Chapter 933
Not only did he build a small fortress in just three months, but he also built a new military camp not far north of Leotini.
Paragonia Fortress was not like the La River Fortress, which was only used to set up checkpoints and collect fees. It was a real defensive fortress.
A 5-meter-wide and 5-meter-deep trench surrounded Paragoria. The bottom of the trench was covered with sharp stakes, and both sides of the trench were densely packed with deer abatis, which made it quite difficult for the siege weapons to approach the city.
Although the outer city wall was only four meters high, its structure from the inside to the outside was composed of rammed earth, stone bricks, stone slates, and cement. Not only was it thick and strong, but the walls were smooth and flat without any obvious gaps. The walls were also covered with thick lime powder. This was not for aesthetic purposes, but for a certain tactical purpose. The white walls would reflect light under the sun, which affected the attacking soldiers and made it more difficult for the antlers to climb the walls. At the same time, it could also reduce the impact of the stone bullets on the walls.
The circular outer city wall could make it easier for the defenders to concentrate their forces on defense, and it could also make it easier for the reinforcements sent from the city to reach the top of the wall.
At every section of the wall, there were round towers protruding out of the wall. They could strengthen the side attack of the enemy hiding under the wall or the antlers attacking the city. At the same time, the circular walls could also reduce the impact of external forces.
The walkway at the top of the wall was not narrow, and the connected top of the tower was even more spacious. On top of each tower, there was a ballista and a bowler. On the ground were several boxes of stone bullets and iron. There were many soldiers guarding the battlements, so it did not seem crowded.
Leotychides gathered all the ballista and bowlers in the Catanai military camp to Paragonia. They were not only placed on the tower outside the wall, but also on the top of the tower in the center of the city. This tower was more than six meters high, and it was also a circular building with a diameter of 50 meters. Not only were there many ballista and bowlers on the top of the tower, but a large number of soldiers could also be deployed. They were protected by the battlements and could attack the enemies climbing the outer wall or entering the city from a commanding position. There were also a number of windows under the tower, which could also be used by the soldiers to attack the enemies under the tower.
What Margo did not notice was that between the outer city wall and the central tower, there was another wall that was as tall as the outer city wall. It surrounded the central tower. Once the outer city wall was breached by the Carthaginians, the Dionysian soldiers could quickly retreat to the second city wall to defend. If the Carthaginians thought that they could seize Paragonia by breaching the outer city wall, they would let down their guard and undoubtedly suffer a great loss.
The captain who was talking to the soldiers operating the ballista on the wall was the commander in charge of defending Paragonia. His name was Teminides, a native of Locri, and he was the captain of the First Brigade of the Seventh Legion. It had not been long since he took over the fortress. He was very excited to see that the fortress, which he could only come into contact with during training, was actually used in actual combat. Moreover, the fortress was larger and had more complete facilities. He was very confident in defending Paragonia. These days, he had been leading the soldiers of the Seventh Legion to familiarize themselves with the structure and facilities of the fortress so that they would not be flustered in battle.
Today, there were nearly 4,000 soldiers in the fortress. They were the First Heavy Infantry Brigade of the Seventh Legion, the Seventh Light Infantry Brigade, and the Heavy Infantry Reserve Brigade and the Light Infantry Reserve Brigade of the Sicilian Legion. In total, there were 2,000 heavy infantry and 2,000 light infantry (not including the ballista unit and the medical battalion). Teminides felt that the number of soldiers and the proportion of soldiers was just right for this small fortress.
Although there were four captains in the fortress, and Teminides was a newcomer, the First Brigade Captain of the official legion had a higher status than the other brigade captains of the same legion. He was usually the future legion commander. According to the Military Law of Diónia, if the legion commander were to die in battle, the First Brigade Captain would have to take over the legion commander's duties. Therefore, the other three brigade captains were more respectful to him, and in the fortress, he could do everything he wanted.
Teminides walked along the walkway, inspecting the soldiers' defensive work. He would occasionally chat with them, mainly with the Sicilian soldiers. His purpose was not only to understand their condition, but also to familiarize the Sicilian citizen soldiers with him as a commander, so that they could command in battle in the future.
The soldiers of Rockley in the Seventh Legion were conscientious and hardworking, but they were introverted and taciturn. Teminides was the only exception. He was outgoing, amiable, and good at mixing with the soldiers. This was one of the reasons why Breroux had sent him to Paragonia as a commander. He was able to bring the soldiers of Rockley and Sicily together.
"Captain, the enemy may be attacking!" A soldier pointed outside the fortress and said loudly.
"That's great! The Carthage are ready to give us the credit! "Teminides said with a smile.
