"And now, with the huge army of Syracuse pinned down by us in Greater Greece, the news of the crushing defeat of his navy and the defeat of the battle in Sicily will inevitably give the people there a new idea! Dionia's strength is not as good as Syracuse, even if we completely annihilate the army in Silitine City, Syracuse only needs to rest for a few years to regain its strength and become a big trouble for Dionia, so for the sake of Dionia's future, we must take advantage of the opportunity of this heavy loss of Syracuse to completely destroy its hegemony in Sicily! ”

Davers's words greatly touched the generals present, and just as they were thinking, Davers continued to say to Antonios: "I have sent people to the east of Sicily to contact the people and forces who oppose Syracuse in various city-states, and I believe that the news of the crushing defeat of the Syracuse army in Greater Greece will definitely make them take action!"

The important thing for the First Army to go to Sicily was not to annihilate many enemies, but to contact these dissatisfied forces in Siracuse, overthrow the tyranny of its city-state, break away from the Sicilian League under the leadership of Siracuse, and finally isolate Syracuse! ……”

Antonios' spirits were lifted by Davers's words, and he now understood somewhat that one of the reasons Davers had sent him commander of the army on the expedition to Sicily was that he was the most sociable of the several corps commanders.

At this time, Henipolis also unfolded a map of Sicily on the grass, and everyone gathered around.

Davers asked, "Commander Antonios, where do you think it would be better for the First Army to land in Sicily?" ”

This was an examination of Antonios, and not only him, but several others looked at the map and fell into thought. They are not like Davers, who think more comprehensively and long-term, and they are very familiar with Greater Greece, but Sicily is relatively unfamiliar.

Half-crouched on the ground, Antonios stared at the map, which was still alien to him, trying to remember in his mind every city, every river, every mountain range marked on it, his gaze moving north from Syracuse, Taunis, Leotini, Catanay, Naxos, and finally to the corner just a strait away from Ligem......

………………………………

At dusk, the city of Coronya suddenly came alive because more than 2,000 citizen soldiers who had been forced to go with the army of Syracuse returned.

The people hugged their loved ones, greeted them warmly, and thanked Dionia for his kindness. The bereaved wept bitterly, blaming the Syracuse for the calamity they had brought to them. The people who had relatives besieged in Cilitin were worried and prayed to Apollo for their peace in the rest of the battle.

At this time, in the council of Coronia, the councillors were arguing over a letter from Davers that the soldiers had brought back.

Chief General Friniris finally couldn't help but stand up and said loudly: "Citizens of Coronia, this is now a critical moment related to the survival or death of Coronia, if you still have a vague attitude and want to delay all the time without giving a clear answer to the Southern Italian Alliance, Coronia's situation will be very dangerous!" ”

His speech made the quarrel in the council room a little quieter, and someone stood up and retorted dissatisfiedly: "Lord Frynires, you have reversed, now that Dionya has defeated the Syracuse and besieged them in the Siriting, we have escaped the danger of being killed and plundered by the Syracusens, and we are completely safe!" ”

"Completely safe?!" Friniris sneered a few times, looked around at the others, and asked loudly, "You all think so?!" ”

"Of course not!" A man stood up in the room, and Friniris recognized it as Eulipatos.

"I agree with Friniris that Coronia is in danger right now! Ladies and gentlemen, when you have just heard the letter from Davers, the consul of Dionia, I wonder if you have noticed that it says, '...... After much discussion with the generals of Crotone and Trina, it was agreed that more than 2,000 Corennian soldiers captured during the battle with the Syracuse and the capture of Trina should return home......

You may only see Dionia's kindness in allowing our citizens to return safely, but you don't see the phrase 'repeated discussions' in the letter, what does this mean?! Eulipatos accentuated: "Explain that some among the Crotone, Trina, and even Dionyas are dissatisfied with our military presence in Syracuse!" Defending the city of Trina, capturing Crotone, and participating in the battle with Dionya are all things that make them feel guilty! ”

"But we were forced!" Someone in the crowd shouted, "If we don't, Coronia will suffer the same calamity as the Siritins!" ”

"That's right! As Coronya's allies for many years, they should understand that we were forced to make this decision before! The people in the venue shouted in unison.

