Chapter 200
Although the Tua Alliance did not punish Crimissa severely in the end, and Crimissa once again returned to its neutral position, the generals and council members of Crimissa did not have it easy. Although Crotone was defeated, their strength did not diminish, and the merchants who had been to Turií were amazed at the rapid development of the Diónia Alliance. One had suffered the humiliation of defeat for the first time in many years, and the other had suffered from the burning of the city. These two forces were bound to go to war again. This was the consensus of the upper echelons of Crimissa, and for Crimissa, which was sandwiched between Crotone and Diónia, it would be a disaster.
After Castellón joined the Diónia Alliance, Diónia built a road to connect Castellón, and gave it preferential trade. In just half a year, Castellón's trade grew rapidly. Although the people of Crimissa were envious, most of them would not make eyes at Diónia. After all, Crimissa was closer to Crotone, and under the influence of Crotone's influence for a long time, whether it was in terms of feelings or interests, the people of Crimissa were more inclined to Crotone.
When the Crimissa Alliance received an urgent report from the cavalry, countless soldiers were spotted crossing the swamp area in the north! Everyone was shocked, although some of them thought that they should first understand the situation.
But the chief general, Antares, stood his ground and insisted on continuing to send scouts to investigate the situation, while sending people to Crotone for help.
He shouted, "Everyone, these people are fully armed and coming from the north. Whether they are Diónia's army or not, they have trespassed into our territory without permission. There is no doubt that they have malicious intentions! The Crimisa Empire has yet to recover from its previous defeat, and we have less than a thousand citizens who can fight. By the time we figure out what's going on, the enemy will have already reached the city walls. By then, it will be too late to ask for help! I would rather ask for help first, even if I have to apologize to the people of Crotone if I make a mistake in the future, than lose the home passed down by our ancestors because of hesitation! "
Antares's words convinced most of them.
Half an hour after they sent the messengers to Crotone, the scouts brought back worrisome news: about two thousand heavily armed soldiers, mostly heavy infantry, carrying ladders, were rushing towards Crimissa, and they had killed a Crimissa cavalryman who had gone to ask for information.
This was an enemy! The members of the Crimissa Council no longer had any doubts. They did not have the time to thank Antares for his foresight. They had already informed the citizens to equip their armor and prepare their shields and spears, and now they issued an emergency mobilization order for war: all those who could fight were ordered to go up the wall.
As a small town, Crimissa did not have any special products, and the port trade was not developed. Even so, Antares and the other generals learned the lesson of the former Turís. They rushed to the port and immediately granted citizenship to nearly five hundred young and strong freedmen, asking them to participate in the battle.
Just as the people of Crimissa were nervously preparing for war, the mercenaries had advanced to about two hundred meters north of Crimissa. Timason and the others could already see the shadows of the guards on top of the wall.
"It seems like the people of Crimissa are prepared!" Creano said a little disappointed. The trace of hope in his heart had also disappeared.
Timason's expression did not change. He said in a low voice, "Since the surprise attack plan cannot be used, we will attack by force!"
He then immediately ordered, "Brothers, rest here for the time being!"
He, Creano, Torlicos, and the other officers quickly gathered together and urgently discussed how to attack the city of Crimissa.
The city walls of Crimissa were only four meters tall, and there was only a three-meter wide moat around the perimeter. There were no antlers, and it seemed like there were no traps either. Such a simple city defense was nothing compared to the cities that they had conquered with Tiburon in Asia Minor. Even if the city walls were filled with civilian soldiers, Timason and the officers did not think that they could withstand the attack of the mercenaries. According to Timason's understanding, the people of Crimissa had been in peace for decades. There was no war. Half a year ago, when the army of Crotone was ambushed by the Alliance, the people of Crimissa were completely massacred.
Timason, Creano, and the officers believed that the people of Crimissa had no battle experience and low morale. No matter how many of them there were, it would be useless!
After quickly arranging the troops, Timason went to the front of the formation and said loudly to the mercenaries, "Brothers, I believe that you will never forget the two months that you have spent in the Alliance of Diónia! You were able to leave there and follow us here because you are not satisfied! We are all mercenaries, but the Devers have everything, and we have nothing! " Timason turned and pointed at the city of Crimissa, and shouted angrily, "The opportunity is right in front of us! Take this city and let us become nobles! We will also become masters! "
The mercenaries used their spears to hit the round shields and shouted angrily, venting the frustration and grievances that they had accumulated over the past two months. At the same time, they wanted to win and look forward to a better life in the future!
