Chapter 490
"What about Syracuse and Triene?" Cunogorata asked loudly with an unpleasant expression on his face.
"I think Syracuse will let these two city-states regain their independence. After all, Syracuse is in Sicily, not Greece," Chalisthorpes said without hesitation.
"Independence?!" Scombras sneered, "Let Syracuse support a 'ten-man dictatorship' government like what Sparta did in the Greek city-states of Asia Minor?!"
Chalisthorpes' expression changed slightly.
At this moment, the Devers spoke, "Do you want to hear our conditions?"
"Go ahead." Chalisthorpes was slightly nervous.
"As long as Syracuse withdraws from Greece —" The Devers' words made Chalisthorpes happy. Just as he was about to continue, he heard the Devers say in a more serious tone, "Also, let Messina, Catarnae, Naxos, and Tauromenian become independent one by one, and disband the Sicilian Alliance. Most importantly, we must banish Dionysius. These are my conditions, and they cannot be changed! If Syracuse agrees, we will agree to a truce! "
Chalisthorpes initially thought that the Devers was joking, but he saw that the Devers looked determined. The others became emotional after hearing the Devers' words.
The meeting hall was silent for a while. Chalisthorpes looked disappointed, "The Syracuse will never accept the conditions you proposed. It seems that the Dionysians intend to carry on this war that will consume a lot of resources and cause countless casualties! "
"This war was provoked by the Syracuse. Dionysius led his army to invade Greece, occupied the land of Diónia, and slaughtered the people of Greece. He's like a wolf that invaded our homeland. It's not easy to leave safely after eating and drinking!" The Devers stood up abruptly and said firmly, "I've made a promise to the people, 'Kill all the people of Syracuse who invaded Greece!' For this reason, all the citizens of Diónia are determined to fight to the death with the people of Syracuse! The Hades above bless us to annihilate Syracuse's invading army and restore our alliance! We still have to fight our way to Sicily and save those Greek city-states that have been oppressed by Syracuse. We will completely pull out the fangs and fangs of this evil wolf so that it will never be able to oppress any Greek city-state again! "
What the Devers said not only shocked Charlesthorpes, but also surprised the elders present. It was the first time they had heard the Devers talk about their future plans for the war.
"Devers." Kelisthorpes panicked and reminded him by name, "I can understand your eagerness for revenge, but Syracuse is not a wolf, it's a ferocious lion! If you miss this opportunity for peace, I'm afraid that you won't be able to kill this lion. Instead, it will pounce into the house and bite everyone to death! "
There was an obvious threat in Charlesthorpes' words, but the Devers only replied calmly, "Then we'll have to fight to know who is the ferocious lion."
Charlesthorpes could hear the determination of the Devers to fight to the death with Syracuse, so he wanted to persuade him again.
The Devers said loudly, "In Persia, you and I fought side by side. I should have treated you well this time, but unfortunately … this is a time of war. You and I are enemies, not friends. I'm sorry, I can only ask you to leave! When this war is over, we'll have a good reunion when you come again! "
Charlesthorpes knew that his mission had failed, so he said disinterestedly, "I'm afraid we won't have the chance to meet again …"
The Devers smiled faintly, "I believe you'll come again!"
… …
After Charlesthorpes left the barracks, he had a serious expression on his face and was silent.
When they entered the port, boarded the ship, and left the dock, the captain did not know where to go without his instructions. He had to ask loudly, "Charlesthorpes, are we going to Syracuse next?"
Charlesthorpes snapped out of his thoughts and said decisively, "No, we'll go straight back to Sparta."
"Go back?!" The captain was confused. He vaguely remembered that the censor's mission was to stop the war between Diónia and Syracuse, and he had just gone to Diónia.
"The people of Diónia are arrogant and conceited. They refuse to stop the war, and they even want to defeat the people of Syracuse. I think this newly established city-state alliance is going to be destroyed soon!" The attendant mocked loudly.
