Looking at this scene with horror on his face.
Nicias knew very well that after losing Hera's protection, Athens would soon be lost. However, Nicias still underestimated the power of catapults and overestimated the defensive power of the Athenian city walls. This kind of wall, which was only used to defend against ladders and battering rams, was completely inferior to the brick walls of the Byzantine Empire in terms of craftsmanship and strength.
A catapult that can completely smash down a brick wall is like a big horse pulling a small cart when faced with a wall made of marble and mud.
"Mr. Archon!"
The general ran quickly to Nicias.
"If this continues, the city wall will soon collapse!"
“If the city wall is broken, send the heavy infantry to guard it, and then deploy archers on both sides of the gap. Once the enemy infantry launches an attack, fight to the death!”
"But the other side has an oracle!"
"I'm going to find Master Hercules..."
This is the only hope.
After Hera was gone, at least there was Hercules.
If Hercules was willing to help Athens, it would be very difficult for Byzantium to successfully capture Athens in this siege.
So Nicias returned to his palace without looking back.
The Missing God
"Lord Hercules!"
When Nicias rushed into the hall.
What he saw was an empty hall.
"Lord Hercules?"
He walked around the hall and didn't find any trace of Hercules. Hercules was sitting in the hall when he left in the morning, but he disappeared when he came back. Nicias felt a little desperate, but he felt something was wrong, because a god like Hercules would not do such a thing. However, Nicias paced back and forth in the hall with the last glimmer of hope.
But Hercules couldn't see anyone.
No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find him.
Finally, in despair, Nicias sat dejectedly in his hall.
It's over, it's over.
All the efforts were in vain.
Nicias' despair was not just his own, but also the despair of the entire Athenian army. The last hope of Athens was obviously Hercules, but Hercules did not show up. When the walls of Athens were about to collapse, the soldiers could only escape from the walls in despair, and then, as Nicias had just ordered, they were ready to deal with the enemy infantry attack after the walls collapsed.
With a loud bang, the proud walls of Athens collapsed. Even the sturdy city of Athens had the same fate as Thebes before it. These tall and heavy walls were ultimately unable to escape the attack of the catapults. In this nearly saturated attack, gaps were created one after another.
This one-sided siege war was the most familiar way of warfare for the Byzantines. Moreover, Hercules, whom Hilde was most worried about, had not appeared until now, and Hercules' breath had disappeared in Athens. In order to wait for Hercules, Hilde, Rhodes, Xerxes, and Tomyris waited for a long time at the gate of Athens, but Hercules did not arrive.
"Could this Hercules have run away?"
Xerxes asked curiously.
Hilde nodded.
"The aura of Hercules has disappeared. I feel that this is the case."
"That's really great."
Rhodes also breathed a sigh of relief.
"In this way, we don't have to fight against gods."
"Anyway, we still can't let our guard down. Not only did Hercules not show up, but even the oracle Nicias disappeared. So has Athens given up on treatment?" Hilde shook the spear in his hand, looking a little bored. "I was planning to fight hard and get back what I suffered yesterday, but given the current situation, it seems like that's not going to work."
"It would be great if we could capture Athens smoothly."
Tomyris looked around vigilantly.
"Will the enemy set up an ambush in Athens?"
"Not really. Athens is our ultimate goal. If we capture Athens, we will have achieved all our strategic goals during this period. Therefore, it is a thankless task for the other party to use Athens as bait to lure us into an ambush. So I think that the gods may have really given up on Athens."
This was undoubtedly good news for Hilde. As a secular king, if he wanted to deal with the Persian issue, Athens must be conquered. And now, conquering Athens was a foregone conclusion.
As the city walls collapsed, gaps were exposed one after another, and then the Athenian heavy infantry raised round shields and spears to block these gaps. However, what greeted these heavy infantry were not the soldiers on the Byzantine side, but the ballistae that had been prepared long ago.
