Hipparinus believed that the rebels such as Herrolis were now strong, and that the courtiers loyal to Dionysius, such as Felistos, were missing, so he chose conservative measures.

In fact, at this time, the Syracuse rebel forces in the city retreated under the onslaught of mercenaries.

Herolis was a good organizer and instigator, but not a good general, and instead of taking decisive measures to reorganize the command and organization of this new army, and dividing his troops to bypass the streets and encircle the enemy, he took the lead in the battle from the beginning, with the result that the citizen soldiers were disorganized, and the wounds and deaths of their comrades made the vicious image that the Dionysius mercenaries had left on them for many years begin to be vivid again.

Unfortunately, Hipparinus was too cautious and wanted to protect his daughter and grandson first, so he missed the opportunity to send mercenaries on the island to defeat the citizen army.

Originally, a small number of nobles and citizens in the city who supported Dionysius were imprisoned because of Felistus, and no one came forward to take the lead in organizing them to assist the mercenaries in the battle, so that although the 1,000 mercenaries who fought fiercely in the city had the upper hand, they lacked follow-up support and could not completely defeat the other party.

While Herrolis was leading the citizen soldiers to support themselves, the Dionian agents, who had been keeping a close eye on the city, immediately informed the poor and freedmen of the port area, and they quickly organized a procession, entered from Puscamin, in front of the unguarded Epipolis Heights, and quickly crossed the Epipolis Heights, rushed to the main city, and attacked behind the mercenaries.

The mercenaries were flanked from front to rear, the formation was disorganized, and after a bitter battle, most of them were annihilated, and a very small part fled to the island of Ortigia.

Herolis did not continue to pursue, he was now aware of the problems of his army, which threatened to destroy the resistance he led. He ordered his troops to halt the offensive and, with the assistance of the other leaders of the uprising, to appoint officers of all ranks for this vast contingent of more than 14,000 citizens, paupers, and freemen, and to have his friend Kuzias, a veteran democrat, as his assistant, to reorganize the army and discuss the plan of attack.

Kuzias advised him that the walls and fortresses of Ortigio were tall and strong, and that they were not easy to attack. In the event that Masias could return at any time with his army, the troops should not storm the island with all their might, but should send troops to control the gates and walls of Syracuse, and at the same time clear the city of the forces that supported Dionysius, and unite the people of the city against these mercenaries of Dionysius......

Herolis and the others agreed with Kuzias's suggestion and sent him to lead a team to the isthmus of Ortigia to urgently build a wall to seal off the island outside of Syracuse, and then Herolis began a clean-up operation in the city.

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At the time of the riots, the Dionian agents hiding in the harbor had already sent people to sail north from the Grand Port by fast boat, and arrived at Cataneh more than two hours later.

In the port of Catanay, there was hidden Dionya's secret agent in charge of Sicily, Antrapolis, who did not personally go to Syracuse to participate in the riots, and even ordered his men not to enter the city of Syracuse during the riots, so as not to have a bad association with the people of Syracuse.

But in Catanay, Antrapolis had no such scruples, because most of the mercenaries, the rulers of the city, had been requisitioned by Masias to go to Meyaro, and the city was empty of defenses. Intrapolis even brazenly summoned freedmen and slaves in the harbor and called on them to overthrow the rule of the mercenaries from outsiders.

Dionysius had destroyed Catanay and had given the land to some of the mercenaries who had helped him in the war. These soldiers fought and killed all year round, and they did not know how to take care of the fields, and Catania had a vast land that they could not keep busy with alone, so they had to rely on slaves and free people. The slaves were mainly from the populace of the city-states captured by Dionysius during his conquest of the east coast of Sicily, and the mercenaries themselves often sent troops to the western mountains to capture exiles and Sicaels and work for themselves as slaves. Many of the freedmen were former citizens of the city-states on the East Coast, but now they have lost their homes. Thus the mercenaries of Katanai ruled over this large group of slaves and freedmen who outnumbered them and hated them, only because of the great force of Syracuse and the ferocity of the mercenaries, they repeatedly crushed the resistance of the slaves and forced them to choose obedience.

Antrapolis, as an exile from Catanay, returned to his homeland after a few years, and was like a fish in water, where many slaves and freedmen he knew well, and even could name them, soon opened up the situation in the port, and with the help of his former compatriots, he formed his own team, and sent additional men to the neighboring city-states of Siracuse, Leotini, Sikuli, and Taunis to spread rumors, find allies, and wait for the right time.

