Chapter 546
So, Hilos slowed down the progress of the siege again, cutting down trees to make siege weapons.
The people of Rockley, who were confronting Corunna's army, wanted to help the Diónia's impending attack on Medmar, but they were powerless.
What worried them even more was that once the Diónia captured Medmar, the Daley army would surge out of the ancient road from the west to the east, and Rockley's situation would become very dangerous!
So, Rockley sent five 50-oar clippers, taking a huge risk, paying the heavy price of two being sunk and two being captured, to break through the blockade of the Dionysian fleet and enter the port of Sirius.
Only then did Dionysius realize that he was not the only one who had used the peace talks to stall for time. Dyvers had not been idle either. Not only had he forced Corunna to surrender, but he had also dared to divide his forces and defeat Rockley's army while besieging Dionysius. He had easily taken down Trena and Hibernian, and even Medma was in danger. He had completely separated Siletland and Rockley. From this, it could be seen that the Devers were not sincere about the peace talks!
This discovery pained Dionysius. Obviously, this young consul was not as naive as his age in politics, but as sinister as his military command. While he was numbing himself, he was rapidly devouring the forces of Syracuse's allies in Greece, hoping to completely annihilate his army here!
Aware of the Devers' true intentions, Dionysius would not sit still and wait for his death. No matter when the reinforcements would arrive, he had to be prepared first.
… …
The next day, Antonios met with the subordinate sent by Antraporis, the head of the Devers' intelligence department in Sicily. He brought Antraporis' suggestion: he hoped that Antonios could use Mejalo as bait to lure Syracuse and its allies to attack, so as to create a void in the internal defenses of Catanai, Leontini, Syracuse, and other city-states, creating the conditions for Dionysius's opponents to riot.
After roughly understanding the arrangements of the major city-states in eastern and central Sicily, and in order to reduce the obstacles of future attacks, Antonios agreed after some consideration.
While waiting for the enemy to attack, he released the old people, women, and children who had been imprisoned in Sicily. On the one hand, it was to reduce food consumption, and on the other hand, it was to let these people bring a message to the people of Sicily: Diónia came to Sicily only to take revenge on the people of Syracuse who had invaded Great Greece. They had no intention of invading the territory of any city-state, nor did they have any intention of becoming enemies with other city-states. They were willing to overthrow the tyrannical rule of Dionysius together with the city-states of Sicily.
Antonios also sent a brave man from Naxos to Tauromenian in the north to convey the same message. However, the messengers that were sent out did not return, which showed that the Campanian mercenaries were hostile to Diónia. But the mercenaries did not leave the city and go down the mountain to attack the refugees that were moving eastward along the Alcatara Valley.
These refugees were entering Mejalo in an endless stream, and were warmly welcomed by the soldiers of the First Legion in the town. Antonios' available soldiers gradually became more plentiful. He let Laodisian, Laci, and Peratus settle down the newcomers, while at the same time mobilizing the young men and giving them leather shields and bayonets. In less than two days, he had nearly two thousand reserve soldiers under his command.
That afternoon, just as Antonios was rejoicing over the increase in strength of his army, he received a report from a cavalry scout: there was an army with a large number of soldiers holding up a flag with a 'three-legged pattern' entering Sekuly.
Antonios knew that Syracuse's army was coming.
Soon, the few scouts under his command were chased away by the Syracuse cavalry and had to retreat to the north bank of the Alcatara River. On the south bank, a few generals wearing colourful crowned helmets appeared. Under the protection of their guards, they gestured towards Mejalo and stayed for a while before leaving.
Antonios knew that the war would come in a day or two. Even if it was too late today for Syracuse to attack, there would definitely be a fierce battle in Mejalo tomorrow!
He suppressed the anxiety in his heart and carefully recalled the deployment he had made over the past two days to see if he had overlooked anything …
… …
The next day, the weather was clear and windless, perfect for battle. This was not good news for Antonios. He hoped that it would rain heavily, but that would undoubtedly make it more difficult for Syracuse to attack Mejalo, especially when the Alcántara River was swollen. It would be a headache for Syracuse even to cross the river.
By noon, the sentries on the watchtower could already see the billowing dust and smoke in the south.
But the first place to discover the enemy was the port, where Syracuse's fleet had appeared on the sea.
