Chapter 548
That was why Leotychides, who always had a cold and arrogant expression, only showed respect when he was facing Parmanius.
"Help him," Leotychides said as he reached out with both hands, grabbed the end of the short spear tightly, and pulled it out with force.
However, the force of Abdominal Bow's shot was too strong, and Leotychides was unable to pull the short spear out.
"One more strong one!" As he spoke, he squatted down and got into a horse stance, ready to use all his strength.
At this moment, another squad leader shouted anxiously, "Captain, listen! The enemy's attack is coming again. After we dodge this round, we'll deal with Captain Parmanius's body! "
Leotychides ignored him.
The squad leader shouted helplessly, "Shield formation, defend!"
The soldiers quickly stacked their shields together, forming a shield formation, and protected Leotychides in the middle.
"Captain of Het Barus Company!" With this shout, Het Barus squeezed in and stood opposite Leotychides. This former captain of Parmanius's soldiers also held the short spear with both hands.
Amidst the tremors of the stone bullets hitting the wooden wall, the two of them used their strength at the same time and finally pulled out the short spear. Fortunately, this time, Abdominal Bow didn't fire the short spear in this direction. Otherwise, the shields might not have been able to block it.
Leotizides laid Parmanius' body flat and took off his helmet. He closed Parmanius' eyes, which were filled with pain, and said in a low voice, "May the Elysium be open to you."
With that, he stood up and said, "Sitarsis, you will take over Parmanius's position as the squad leader. Send two people to send Parmanius's body to the rear."
"Yes!" Sitarsis, who used to be Leotychides's direct superior, replied with a salute.
"Prososus, we will use the blood of countless Syracuse people as a sacrifice to Parmanius!" Het Barus said with hatred.
Leotychides did not speak, but his expression was equally gloomy and frightening.
After this round of bombardment, the sentry ran forward to observe the situation. The wooden walls had basically collapsed, and the field of vision in front of them was clear. "Reporting, the enemy's ballistae are moving forward!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a deafening "... creak creak creak … boom!" The tottering watchtower finally collapsed, sending dust flying everywhere.
Leotychides glanced at the dense ranks of Syracuse troops on the south bank of the Alcántara River and ordered, "All troops, retreat immediately!"
Not only his company, but all the other companies were doing the same thing.
At the same time, Masias, who was on the south bank, was giving orders to the ballista troops. "Move the ballista 10 meters forward! … "
As a general appointed by Dionysius to defend Syracuse and a former mercenary leader, Masias was not only experienced in battle, but he was also prudent in using troops. He had once learned about the Syracuse army's battle in Greece from the messengers who had returned to ask for reinforcements, so he had some understanding of the characteristics of the Dionysian Army's battle style and paid enough attention to the Dionysian Army's combat ability. Even though Felistos urged him to eliminate the invaders as soon as possible to alleviate the unease of the Sicilian allies, he still decided to follow his battle plan and proceed as planned.
According to the constant reports from his spies, Masias estimated that Syracuse had around 6,000 soldiers. Including the refugees, their total force might be around 7,000 to 8,000. Even though his troops greatly outnumbered his opponents, he did not intend to attack rashly. Instead, he followed the strategy that Syracuse had learned from sieges. He would first focus on bombarding the city with ballista cannons to weaken the enemy's defences and strike at their morale before sending his troops to attack.
Mejaro's terrible defences showed the might of Syracuse's ballista troops. Even though the wooden walls and towers in the south had been swept clean, Masias did not launch an attack. His plan was to continue bombarding Mejaro with ballista cannons for an entire day, turning the town into a pile of rubble. The Dionysians and Sicilian refugees would then exhaust their energy in fear and unease. Tomorrow, when reinforcements from Gela, Camanlina, and the other allies from the south coast of Sicily arrived, they would be able to annihilate the Dionysians in one fell swoop. Therefore, on this day, Marcy's most frequent words were, "Move forward! Move forward! Destroy Meyaluo for me! … "
Syracuse's strategy was beyond Antonios's expectations. Instead of the Syracuse army's attack, the leaders of the refugees frequently came to complain. This was because it was not only the Diónia soldiers who were retreating, but the refugees and their families were also retreating. The entire town was filled with the cries of children and the screams of women. Tolilaus even hoped that Antonios would lead his army to attack Syracuse.
After Antonios's resolute refusal, he was so angry that he scolded the Diónia people for being cowards.
Antonios did not care too much. Even though Syracuse's ballista cannons gave him a headache, their non-attack had also bought time for the First Legion. Antraporis's suggestion made him realize that the other party must be planning something. This gave him hope, but he would not pin all his hopes on these spies who were hiding in the dark like rats.
