water gates and allow the Diónia warships to enter the port! Allow the Dionysian Army to land at the port!

Imisere did not have time to think about how the Diónia army occupied the lighthouse. He was thinking that the Diónia fleet and army would probably attack soon. As he did not have much combat experience, it was inevitable that he panicked. There was only one thought in his mind: Do not let the Diónia army enter the city!

So he shouted nervously, "Hurry up and close the gate of the tower! Do not let the Diónia army in! The gate of the port is not to be opened without my order! Hurry up and close it … "

When the Carthage built the port of Lilibo, they were more thoughtful. The natural breakwater was connected to the land by a wall. Only the city wall could pass through the middle. They also built a tower on both sides of the city wall. Therefore, the only way to enter the natural breakwater was through the walkway on the city wall. These two towers were the tallest of all the towers in Lilibo. They were four meters higher than the city wall. Moreover, the Carthage also built a gate with the walkway as the bottom and the towers on both sides as the door frame. This was not only to control the access of the natural breakwater, but also as a precaution.

In fact, at this time, the Carthage soldiers had already stationed themselves in these two towers. After hearing the sounds of fighting on the opposite wall, followed by the continuous screams, the cautious team officer quickly ordered the soldiers to temporarily close the gate of the tower until they had a clear understanding of the situation.

When Imisere heard that the gate of the tower was closed, he calmed down a little. He quickly gave another order, "Go inform General Sarcados of the Southeast Barracks and ask him to dispatch 2,000 soldiers here!"

"Send someone to urge Ragnaca and ask him to quickly bring troops here!"

After giving these orders, he still felt uneasy. After thinking for a while, he said to his most trusted subordinate in a low voice, "Immediately ride a horse and rush to see Lord Margo. Tell him that the port of Lilibo has been attacked by the Diónia. Hope that he will immediately send troops to rescue us!"

The Carthage soldiers closed the gate of the tower. No matter how hard the defeated soldiers shouted, they did not respond. Instead, they lit many torches on the tower. Then, they ordered the light infantry to occupy the tower and attack the Diónia soldiers who were chasing after the Carthage soldiers on the walkway of the city wall in front of them.

This time, in order to hide on the cargo ship and to make it easier for them to climb, the Mountain Scouts did not even wear leather helmets or armor. Other than a leather shield, they did not have any extra protection on them. Moreover, they were gathered on the narrow walkway, which made them the best targets for long-range attacks. After a few rounds of arrows, many of the Mountain Scouts in front of them were killed or injured. Even Terentus was shot in the left arm.

The pain eliminated Terentus' fervent fighting spirit. He hurriedly ordered the soldiers to retreat and hold the lighthouse.

The Diónia soldiers retreated, but the Carthage soldiers did not dare to open the gate of the tower for fear of accidents. It was not until the heavy infantry below the city wall arrived that Imisere ordered them to open the gate of the tower.

The city wall on the natural breakwater was more than five meters tall. They could only go down to the embankment through the lighthouse. If the Carthage soldiers wanted to recapture the lighthouse, they could only go through the walkway of the city wall. This would not be able to make full use of their advantage in numbers. Although there was no gate connecting the lighthouse to the city wall, the lighthouse was more than twice the height of the city wall. Therefore, Terentus ordered a portion of his soldiers to block the entrance of the city wall while the other portion went to the small barracks to retrieve the javelins and bows that the enemy had stored. Then, they went to the stone windows on the upper level of the tower to attack the Carthage infantry who were attacking from below. This would reduce the impact of the Carthage heavy infantry on the entrance of the lighthouse.

Terentus was now regretting his decision. The Carthage soldiers of Lili were not like Casrella and Syracuse. Their reaction to an ambush at night was faster. If he had known this earlier, he would not have been in a hurry to capture the gate of the tower. Instead, he would have seized the time to block the entrance of the city wall and the entrance of the lighthouse with wooden planks or other objects.

Now that the two sides were in a head-on battle, it was very disadvantageous for the Mountain Reconnaissance Unit. In a situation where there was almost no space to dodge, the heavy infantry and light armored soldiers were fighting head-on. Naturally, the Mountain Reconnaissance Unit would suffer the most casualties. However, even if the casualties continued to increase, the Mountain Reconnaissance Unit could not retreat even a step. Otherwise, if the Carthage soldiers were to charge into the lighthouse, the consequences would be unimaginable. Therefore, at the entrance of the lighthouse and the city wall, one of the Mountain Reconnaissance Unit could only take the place of another and hold on with all their might.

Imisere was also very anxious. This was because the soldiers who had rushed to the tower of the artificial breakwater quickly sent someone back to report that there were many warships approaching the port!

The main forces of the Diónia soldiers were rushing over! Imisere was extremely anxious. He knew very well that once these warships entered the port, they would be a great threat to Lilibo.

So he issued a death order to Ragnaca, who had already rushed to the city wall: he must retake the lighthouse as soon as possible and close the water gate!

Despite the constant shouting and chaos in the port area, both sides actually focused the battle on the fight for the lighthouse.

Ragnaca received the order, but he did not immediately send the 5,000 soldiers he led into the attack on the lighthouse. Because the Carthage soldiers who had attacked before had already formed a long line on the walkway of the natural breakwater wall. No matter how many soldiers were sent in, they would not be a threat to the enemies in the lighthouse. So he quickly ordered his men to find ropes to hang down from the wall so that the soldiers could go down to the embankment. On one hand, they could attack the lighthouse from below, and on the other hand, they could prevent the Diónia soldiers from continuing to land on the embankment.

… …

As the Sicilian fleet cruised the western waters every day, every warship was more familiar with the sea conditions near Lilibo. Under the guidance of the lighthouse, they had risen to their maximum speed until they approached the water gate. Only then did they slow down slightly. One by one, they stuck close to the side of the lighthouse and entered one by one.

At this time, the Carthage archers in the tower connected to the water gate on the opposite side continuously fired arrows at the Diónia warships entering the water gate. Under the night sky, the sparks of light sprinkled onto the sea, looking very beautiful.

But the people on the Diónia warships were nervous. The soldiers on the deck put up long shields to block the arrows, and at the same time, they had to clear them into the sea to prevent the warships from being ignited. The sailors in the cabin once again sped up the oars to get the warships out of the range of the arrows.

According to the original plan, the first warship to enter the port should go as far in as possible, stick the warships at the beginning of the natural breakwater, and then line up in turn so that the soldiers of the legion could land on the embankment together. The ship of Stefakas, the commander of the B Squadron, would be the navigator.

But when he saw the Carthage soldiers fighting fiercely in front of the lighthouse on the city wall, and the lookout also reminded him that the Carthage soldiers on the city wall ahead were hanging down ropes.

He immediately realized the urgency of time and immediately pulled the ship to the embankment. He turned the drawbridge at the bow, and the 12-meter-long wooden bridge was easily placed on the embankment. Just like the Third Fleet attacked the west bank of Rome through the Tiber River a few months ago, the 50 soldiers of the Second Legion on the warship quickly climbed over the drawbridge and rushed to the embankment, intercepting the Carthage soldiers who were coming down from the city wall.