Chapter 420
Ashias coughed a few times before continuing, "… About 24 miles east of Syracuse's camp is the city of Sirius. There are more hills in this direction, but the terrain is generally flat. That's why even though the Syracuzans are operating in the camp today, their hired cavalry are in Sirius' territory, destroying farms and orchards, burning down villages and houses. They even killed dozens of our scouts …"
"How many soldiers are there in Syracuse's camp?" Ascamas asked.
"According to our observations over the past two days, there are probably more than 50,000!" Ascamas replied.
50,000! Ascamas thought for a moment, then turned to ask, "Lord Felicius, how many enemies did you encounter in Corunna?"
"No less than 40,000," Felicius answered honestly.
"If we include Medmar and Hibernian's troops, the number of Syracuse's troops attacking our Southern Alliance should be more than —" Ascamas spat out a number with a solemn expression. "100,000!"
Everyone's expression turned solemn when they heard this number. This is the largest army that has ever appeared in the history of Greece, the western Mediterranean, and the entire Greek world!
"And our allied forces here, if we include the Triene militia, only have about 60,000 soldiers." Prethinis sighed. "It's a pity that Lijim is separated in the south and can't meet up with us. Corunna is now under siege. Most importantly —"
Prethinis looked at Felicius and Ancetanos, and said regretfully, "Lord Devers is leading Diónia's main forces in Lucania Municipality. If they were all gathered in Siletina, we wouldn't have to fear Syracuse at all, even if they have 100,000 soldiers!"
"We've oversimplified things before. When we make plans, we always think too much on the bright side. Only when we put it into practice did we realize that there are so many problems. " Ancetanos was blaming Diónia, but he was also trying to extricate himself from the discussion. "Some things happened so suddenly that they caught us off guard! For example, the invasion of the Samonians was unexpected! I can only say that Dionysius has been preparing for this invasion for a long time. "
Ancitanos' words were obviously trying to boost his opponent's prestige and diminish his own morale. Ascamus snorted softly and was about to speak.
Asopias quickly asked, "When will Lord Devers return with his army?"
"I haven't received any news yet. However, Master Devers has never suffered many military defeats. I believe that he will soon defeat the barbaric Samonians and come to join us, "Ancetanos comforted.
Felicius took the opportunity to continue the conversation. "So, we should reinforce our camp outside of West Ritter City and form a corner with the city. We will stand on the defensive and delay Syracuse's army until Lord Devers returns with his army. Then, we will fight the people of Syracuse!"
Ascamas sneered. "Listen to this, 'Lord Devers, Lord Devers.' Without Devers, do you think that all the generals of the Southern Alliance can't command the war?!"
Felicius' expression changed slightly when he heard this. Ancetanos furrowed his brows. Asopias, on the other hand, looked unhappy.
Ascamas looked at Felicius with disdain. "Let me ask you, how many days will it take to get from Turií to Potentia?"
"About five to six days by the shortest route," Felicius answered truthfully even though he was angry at what Asopias had just said.
"In other words, according to the days, it is possible that the Devers have just arrived at Potentia. Then how many days will it take to get from Potentia to here? "
"About nine to ten days."
"Hmm, ten days. This does not include the number of days needed to defeat the Samonai. The Crotone have never fought with the Samonai before, but since they are natives living in the mountains, their fighting style is very likely to be similar to the Bruti. They rarely fight head-on in the mountains, and like wolves, they like to hide and ambush. This means that it is very difficult to defeat them in a decisive battle. It is impossible to end the war quickly! General Felicius, I know that there are many Bruti in your army. You should know this better than I do! " Ascamas's tone became even more sarcastic. "Even if the Devers are very good at commanding, being able to return to Siletina within twenty days … This is the shortest time I can give you! But in these twenty days, do you think that the forty thousand enemies that fought with you before will be able to take Corunya?! I heard that the people of Syracuse have a siege weapon called the ballista. In the previous war with Carthage, they used it to take down a few of Carthage's cities … "
Felicius's expression changed again. After defeating the attacking troops of Syracuse, they had seized Syracuse's ballista. According to the captain of the ballista, it was very similar to the ballista of Diónia. Although the angle and accuracy of the ballista was not as good as Diónia's, it was much more powerful. After all, its size was larger than the ballista of Diónia, and the stone bullets it used were naturally larger. Thinking of Phrynris who was full of confidence when he left, Felicius's heart was in turmoil, and he could only remain silent.