These Sicilian refugees gave Antonios a pleasant surprise. Apart from children and women, these young and strong refugees were able to remain calm in the face of the powerful ballista bombardment. They maintained order and did not panic. Moreover, they actively requested to go to battle. After being rejected by him, they still continued to carry out his orders. This was commendable.
After Laodisian's explanation, he found out that these Sicilian refugees fled to the mountains inland after their homes were destroyed. They gradually built settlements, but they had to face the raids of the Syracuse Alliance and the Sikell people from time to time. After a few years, these surviving refugees had trained their courage and improved their fighting skills. They had also developed the habit of obeying the group. Because in a dangerous situation where enemies were all around, not being united would only lead to death.
The performance of the refugees gave Antonios more confidence. He was now most worried about two things.
The first was the grain. Antonios had stored the grain that he had collected after taking over Mejalo and the grain that Lejim's fleet had transported to him in a barn near the town center. Now that the location of the stone bombs was moving forward, the barn would soon be within its range of attack. He had no choice but to order Laodisian, Lessiperatus, and the others to organize the exiles to transport the grain to the north of Mejalo.
The second was the Diónia fleet …
… …
Compared to the beginning of the battle on land, the battle on the sea was white-hot.
Syracuse originally had 50 three-decker warships. On the way north, they had gathered warships from Taunis, Katarnais, and other cities, making a total of 65 three-decker warships. It seemed similar to the 60 three-decker warships of Diónia, but the navy of Syracuse had 16 other small and medium-sized warships. With the strength of more than 21 warships of the Dionysian fleet, they should have had the upper hand in this battle. However, judging from the situation on the battlefield, both sides were evenly matched.
Although the Diónia fleet had fewer warships, under the leadership of Secorian, the other warships launched a frenzied attack on the Syracuse fleet. The speed and reaction of the warships were much faster than the Syracuse fleet, especially Syracuse's own warships. They appeared to be more lethargic than the Diónia fleet. They were only able to passively contend with the Diónia fleet because they had more experience in controlling their warships.
Seeing this, Paronisus, who was at the rear of the fleet, was anxious but helpless. What he worried about had finally happened. The resentment of the people in Syracuse port towards the cities had seriously affected the morale of the sailors!
At this moment, the lookout on the mast shouted excitedly, "My lord, the enemy's flagship has been hit by our ship. It's going to sink!"
"That's great!" Paronisus shouted excitedly.
Naval battles were different from land battles. Due to the vast area of battle, it was more about fighting and killing. The sinking of one side's flagship was not like the death of the commander of the army on land, which would lead to the defeat of the troops, but it would still have a certain impact. Perhaps this was where the turning point of this naval battle lay! Paronisus ordered excitedly, "Blow the horn to attack. Urge all warships to speed up the attack!"
The sound of the bugle pierced through the fog of battle on the sea. The first thing to be stimulated was not the warships of Syracuse and its allies, but the sailors of Diónia. In their eyes, the red flag fluttering high in front of them was slowly descending …
'Lord Secorian is in danger!' Be it the captain or the sailors, such a thought emerged in their minds.
As the hero of the Bruti War and the first sailor to hold the flag in triumph, Secorian could be said to have made the sailors proud. They saw him as the pride of the navy! After that, Secorian became the commander-in-chief of the navy. Although he was young and impetuous, sometimes cursing his subordinates for not performing well, he was cheerful, straightforward, and could get along well with the sailors. Moreover, for the sake of the navy, he dared to fight for His Majesty the Devers many times. Therefore, he was deeply respected by the sailors and the officers under him.
Therefore, every warship of Diónia began to attack even more frantically. This was because every sailor knew very well that it was impossible to rush to the site of the wreck immediately. The only way to win the naval battle and force the enemy to retreat was to ram and sink the enemy's ship as quickly as possible. Only then would there be a chance to rescue Secorian who had fallen into the sea!
Under the stimulation of such mental strength, the sailors seemed to have forgotten their fatigue. The speed of the oars once again returned to the peak level of the battle. Short-distance sprints, sudden stops, rowing backwards, circling … The sailors of Diónia worked together, controlling the warships as freely as their own bodies.
The sudden increase in speed and agility of the Syracuse warships made it impossible for the Syracuse warships to react. * Bang! Bang! Bang! * One after another, Syracuse warships were rammed by their opponents or had their oars snapped. For a period of time after the sinking of the Diónia flagship, the situation of the Syracuse fleet did not improve. Instead, it worsened.
While Paronisus was in a terrible predicament, the lookout cried out in alarm, "Sir, a warship … A warship has escaped!"
… …
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