"So we don't need to worry about Crotone, but the most important thing we should worry about is whether Dionya will accept us to occupy Crimesa and become their ally?" That's what Criano is most concerned about

"I don't know......," Timason thought for a moment, still unsure, "If it were another city-state, I'm afraid they wouldn't accept such a forcible seizure of a city, after all, they are all Great Greeks, and they are full of wariness of us foreign mercenaries." However, Dionya is different after all, and it is in this way that Davers and they have their current position, and if we want to succeed, we can only take risks and gamble! If you want to be safe, you might as well stay in the Dionian League! ”

At this moment, Timason's own spirits were lifted, but Criano saw that success was in sight, and he was a little troubled: "I hope Agacia and they can convince Davers!" ”

"If Crotone does send reinforcements, tomorrow we can pretend to be Dionia's army and delay for a while!" Timasong gritted his teeth viciously, anyway, he had already deceived Dionya once, and he didn't care about the second time. He pointed to the chaotic scene in the streets ahead, and said anxiously: "No matter what decision Dionia makes, whether Crotone sends reinforcements or not, we must first do our own thing, capture the whole city as soon as possible, imprison the people of Crimesa, send sentinels to reconnoiter the movement in the south, and let the brothers prepare for defense!" Sights like this must end as soon as possible, otherwise it will always be worrying! ”

"Forcibly give an order, prohibit robbery and killing, otherwise the military law will deal with ......" Cleano smiled helplessly: "That's what Davers did, he did it when he was in Persia, we can't learn it...... Moreover, during the siege of the city, more than 200 brothers were killed, and many were injured, so they had to let them vent. Don't provoke them, Timasson, we have to take our time......"

"Truth be told, when we were in Persia, we also laughed at Davers's approach and called him a fool...... Only today did I know that it was us who were really stupid! …… I...... I have to admire Davers, thinking about things is always more long-term...... When we settle down, we must clean up military discipline!! Timas sighed and made up his mind.

He immediately sent heralds to find the officers of the various teams and told them to gather their troops as best they could. And he and Cleano rushed to the Acropolis of Crimesa with their personal guards and sent people to surrender loudly in front of the city.

The reply of the Crimeans was: "By no means!! ”

So, the two sides confronted each other until the afternoon.

Seeing that there were more and more enemies besieging the city around them, and that they had begun to prepare siege equipment, the eyes of the Crimsians trapped in the defending city became more and more desperate, and they realized that the enemy attack was imminent, and many began to cry. Antaoris and their expressions are tragic, ready to live and die with the Acropolis.

At this moment, there was a commotion in the relatively quiet enemy camp.

……………………

"Crotone's army has approached the North Gate?! How is this possible?! Criano thundered like five thunderbolts, panicking and unwilling to believe the news was true.

Tolikos was both flustered and confused: "Our spies are in the south...... There really isn't any trace of the Crotone in the south?! ”

"Chief, yes...... It's true!! The Crotone were forming a team outside the city, and they were ...... right away The siege is coming soon!! The captain of the Timasong guard, who was in charge of guarding the northern city, shouted anxiously.

Timasong barely kept his composure, how could he not believe the words of his cronies, after a little thought, his color changed: "Oops! We were negligent, they probably came by boat like us! ”

"Yes...... How many people are there? Criano asked nervously, hoping that what came out of the captain's mouth was a light-hearted number.

"I'm afraid there are four or five thousand ......," the captain of the guard said that shattered everyone's luck, and everyone's eyes were focused on Timason.

At this critical moment, Timasong asked rhetorically: "Brothers, are we going to withdraw?" ”

"I ...... I ......" Cleano looked at the Acropolis in front of him, and struggled inwardly for only a moment, and then shouted unwillingly: "We are not Cremisians!" We can hold them back with the walls! Just hold on until tomorrow! Just hold on until tomorrow...... Timason, you said that if we want to be the masters of Crimesa, we can only take risks and gamble! Risking your life to gamble! Even if I die in battle, I don't want to go back to the Ionian League and make them laugh!! ”

"Me too, it's a big deal to die, what's there to be afraid of! We can hold the Crotone at bay with the walls! Tolikos grimaced, and he spoke to the hearts of most of the officers and soldiers.

"Yes, we're fighting Crotone!" Everyone immediately echoed loudly.

Timasong no longer hesitated, stared at the soldiers present, and gave the order in a powerful voice: "Criano! Torricos! And you go and gather the soldiers who are still scattered in the city, and quickly lead them to the city wall! ”

"Yes!"

