Chapter 249
Cypross gave a detailed and comprehensive review of the Dionysian Army at the Triene Council. "… What impressed me was that the Diónia citizen soldiers had strong discipline and obedience to orders, which was different from the armies of the other allies I had seen, including our own. It was said that the Diónia Alliance had formulated a military law to restrain the behavior of the soldiers, and there were strict regulations on military training, marching, camping, and other aspects. There was also a military judge in the army to supervise the implementation of the law. The soldiers did not resist or resist when they violated the military law, but felt ashamed …
I learned from the Diónia citizen soldiers that they had to train once every five days during the slack season. This was already a number that surprised us Triene people, and they seemed to enjoy the training and did not complain at all about the waste of the farmland because of the training … Therefore, they could skillfully use the shields, spears, bows, and javelins in their hands, and could maintain a complete formation during the march. They were not only serious in building the camp, but also had a clear division of labor and high efficiency. Therefore, they could build a surprisingly well-guarded camp in a short time …
In addition, there was another obvious difference between the Dionysian Army and the other city-states. Their commanders and officers of all levels were not appointed at the last minute after the war, but had always held positions in the army. Therefore, they not only had rich combat experience, but were also familiar with every soldier under their command. Therefore, when they marched and built the camp, they could command the soldiers very smoothly, and they cooperated well with each other. The superiors and subordinates had clear responsibilities, and when carrying out orders, they rarely shirked responsibility or acted on their own …
What surprised me even more was that these soldiers were not afraid of fighting, but eager to fight. This reminded me of the Sparta in Greece. Although I had not seen them in battle, the fact that they defeated Crotone despite being outnumbered was enough to prove the fighting power of the Dionysian Army. In short, in my eyes, the Dionysian Army was like a well-made, well-operated, and terrible weapon of war! … "
After listening to Cypross, the Triene Council made a decision: without affecting their own interests, they would give Diónia as much support as possible in the Southern Alliance.
After a few days of negotiations, a peace agreement was finally reached: Rockley would compensate Corunna, Triene, Siletina, and Crotone with a certain amount of gold and silver, and both sides would agree to a truce …
… …
Just as peace was restored in Southern Italy, a war broke out in the Lucaria region in the northwest of Diónia in early March.
The army of Potentia besieged and attacked the Grumentum for more than ten days. Picossis's Gnanette arrived with his army and attacked the rear of Potentia's army. Meanwhile, Sinsinag saw the arrival of reinforcements from the top of the city wall and promptly led his army to attack. Potentia was caught in a pincer attack and quickly retreated. Picossis and the Grumentum chased after them. The Potentia people lost their camp and fled in panic.
Picossis and the Grumentum people broke into the Potentia camp one after the other. When they saw the herds of cattle and sheep, the piles of food, and the many women and slaves of other tribes that Potentia had captured along the way, they were no longer in the mood to chase after the enemy. Both sides began to fight over the goods and women in the camp.
The Grumentum people believed that they had defeated the Potentia army, so the spoils of war should belong to them. On the other hand, the Grumentum people believed that most of the goods were looted by Potentia from the tribes that belonged to the Grumentum outside the city, so they should be returned to the Grumentum.
The quarrels and conflicts at the beginning quickly turned into fights, especially between the Grumentum people, who originally had a higher status in the Lucania Alliance. During this period of time, not only were many of their leaders killed and under the control of Picossis's people, but Picossis's people also looked down on them and ordered them around. This made them feel extremely disappointed and humiliated. Coupled with the fact that the Pixie warriors who followed Sinsinag were tyrannical in the Grumentum city, the accumulated resentment in their hearts finally erupted once it was provoked. The Grumentum people gathered and madly attacked the Pixie people in the camp. Both sides began to fight to the death, and the situation was completely out of control.
Sinsinag could not stop them at all. Finally, when he made up his mind to destroy these capricious Grumentum people, the leader of Potentia, Boret, led some of the reorganized soldiers back. The Picossis people, who were fighting with the Grumentum people in the camp, were attacked from all sides and finally suffered a crushing defeat. Sinsinag and his son took the remaining soldiers and did not even dare to return to the Grumentum city. They directly fled into the mountains, and after a few turns, they finally escaped back to Picossis.
In the end, the Potentia people occupied the Grumentum city.
