Chapter 526
The Hibernian garrison watched in horror as their compatriots were easily defeated by Lijim's army outside the city. They fled in all directions, but did not dare to leave the city to provide support. Instead, they shut the city gates tightly.
An hour later, more than five thousand Lijim soldiers surrounded Hibernian.
… …
At this time, the Devers had led the army into the territory of Sirius. During the march, he had been thinking about what military action to take next to completely defeat Syracuse and end this war. Hence, the journey was very quiet.
Beside him, Henepolis was in high spirits. Last night in the big tent, the Devers finally confirmed his thoughts and seriously thought of a few suggestions to protect his interests. Hence, when he woke up this morning, he no longer had to worry about Laos City. His whole body felt unusually relaxed.
He excitedly chatted with Tormid for a while, and then pulled Martius for a chat. He wanted to understand the process of yesterday's battle in detail. He was very lively.
The army of Diónia arrived outside Sirius City in a grandiose manner without any hindrance.
This was expected by the Devers. He led the guards around the city to investigate. The city walls of Sirius City were about seven meters tall and more than a mile in circumference. It did not have a moat, but there was a moat in front of the city. There were three city gates in the west, south and north. The port was surrounded by the city walls, and it was one with the city. Compared to Turií and Crotone, it was not a big city, but it was much bigger than towns like Triene and Hibernian.
Based on the results of last night's interrogation of the captives, the Devers roughly understood the situation of Syracuse's forces in Sirius City. There were originally 4,000 soldiers in Sirius City, in addition to more than 20,000 civilians and slaves from Syracuse and their allies. They were mainly responsible for the transportation of food and supplies.
There was also a special group of people. The knowledgeable mathematicians, skilled architects, machine-makers, carpenters, shipwrights, and others that Dionysius had gathered in Sicily were nearly a thousand people. The reason why Dionysius was able to break through Ciudad Crotone was because of the ballistae, siege towers, bows and all kinds of siege equipment and facilities they made. This was also the group of people that the Devers coveted the most.
In addition, there were Crotone and Sirius soldiers who were captured during the battle at the Ramator River. Dionysius had already sold some of the captives to the slave traders. There were still three to four thousand of them.
Now that the defeated soldiers of Syracuse had retreated to Sirius City, the number of people in the city was probably as high as sixty thousand. If it was not for Dionysius who had already killed, sold and looted the people of Sirius, Sirius City would not be able to accommodate so many people.
The Devers looked at the densely packed Syracuse soldiers on top of the city wall, imagining if these defeated Syracuse soldiers would still be as calm as they were now when he gave the order to attack the city.
Of course, the Devers would not recklessly attack a city with more than thirty thousand soldiers and possibly twenty thousand reserve soldiers. He had other plans.
On top of the city wall, Dionysius had a complicated expression as he looked down at the troops galloping at high speed a hundred meters below the city wall. His gloomy voice was squeezed out from between his teeth, "I heard that the Devers of Diónia like to personally observe the enemy before every battle. He must be among them!"
"Don't tell me you want to fire the ballista at them and hope that Apollo will bless you and let the stone pellets hit his head." Phoebidas said mockingly. His arms and waist were wrapped in bandages, making him look like a mummy. He had suffered serious injuries in the battle yesterday and luckily escaped. After receiving treatment, he slept until noon today. When he heard that the Dionysian Army had arrived, he still forced himself to go up to the city wall.
Dionysius did not say anything. Phoebidas had guessed correctly. He did have such a thought in his mind.
"I can't believe that such a strong army like ours lost to this young man we've been talking about!" Phoebidas' sigh was filled with doubts. Since he escaped back to the city yesterday, he did not have the time to investigate the details of the battle. So until now, he had not figured out how the Syracuse Army lost.
"It's because Diónia completely saw through your battle deployment. They made targeted arrangements, and that's why we lost …" Dionysius closed his eyes in pain. Diónia's left wing changed its formation at the last minute, the hidden spear formation behind the cavalry, the attack from the right wing of Diónia's reserve troops …
He did not want to recall the nightmarish scene of the battle yesterday. With some resentment, he blamed Sparta for the failure, but he did not want to admit the fact that the quality of Syracuse's soldiers was not as good as Diónia's. Even though they had more soldiers on the left, center, and right flank, they did not give Diónia enough pressure to mobilize their troops and carry out their plan.
