Chapter 553
Felistos was shocked. He saw Harolis pick up a sharp sword, lift his robe without hesitation, and make a few cuts on his arms and chest.
With a few low cries of pain, Harolis wiped his blood on his body and face a few times, then turned to look at Felistos. His eyes that had been firm now had a hint of fierceness.
Felistos shuddered involuntarily.
"Watch him, don't let him escape!"
"Yes, master."
After giving the order, Harolis immediately went downstairs.
At this time, the neighbors around Harolis and the citizens who passed through the street to go to the square had been incited by Harolis' servants.
Upon hearing the news that Lord Harolis was being attacked by mercenaries, the good image that Harolis had painstakingly built up over the past few years, as well as the hatred towards mercenaries, made everyone rush to Harolis's house, just in time to block the mercenaries who were trying to escape.
When the crowd saw them, they no longer doubted the words of the servants. They immediately swarmed up and killed the mercenaries one by one.
At this time, Felistos rushed up to them, covered in blood, and said gratefully, "My good neighbours! Brave citizens of Syracuse! Fortunately, you arrived in time, otherwise I would have died in the hands of Dionysius's beloved mercenaries. Thank you for saving my life! "As he said this, he bowed sincerely to everyone.
But at this time, because of the reminder of "Dionysius's beloved mercenaries", the people's expressions changed a little. Dionysius used mercenaries to maintain his power, but it caused endless conflicts in Syracuse. For this reason, he issued a decree, "Any person of Syracuse who takes the initiative to provoke the mercenaries who maintain the order of the city will be severely punished by the law!" Now they were not just provoking, they were killing the mercenaries...
Harolis saw the fear on their faces and immediately shouted, "Why did Felistos send mercenaries to kill me?! Because yesterday, the city hall received news from Greater Hellas that 'Diónia wants to negotiate peace with us', but Dionysius and Felistos want to reject Diónia's peace negotiations. They want to increase their troops and go to Greater Hellas to continue fighting against their Greek compatriots in Greater Hellas. I firmly oppose it, and decided to tell the truth to the citizens who were summoned in the square today. Felistos knows my thoughts, so he sent mercenaries to capture me and even kill me! "
At this point, Harolis raised his voice and roared, "Citizens of Syracuse, do you want to be like your compatriots who were sent to Greater Hellas before, temporarily staying in a foreign land, unable to return home?! Do you want the city-state to increase the war tax forever, forcing us to go into exile with our wives and daughters because we can't pay the heavy tax!? Do you want to continue living in your own city, but you have to look at the faces of those foreign mercenaries? You have to live so cautiously like foreigners! ...
Citizens, is this the Syracuse that we want to establish after we have worked so hard and sacrificed so many lives to defeat the powerful army of Athens and the powerful Carthage?! "
Harolis' heavy and impassioned words touched the people present. The words that exposed the difficult living conditions of the citizens of Syracuse were like a dagger that pierced their hearts, and immediately aroused a fierce reaction. "No, this is not our Syracuse!"
"We don't want heavy war taxes!"
"We don't want war!"
"Mercenaries, get out!"
...
"Dionysius, get out of here!" Someone shouted in the midst of the crowd's excitement.
The hubbub suddenly became quieter. In the past few years, the citizens of Syracuse had launched two riots against Dionysius, but they did not succeed. After the riots, Dionysius carried out a bloody hunt. The citizens of Syracuse were deeply afraid of Dionysius.
Harolis shouted at the right time, "Citizens, what are you afraid of?! Dionysius is ruthless, but he's currently far away in Greece. Together with the mercenaries he relies on, they're surrounded by the Dionians in the Sileti Kingdom. Not only that, our fleets have been defeated multiple times. It's no longer possible for us to safely transport them back under the threat of the Dionian fleets! The remaining mercenaries have been brought to Mejaro by Masias. Even the armies of the neighboring countries of Syracuse have been taken away. Now, other than the two thousand mercenaries guarding Ortygia Island, the one thousand mercenaries stationed near the south gate of the main city, and the despicable spies under Hipparinus, they have no other power! And we — "
Harolis excitedly pointed at the people who had surrounded his house. "There are tens of thousands of brave citizens gathered in the square, and countless citizens in the port area who are dissatisfied with Dionysius's tyranny! The mercenaries will not be able to stop us! Philistos, Hipparinus, and the other lackeys of Dionysius will not be able to stop us! This time, we will restore Syracuse's freedom! "
The people were inspired by Harolis, and their confidence was boosted. They crowded around Harolis and shouted, "Defeat Dionysius, let Syracuse regain its freedom!" They moved towards the square.
