Listening to his sister-in-law's words, Bagul's expression gradually became firm, and he said loudly: "You are right, I am from Lucania, but I am also a citizen of Dionia, and we cannot let go of this good opportunity to unify Lucania!" ”

"Big brother, now there is a problem." Seeing that Bagul's thoughts were understood, Assistes immediately asked, "Picosis's strength is growing too fast. You see, do we need reinforcements for the Ksima tribe? ”

"We're not going to do anything, and that cunning Sincinag will be convinced that we're in trouble." As the de facto commander of the Third Legion Grumentum, his decisiveness and determination were revealed: "Moreover, these tribes in the south have been informed by us in advance, and have long been prepared, and now everything is ready, just waiting for the arrival of the army commanders Hieronymus and Lizaru, and I believe that Lizalu is already eagerly looking forward to a great victory to wash away the shame he received at the Isthmus Games!" ”

Although Yasistes also looked forward to the early arrival of the battle, as Bagul's assistant, he was instructed by Davers to 'assist the Bagul organization in completing Grummentum's battle plan', so he had to think more carefully in order to help the rough Bagul check and fill in the gaps: "There is no movement in Pothenia, is there any problem? ”

"Rest assured, the Pothenians have been frightened by the defeat of the last time, and they will not be able to afford great losses to defend against the Samoneans. And, as far as I know, their great leader, Puamot, is a very steady man, and I am afraid that by the time he wants to act, we will already be attacking under the city of Picosis! Bagul smiled confidently.

…………………………

Pyanren was taken aback by Nikuru's embarrassment and fled back to Cosenza, and after listening to Nikuru's account of what had happened to him, he was both surprised and regretful: he was shocked by the news that the Dionian fortress had been built so quickly, and knowing that Bissinia was captured by the Dionians, it was indeed a stupid move he made in a hurry, and it was really painful for him to send Bessinia warriors to attack him, and it was really painful for him to be dismantled by more than 2,000 elite soldiers in this way in the already scarce situation of the Bruti warriors!

Although Nikuru assured him that as long as he shouted in front of the battle during the battle, the Bessinians would not be willing to fight, if not immediately.

Pianren didn't intend to take his word for it, the grumpy, brutal leader of the Bessinia was not very good at winning the hearts of the people, and the rebellion of the Bessinian warriors had a lot to do with him.

Pianren could only suppress his anxiety at this time, and while strictly ordering the other tribes to send as many warriors as possible, while waiting for the arrival of the army led by Petaru.

At dusk, not only did Petaru arrive with his army, but also the great chief of Ambanya, Bergam, with his army, and Pianren was reassured.

Early the next morning, 11,000 Kosenza warriors, 2,500 Ambalian warriors, and 5,000 warriors of other races, nearly 20,000 men, and 2,000 slaves, led by Pianlun, Petaru, Bergam, and Nikuru, marched eastward together.

……………………………

"Big Chief, it's not good! The enemy is about to start the siege! Hearing the report of his subordinates, Pangaru was not too nervous, and after Nikuru and Bergarm left with their troops in a row, the Dionians did not show up for two days, which made him begin to believe what Bergam said: Knappetia is not the focus of the Dionians' attack!

"Panic what! Didn't the Ionians not attack before, and weren't they all easily repelled by us! Rest assured, with the strength of the walls of Cornappetia, the Dioonians have nothing to do with us! Pangaru cheered up his men.

"However, the Dionians are attacking the city differently this time, they are digging ...... earth"

"Digging?"

By the time Pangeru arrived at the city walls, the soldiers of the 4th Dionian Legion had already paved the slope 100 meters beyond the walls with earth and stones, creating a level ground about 20 meters long.

Then Pangaru saw that the Dioonians had placed wooden shelves about a man high on them...... The Bruti warriors were curious to guess what it was, and many believed that it was a tool that the Greeks sacrificed to their gods.

Pangaru stared ahead, watching the enemy laboriously carry the wooden boxes to the wooden frames, and the uneasiness in his heart gradually grew......

……………………………

"Ready? Is it ready to launch? Shilos came to the front of what Davers called the "Ballista Team" and asked the Ballista Captain with the red crown with some anticipation.

The ballista captain replied embarrassedly: "We also need a sightman to position the ballista." ”

The observer, an apprentice from the Institute of Mathematics founded by Davers, was standing in front of the captain's side, and when he heard Shiros's question, he turned back in a gentle tone and said, "It's okay, but we'll try to fire it first." ”

He pointed to the wall in front of him and added: "Although this place is about 100 meters away from the city wall, the city of Knappetia is a bit higher and is not on the same plane as the ballista, so it is difficult to judge the landing point, I need to read the test results before correcting it." ”

The captain nodded in understanding, but Shilos was at a loss, knowing that he could not learn all kinds of things as easily as Davers and mingle with the learned scholars. He didn't understand, but he knew that since the Spectator had been selected by Davers from the mathematical academy he held in high esteem, he would certainly have no problem with his abilities.

