Chapter 321
Sinsinag thought angrily, 'Elia, this small Greek nation that has always been oppressed by Picossis and almost destroyed actually dares to cause trouble in Picossis's territory! Could it be that after becoming a member of the Diónia Alliance, these Greek cowards who only know how to hide in the city have the courage to do so?! Doesn't it know that after provoking Picossis, no one can save it?! '
He swore in his heart, 'After conquering the Grumentum, I must destroy Elia!'
But dreams were dreams, and the problem of reality had to be solved. Although the battle on his side was at a critical moment, Picossis had to immediately go to the rescue. Although a thousand Elia people could not break through the city of Picossis, letting them wreak havoc outside the city would shake the support of the tribesmen for Sinsinag. Over the years, Sinsinag had used various means to make his tribe have an absolute advantage over the other tribes in Picossis, but Picossis was not the only tribe. Even in his tribe, the elders and priests were not completely loyal to him. Last time, the tribe was already somewhat dissatisfied with the defeat in the Grumentum. This time, he had to take immediate action against the invasion of Elia. Otherwise, if the warriors found out, their anger alone would give him a headache.
He had no choice but to stop the attack that he was about to launch again. He sent Gnenet to lead 3000 men (2000 from Picosis and 1000 from the other tribes) back to reinforce Picosis City. He wanted to wipe out all the invading enemies as soon as possible to vent the anger in his heart.
At the same time, the delay of the attack meant that the pressure on the army's food supply had increased. He also sent a team of warriors to gather food from all over the place. The so-called "gathering" was actually burning, killing, and looting. This forced the neutral tribes to either escape into the mountains or join the tribes in the southern part of the Grumentum, which was Diónia's side …
… …
In Kenapetitia, the Diónia Legio IV's crossbow shells had been firing for most of the day, causing many cracks to appear on the city walls. The flying rubble even injured and killed some of the defending soldiers, causing the soldiers on the city walls to tremble in fear and low morale.
Great Leader Pangeru had no choice but to make up his mind: Send out troops in the middle of the night to destroy these terrifying siege weapons!
In fact, the ballista itself was not heavy. Hilos, who had always been cautious, did not move it back to the barracks when darkness fell. Instead, he only built a barricade in front of the ballista group to lure the snake out of its hole.
As a result, Kenapetiya's assault troops were ambushed by the Legio IV soldiers around the ballista. After a round of fighting, they were almost wiped out.
After losing a few hundred soldiers, Pangeru no longer dared to act rashly.
The next day, under the cover of the long-range fire of the ballista and light infantry, the soldiers and the Triene people built three causeways to the trench in front of the city. They then began to lay stone slabs on the causeways a hundred meters outside the city.
Then, the Kenapetiya warriors were surprised to see three wooden towers being slowly pushed onto the causeway that had been paved with stone slabs.
These wooden towers were five meters high, and with the addition of the one-meter-high causeway, they were two meters higher than the stone walls. The width of the towers was the same, two meters above and three meters below. They were made of wood and covered with wet cowhide. At the bottom were huge wooden wheels, and at the top were wooden ramparts that could accommodate three to four archers. A drawbridge hung at the top, and a long wooden ladder was dragged behind it. When the siege tower approached the city wall, the drawbridge was lowered and placed on the top of the wall. The soldiers could climb the wooden ladder, pass through the tower and the drawbridge, and directly enter the wall, making the siege easier.
The siege tower designed by the Diónia engineers and carpenters was relatively simple, and its function was also very simple. It could not be compared to the giant siege tower made by Syracuse. The only bright spot was that the safety of the labor was well considered. This was because there were three wooden poles protruding from the wheels on both sides of the siege tower. Above the wooden poles, there were wooden sheds that looked like eaves. The people pushing the tower stood outside the causeway, and they could stand and hold on to the wooden poles. The wooden sheds helped them block the arrows from the enemy, and they could focus on pushing the siege tower forward.
When the towering siege tower slowly moved forward, the Kenapetian warriors were stunned. Although siege towers had long been used in the Mesopotamian plains, they had never appeared in the Greek world, which was a small country with few people and many city-states. The overlord of Syracuse, Dionysius, was the first to make a breakthrough in Greek siege technology. However, this had just happened, and had not spread to the Bruti. They had never seen such a huge siege machine. Arrows, arrows, and javelins could not damage it at all, and the stones thrown could not reach far. Perhaps the siege weapons of Diónia, which could fire stone bombs, could destroy it, but the Kenapetians did not. The warriors could only watch as it approached the moat.
