Chapter 971
In Minoa, after reading a battle report from the Ministry of Military Affairs, Dyvers was in a good mood. He said to his clerk, "Tegtinus led the Ninth Legion and the Third Cavalry Legion to completely defeat the enemies who invaded Apulia. He also captured the former Prince Vardalka, Prince Puchetti."
"So, the war in Apulia is over?!" Heniboris asked in surprise.
The Devers nodded.
The staff in the tent cheered. The core area of the Kingdom of Diónia had returned to peace and tranquility, and they could finally devote themselves to the war against Carthage without any worries.
"Your Majesty, do we need to transfer the Ninth Legion and the Third Cavalry Legion to Sicily?" Tormid asked.
The Devers pondered for a moment and shook his head. "We have already made a plan before. For the next period of time, we will adopt a defensive posture to confront Carthage's army. The current military strength is completely sufficient. The key is to see the performance of the Navy. It would be a waste to transfer them at this time. I think … it is better to let them go to the Midolades and strengthen the attack on Sardinia with the Third Fleet. Strive to capture the entire island and completely cut off its support to Carthage. At the same time, it will free up the Third Fleet to support Sicily.
As for the defense of Apulia … judging from the current situation, there is no possibility of a major battle there. Let the Eleventh Legion take on the defense of the entire area. "
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will convey your instructions to the Ministry of Military Affairs." Tormid agreed. He remembered something and reminded, "Do you want to assign an official commander to the Eleventh Legion? Master Capus has been acting as the commander of the Eleventh Legion for almost a year, and the Ministry of Military Affairs is now very busy. Hilos has expressed to you several times, hoping to transfer him back to his original position to relieve their pressure …"
The Devers thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "Well, let Capus return to Turií and continue to serve as the Quartermaster. As for the commander of the Eleventh Legion, let Hilos decide. But it must be done as soon as possible. We must ensure the stability of the Eleventh Legion!"
… …
"Woo! Woo! Wu! With the sound of the bugle, the Diónia soldiers gave up on attacking the city and began to retreat.
The Syracuse soldiers, who had been fighting for a whole day, let out cheers of victory. Many of them laid down on the walkways on the walls, too tired to stand up.
Teagenis, on the other hand, was more excited. He took off his helmet and wiped the sweat off his face. Ignoring his fatigue, he walked along the walkway and greeted the soldiers one by one, thanking them for their bravery in defending Syracuse.
In the case of victory, the militia would naturally pay their respects to the West City Defense Commander.
Not long after, his adjutant rushed over. "Sir, the casualty statistics are out. We have 352 dead and 517 injured."
After hearing this, Teagenis smiled and said excitedly, "Today should be the fiercest attack by the Diónia, but they did not put much pressure on us, nor did they cause many casualties. If this goes on, we can definitely defend our city! On the contrary, the Diónia must have suffered more casualties today than we did. I'm afraid they won't be able to hold on for more than a few days! "
"Sir, you are right!" The adjutant replied. "It's a pity that the Diónia took their dead and injured soldiers with them when they retreated. We don't know how many casualties they suffered, but they left a lot of siege equipment outside the city …"
"Send a small group of soldiers out of the city and burn them all — No!" Teagenis suddenly stopped in the middle of his sentence. He thought for a moment and said, "Dismantle a small part of Diónia's siege equipment and bring it into the city. Show it to the people as spoils of war. This will give them more confidence."
The adjutant understood and hurried to supervise the operation.
Teagenis leaned on the battlements and looked down at the battlefield under the city. His heart was filled with pride. When the Diónia set up camp outside the east and west walls, everyone knew that the enemy outside the west wall was stronger. When the Executive Committee of Generals discussed who should command the defense of the west wall, even Falcus, who had many military experiences, hesitated. As the chief general, he volunteered to defend the west wall, and naturally, it was passed easily. Judging from the battle over the past few days, he was more and more certain that his risk was right. The west wall was tall and strong, and it was close to the main city. Reinforcements could be received at any time, so it was completely defensible. Once the war was over, he could use the great achievement of defeating the Dionians to wash away the regret of not being able to join the rebellion against Dionysius all those years ago, establish a greater reputation among the people, and completely overwhelm the neutral faction led by Falekus. From then on, he would be free to unleash the vengeance in his heart!
