"A few years ago, smoke came out of the top of Mount Etna...... "Laodecian saw that Antonios was fascinated and was about to tell an interesting story about the eruption of Mount Etna that he had seen with his own eyes, but he heard Seklian shouting: "Naxosians, come and tell me where the beach where you are going to land?!" ”

"Okay! Good! Raodisien hurried to the bow of the ship.

Antonios shook his spirits, this was his first independent lead to lead a battle, and it was also the first cross-sea landing operation, whether he could defeat Syracuse, the performance of the army he led was crucial, so he knew the burden on his shoulders, and his heart was both nervous and excited: "Brothers, quickly put on your armor, pick up the shield spear, we are about to land!" Don't stop when you get ashore, charge at Naxos at once! Capture it, our loved ones await the news of our victory! It's time for the First Legion and for yourselves to win the honor! ……”

Antonios loudly cheered up the soldiers who were resting on the deck.

"Don't worry, Captain. The brothers have been tired of being on the ship for the past two days, and they have long wanted to go into battle to fight, how can a town with wooden walls be able to block our attack! Melisanda replied loudly.

The detachment to which Melisanda belonged was assigned to the flagship, which was certainly not a coincidence, but was a deliberate arrangement by Antonios. As a close comrade-in-arms of Philisius, he does not mind giving Philicius's adopted son some care under normal circumstances.

"You kid, be careful, don't fall into the sea when you land." Antonios smiled and tapped him on the shoulder a few times.

The soldiers immediately whistled and booed, coaxing their young detachment leader. Melisanda's two falls into the sea during the Battle of Crotone has become the talk of the soldiers before and after meals, but this does not affect the respect of his men for the captain of the detachment, because Melisanda has always fought bravely, led by example, and shared weal and woe with the soldiers.

At this moment, Melisanda glared: "Who dares to shout and shout again, the next time I play rugby, I won't let him play!" ”

Melisanda's threat made the soldiers boo even more.

Antonios shook his head helplessly at the soldiers' amusement, and once again turned his attention to land.

At this time, the sound of military trumpets echoed in the flotilla, and the flagship of Sekrian took the lead in turning to the left and approaching the bay.

In front is a curved bay. White sand beaches, clear blue waters, and calm seas, more than a dozen fishing boats are spreading their nets to catch fish.

The fleet burst in with a menacing force, shattering the tranquility of the place.

When the fishermen saw the rapidly approaching behemoth, the three-layer oared warship, they panicked and wanted to steer the boat to avoid it, but it was too late, and the bronze ramming angle on the bow of the ship smashed the fishing boat in two as easily as a knife cutting cheese......

It was not until they were close to the beach that the sailors stopped paddling, and the ships washed up onto the beach by inertia.

The soldiers immediately put on their pedals and quickly descended to the beach, and some of the anxious soldiers jumped to the bow of the ship, threw their shields, spears and helmets on the beach, and jumped directly from the deck to the beach.

Soon, the empty beach was filled with heavily armed Ionian soldiers.

"The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming! ......Fishermen drying their nets and handling their fish on the beach fled to the city in terror.

Before embarking at the port of Ligem, Antonios had already summoned officers of all levels of the First Fleet for a combat meeting, so after the soldiers of the First Fleet disembarked, they did not make a unified whole team at all, and under the leadership of the detachment commander and the guidance of the guides equipped on each warship, they marched towards the city of Naxos.

Today's Naxos is not really a city, but a large village. This starts from six or seven years ago, after Dionysius became the tyrant of Syracuse, in order to accumulate strength and counterattack the Carthaginians, he began a military campaign to conquer the southeast corner and east of Sicily, among which the only plain in Sicily, the Catanian plain, became the center of gravity of his strategy, so he imposed the most severe punishment on the two most resolute city-states in this region, Catane and Naxos, after breaking through the city. The entire city of Naxos was destroyed, the walls were torn down, and all the captured Naxos people were reduced to slavery.

Sikuli, another small city-state south of Naxos, only 25 miles from Naxos, was rewarded for his early surrender to Siracusa, and Dionysius gave the land of Naxos to Sikuli. The Sikuli people were overjoyed to receive larger and more fertile Naxos land than their own, but the tragic fate of the Naxos also frightened the Sikuli, who guessed Dionysius's intention to destroy the city and tear down the walls, but did not dare to ask the tyrant directly, so instead of restoring the old city of Naxos, they moved south two miles from the ruins, and built a town on the north bank of the Alcantara River, for fear of causing Dionysius to be displeased, they did not build stone walls, Instead, a simple fence was made of wooden fences, and the new town was named Meyaro (meaning "big").

