Chapter 424
"But Siletina is outside the protection of Hades …" Kardias looked slightly gloomy.
"This is the mission you will have to undertake in the future!" The reason why Plesinas looked at Kardias, who came from a foreign country, differently was that he was the key figure in the development of the unique temple of Hades in Diónia. "But now let us pray together, let Hades bless Lord Devers to defeat the Samonians as soon as possible, return to Turií, and then go to Corunya to repel the Syracuse, and ensure the peace of Greece!"
"You are right!" Kardias looked up at the statue of Hades, and the faith in his heart became firmer: I must let the power and kindness of Hades shine on the city of Siletina.
When Kardias left the temple, Plesinas swept away the solemnity from before and turned back quickly to close the temple door.
He was the only one left in the temple. He knelt respectfully in front of the statue and sincerely repented, "Lord Hades, forgive me for what I have done! This is for your descendants! It's also to give you even greater glory! … "
After saying this silently, Plesinas raised his head and felt that the face of the statue did not seem so terrible, so he began to make arrangements …
… …
Although the people of Diónia were not as afraid of war as other Greeks, the two battlefields, one in the south and one in the north, were not only large in scale, but also far away from them. Of course, they were also worried about the safety of their loved ones. The number of people who went to the temple of Hades to pray and ask for blessings every day had more than doubled than usual.
But from this day onwards, some people claimed that when they put an oil lamp on the altar table, they saw the words "Worship my blood as king, protect the peace of the alliance" appear on the table, but it soon disappeared!
There were also people who said that they also saw this line of writing, but not on the altar table, but on the pillars in the temple!
There were also people who said that when they prayed, they heard the statue make a low roar, and it seemed to be shouting 'Devers' …
At first, this was just a sporadic rumor, and the people of Diónia only regarded it as a joke. But as time passed, more and more people said that they had witnessed this magical phenomenon, and things developed rapidly in one direction …
… …
On the same morning, Dionysius received the emissary from the Southern Alliance in his tent.
When he saw the letter of challenge handed over by the envoy, he was secretly delighted.
As it turned out, Dionysius did not try to take down Corunya as Pretinis and Ascamas had speculated.
Dionysius was far from being as arrogant as the Greeks thought he was. On the contrary, he was very shrewd. Although he had never fought on the land of Greece before, from what Locke had told him and what he had seen with his own eyes, he believed that Corunya, a city that had been besieged by Locke many times, would not be easy to capture.
With his rich experience in sieging cities, he knew that once he put his troops into the siege, it would definitely take a lot of time, and time was very precious to him and the army of Syracuse. He had to break the stalemate as soon as possible and seize the chance of victory on the battlefield of Greece.
Therefore, after careful consideration and discussion with Phoebidas, he once again used the trick of "crossing the sea by deception" that he had used to defeat Himilko outside the city of Syracuse.
He sent a messenger back to Locke and ordered: 20,000 freedmen who had followed the army ashore and were responsible for transporting supplies, equipment, and food, then disguised as soldiers, quietly rushed to the camp of the Allied Army of Syracuse and Locke that was besieging Corunya last night, and replaced the 20,000 soldiers of Syracuse.
The people of Corunya were besieged in the city, and the scouts of the Southern Alliance could not play a role at night. The Fourth and Fifth Legions of Diónia had just arrived at Siletina, and the generals were busy discussing. The soldiers were in a hurry to build the camp and had not sent out any scouts to investigate the situation.
On the second day, the Tin Fall Coalition Army's numbers remained the same, and they continued to attack Corunya City with ballista cannons. Then, they began to cut down trees and build siege towers. Surprisingly, the Southern Italian Coalition Army did not notice anything unusual.
At this time, the army of Syracuse had returned to Locke, and under the leadership of General Fasipesas, they passed through the mountain pass and quietly reached the west coast, then quickly marched north …
Only General Fedun of Lijim, who was stationed in Taurina, noticed the movement of the enemy. However, at this time, both the land and sea routes of Lijim and Taurina were under the control of Syracuse, and their communication with the Southern Alliance had been cut off.
Fedun did not know that the Fourth and Fifth Legions of Diónia had retreated. In a hurry, he had to take the risk and select a dozen daredevil soldiers, hoping that they could pass through the mountain pass and reach Corunya to report this important information to the Allied Army. This was to prevent Syracuse from suddenly increasing their forces and breaking through the defense line of the Ramato River (Fedun thought that Syracuse was still blocked south of the Ramato River, so he increased their forces).
