Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

"And now, the huge army of Syracuse is pinned by us in Great Greece. The news of his naval defeat and the defeat of the battle back to Sicily will surely give the people there new ideas! In Syracuse, even if we wiped out all the troops in the Silitium, Syracuse only needs a few years of rest to regain its power and become a big trouble for Dionysia, so for Dionysius Asia’s future is to take advantage of this time Syracuse is hit hard to completely destroy its hegemony in Sicily!"

Daphus's words touched the generals present. As they thought about it, Davos continued to say to Antonios: "I have sent people to the east of Sicily before, contacting various city states against Thira The people and forces of Kuza believe that the news of "the fiasco of the Siracusa army in Great Greece" will be sent back to Sicily, and they will definitely let them take action!

When the First Army arrived in Sicily, what was important was not to annihilate many enemies, but to contact these dissatisfied forces of Syracuse, overthrow the tyranny of its city-states, break away from the Sicilian alliance under the leadership of Syracuse, and finally isolate Syracuse. !..."

Daveus's words inspired Antonios. He now understands a little: One of the reasons why Daveus sent him to serve as the commander of the expeditionary Sicilian army, because he is the best communicator among the several army commanders.

At this time, Henripolis also unfolded the map of Sicily on the grass, and everyone surrounded him.

Daphes asked: "Commander Antonios, where do you think it would be better for the First Army to land in Sicily?"

This is a test for Antonios. Not only him, but the others looked at the map and fell into thought.They are not like Daphes. They consider things comprehensively and long-term. They are very familiar with Great Greece, but Sicily is relatively unfamiliar.

Antonios squatted on the ground. He stared at this map, which was still strange to him. He wanted to keep every city, river, and mountain range marked on his mind. His eyes looked from tin Rakuza, Taunis, Leotini, Katana, Naxos have been moving north, and finally stopped at the corner only one strait away from Lijim...

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At dusk, the city of Kaurenia suddenly became lively, because more than 2,000 civilian soldiers who had been forced to follow the army of Syracuse returned.

The people embraced their loved ones, asked cold and warm, and at the same time thanked Dionia's kindness.People who lost their loved ones cried out in tears, cursing the Syracuse people and brought them disaster.The people who were besieged by the relatives in Silitin were worried and prayed to Apollo to bless them in the next battle.

At this time, in the parliament of Cologne, the parliamentarians were arguing for the soldiers to bring back a letter from Daveus.

Chief General Friniris finally couldn’t help but stood up and said aloud: "Citizens of Cologne, now is a critical moment related to Cologne’s survival or death, if you still have a vague attitude If you want to procrastinate all the time and not make a clear reply to the Confederation of South-Italian Nations, Kaurenia’s situation will be very dangerous!"

His speech made the quarrel in the meeting room quieter, and some people stood up and dissatisfiedly retorted: "Sir Friniris, you said the opposite, now Dionysia defeated the Syracuse, and By besieging them in the Silitium, we have escaped the danger of being killed and looted by the Syracuses and are completely safe!"

"Totally safe?!" Friniris sneered a few times, looked around at others, and asked aloud, "Do you all think so?!"

"Of course not!" A man stood up in the meeting room, and Friniris recognized that it was Olpatos.

"I agree with your opinion, Friniris. Colenia is now dangerous! You, when I heard the letter from Dionys, the governor of Dionysia, I wonder if you have noticed what was said in the letter, ' ...After repeated discussions with General Crotone and General Trina, they unanimously agreed that in the battle with the Syracuse and the capture of Trina more than 2,000 Kaurnia captured The soldier returned home...'

You may have only seen Dionysia’s good intentions to allow our civic soldiers to return safely, but did not see the phrase “repeated discussion” in the letter. What does this mean?!"Yolipatos added a tone: "Explain that some of the Crotone, Trina, and even Dionysia are dissatisfied with the military operations we sent to participate in Syracuse!Defending the city of Trina, capturing Crotone, and participating in the battle with Dionia, these actions of ours make them feel ill at heart!"

"But we are forced!" someone in the crowd shouted: "If we don't do this, Kaurenia will suffer the same disaster as the Silitians!"

