v6 Chapter 156： Crotone Battle (1)

Davers could feel the heavy expectations in their words. He smiled and said: "For the Syracuse, you don't have to worry. What you should worry about is that after we defeat the Syracuse, do we have it? There are enough people to manage the land in southern Greece!"

At the time of the embarrassment, Daves turned his head and looked at the hills in the east of the city of Turui. He knew that his wife and children would also be looking forward to it, hoping that he would return soon. ......

"Let's go." He coughed, turned the horse's head, and embarked on the wooden bridge with the guards.

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Soldiers in Syracuse burned and looted in the city of Crotone for a night. The victims of the heavy disaster were mainly free people and Gentiles in the port area, and nearly half of the Crotone people who failed to escape into the Acropolis in time. .

By noon the next day, most of the Syracuse soldiers were still asleep in the military camp or in the houses in Crotone, in order to restore the excessive consumption of yesterday.

Dionysius got up early in the morning and led his men to start dealing with military affairs.

The first thing that needs to be solved urgently is the casualty problem. Although the results of yesterday were brilliant, the losses were also great. According to preliminary statistics last night, there were more than 5,000 soldiers killed and seriously injured in the light war, and more than 4,000 soldiers with different degrees of minor injuries. This was beaten down, and Syracuse lost about 1/8. troops. A series of cumbersome tasks such as treating the wounded, replenishing the soldiers, and reorganizing the troops should be completed as soon as possible.

For the most time-consuming and labor-intensive cleaning of the battlefield and burial of the body, it is the easiest to complete. It is only necessary to use the tens of thousands of Crotone people who have become captives to work as laborers. How many prisoners cried when they cautiously sorted out the remains of Crotone soldiers inside and outside the city walls! How many captives dragged the body of the Syracuse soldiers, quietly screaming and screaming, venting their anger!

For Dionysius, this is not something he cares too much. The second thing he cares about is the acropolis of Crotone. The Acropolis is located in the south-central part of the city centre of Crotone, built on a hill with the largest Apollo temple in Greece, so the Apollo Acropolis is also a large Greek city-state. biggest.

Although the fall of the city and the retreat of the Acropolis is the ultimate defensive strategy that the Greek city-state will often take, Dionysius should have taken precautions, but after breaking the wall last night, the Syracuse soldiers were murdered because of the fierce battle during the day. Sexuality, mad killing and looting in the city, and because of the darkness, Dionysius could not effectively command the troops, resulting in delays in the aircraft, resulting in more than half of the Crotones (including many soldiers) Under the organization of Milon and Lucias, they fled into the Acropolis, which gave the Acropolis ample manpower defense.

At the same time, the terrain of the Acropolis is high, and it is surrounded by urban dwellings. Large siege equipment cannot reach the city wall at all. Unless you get rid of the surrounding houses and buildings, build a strong and wide causeway to fill the hills, you can let the siege tower, siege car, etc. reach the city, otherwise the soldiers will attack from the bottom up, not only will they die. It’s heavy and it’s hard to succeed.

But such a siege method takes a long time to prepare, and Dionysius is the most lacking time now, because he has to lead the army to attack Dionia. He will never allow his biggest enemy to have more. Take a breather to stabilize the territory and build more troops.

Thus, Dionysius sent messengers to threaten the lives of the captive Crotone people and soldiers, and let the Crotones in the Acropolis surrender.

However, the Crotones hiding in the Acropolis last night, witnessed the atrocities committed by the Syracuse people in the city, and spent the night in the mourning of their compatriots. The Syracuse people are both fearful and hateful, and together with the tyranny of the Syracuse in the West, they see the Syracuse as the "beast of eating people" and do not believe what the messenger said. Become a Syracuse ally and send troops to Syracuse's army. Dionysius will release all Crotone enemies and return to Crotone's proposal.

Because Ascalama in order to stop the Syracuse people from plundering into the city, protect the people who are fleeing to the Acropolis, do their best to rebuild the broken soldiers, kill the enemy in the streets of the city, and finally die. The Crotones who lost the highest military generals urgently elected to save their Milon as the generals in grief, and Lucias did not object. At this time, the Crotonne high-ranking heads led by Lucias and Milon not only categorically rejected the demands of the messengers, but also showed their courage and determination to fight with the Syracuse people. They cut off the ears of the messengers and The nose drove him off the Acropolis.

