Right here in the Temple of Athena in the city of Byzantium, now there is a priestess.
The mother didn't know that Dione, who often went to the Temple of Athena, was her daughter, and Dione also didn't know that the blind priest was her mother. The two had been together for more than a year, but they didn't know each other. Hilde didn't intend to continue talking about this matter. After all, what she said might hurt both of them.
Hilde has his own considerations.
We have to wait until the time is right.
"Take care of children..." Hilde thought about it carefully and said with a smile, "It just so happens that I plan to set up an orphanage. If you have any ideas, you can go and work in the orphanage."
"Orphanage?"
"Yes, that's right. The orphans of the fallen soldiers need someone to take care of them. Soldiers sacrificed their lives for the country and the people. Their widows and orphans need someone to protect and take care of them. So, if you have this idea, please help me after the matter in Ionia is over."
Chapter 6: The Siege of Darcilion
"Ok!"
Leave this matter to Dione.
Hilde was still very relieved.
She was a very kind child, and after all these years, Hilde could totally trust her.
This orphanage was established after Hilde found that there were too many orphans after many wars. In ancient Greece, unlike modern times, after the husband died, the child could only rely on the mother, but the mother could only choose to remarry or return to her parents' home. However, at this time, the child would generally have a hard life, and abuse would often occur. Hilde also learned about this from the officers under her command, so...
These children, Hilde must come to protect them.
Otherwise it would be unfair to those soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country.
And Dione being in charge of this matter will also help her grow.
The atmosphere of the orphanage is also very suitable for Dioni.
Thinking so, Hilde decided to continue considering this matter after returning to Byzantium.
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Hilde's army set out from Ephesus and headed directly north.
Among them, Hilde's troops were divided into two groups. The army went north from Ephesus and set out along the coastline towards Abydos. On the other hand, the army attacking the Persian city of Astacus would leave Astacus and head for Dacilion. Dacilion was a small city-state that was not worth mentioning. The total population was only 20,000 people, and it was isolated and helpless. Hilde's northern army was almost unstoppable. After seven days of forced march, it arrived at Dacilion.
This city-state has always lived a leisurely life.
I couldn't imagine it.
There was actually an army coming from the north.
The Dasilion people stood on the low city wall, looking at the red energy dancing in the sky before them.
At this time, a cavalry of several hundred people, holding the red flag of the Byzantine Kingdom, came to Dacilion. The soldiers on the city wall did not even have the courage to raise their bows and arrows. These cavalrymen were wearing heavy armor, holding flails, and wearing masks that could cover their entire faces. They were like hunters from hell, and were particularly terrifying. They came to the bottom of the city wall and began to shout: "We are the Second Legion of the Byzantine Kingdom, the Apollonia Legion. I advise you to open the city gate! We will guarantee your safety!"
"He wants us to surrender?"
"This……"
The soldiers on the wall looked at each other.
Dasilion only had one or two thousand soldiers, while the Apollonia Legion in front of him had a full ten thousand soldiers.
How can this disparity in numbers not make people feel daunted?
At this time, the cavalryman continued: "Open the city gate quickly! Our patience is limited!"
"What should we do, General?"
"Don't be impatient."
A man wearing an Iberian helmet looked at the cavalry in front of him.
"How long will it take for us to ask for help from our allies now?"
"It will take at least a month."
"One month? Can we hold on?" The general frowned and said, "What if Abydos sends reinforcements? If the Oracle of Abydos comes in person, he will surely be able to defeat them."
"Well, I, I don't know either..."
The centurion lowered his head.
The general slapped the wall and said with determination:
"No, we cannot surrender. We have to hold out for a while and ask for help right now! We don't need reinforcements, as long as the Lord Oracle comes! You, ride your horse to Abydos right now, and you must get there as fast as possible, understand!"
"Yes!"
The centurion was naturally willing to accept this order.
Because this is a chance to survive.
