Novels online

Chapter 875

At the same time, the administrative officials of Enona effectively managed the large team of more than 20,000 old people, teenagers, and even women, dividing them into several groups. Some of them cut down the trees and carried them down the hill, placing them at the place where the barracks engineers had planned to build a mound of earth. Others piled up the wood in a crisscrossed manner, gradually extending upwards towards the city wall. In addition, there was another group of people carrying baskets of excavated soil, filling them into the base made of wood, and compacting them.

The defenders of Lola on the southern city wall saw such a big movement made by the enemy. While they were shocked, they also felt a little curious. But soon, they discovered that in front of them, a mound of earth about 50 meters wide was rising and rapidly approaching the top of the city wall. The entire wooden fence was also moving forward.

It was not that the defenders of Lola did not launch long-range attacks on the enemy who was building the mound below the city, but the javelins and arrows they threw were either blocked by the wooden fence or by the heavy infantry behind the wooden fence with their shields. Although a few of them were injured and fell to the ground, it did not frighten the Allied Army. Be it the Campanians or the Naconians, they had all been tormented by the Samonians and hated them to the bone. Moreover, the assistance of the Enona citizens in battle would be recorded by the household registration officials, which would be of great help to the development of their families in the kingdom in the future. Therefore, they devoted themselves to this project with great enthusiasm.

The defenders of Lola had no choice but to risk going out of the city to attack the enemy several times, trying to destroy the wooden fence and the mound. However, they were all repelled by the army led by Zantiparis, who was already prepared. Not only did they fail, but they also caused the small number of defenders to suffer considerable losses.

The defenders of Lola could only watch as the mound got closer and higher. Not only was it close to the trench, but its highest height was almost equal to the top of the city wall.

Zantiparis no longer needed the wooden fence. Instead, he directly sent more than a thousand heavy infantry and light infantry of Diónia to stand on the mound and shoot at the defenders from a distance of more than ten meters.

Although there were many casualties on both sides, the defenders of Lola, who only had one-tenth of the number of soldiers, could not withstand such a consumption. They had to repeatedly send messengers to Great Leader Segovani for urgent help.

Regarding Zantiparis's decision to attack Lola today, the commander of the Campanian Alliance, Aialos, was a little hesitant. "The mound we built is not close to the city wall yet. Isn't it too hasty to attack now? Why don't we wait for another day?"

Zantiparis patiently explained to him, "Our King Devers once said something to the senior generals of the Kingdom of Diónia. He said, 'When fighting a powerful enemy, do not rashly seek a decisive battle, but carefully look for opportunities. But once you obtain an important victory or the enemy shows an obvious flaw, you must continue to attack quickly, not give the enemy a chance to breathe, and completely disrupt the enemy's entire deployment …'.

Now that the main force of the Samonai Alliance has been attracted to Beneventum, Lola and Cesarra are only garrisoned by more than a thousand enemies. They think that they can defend for a long time with this small number of people, but they obviously underestimated the siege ability of Diónia. We should quickly attack Lola before they react, and let the overall situation of the war be more favorable to us.

Besides, the situation on the battlefield is ever-changing. So far, we have the blessing of the gods. The weather has been good for the past few days, and it looks like it will be a sunny day today. But if there is a sudden downpour tomorrow, it is very likely that our mound will be washed away, and the hard work of the soldiers and citizens will be wasted. Most importantly, it will delay the opportunity to attack. So, we should seize the opportunity while Hades is still protecting us! … Hmm, also … According to our usual siege training experience, when the earthen hill is approaching the city wall, it is also the most difficult time. The enemy's defense will only be tighter. In order to speed up the progress and reduce casualties, we must rely on fierce attacks to force them to reduce their attacks on the earthen hill, so that we can finish the siege faster … "

Zantiparis's serious explanation convinced the generals of the Campanian Alliance, and they unanimously agreed to attack Lola today. The next step was to discuss the attack plan.

Zantiparis had already thought about this. "The southern wall of Lola is where the mound is, and it is the focus of the attack. I suggest using a heavy infantry battalion and a light infantry battalion from Diónia, plus 1,000 light infantry and 1,000 heavy infantry from Campania, a total of 4,000 people to attack here! "

Aialos nodded and said, "I agree with General Zantiparis. The 2,000 Campanian soldiers will be sent from Naples."

