Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 513: Battle of Crotone (VI)

After the light infantry retreated, the Theonian phalanx soldiers on the right centre quickly threw two rounds of javelins. Afterwards, they charged at the Syracusans with their long shields and spears and shouted the name of Hades while their enemy was in confusion…

At this moment, the two armies of Theonia and Syracuse were now fully engaged.

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The Crotonian scouts came back to the Acropolis to report the clash of the two armies, arousing the concern of everyone in the Acropolis. After all, the battle’s result not only relates to the survival of thousands of Crotonian citizens who went to fight but also their survival. Thus many of them, including the council members, wanted to go to the battlefield to watch with anxiety.

After a discussion, they decided to leave a few hundred soldiers in the Acropolis to protect the women, children and the elderly who had trouble walking in the city. On the other hand, Lysias and the council members led tens of thousands of Crotonians down the hill and came to the city of Crotone, which had already become a ruin.

But before they could reach the city wall, the deafening sounds caused many of them to turn pale and their legs tremble that they needed the help of the others to move forward.

As a result of the fire and the wanton destruction by the Syracusans, a section of the wall resembles an old man's teeth, chipped everywhere, with only the section connecting the city gate still standing relatively intact…

Lysias and the others then stepped on the stone staircase with a heavy heart, went up to the top of the city wall, held the battlements and watched anxiously: In the far distance, a dense mass of soldiers fought together, filling the vast wilderness of the Crotone plain, and their tremendous and terrifying noise sounding as if the earth was roaring, stirring the dust and sand that it even changed the colour of the sky and earth…

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In the southern sea of Crotone, more than 80 corvus ships led by Mithridates faced off with nearly 40 remnant Syracusan ships led by Leptines.

However, what gave Mithridates a headache was that once his fleet approached the Syracusan ships, the Syracusan fleet would retreat so quickly. Yet they were unable to catch up to them because of the corvus ship's unique structure, but as soon as Mithridates fleet went towards the coast, the Syracusan fleet would come near again…

While Mithridates hesitated, the Syracusan forces left in the camp sent a few hundred soldiers to the beach with thousands of Sicilian freemen, who were the ones responsible for transporting supplies, now armed with weapons to prevent Mithridates from sending the sailors to land and disturb the rear of the Syracusan army.

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After Syracuse captured Terina, they stationed more than 3,000 Syracusan soldiers, more than a thousand Hipponion soldiers and a thousand Caulonian soldiers in the city. But as they were far from the frontline, Terina's defenders had it leisurely until Dionysius' order came twice from Crotone camp these two days, ‘For them to strengthen the city's defence and pay close attention to the movement of the city of Clampetia in the north!’

So the strategos cheered up as they strengthened their scouting to the north.

Soon, the scouts sent alarming news that afternoon, ‘A convoy of ships has docked on the beach of the Ophemia plain with about 5,000 – 6,000 Theonian soldiers disembarking. Afterwards, the Theonian troops march towards the city of Terina!’

Another report came soon after, ‘More than a thousand Theonian soldiers came out of the city of Clampetia and have entered the Ophemia plain!’

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The reports made the Syracusan strategos in Terina fidget. Although he eagerly wished to attain merit, it was obvious that he could not defeat the incoming enemy with the troops in his hands. Thus he immediately ordered, ‘Close the city gate and pull up the drawbridge! All the soldiers of all forces go to the city wall for defence as we had previously trained. At the same time, prepare a full supply of arrows, javelins, stones and tar…’

Furthermore, he sent two messengers to Scylletium and the camp in Crotone to urgently report the situation.

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After arriving near Terina, Hielos didn't immediately attack the city as he began to observe the city's defence. Moreover, he did not have enough time.

He then ordered the army to start building a camp in the northwest, 500 metres away from the city, while waiting for the reinforcements from Clampetia to arrive.

In addition, Hielos sent a few cavalry squads and mountain reconnaissance squads in his army to check the movements of the Syracusan camp in Scylletium and Crotone to guard against the main force of Syracuse in the east in case they sent an army to attack.

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“Attack! Attack!!…” Matonis, who was at the phalanx’s rear, wished he could join the battle and fight to his content. Unfortunately, he is already a legatus and was forbidden by Theonia's military law. Thus he could only order the drummer to beat continuously and urge the soldiers to intensify their attack.

