Chapter 994
This tone was very harsh to Margo's ears. His eyes widened, but then he remembered Pretacuba's advice. He immediately lowered his gaze and asked as calmly as possible, "I heard that the Senate sent you to talk to the people of Diónia about a truce. How did the king of Diónia respond?"
The sudden burst of momentum from Margo startled El Accra. He quickly replied, "The king of Diónia is very willing to have a truce with Carthage!"
"Doesn't this mean that the people of Diónia know that they are not as strong as us? They are afraid that they will lose if they continue to fight. Therefore, they want to maintain their current victory through a truce. Are we willing to stop fighting with the people of Diónia in such a situation?!" Margo asked loudly.
El Accra was stunned for a moment. He then murmured, "Now … Looking at the current situation, it seems that our Carthage is at a disadvantage!"
Margo looked at him coldly for a moment. Suddenly, he stepped forward and grabbed his arm. In a commanding tone, he said, "Come with me!"
El Accra was dragged out of the tent by Margo. His heart was filled with doubt and fear.
Margo brought him to a relatively empty place in front of the tent. He pointed to the back and said, "What do you see?"
El Accra calmed his mind and said in a slightly dazed tone, "A city wall that is being built … It looks very long …"
"It doesn't look like it, but it is indeed very long!" Margo said with certainty, "It will extend from the east coast of Serinus all the way to the west coast, including Serinus City and our camp of Diónia!"
"When I came here, I found it strange. Why did you build the city wall behind the camp?" El Accra raised his doubts.
"Since the people of Diónia dare not fight with us, then we can only take the initiative to attack!" Margo looked forward and said in a deep voice, "Our target is Serinus! Serinus is the base of the Dionysian fleet. The Dionysian fleet can cruise the western sea every day and block our route. The port of Serinus plays a very important role. As long as we can capture it, the navy of Diónia will lose its foothold in western Sicily. This will inevitably reduce the advantage of their navy and reduce their threat to the western sea and the coast of Africa. But because of the importance of Serinus, the people of Diónia will definitely not give up. They will definitely defend tenaciously. I'm afraid that in the end, the main force of the Dionysian Army will enter Serinus from the sea and fight us … "
El Accra was happy when he heard the first part, but when he heard the second part, he became a little worried. "Doesn't this mean that we are attacking and the Dionysian Army?! Didn't you say that this kind of attack will cause a lot of casualties to our soldiers?! "
"The people of Diónia do have some experience in defending cities, but attacking Serinus City is much easier than attacking the Minoya Mountains!" Margo said confidently. "After a few days of analysis and discussion with Ademica, we decided to build the outer wall first to protect our entire camp so that the army can attack the city with all their strength. This will prevent the Dionysian Army from attacking us from the east or landing on the nearby beach when we are attacking the city."
Margo then pointed to the front. "Look at that. What is that?"
El Accra's gaze passed through the gaps of the many tents and saw something in front of Serinus City. He couldn't help but be surprised. "You want to build an inner wall?!"
Margo looked at the wall that had been left unfinished for a long time and couldn't help but think of the night when they were attacked by the Dionysian Army. He sighed softly and said, "Not only do I want to build an inner wall to surround Serinus City, but I also want to use the inner wall as a foundation to build more earthen hills. Then, with the earthen hills as a foundation, I will build a vertical wall that extends forward to connect with the wall of Serinus City … By that time, the people of Diónia will no longer have the advantage of defense. If we fight under the same conditions, we will definitely defeat the Dionysians! … "
When El Accra heard this, he felt inexplicably confident. However, he was still a little doubtful. "Lord Margo, this plan of yours will be a very big project! To build these walls and earthen hills … I'm afraid it will take a long time, right?! "
"Don't forget that I have more than 100,000 soldiers under my command!" Margo said proudly. "They only started building the outer wall after receiving the military rations from Carthage. It has only been two days since then. You have already seen the progress of the outer wall when you entered the camp. Do you think it will take a long time to complete my plan?"