"Put the elevation bar in the middle position and pull the bowstring to the maximum scale." Said the sightman.

Immediately, the captain shouted orders to all the ballistae.

The ballista gunners immediately turned the multiple sets of pulleys at the end of the ballista, and the iron hook also began to pull the finger-thick bowstring outward (this is the improvement of the Syracuse ballista after Mattichris made a certain achievement in the study of pulleys, which makes it easier for the gunner to pull the bowstring), as the bowstring moves more and more backwards, driving a section of the two wooden crossbow arms fixed on the iron main beam by the torsion spring group also moves backwards, not only the two ballista gunners feel a little difficult, but even the torsion spring group connecting the main beam also makes a "creaking" sound, The crossbow arm even showed a slight bend, the bowstring was pulled to the last scale of the rail, and the ballista man was busy jamming the shaft of the pulley.

"Ballista ready!" The captain ordered, and the ballistaemen took out a stone projectile the size of a fist from the wooden box next to it, (it was made of "Davers cement" mixed with crushed stone, solidified in a round mold, and polished by slaves, so that it was round and smooth), and placed it in a woven mesh bag in the center of the bowstring.

"Launch!" At the captain's order, the ballistae pressed the circlip, and the spring set formed by the tight twisting of two thick ox tendons drove the stretched crossbow arm to rebound violently, and the huge force generated by the torsion force drove the bowstring, which drove the stone projectile to roll forward like lightning on the smooth guide rail, and then passed through the circular hole in the middle of the main beam.

Just heard the sound of "whew", under the gaze of Shiros, the stone projectile flew out, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a small black dot in the air.

In Pangairu's field of vision, however, the dots in the air quickly grew larger, and at the exclamations of the warriors, it leaped over the city walls, fell into the city, and smashed through the roofs of a house, causing an exclamation.

The warriors panicked and discussed what it was.

Pangaru's face was gloomy: This is undoubtedly Dionia's new siege weapon, but why didn't it be used some time ago, but after Nikuru and Bergarm left, they began to use it to siege the city? Was it all planned in advance?

"The elevation angle is higher, and the shooting distance is about 300 meters." After observing the trajectory of the stone projectile, the sightman made a rough judgment. He looked closely at the table of elevation, torsion scale, and range drawn by the Institute of Mathematics based on the newly studied parabolic equations in his hand, and then said: "The elevation rod is placed one square forward, and the bowstring is still stretched to the maximum, and it is being flicked." ”

The captain gave the order, and while the ballistae were busy, the sightman said to Shiros: "According to our research, the middle and upper sections of the city wall are generally weak, and our ballistae should try to concentrate on bombarding this area of the city wall as much as possible......"

Shilos listened earnestly and nodded.

The stone projectile flew out again, this time accurately hitting the city wall, with a loud "bang", the rubble was splashed everywhere, and the enemy's exclamations were still clearly heard from a distance of 100 meters.

The sightkeeper and the captain were obviously satisfied with the location of the bombardment, so they continued to order: "All ballistas are fired according to the previous settings. ”

More than a dozen stone bullets flew out one after another, exploding clusters of blooming "stone flowers" on the enemy's city walls.

"Keep firing, don't stop!" Shilos was obviously pleased with the power of the ballista, but he didn't rely entirely on this secret weapon, and he had another hand to prepare: "Order the soldiers to start building the causeway!" ”

The herald was given the order to go.

Shilos turned to Sipros, who had been following him, and said, "Lord Sipros, I hope that your men will also participate in assisting in the siege. ”

"Don't be so polite, Captain Shiros, please give the order!" Sipros said humbly, his gaze did not deviate from the stone bullets whistling in the air, and the roar reached his heart full of shock: this siege weapon invented by the Dionians, the four-meter-high engineering towers that were being built in the camp, and the walls of which city-state could withstand the attack of the Dionians, even if the Greeks lost the battle, as long as they hid in the city, would the era of resisting the attack of a powerful enemy come to an end?

……………………………

In the council hall of Bissinia City, Dracos, the commander of the Third Legion, sat in the center, with the seven captains on the left, Bajilipi and Brim on the right, who was persuaded by Bajilipi to surrender, and the newly elected Creru from the original Nikuru clan (that is, the young man who led the four Bissinian warriors to drive out Nikuru).