"That's right! As the allies of Cologne for many years, they should understand that we made this decision beforehand is a last resort!" the people in the venue shouted in agreement.

"Yes, they understand, so they released our citizens. Now it's time for us to respond to Dionysia's goodwill!" Euripatos said solemnly: "Don't forget Davos at the end of the letter Say,'After winning the battle, the Confederation of South Italy is fighting back against the Syracuse and its accomplice Lockley League, and is determined to wipe them out! Therefore, I hope that Cologne will seriously consider returning to the Confederation of South Italy. Question, pick up the shield spear and join the team against the invaders, all the alliances of the Southern Italian Alliance are anxiously waiting for your answer!...'

Ladies and gentlemen, is this the request of Dionys, the Archon of Dionysia?Do not!This is his warning to Kaurnia!It is the ultimatum given by the South Italian Alliance!If we haven’t made a clear statement on this, the Confederation of South Italy will regard Kaurenia as an associate of Syracuse and Roquery. Maybe a few days later, the Confederation of South Italy will send it to Kaurenia. It is their messenger, but the army!"

The venue suddenly became quieter, but some people still expressed dissent: "Yolipatos, it is not that we are unwilling to resist Syracuse. Don't forget, we still have a thousand civilian soldiers in the Silitian! Once let Dionysius knew that Coronia had betrayed him, and with his brutal character, those of our compatriots would probably die tragically in his hands! Then who dares to bear this responsibility in the face of the anger of the families of the dead soldiers!"

"Yeah, it's not that we don't want to fight against the Syracuses who oppress us, but that it is related to the lives of our citizens, and we must be careful! At least compared with the vicious Syracuses, Crotone and Te Rina has been an ally of Kalenia for decades, and Dionia has always been known for her generosity and forgiveness, and should forgive our hesitation!

Friniris finally couldn't help it, and said aloud again, "You guys, think of your former allies too well! Silitin was brutally slaughtered! Trina was captured and the people were displaced! Crotonellian city was burned down By the way, it is said that almost half of its people have been killed and wounded! The Citizen soldiers of the Dionysian Union are said to have lost no more than 10,000 people, and Crimea and Asprostum have all been ruined outside the city! For example, even if we count the loss of these 1,000 soldiers, it is still relatively minor!"

"Master Friniris, what do you mean by saying these words! Isn't the life of our 1,000 soldiers important!" someone asked immediately.

"Southern Italian Alliance will not consider them important, they will only think that we have sacrificed too little! Don’t forget that our soldiers have invaded their territory and attacked their cities, although they are only forced, but if we take them If the final goodwill is given as a tolerance for us without making a quick decision, anger and jealousy will grow like wild grass in their hearts, prompting them to list Kaurenia as Syracuse, Locke The same objects that must be eliminated, who can Coronia rely on by that time?! Syracuse? We all know that if this war is won, Syracuse will only support Lockley to annex us! This is a war that involves the entire Greek city-states, either fighting to survive, or fighting to perish. No city-state can be stable who wants to survive without fighting! You, you decide Kaurni The fate of Asia, and I am willing to bear the anger of the people, the first vote to support Kaurenia to re-join the Southern Italian League and declare war on Syracuse and Lockley!"

The dead silence in the meeting place, Friniris's heavy and emotional speech deeply touched everyone present, prompting them to weigh the gains and losses more deeply.

"I am willing to be the second person to support Kaurenia's declaration of war against Syracuse!" Euripatos stood up.

Then the third person...

In the end, the council passed the proposal to declare war on Syracuse with a weak majority.Then in the urgent civic conference, although many citizens expressed strong opposition, and even once rushed to the stage, wanting to beat Friniris, but the more than two thousand citizens sent back by Dionysia played a key role The effect, even with the advantage of more votes than the parliament, let Kaurenia return to the South Italian League.

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Since Lockley's army repulsed the Lijimen's attack on Medema, Lockley's 15,000 soldiers guarded Medema.

The general, Diopantos, keeps receiving "Syracuse wins in the north" news, he is eager to lead the army and the Syracuse to attack the Dionysian territory and defeat the Dionysian army In order to wash away the shame that he was forced to retreat by the Dionysians without fighting in Crotone.