The carriage was driven by slaves and slowly drove away from the fishing dock.

Micarelsus watched the fishermen and laborers on both sides of the road watching him leave indifferently, and then he realized why he felt a little strange when he came to the dock before: usually when he came to the dock, the fishermen would more or less greet him and say hello, but today everyone except the few fishermen he hired was silent, and the whole dock was shrouded in a strange silence......

This upset him.

…………………………………

In fact, just as Micarelsus was rushing to the port, news of the crushing defeat of the Syracuse army in Greater Greece had already begun to spread throughout the city.

Suspicious and alarmed, the people of Syracuse, who learned of this shocking news, rushed to the city hall near the square to question Felistos, the temporary supreme governor of Syracuse at this time, in order to confirm the authenticity of the news.

In contrast to the growing crowd and noisy crowds outside the town hall, the city hall was unusually quiet, with only a few people in the chief executive's room, but all of them were solemn, because they received not only the news of the disastrous defeat of the Syracuse army, but also the order of the plenipotentiary general Dionysius to "send reinforcements from Syracuse".

"It's unbelievable! 80,000 troops and more than 400 warships...... Such a powerful force was actually defeated by Dionia, which is not as strong as us! Herois let out a long sigh, breaking the silence in the room.

"No one can win undefeated, especially on a sea-crossing expedition as difficult as this, and as long as the final victory belongs to Syracuse, and with the wealth and population of Greater Greece, all the sacrifices are worth it. Are you right, Lord Herolis? Hipparinus, the chief of intelligence, looked at him and said coldly.

"Yes, if we can win!" Herois did not shy away from his compelling gaze, and said in an accentuated tone: "But this is only if! Now the situation is that our Lord Dionysius and the citizens of Syracuse are besieged in Siliting, which is two or three days away, waiting for us to send reinforcements! ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have never doubted the final victory in this war!" Felistos spoke loudly to dilute the conflict that might have arisen between the two: "I was really surprised by Dionia's performance, but I think they did their best to win the battle. And we in Syracuse still have enough manpower and financial resources, as long as we can organize another army and throw it into the war of Greater Greece, it is not something that the Dioonians can resist! ”

"You're right, Felistos." Herois softened his tone: "But it is not easy to build an army of 20,000 men and hundreds of warships in a very short time. ”

"It's not easy." Felistos said in a firm tone: "But we must do it, this is a matter of life and death in Syracuse!" ”

Speaking of this, he turned his gaze to Macias, the former leader of the Campanian mercenaries who had been appointed by Dionysius as the left-behind general: "General, how many more citizen soldiers do you think we can recruit in Syracuse?" ”

After a moment's thought, Masia replied, "At least ten thousand." More than 5,000 people can be mobilized outside the city alone, but inside the city-" Speaking of this, Macias unconsciously looked out of the hall, showing concern: "With the current situation, I'm afraid it is not easy to mobilize for war again. ”

The "outside the city" that Macias refers to is not to the port and the bay, but to the mercenaries placed by Dionysius on the outskirts of the city, who granted them citizenship and land, which made them more loyal to Dionysius. Dionysius repeatedly moved the population of the conquered city-states, and also placed mercenaries, mainly Campanian, to occupy the lands that the neighboring city-states were forced to abandon. In the past few years, Syracuse has recently established dozens of villages outside the city, which has caused the territory under Syracuse's actual control to expand dramatically, and it has become the number one powerful state in Sicily and even in the Western Mediterranean. But this also makes the contradictions between the people in the city, the people outside the city, and the port people increasingly serious.

Felistos rubbed his brow, apparently also troubled by the growing resentment of the people, and said, "Jerolis, it's up to you to recruit troops in the city. ”

"Let me go?" The crowd looked at Felistos in surprise.

"I can't help it, whoever makes the people like you more, only if you go can you succeed." Felistos said half-jokingly, but his expression was very serious.