Then, the archers in heavy armor entered the siege tower, climbed the wooden ladder to the top of the tower, and began to shoot at the warriors on the city wall.
Arrows flew back and forth from both sides. The Diónia archers, who were on high ground and protected by armor and wooden railings, clearly had the upper hand despite having fewer men.
The Diónia soldiers took the opportunity to fill the moat with sand, so that the siege tower could be pushed to the bottom of the city wall.
The anxious Pangeru ordered his men to stop the enemy's attempt, and at the same time, he sent people to Cosenza to ask for reinforcements. He knew in his heart that if there were no reinforcements, Kenapetia would be breached in a matter of days …
… …
Although the bloody and cruel battle in the fortress happened yesterday, it felt like a long time ago.
Early that morning, the Second Legion Commander Dracos, the First Battalion Commander Adrianx, and other officers waited outside Ciudad Abyssinia with smiles on their faces, welcoming the arrival of Archon Diólia, the Supreme Commander of the Army, the Devers.
Among the welcoming team were the original leaders of Ciudad Abyssinia, Bagylipi, Brim, the new leader Creru, and some nobles from the various tribes of Abyssinia. They were either nervous, excited, or agitated as they waited for the Supreme Commander of Diónia.
To prevent any accidents, Dracos ordered the Fifth and Sixth Battalions in the city to deploy and be on high alert.
"Creru, is the Archon Devers of Diónia really younger than us?!" Bagylipi's young nephew, Rodom, could not help but ask Creru who was beside him. In the past, their relationship could only be described as ordinary, but after yesterday's battle, the two youths quickly became friends.
"I've asked Drax, it should be so! But don't treat him as a young man! " Creru reminded, quietly pointing at the officers of Legio III. "Look at Dracos and those people from Diónia. They usually look up to us, but now they look completely different. They don't look like they're welcoming a young man!"
"Of course I understand! I heard from Uncle Bagylipi that the Devers are the descendants of a certain Greek god, and have never lost on the battlefield. No one in Diónia dares to disrespect him! "Rodom replied.
At this moment, a soldier rushed over from the defensive camp in the east, shouting excitedly as he ran, "Lord Devers is here! He's here! "
Dracos immediately shouted, "Get ready!"
The officers began to tidy up their uniforms, and bugles and military drums sounded together.
After a while, the sound of orderly footsteps could be heard, and a long column soon appeared in front of everyone. The person at the front of the column was dressed in full military uniform, leather sandals, bronze shin armor, and linen breastplate. He was no different from an ordinary heavy infantry soldier, only his helmet was different. It was not the heavy Corinth helmet, but a new type of iron helmet. The crown was decorated with long red and purple feathers, very elegant. There was no protection on the front of the helmet, only the cheeks on the two sides were protected by chin guards, so people could see his face clearly. He had a wide forehead, thick eyebrows, a high nose, a moderate chin, and eyes that were not big but extremely spirited. He looked young but not childish, and there was a sense of majesty in his eyes. His strides were big and powerful, but his speed was not too fast. He seemed to be full of vigor and steady …
These are the Archon Devers of Diónia?! The curious people of Abyssinia found the answer in the straight chests and respectful eyes of the generals and soldiers of Diónia.
The Devers came in front of Dracos under hundreds of focused eyes. Dracos gave a neat military salute, "Sir Commander, all the soldiers of the Second Legion welcome your arrival!"
The Devers immediately returned the salute, and said half-jokingly, "Well done, Drax, you put up a big scene! When did you learn to do this?! "
Dracos looked at Adrianx, a little embarrassed.
The Devers understood and said with a smile, "It's Adrianx's idea, right? It seems that the Isthmian Games was not in vain. But such a ceremony should still be done after the war is over. During the war, everything should be simple. "
If someone else had said this, Adrianx would have thought that they were poking at his scars, and he would definitely be dissatisfied. But for the Devers's words, he carefully thought about it and agreed, "Sir, you are right! The war is not over yet, we must take it seriously! "
The Devers laughed heartily, and went forward to give Adrianx a warm hug, "I was shocked when I heard the news on the way here. Adrianx, you only used 700 people to capture Ciudad Abyssinia. What a bold and decisive move! Amazing! Amazing! You and your First Battalion can definitely get a star! And the people of Diónia will be happy to celebrate your victory! "
This was what Adrianx was happy to hear. All the grudges in his heart were gone, and he was so happy that he did not know how to respond.
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