Chapter 554
Hipparinus believed that Harolis and the other rebels were strong, and the courtiers loyal to Dionysius, such as Philistos, were nowhere to be found, so he chose to play it safe.
In fact, the Syracuse rebels in the city were retreating under the fierce attack of the mercenaries.
Harolis was a good organizer and instigator, but he was not an excellent general. He did not take decisive measures to reorganize the command system of this newly built army, and instead divided his troops to bypass the streets and surround the enemy. Instead, he took the lead in the battle from the beginning. As a result, the militia was disorganized, and the injuries and deaths of their comrades made the vicious image that Dionysius's mercenaries had left in their hearts for many years once again become clear.
Unfortunately, Hipparinus was too cautious at this time. He wanted to protect his daughter and grandson first, so he missed the opportunity to send the mercenaries on the island to defeat the citizen army.
Originally, there was a small number of nobles and citizens in the city who supported Dionysius, but because Philistos was imprisoned, no one came out to take the lead and organize them to help the mercenaries in the battle. As a result, although the thousand mercenaries in the city had the upper hand, they lacked follow-up support and could not completely defeat the enemy.
While Harolis was struggling to lead the citizen soldiers, the Diónia spies who had been closely monitoring the movements in the city immediately notified the poor and freedmen in the port area. They quickly organized their troops and entered through the Puskal Gate in front of the Eppole Highlands, which was not guarded by the mercenaries. They quickly passed through the Eppole Highlands and rushed to the main city area, circled around the mercenaries and launched an attack.
The mercenaries were attacked from the front and back, and their formation was in chaos. After a bitter battle, most of them were wiped out, and a very small number escaped to Ortygia Island.
Harolis did not continue to give chase. At this moment, he had already realized the problem with the army he led, and this problem almost destroyed the rebellion he led. So he ordered the troops to stop attacking, and with the help of the other leaders of the rebellion, he appointed various officers for this huge army of more than 14000 citizens, poor and freedmen. He also asked his good friend, the experienced democrat Kuzias to be his assistant, to reorganize the army and discuss the attack plan.
Kuzias suggested to him that the walls and fortresses of Ortygia Island were tall and strong, and not easy to attack. In a situation where Masias could lead the army back at any time, the troops should not attack the island with all their strength. Instead, they should send troops to control the various gates and walls of Syracuse, and at the same time, purge the forces that supported Dionysius in the city, and unite the citizens to fight Dionysius's mercenaries.
Harolis and the others approved Kuzias' suggestion, and sent him to lead a team to the isthmus of Ortygia Island. and sent him to urgently build a wall, completely sealing Ortygia Island from the outside outside the city of Syracuse. Then, Harolis began the city's cleansing operation.
… …
Just as the riots broke out, the secret agents of Diónia hidden in the port had already sent people to take a fast boat from the big port, sailing straight north, and arrived at Catanai after more than two hours.
In the port of Catanai, the head of Diónia's secret agents in charge of Sicily — Antraporis. He did not personally go to Syracuse to participate in the riots, and even ordered his men not to enter the city of Syracuse during the riots, so as to avoid giving the citizens of Syracuse a bad impression.
But in Catanai, Antraporis did not have these scruples, because the rulers of the entire city, the mercenaries, were mostly conscripted by Masias to Mejalo, and the city's defense was empty. Antraporis even brazenly gathered the freedmen and slaves in the port, calling them to overthrow the rule of the outsider mercenaries.
When Dionysius destroyed Catanai, he gave the land to some of the mercenaries who helped him fight the war. These soldiers fought and killed all year round, and did not know how to take care of the land at all. Moreover, Catanai's land was vast, and they could not manage it with just their manpower, so they could only rely on the slaves and freedmen. The slaves mainly came from the people of the city-states captured by Dionysius when he conquered the East Coast of Sicily. The mercenaries often sent troops to the western mountains to capture exiles and Sikere people as slaves to work for themselves. Many of the freedmen were originally citizens of the city-states on the East Coast, but they had now lost their homes. Therefore, the mercenaries of Catanai ruled over this large group of slaves and freedmen who greatly outnumbered them and hated them. It was only because of the powerful force of Syracuse and the ferocity of the mercenaries that the slaves' resistance was crushed many times, forcing them to choose to obey.
As an exile of Catanai, Antraporis returned to his hometown after a few years, and it was like a fish in water. He was familiar with many slaves and freedmen here, and could even name them. Soon, he established a situation in the port. With the help of his former compatriots, he formed his own team, and sent people to Syracuse, Leontini, Sicily, Taunis, and other neighboring city-states to spread rumors, look for allies, and wait for the right time.
