Chapter 537
"Black soldiers! That means the Legion of Dionysia is here. I wonder which legion it is! " Xenophanes thought in his heart, his eyes flashing with excitement. He turned and ran towards the south of the town, where the free people and the government officials gathered.
The fleeing people of Mejalo rushed into the town in horror, causing the already narrow passage into the town to be blocked. The drawbridge could not be pulled up and the town gate could not be closed.
While the Siculi people were anxiously driving the people into the town, the company led by Leotychides had already arrived outside the town. Seeing this situation, without waiting for the team to regroup, he immediately ordered: Attack!
The soldiers rushed to the north gate and stabbed the people blocking outside the town with their spears.
Screams rang out continuously, scaring the people who wanted to enter the town even more. Some simply jumped into the moat, while others desperately squeezed into the town. The government militia at the town gate could not stop them at all.
When Melisanda's team arrived, they saw that the pursuit of Leotychides's company on the north gate of Mejalo had made the town gate extremely bloody and chaotic. Melisanda had an idea: if his team went up, they could only follow behind the "Madman" company. Maybe they would rush into the town without even touching the enemy.
Melisanda was unwilling. At this time, he saw some Mejalo people fleeing around the moat to the other side. He immediately shouted, "Follow me to attack the other town gate!"
The soldiers chased the fleeing people to the east gate of Mejalo, only to find that the drawbridge had been pulled up.
Melisanda's heart sank.
"Captain, what should we do?!" the soldiers asked anxiously.
Melisanda was also very anxious. He looked back and saw that there were other teams running this way, but he did not find the engineering battalion carrying ladders and wooden planks. Obviously, they must have fallen behind.
Did they have to wait here?! Melisanda looked at the wooden wall in front of them. There were only twenty to thirty enemies scattered on the wooden wall, and only a few of them were shooting arrows at them. The arrows posed no threat to the armoured Melisanda and Melisanda. However, he couldn't predict whether or not they would be pelted with javelins once they got close to the wooden wall.
"Turtle Shell Formation!" He made a prompt decision. "Get close to the moat and swim over!"
He saw that there were not many enemies on the wooden wall, and it was only about three meters tall. He could definitely climb up by building a human wall.
The 50 soldiers received the order and immediately surrounded Melisande in the middle, forming a tight little square formation. Their heads were covered with long shields, like a huge box covered with iron sheets, and they slowly advanced towards the moat without asking permission.
The other squads did the same. Some squads that were further away from the town gates didn't even form the tortoiseshell formation and quickly ran towards the moat.
The Siculi people who couldn't enter the town fled in panic, and the soldiers didn't care at all.
At this moment, the sounds of fighting and miserable screams came from behind the city gate, mixed with terrified shouts, "The freemen and slaves are rebelling! … "
Soon, the Siculi on the wooden wall no longer stared at the Diónia soldiers in front of the moat. Instead, they turned around to fend off the thugs who were rushing up the wooden ladders.
Arrows constantly hit the wooden wall, causing the Siculi people who lacked protection to fall.
Melisande, who was below the city, didn't know what was happening in the town, but how could he not take advantage of such a good opportunity? He immediately ordered the soldiers to disperse the tortoiseshell formation and quickly rushed to the moat. They threw away their long shields and spears, only carrying short swords, and jumped into the moat.
Although the body armor made the body heavy, there was occasionally special training in this area in usual military training. The moat was three or four meters wide. With a kick and two strokes of the arm, they reached the other side.
Melisande and the soldiers climbed ashore with difficulty and were about to lean against the wooden wall when the drawbridge was lowered and the wooden gate was opened. Someone shouted from the top of the city wall, "I am Xenophanes, a probationary citizen of Diónia. The Siculi people have been driven away by us! Soldiers of the legion, hurry up and enter the city! "
When Melisande heard this, he was stunned. He heard the laughter of the other squads. "Captain Melisande has jumped into the water again!"
The subordinate beside him also complained to the captain. "Have you been cursed by the goddess of bad luck? Even we are unlucky with you!"
Melisande watched the other squads cross the drawbridge easily and enter the town of Mejaro. He was annoyed. "All of you, swim back into the water with me!"
"Ah, we're going into the water again?!"
"The long shields and spears are on the other side. Aren't you going to take them back?!"