These heavy crossbows had already aimed at these gaps. When the Athenian heavy infantry came over, these crossbows fired. The heavy crossbow arrows they fired were not the kind of crossbow arrows used by ordinary soldiers, but a large heavy arrowhead that could penetrate deep into the city wall even if it hit the wall. The power of this crossbow was enormous against the fragile soldiers holding shields.
The thin bronze shields had no way to stop the attack of the crossbows. The heavy armor-piercing arrows easily pierced through the bronze shields, stringing together many infantrymen. For a moment, screams and bloodshot occurred in the formation of the Athenian heavy infantry. The crossbows shot down the heavy infantry row after row, and the narrow gap made it impossible for these heavy infantrymen to escape to other places. The bombarded city walls also lacked the means to counterattack against the long-range crossbows.
This kind of despair of almost passively accepting a beating.
It lies in the hearts of Athenian soldiers.
At this time, the huge gap between the two armies was revealed.
"Can not be done……"
"Isn't this just a one-sided massacre..."
Under this extremely high casualty rate, the Athenian soldiers soon could not hold on any longer, and a large-scale rout occurred at the gaps in the city walls. These well-trained Athenian heavy infantry finally had no way to hold on, and they began to flee, evading the responsibilities they should bear.
When the enemy troops began to retreat, the Byzantine army began to move. Since the enemy's gods and oracles did not appear, the battle lost its meaning, and Hilde and his men had no chance to appear. In addition, the enemy's commander had not yet come forward. Whether to surrender or resist resolutely, Athens seemed to be in chaos.
"Let's go into the city too."
Hilde said to the people around him.
"Just in case the other party is really cheating."
"Ok."
Hilde was the first to enter Athens on her white horse, crossing the ruins of the city wall. Later, more and more soldiers entered the city, and the tightly closed gates of Athens slowly opened. The Athenian flag hanging on the gates of Athens was also taken down by the angry Byzantine soldiers and replaced with the flag of the Byzantine Kingdom.
As more and more Byzantine soldiers entered, the Athenian soldiers fought and retreated, and were gradually forced into the center of Athens. In the center of Athens is the famous Ares Hill, and on top of Ares Hill is the Acropolis. Generally speaking, as long as an army retreats to Ares Hill, relying on the supplies stored in the Acropolis and the extremely narrow passage here, it can be done by one man guarding the pass and ten thousand men cannot pass.
Chapter 6 of the 10th Tune: I Want to Become Basilius
"Oh no! The enemy has retreated to the Ares Mountain!"
"Prepare to attack the mountain!"
Although we know that a tough attack on the War God Mountain may result in huge risks.
But now, tens of thousands of Athenian soldiers have taken refuge in the mountains.
If the city of Athens is not attacked by force, it will not be completely captured.
At this moment, a beautiful silver-haired lady wearing a red cape and holding a spear high suddenly appeared on a white horse, passing through the army. All the Byzantine soldiers made way for her, leaving a straight path to the Ares Mountain. At this moment, Hilde raised her spear and shouted loudly: "Charge with me --!!!"
"Follow your majesty!"
"Kill!"
Hilde took the lead.
The soldiers guarding the pass of Ares Mountain looked at the aggressive Hilde in horror. But they knew that they had no other way to go except to defend Ares Mountain. So they picked up their crossbows and tried to use such attacks to stop Hilde in front of Ares Mountain. However, Hilde was not afraid at all. She threw her shield high up, and the Medusa Shield immediately formed an airtight giant shield, blocking Hilde in front of her, and blocking all the arrows as she charged.
"what--!!!"
Hilde roared as he charged.
She is one with both man and horse.
He swung his spear directly and hit the phalanx of Athenian soldiers.
The huge impact immediately caused the soldiers to be smashed to pieces. The spears in their hands could not even get close to Hilde, and were directly knocked away by Hilde. The shield walls one after another could not stop Hilde's pace. Every step forward she took on horseback was the collapse of the Athenian soldiers. Then, the Byzantine soldiers who followed closely expanded the victory and completely tore the Athenian defense line apart.
