Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 931

[Chapter 278 Ballista Attack and Defense]

Not only was a small fortress built in just three months, but a new military camp was also built not far north of Leotine.

The Palagonia fortress is not a La River fortress, it is only used for card charges, it is a real defensive fortress.

A 5-meter-wide and 5-meter-deep trench surrounds Paragolia, the bottom of the trench is covered with pointed wooden stakes, and the two sides of the trench are full of dense deer villages, which makes it quite difficult for siege equipment to reach the city. difficulty.

Although the outer city wall is only 4 meters high, its structure is composed of rammed earth, stone brick, strip stone and cement from the inside to the outside. Powder, this is not for aesthetics, but has a certain tactical effect. The white city wall will reflect light under the sunlight, which will affect the attacking soldiers, and will make it more difficult for the ants to climb the city. At the same time, it can also reduce the stone The impact of the bomb on the city wall.

The outer city wall surrounded by a circle can allow the defenders to better concentrate their forces on defense, and also make it easier for reinforcements dispatched from the city to reach the front of the city.

Every other section of the city wall, there are round towers protruding from the wall, which can strengthen the side attack on the enemy who is huddled under the city or the enemy who is attacking the city, and its circular wall can also weaken the impact of external forces. .

The aisle at the head of the city is not narrow, and the top of the wall tower connected to it is even wider. At the top of each wall tower is a ballista and an abdominal bow side by side, and there are several boxes of stone bullets and iron pieces on the ground. There are still many defending soldiers beside the battlements, and it does not seem crowded.

Leotizides gathered all the ballistas and abdominal bows in the Cataner camp to Palagonia, not only on the turrets of the outer city walls, but also on the tops of the towers in the center of the city.

This 6-meter-high tower is also a circular building with a diameter of 50 meters. Not only are multiple ballistas and abdominal bows placed on the top of the tower, but also a large number of soldiers can be deployed. They are protected by battlements and can be commanding. Attack enemies who climb the outer walls or enter the city.

There are also multiple windows under the tower, which can also be used by soldiers to attack the enemy under the tower.

What Margo did not see was that between the outer city wall and the central tower, there was a wall of the same height as the outer city wall, which surrounded the central tower. Once the outer city wall was broken by the Carthaginians, Dionysian soldiers defending the city You can quickly retreat to the second city wall for defense. If the Carthaginians think that they can take Paragonia by breaking the outer city wall, and relax their vigilance, they will undoubtedly suffer a big loss.

It was the commander in charge of the defense of Paragonia who was speaking to the men with the ballista on the alcove. His name was Teminides, the Lokri, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the Seventh Legion, who took over this place. It didn’t take long for the fortress to be built. Seeing that the fortress, which is usually only accessible in training, was actually used in actual combat, and that the fortress was larger and more complete in facilities, he was very excited and confident in defending Paragonia. , has been leading the soldiers of the Seventh Legion to familiarize themselves with the structure and facilities of the fort these days, so as not to be hectic during the battle.

Today, there are nearly 4,000 soldiers in the fortress, including the 1st Heavy Infantry Brigade of the 7th Legion, the 7th Light Infantry Brigade, and a Sicilian Legion Heavy Infantry Reserve Brigade and Light Infantry Reserve Brigade. A total of 2,000 heavy infantry, 2,000 Light infantry (excluding ballista units and medical battalions).

Teminides felt that the number of soldiers and the proportion of troops in the garrison were just right for this small fortress.

Although there are 4 captains in the fortress, and Teminides is new to the scene, the first captain of the official legion has a higher status than the other captains of the same legion, and

is usually the future legion commander. According to Dio The Military Law of Nia stipulates that “in the event of the unfortunate death of the regiment commander during the battle, the first battalion commander shall act as the corps commander”, so the other three corps commanders still respect him, and in the fortress, he can do so.

Teminides walked along the aisle of the city, inspecting the defense work of the soldiers, and chatting with them from time to time. The main object of the conversation was the Sicilian soldiers. The purpose was not only to understand their state, but also to let these Sicilian wearers. The Onian civic soldiers were familiar with him as a commander, which was convenient for commanding operations in the future.

The Lochry soldiers of the Seventh Legion are serious, hard-working, but reserved, except for Teminides. He is outgoing, very friendly, and good at mingling with the soldiers, which is why Brelu sent him to Pa One of the reasons Lagonia was the commander was because he was able to bring together Locri and the Sicilian soldiers so well.

“Captain, the enemy may be attacking!” A soldier pointed outside the city and said loudly.

“That’s great! The Carthaginians are ready to give us credit!” Teminides said with a smile.

The surrounding soldiers also burst into laughter, their faces were full of excitement, and the tension in their hearts also dissipated in the laughter.

