After a while, a young man holding the child handed it to a woman next to him and stood up.

The woman grabbed him and whispered in concern, "Be careful!" ”

The young man avoided the woman's gaze with some guilt in his heart, and whispered back: "You too!" With that, he strode out of the crowd.

Under his leadership, many people also said goodbye to the people around them and walked out.

Fagris patted the young man on the shoulder and asked with relief, "Young man, what is your name?" ”

"Printors."

Fagris glanced at the woman holding the child and comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, when the enemy is repulsed, you will soon be able to meet your wife." ”

He thought the two were husband and wife, and the young man nodded solemnly.

……………………

The 5,000 soldiers of the Third Army led by Hieronymus were killed at the city of Asprarustum, not because they had to carry siege equipment that had been made last night, so they marched much slower than the Laos troops who attacked the north bank of the Netto River, but deliberately set such a time lag so that the plan could go smoothly.

At this time, Hieronymus followed the group and spoke to Izzam: "Are you sure that your soldiers have entered the city of Aspraustum?" ”

"Of course! I watched them go in with my own eyes, and if it weren't for the fact that I looked different from the Greeks, I would have accompanied my brothers in! Commander, I hope you can rush to the siege as soon as possible, I'm afraid that after a long time, they will be discovered! Izzam pleaded.

"I understand." Hieronymus immediately promised, and at the same time asked: "How many people have entered?" ”

"56 soldiers." Izzam blurted out that he knew his team inside out. The Union expanded, the corps expanded, his mountain reconnaissance team expanded, and now there was a company formation.

Hieronymus was a little surprised, he didn't expect so many soldiers to infiltrate the city, which made him more confident in taking Asprarustum, and he told the commanders, urging his troops to speed up.

In fact, without the urging of Hieronymus, the speed of the soldiers' march continued to increase, because these 5,000 soldiers were all from Niutum, who had missed the previous battle and were eager to fight and make meritorious contributions.

The upper reaches of the Neto River are neither deep nor wide, but the banks are higher. Hieronymus was the first to rush to the north bank, and when he saw many enemies on the opposite bank, he immediately gave the order: "The Seventh Brigade is attacking!" ”

The light infantry of the Third Legion quickly formed a long line of loose skirmishers, scrambled down the riverbank, and braved the arrows fired at them without fear to cross the river. After paying small casualties, they climbed to the opposite bank, and the enemy had already run away.

The hoplites who followed followed crossed the Neto River with ease, carrying ladders and wooden rafts made of trees.

The city of Asphorustum is not far ahead, it is located on higher ground, and the way through it is actually a climb, which is easy for the Lucanian soldiers who live in the mountains. Eventually, they stopped in front of Asphorustum City and began to line up at the behest of the officers.

The soldiers of Asprarustum looked nervous from the city walls as they watched the black oppressive enemy beneath the city. Behind them were the new populace, who were even more nervous.

General Fagris saw that a somewhat old man had been trembling, and the round shield in his hand had fallen to the ground many times, so he hurriedly stepped forward and comforted: "Don't be afraid, the enemy can't attack!" Since this city has been given to us Crotone, it has never been breached by the enemy! Decades ago, we lost the battle in the south (referring to the war between Lockrie and Ligem against Crotone), and the Brutis tried to take the opportunity to retake the city, and more people came than the Dioonians under the city now, and we were defeated! ”

His words reassured the soldiers slightly.

Fagris had confidence in himself when he walked along the aisle of the city's moats, from west to east, and saw that there were enough soldiers at each battlement.

Although Asphorustum is a small city like Castron and Crimesa, due to the importance of its geographical location, the Crotone people have expanded and strengthened its city defenses many times, so it has a seven-meter-high city wall, a four-meter-wide wall moat, and the water of a tributary of the Neto River is poured in, forming a wide moat, and it is bordered by steep mountains to the west, and another large tributary of the Neto River to the east, which is also a cliff, and the river is wide and deep. Therefore, it has only two gates, north and south, and the troops are concentrated, which is convenient for defense.

