Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 17: Forcing Asprostum?

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After a while, a young man holding the child handed the child to a woman beside him and stood up.

The woman grabbed him and said in a low voice with concern: "You have to be careful!"

The young man avoided the woman's gaze with some guilt in his heart, and whispered back: "You too!" After speaking, he strode out of the crowd.

Under his leadership, many people also said goodbye to those beside them and walked out.

Fagres patted the young man on the shoulder and asked comfortingly: "Young man, what is your name?"

"Plintors."

Fagres glanced at the woman holding the child and comforted him: "Don't worry, you will be able to get together with your wife soon after the enemy is defeated."

He thought the two were husband and wife, and the young man nodded solemnly.

……………………

The 5,000 soldiers of the Third Army led by Hieronymus were killed to Asprostum. They were not moving faster than offensive because they had to carry the siege equipment made last night. The Laos troops arriving on the north bank of the Neto River were much slower, but deliberately set up such a time difference to facilitate the smooth progress of the plan.

At this moment, Hieronymus followed the team while talking to Izam: "Are you sure all your soldiers have entered the city of Asprostum?"

"Of course! I watched them go in with my own eyes. If it weren’t because my appearance was different from the Greeks, I would accompany my brothers in! Commander, I hope you can rush to the city as soon as possible. I’m afraid of time. Longer, they will be found!" Izam pleaded.

"I understand." Hironimos immediately promised, and at the same time asked: "How many people went in?"

"56 soldiers." Izam blurted out, and he knew his players well. The alliance expanded, the legion expanded, and his mountain reconnaissance team was also expanding, and now there is a company formation.

Hironimos was a little surprised. He didn't expect that there would be so many soldiers sneaking into the city, which made him more confident in taking Asprostum. He told the bugler and urged the troops. Speed ​​up.

Actually, without the urging of Hieronymus, the soldiers' marching speed is constantly accelerating, because these 5,000 soldiers are all from Niutum. They missed the previous battle and yearned for battle and meritorious service.

The upper reaches of the Neto River are neither deep nor wide, but the banks are higher. Hieronymus rushed to the North Bank first, and saw many enemies on the other side arranging bows and arrows, and immediately issued an order: "The Seventh Battalion Attack!"

The light infantry of the Third Army quickly formed a long stretch of single line of scattered soldiers, scrambling to slide down the river bank, braving the arrows shot at them, and striding across the river without fear. After paying very little casualties, they climbed to the opposite shore, and the enemy had already ran away.

The heavy infantry who followed afterwards carried ladders and wooden rafts made of trees and walked easily across the Neto River.

The city of Asprostum is not far ahead. It is located on a higher ground, and it is actually climbing all the way. It couldn't be easier for the Lucanian soldiers living in the mountains. Finally, they stopped in front of the city of Asprostum and began to line up under the orders of the team officials.

The soldiers of Asprostum looked at the dark and crushing enemies under the city wall, all with nervous expressions. Behind them are the newly joined people, and they are even more nervous.

General Fargris saw a somewhat old man who was trembling all the time. The round shield in his hand fell to the ground many times, and he hurriedly stepped forward to comfort him: "Don't be afraid, the enemy can't attack! Since this city belongs to us After the Crotones, they have never been attacked by the enemy! Decades ago, we suffered a defeat in the south (referring to the war between Lokri and Lijim against Crotone), and the Brutes wanted to take the opportunity to regain it. In this city, more people came than the Dionians under the city now, and they returned in a disastrous defeat!"

His words made the soldiers feel a little relieved.

When Fargris walked along the crenellated aisle of the city, patrolling the entire defense situation from west to east, and saw that there were enough soldiers in each crenellation, he had confidence in himself.

Although Asprostum is a small city like Castellon and Crimea, due to the importance of its geographical location, the Crotone people have expanded and reinforced it many times, so it There is a seven-meter-high city wall and a four-meter-wide wall trench, and the water from a tributary of the Neto River is poured in to form a wider moat, and it is close to a steep mountain in the west, and next to another large tributary of the Neto River in the east. The same cliffs, the river is wide and deep. Therefore, it has only two gates, north and south, with concentrated forces, which is convenient for defense.

Izam carefully observed the enemy on the wall. Suddenly he beamed with joy, ran to Hironimos and yelled in excitement, "Leader, my brothers are on the wall. ! They are in the city!"

Hieronimus, who has always been serious, couldn't help being moved at this moment, and asked eagerly: "Where?!"

Although Izam was excited, he remained cautious. Instead of using his fingers, he whispered: "On the far left side of the city wall!"