Their roars could be clearly heard from the top of the city walls, causing the expression of the people of Crimissa to change.
The general in charge of military affairs, Eurippus, was anxious when he saw this. To boost the morale, he shouted, "Citizens, the enemy has the same number of people as us! We have the protection of the city walls and the moat, they can't hurt us! Besides, the reinforcements of Crotone are already on the way! "
When the people of Crimissa heard that there were reinforcements, they calmed down a little.
"Attack!" Timason saw that the morale was high, and gave the order without hesitation.
Thus, the bugle sounded, and Creano led the troops to attack the west side of Crimissa, while Timason led the troops to attack the north side.
The heavy infantry were in front, carrying long ladders in groups of five or six. They advanced slowly in an extremely loose formation, while the light infantry followed far behind. When they were about to enter the shooting range of the arrows of the people of Crimissa, they took off their round shields, raised them diagonally to protect their heads and chests, and lowered their bodies to move forward.
Arrows rained down from the city walls, but the mercenaries showed no fear. They calmly came to the side of the moat, and a few of them helped to set up six-meter-long wooden ladders on the moat. When crossing the moat on the long ladders, the damage caused to the heavy infantry by the arrows was not as great as the damage caused to the mercenaries if they accidentally stepped on the broken wooden ladders and fell into the moat.
Eurippus looked at the skillful tactical movements and calm performance of the enemies below the city walls, and suddenly became nervous. This was a group of enemies with rich combat experience, and it would not be easy to deal with them!
"Quick! Go and prepare more stones, wood, and linseed oil, and send them to the city immediately! "he shouted anxiously.
When the heavy infantry had basically crossed the moat, they carried the long ladders again, quickly rushed to the foot of the city wall, and put the long ladders on the city wall. There were also some long ladders on the moat, but they were not retracted. They were for the light infantry to cross the moat later.
The people of Crimissa hurriedly threw down wood and stones, and poured down cans of linseed oil. As torches were thrown down, flames rose, and the casualties of the mercenaries suddenly increased …
…
Just as Crimissa and the mercenaries were fighting fiercely, the Devers had already received the shocking news that Timason had not gone to Syracuse, but to Crimissa.
After all, there were many ships coming and going on the east coast of Greece. More than 40 empty ships were stranded on the beach, and there would always be curious merchant ships that stopped to investigate, only to find the captain and sailors tied up and thrown in the weeds.
After being rescued, they immediately sailed back to the port of Turií and complained to the patrol about what had happened to them.
When the Devers heard the news, he was furious. As Timason's guarantor, the hijacking of the cargo ship and the death of 15 sailors had already angered him. What angered him even more was that Timason had led more than a thousand mercenaries to land on the coast between Castellón and Crimissa. What was he planning to do?!
He thought for a moment, and he could guess: Crimissa! These audacious mercenaries actually dared to set their sights on the Crimesa! And I even felt sorry for their departure. Damn Timason, he lied to us all! While the Devers complained about his carelessness, he also thought about the consequences of the mercenaries' actions. Whether they could take down Crimissa or not, it would break the delicate balance between Diónia and Crotone. Perhaps the Alliance would have to make early preparations!
But when he thought about the Senate meeting, the Devers had a slight headache. Someone would definitely take the opportunity to make things difficult for him at the meeting. Although it would not affect him in any real way, it was a mistake he had made! As expected, those in power could not be easily swayed by personal feelings. If he had not agreed to Agathia's request, there would not have been so many things that followed! This was a deep lesson that he had to remember! …
"Aristolochs, immediately send someone to invite Felicius, Agathia, Hieronymus, Capus, Antonios … They are all here!" The Devers ordered Aristolochs. He needed to communicate with the former mercenaries first.
… …
"Leader, our men are about to attack!" His subordinate shouted excitedly.
Timason perked up and peeked his head out from under the round shield. He saw that a soldier had stepped onto the battlements not far away.
At this moment, seven or eight spears pierced towards him. The soldier hurriedly used the round shield to block them, but he lost his balance and was pushed down the wall. However, the wall was only four meters high, and there were corpses on the ground, so falling down would not cause too much damage. The soldier stood up shakily. He was not fully awake and forgot to defend himself. A stone hit him on the head (as Corinth's helmet was cumbersome and had a narrow field of vision, it was not suitable for attacking a city). He fell down again, but he could not get up again.
Timason saw this and shouted, "Let Exarchias and the rest approach the wall and give the heavy infantry more support!"
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