Chapter 504
"Also —" Eliandos hesitated, wanting to say something but stopped.
"What else?!" Henepolis asked impatiently.
"Some people came outside the city hall, claiming that their relatives did not betray you, but were killed by the mob. They hope you can redress their grievances …" Eliandos said.
"Wronged?" Henipolis grabbed his hair in frustration. This was what he was most afraid of hearing, so he said as if pushing away a burden, "I'll leave this matter to you. Also, you have to start preparing for the distribution of land to the poor."
Eliandos was stunned when he heard this, and then shouted, "Sir, I've never done this before, I don't know how!"
"You don't know how, you can find someone." As soon as Henepolis said this, he was also stunned. Find someone? Where could he find someone? Almost all the officials in the city of Laos were killed by the mob, and there were probably few people with administrative experience in the city.
Henepolis sat down dejectedly. Did he have to do these things himself? However, since he became a consul, he had always given orders, and most of them were not carried out. He had never really dealt with political affairs, so he did not know where to start. Besides, he had always hated those tedious and complicated political affairs, just thinking about it gave him a headache …
When he lived in the mansion of the Devers in Turín, he saw mountains of bills, city-state affairs, letters, and so on in the study of the Devers. When the Devers returned home, they spent most of their time there dealing with official affairs … Henepolis suddenly felt that maybe he was really not suitable to be a consul!
Just as the two stared at each other, not knowing what to do, Hilos walked into the hall, "Sir Henepolis, now that the situation in the city has calmed down, I would like to ask when you can prepare a ship for us? Now, Sir Devers must be anxiously waiting for news of our actions! "
Oh, there's this! Henepolis was in a daze that day and had forgotten about this important matter. He immediately looked at Alliandos and said, "Immediately get the port to prepare ships to transport Diónia's troops to Kenapetia."
"Sir, the port is in chaos now. The sailors have all come to the city, and the port management staff have either been killed or are in hiding. Where are we going to find people to prepare so many ships?" Alliandos shouted with a troubled expression.
Henepolis was stunned again. He looked at Hilos helplessly.
Hilos didn't expect the situation to be like this, and he seemed a little anxious.
Henepolis looked at him apologetically. He was quite familiar with Hilos because Hilos had been in and out of the Great Devers's mansion many times. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind. "Master Hilos, I remember that you have been the chief executive of the city twice."
Hilos didn't know what he meant by this at this time, but he nodded and admitted it truthfully.
"And Master Bagoule, he is still the chief executive of the Grumentum." The more Henepolis spoke, the more excited he became. "You see, the city of Laos is in chaos now. Most of the administrative officials have been killed by the mob, and the entire city can no longer function normally. I want to ask you to help me manage the city, so that Laos can return to normal as soon as possible, so that you can smoothly go to Klapeitia."
When Henepolis finished speaking, the two people present thought they had heard wrong.
"Master Henepolis, you're not joking, are you?" Hilos blurted out.
"Do you think I'm in the mood to joke with you in such a terrible situation?!" Henepolis said impatiently. "Do you want to leave by ship or not? Otherwise, you can only lead the team by land! "
To go by land to Klapeitia, they had to cross the entire Cosenza Plateau. Although there was a main road, it would at least take more than two days. If Laos wanted to return to normal, they would probably only be able to leave by ship tomorrow if they were efficient. It seemed like it would take about the same amount of time, but Hilos was no longer a mercenary who only knew how to lead troops to war. After a few years of administrative training, he was sensitive to the meaning of taking over the administrative power of Laos. "I'll go back to the barracks and discuss with Master Bagoule." Hilos finished speaking and left in a hurry.
"Master, this doesn't seem very good." Iliandos vaguely felt that something was wrong.
"What's wrong with it?" Henepolis immediately retorted. "If you don't think it's good, why don't you do all these things?"
Iliandos was so embarrassed that he couldn't speak.
Henepolis smiled. His eyes grew brighter because he had thought of a brilliant idea that would allow him to leave this city that had become a quagmire and was filled with hatred towards him.