Along the way, citizens with armor on their shoulders and shields and spears in their hands were encouraged to join in. There were also celebrities and nobles such as Filosanus who brought their fully armed clansmen to strengthen their ranks. By the time they arrived at the square, the group led by Harolis had increased to nearly a thousand people.
Humans were social animals that followed the herd, and the citizens were suffering from heavy taxes and war. Therefore, when Harolis stood on the high platform and gave a speech, and a thousand people cheered him on, the citizens who came to participate in the war mobilization basically joined the ranks of the rioters. Even the patrols who were responsible for maintaining order had mostly turned their backs.
Dozens of mercenaries who were monitoring the unusual situation in the square saw that the situation was not good, and had long since slipped away.
Harolis and his men had carefully analysed the reasons for the failure of the last two riots. Other than the obstruction of Sparta, it was also due to the lack of a clear plan during the riots. The citizens' actions were chaotic, and their opinions were not unified. Therefore, this time, Harolis and his men had learned their lesson and made a detailed riot plan in advance.
After receiving the support of nearly ten thousand militia in the square, Harolis immediately sent out two thousand people to attack the city hall.
There were originally two hundred mercenary guards outside the city hall, but a small number of them died in Harolis's house, and some were sent to the square. In the end, most of them did not manage to escape, leaving the city hall with only a hundred guards. How could they fight against the two thousand citizen soldiers who were surging in?
The militia easily broke through their defense and killed them one by one. They then rushed into the city hall and arrested all the officials who were still working. As the citizens hated them for helping the tyrant, most of the officials were either killed or beaten to the point of death.
Harolis led more than eight thousand citizen soldiers quickly westward in an attempt to attack the mercenaries stationed at the city gate.
At the same time, the one thousand mercenaries who had received intelligence from the spies and the guards who had escaped to the city gate heard of the unrest in the city. One had to know that their main responsibility was not to defend against external enemies, but to suppress the riots within the city and maintain the rule of Dionysius. Hence, even though most of the citizens who were originally mercenaries outside the city had been led by Masias to Mejalo to attack the invading Dionysians, the remaining mercenaries did not hesitate to assemble and march towards the square. They wanted to take advantage of the fact that the riots had not become too big and kill them in the cradle.
However, Harolis used the opportunity created by the mobilization of war and the formation of an army to quickly gain the support of tens of thousands of citizens. Similarly, he led an army that was seven to eight times the number of the enemy to attack.
The two sides met on the narrow street. Since the militia had the absolute advantage in numbers, they were unable to spread out their forces. The mercenaries' strict organization and rich combat experience were maximized. Moreover, such a dangerous situation forced them to attack fiercely from the start. The militia that had been hastily assembled and did not even have an appointed officer could not advance an inch. For a moment, they actually had the upper hand.
… …
At this time, Hipparinus and the others were still blocked at the exit of the isthmus. Not only did the crowd not disperse, but it showed signs of increasing. Not only did they block Hipparinus' way out, but they also blocked the way for outsiders to enter Ortygia Island. This made Hipparinus feel very uneasy.
However, at this moment, he did not dare to jump off the carriage. He led his followers and guards into the crowd and rushed to the city hall. Because of the intuition that he had developed over the years of working in secret, he knew that he was hated by the people of Syracuse. If he rushed into the rioting crowd, he would very likely be attacked.
Therefore, he immediately returned to Ortygia Island and quickly went to the mercenary camp, asking them to send out an army to disperse the rioting crowd.
The mercenary leader did not agree, because these two thousand mercenaries only listened to Dionysius's orders. Their main task was to guard Ortygia Island and protect the safety of Dionysius and his family. No one else, not even Dionysius's brother or father-in-law, had the authority to mobilize this army.
Hipparinus could only persuade his daughter, Aristomaki, to carry Dionysius's son and come to the mercenary leader to ask for his help.
Only then did the mercenary leader agree to send out two hundred soldiers to drive away the rioting crowd. The secret agents finally entered the isthmus and met Hipparinus.
Only then did Hipparinus know that Harolis had led the citizens of the city to start a rebellion. He was immediately shocked.
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