The soldiers around him also laughed. Their faces were full of excitement, and the tension in their hearts dissipated in the laughter.
The officers began to urge them to prepare for defense. Teminides also stood behind the battlements and carefully observed the situation of the Carthage soldiers.
Obviously, the Carthage people had realized that they could no longer use the previous method of sending a large number of soldiers to clear the ground under the long-range attack of the defenders in the city. So, Margo asked the engineers to make dozens of shield cars in advance. The Carthage soldiers lined them up to form a wooden wall and began to advance under the city. His plan was that every time the shield cars moved forward, the Numibian soldiers would carry soil and follow to fill the road.
But things weren't that easy. Not long after, the soldiers pushing the carts were either stabbed in the legs by the wooden thorns or iron hooks buried in the ground, or the barricade carts fell into a trap and couldn't move forward. The "wooden wall" soon fell apart and was completely out of shape.
The ballistae and crossbows of Diónia on top of the wall also began to show their power. Stone bullets hit the shield cars, and broken wood chips flew everywhere, becoming a nightmare for the surrounding soldiers. When the shield cars, known as the shield cars, faced the thick iron arrows that flew at them, not only did they have a big hole in the thick wooden plank, but the iron arrows that had not yet dissipated could still nail the soldiers pushing the cars to the ground. They died a miserable death. Not only the soldiers pushing the cars, but also the soldiers preparing to fill the soil in the rear were all frightened and fled, leaving only the injured soldiers struggling and moaning in place.
Margo was unwilling to give up and ordered the army to push the ballistae out to suppress the ballistae on the city.
However, the ballistae of Diónia occupied a high position and had a longer range than the opponent. Therefore, before the Carthage ballistae could be pushed into a suitable position, they were attacked continuously by Diónia ballistae. Moreover, they often concentrated three or four ballistae to bombard one, which improved the hit rate.
Margo made up his mind and simply pushed out all the ballista cannons. He also let them completely spread out on the northern periphery of Paragonia City. He wanted to reduce the threat of the Dionic Ballista Cannons with the advantage of numbers and angle deviation and gain a certain advantage.
But then he was surprised to see that not only were stone bullets constantly fired from various wall towers on the northern semicircular wall, but soon the high tower in the center of the city also began to fire stone bullets. After a while, more than a dozen stone bullets were fired from the southern semicircular wall, crossing the entire city and landing near the Carthage ballistae. The accuracy was not low.
This was a large-scale ballista battle. While the soldiers on both sides were frightened, it was also a feast for the eyes. However, the thrilling scene of dozens of stone bullets whistling in the air and constantly crisscrossing each other only lasted for more than 10 minutes. Nine ballistae of the Carthage army were destroyed, and dozens of people were killed or injured. On the other hand, except for a few small pits on the outer wall of Paragonia, the defenders were almost uninjured.
Margo's face was livid. He realized that he still underestimated the difficulty of Paragonia. He had to suspend the attack, return to the camp, and gather his generals to discuss how to take down this tough rock.
… …
In October, the weather began to turn cold, but the temperature on the Afrika continent was still a little hot. In the past, at this time, the citizens of Carthage liked to take their families to the inland of Numibia for leisure. There were a series of salt lakes here, where they could swim or sit by the lake, enjoy the beautiful scenery, taste a variety of freshly harvested fruits, and enjoy the service of Numibian slaves.
But this year, there were very few citizens who did so. As the Dionysian warships had been patrolling the western seas of Sicily for a long time, they would occasionally attack the merchant ships traveling between Carthage and Sicily. Not only did this cause the trade in the city's port to stagnate, but it also caused the Carthaginian merchants to be more cautious when they sailed their ships out to sea. Although the Carthaginian citizens had a bountiful harvest on the land in Numibia, the wheat and other crops that were harvested were mostly purchased by the Carthaginian government at a low price, in addition to being kept for their own use, to be used as military provisions for the Carthaginian army …
Although the war between Carthage and Diónia had only lasted for a few months, the ordinary people of Carthage had already felt the impact of this huge war on their lives. Not only were they worried about the sharp decline in their family income, but they were also worried about their loved ones in the expedition to Sicily. Therefore, they paid close attention to the progress of the war in Sicily every day. The Greek Kingdom, which was originally far north of Sicily and had nothing to do with them, had now become the target of their curses.
Some time ago, when the people of Carthage learned that "Margo had led an army to capture many Greek city-states on the south coast of Sicily, and invaded the Sicilian territory of Diónia", the city was filled with cheers. Everyone shouted Margo's name and blessed him, hoping that he could drive the Diónia out of Sicily as soon as possible, so that the Sicilian sea could once again become a free port for Carthage's merchant ships.
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