Chapter 953
But does the Carthage's actions allow the souls of our warriors to be desecrated?! No, their sins show the glory of our warriors! The holy souls of our warriors will go to the sacred Elysee and accompany the great Hades to tour the beautiful paradise that is like spring all year round! As for this place, "Dyvers pointed at his feet and enunciated each word forcefully," Everything here will be preserved forever for the people of the kingdom to come and pay their respects. We will let them understand how brave our soldiers are, and also let them know how cruel our enemies are! And this tower will be torn down, and a statue will be built. The names of every warrior who died here will be engraved on it, and their names will be remembered in the history of the Kingdom, so that future generations will know! "
There was another uproar under the tower, but this time, it was the soldiers who sighed with envy.
"Citizens of Diónia! Soldiers of Diónia! " Dyvers raised his voice again, waving his arms and shouting, "You have been fighting for a year. You have won in Campania, in Downey, in Latin, in the Samonai Mountains, in western Sicily. Now, it is finally your turn to fight against the strongest and most ferocious Carthaginians! I hope you can avenge the warriors who died here, and attack the Carthage bravely and fearlessly. You will create one glorious victory after another, and become heroes in the eyes of the people. You will be enshrined in the Hall of Valhalla after your death, and your names will be eulogized by future generations! Only then can we, the Diónia, win the battle against the Carthage! We, the Diónia, will win! "
"Victory! Victory! Victory! " Hearing the Devers' words, the soldiers were overwhelmed with emotions. They could not help but hit their shields with their short swords and shouted with passion.
The roars of the tens of thousands of people were like rolling thunder, echoing through the devastated valley and even reaching Syracuse …
… …
At night, the city of Syracuse was quiet except for the flickering candlelight in one of the residences. Chief General Teagenis sat alone in his study, not asleep. In fact, he could not sleep either.
Some time ago, he stood his ground against the majority and insisted that the council pass a resolution to send troops to occupy Camanlina. Then, he forced Paccinus to surrender, allowing Syracuse to expand its sphere of influence for the first time since the Southern Italian War. In a short period of time, his prestige in Syracuse soared. After that, he personally went to meet with Carthage's commander, Margo. Although Syracuse was at a disadvantage during the meeting and suffered some losses during the alliance, the democrats still portrayed him as a political leader who did not fear any threats and fought for the interests of Syracuse. Therefore, when he returned to the city after the meeting, he was warmly welcomed by the people and was in the limelight for a while.
According to the new alliance with Carthage, Syracuse had to attack Taunis. However, under Teagenis' instructions, Syracuse's army played a trick. They only assumed an offensive stance and did not carry out the alliance seriously.
However, what happened next was beyond Teagenis' expectations. He originally thought that with Carthage's large army, which was not weak in combat (they were able to defeat the Dionysian Army in the Battle of Gela), they should be able to sweep through Diónia's territory in Sicily. However, although Carthage's cavalry ravaged the Catania Plains and Carthage's infantry broke through Agilion, the main force of Carthage's main force attacked a small Diónia village several times but failed. They were blocked for more than 20 days, which made Teagenis doubt the combat power of Carthage's army. Fortunately, Paragonia was finally conquered.
When Teagenis received the news, he breathed a sigh of relief and was about to continue watching the battle from the sidelines. However, he suddenly received news that Carthage's army had begun to retreat south!
Teagenis was shocked. He hurriedly climbed out of the messenger's tent and rushed to ask about it. He was told that Carthage's people had received accurate news that the main force of Diónia had conquered Rome, their enemy in the north. They were on their way to reinforce Sicily. Carthage's army had to return to the west of Sicily and prepare for war.
When the messenger brought the news back to Syracuse, the whole council was in an uproar.
During Dionysius's reign, Syracuse had a close relationship with the Campanian Alliance in Italy, so they had some understanding of the situation in north-central Italy. However, after the Southern Italian War, the Campanian Alliance and Diónia formed an alliance. Their contacts with Syracuse sharply decreased, and Syracuse's trade with north-central Italy became even less. Especially after Diónia launched the war against Rome, the Third Fleet deliberately blocked the shipping routes along the south coast of Italy. Unlike Carthage, Syracuse did not own Sardinia and Corsica. They received the news that Diónia's army had landed in Latin from Carthage's messenger.