Although most of the newly established seventh legion’s soldiers were recruits, the victory in Heraclea gave them achievements and honour, so they confidently launched a fierce attack on the enemy without fear.

Kreganis was a freeman who had just arrived in Thurii four years ago. However, he was lucky to become one of the 5,000 freemen light infantry in the Battle of Trionto River, which contributed to the defeat of Crotone's division and allowed him to participate in the Triumphant Return.

Earlier this year, he became an official citizen. The Theonian army had been expanding over the years. However, when the Ministry of Military's instructors selected recruits for the legion, he was always eliminated because he was too thin and weak to be a heavy infantry, so the instructors advised him to become a light infantry. Despite remaining a reserve soldier, he was not discouraged as his dream was to become a heavy infantry, so he continued exercising and honing his combat skill until the war broke out and Theonia established a new legion.

Matonis had originally planned to make him serve as a Centurion base on his identity and qualification (official citizen and three legion reserves). However, he refused because he felt that he didn’t have the experience as he had not been a squad officer before, so to be suddenly promoted to a middle – senior ranking position… Moreover, he felt that he would not be able to fight on the front line and show the results of his hard work. In the end, he became the squad leader in the seventh legion.

He is currently at the forefront of the battlefield, firmly holding the long shield to protect his body, with the spear in his right hand hanging over his head, almost remaining motionless. But once the enemy reveals an opening, his spear would stab out like lighting, and each stab is fierce and accurate, bringing a great threat to the enemy that he managed to stab several opponents in just a short time.

Unlike some squad officers, he seldom shouted and issued orders, but his leadership inspired and boosted his men's morale…

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Olivos, who had rivalries with Matonis, wouldn't allow the seventh legion to take the lead. Thus he strictly ordered the sixth legion to attack fiercely…

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More than half of the Sicilian soldiers fighting the two new Theonian legions were from Catania, Leontinoi, and Kamarina…although these city-states were called allies of Syracuse, they were actually vassals whose rulers were tyrants appointed and supported by Dionysius. However, even though it wasn't these soldiers' will to attack Magna Graecia, their morale was second only to the Syracusan soldiers after winning successively and capturing a lot of spoils and the incentive of going home once they won.

But Syracuse's left-wing also included soldiers from allies in Magna Graecia, such as Locri, Medma, Hipponion, and Caulonia. The Caulonians, in particular, were reluctant as Syracuse forced them to surrender. Dionysius was naturally clear about it, so he left a thousand Caulonians in Terina and a thousand in Scylletium to replace his troops. At the same time, the two thousand Caulonian soldiers he took were scattered at the forefront of the left-wing, forcing them to fight so they could survive. Thus their morale could be imaginable.

Dionysius only dared to make this arrangement after seeing Theonia's right-wing filled with soldiers wearing Corinthian helmets and carrying round shields and spears, thinking they were not Theonia's main force.

However, the two new legions, totalling 14,000 men, were newborn calves that were not afraid of tigers. So even though Syracuse's left-wing had 20,000 men, they had a hodgepodge composition with weak morale, resulting in them retreating slowly.

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Currently, both Syracuse's centre and left-wing are retreating.

The soldiers of the fourth and fifth legion of Theonia, who had experienced the tragic defeat in Scylletium and the death of their legatus and comrades, had come to fight the enemy today to wash away their shame and take revenge. Thus they are not only brave but become a bit crazy, with their faces turning ferocious as they desperately want to get closer to the enemy.

The Bruttians fighting alongside them were also affected as they revealed the fierceness of the mountain people. After all, the unrest in Bruttii some time ago had significantly affected the perception of the other Theonians towards Bruttii. Hence today, they need to show their loyalty to Theonia with their performance.

At the forefront of Syracuse's centre were the Campanian mercenaries. After the last battle, these mercenaries with rich combat experience learned the strength of Theonia's heavy infantry, so they tried keeping some distance between themselves and the Theonian soldiers by using their spears to stall the enemy's approach. At the same time, they knew that the reckless charge of the heavy infantry was physically exhausting, so they waited patiently for the moment when the Theonians were exhausted before counter-attacking. As a result, the Campanian mercenaries and the ten thousand Syracusan soldiers deliberately retreated.