When the messenger licked the **** wound and cried to Dionysius, he did not show much anger, just a deep sneer: "Stupid Crotone, you thought you were hiding on the hill. I have no way for you?! In the small Acropolis, tens of thousands of people have been able to improve their defense, but they can defend against hunger and thirst!"

Indeed, the food consumption of tens of thousands of people is a huge number. It is impossible for the people who go up the mountain to carry a large amount of rations. Even if Milon is prepared in advance, it will not be able to protect for a few days. What makes the Crotones worry is that there is no water on the hill. The water of the temple priests usually comes from the cistern in the temple. Because of the heavy rains of the past few days, the reservoir is full, but for tens of thousands of people. The demand, it is just a drop in the bucket.

Therefore, Dionysius ordered: send a small number of troops to surround the Crotone inner city.

He believes that the Crotones will not surrender for a few days in the absence of water and food shortages, and they will surrender.

He had also wanted to order the cannon to fire a stone bomb at the Acropolis to increase the fear of the Crotones and force them to surrender as soon as possible. But after thinking about it, there is a temple of Apollo in the Acropolis. If it is intentionally destroyed, it may affect the morale of the soldiers. And the last sudden torrential rain caused his heart to be arrogant. At this critical moment, he didn't want to make another accident.

Dionysius knew that the Crotones were hiding in the Acropolis and were hoping for the rescue of the Dionyrians. And Diaonia is the target of the Syracuse army's upcoming attack, but the soldiers who have just experienced the tragic siege war need to rest, he can only continue to send mercenaries to the north to scout the enemy.

The insatiable Nubians and the Celtics actually vent their dissatisfaction because they were not able to participate in the city plunder last night.

Dionysius did not get angry, but also specially donated many spoils of these aliens. Because Fibidas once said: In the wild against the Diaonians, these alien cavalry is a weapon.

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A Clipper sailed into the port of Crotone.

"General, the fleet of Dionia is coming!" The captain hurriedly reported to Leptinies, who was inspecting the military port and commanding the moored warship.

The Syracuse Navy was just moved into the Crotone Inner Harbor this morning. Compared to West Riding, Crotone's military port is much larger, can accommodate more warships, and its location is closer to the territory of Dionia, making it easier for the Syracuse Navy to learn more about Dionys. The movement of the Asian fleet is better coordinated with the land forces.

I just didn't expect the fleet to be stationed, the sailors had not completely disembarked, and the fleet of Syracuse came. Leputines is now playing drums in his heart, and he still maintains a calm on the surface: "How many warships have you come?"

It is much harder to judge the number of ships at sea than the number of people on the land, because the fleet of hundreds of warships often occupies a radius of five or six nautical miles when sailing on the sea. People’s sights are limited, and there is no end to the sea. It is a hidden place for hiding, so it needs to be close to observation, which requires a lot of risk.

"Well... I feel like the number of battles I made at the time of the battle." The captain can only say a rough.

Then he emphasized: "The suspension bridges are hung on the masts of the Dionysian warships!"

When Leptinies heard it, he was a little panicked, and the fiasco a few days ago came to his attention.

Fighting or not? Instead of making a decision, he ran to the city to ask Dionysius.

Dionysius learned that the Venetian fleet had struck, and for a moment, resolutely issued an order: meet!

In this regard, he has several considerations.

First of all Since the situation detected is that the Devonian fleet is not much different from the previous one, and both are equipped with the so-called suspension bridge, it means that the previous analysis is correct, due to the number of sailors and modification The difficulty of the warship made the Diaonians still use the original warships. In the number of three-layer warships, the Syracuse Navy also slightly gained the upper hand.

Secondly, Dionysius as a commander, he knows how much morale affects the combat effectiveness of the soldiers. The Syracuse navy lost a big time not long ago. If you don’t make up for it in time, you can choose to give in. Undoubtedly, it is "destroying one's own prestige and rising the enemy's popularity." Then, after encountering the Dionysian fleet, the Syracuse navy will undoubtedly have a dwarf in the fighting spirit.

Moreover, the army of Syracuse is concentrated in Crotone, and after a hard day of fighting yesterday, it is taking a break. If the Danonian fleet is allowed to cross the Crotone sea, it will sail to the rear of the army. For example, the West Coast or the landing on the coast near the city-states such as Cologne, which would not be true, will cause the Syracuse army to be very passive, so Dionysius will never allow such a situation.

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Although this is the second time that Seklelyn has led the fleet, but in his mind, this is the real first independent team. Without King Duffus, there is no restraint.