So the centurion left immediately, and the general sneered at the cavalry below and said: "We refuse to surrender! Gods, you backward guys are the same as the Persians. Don't think we don't know your ambitions! The Ionians will not surrender to the Persians, nor will they surrender to you Byzantines! Get out of here quickly! If you dare to attack the city, you will never return!"
"It's your decision!"
The cavalryman said this and returned to the army.
And an officer standing at the front of the army.
The armor on his body was the most luxurious and heavy, and even his horse was equipped with exquisite armor. The horse armor connected by iron plates and ropes allowed him to easily deal with many situations. The exaggerated red crown on his head proved his identity. This man was the general of the Second Legion, the Apollonia Legion, Drubetti.
Dryberti was an Apollonia native. After Apollonia was annexed by Hilder, he opposed Hilder's rule. However, when he saw that the situation in Apollonia was improving rapidly, he, as the son of a local noble, was valued by Hilder because of his superb martial arts, courage and carefulness. He gradually became the general of the Second Legion. Now, he led his army from Astacus and arrived here in seven days.
He was actually quite speechless.
Astacus's Persian army, after they came.
just ran.
The Second Legion had never fought a war before. During the Thracian War, the Second Legion had been in Apollonia to guard against the Thracians. Now, it was finally their turn to go out in Apollonia. But the first battle turned out like this... This made Drybeti speechless. Now, these fearless Dacillians chose to resist, which made Drybeti very happy. After listening to the report, Drybeti immediately gave the order:
"Okay, it's time to teach these guys a lesson!"
"General, please give me your orders!"
"Where's the trebuchet that Your Majesty invented? Use it!"
"Yes!"
Druberti rode his horse happily and came to the vicinity of the position.
Eight huge counterweight trebuchets are being assembled now. These are new siege weapons designed by Hilde and engineers from the Byzantine Kingdom. Unlike the torsion trebuchets commonly used in Greece, these are counterweight trebuchets, which are large and heavy, but powerful and have a long range. They were invented to deal with the large Ionian city-states, but unexpectedly, Dacilion was the first to taste them.
Now, Drupiti also wants to take a look.
His Majesty's invention.
What's so good about it?
Soon, the eight counterweight trebuchets were assembled and now they were being loaded with weights. These trebuchets also had stone bullets for attack, which were specially made by craftsmen. They were spherical and weighed 50 kilograms each. It was said that this trebuchet could throw a stone bullet 200 meters away, which was equivalent to the weight of an adult woman.
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This is what a counterweight riprap machine looks like
[img=700,547][/img]
The 7th verse of the 10th key is an easy victory.
Drubetti looked at the huge monster in front of him.
Naturally, I was extremely happy.
"Let these arrogant Darcilion people know how powerful we are!!!"
"drink--!!!"
The soldiers immediately began to load ammunition and then pulled up the counterweights.
The long arm of the huge counterweight trebuchet began to slowly descend, and then the round stone bullet was placed inside. Drupiti saw that all the counterweight trebuchets had been prepared, and then immediately gave the order, "Everyone! Fire!"
"put!!!"
At the command, all the catapults threw out the stones.
These huge stone bullets flew towards the city wall of Dasilion at a very fast speed. Before the soldiers standing on the city wall could react, they saw the stone bullets hit the city wall fiercely. How could this wall made of mud withstand such a blow? The huge impact force directly tore the surface of the wall, and large pieces of hard mud were peeled off from the wall.
At the same time, the stone bullets were round in shape, so they would bounce when they hit the city wall. The sudden change of direction of the stone bullets was like the scythe of the god of death, and it killed several soldiers alive. Suddenly, blood and flesh flew all over the city wall, and the city wall began to tremble violently. Everyone could feel that the ground beneath their feet began to shake.
"Our city walls...can't hold on?"
"What!?"
The commander didn't expect this either.
The enemy's army actually brought such powerful siege weapons.