"Passacs! You lead two hundred men and watch the Acropolis! As long as the Crimezans dare to come out, kill them all! ”

"Chief, leave it to me, you can rest assured!"

"All the rest of me go to the north gate with me, and let the Crotone people taste our awesomeness!" Never let them take away our city! Timasong clenched his fists and roared.

"Roar!! The mercenaries howled, reinvigorating their morale.

……………………

Timasong was an excellent commander, and despite the initial abort of the raid, he was able to command his army calmly, skillfully maneuvering the enemy and breaching the city of Crimesa in the shortest possible time. But as a warrior at the bottom, blinded by jealousy and competitiveness, he saw only that Crimesa, a weak and neutral city-state in Greater Greece, could be seized by their power, and lacked the qualities of a statesman to consider the relations between the city-states of Greater Greece in its entirety, especially Crotone's attitude towards his neighbor Crimesa.

Before the absence of Dionia, Crotone did not attach much importance to Crimesa, partly because of the agreement with Athens, and partly because Turij did not pose a threat to Crotone. But after their defeat to the Dionian League, the situation changed dramatically, with Dionya seizing Niutum, Laos joining the Dionian League, and Dioonia opening up the overland trade routes to the east and west coasts...... Wait a minute. Dionya was rapidly becoming powerful and prosperous, which made Crotone restless, and they began to feel threatened by this emerging power in the north, and the strategic location of Crimea as a buffer became extremely important, so Crotone was tightening up his encirclement of Crimea for half a year.

That's why when Crimesa heard that an enemy was coming, the first thing he thought of was to ask for help from Crotone. At the same time, when Crotone heard that Crimesa was being attacked by an enemy from the north, his first reaction was "The Dionians have finally begun to attack!" So the Council of Crotone almost immediately approved the proposal to send reinforcements. At the same time, considering that it was possible to be a Dionian, even as the messenger for help said that "there are only two thousand enemies", they also prudently sent 10,000 citizen soldiers.

Just when Timasong thought that Crotone's reinforcements were all in the north, because five thousand men was usually quite a lot for sending reinforcements between the city-states, so he sent almost all his forces to defend the northern city and take into account both the east and west, but he never thought that another fleet would enter the mouth of the Wembria, break into the almost empty port, and force the landing, and the five thousand Crotone soldiers quickly occupied the south gate, and easily routed the two hundred men of Passacs, and after converging the Crimeans in the acropolis, he continued to attack north.

Not only did the mercenaries have a huge disparity in strength, but they are also in the dangerous situation of being caught between the north and the south, and their defeat is a foregone conclusion. After learning that "a large number of Crotone soldiers had broken into the city from the south", the mercenaries lost their fighting spirit, and Timasong and Criano were helpless at the moment.

When the Crotone came in from the south, the mercenaries only put up a little resistance and scattered in all directions.

Timason, who was in the city, saw the mercenaries fleeing from the city being driven and slaughtered like cattle and sheep by the Crotonens, just as they had done to the Crimesians before, and the wrath of the goddess of vengeance came on the mercenaries so quickly that his heart was filled with desolation.

"Timasson, go! Let's go north! Criano shouted anxiously.

Timasong shook his head, he looked up at the north, and showed a relieved smile: Davers, I lost this battle in the end......

Without hesitation, he drew his saber and slit his neck.

Criano didn't have time to grieve, he led a few people out of the city with rope hooks, trying to escape while there was chaos.

But the Crimisians hated them for burning, killing, looting and chasing after them in the city. The Crotone people are doing good things to the end, and they are also on the hunt. The mercenaries were already under siege, so with the exception of a few who escaped, most of them were either killed or captured, and Criano, Tolikos and others eventually surrendered due to the siege, only to be beheaded by the angry Crimisians......

Through the interrogation of the surrendered troops, Crotone and the Crimesa learned that this vicious enemy was a group of mercenaries from Asia Minor and Ionia, who had fought against Persia with the Dionian consul Davers, and had lived in Dionya for more than two months, and that the attack on Crimesa was a premeditated solo action of these mercenaries.

Despite seemingly having nothing to do with Dionia, Crotone's generals and council members felt that the best excuse had been found: unless Crotone was willing to keep peace with Dionya for a long time, it would be a great threat to Androny to allow such rapid development to continue, and the only way to do this was to start a war while Dionya was fledgling and destroy the new alliance!

The passage of this resolution in the council, where the main battle faction was in the majority, went very smoothly, and even the moderate Lucias did not firmly oppose it, apparently aware of the threat posed by Dionia.