In fact, Dionysius had secretly swapped out these twenty thousand soldiers and rushed them to the Euphemia Plains. Not only did it increase his military strength in this area to nearly eighty thousand, which was an absolute advantage in terms of numbers, but these were also the troops that he usually led, so it was quite convenient to command them.
His original target was Triene. Although this city was not big, it was located in the Orfemian Plains. Due to the constant attacks from the north by the Bruti, it had never been able to expand. However, there was a large river to the south, and it was far from Locke, so when the Locke Alliance invaded, they mostly attacked from the side of Corunya. On the other hand, the Bruti's invasions were mainly based on looting. Lacking siege technology, they rarely attacked Triene. Therefore, the Triene people did not crazily thicken the city walls and widen the moat like the Corunyans. Therefore, the city of Triene, with its low population and low walls, and its location on the plains, became a fat piece of meat in Diónia's eyes.
Her initial plan with Phoebidas and the rest was: After Fasipesas led his army to Hibernian, he would take twenty thousand men from the main camp to attack Triene. When the Southern Italian Coalition Army saw that he had divided his forces, if they led their army to rescue him, Diónia would secretly let the Fasipesas's army reach Triene via the sea route. From there, they would use their advantage in numbers to defeat the reinforcements. This way, Syracuse's army would have complete control over the area and continue their pursuit to the north. If the Southern reinforcements did not come to rescue them (this option was less likely because it would cause dissension between the Southern Italian Coalition Army), Syracuse's army would seize the opportunity to take down the city of Triene, weaken the enemy's forces, and then continue to press on the Southern Italian Coalition Army …
After reading the letter of challenge sent by the Sillidean emissary, Dionysius laughed heartily in his heart. Now, these arrogant Greeks actually want to fight with me. Do they really think that they can defeat me with just the few of them? This is the perfect opportunity for me to wipe them out in one fell swoop!
Dionysius was proud in his heart, but he showed a hesitant expression on his face. He didn't reply for a long time.
The emissary of the allied forces said impatiently, "Tyrant of Syracuse, I heard that every time you execute the citizens of your city, you are very decisive. Not even a drop of tear has been shed! Why are you afraid when facing the army of the Greeks that you plan to enslave today? If you only have this little bit of courage, you'd better scram back to that small island on the other side of the strait and rule it. Otherwise, the wrath of the Greeks will swallow you and your army whole! "
Facing the emissary's mockery, Dionysius's eyes widened in anger and his face turned red. He picked up a pen angrily and wrote on the tactics: Battle tomorrow morning!
Then, he threw it at the emissary and shouted, "Since you Greeks want to die early, then pray to Hades today! That way, you will suffer less pain when you go to Inferno tomorrow! "
"It's still unknown who will win and who will lose. Moreover, the death-loving Hades is the protector of Diónia, the most important ally of the Southern Alliance! "The emissary picked up the letter of challenge and didn't forget to refute.
"What's your name?" Dionysius looked at him fiercely.
"Salysius, the son of Scolas, the Siletonian," the emissary answered with his head held high.
"Salysius, I'll remember you!" Dionysius spat out his name in a sinister manner, his words carrying a hint of threat.
Salysius was not afraid at all. Instead, he laughed contemptuously, "It's my honor to be remembered by the tyrannical dictator of Sicily!"
After the emissary left, the anger on Dionysius's face immediately disappeared. He paced back and forth in the big tent excitedly, then waved to the guards and said, "Go, call that Sparta man to me!"
Seeing Phoebidas quickly walk into the big tent, Dionysius immediately said, "Just now, the Siletonian sent an emissary to me to issue a letter of challenge."
Seeing his happy face, Phoebidas asked directly, "So you agreed?"
"I didn't agree immediately. I wanted the emissary to think that I was hesitating and afraid …" Dionysius was obviously quite satisfied with his performance just now and said proudly.
"Actually, there's no need to fight with the Southern Alliance." Phoebidas immediately poured cold water on him, "If we attack Triene, we can mobilize the Southern Alliance and defeat them with superior military strength without understanding the military situation and without sufficient preparation. If it's a battle, a face-to-face battle, it will increase the casualties of your soldiers! "
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