Now, the opportunity had come. The army of Syracuse had suffered heavy losses in Greece, and almost all the troops of Syracuse and its southeastern allies had been transferred to encircle and suppress the Dionysian Army that had landed. The reason why Antraporis did not immediately start a riot was because he was afraid of alerting Dionysius's supporters in the city of Syracuse. For this reason, the people of Catanai had urged him several times.
Now that the news of the riot in Syracuse had come, Antraporis immediately announced that the action had begun!
The people of Catanai burst into cheers. They gathered their troops and attacked the city of Catanai.
At the same time, the slaves of Catanai in the city were also organized and launched a fierce attack on the mercenaries on the city wall, demanding revenge for their dead relatives.
There were not many mercenaries left behind to begin with. Suddenly attacked from both the front and the back, they were quickly routed.
Antraporis led the insurgents to occupy the city of Catanai. He did not participate in the victory celebration of his former compatriots. Instead, he immediately sent people on horseback to the three city-states of Leontini, Taunis, and Siculi. He told his men lurking there that there had been a riot in Syracuse and Catanai, and that it had succeeded. He wanted to boost their confidence and urge them to take immediate action.
Antraporis believed that these three city-states had succumbed to the powerful military attack of Syracuse, and had been supported by Dionysius as a puppet to establish a tyrannical regime. The heavy tribute and military taxes were placed on the people, so their resentment towards Syracuse could be imagined. It would only take a spark to ignite a raging fire, and the news of the successful riots in Syracuse and Catanai would undoubtedly boost their confidence and fighting spirit. As long as the riots in these three city-states were also successful, it would be difficult for the army led by Masias to return to Syracuse.
For this reason, Antraporis sent people on a speedboat north to the port of Mejaro to inform the First Army Commander, Antonios, of the success of the riots in Syracuse and Catanai, so that he could be mentally prepared.
… …
Early in the morning, the sky was covered in fog in Syracuse, but there was only a thin layer of fog in Mejaro.
Masias had already received a report from his scouts: more than 5,000 reinforcements from the south coast city-states of Gela and Kamalina were about to arrive.
Hence, the cautious Masias did not continue to bombard the southern bank of the Alcántara River with ballista cannons, nor did he lead his army to cross the river and attack directly. Instead, he led his 12,000 soldiers and the 50 ballista caravan westward along the river, away from the town of Mejaro and near Mount Etna. They crossed the Alcántara River unhurriedly, rendering the traps set by the First Army near the town of Mejaro useless.
Antonios did not send troops to stop them on the other side of the river because Tauromignan's mercenaries had also come out at the right time. In order to avoid being attacked from both sides, Antonios chose to continue to hide in the dilapidated town of Mejaro. He even transferred back two hundred soldiers from the temporary outpost in the north the day before yesterday and sent people to the western mountains to inform the exiles not to go east for the time being.
Masias's army easily met up with the Tauromanian mercenaries, and the total number of troops reached 13000.
Masias still chose a safe tactic, placing the remaining ballista cannons in front of the formation and continuing to fire stone bullets at the west of Mejaro while waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
For a time, the stone bullets whistled through the air, and the town roared continuously.
In order to avoid being accidentally injured by the flying gravel and sawdust, the soldiers of Diónia and the refugees in the town had no choice but to retreat again and again to the east.
Masias, on the other hand, calmly let the soldiers go and clear the traps and obstacles that the Diónia people had set up outside the town of Mejaro.
The soldiers of the First Legion felt suffocated. Since the establishment of the First Legion, they had won every battle and were invincible. They were the heroes that the people of Diónia praised and yearned for. They had never experienced a battle like this before. Other than dodging the ballista cannons, they were constantly retreating.
Therefore, the soldiers began to protest to the team officers, demanding that they rush out of the town and engage the enemy head-on.
It was not only the soldiers who protested, but the refugees were also dissatisfied. They were trapped in this town with their wives and children. There was no river in the west, so the ballista could be completely pushed to the front of the town. In this way, the entire town of Mejaro was within the range of the ballista.
When everyone's protest and dissatisfaction were conveyed to Antonios through the team officers and the leader of the refugees, one could imagine the pressure he was under.
"Sir Legion Commander, we can't be so passive anymore! We have to fight our way out and destroy their ballista! "Tegtinos suggested loudly.
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