"Maybe. It seems that we, Sparta, can only rely on ourselves for the time being." As Charlesthorpes spoke, the image of the Devers' determined and confident face kept appearing in his mind. This similar expression had appeared before the annihilation in Persia's canyon, before the Battle of Kentrit River … It had appeared many times during military discussions when the expeditionary forces encountered difficulties. It was this expression that the Devers used to persuade the leaders to accept his suggestion and help the mercenaries out of their predicament. This time, although Syracuse had an obvious advantage on land, he still felt uneasy …
Charlesthorpes stood at the stern of the ship, watching the port of Turií gradually disappear from his sight …
He knew in his heart that the young man who humbly consulted him and whom he admired was gone forever. The Devers was now the King of Diónia, and had become the sworn enemy of Syracuse. Naturally, he was also the enemy of Sparta, his enemy …
… …
The Devers led the elders of the Senate to prepare rations, train the troops, and replenish the number of soldiers (the First and Second Legions had also suffered some losses in the past few battles). Dioriya's fleet was also busy recruiting sailors, training the newly joined warships, and training formations. The entire Turií was on the move.
Meanwhile, to the south of Diónia, Syracuse launched the second large-scale siege of Crotone.
While the siege was ongoing, Dionysius left ten thousand men to the northwest of the main camp to defend against a possible surprise attack by Asprusthum's Dionysian Army. At the same time, he dispatched all of Syracuse's cavalry and mercenary cavalry to the north of the Crotone Plains, and even further to the Swamp Plains of Crimissa. Firstly, it was to observe the movements of Turií in the north, and secondly, it was to harass Crimissa and prevent its garrisoned troops from sending reinforcements to Crotone.
Although the pontoon bridge over the Neto River had been burned, the entire river was under the control of Syracuse's navy. The Dionysian Army would not be able to cross the river in a short period of time, but the cautious Dionysius still had to make additional preparations. On the surface of the sea outside the port of Crotone, Leptinus led more than two hundred warships (including the fleet that had rushed over from Messina) and waited in formation. Dionysius had strictly ordered him to block the Dionysian fleet's reinforcements to Ciudad Crotone at all costs.
When everything was ready, the bugles sounded, and the drums thundered. Over a hundred ballistae fired stone cannons at the city walls. More than seventy thousand soldiers of Syracuse pushed more than ten large siege towers, dozens of siege vehicles, and all sorts of large siege weapons. There were also countless specially made scaling ladders as they approached the city walls from the north, west, and south.
In addition, Dionysius also ordered the army to escort and drive away more than four thousand captives who were not Crotone. While the Crotone were busy defending against attacks and had no time to attend to other things, they no longer built platforms for lookouts and long-range archery like before. Instead, they urgently built a slope from outside the moat to the apex of the city.
The people of Crotone also realized the urgency of the situation. Not only did all the soldiers go up to the top of the city wall, but Diónia's ballistae were also on standby. All the citizens who could wield shields and spears were also organized by Lucias, ready to provide reinforcements at any time.
A large-scale and abnormally tragic siege war unfolded …
… …
In the governor's residence in Asplostum, Epicthenis, the commander of Legio IV, asked anxiously, "Felicius, are we really not going to help Crotone? Our brothers in the legion are filled with rage. We want to avenge Dracos and our fallen comrades! According to the information from our spies, Syracuse has made ample preparations this time. Almost all of their troops have been mobilized. Without our help, I'm afraid the Crotone will have a hard time dealing with them! "
Felicius pointed to the south calmly and said, "Although Syracuse has gone to attack Crotone, Dionysius hasn't forgotten about us. The road to Crotone from the south is tightly sealed by their barracks and heavily guarded. Do you want both our legions to fall there? And we've received orders! "
Epicthenis was speechless. He paced back and forth in the living room, then said irritably, "I don't understand, Lord Devers —"
Agathia interrupted him and reminded him, "It's Your Majesty Devers now!"
"Very well, Your Majesty Devers." Epithenis shrugged disapprovingly. In his eyes, there was not much difference between a lifetime consul and a king. "Your Majesty Dyvers, why did you ask the Mountain Scouts to send us an order, asking us to defend the city of Asprostum and not attack rashly? We've already won the naval battle and could have sent our fleet south to repel Syracuse's fleet again. That way, our army can build a pontoon bridge across the Neto River and deter Syracuse from attacking Crotone from the north! "
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