This time, it was Phoebidas's turn to be speechless. Although he had not figured out the reason for the failure, it was a fact that his strategy did not work.
"It's just a defeat. A few years ago, we were defeated by Carthage in a battle. We were surrounded by their army, and the people even rioted. The situation was even more critical than today. But under my command, with the help of Sparta's allies, we finally defeated Carthage. I heard that the general of Carthage, Himilko, committed suicide! " At this time, Dionysius looked around at his demoralized subordinates. He realized that he could no longer wallow in the failure. He had to pull himself together, or else the upcoming battle would be even more difficult. At the same time, he could no longer blame Phoebidas, because in this extremely disadvantageous situation for Syracuse, Syracuse would have to rely more on Sparta. "Don't be fooled by the fact that Diónia is proud of their victory today. With the blessing of Apollo, we, the people of Syracuse, will let these free people of Diónia know that the final victory belongs to Syracuse!"
"Lord Dionysius is right. For the past few years, when we faced Carthage, we always won after losing and finally became the master of Sicily. Is Diónia stronger than Carthage?!" Damocles immediately responded loudly.
"The people of Diónia are nothing to be afraid of. We need to raise the morale of our soldiers and wait for a chance to counterattack!" Fasipesas also said loudly.
The generals and ministers were encouraged, and their faces began to brighten up. Even the frustration in Phoebidas' heart had dissipated a lot. Only Androstini, the head of intelligence, who was at the periphery of the crowd, was puzzled. If Dionysius was not afraid of Diónia, why did he secretly send an envoy? …
… …
After the Devers circled around the city, they returned to the army and issued an order: build a camp a mile away from the city.
His plan was to take advantage of the enemy's recent defeat and low morale to set up camp so close to the city, and then quickly advance to the two flanks and below the city, to achieve the final goal of completely besieging the West Ritter City.
As soon as the order was issued, half of the 50,000 soldiers began to dig trenches and build earthen walls. The other half was armed to the teeth, wary of any sneak attacks from Syracuse. Only Cypross led more than a thousand Triene soldiers and marched quickly to the west. They could not wait to reclaim their home, Triene City.
Just as the Devers were urging the army to speed up the construction of the camp, Tormid came to report: The envoy of Syracuse wishes to see you!
"Oh, it's you again!" Seeing the envoy of Syracuse, the Devers smiled meaningfully. "Is the reason why Dionysius sent you here this time to surrender to me?"
"Sir Devers, we of Syracuse are the overlords of Sicily. Not only do we have 70,000 citizen soldiers and a population of 500,000, we also have more than a dozen states that are our allies, ready to listen to our call at any time," Damocles said proudly. Damocles said proudly, "Even if we lose the naval battle, and lose a lot of warships and soldiers, this is nothing. We, Syracuse, can organize another army, no less than this one, to come to Greece at any time. Can Dionia do it?"
"If Syracuse is so powerful, you should be welcoming the arrival of your new army at the port of Syracuse. What are you doing here?!" Secretary Henepolis mocked.
Damocles ignored him. Instead, he looked at the Devers and said with a solemn expression, "Because if the war between Syracuse and Diónia continues, no matter who wins in the end, it will weaken the power of the Greeks in the Western Mediterranean. It will benefit the natives like the Carthage, the Mesapi, and the Samonians who hate the Greeks. I believe that neither Sir Dionysius nor Sir Devers want to see this happen. Therefore, Sir Dionysius sent me here on behalf of him to ask Sir Devers a question. He suggested, 'Do you agree to a ceasefire, Sir Devers?' "
"What a ridiculous joke! Who was the one who led the army to invade Greece, burning, killing, and plundering? Why didn't your tyrant consider that such a brutal invasion and massacre would greatly weaken the power of the Greeks in the Italian peninsula, and benefit the natives nearby?! Oh, now that you've lost, you're thinking of peace and protecting the interests of the Greeks — Ha! " Helipolis laughed loudly, "I just want to know if Dionysius knows the meaning of the word 'shameless'!"
Damocles did not answer. Instead, he said confidently, "The one who started the war was not Syracuse, but the Southern Alliance. If it wasn't for your attack on Rockley, we wouldn't have accepted the invitation of our ally to come to Greece —"
Henepolis was so angry that he laughed. He said angrily, "Now I know what it means —"
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