Chapter 438
Of course, Dionysius would not dampen the morale of his men for the sake of Sparta. He only needed to know how to deal with the infantry of the Legion of Dionysia next time. So he smiled and said, "Of course, after this defeat, it's hard to say if Diónia will have the chance to fight us again."
It was Phoebidas's turn to be puzzled. He asked directly, "Why do you say that? Diónia did not suffer many casualties, and with the strength of their city-state alliance, it is entirely possible for them to organize another army that is not weaker than Syracuse. "
Dionysius smiled, "Phoebidas, you are indeed very talented in military affairs, but to defeat and destroy a country, you can't just rely on fighting."
He raised his head, his sharp eyes seemingly piercing through the big tent and looking at the Consul of Diónia who was trudging through Lucania City. With a sneer on his face, he said proudly, "The invasion of the Samonians is enough to give Diónia a headache, but the victory of today's battle will definitely have a huge impact on Greece! Diónia's troubles have only just begun. Before Diónia can extricate itself from the trouble and can't gather all its forces to stop us, what we need to do now is to quickly conquer the other city-states of the Southern Alliance, invade the territory of Diónia, and make its people panic and its affiliated cities tremble in anxiety … "Dionysius said decisively," Then, we can easily conquer it! "
"My lord is right! The sooner we conquer Greece, the sooner we can go home! "Fasipesas echoed loudly.
"Let's drink to the early conquest of Greece!" Leptineus, who was usually low-key, became a little emotional after being encouraged by Dionysius.
"We should kill more Greeks and snatch more spoils of war!" Akhilita grinned and said with a slightly ferocious expression. He had little interest in conquering Greece. After all, no matter how much land he conquered, he would not share it with his tribe. What he needed was more food, money, and even slaves to strengthen his tribe.
The Celtic leader, Garba, had the same thought.
When everyone else raised their glasses, Phoebidas also stood up reluctantly. He was not sure if Syracuse could defeat Diónia easily. Would it be good or bad for Sparta?
The celebration in the tent didn't last too long, because the Xili emissary had arrived.
In the battle, the Xilie Courtyard's public militia had suffered heavy losses, and now they had sent an envoy in the middle of the night. Their purpose was obvious.
Dionysius purposely did not appear for a long time, making the envoy, who had been left out in the cold, restless. When Dionysius appeared, he immediately brought up the Sicilian tyrant's request for Xilie to surrender to Syracuse.
Dionysius already had a plan for this. He deliberately ignored it, and angrily told the envoy that Xilie Courtyard had always been actively fighting against Syracuse and its ally, Rockley. Now that they had suffered a crushing defeat and their city was about to be conquered, they wanted to surrender. They were not sincere. Xilie must pay the price for their past mistakes, so that he could feel the sincerity of the Xilie people.
This envoy was obviously not as young and arrogant as the one who had sent the letter of challenge. He immediately lowered his voice and begged.
Only then did Dionysius's expression soften a little. If they wanted Syracuse to accept Xilie Courtyard's surrender, they had to deliver a thousand sheep, fifty cows, and thirty thousand catties of grain to Syracuse's camp by tomorrow morning. Only then would Syracuse accept Xilie Courtyard's request for a ceasefire.
When the Xilie envoy heard this, he immediately cried out. The amount of resources Dionysius requested was huge, and Xilie Courtyard could not gather them in half a day. They hoped that the amount could be reduced by half.
Dionysius's expression was cold and hard. This was the time to show Xilie Courtyard's sincerity. If these resources could not be delivered to the camp by tomorrow morning, Syracuse would attack Xilie Courtyard in the afternoon!
The Xilie envoy hurried back to the city and informed the council of Dionysius's unyielding request.
The form was stronger than the person! Faced with the pressure of the army, the higher-ups of Xilie Courtyard decided to agree to Dionysius's conditions after a heated debate. They once again sent a few generals, led by Pretinis, to Syracuse's camp to negotiate, in order to determine the treatment of Xilie Courtyard after their surrender.
Dionysius made some concessions. Soon, both sides signed the agreement and swore to the gods.
