Chapter 222
"The freedmen ran out of food?!" Cunogorata asked in shock.
"The war broke out too suddenly. Many freedmen didn't stock up on food beforehand. By the time they wanted to buy it, the market was already sold out." Felicius looked at the two of them. Wasn't the Alliance the culprit?
"Then use food as payment and let the freedmen continue to fight for the Alliance. Don't always shorten the citizenship period as a reward and make the Alliance's citizenship less valuable! Felicius, the freedmen were able to make great contributions under the Consul's leadership and defeat the Crotone's regular army. Even without the Consul's leadership, it shouldn't be a problem to deal with the invasion of the ordinary sailors of the Crotone fleet, right? "Cunogorata asked Felicius stiffly.
Felicius didn't mind and said seriously, "Of course not! My plan is to have the freedmen form teams of a hundred and patrol all the coastlines that can be landed on continuously. At the same time, send a company to the Turií – Castellón Avenue and station a company every five miles. The patrols and heavy infantry companies will be contacted by scouts. If they encounter a small group of enemies, the patrols should be able to repel them. If they encounter a large number of enemies, the patrols will first stop the enemy's surprise attack. The scouts will inform the nearest heavy infantry company and then rush over to attack the enemy … "
Cunogorata's expression softened a little. "That's a good idea."
"But I'm afraid our grain supply will be tight again. We'll have to use the treasury's money to buy grain from Heraclea again. Mercies will blame us again," Cornelus said helplessly.
"How can there be no war without spending money? As long as the Consul can obtain the final victory, there will be money." Ever since the victory at the Trevinto River, Cunogorata, who was afraid of war, had more confidence in the Devers.
… …
Myron originally thought that the Diónia army would take the opportunity to attack the city with the help of the platform, but the Diónia army and the Crotone soldiers on top of the city wall faced off for an entire morning. Other than the light infantry on the platform throwing arrows and stones at the city wall, there was no other movement. In the end, even the light infantry stopped attacking because their hands were numb.
Such a strange calmness puzzled Myron. Of course, he would not know that the five thousand Diónia Legio III and the three thousand Laos soldiers had entered the northern plains of Crotone and began to destroy the farmlands and villages. They were doing the same thing as the sailors of Crotone who landed on land, except that the Devers had a military order in advance: they were not allowed to kill the people of Crotone. Therefore, the soldiers only threatened and drove them away.
As early as after the defeat, the Crotone Council had advised the people of the villages in the northern plains to temporarily escape into the city to avoid the flames of war. Because of the spring sowing and the absence of the enemy for two to three days, the people of Crotone thought that Myron had blocked the Diónia in Crimissa, so most of the people did not evacuate. Now, a large group of Diónia soldiers suddenly appeared in front of them, and the people of Crotone panicked and fled south.
In southern Italy, the Crotone Plain was comparable to the Sybari Plain because of two rivers: one was the Netto River, which originated in the mountains of the southern Apennines and flowed from west to east into the Gulf of Taranto. Due to the confluence of many tributaries, the width, depth, and flow of the river were finally greater than the Crati River on the Sybari Plain; the other was the Tachinadi River, which also originated in the mountains of the southern Apennines but flowed from north to south into the sea. The two rivers, one east and one south, irrigated the Crotone Plain and at the same time cut the Crotone Plain into a nearly square area. On the side of this core area near the sea was the famous and powerful state of Greece, Crotone. Because Crotone was close to the Gulf of Taranto, it had one of the few deep-water harbors in the Apennines Peninsula. Crotone had fertile plains and excellent harbors. The fundamental reason for the war between Sybaris and Crotone a hundred years ago was that Sybaris wanted to destroy its potential rival, while Crotone wanted to dominate the trade in southern Italy. Therefore, a small number of Sybaris people fled to Crotone because of the dispute, which was only the fuse of the war.
The strange thing was that the two rivers were very close to each other after they flowed out of the mountains. Between them, between the mountains and the plains, there was a city called Asprustum, which was founded by the Bruti. To the west of the northern plains of Crotone was the continuous Apennines Mountain Range, which was difficult to pass through. However, following the natural valley formed by the Arvo River, a tributary of the Netto River, and trekking northwest, one could reach the only plateau in southern Italy, the Cosenza Plateau. The Bruti people who lived there originally started from the upper reaches of the Arvo River, followed the valley all the way down to Asprustum.
