Chapter 560
Although Fasephesus heaved a sigh of relief, he still felt uneasy. However, he did not show it. On the contrary, he recalled his loss of composure and quickly said, "The people of Diónia have underestimated the possibility of a sea expedition. Unless they can send tens of thousands of soldiers and provide sufficient rations, they will not be able to cause trouble for our homeland. However, with the strength of Diónia, it is impossible."
"You're right!" Dionysius agreed loudly, but then showed a hint of worry. "But … Felistos said in the letter that Gela, Camanlina, Agrigento … these city-states on the south coast of Sicily have rejected his request and are unwilling to provide soldiers and warships. He also complained that Hrolis has repeatedly opposed him, affecting his management of the city-states. He is unable to provide reinforcements and fleets in time, so …"
Dionysius said in a low voice, "After much consideration, I have decided to personally return to Syracuse by ship and bring reinforcements to Greece as soon as possible!"
"Sir, you are leaving this place?!" Fasephesus' expression changed again. "What about the soldiers here?!"
"Apollo above, please bless me to bring reinforcements to save you within ten days!" Dionysius said solemnly. "And within these ten days, you will be in charge of this army! The people of Diónia are all focused on Medma and Rockley. They do not have enough soldiers, and will not take the risk of heavy casualties to attack the Syracuse which is defended by tens of thousands of soldiers. Furthermore, we have enough rations to last for such a long time … Fasephesus, you are my most trusted general! And also the most trusted general of the soldiers! You are the only one who can shoulder this burden! Wait for me to bring reinforcements, then we can return to Syracuse smoothly! "
"Sir …" Fasephesus, who was used to obeying Dionysius's orders, was under a lot of pressure and had many thoughts in his mind. However, he could not bring himself to say the word 'refusal'.
"I will make the other generals obey your orders, including my brother. If anyone disobeys your orders before I return, you can punish them according to military law!" Dionysius didn't allow him to say anything else and forcefully gave him the right to command the troops.
Fasiphaz reluctantly accepted the appointment and wished Dionysius a safe return to Syracuse.
Following that, Dionysius found a few generals to talk to, requesting them to actively cooperate with Fasipizas, control the troops, and defend the Sirius Courtyard.
In a secret conversation with the intelligence chief, Androstini, Dionysius gave him a secret letter, telling him to keep an eye on Fasipizas and the other generals. Once Fasipizas was found to be behaving strangely, he was to immediately contact Leptinus at the port, read the letter in front of the generals, and take Fasipizas down.
Finally, he called for Phoebidas.
"I heard that Syracuse suffered heavy casualties this time. It seems that even without my intervention, you still couldn't defeat the Diónia!" Phoebidas mocked as soon as he entered the room. Now, he was really an idle man. Not only did he no longer have the opportunity to lead the troops, but Dionysius didn't even discuss with him about the attack on the Diónia camp. Phoebidas had completely become a bystander, so he expressed his dissatisfaction without hesitation.
Dionysius understood the Sparta's personality. Although he was a little displeased, he still said straightforwardly, "The Devers have sent a few thousand soldiers to Sicily and captured a town. I have to rush back to Syracuse by boat immediately. I hope you can come with me!"
"The Devers dare to split their troops to attack Syracuse at this time?!" Phoebidas was just as shocked as Dionysius before, but it quickly turned into an expression of admiration. "He's too brave! … "
After exclaiming, Phoebidas glanced at Dionysius. "Are you abandoning your soldiers and escaping Greece alone?"
Dionysius didn't answer him directly. Instead, he said worriedly, "I'm afraid the Devers won't just send a few thousand soldiers to attack Sicily. That will only be a suicide mission. I'm afraid that Syracuse and its allies will be unstable. I need your support!" As a tyrant who could see power as the Sword of Damocles, he had political instincts. He hoped to prepare for a rainy day.
Phoebidas's expression turned serious. He understood that the 'your support' Dionysius mentioned was actually Sparta's support. A few years ago, when Carthage's troops arrived at the city, the people of Syracuse had threatened Dionysius to step down. Phoebidas had once used his identity as the envoy of Sparta to make the people of Syracuse concede, allowing Dionysius to regain his power.