"Yes, they understood, so they released our citizens. Now it's time for us to respond to the kindness of Dionia! "Don't forget what Davers said at the end of the letter, 'After winning the battle, the South Italian Alliance is fighting back against the Syracuse and their accomplices Lockri League, determined to destroy them completely!'" Therefore, I would like Coronia to seriously consider returning to the Southern Italian Alliance, take up the shield spear, and join the ranks of the rebels, all the allies of the Southern Italian Alliance are eagerly waiting for your answer! ……’

Ladies and gentlemen, is this the request of Davers, the consul of Dionia? No! This is his warning to Coronia! It was an ultimatum given to us by the South Italy Alliance! If we don't make a clear statement on this, the SAI will see Coronya as an accomplice of Syracuse and Lokri, and maybe in a few days, the SAI will no longer be their emissaries, but the army! ”

The room suddenly became quieter, but there were still people who objected: "Ullipatos, it's not that we don't want to rebel against Syracuse. Don't forget, we still have a thousand citizen soldiers in the Celestium! Once Dionysius knew that Coronia had betrayed him, with his brutal character, those of our countrymen would probably die at his hands! So in the face of the anger of the families of the dead soldiers, who dares to bear this responsibility! ”

"Yes, it's not that we don't want to go to war with the Syracuse people who oppress us, but it's about the lives of our citizens, and we have to be careful! At least compared to the vicious Syracuse, Crotone and Trina have been allies of Coronia for decades, and Dionya has always been known for his generosity and magnanimity, so we should be forgiven for our hesitation! "There were still people in the room who responded.

Friniris finally couldn't hold it anymore and said loudly again: "Ladies and gentlemen, you think too well of your former allies! Xiliting was slaughtered! Trina is captured and the population is displaced! The city of Crotone was burned to the ground, and it is said that almost half of its population was killed or wounded! The civic soldiers of the Dionian League are said to have lost no less than 10,000 men, and the outside of Crimesa and Asprarustum are in ruins! Compared to them, even if we count the losses of a thousand soldiers, we in Coronia are still relatively slight! ”

"What do you mean by this, Lord Friniris! Isn't it important that the lives of our thousand soldiers matter! Someone immediately asked.

"The South Italy Alliance will not think they are important, they will only think that we have sacrificed too little! Let's not forget that our soldiers have invaded their territory and attacked their cities, albeit only by force, but if we take the last kindness they give as a sign of tolerance for us and do not make a quick decision, anger and jealousy will grow like weeds in their hearts, and will prompt them to make Coronnia an object that must be exterminated like Syracuse and Lokry, and who can Coronia rely on then?! Syracuse? We all know very well that if this war is won, Syracuse will only support Lokry to annex us! In this great war that involved the entire city-state of Greater Greece, either fight to survive or fight to perish, no city-state can survive without fighting! Ladies and gentlemen, you decide the fate of Coronia, and I am willing to bear the burden of public anger and be the first to vote for Coronnia to rejoin the alliance and declare war on Syracuse and Lokri! ”

The deathly silence of the room, Friniris's heavy and emotional speech deeply touched everyone present, prompting them to weigh the pros and cons more profoundly.

"I am willing to be the second person to support Kaulunia's declaration of war on Syracuse!" Eulipatos stood up.

Then the third person ......

In the end, the council passed the proposal to "declare war on Syracuse" by a narrow majority. Then, in the emergency citizens' assembly, although many citizens expressed strong opposition, and even some people rushed to the stage and tried to beat Friniris, the more than 2,000 citizens who were sent back by Dioonia played a key role, and even returned Coronia to the South Italy League by a margin of more votes than the council.

………………………………

Ever since Lockry's army repelled the Lijim attack on Medma, Lockry's 15,000 soldiers have guarded Medma.

The leading general, Theopantos, kept receiving news that Syracuse had won in the north, and he was eager to lead his army into Dionica with the Syracuse and defeat the Dionian army, so as to wash away the shame of being forced back by the Dioonians without a fight in Crotone. ()

Please remember that the first domain name of this book is:. Mobile version reading URL: