Chapter 201
"We are besieging the city, do you know that? Besieging the city! " Timason shouted angrily. "The heavy infantry can't go up and take down the city. What's the use of them saving their lives? Go! Go! "
Timason watched as the orderly crossed the moat and ran towards the light infantry. He then turned his gaze to the ground below the city. There were corpses lying everywhere, as well as struggling and wailing soldiers. There were mercenaries and Crimissa's men …
Timason had seen such a scene too many times. Before he came to Greece, he had just been under Tiburon's command and had been besieging Larissa in Asia Minor for a few months. He knew how difficult it was to besiege a city. However, he had no other choice but to attack. Time was the key to success for him.
"Be careful, leader!" His men's shouts made him subconsciously hide his head under the round shield. There was a clang, and the back of his hand shook. An arrow hit the surface of the shield and bounced up.
He had just exhaled when he heard "Ah! Ah! "A cry of alarm was heard, followed by a loud" boom ".
He did not need to look to know that the siege ladder had been pushed down by the enemy. He began to feel irritated.
… …
"General, the enemy's light infantry is approaching!" The citizen soldier's panicked shouts made Euripides's heart skip a beat.
The light infantry that was originally in front of the moat had quickly moved to the bottom of the city wall. Compared to the poor archery of the Crimissa militia, the enemy's arrows were accurate and ruthless. Soon, most of the casualties of the militia were caused by them.
"Ignore the enemy on the long ladder. Focus on the light infantry!" He ordered his archers as he ran along the walkway.
"The enemy is coming again!" The panicked shouts of the soldiers made him stop. Not far away, a mercenary had already stood on the battlement. Facing a spear, he used his shield to protect his upper body and struggled to jump forward. Not only did the spear not hit him, but it was pinned under his body. He did not get up immediately. Instead, he quickly swung the saber in his right hand and slashed randomly. Several citizen soldiers nearby were slashed in their unprotected thighs. They screamed and fell to the ground. He stood up, but did not take advantage of the chaos to attack. Instead, he retreated to the entrance of the long ladder, squatted down with his back against the battlements, and used the round shield to protect himself.
The spears of the soldiers did not do much damage to him. Instead, they were afraid that his saber would come out from under his shield and cut their feet. During this delay, another mercenary came up the battlements.
"Press forward! Block them! "Euripides arrived with the reserve team, and a dense barrage of spears forced the enemy into a corner.
"Break their shields!" As soon as Euripides' voice fell, the soldier next to him let out a shrill scream as a javelin pierced his ribs.
The light infantry at the foot of the city did their best to support their comrades who were attacking the city. Arrows and javelins were concentrated on this section of the city wall. The heavy infantry also increased the speed at which they climbed the city.
Euripides urgently mobilized all the remaining troops to block this place. After a fierce fight between the two sides, the mercenaries were driven away, but this section of the walkway was full of the wounded and dead Crimissa militia.
In the face of such a group of obviously experienced and bloodthirsty enemies, every time they broke in, they would cause a lot of damage to the defending soldiers. Euripides felt a little powerless, and his manpower began to run out. "Quickly go and inform General Antares that the enemy has invested all their strength in the north of the city! This place can't hold on any longer, let him send reinforcements! "
Antares had no troops to send. However, since the enemy had been attacking the north and west, the troops responsible for the defense of the east had been idle at this critical moment.
Antares immediately made a decision: send someone to inform General Preades to immediately lead the troops stationed in the east of the city to reinforce Euripides.
"Leader Timason! Leader Timason! " The messenger dodged the arrows as he hurriedly ran towards Timason. "The enemy on the east wall has left!"
"I have already seen it!" Timason's tone revealed a bit of excitement. "Go and tell Toricos to act immediately!"
"Yes!"
Seeing the messenger leave, Timason immediately raised his arms and shouted, "Brothers, work harder! Attack with me! The enemy can't hold on any longer! " After saying that, he held his round shield and strode to the long ladder. He grabbed the wooden ladder with his right hand, and the soldier guarding the ladder held his buttocks and pushed him up. He took advantage of the momentum and jumped up a few steps. The soldiers in front of him had already entered the city wall. Using both his hands and feet, he quickly reached the top of the long ladder. He quickly pulled out his saber, stepped on the battlements, and used the shield to protect his chest. He ignored the spears and swords that were stabbing at him. He struggled to jump forward, using the momentum to knock away the enemy, and at the same time, he slashed forward with the saber in his hand.
