Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 207: The courtiers of Dionysius

lnmao.org, the fastest update to the latest chapter of the Mediterranean Overlord of Ancient Greece!

Under the control of slaves, the carriage slowly drove away from the fishing pier.

Micaresus watched the fishermen and laborers on both sides of the road indifferently watching his departure. Only then did he realize the reason why he felt a little strange when he came to the pier before: usually he comes to the pier, and the fishermen are more or less familiar Say hello to him and say hello, but today, except for the few fishermen he hired, everyone else was silent, and the entire pier was shrouded in a strange silence...

It makes him feel uneasy.

…………………………………

In fact, just as Micaresus rushed to the port, the news of "Syracuse's army defeated in Great Greece" had begun to spread in the city.

The people of Syracuse who heard the shocking news rushed to the town hall near the square with suspicion and panic, and asked the temporary supreme chief Felistos in Syracuse at this time. Confirm the authenticity of the message.

Compared with the more and more people gathering outside the city hall, the noise inside the city hall is unusually quiet. There are only a few people in the chief executive’s meeting room, but all of them look serious because they get The news is not only the news of the defeat of Syracuse's army, but also the order of the plenipotentiary general Dionysius to "Syracuse send reinforcements."

"It's unbelievable! 80,000 troops, more than 400 warships... such a powerful force was actually lost to Dionia, who is not as strong as ours!" Herolis sighed and broke the room. Silence.

"No one can always win undefeated, especially in such a difficult cross-sea expedition. As long as the final victory belongs to Syracuse, with the wealth and population of Great Greece, all the sacrifices are worthwhile. . Herolis-sama, are you right?" Intelligence chief Hiparinus looked at him and said coldly.

"Yes, if you can win!" Herolis didn't avoid his pressing gaze, and said with a strong tone: "But it's only if! The current situation is our Lord Dionysius and Tin The citizens of Rakuza are besieged in Siriting, a voyage of two or three days away from us, waiting for us to send reinforcements!"

"My lords, I have never doubted the final victory of this war!" Felistos said loudly to dilute the possible conflict between the two: "Dionia's performance is indeed It surprised me, but I think they tried their best to win the battle. And we still have enough manpower and financial resources in Syracuse, as long as we can organize another army and invest in the war of Great Greece , It’s not something Dionians can resist!"

"You are right, Felistos." Herolis calmed down. "But in a short period of time, an army of 20,000 people and hundreds of warships must be prepared. It’s not easy to do."

"It's not easy." Felistos said firmly: "But we must do it. This is a major event related to the life and death of Syracuse!"

Speaking of this, he set his sights on the former Campanian mercenary leader Macias who was appointed by Dionysius as the left-behind general: "General, do you think we can recruit Syracuse? How many citizen soldiers?"

Masiasi thought about it for a while, and replied: "At least tens of thousands. More than 5,000 people can be mobilized outside the city, but inside the city—" At this point, Macias looked out of the hall unconsciously. , Showing concern: "With the current situation, I am afraid it is not easy to mobilize for war again."

The "outside the city" that Matthias refers to does not refer to the port and the bay, but the mercenaries that Dionysius placed on the outskirts of the city. He gave them citizenship and gave them land so that they could Onisius has a high degree of loyalty. Dionysius has repeatedly moved the population of the conquered city-states, and has also placed mercenaries, mainly Campania, to occupy the land that the neighboring city-states were forced to abandon. In the past few years, there have been dozens of newly established villages in Siracusa outside the city, which has greatly expanded the territory that Siracusa actually controls. It has become the well-deserved first power in Sicily and even the Western Mediterranean. But this also makes the contradiction between people in the city, people outside the city, and people in the port increasingly serious.

Philipstos rubbed his brow bones, apparently feeling a headache for the current growing public grievances. He said: "Herolis, you are up to you to conscript in the city."

"Let me go?" The less passenger flow looked at Felistos in surprise.

"I can't help it. People who tell the people like you better, only if you go can you succeed." Felistos said half-jokingly, but his expression was very serious.

Herolis hesitated a bit, tried to argue several times, but stopped talking, and finally he said helplessly, "Well, leave this to me."