Ascamas saw it and continued, "If the mixed army of Syracuse and Rockley uses the ballista to take down Corunya, and then rush to Siletina to meet up, they only need to send a small portion of their forces to besiege Triene. We will not be able to stop them at all. Then, how many days can Triene resist?"
Asopias's face instantly turned pale.
"By the time Lord Devers arrives with his army, I'm afraid that even the outskirts of Siletina will be in ruins." Ascamas's next words made Pretinis and Asepias restless.
After Pretinis and Asepias looked at each other and came to an agreement, Asepias slammed the wooden table and stood up, saying loudly, "My lords, we cannot wait any longer! We should take advantage of the fact that the two armies of Syracuse have yet to meet up and attack the army of Syracuse! "
Felicius frowned and asked, "Attack? How?! Are we going to attack the main camp of Syracuse?! "
"A letter of challenge! According to the soldiers who retreated from the Koerta River, they saw a huge flag of Syracuse behind the army of Syracuse crossing the river. The tyrant of Syracuse, that Dionysius, should be in this army. We will follow the ancient tradition of sending him a letter of challenge, inviting him to a battle between our two armies. This tyrannical and arrogant dictator calls himself the 'Master of Sicily' … He probably won't … He probably won't allow himself to show fear in front of his subordinates and not dare to accept the challenge. Then, the people of Greece under his tyrannical rule will see through his cowardice and weakness! "Asepias said with uncertainty.
"That's a good idea! We of Triene will also do our best to send more soldiers to meet up with you. This way, the number of soldiers of our allied army will greatly exceed the number of soldiers of Syracuse here! "At this moment, Asopias also took the initiative to promise.
"But if Dionysius's military strength is inferior, he might very well refuse to accept the challenge," Felicius cautiously reminded.
"If Syracuse doesn't dare to accept the challenge, then we will attack their camp!" Ascamas took over and added, "I've observed the camp of the Syracusans. The camp they built is far from the sturdiness of your Diónia's camp. Don't your troops also have ballistae?! Then, we will keep throwing rocks at Syracuse's camp until the cowardly Syracuse soldiers are forced to accept the challenge! "As a neighbor of Diónia, Crotone paid close attention to the Dionysian Army.
"That's right, Lord Ascamas. Let's do that!" Asepias replied excitedly.
"Lord Felicius, what do you think?" Pretinis' question caused everyone to focus their attention on Felicius.
Facing everyone's expectant gaze, Felicius felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, but he could not give an answer.
Seeing that everyone was getting impatient, Ancetanos stood up and said, "My lords, please allow me to have a word with Lord Felicius alone."
The two of them left the hall.
Ancetanos swept the dust off the steps, sat down, and invited Felicius to take a seat as well.
Felicius was a little overwhelmed by the favor. He had been in a high position in the Dionia Alliance for several years, but facing a grand scholar like Ancitanos alone, Felix, who was once a mercenary, couldn't help but feel a sense of inferiority in his heart.
"Lord Felicius." Ancetanos did not notice his expression. He looked at the plaza in front of him and asked in a calm tone, "Are you going to stick to the defensive strategy that Lord Devers came up with?"
Felicius hesitated for a moment before answering, "Yes. The battle plan of Ascamas and Asessias is too risky. If it fails, the consequences will be unimaginable! As long as we hold on to the camp and wait for Lord Devers to lead the army back to Greece, we will fight the people of Syracuse. Whether it is the number of soldiers, ability, or the commanding ability of the generals, we will be able to defeat the people of Syracuse. This is the safest strategy! "
"The safest strategy? I'm afraid that the people in the room don't think so. " Ancetanos sighed, "When danger comes, humans will always think of eliminating the danger as soon as possible, and will not calm down to think of a long-term plan … Now that the flames of war have spread to the land of the Alliance, their homeland is facing great danger. Our delaying strategy will only make them feel suspicious and angry. They will think that we, the people of Diónia, are selfish, allowing their homeland to be invaded and their people to be killed without doing anything! If this continues, the image that Diónia has been working hard to build in the Southern Alliance will be destroyed. We will lose the trust of the people of these cities, which will be detrimental to the future development of Diónia! "
"Are we going to put our soldiers in danger just to win their trust?!" Felicius retorted.
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