The officers began to urge them to prepare for the defense, and Teminides also stood behind the battlements to observe the Carthaginians carefully.

Obviously, the Carthaginians have realized that they can no longer follow the previous method. Under the long-range attack of the defenders in the city, they directly send a large number of soldiers to clear the ground and reach the city, so Marco asked the engineers to make it in advance. After dozens of arrow-blocking carts, the Carthaginian soldiers lined them up to form a wooden wall and began to push down the city.

His plan was for the Numibian soldiers to keep up with the ground and fill in the road every time the arrow-blocker advanced.

But things were not that easy. After a while, either the legs and feet of the soldiers pushing the carts were stabbed by wooden thorns and iron hooks buried in the ground, or the arrow-blocking cart fell into the trap and could not move forward. That “wooden wall” was very It’s about to fall apart, and it’s completely out of shape.

And Dionia’s ballistas and abdominal bows on the city head also began to show their power. The stone bullets hit the arrow cart, and the broken wood chips flew around, becoming a nightmare for the surrounding soldiers. When the thick and long iron arrows flew in, not only a big hole was ripped out of the thick wooden plank, but the iron arrows that had not lost their strength could even nail the soldiers behind the carts to the ground. The soldiers, including the soldiers in the rear who were preparing to fill the soil, were all frightened and fled backwards, leaving only the wounded soldiers struggling and moaning in place.

Marco was not reconciled, and ordered the army to push the ballistas out to suppress the ballistas in the city.

However, Dionysian ballistas occupy a high place and have a longer range than the opponent, so the Carthaginian ballistas have not been advanced to the proper position, they are continuously attacked by the Dionysian ballistas, and they are often three times. , Four concentrated bombardment of one, thus increasing the hit rate.

Marco was so cruel, he simply pushed out all the ballistas and let them spread out completely. They were widely distributed on the northern periphery of Paragonia City, trying to reduce Dionysus by virtue of the number advantage and angle deviation. Sub-ballista threat, gain a certain advantage.

But then he was surprised to see that not only did the stone bullets continue to shoot from the towers of the semi-circular city wall on the north side, but soon the tower in the center of the city also began to shoot stone bullets.

After a while, more than a dozen stone bullets were launched from the semi-circular city wall in the south, and crossed the entire city and landed near the Carthaginian ballistas. The accuracy rate was not low.

This was a large-scale ballista battle. While the soldiers on both sides were frightened, they also had an eye addiction, but the thrilling scene of dozens of stone bullets whistling in the air and constantly interlacing only lasted for more than 10 minutes. Nine ballistas of the Taiji army were destroyed and dozens of casualties occurred, while the Palagolia fortress was blasted with a few small pits except for the outer city wall, and almost no one was injured.

Margo’s face was ashen. He realized that he still underestimated the difficulty of Palagonia. He had to suspend the attack, return to the camp, gather his generals, and discuss together, how can we attack this difficult stone?

……………………………………

In October, the weather began to turn cooler, but the temperature in Africa was still a little hot. At this time in the past, the citizens of Carthage liked to bring their families to Nuo. There are a series of salt lakes in the inland of Mibia for leisure, UU reading www.sonicmtl.com There are a series of salt lakes, you can swim in the lake, or sit by the lake, enjoy the beautiful scenery, taste all kinds of freshly harvested melons and fruits, and enjoy the numis The service of Biya slaves.

But this year, very few citizens did this. As the Dionysian warships patrolled the western waters of Sicily for a long time, they attacked the merchant ships between Carthage and Sicily from time to time, which not only led to the depression of the city’s port trade, but also It made Carthaginian merchants cautious when setting up their ships to go to sea.

Although the Carthaginian citizens got a bumper harvest on the land of Numibia, the recovered wheat and other crops, except for their own use, were almost all purchased by the Carthaginian government at a cheap price as preparations for the Carthaginian army. Military

rations…

Although the war between Carthage and Dionia lasted only a few months, the ordinary people of Carthage have already felt the impact of this huge war on their lives. They not only contributed to their family income They are worried about the sharp decrease in the number of people who are on the expedition to Sicily, and they are also worried day and night for their relatives who are on the expedition to Sicily. Therefore, they pay attention to the progress of the war in Sicily every day. The Greek kingdom that was originally far north of Sicily has nothing to do with them. object.

Some time ago, when the people of Carthage learned that “Margo led a large army, successively captured many Greek city-states on the south coast of Sicily, and invaded the Sicilian territory of Dionia”, the city was full of cheers, and everyone shouted Marco. They wished him well, hoping that he could drive the Dionians out of Sicily as soon as possible, and make the Sicilian waters a harbor for free trade of Carthaginian merchant ships.