Now's your chance. With the great army of Syracuse suffering heavy losses in Greater Greece, and the fact that almost all the armies of Syracuse and its southeastern allies had been drawn to encircle and suppress the landing Dionian army, Antrapolis did not immediately revolt because he was afraid of alerting the supporters of Dionysius in Syracuse, for which the Catanaens had urged him several times.

Now the news of the riots in Syracuse came, and Antrapolis immediately announced: the operation begins!

The Katanai erupted in cheers, and they gathered their forces to attack the city of Katanai.

At the same time, the Katanai slaves in the city were also organized to launch a fierce attack on the mercenaries at the head of the city to pay the blood debt for their dead relatives.

There were not many mercenaries left behind, and they were suddenly attacked from front and back, and they were quickly defeated.

Instead of participating in the celebration of the victory of his former compatriots, Anterapolis led the rebels to capture the city of Catanay, but immediately sent men on horseback to the three city-states of Leotini, Toannis, and Sikuli, telling his henchmen lurking there that "there had been a riot in Syracuse and Katanay and had succeeded", inspiring their confidence and urging them to take immediate action.

Anterapolis believed that the three city-states had succumbed to the powerful military attack of Syracuse, and were also supported by Dionysius to establish a tyrannical regime, and the heavy tribute and military taxes were pressed on the people, and their resentment against Syracuse can be imagined, and only a flame is needed to ignite a raging fire, and the news of the success of the riots in Syracuse and Katanai will undoubtedly boost their confidence and fighting spirit. As long as the rebellion in the three city-states was successful, it would be difficult for the army led by Masias to return to Syracuse.

For this reason, Antrapolis sent people to take a clipper ship and quickly sail north to the port of Mejaro to inform Antonios of the 1st Army of the news of the "successful riots in Syracuse and Katanay", so that he could be mentally prepared.

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In the early morning of this day, there was a heavy fog in the courtyard, but in Mejaro there was only a light fog.

Masias had received a report from the Scouts: more than 5,000 reinforcements from the southern coast city-states of Gera and Camanlina were coming.

Thus, the cautious Macias did not continue to bombard the Alcantara River with ballistae, nor did he lead his army across the river to attack directly, but led his more than 12,000 soldiers and the pack-up force of more than 50 ballistas along the river bank to the west, from the flat area far from the town of Meiaro and near Mount Etna, and crossed the Alcantara River without hurry, so that the traps set by the First Army in the river near the town of Mejaro were in vain.

Antonios did not send troops to intercept him on the other side of the river, because the mercenaries of Tauromegnan also poured out at the right time, in order to avoid being flanked by the front and rear, Antonios chose to continue to retreat in the dilapidated town of Meiaro, and even transferred back the 200 soldiers who had been built a temporary outpost in the north the day before yesterday, and sent people to the western mountains to inform the exiles not to go east for the time being.

Masias's army easily joined up with the Tauromegnan mercenaries, with a strength of 13,000 men.

Macias still chose a safe tactic, placing the remaining ballistas in front of the battle and continuing to fire stone projectiles to the west of Meiaro, while waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

For a while, stone bullets whistled in the air, and the town roared continuously.

In order to avoid being injured by the flying debris and wood chips, the soldiers of Theonia and the exiles in the town had to retreat to the east.

Masias, on the other hand, took it upon himself to send his soldiers to clear the Ionians of the traps and obstacles outside the town of Mejaro.

The soldiers of the 1st Regiment felt their breathlessness. Since the establishment of the First Legion, it has won many battles and is invincible, and is a hero praised and aspired to by the people of Dionia.

As a result, the soldiers began to protest to the officers, demanding that they rush out of the town and engage the enemy head-on.

Not only did the soldiers protest, but the exiles were also dissatisfied, and they were trapped in the town with their wives and children, but there was no river to the west, so the ballistae could be pushed completely in front of the town, so that the whole town of Meiaro was within range of the ballistas.

When everyone's protests and discontents were conveyed to Anton Ríos through the officers and the leader of the exiles, the pressure he was under can be imagined.

"Legionnaire, we can't be beaten like this anymore! We've got to kill them and destroy those ballistas! Tegatinos suggested aloud.

"Kill out?! That's just the enemy's trick! Trotilas immediately objected: "We now have not 8,000 legionnaires, but 5,000 legionnaires and more than 3,000 exiles, fighting on the plains, easily surrounded by an enemy outnumbered by us!" These exiles will not continue to fight valiantly even when they are surrounded, like us! ”()

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