With his promise, Felistos let go of half of his heart. He went on to say: "Last time we did not recruit from Gela, Camanlina, Agrigento... these south coast city-states. , Now the remaining vacancies of soldiers will come out of them. Lord Calidmus, the task of'delegating these city-states and letting them send troops' is handed over to you."

Kalidomus, who has been silent on the side, took a peek at Hiparinus and nodded slightly before he said: "I will rush to these city-states to ask for troops!"

As a relative of Hyparinus and the confidant of Dionysius, Callidemus served as a courtier second only to Philistius in power. When Dionysius was not in the city, he In fact, there is a secret task to check and balance Felistos, so without the consent of Hiparinus, he would not leave Syracuse easily.

Philipstos didn’t seem to see the silent communication between the two, and continued: “The land forces are okay to solve, but the warship is more troublesome. We don’t have time to build a new warship, but Without a strong fleet, even if we have more troops, we cannot send them to Great Greece. So when you go to these city states to the south to recruit soldiers, you must also ask for warships from them. I want to add the port to anchor. The more than 50 three-tiered paddle warships can barely form a fleet of 100 warships. But this is not enough. We need more three-tiered paddle warships in order to defeat the Dionian fleet, so I will send envoys to Cyrenaica to buy or lease their existing three-layer oars..."

Herolis couldn't help but said: "We borrowed a large sum of gold and silver from Cyrenaica and haven't paid it back. How could Cyrenaica lend us a warship?!"

"It is because we didn't pay back that it was possible to get their warship." Felistos laughed.

Herolis immediately understood what he meant: If Cyrenaica wants to get back the capital and interest lent to Syracuse, the best thing is to help Syracuse win the war, otherwise Syracuse After the tie is over, Cyrenaica will only lose everything.

"Okay, sirs, please go and perform your mission immediately. I hope that in five days, we will be able to form the reinforcements and fleets that Lord Dionysius needs!" Phylistos said Although his voice was gentle, his orders were quite firm.

Everyone said goodbye and left, but Felistos stopped Herolis again: "The people who are making trouble at the door still need you to persuade."

Herolis smiled helplessly again: "Well, I will try. But even if I can persuade them this time, they will come again next time."

"The situation will change next time!" Felistos said confidently.

"I hope so." Horolith replied blankly.

After these people left, Hiparinus said dissatisfiedly: "Master Felistos, I reminded you that during the time that Lord Dionysius led the army to leave Sicily, Herolis was in close contact with those of Philosanus. He even declared at a banquet,'The power of the king is nothing but a fancy shroud!', a public expression to Master Dionysius. Dissatisfaction. I hope you can imprison him temporarily until Lord Dionysius returns. But you not only oppose it, but also give him power, in case—"

"Herolis was talking about drunkenness at the banquet, there is no need to take it seriously. Besides, I know the people of Felosanus very well. They can't do much of anything except drinking and chatting and saying something dissatisfied..." As a scholar, Listos still knows the group quite well. Considering the identity of Hiparinus, he patiently persuaded: "Although there are some minor problems with Herolis, his ability is outstanding, like calming the outside. The grievances of the people, and more importantly, the enlistment of citizen soldiers... Apart from him, who else can do well! In such a bad situation now, he is my best helper!"

"He has such a big influence among civilians, if he wants to cause chaos, the harm will be even greater!" Hiparinus said coldly.

"Did you find anything?" Felistos asked.

"Not for the time being. However, his slaves have entered and exited the port more times during this period than usual. Now the port is in chaotic order and there are many rumors. I am afraid that Dionia's spies will make trouble in it!"

Hiparinus’ words made Philistos’ expression serious: “It’s your responsibility to monitor the anomalies of the people and protect the city-state. I have no right to stop it. Conducive to Syracuse’s abnormal actions, I will not take into account the friendship with him, and will definitely imprison him! After all, once a riot occurs in Syracuse, the safety of all of us is threatened!” Felistos looked on He was stern, and at the same time vaguely reminded Hiparinus: As Dionysius’ most loyal follower and relative, the impression of Hiparinus among the people is not much better than that of Dionysius, everyone is. Sitting in a boat.

"Sir Hiparinus, I decided to send two hundred mercenaries to the port. I also hope that you can find out the spies hidden in the port by Dionia as soon as possible, and restore order in the port as soon as possible!"

"I will try my best!"