Chapter 932
"Sir, he seems to be here for something else this time," Tagrou said softly.
"Then let him in." Leotychides rubbed his eyes, but his expression did not relax at all.
So, as soon as Asitemis stepped through the door, he warned in advance, "I hope you are not here to talk to me about the cavalry attack. I have already told you, now is not the time."
"Commander." Asitemis was stunned and quickly explained, "I have thought of a way to reduce the threat of Carthage's cavalry."
Leotychides finally turned his head and looked at him, asking, "What is it?"
Asitemis said seriously, "Commander, Carthage's cavalry is large in number, but most of them are Numibian cavalry. As far as I know, the horses these Numibians ride are short, but they can run very fast. Also, they have a special characteristic, which is that they are more tolerant of hunger. They can carry the Numibians into battle just by eating grass, but they have to eat constantly … "
Leotychides' heart skipped a beat, he leaned forward slightly and asked, "What do you mean?"
Seeing that the bad-tempered commander was interested, Asitemis immediately perked up and spoke more fluently, "Carthage scattered thousands of cavalry on our Catania Plains, I am afraid that it is not only to destroy our villages and cover our eyes and ears, but also to solve the food problem of these horses. It is now autumn, the grass on the ground has begun to wither. Since the Carthage have burned our villages, we can use the night to boldly burn the weeds on the plains. This way, the Carthage's cavalry will not dare to be so active on the plains. "
"Burn the grass on the entire plains …" Leotychides pondered for a while, then said hesitantly, "Asitemis, you are a Carthage, so you should be familiar with the situation here. Even if the plains are burned to the ground, as long as there is a rain or two, grass will quickly grow back on the ground."
"But it rarely rains in Carthage in September and October." Asitemis had obviously considered this problem before, he quickly replied.
Leotychides also quickly made a decision, "Tagrou, go and get Cypross immediately, I need to discuss with him."
"Yes, sir." Tagrou immediately ran out, because Cypross had just left, so he should be able to intercept him on the way. As he ran, he thought to himself, Cypross is the governor of Sicily, he is open-minded and always takes the initiative to talk about problems. it seems like the commander is used to this, ordering Cypross, this is not a good thing, I have to find a chance to remind him!
In the kitchen, Leotizides stared at the map and murmured, "Although I don't know if this method will really work, we have to give it a try. Even if the current situation is very unfavorable to us, we should not lose confidence. We have to work hard to find an opportunity …"
"Sir Commander, you're right!"
…
As Leotychides analyzed, Margo had indeed targeted the attack on Paragonia.
The north of Paragonia was also heavily defended, but compared to the south, the terrain was more open, which was more conducive for the deployment of the army.
Margo had learned some lessons from the failure of the previous attack on the south, and when the camp was being built, he ordered the engineers to start assembling the ballistae, and after giving the order to attack, dozens of ballistae began to bombard the sentry towers in the trap area.
At the same time, he also ordered tens of thousands of Numibian infantrymen formed by Carthage to dig up the soil. Because Paragonia was located at the foot of the mountain, the soil was harder, so the soldiers had to dig up the soil from a farther place, and then transport it back to fill up all the traps and trenches in the north of Paragonia, paving a wide and safe passage. While cleaning up the periphery, in order to prevent the enemy from sneaking out of the city, he also ordered his elite troops to line up in front, ready to attack at any time.
Moreover, he also transferred 10,000 soldiers stationed in Gera, increasing the number of soldiers in Carthage's camp to 60,000 to ensure that he had enough troops to attack Paragonia, and at the same time, defend against attacks from the new camps in Leotini and Diónia.
Although the garrison did not stop attacking, Carthage's soldiers did not suffer many casualties, and their morale was maintained. Although the siege on the periphery of Paragonia was slow, it had been steadily advancing.
Three days later, Carthage's army advanced to within a hundred meters of the city, forcing all the defenders of Diónia to retreat into the city and stop attacking.
Margo was finally able to observe the small city that had caused him a lot of trouble. After walking half a circle around it, he could not help but be surprised. "This is the village that the Syracuse people talked about?"
The adjutant beside him explained, "My lord, I remember that the Syracuse people only said that Paragonia used to be a village. Since a few months ago, when the Dionysian Army moved into Paragonia and moved the villagers, no one was allowed to come close. They did not know what the current situation of Paragonia is like."