However, when Crotone became powerful, it would not allow a city of a different race, only about 20 miles northwest of it, to control the upper reaches of the two rivers, to control the northern plains of Crotone, to walk to the south without passing through the Netto River, and to threaten the safety of the Crotone people. Therefore, a hundred years ago, Crotone launched an army to attack the city of Asprustum. After several battles, they finally occupied the city and chased the Bruti people back to the Cosenza Plateau. Now, Asprustum had completely become a city of the Greeks. As the colonial city of Crotone, it was completely under the control of Crotone. It and Crotone worked together to protect the safety of Ciudad Crotone.
The bad news of Diónia invading the Crotone Plains reached Ciudad Crotone, and the people were panicking. Especially Laos' 3,000 soldiers, who were advancing like crazy, were about to reach the northern shore of the Netto River.
The guards on the southern shore panicked. In order to prevent the enemy from crossing the pontoon bridges and killing their way to Ciudad Crotone, they set a few pontoon bridges on the river on fire. This caused many fleeing people to stay on the northern shore of the Netto River.
While Crotone was ferrying them on boats, Laos's army had already reached the Netto River. The people of Crotone cried and were forced to flee northwest along the Netto River in a panic.
When the Greeks first came to the plains, the Netto River and its many tributaries, as well as the abundant rainfall, had caused swamps here. However, the Greeks had developed draining techniques, and after hundreds of years of management, there were basically no swamps left. However, the escape of the Crotone people was still full of danger, because Laos had sent a few groups of soldiers to chase after them.
The people of Crotone were frightened and tired. Fortunately, some young people had joined the group. They enthusiastically helped the women carry the heavy things, carried the children, and supported the elderly, so that not a single person was left behind. In the end, Laos's soldiers stopped chasing, and the city of Asplustum appeared in front of the fleeing people.
General Fagris of Asplustum, who was born as a citizen of Crotone, opened the city gate without hesitation. Nearly 900 fleeing people covered in dust and panic were let into the city.
At this moment, an urgent report came from the spy: 5,000 Diónia soldiers were attacking the city of Asplustum!
When Fagris heard this, he immediately panicked. In the two wars with Diónia, more than 6,000 people were transferred from Asplustum to join the battle. It was almost like throwing meat buns at a dog, and they never returned. There were only about 700 citizens in the city who could fight. How could they stop the 5,000 Diónia soldiers who defeated the Crotone army in the battle?!
Fagris, who lacked actual combat experience, had no confidence. When his gaze fell on the panicked fleeing people in the city, he instantly changed his original plan of immediately escorting them out of the city to reward them and win the favor of the Crotone Council.
"People of Crotone! People of Crotone!! " He stood on the stone stairs of the city wall and shouted loudly. However, it was chaotic below, and only a few people paid attention to him. So, the soldiers also began to shout. Finally, the fleeing people quieted down and looked up at the general of Asplustum.
"People of Crotone, 5,000 people of Diónia are attacking this city!" As soon as Fagris said this, the people below became restless. "What! The people of Diónia are here! "
"Open the south gate and let us get out of here!!"
…
The people shouted loudly. Fagris and the soldiers finally calmed them down.
"Of course you can go. But you have to know that because the Crotone launched two wars against the Turís, most of the citizens of Asplustum followed the Crotone army and didn't come back. As a result, there are not many citizen soldiers in the city now. I'm afraid they can't stop the large number of people of Diónia! Asplustum is the northern barrier of the Crotone. Once the people of Diónia occupy it, they can smoothly go south, easily cross the Tachinadi River, and enter the central plains of the Crotone. That will be a disaster! … I beg you men who can pick up a shield and spear to join our ranks and defend Asplustum! It is to defend the Crotone! "
Fagris's words were sincere because his home was originally outside the Ciudad Crotone. Asplustum was more like a special Demo (from the administrative division of Athens, several villages combined, equivalent to a town). Although it had its own council, there was only one general in charge of the city. He was selected from the "ten generals" elected by the Crotone every year. Therefore, in an emergency, Fagris, who was also the general of the Crotone, had the right to order the people of Crotone.
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