There are three ports in Syracuse, the smallest one is on the island of Ortigia, which has only two piers and very few ships moored. There is a small port on the north side of the isthmus connecting the island of Otigui with the city, which was the early trading port of Syracuse, and later with the expansion of the urban area, the increase of population, and the prosperity of maritime trade, the small port was no longer enough, so a large port was built.

The Grand Harbour in a broad sense refers to the vast pocket bay to the west of the city of Syracuse, and the real Grand Harbour is only a small part of the northeast corner of the bay, which is two miles south of the isthmus of Ortigia Island, which was originally part of the swamp, and was later filled in by the Syracuse people to build the port, and the freemen and slaves who worked for the port had to continue to fill the swamp westward in order to have enough space to live, and built rudimentary houses, which also caused the walls near the bay to move westward. Among the many derogatory nicknames given to the people of the port area by the citizens of the city, "swamp people" is the most used.

With more than 2,000 soldiers, Hiktas marched quickly southwest, encountering no major obstacles along the way.

In fact, Teagenis, who was defending the western city, had received urgent news from the council that "there had been a rebellion in Hiktath and was attacking the council", and asked him to immediately send 2,000 heavy infantry to the council to quickly suppress the rebellion and prevent the council from being attacked.

It was true that the people of the council were urgently recruiting the old citizens, as Hiktas had expected, but what he did not expect was that military mobilization would take time, and the square was too close to the council, and the councillors, fearing for their own safety, could not wait for the new army to be formed, so they sent people to ask for help from the nearest Taiagenis.

The councillors described the situation as serious, and Taiagenis was shocked and became very anxious, due to the capture of the fortress of Yurialus, the council successively sent more than 6,000 soldiers (including on the corridors of the city walls on both sides), and the subsequent attack on the city by the Syracuse army was extensive and fierce, all the troops under the command of Taiagenis went to the city to defend, and there were no extra reserve soldiers around him, so he had to quickly draw from the army defending the city,

Nearly 1,000 soldiers were drawn, the largest force he could squeeze out with all his might, and the city's defenses became even tighter.

The nearly 1,000 soldiers hurried to the main city, and at this time, Hiktas led more than 2,000 soldiers to the port, separated by a few streets, and the two sides staggered.

Hiktas led his troops to the inner wall, which was built by the people of Syracuse to separate the people of the port area, and was guarded every day by a group of citizen soldiers of the city of Syracuse, and the goods of the port, foreign merchants, and foreign sailors had to be checked by them in order to enter the main city. The people of the port area have always believed that this is the strongest evidence of the unequal treatment of them in Syracuse, and it also makes them have an extra thorn in their hearts.

Previously, after the overthrow of Dionysius, Cessitis and others had proposed to Herolis on this matter to "tear down this inner wall", but Herolis did not agree, but agreed that the soldiers stationed on the inner wall should be port citizens, but after the death of Herolis, the council once again replaced the soldiers stationed on the inner wall with citizens of the city, and this inner wall actually became an indelible barrier between the people of the port area and the citizens of the city.

Since the inner wall was mainly aimed at the port area, serving as a quarantine and inventory, it was not built as tall and strong as the outer wall, and when Hiktas arrived with his troops, he did not speak to the officers here, but ordered the soldiers to kill the city from several stone stairs on the inner side of the city wall, and at the same time ordered the other soldiers to throw javelins at the defenders at the head of the city.

The soldiers stationed here in normal times are generally 20 people, and after Teagenis sent reinforcements to the council, he also thought of the importance of this place, but he was really short of troops, and only sent 150 people, thinking that after the Hitars attack the council would be defeated, the inner wall could cut off their passage to the port, and the subsequent pursuers could surround them here and eliminate them, but he did not think that Hitars did not attack the council at all, but returned directly to the port, As a result, the 150 defenders were quickly routed under the full attack of more than 2,000 people.

Hitarx led the troops, through the inner wall, into the port area. He asked Zamoratis to lead people to tell the people of the port area that he had decided to join the Kingdom of Dionia, hoping to get their support and make all defensive preparations for the possible imminent attack of the Syracuse army.

At the same time, he led the main forces straight to the military port.

Located a short distance north of the merchant port, the military port was expanded several times, and during the later reign of Dionysius, it was able to accommodate 500 three-deck ships and 100,000 sailors. But now there are only 50 warships moored in the military port (including 30 three-layer oared warships), and all the personnel in the military port are about 7,000 people, most of whom are from the people of the port area, and nearly half of these crew members from the port area are poor free people, and a very small number of people are from the urban area, they are the port guards, captains, and deck soldiers......