"Back to back! Back to back! "he shouted as he slashed.
The mercenaries who had been hiding in the corner immediately came closer.
Encouraged by Timason's example, the mercenaries once again launched a fierce attack. They broke through many parts of the northern wall, and if it weren't for Preades leading his troops to support them, the defending troops of Euripides would not have been able to hold on.
The two sides fought fiercely on the walkway. Seeing that the large influx of reinforcements had boosted the morale of the Crimissa people, they were ready to drive the mercenaries out of the city again.
At this time, there was a huge commotion in the east.
"The enemy is coming up! The enemy is coming up! " The public militia shouted in panic.
Euripides hurriedly turned his head to the east and saw many enemy light shield soldiers with leather shields and reverse-blade swords pouncing on him along the walkway on the east wall.
Euripides had no time to think about how these people had climbed up the wall. He hurriedly asked Preades to lead the reinforcements back to intercept them, but the two sides were engaged in a fierce battle on the walkway, and it was difficult to divert troops.
However, the attack of the Thracian light shield soldiers of the mercenaries was quite fierce. They broke into the crowd, and in the narrow space, the long-handled reverse-blade swords exerted a terrifying killing power. If the sharp blade hooked the hands and feet, the muscles and bones would be severed; if the blade hooked the neck, the blood vessels would be severed … The Crimean citizen soldiers fell in an instant, and they were so frightened that they retreated in panic. The light shield soldiers were like maggots attached to bones, and the nearby mercenaries also took advantage of the chaos to climb up the wall …
The easternmost end of the defense line of the entire northern wall of Crimissa had been breached, and the experienced mercenaries were driving the defeated Crimean citizen soldiers to the west …
In the crowded walkway, the panicked Crimissa people pushed each other in order to escape, and some people fell directly from the inside of the wall …
Seeing this tragic scene, Euripides and Preades panicked. They were afraid that they would suffer the same misfortune, so they hurriedly retreated from the city tower. This allowed the mercenaries to easily reach the top of the city wall and occupy the walkway near the city gate, blocking countless Crimesa people on the walkway …
The mercenaries mercilessly launched a massacre, forcing more Crimissa people to jump down from the wall …
Antares, who was originally organizing and coordinating the defense under the city, saw this tragic scene and listened to the continuous screams of the citizens, and his heart ached. But at this critical moment, he still had to endure the grief and arrange for the withdrawn public militia and people to retreat to the south of the city for the final defense.
The mercenaries occupied the northern city, opened the city gate, and the soldiers outside the city poured in …
"Leader, we won! We have occupied this city! "One of his men supported Timason and shouted joyfully.
Timason's thigh was stabbed, and there was a knife wound on his right arm. If the enemy did not self-destruct, he would probably have died under the spears. At this moment, he was also very excited. "It should be said that we also have a city!" He said proudly. The mercenaries were able to take down the city thanks to the success of his plan. In the Diónia Alliance, under his intentional questioning, his former comrades told him the details of the capture of Amendolara, so he knew about the special siege equipment, the rope hook, and got its sketch. He sent people to the blacksmith's shop in Heraclea to make dozens of them. During the siege, he deliberately attacked the west and north sides. Once the Crimissa people who were defending the east side were forced to come to support (the south side was the Umbria River), he let Toricos lead dozens of trained light shield soldiers to sneak under the east wall with the rope hook. Even if they were discovered, they would not attract the enemy's attention as they did not carry the siege ladders. Just like that, the light shield soldiers used the rope hook to climb up the city wall and dealt a fatal blow to the Crimissa people.
After Timason left the city, he met up with Creano, who had taken down the west gate, and ordered the mercenaries to continue chasing after the defeated soldiers.
Everything went smoothly at first, but gradually, the mercenaries broke free of control. They began to break into houses, loot, and even capture women …
Timason was furious. It was not that he objected to looting, but the battle was not over yet. It was said that the remaining forces of the Crimissa people were hiding in the citadel. They had to take down the citadel in one go and completely occupy it before they could celebrate their victory.
However, the excited mercenaries acted according to their instincts and refused to obey his orders. Timason felt the same way as the Devers. He knew that it was useless, but he still cursed and vented his anger.
"Leader, they're all in the citadel anyway and can't run away. Let's lock down the citadel and wait for the soldiers to calm down. Then, we can gather them again and take down the citadel," Toricos comforted.
"I'm not worried about the Crimissa people, I'm worried about Crotone!" Timason said anxiously.
Comments