The beach where the First Army landed was part of the former port of Naxos, which is now gone. The soldiers went to the coast, and within a few steps to the south, they saw a large area near the sea, overgrown with weeds and piles of rocks.

Laodisian stared blankly, tears streaming down her eyes: that was his former home, the city of Naxos!

"Don't stop, Raodisian! Run! We also need your way! Melishanda urged in front of her.

Laodisian hurried to follow. Although he was more than middle-aged, he still insisted on exercising, practicing martial arts, hoping to return to his homeland one day, so he thought that his physical strength was good, but after running with the Dionian soldiers for a while, he began to be a little unable to keep up with the pace of the Dionians.

You must know that these soldiers are marching in full gear, such physical strength and speed are really terrifying, no wonder the Syracuse can't beat them! The amazed Raodysien did not know that in the military training of the Ionian legionnaires every five days, there was an event that was the armed rush, which was different from the "armed run" in the Olympia Games, which was a race in which the runners only wore helmets, held round shields, and were naked, while the Dionian armed march was really fully armed, so if the Dioonians could participate in the Olympia Games, they would definitely be able to compete with the Spartans who always won the championship in the "armed run" event.

“…… That...... That's Meiaro......" said Laodisien, panting, pointing to the faint outline of the town in the distance.

"Okay, you follow." Melishanda didn't have time to wait for him any longer, directing the soldiers to hurry in that direction.

Although Antonios did not say it explicitly, the detachments naturally competed according to the tradition of the legion: to see who would reach the enemy town first?! See who will attack the enemy town first?!

Therefore, the First Army Corps was divided into detachments, not like a rapid march, but like a competitive game, spreading out in a wide front, and rushing quickly towards the South Pole, from first to second, unevenly.

Leading the way is a team of hundreds of people, who can still maintain a relatively complete formation in a fast run.

"Damn, which team is that?" Melishanda looked at the leader diagonally in front of him unwillingly and scolded.

"Captain, it seems to be the first company of the Fourth Brigade." A soldier replied.

"It's a company of 'madmen.'" Melisanda pouted.

"The Maniac" was Leotizides' nickname, known for his intense and demanding training of his soldiers, and of course his companies often won in military competitions.

"Brothers, speed up, we can't lag behind!" Not to be outdone, Melisanda shouted.

Wherever the First Legion passed, the people of Meyaro fled in panic, but instead of stabbing their spears at them, the soldiers drove them towards Meyaro.

Although the town of Mejaro has only a wooden wall, its proximity to the Alcantara River has led to the excavation of a moat outside the town, with only the east and north gates being connected to the outside by a drawbridge. The Sikuli people in the town of Meyaro had just received urgent news from the merchant ships that a fleet of hundreds of warships was coming from the north, and the sails seemed to belong to the Dionian League.

Sikuli people were shocked, they had just received the news that "the Dionicians had defeated Syracuse in the battle", and in a blink of an eye Dionya's fleet appeared on the east coast of Sicily, they didn't think that the Dionian fleet, which had defeated the Syracuse navy not long ago, came with good intentions, but they didn't have time to discuss the countermeasures, and some people had already fled back from the sea, shouting in panic: "The enemy is coming!" The enemy is coming! ……”

Frightened by the rapid pace of the Dionians' attack, the Sikuli hastily gathered some of their citizens to defend themselves against the enemy.

At this time, more and more people fled to the town, which actually caused congestion on the suspension bridge and the north gate.

Selofenis, who claimed to be a freedman, had been employed a few months ago by a Sikuli citizen to help his employer plow the fields. It's noon, and he, who should have appeared in the riverside field outside the town, appeared in the town at this moment and stopped a citizen who had fled into the town: "This uncle, what happened?" ”

"Yes...... Enemy...... There are enemies...... Kill from the sea, take up your arms and go...... Go ......," the man said in shock.

Shelovenis interrupted him: "Enemy?!" What kind of enemy?! ”

There was fear in the eyes of the people: "Black! It's all black! It's like a devil out of hell! ”

Shelovenis blinked, looked back at the group of Sikuli citizens who didn't even have time to put on their helmets and cuirasses, so they hurriedly picked up their shields and spears and hurried towards the congested north gate.