At this time, Teagenis stared at the blood red sunset in the west. There was only one hope in his heart: Carthage's men could defeat the main force of Diónia as soon as possible!
… …
The people of Syracuse had gradually begun to get used to the life of war. Teams of sentries patrolled the long city wall in the middle of the night. After a day of hard fighting, the exhausted citizens slept soundly. The whole city was unusually quiet.
Teagenis was no exception. He hurriedly ate his dinner and fell asleep until he was woken up by a servant. "Master, bad news! The Diónia have entered the city! The council has sent someone to summon you to the military council immediately! … "
Teagenis, who was still drowsy, was suddenly startled awake. "What? The Diónia have entered the city?! Nonsense! How is this possible? "
He did not have much time to think. He hurriedly put on his clothes, mounted the horse prepared by the servant, and rushed to the council under the protection of a few cavalrymen.
At this time, the sky was just beginning to brighten. It was usually the time when people were sound asleep, but now the houses in the city were gradually lit up, and there was a hubbub of voices everywhere. "Bad news! The Diónia have entered the city, we are doomed! "
"What are you panicking for? I have already said that it is a rumor! "
"Hurry up! Hurry up! Bring me my armor, the city hall is urging us to assemble! Look after the children, hide at home and don't wander around! "
…
Cries, curses, dogs barking, horses neighing … The whole city was soon in an uproar, and the streets were soon filled with people.
Teagenis finally made it to the council. Falcus and the other generals were already in a heated discussion.
"What the hell happened?!" Teagenis asked anxiously.
Falcus looked at him and said with a serious expression, "The fortress of Mount Euryalus has been captured by the Diónia!"
"How is that possible?!" Teagenis thought he had heard wrong. "That is the fortress of Euryalus, the most difficult place to capture in Syracuse!"
"That is the truth." Falcus' expression was solemn as he said in a low voice, "The soldiers who escaped from there told us that at night, when the soldiers in the fortress were sound asleep, hundreds of Diónia quietly climbed the walls. Although they were discovered by the sentries, they quickly rushed into the fortress. Although the soldiers fought back, they were in a hurry, and many did not even have time to put on their armor (in fact, the soldiers of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade of Diónia did not wear armor, but compared to the poorly trained Syracuse militia, these elite soldiers of Diónia were like tigers in a pack of wolves). In the end, they were defeated by the Diónia, and only a small number of soldiers escaped …"
"Hurry up and send the army to take it back!" Teagenis shouted anxiously.
"I say, chief general, I don't need you to remind me," Kucias said in an indifferent tone. Kucias said in a neutral tone, "We have already asked Stesicos to lead the army of the East City Barracks to take back Euryalus! (The Syracuse General Executive Committee considered that if the Dionysian Army suddenly attacked the city at night or early in the morning, the citizens of Syracuse would be able to defend the city in time to avoid delay and confusion during an emergency mobilization. Therefore, when the Dionysian Army set up camp outside the city, the people of Syracuse also built two simple camps near the east and west gates. Every night, two thousand militia camped there in case of emergencies.) I still remember who was the one who boasted here a few days ago that he would definitely stop the Diónia attack and defend the west city. What about now? "
Kucias smirked and continued, "War is not that easy. In the end, it is up to us to defend Syracuse!"
Uryalus was located at the intersection of the east and west walls. The reason Teagenis was assigned to guard it was because he had considered the number and strength of the enemies on the west side, so he assigned more citizen soldiers to Teagenis. Naturally, he was also in charge of the defense of the remote and distant Uryalus. Teagenis did not raise any objections at the time. After all, the terrain was dangerous, and it was difficult to attack but easy to defend. Also, considering the difficulty of supplying food there, he only sent 200 soldiers to guard it. It had been peaceful for the past few days. If not for tonight's incident, he would have almost forgotten about the fortress.
Hearing Kucias's sarcastic remarks and seeing the strange gazes of several generals focused on him, Teagenis felt his blood boiling. He tried to suppress the urge to explode and said in a calm tone, "Sending two hundred soldiers to Euryalus is something that everyone agreed on. I don't remember anyone else realizing that the Diónia might attack from there and specifically emphasizing the need to strengthen the defenses there. But now that it has happened, we must take it back immediately! I will now lead the two thousand soldiers of the West City Barracks to support Stesicos! "
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