Pretinis and the others breathed a sigh of relief and hurried back to the city to prepare the resources. It was not that Xilie Courtyard could not provide these resources. It was just that after handing over these things, the next half of the year would be more difficult for them. But no matter how difficult it was, it was still better than being destroyed by Syracuse. Moreover, in order to get Xilie Courtyard to surrender and join Syracuse's army to fight against their former allies, Dionysius also gave Xilie Courtyard some conditions to rope them in. This tempted Pretinis and the others, such as giving Xilie Courtyard the eastern part of the Eufemia Plains, which originally belonged to Triene …
In this battle, Syracuse obtained an absolute victory. This made the frightened Xilie council feel that the future of the Southern Alliance led by Diónia was bleak. And as the first Southern Alliance city-state to surrender to Syracuse, Xilie Courtyard would also reap many benefits.
So from afternoon to night, the entire city of Xilie was busy …
Early the next morning, the Xilians drove herds of cattle and sheep, as well as carts full of grain, out of the city in an endless stream. Of course, accompanying them were Pretinis and several other generals and attendants. They were going to discuss with Dionysius about dispatching troops to participate in the war and other matters.
When the long procession was only halfway out of the city, a large number of cavalry appeared on the originally empty fields outside the city. They fiercely attacked the unarmed procession.
This sudden attack caused the Xilians to panic and run for their lives. Countless cattle, sheep, and carts blocked the city gate, causing the gate to be unable to close and the drawbridge to be unable to be pulled up.
"Dionysius lied to us! He wants to seize our city!! "Pretinis only realized then, but it was already too late.
Dust filled the air in front, and the rumbling of footsteps could be heard. The main force of Syracuse was rapidly approaching the city walls …
"Dionysius, you have violated your oath and deceived the gods. I curse you to have your eyes and heart dug out, and your bloodline severed!" Pretinis was stabbed in the chest by the Numibian cavalry with a javelin and fell from his horse. Before he died, he turned all his hatred into this vicious curse.
The army of Syracuse easily broke through the defenseless city of Xilie, and this army made up of citizens of the Greek city-states of Sicily, mercenaries, and foreigners did not stop there …
The Xilians panicked and wanted to escape the fallen city, but the port was filled with the fleet of Syracuse, and there were countless foreign cavalry patrolling outside the city. They had nowhere to run …
As a result, the atrocities that the people of Syracuse had carried out in Catanai, Naxos, and other Sicilian city-states were now being carried out in Greece's Xilie — a massacre.
Dionysius did not stop his soldiers, and even indulged them. This army, which he had deliberately allowed to plunder and pillage for a long period of time, was under his strict control. After experiencing continuous rapid marches and major battles, they needed a release … Of course, this was only one of the secondary reasons.
More importantly, he was short of money! Seriously short of money! It was a little difficult to even pay the mercenaries after three months, and plundering was the fastest way to make money.
In addition, he needed to magnify the impact of this battle, and use a shocking way to tell the Greeks that going against him would lead to such a tragic end!
The army of Syracuse looted the entire city, and of course, most of the looted wealth belonged to Dionysius.
Other than the countless Xillians who were killed in the process of looting, he also decided to turn nearly 70,000 Xillian citizens he had captured into slaves, including the free citizens of the port. He would transport them to the slave market in Syracuse and sell them for money.
Among them, only a few were not killed in the looting, nor were they sold as slaves. Dionysius specially asked the guards to find them and protect them. They were the Xilian emissary, Salysius, and his family, who had threatened him before.
Dionysius brought them to the Xilian Square, and in front of tens of thousands of Xilian captives, he cruelly used a sharp military knife to cut Salysius and his family until they were covered in cuts and bruises, their flesh a bloody mess.
As Salysius cursed on his last breath, he announced loudly, "Any Greek who insults me, who insults the people of Syracuse, will end up like this!"
He raised his hand and chopped off Salysius's head.
The tens of thousands of Xilians present were silent.
The reason he did not destroy Xilian City like he had destroyed Katanai was because compared to Triene, Xilian's position was more important. Not only was the city large enough to accommodate his 70,000 strong army (Syracuse had lost more than 3,000 men in the battle), but the east coast of Greece was also the main direction of his attack. He would use Xilian as an important forward base for Syracuse to attack Diónia and Crotone. Syracuse's army, navy, and especially food supplies could all be gathered here. It would be a springboard for their next advance north.
Of course, the west coast (Bruti region), which had high terrain and rugged roads, was not conducive for the advance of an army, and was occupied by foreign races. Although Dionysius had no desire to attack for the time being, he had his own considerations.
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