Zantiparis continued, "I suggest that we use the siege equipment we made in the past few days to attack the western wall of Lola. Since the Diónia soldiers are proficient in using these equipment, a heavy infantry battalion from Diónia will be the main attacker, and 1,000 Campanian soldiers will be added as support … Also, 2,000 soldiers from the eastern and northern walls should be arranged to attack with ladders, using this to disperse the few enemies in Lola and weaken their defense … Finally, there will be a light infantry battalion from Diónia and 1,000 Campanian soldiers left. I suggest that they be used as the reserve force for the final assault."

As soon as Zantiparis finished, Aialos said, "I think General Zantiparis's plan is very good. Naples is willing to send 1,000 soldiers to attack the western wall, while another 1,000 Neapolitan soldiers attack the northern wall. The remaining 1,000 Neapolitan soldiers will be used as the reserve force according to General Zantiparis's suggestion. The rest of the soldiers will be filled by the soldiers of your city." Aialos spoke to Zantiparis with respect, but he spoke to the other generals of the Campanian Alliance with a somewhat commanding tone.

Only then did Zantiparis realize that Naples was the leader of the Campania Alliance. As a military general, he did not think too much about it. Instead, he felt that having Aialos in charge of the generals of the Campania Alliance saved him a lot of time as well as a lot of words.

Once the plan was confirmed, it was implemented immediately.

The first to move were the soldiers of the Allied Army outside Lola. This was because the people were already prepared. They carried sacks full of soil and prepared to complete the final closing of the hill and the city wall. Of course, this was also the most difficult moment.

Although it was called a hill, it was actually a large inclined causeway. According to the design of the Diónia engineers, the slope was only about 20 degrees. It was relatively gentle and extended from 40 meters to the city wall. Because of the wooden support and the compacted soil as flesh and blood, it was not easy for the soldiers to slip and collapse when they stepped on it.

More than 200 Diónia heavy infantrymen, each holding a long shield in their left and right hands, climbed up the hill in two rows and advanced toward the city wall.

The defending soldiers immediately launched long-range attacks, mainly javelins.

The double-sided shields of the Diónia soldiers protected themselves tightly, but even so, there were still soldiers who were injured after the javelins penetrated the shields. Behind them, new heavy infantrymen would step forward to fill the gap in the formation at any time.

The light infantrymen behind the Diónia heavy infantrymen also attacked the top of the city wall. Not only did they throw javelins, but they also shot arrows. After all, the defenders at the top of the city wall did not have thick protection like the heavy infantrymen of Diónia. Although some of them were also wearing armor, at least half of them were light infantrymen, and arrows could cause damage to them.

When the heavy infantrymen reached the top of the hill, they squatted down and raised their double-sided shields, forming a closely arranged shield wall. The height of the shield wall was almost the same as the opposite wall, and the distance between the two sides was less than 10 meters. Naturally, the attacks from the defenders at the top of the city wall were more fierce. The light infantrymen of Diónia fought back equally fiercely because they had to suppress the attacks from the top of the city wall and protect the safety of their comrades.

Within a distance of 10 meters, javelins and arrows constantly crisscrossed and collided in the air from time to time. Screams of pain could be heard from both sides, and some soldiers were injured and fell to the ground.

On both sides of the hill, 1,000 Campanian light infantrymen quickly approached the front of the trench while the defenders' attention was attracted by the hill. They attacked the enemies at the top of the city wall to relieve the pressure on their allies on the hill.

At this time, the people carrying the soil bags on their backs lined up in a column, bowed their heads, and ran quickly to the top of the hill despite the danger of being hit by the incoming javelins and arrows.

At the top of the hill, there was a gap of more than one person between the heavy infantrymen and the light infantrymen of Diónia, thus forming a passage that led directly to the top of the hill. When the people reached the shield wall, the heavy infantrymen on both sides would raise their shields a little higher, leaving a gap at the bottom for the people to push the soil bags down the hill. Then, the empty-handed people would turn back and run down the hill.

Countless soil bags continued to roll down the "valley" formed between the city wall and the hill. Occasionally, the injured soldiers of Diónia and Lora's defenders would fall into the valley, but before they could climb out, they were quickly buried by the soil bags and became a cornerstone of the man-made hill.

Not only were the people moving up and down the hill, but the light and heavy infantrymen of Diónia were also constantly taking turns because of their stamina, injuries, and the replenishment of their javelins and arrows. At the bottom of the hill, the medical camp was rapidly giving emergency treatment to the injured people and soldiers.

Such a busy but relatively orderly and tense scene was reflected in the eyes of the Neapolitan general, Aialos, who was at the back. He could not help but sigh. The people of Diónia had turned the tragic siege into an orderly, lively, and efficient construction project. This was not something that any Greek city-state could do. The military power of the Kingdom of Diónia was too terrifying!