… …
It was almost noon. Dionysius stood at the head of the broken Ciudad Crotone and withdrew his gaze from the north. He said coldly, "It seems that the young man from Diónia has no intention of accepting the letter of challenge and fighting us."
"Then what should we do? Master, do we take the initiative to attack them?! "Astagras asked eagerly." Cross the Neto River and attack Diónia's camp? "
Dionysius glared at the reckless general and said coldly, "Stupid, that's exactly what the people of Diónia want! It was because Crotone crossed the river rashly that it lost to Diónia, which was weaker than it. Do you think I'm so stupid?! "
Astagras did not dare to speak. He could feel that Dionysius was in a bad mood.
"Fasipizas, how long can our current food reserves last?" Dionysius asked again.
"Including the food obtained from Ciudad Crotone, it can probably last for more than a month."
More than a month! With the Dionysian fleet controlling the East Coast, they could no longer get help from Sicily. They could only harvest food from Rockley and the other conquered cities. But how much could they get?! Dionysius anxiously calculated in his mind. He glanced at the slightly anxious generals and ministers around him, and finally at the big city behind him that had a long history of hundreds of years. He suddenly said, "Burn this place! Burn Ciudad Crotone! "
"What?!"
"Destroy the walls of Crotone and burn this city!" Dionysius ordered coldly. "Then withdraw all the troops stationed here to their original camps!"
Although the generals and soldiers of Syracuse preferred to live in comfortable houses compared to the simple tents, no one dared to oppose Dionysius's decision.
"Master, what about the people from Crotone? The citadel is so tall, we can't burn them! "Fasipesas reminded.
"Don't worry about them. Let them seek help. Isn't Diónia their ally? Isn't that young man known to keep his promises? I'd like to see if Diónia will save their ally! " Dionysius's gaze was cold. "But if Crotone dares to escape the citadel in large numbers, chase them back."
"Understood!" Fasipesas and the other generals finally understood. They were forcing the people of Diónia to cross the river to save Crotone!
… …
Ciudad Crotone was burning in the fire …
This was another Greek city being burned in Greece after four years. However, this was not the first time the people of Syracuse had done this. Many of the cities they captured in Sicily were destroyed by them. Dionysius was known as the 'Protector of Sicily'. In fact, he had destroyed many city-states with a long history, including Greek cities. His ability to destroy was no weaker than his opponent, Carthage. Therefore, the soldiers of Syracuse skillfully placed fire starters everywhere in Ciudad Crotone. Soon, the entire city was set ablaze.
The blazing fire reflected the sky of Crotone. The people in the citadel cried when they saw their homes burning in the fire. Not long after, the grief on the people's faces turned into fear because the fire was spreading and was about to surround the citadel.
Fortunately, Lucias and Myron were prepared in advance. They had already sent people out of the citadel to cut down the trees and weeds around the hillside. Although the fire did not burn the citadel, the hot air and thick smoke brought great trouble to the tens of thousands of people in the citadel. Not only did they feel unbearably hot, but they also had difficulty breathing.
However, there was not much water in the citadel. Myron initially wanted the people to bear with it, but many weak old people and women fainted one after another. In the end, he had no choice but to let everyone wet their clothes by the pool and apply it to their faces to tide over the difficult time.
After the protective measures were taken, most of the water in the pool had been used up. Some of the people gathered in the temple and prayed to the statue of Apollo, hoping that it could protect them through this disaster. Some people were even repenting to the huge statue because they believed that today's retribution was due to Melansius's burning of Tuliyi, which was under Apollo's protection!
Lucias looked at the burning city at the foot of the mountain in a daze. His heart was filled with worry for the safety of the people in the citadel. He knew that without water, they would not last more than a few days.
"Lucias." Myron came from afar. Strangely, there was a hint of relief on his face. "Don't worry. The people of Syracuse retreated and then set fire to the citadel. Something special must have happened. I think … Diónia's reinforcements have arrived. The people of Syracuse did this in order to fight against Diónia! "
"Is what you said true?!" Lucias immediately cheered up and asked loudly.
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