Siege weapons were scarce in ancient Greece. Generally, the stone crossbow that fired small lead bullets was considered a relatively good siege weapon. Torque trebuchets were not widely used yet. Not to mention the cross-era counterweight trebuchets. Therefore, the commander naively believed that his city walls could defend against the enemy's attack. However, he did not take into account the impact of heavy siege weapons... As a result, facing the counterweight trebuchets, the fragile walls of Dacilion were almost useless.
And Drubetti looked at the situation ahead with satisfaction.
"continue!"
"yes--!!!"
The counterweight trebuchet began to reload.
This kind of crude earthen wall is almost unable to withstand the attack of the counterweight trebuchet. Do these naive people of Dasilion really think they can resist the attack of the Byzantine army? They are too naive! Drubetti waved his sword and said happily: "Keep going, keep going! Completely disintegrate their defense! I want to see the wall of Dasilion collapse before sunset today! I will lead my army into Dasilion!"
Druberti is now really in a state of frenzy.
Of course you can't blame him.
He was really holding it in.
The Second Legion's performance was even worse than that of the Third Legion.
The Second Legion needed a victory, no matter what kind of victory it was, even if it was a city-state like Darcyllion, so right now, Drubetti was really looking forward to conquering Darcyllion. Moreover, they were now in an absolute advantage, so victory was a foregone conclusion, and there was no need to worry at all.
Under Drubetti's urging, the breeding catapult was quickly prepared.
So, the next round of attacks began.
The continuous stone attacks made the entire Dasilion shaky. Under such circumstances, all the defenses of Dasilion became a mere decoration. Soon, the attack lasted less than an hour, and a large part of Dasilion's wall suddenly collapsed, exposing a gap.
On the Byzantine side, the soldiers cheered and were eager to attack at any time. However, Drybet was not in a hurry because only a small gap had been made. Attacking at this time would only lead to unnecessary casualties. Therefore, Drybet ordered the counterweight trebuchets to continue attacking until the enemy's wall was almost completely destroyed.
Under the horrified gaze of the Darcilions.
The stone bullets ruthlessly destroyed the city walls.
Gradually, the city wall was almost completely destroyed by such attacks.
When a large area of the city wall collapsed, the people of Dasilion were already scared out of their wits. They had never seen such an attack before. So when the Byzantine army planned to launch an attack, Dasilion had already sent an envoy to Drybeti and submitted an application for surrender. When Drybeti saw the other party's application for surrender, he was also a little confused. He didn't know whether he needed to continue the attack. If he continued the attack, it seemed to violate Hilde's order.
But if we don't attack.
Drew Beti couldn't catch his breath.
Now, the Second Army needs to fight.
Therefore, Drubetti thought about it and decided that although fighting was important, it would be a big problem if Hilde was angered. Therefore, Drubetti had to give up his idea and asked his troops to stop the attack immediately. He accepted Darcilion's surrender. Soon, the commander, who was tied up like a dumpling, was thrown in front of Drubetti.
"You are very brave?"
Drybet kicked him over.
"You still dare to resist?"
"I, I... You, although you have conquered Dacilion, the Oracle from Abydos will come to rescue us soon! Therefore, you will not conquer us. The Oracle will lead the army and drive you away completely! Don't be arrogant!" The commander still looked very arrogant. Facing Drybetti, he was not afraid at all. "You invaders, the gods are above, they will definitely give you the punishment you deserve! Just wait--!!!"
"Oh? This person is the toughest."
But Dryberti was not afraid at all.
He walked up to the commander and drew his sword.
"Then you must not be afraid of death."
“Come on! Kill me!!!”
"Hahahaha!"
Drubetti let out a chilling laugh, while the soldiers around him were expressionless, as if the commander was already dead. At this time, the commander was also a little surprised. He just mentioned the oracle, but they didn't seem to care at all. So, the commander couldn't help but ask: "When the oracle comes, you will definitely die. The power of mortals is absolutely no match for the oracle! Don't you know?"
"Oracle?"