However, the people of Syracuse knew that Rome was a powerful state in central Italy and had many allies. Its position there was similar to that of Syracuse in Sicily ten years ago. Moreover, the people of Diónia were fighting far away from their homeland, so it would not be easy for them to conquer Rome. It was bound to be a long war. Some people even hoped that the people of Diónia would suffer a crushing defeat in the region of Latin. This was one of the main reasons why they later agreed to form an alliance with Carthage and attack Diónia.
However, there was suddenly news that the Dionians had conquered Rome, and their main forces were about to reinforce Sicily. The councilors of Syracuse felt as though they had suffered a heavy blow and were in a panic. If the Carthaginian army retreated to the west, Syracuse would have to bear the wrath of the Dionian army alone!
Teagenis had to personally persuade Carthage's people. By the time he caught up with Carthage's retreating army, he had already reached Gela.
No matter how much he begged, Margo did not come out to see him. Only Pomilka came out to tell him that since the upcoming battle with the main forces of Diónia would determine the fate of Carthage, the army had to retreat to the west and be fully prepared. No one could dissuade him from doing so.
But at the same time, he also comforted Teagenis: Even if Diónia's reinforcements landed in Sicily, their main target would still be us, Carthage. Syracuse's walls were thick, there was enough food, and there were many soldiers. As long as we defended with all our strength, Diónia would not be able to do anything to you. When we defeat the main forces of Diónia, we will rush to the east and meet up with you in Syracuse. By then, not only will we be able to drive Diónia out of Sicily, but we will also be able to further advance into Greater Greece. Greater Greece has always been the territory of the Greeks. By then, it would be more appropriate for us to take control of the towns and cities …
At this time, Teagenis was slightly attracted by the beautiful future that Carthage had created. At the same time, he knew in his heart that there was no turning back. Now that things had come to this, he could only say that Syracuse would defend with all its strength against the coming attack of Diónia, and that Carthage's army would return to the east as soon as possible.
On the way back to Syracuse, Teagenis spent his time in a dilemma between his expectations for the future and his fear of the reality.
When he rushed back to Syracuse, he received a piece of bad news: Diónia's reinforcements had begun to land at the port of Catanay and the naval base of Catanay.
Due to the suddenness of the incident, the Syracuse army did not completely evacuate from the camp outside Taunis City. The naval base of Catanay was only a dozen miles away from them. The sailors on the cargo ships that were transporting supplies from the camp to the port of Syracuse were surprised to see dozens of Diónia warships waiting in the north. Behind them, outside the naval base of Diónia, there were many more ships coming from the north …
The fleet of Syracuse was so frightened that they quickly turned around and sailed back to the port. Upon receiving the news, the navy of Syracuse hurriedly sent a few fast ships to investigate. The result was that the Diónia ships were either transport ships full of soldiers or cargo ships full of supplies. They kept entering and leaving the naval base of Diónia until evening …
The next day, the same military operation was still going on in the waters where the naval base of Diónia was located.
How many reinforcements did Diónia send?! The people of Syracuse panicked when they heard the news. Teagennis, who had just returned to the city, was no exception.
This was especially so when they learned that Carthage's army was determined to return to the west. Many people in the council felt as if they had lost their parents.
Even the general of the port's civilian faction, Chiktas, shouted, "Since Carthage has abandoned us, we don't need to abide by the treaty anymore. Let's just make peace with Diónia."
Chiktas's words did move a small number of people, but no one dared to take the initiative to agree. After all, the reason why Syracuse joined forces with Carthage to declare war on Diónia was to restore their former hegemony. In the end, before they actually fought with Diónia, they had already taken the initiative to make peace. Most of the councilors could not accept this, nor could the majority of the citizens of Syracuse.
They debated until evening. Other than "evacuate all the troops besieging Taunis as soon as possible and prepare for the defense of the city", they could not think of any other concrete and effective plan to solve the current predicament.
On the third day, the council continued to discuss yesterday's topic. At noon, they received an urgent report from a scout. About 50,000 well-equipped Diónia soldiers had left the city of Catanai and were marching towards the south.
The councilors panicked and immediately ordered the citizens of the city to be mobilized to face the enemy.
But soon, another scout reported that the Dionysian Army had turned southwest and stopped in front of the ruins of Paragonia.
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