Hilde rode non-stop along the mountain path of Ares Mountain, and finally reached the top of Ares Mountain. She looked up and saw the Parthenon and the statue of Athena at the entrance of the temple.
I am coming.
Hilde bowed her head.
In front of the temple, more than a thousand soldiers of the temple guard blocked Hilde's way.
There was fear and doubt in their eyes, and they didn't know whether to continue fighting.
Hilde raised her spear and shouted, "I am the successor of Lady Athena! The chosen one who inherited Athena's power! Mortals, do not try to resist me, put down your weapons!"
"..."
The soldiers looked at each other.
But they all knew that they could never be Hilde's opponent.
"lay down your weapon!"
When Hilde's surging divine power suddenly came out of her words, the soldiers felt the kind of feeling that made their hearts tremble, so they threw their weapons on the ground and chose to surrender obediently. Not long after, the Byzantine soldiers also rushed to the top of the Ares Mountain and planted the flag of the Byzantine Kingdom on the top of the Ares Mountain.
The soldiers stood on the top of Ares Hill, and the whole of Athens was in full view. The strong sense of shock in their hearts stunned the Byzantine soldiers and officers. The soldiers raised their arms and cheered to celebrate the great victory of the expedition to Athens. They surrounded the Parthenon and the statue of Athena and sang songs representing victory.
"Long live! Long live your Majesty!"
"We won!"
The soldiers cried for joy.
They conquered Athens, one of the most powerful cities in Greece.
This war is also over!
Take Athens from the hands of the gods!
The oracle of Athena, Hilde, the king of the Byzantine Kingdom, strode into the temple of Athena, the Parthenon, surrounded by Byzantine officers and oracles. The priests in the temple hid on both sides, lowering their heads, not daring to look at the young monarch, for fear of causing disaster.
However, this might be the first time for Athena's oracle to come to the Parthenon. Hilde looked at the magnificent temple and felt very calm. At least, now she was a winner, having successfully conquered Athens and achieved the strategic goal she had worked so hard for so many days. She conquered the city that had nurtured her for fifteen years and eventually exiled her.
"His Majesty--!"
At this time, Tomyris walked over quickly.
Then he threw a person to the ground.
Hilde looked closely and saw that the poor fellow was Nicias.
"He surrendered."
"very good."
Hilde looked at Nicias calmly and said calmly: "It shows that we can still see the situation clearly."
"Your Majesty, how should we deal with this?"
"No need to kill him, he poses little threat to us." Hilde looked at Nicias who was kneeling on the ground and asked, "Why did Nicias, the archon who wanted to live and die with Athens, suddenly become like this now?"
"We have been abandoned by the gods."
Nicias lowered his head and said coldly:
"We were all lied to."
"Not at all."
Hilde waved his hands helplessly.
"Many things have their own price. For example, if you get Hera's power, you must do things for Hera. It's not that he deceived you, but that you made some inappropriate decisions because of your own wild imagination. However, you have no choice." Hilde sat on the altar dedicated to Athena and thrust the spear in his hand fiercely into the steps beside him. "However, now that I have captured Athens, I must teach you a lesson so that you will know the consequences of angering me."
"His Majesty……"
Nicias lowered his head and dared not refute.
However, Hilde has his own ideas.
Let's stabilize Athens first.
After the Byzantine army entered the city, they drove all the Athenians out of their homes. All the soldiers were not disarmed and were detained on the Areopagus Hill. However, Hilde did not order a massacre of the city, nor did she intend to let what happened to Thebes happen to Athens. By conquering Athens, Hilde had gained a title, a title that could command most of Greece.
So Hilde called Xerxes.
"I have a new idea."
"Oh?"
Xerxes was also very curious when he heard that Hilde had a new idea.
"what are you planning to do?"
"I want to build an empire."