Herois hesitated a little, wanted to argue several times, but stopped talking, and finally he helplessly spread his hands and said, "Okay, leave this matter to me." ”

With his promise, Felistos relieved half of his heart, and he continued: "Last time we didn't get from Geira, Camanlina, Agrigento...... These city-states on the south coast are conscripted, and now the remaining shortage of soldiers will come from them. Lord Kalidemus, the task of 'sending these city-states and having them send their armies' is up to you. ”

Calidmus, who had been silent on the sidelines, peeked at Hipparinus, and when he saw him nodding slightly, he said, "I will immediately rush to these city-states to ask for the troops to go on the expedition!" ”

As a relative of Hyparinus and a confidant of Dionysius, Calidmus served as a courtier second only to Felistus in power, and when Dionysius was not in the city, he actually had a secret mission to balance Felistus, so he would not easily leave the city of Syracuse without the consent of Hyparinus.

Felistos didn't seem to see the silent communication between the two, and continued: "The land troops are easy to solve, but the warships are much more troublesome, we don't have time to build new warships, but there is no strong fleet, even if we have more troops, we can't send them to Great Greece, so when you go to these city-states in the south to recruit soldiers, you also have to ask them for warships, I think with these more than 50 three-layer oared warships moored in the port, you can barely form a fleet of a hundred warships." But that's not enough, we need more three-sculled ships to be able to defeat the Dionian fleet, so I'll send emissaries to Cyrenaica to buy or lease their existing three-sculled ships......"

Herolis couldn't help but say: "We borrowed a large amount of gold and silver from Cyrenaica and haven't repaid it yet, how can Cyrenaica be lending us a warship?!" ”

"It is precisely because we did not pay back the money that it is possible to get their warship." Felistos laughed.

Herolis immediately understood what he meant: if Cyrenaica wants to get back the principal and interest lent to Syracuse, it is best to help Syracuse win the war, otherwise Syracuse is finished, and Cyrenaica will only lose all his money.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, please go on your mission at once. I hope that in five days, we will be able to assemble the reinforcements and fleet that Lord Dionysius needs! Felistos' voice was gentle, but his command was quite firm.

Everyone said goodbye and left, but Felistos stopped Herolis again: "The people who are making trouble at the door still need you to convince them." ”

Herois smiled helplessly again: "Okay, I'll try." But even if they can dissuade them this time, they will come again next time. ”

"Next time the situation will change!" Felistos said confidently.

"I hope so." Herois replied expressionlessly.

After all of them had left, Hipparinus said dissatisfiedly: "I remind you, Lord Felistos, that during the time that Lord Dionysius led his army out of Sicily, Jerolis had close contact with the men of Pherosanus, and he even declared at a banquet, 'The power of the king is nothing but a fancy shroud!' He openly expressed his displeasure with Lord Dionysius. I want you to imprison him for the time being, until Master Dionysius returns. But not only do you object, but you give him power, in case—"

"What Herois said at the banquet was drunk, and there is no need to take it seriously. What's more, I know the people of Philosanus very well, except for drinking and chatting, and saying something dissatisfied, they can't do much ......" Felistos, as a scholar, still knows a lot about that group, considering the identity of Hiparinus, he patiently persuaded: "Although there are some minor problems with Jerolis, he has outstanding abilities, such as calming the resentment of the people outside, and more importantly, recruiting citizen soldiers...... Who else can do these things but him! In a terrible situation like this, he is my best helper! ”

"He has such a great influence among the civilians, once he wants to cause chaos, the harm he will cause will be even greater!" Hiparinus said coldly.

"Did you find anything?" Felistos asked.

"Not yet. However, his slaves have been in and out of the port a little more often than usual during this time, and now the port is chaotic, and there are many rumors, I am afraid that there are Dionian spies in it! ”

Hyparinus's words made Felistus's expression solemn: "It is your responsibility to monitor the abnormality of the people and ensure the safety of the city-state, I have no right to stop it, if I find any abnormal actions in Jerolis that are not conducive to Syracuse, I will not take into account my friendship with him, and I will definitely imprison him!" After all, if there is a riot in Syracuse, it threatens the safety of all of us! Felistus' expression was grim, and at the same time, he was also subtly reminding Hyparinus that as Dionysius's most loyal follower and relative, Hyparinus had no better impression among the people than Dionysius, and everyone was sitting in the same boat.

"Lord Hiparinus, I have decided to send two hundred mercenaries to the port, and I also hope that you can find out the spies hiding in the port as soon as possible and restore order in the port as soon as possible!"

"I'll do my best!"