Hieronimus immediately looked up to the city on the far left. It was noon at this time, the sun was hanging in the middle of the sky, shining on the heavily armed soldiers at the head of the city, shining dazzling light everywhere, but the light in one place was special, the dazzling round shields were neatly connected in a row, and The reflected light flickered and dimmed, very regular, it was obvious that these people were flipping the round shields in their hands at the same time. Who would do such boring and physically demanding things before the war? Hironimos smiled: "Itzam, if you capture Asprostum, your team will be the first!"

"Thank you, Lord Legion!" Izam was overjoyed.

With the mountain scout team members as the internal response, Hieronymus quickly made a plan to "attack the far right side of the city, attract the attention of the defenders, and attack the far left side".

The offensive trumpet sounded, and the soldiers were like hungry wild wolves in the mountains, screaming, and the tide rushed towards Asprostum, Bagul and Ya The captains of Sisters, Lizam, Xima, and Ulaza also took the lead and personally led their troops to charge...

The Crotone soldiers began to shoot arrows at the enemy entering range. For the Dionian heavy infantry wearing heavy armor and heavy helmets, the casualties were minimal. The horn of the battle inspired the wild 3rd Army Tulucanian soldiers and even broke the arrow shaft that hit his arm and thigh, and continued to move forward with injuries...

They quickly reached the moat. According to the pre-rehearsal, the soldiers who ran at the forefront quickly placed the five-meter-long and three-meter-wide wooden platoon on the moat; then the soldiers carrying the ladder They stepped on the wooden raft, crossed the moat, and went straight under the city wall; then they were followed by soldiers armed with buckler sabers...

At this time, the attack on the city wall also began to violently. Arrows, javelins, and stones rained down. The casualties of Dionian soldiers suddenly increased...

………………………

Lysias didn't expect the situation to become so bad when he returned to Crotone.

People who fled into the city spread the news about the death of the Dionian army, and panic spread throughout the city...

Many people in the council were also very flustered. They thought that Crotone’s army was defeated again, and Crimea was captured, so that Dionia’s army could go south smoothly, so they were furious. Threatening: "As long as Miron dares to escape back, he must be convicted!"

Lysias retorted: "I just came back from Crimea. When I left, Crimea was still in the hands of Miron. It's impossible that only a few hours have passed. It was captured by the enemy and attacked the north bank of the Neto River. It’s impossible to count the time, so the Dionians must have bypassed Crimea! I have to admit that the Dionians are too courageous. They don’t have a boat, and it’s impossible to cross the wide Neto River. As long as Millon still holds the Crimea, the Dionians who invade the Croton Plain are like rootless duckweed. Return it."

"The Dionians can't cross the Neto River, but they can attack Asprostum!" Someone said worriedly.

"How easy is it to capture Asprostum? How many times have the Brutis failed before! I hope that the Dionians will attack it, so that they can hit Dior hard. Niah!" Someone retorted.

"If we continue to fight like this, what good is it for us! We in Crotone have already suffered huge losses. Farmland has been destroyed, houses burned, prices are rising, and the treasury is depleting. Due to lack of labor, trade We are also greatly affected, and we have a large number of citizens captured! The people are already dissatisfied with us, it is better to negotiate with the Dionians!" Someone said pessimistically.

"The peace talks?! Didn't you just hear the terms of the Dionian peace talks mentioned by Lycias?! That **** Dionian Archon wants us to dissolve the alliance, can we agree to it! Once Sprucetum is independent, and Corenia, Siritim, and Trina are no longer our allies, so maybe Lokri and Bruti will annihilate them tomorrow and kill them under the city of Crotone! "Someone scolded.

"Peace talks are like buying and selling things. Dionia puts forward terms. We can continue to negotiate with them and lower their demands..."

"The peace talks are okay, but it must be after the Dionian attack is repelled! This way we can straighten our chest and speak loudly to the Dionian!"

……

I don't know when the council began to debate the issue of "whether to negotiate with Dionia". Fortunately, they were able to distinguish the priorities, and some emergency measures were quickly implemented: warships sailed into the Neto River, patrolled the banks of the river, and prevented the Dionians from smuggling and building bridges. At the same time, the freedmen were hired in large numbers, some guarding the inner city of Crotone, some stationed on the south bank of the Neto River to monitor the Dionians on the opposite bank, and a small number of them were sent to the city of Asprostum. To strengthen its defenses. In addition, they sent people to Crimea and asked Milon to attack the Dionians who had besieged Crimea to force the invading enemy to withdraw.