As the war was in place, the council demanded that the crew of the fleet assemble at the military port early in the morning, and then take their positions on the ships, ready to attack at any time when an order is given.

However, the garrison of the port was only more than 100 people, and even if the soldiers on the ships were included, there were no more than 400 people in total, and they were able to ensure the safety of the military port and command the warships, because in the past, the people of the port area basically obeyed the laws of Syracuse.

Now, Hiktas led the army to the outside of the military port, and without saying a word, he directly ordered the soldiers to forcibly attack, and also arranged for some people to shout into the military port: "Brothers in the port area, you don't have to worry about fighting with the powerful Dionian fleet, General Hiktas has led us to join the Dionian kingdom, quickly take up the weapons in your hands, occupy this military port with us, and then become a citizen of Dioria, and obtain fertile land!" ……”

Since half of the Syracuse sailors were made up of free people, it was easy for them to be infiltrated by the Dionica Sicilian intelligence service, and these spies often preached among the sailors "the terrible Dionysian navy and the benefits enjoyed by the freedmen after joining the kingdom", so that the sailors loved and feared Dionia, since Syracuse tore up the agreement, formed an alliance with Carthage, and started a war with Dionia, at first the navy avoided the war in order to preserve the strength of the council, and later under the strong request of Carthage, the Syracuse navy did not go to sea to cruiseHowever, after discovering the Dionian ships from afar, even if the commander wanted to try a war, the sailors did not have the will to fight, and used various methods to delay the execution, so so far, the Syracuse navy has not fought the Dionian fleet, nor has it attacked the Dionian ships.

Now, the sailors heard the shouts of the familiar soldiers outside the port, and the Ionian spies, led by the Ionian spies, picked up their oars and daggers, rushed up, quickly knocked down the captain and the deck soldiers on the ship, and then jumped out of the ship and rushed to the defenders of the port who were struggling to defend against the attack of Hiktas.

Hiktath occupied the military port, and his heart did not feel relaxed, he knew that the council would soon send troops, and the time was very short, so he said solemnly to Artemis: "I have done what you want me to do, and then I need your help!" ”

…………………………………………

A hundred meters away from the west gate of Syracuse, Leotizides, who was in full armor, stood facing the city wall like a statue, the battle had been going on for four hours, the sun had risen in the middle of the sky, he was basically standing here, not moving much, staring intently at the battle in front of him. The screams of soldiers falling from ladders, soldiers being hit by stones and wood under the city, siege engines set ablaze by rockets, and soldiers trapped in siege towers continued...... But it didn't move his frost-frozen face, but his lieutenant Tagru had been worrying about the fierce battle.

At this time, a herald came rushing from the front, and Tagru hurriedly met him, and after a while he rushed to Leotizides again, and said: "Your Excellency, the commander of the first brigade of the seventh army, Anfides, said, 'The siege force he led has suffered too many casualties, and he hopes that it can be withdrawn immediately and replaced by the next wave of troops.'" ’”

Leotizides said without hesitation: "Tell him, 'Don't retreat, give me to continue the attack with all my might, otherwise military law will punish you!'" ’”

When Tagru heard this, he hesitated for a moment and said, "Commander, they are the 7th Legion."

"What's wrong with the Seventh Legion?!" Leoticides' face sank: "As a commander, the Seventh Legion and the Eighth Legion are treated the same. In the last wave of the offensive, the Eighth Army persisted in fighting for more than two hours, and it was indeed difficult to support, so I was replaced by the Seventh Army, how long did they fight? ”

"Probably...... More than an hour. Facing Leotizides' piercing gaze, Tagru whispered.

"It's only been a little over an hour, and the withdrawn soldiers of the Eighth Legion haven't had enough rest to let them continue to fight for another hour." Leotizides said coldly

"Yes!" Tagru was about to inform the herald when he heard Leotizides say, "It stands to reason that the Seventh Legion should be able to fight longer. ”

"Huh?"

"Have you noticed that the Carthaginian defenses are weakening?" Leotizides watched the battle ahead, not so much seeking Tagru's opinion as his own analysis: "During this time, as far as I can see, our soldiers have twice ascended the city by ladders, and held on to the top of the city for at least five minutes before being driven down, which had never happened at this time yesterday; And also...... What does it mean that our light infantry, who stood on a few moving towers, has not been replaced so far, and has been replaced twice at this time yesterday? ”

Leotizides's voice suddenly became louder: "It means that the defense of the people of Syracuse is weaker than yesterday, and they must have drawn a lot of soldiers to recapture the fortress of Yurialus, so the defense on the head of the city is not enough." ”