… …
On the second day after Leotychides and Zantiparis led the army to attack the main city of Syracuse, the governor of Sicily, Cypross, rushed to Syracuse. He discussed with Leotychides, Zantiparis, Hictaas, who had just surrendered to Diónia, and his nephew, Zamoratis, how to deal with the captured soldiers of Syracuse and the people in the city, and how to stabilize the order in the city as soon as possible …
Everyone quickly reached a consensus: Except for a few people in the city who had direct family relations with the people in the port area, the rest would become the slaves of the Kingdom of Diónia.
The reason for this decision was that Cypross, who had been in Catanai for many years, believed that because Syracuse had always been the overlord of Sicily, even now that they had fallen, the people of Syracuse always thought highly of themselves. They always dreamed of restoring their former glory. If such a group of restless people were forcibly pulled under the rule of Diónia, they might jump out at the slightest abnormal situation, especially now that Diónia was at a critical juncture of war. Therefore, the safest way was to reduce all of them to slaves and detain them away from Sicily.
For Hictaas and Zamoratis, their rebellion led to the final fall of Syracuse. The people in the same city were already like fire and water, so of course, they did not want to live in the same city as them. Moreover, after the people in the port area became citizens of Diónia, they certainly hoped to live in Syracuse, and the land they deserved would also be in Syracuse. Most of the land in Syracuse was in the hands of the people in the city …
So for all parties, the people in the city of Syracuse could only become victims.
At the same time, the officials from the finance, household registration, agriculture, commerce, courts, and other departments brought by Cypross had begun to take over the affairs in the city of Syracuse. They counted the property and spoils of war obtained, counted the houses in the city, measured the land in Syracuse, registered the people in the port area, and earnestly informed them about the rights and obligations they should enjoy as citizens of Diónia …
The long-cherished wish of the people in the port area of Syracuse for many years was about to be realized. They were full of enthusiasm. Under the leadership of Hictaas, they actively assisted the officials of Diónia, especially the soldiers of the Seventh and Eighth Legions. They built a tall wall on the isthmus, completely cutting off the connection between Ortygia Island and the main city. Every day, there would be warships (from the original Syracuse fleet) cruising around Ortygia Island continuously.
Syracuse was undergoing earth-shattering changes. The people of Taunis and Leontini, who were not far from it, could see it. They were envious.
Taunis was located on the coast and had very little land. Leontini's situation was slightly better, but it still could not meet the needs of the growing population. Now, when they saw that the people of Syracuse, who were originally much worse off, could now obtain fertile land and good houses, they felt it was unfair. Because they had also participated in the battle against Syracuse, they had sacrificed more than the people of Syracuse, but they could only get a small share of the spoils of war. This was too unfair!
Under the strong request of the people, the higher-ups of the two cities rushed to Syracuse to plead with Cypross.
Cypross had a troubled look on his face. He had no choice but to tell them that the distribution of spoils of war between Diónia and its allies after the victory of the war was strictly written in the treaty of alliance. Land was not included in it, so he had no right to make changes on his own. And according to the Law of Diónia, only citizens of Diónia could obtain land. If the people of Taunis and Leontini wanted to obtain land in Syracuse, there was only one way — to become citizens of Diónia!
The higher-ups of the two city-states returned empty-handed, but Sypnos's words were quickly spread in the two city-states under the push of some people with ulterior motives.
Moreover, there were also some opinions that quickly spread among the people of the two cities. For example, even after the distribution of land in Syracuse to the people of the port area, there would still be a lot of land left, but the Senate of Diónia would use this situation to allocate the landless citizens of other regions of Diónia to Syracuse, and by then, there would be no more land left.
Another example was that becoming a citizen of Diónia was far better than becoming a citizen of Taunis (Leontini). Not only did you not have to worry about having no land, nor did you have to worry about being invaded by powerful enemies, you would also have the pride of being a citizen of a powerful kingdom …
More than ten years ago, when Taunis, Leontini, and Katanai became independent from the rule of Syracuse at the same time, the people of these two cities had witnessed how the people of Katanai, who were treated as slaves by Dionysius, began to rebuild their homes, gradually became rich, and gained a lofty status that the people of Diónia could not help but show respect … More than ten years had passed quietly, and the seed of wanting to become a citizen of Diónia had long been planted in their hearts, and the impact of the attack on Syracuse this time was only to finally cause the seed in their hearts to blossom and bear fruit.
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