Izzam carefully observed the enemy on the wall, and suddenly his face was happy, and he ran to Hieronymus, and shouted excitedly: "Legionnaire, my brethren are on the wall!" They're in the city! ”

Hieronymus, who has always been serious, couldn't help but be moved at this moment, and asked eagerly: "Where?!" ”

Although Izzam was excited, he remained cautious, and instead of using his fingers, he whispered: "On the far left side of the city wall!" ”

Hieronymus immediately looked to the city on the far left. At this time, it was noon, and the sun hung in the middle of the sky, shining on the heavily armed soldiers at the head of the city, and everywhere it was dazzling, but there was a place where the light was special, the dazzling round shields were neatly connected in a row, and the reflected light flickered and dimmed, very regular, and it was obvious that these people were turning the round shields in their hands at the same time. Who would do such a boring, physically demanding thing before the big war? Hieronymus showed a smile: "Izzam, if you capture Asprarustum City, your team will be the first to take the lead!" ”

"Thank you, Legionnaire!" Izzam was overjoyed.

With the mountain scouts as the internal response, Hieronymus quickly set a plan to "attack the rightmost part of the city, attract the attention of the defenders, and secretly attack the far left".

The trumpet of the attack sounded, and the soldiers howled like hungry wolves in the mountains, and rushed towards the city of Aspraustum like a tide......

The Crotone soldiers began to fire arrows at the enemy who came into range, and suffered few casualties to the Ionian hoplites, who wore heavy armor and heavy helmets. Inspired by the horn of battle, the wild Tulucanian soldiers of the Third Army even broke the shaft of the arrow that shot them in the arm and thigh, and continued to advance with wounds......

They soon reached the moat, and according to the drill in advance, the soldiers who ran at the front quickly set up the five-meter-long and three-meter-wide wooden rafts they were carrying on the moat; Then the soldiers carrying the ladder stepped on the wooden rafts, crossed the moat, and went straight to the city wall; This was followed by soldiers armed with sabers with round shields......

At this time, the attack on the city walls also began to rage, arrows, javelins, and stones rained down, and the casualties of the Dionian soldiers increased suddenly......

………………………

Lycias didn't expect the situation to become so bad just after returning to Crotone.

The people who fled into the city spread the news of the Dionian army's killing, and panic spread throughout the city......

Many people in the council were also very flustered, believing that Crotone's army had been defeated again and the city of Crimesa had been captured, so that Dionia's army could move south, so they threatened angrily: "If Milon dares to flee back, he must be punished!" ”

Lucias retorted: "I just came back from Crimesa, and when I left, the city of Crimesa was still in the hands of Milon, it is impossible that only a few hours later, the city of Crimesa was captured by the enemy, and it also reached the north bank of the Neto, it is impossible to calculate the time, so the Dionians must have bypassed Crimesa!" I have to admit that the Dioonians were too bold, they had no boats, they could not cross the wide Neto River, and as long as Milon held on to the Crimesa, the Dioonians who invaded the Croton Plains were like rootless duckweeds and had to retreat eventually. ”

"The Dioyans can't cross the Neto River, but they can attack Asprarustum!" Someone said worriedly.

"How can Asprarustum be so easy to take, how many times have the Brutis failed before! I wish the Ionians attacked it, just in time to strike a blow at the Ionians! Someone retorted.

"What's in it for us to continue fighting like this! We in Crotone have already suffered great losses, farmland has been destroyed, houses have been burned, prices are rising, the treasury is being depleted, trade has been greatly affected due to the lack of labor, and we have a large number of citizens taken prisoner! The people are already dissatisfied with us, so let's talk to the Dionians! Someone said pessimistically.

"Peace talks?! Didn't you just hear what Lucias said about the terms of the peace talks in Dionia?! That damn Archon of Ionia wants us to disband the Alliance, can we say yes! Once Asphorustum becomes independent, and Coronia, Siritin, and Trina are no longer our allies, then maybe tomorrow Lokri and the Brutis will destroy them and kill them under the city of Crotone! Someone rebuked.

"Peace talks are like buying and selling things, Dionya has made conditions, we can continue to negotiate with them, lower their demands......"

"Peace talks are okay, but only after repelling the attack of the Dionians! So that we can straighten our chests and speak loudly to the Dionians! ”

……

At some point, the council began to debate whether or not to hold peace talks with Dionia. Thankfully, they were able to prioritize and some emergency measures were quickly implemented: ships sailed into the Neto River, patrolling the banks to prevent the Ionians from smuggling and building bridges. At the same time, the freedmen were hired in large numbers, some to guard the city of Crotone, some to be stationed on the south bank of the Neto, to monitor the Ionians on the other side, and a small number to the city of Sprustum to strengthen its defenses. In addition, he sent people to Crimesa, asking Milon to launch an attack on the Ionians besieging the Crimean city in order to force the invading enemy to withdraw.