Margo glanced at him and said, "You sure know how to defend the people of Scylla Cozza."
The adjutant was so scared that he did not dare to speak again.
Mago gazed at Paragonia in front of him. There was a white city standing in the middle of the densely packed stag. It was not big, but its shape was different from any city Mago had seen before. It was surrounded by a wall about four meters high. There were many protruding circular towers in the wall. Surprisingly, there was a circular building that was two to three meters higher than the wall. It was like a concentric circle within a big circle.
Although Margo had never attacked such a strange city before, with his many years of experience, he also had a hunch that this small city of Paragonia was somewhat unusual. Subconsciously, he urged his horse forward, wanting to observe more carefully.
Suddenly, he heard the guards on his left and right shouting, "My lord, be careful!"
A few black dots suddenly appeared in the air in front of him and whistled.
Margo hurriedly clamped the horse's belly, but the War Horse under him did not move. The guards beside him hurriedly stabbed the horse's hip with a spear. The War Horse neighed and rushed forward, almost throwing Margo to the ground.
At this time, a few stones had already smashed down, and a few shrill screams were immediately heard. The area around Margo was a bloody mess.
Brother Ma managed to control his warhorse with great difficulty, but it was too late to turn around. Seeing this scene, he frowned and said. He frowned and said, "Retreat."
In the process of retreating, he did not forget to ask the adjutant, "Where did the enemy's stones come from?"
The adjutant shook his head to show that he did not see clearly. Margo glared at him again. Even if this young adjutant was a member of the Magonid family, he could not help but want to replace him at this time.
"My lord, it seems … it seems like it was shot from the city." A guard said.
Margo was stunned and asked, "Are you sure it was from the city and not from inside?"
"My lord, I saw it too. It was indeed from the city." Another soldier said.
Margo pulled the reins and turned to look at the blood-stained stones on the ground. He then looked up at the walls of Paragonia in front of him. At this time, there was no movement, but Margo's expression became serious.
At this time, on the tower of Paragonia's wall facing Margo, a Diónia officer wearing a helmet with a purple tassel was bending over and looking out through the gap between the battlements.
"Not bad, the stone's landing point is quite accurate. It's a pity that the big guy escaped!" He turned back and said with some regret.
"Captain, do you want us to continue firing?" The ballista's spotter asked.
Ten years ago, the spotter of Diónia's ballista was exclusively held by the students of Diónia's Academy of Mathematics. They were responsible for providing the firing parameters and correcting the trajectory. Ten years later, as long as the spotter of Diónia's ballista was a citizen who graduated from a school in Diónia and was good at mathematics, this was the result of the popularization of education and the improvement of the ballista.
The captain shook his head and said, "He's already alerted. It's impossible to launch a surprise attack. Don't waste the stone. When the enemy attacks the city, you'll be busy."
"Captain, you don't have to worry. A few days ago, Carthage's ballista was rampant and destroyed many of our sentry towers. Now it's our turn to show our power! "
As soon as the spotter's voice fell, the archer beside him immediately said, "That's right, as long as Carthage's ballista dares to enter our range, we can destroy it!"
Their words caused the surrounding soldiers to respond positively.
The captain was satisfied that the soldiers could maintain such a strong fighting spirit in the face of Carthage's army's siege. Of course, he knew that the source of the soldiers' confidence came mainly from this city.
Half a year ago, Paragonia was a village with only a few residents. When Leotychides decided to use it as a forward base to resist Carthage's army, he didn't just strengthen the walls, dig trenches, and set traps on the village's foundation. Instead, he completely uprooted the village and built a fortress.
The Ministry of Military Affairs had been researching and improving Diónia's military technology. In recent years, under the inspiration of the King of the Devers, the engineers of the Ministry of Military Affairs had designed a new defensive fortress and used it in the training projects of the barracks. Leotychides deeply felt the strength of its defense, so he decided to use it in actual combat.
Not only did he gather the soldiers of the Eighth Legion, but he also asked Cypross to mobilize the people of Katanais. Tens of thousands of people took turns to work, using ready-made bricks and wood from Paragonia, 'Devers' cement made from Etna volcanic ash, plus a large amount of stone provided by Naxos (there were stone mines in Naxos near Tauromenion), and a large amount of wood provided by Hena and Agilion …
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