… …
In the afternoon, the First Legion of Diónia completely occupied the town of Mejaro at the cost of minor casualties.
The town of Mejaro was said to be a town, but its area was larger than the city of Siculi. It lived up to its name. However, there were no powerful institutions such as the council, Senate, or City Hall in the town. It only had a consul's mansion. The usual administrative management and the formulation of laws were decided here.
Siculi was originally a democratic city-state. After it surrendered to Syracuse, Dionysius supported a Siculi noble, Hibagris, who was the first to surrender to him, as the general of Siculi. The people of Siculi were intimidated by Dionysius and had no choice but to submit. In this way, Siculi also became a usurper city-state. Hibagris appointed his confidant as the consul of Mejaro to govern Mejaro directly on his behalf. Thus, the former territory of Naxos was secretly controlled under the rule of the usurper of Siculi.
However, it was no longer Hibagris' subordinate who was sitting on the first seat of the administration hall of the consul's mansion in Mejaro, but the First Legion of Diónia, Antonios.
"Legion Commander, we've captured all the Siculi people in the town. There are a total of 3653 people. More than half of them are elderly, women, and children. What do you think we should do?" Giogris, the captain of the First Battalion, said. In this attack, the Fourth Battalion was supposed to be the first to break the town. This was because Leotychides's company belonged to the Fourth Battalion. They rushed to the front and were about to break through the north gate. However, a riot broke out in the town. Instead, it allowed the First Battalion, led by Melisande, to enter the town from the east gate first. They took the first credit and gave Giogris the right to deal with the captives in the town.
"Lord Antonios, don't be too kind to the Siculi people! They used to be allies of Naxos, but not only did they not fight alongside us, they betrayed the alliance and sided with Syracuse. They even helped the evil Dionysius to break through our city and occupy our land. Every year, they send troops to the mountains west of Aetna to search for our people who escaped, regardless of whether they're men or women. Now, the goddess of vengeance has finally answered the prayers of the people of Naxos. She has sent the warriors of Diónia to unleash her wrath on the Siculi people. She must turn them into slaves and torture them to death! " Shouted Tolilaus, who was standing next to Laodisian. He was one of the organizers of the riot in Naxos and Diónia's attack.
Giogris frowned and looked at Antonios. He opened his mouth to speak, but Antonios gave him a look of sympathy and said, "Naxos is an ally of Diónia. Your suffering is the same as the suffering of the people of Diónia … Trotiras!"
"Yes, sir!" Trotiras, the third battalion leader, replied loudly.
"Now, bring the Sicureans to the square. Let the people of Naxos identify the crimes they have committed and punish them according to their demands!" Antonios' method was obviously based on what the Devers did to the Crotone captives in Turií.
"Yes, sir!" Trotiras turned and left.
"Lord Antonios, I'll go and gather the people to the square!" said Tolilaus happily.
Antonios nodded. Giogris still wanted to say something, but Zantiparis, the second battalion leader, patted his leg and signaled him to calm down.
Antonios looked over and said solemnly, "The adequacy of food is an important foundation for our legion and the people of Naxos to stand firm here! So, Giogris, I'm sending you to check the food reserves of this town and collect all the food from the Siculi people. We'll distribute them together, understand? "
"Yes, sir!" Giogris understood that Antonios was a little dissatisfied with his performance, so he transferred him from the mission of guarding the captives and assigned him a new one. He, who had always followed military law, obeyed.
Antonios watched Giogris leave and breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. If it was Amyntas who saw his subordinates repeatedly resisting his orders, he would have scolded them, but not Antonios. Moreover, Giogris was a member of Hilos' team. Although he was not as close to the Devers as Hilos, Martonis, Olivers and Martius, his relationship with Giogris was not bad. There was no need to scold Giogris over such a small matter and affect his impression of the Devers. Although Giogris was not a talkative person, there was a dangerous person here …
Antonios' eyes quickly swept over to Xenophanes who was standing quietly in an inconspicuous corner, then quickly returned to his senses and continued to ask, "General Salatus has already taken his troops to take over the port, right?"
"Yes, sir." Laodisian of Naxos replied, "General Salatus also brought more than 300 strong slaves with him to facilitate the unloading of food and supplies after Jim's ship docks at the port."
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