Could it be that Syracuse is rebelling again? Phoebidas looked at Dionysius. Then he thought: Syracuse's navy suffered a crushing defeat, Crotone's battle, and the attack on Diónia's main camp failed. Dionysius's defeat was much more severe than the last time. The people of Syracuse were very likely to express their anger towards Dionysius …
Although Phoebidas was gloating, he knew that once Dionysius was overthrown, not only would Sparta's efforts to support Syracuse all these years be in vain, but the rebellion in Syracuse would inevitably lead to a significant weakening of its power, thus creating a vacuum in Sicily's hegemony. Whether it was Diónia or Carthage's expansion, Sparta did not want to see it, so Sparta could only support Dionysius.
Phoebidas glanced at Dionysius with dissatisfaction. This cunning guy must have seen through this, that's why he made such an unscrupulous request!
Thinking of this, Phoebidas did not want to waste time. He asked directly, "Is it safe to go back by ship? The port is blocked by Diónia's warships. "
"Felistos sent the best helmsman and sailors in my caravan. They easily drove the ship into the port before," replied Dionysius.
"When do we leave?"
"Tonight."
… …
Not long after the last siege tower collapsed in front of Medmar's walls, the Diónia blew the horn to retreat.
Looking at the enemies retreating like the tide, the Medmarans cheered for their survival after fighting hard for most of the day.
Hilos, who was commanding the battle from afar, was not too depressed. He said to his subordinates seriously, "Go back and tell the engineers that the siege tower's wheels are too inflexible. It's very difficult to move them, and the tower itself is not very sturdy … I hope they can improve it as soon as possible!"
"Yes, General."
"Also … our soldiers are not familiar with these new siege weapons, and their coordination with them is a little rusty. I hope we can strengthen their training in this area!" Hieronymus also gave his opinion.
"You're right. Let's do that." Hilos listened to his opinion carefully, then said expectantly, "I hope that after the improvement, the Medmarans will not be able to laugh the next time we attack the city."
… …
After the attack and defense of the Siridean camp, although Dionia had achieved a great victory, they had also lost more than 500 people, and 2,700 people were injured. Thus, after Dyvers finished assigning tasks to the various army commanders, he and the soldiers cremated the dead, and then went to comfort the injured. He busied himself until evening, and when he returned to the big tent, he saw Tolmid standing in front of the big tent.
"Is there any urgent news?" asked the Devers hurriedly.
Just as Tormid was about to speak, a strong gust of wind from the south suddenly blew, and instantly, flying ash filled the air and poured into their mouths and noses. The few of them hurriedly scurried into the main tent.
"Ptui! Ptui! " … "Henepolis spat out the ash in his mouth as he patted his body, then scolded," Damn Syracuse, they can't beat us, so they only know how to vent their anger by burning our camp! "
The left camp, which was only separated by the moat and the antlers, was burned to ashes. Even now, black smoke could be seen rising from some places. The strong gust of wind just now had swept up a lot of dust, and the main camp was also affected. This was the reason why Henepolis was complaining.
"Using an empty camp in exchange for tens of thousands of casualties in Syracuse, I think we've made a profit," said Tormid with a smile.
"It's a pity that the soldiers will have to squeeze together to sleep tonight," said Henepolis with a smile.
"The right camp has enough empty space, but we're lacking tents."
"We won't be lacking tents. Don't forget that we've also occupied the main camp of Syracuse in Crotone. We've seized enough tents, we just need to transport them here tomorrow."
…
While the two of them were chatting, Devers had already cleaned up the dust on his body, and asked again, "Tormid, what happened?"
"Midolades sent someone to report that a clipper ship from the south broke into the Siletina port in the afternoon."
"So many warships couldn't stop a clipper ship?!" Henepolis said with dissatisfaction.
Devers and Tormid did not reply.
Devers was very clear: clipper ships were small and agile, if there was wind, experienced helmsman and sailors could completely play with the three-decker warship, so in the fleet, clipper ships were usually used as scouts and messengers.
Henepolis did not understand the navy, but Devers did not explain it to him. Instead, he hoped that after Henepolis's words spread out, it would be able to knock some sense into the navy officers and soldiers who were complacent because of their recent victories.
After a moment of silence, he asked, "Why do you think this clipper ship broke into the Siletina port?"
"It must be to tell Dionysius that our First Legion has landed in Sicily," Henepolis answered first.
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