… …
At the same time, after two months of siege and bitter battles, Tarantum finally captured the small city of Brindisi, which was located to the east of Tarantum and was close to the Adriatic Sea. This was a major breakthrough in the expansion of Tarantum's territory since its establishment.
The people dedicated their praise to the leading generals, Diomiras and Archita. Archita, however, was not happy. This time, the attack on the Mesapi people was fully supported by the city-state. Although the original plan discussed by the council was realized, the land route between Tarantum and the Adriatic Sea was opened, and the communication between the Mesapi people and the north was cut off, sealing them in the peninsula, the price paid was also very high. The casualties of the Tarantum militia were as high as 4,000 people.
The Mesapi people were famous for their fierceness in southern Italy. During the Greek colonial era hundreds of years ago, many Greek city-states were established in southern Italy, but on this "heel" of the peninsula, there was always only one Tarantum. While other colonial city-states were attacking and assimilating the nearby indigenous people to expand their territory, the Tarantum people, who were in a unique position, were lamenting their misfortune. Their neighbors to the east, the Mesapi people, were not only fierce and numerous, but also not completely barbaric indigenous people. According to their own claims, they were Illyrians from northern Greece near the Adriatic Sea. They had cultural traditions similar to the Greeks (the Greeks never recognized them and still regarded them as barbarians), which made Tarantum unable to advance inland for hundreds of years. Especially decades ago, Tarantum supported its mother state, Sparta, in the War of Peloponnesus, which aroused hostility from Athens. So Athens supported the Mesapi people to fight against Tarantum. Since then, the Mesapi attacks on Tarantum began to increase, causing the people to suffer.
This time, if it weren't for the stimulation of the rapid rise of Diónia, the Senate of Tarantum might not have made up its mind to attack the Mesapi people. However, Archita knew that although the city-state had won temporarily, the Mesapi people would never give up. The war with them would probably continue for a long time.
The wailing of the wounded soldiers outside the city and the triumphant cries of the crows pecking at the corpses were intertwined, making one's heart tremble …
Archita stood on the low wall of Brindesi, staring blankly at the western horizon dyed scarlet by the setting sun. His heart was filled with worry for the future …
… …
In April, Syracuse's army continued to advance westward. Eriks, Halucia, and other city-states opened their cities and surrendered. Celinsta, the only one who remained loyal to Carthage, was besieged.
In mid-April, Dionysius's army arrived at the westernmost point of Sicily, facing the island city in the bay, which was also Carthage's important base in Sicily – Motia.
Motia destroyed the causeway connecting the land and prepared to defend by sea.
Dionysius commanded the army to rebuild the causeway. At the same time, he led the army to conquer nearby areas. However, Celinsta repelled Syracuse's attack, forcing Syracuse to continue to besiege it.
In May, the causeway was completed, and Dionysius led the army back to prepare to attack Motia.
At this time, Carthage was also preparing to send troops to rescue this precarious sea city. They first adopted the strategy of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao. They sent warships to Syracuse, broke into the port, and destroyed the port ships in an attempt to lure Dionysius back to support them. However, Dionysius was unmoved.
The Carthaginian general, Himilco, had no choice but to lead his army to rescue Motia. A large number of Carthaginian warships went around the Cape of Palermo and sailed into the bay aggressively, attempting to destroy the Syracuse warships that were on the beach.
Dionysius had been waiting for a long time. He set up dozens of new weapons on the beach of this circular peninsula – ballistae. With an order, round stones the size of bowls flew out and smashed into the Carthage warships in the bay …
… …
Devers carefully looked at the silver-white coin in his hand: it weighed four grams and was very close to a standard circle. On one side was the head of Hades with a thick beard and long hair, with the letters "Diónia Alliance" engraved below. On the other side was a leafy poplar (Pluto's holy tree), with the letters "95 Olympia Games, Third Year" engraved below. The images on both sides were in the middle. The engravings were subtle, the bumps were obvious, and the letters were clear.
Devers tossed the coin up and caught it. He weighed it in his hand and asked, "How much silver does it contain?"
Tritodemus stepped forward and said, "According to your proposal and through the Senate's Coin Bill, we have produced a silver drachma with a purity of more than 95%, which is equivalent to the purity of the 'owl' in Athens (the famous silver Laurion coin in Greece), but —" Tritodemus said worriedly, "We don't have a large silver mine like Athens, and the treasury's income is mainly from trade and taxes. Issuing such a high-purity silver coin will not be a small loss."
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