Antonios did not show any unusual emotions when he received the news, but he knew very well that Syracuse was advancing on land and sea to cut off the First Legion's retreat and reinforcements. They were going to surround and annihilate the First Legion.
So, he hurriedly asked, "How many three-oared warships are there?!"
"I'm not sure, but it doesn't seem to be less than ours!" the sentries on the port's lighthouse replied. Unlike troops on land, a fleet at sea could occupy a dozen miles of the sea when sailing, and could not be clearly detected by the fixed watchtowers on the shore.
Antonios naturally knew a little about this. He could not be of much help in a battle at sea, so he could only rely on Seccolian.
"Have the citizens and patrols at the port retreat to the town immediately!" Antonios immediately ordered. The port was not within the town of Mejalo, nor was it protected by the city walls. With an army pressing down on the border, there was no need to waste limited manpower to protect a port that was impossible to defend. He had to concentrate his forces to deal with the upcoming land attack. Even if the Syracuse fleet wanted to land on the coast near the port and burn the port that was used to transport supplies for his First Legion, he could not care less at this moment …
But the Syracuse fleet did not land on the port, nor did they burn it. For the past two days, the Sicilian merchant ships that traveled this route had already informed Syracuse of the situation. Every morning, the Diónia fleet would depart from Liguim, arrive at the port of Mejalo, and patrol until the afternoon before returning to Liguim. So, unless the commander of Syracuse's navy was an idiot, if they landed on the port at this time, the ships anchored at the dock would become practice targets for the Dionysian fleet that arrived later.
The commander of this Syracuse fleet was called Paronisus. He was born in Syracuse's aristocratic family. He was also one of Dionysius's friends who, along with Herolis, had strongly supported Dionysius's ascension to the throne. He was quite talented in commanding ships, so when the navy led by Leptinus was defeated by Carthage, the people of Syracuse had called for him to be the new commander of the navy.
However, when Dionysius led the army to invade Greece, he still appointed his brother as the commander of the navy. This made Paronisus unhappy. He thought that this was Dionysius helping his brother to regain his reputation. Everyone knew that Diónia's fleet was weak, and victory was a piece of cake.
Unexpectedly, the news of the repeated defeats of the navy of Syracuse came. Paronisus was shocked, but at the same time, he was also able to vent his anger. This time, in order to eliminate the Diónia that had landed on land, Felistos had deliberately chosen Paronisus to be the commander of the navy in consideration of the resentment of the civilians and freedmen in the bay towards the city-state. He wanted to use his prestige among the sailors to make the attack on the sea smoother, and Paronisus also wanted to use a great victory to prove to Dionysius that his choice was wrong.
At this time, the warships of Syracuse were anchored on the sea outside the port, their bows facing north, waiting for the arrival of the Dionysian fleet.
… …
The Dionysian fleet was moving south along the east coast of Sicily.
Day after day, the repetitive tasks of escorting the Lijim fleet and patrolling the sea near Mejalo had made Sykkelian a little tired. Seeing the Diónia's land forces attacking the enemies of Greece on a large scale, besieging cities and seizing strongholds, and achieving brilliant results, while the navy, which had laid the foundation for the victory of the Diónia alliance, could only assist the land forces in such insignificant tasks as escorting and patrolling. Sykkelian felt helpless. If it were not for the importance of this expedition to Sicily, he would rather stay in Lijim and let his subordinates do this boring task for him.
Just as he sat on the deck, wondering if he should continue to explore the port of Syracuse after escorting the fleet this time, the lookout on the mast suddenly shouted, "There's a fleet ahead! Many warships! "
Hearing this, Sykkelian immediately got up. The only fleet that could appear in this sea area could only be from Syracuse!
He finally got excited. "Syracuse's fleet is attacking. Blow the bugle, let's go!"
At this time, the captain of the flagship said worriedly, "General, Syracuse has come prepared. I'm afraid they have more warships than us, and our warships don't even have 'crows' on them. Do you think … for the time being …"
"Shut up!" Sykkelian shouted and glared at him. With a look of anger, he reprimanded, "Why didn't I realize that you're a coward? You don't dare to fight on the sea without the crows?! Are you still worthy of being a brave sailor?! You might as well be a heavy infantry!
A few decades ago, the weak navy of Athens could defeat the Persia, and the inexperienced navy of Sparta could defeat the navy of Athens. Today, I, Sykkelian, can defeat the people of Syracuse without relying on infantry! "
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