When Dionysius saw the black-armored enemy rushing up, his heart was half cold. Seeing that the situation was not good at this moment, he immediately sounded the trumpet and retreated.

Considering that the soldiers had not yet recovered their strength, the soldiers had not yet recovered their strength, did not order a pursuit, but let the troops rest on the spot.

Herolis, who had escaped the catastrophe, saw the Dionian soldiers take off their armor and eat their rations while sitting and resting on the land in the city of Syracuse.

But no matter what he thought in his heart, at the moment he kept a smile on his face, and said to Antonios gratefully: "Apollo bless! Thank you Dionia for your timely assistance! Without you, it would be a trivial matter for us to sacrifice our lives, but Syracuse would be reoccupied by the evil Dionysius, which would be a disaster for the people of Syracuse, and for Dionia, who was fighting against Dionysius! ”

Antonios put forward the meaning of Herolis's words, but instead of thinking, he replied seriously: "Dionysius is the maker of war, and the people of Dionysa and Syracuse, who yearn for peace, do not want him to hold power and provoke war again, and I have brought my troops here for only one purpose - to expel him from Syracuse, and what to do next, we will listen to your advice." ”

Antonios' low profile relieved Herrolis and the others, so Herrolis's response became much more crisp: "General, I hope you can lead your troops and help us recapture the main city occupied by Dionysius." ”

Antonios immediately acceded to Herrolis's request, and after a short rest for the soldiers, he immediately marched southeast of the city.

In fact, by this time, Dionysius had already led the mercenaries to retreat to the island of Ortigia. As soon as he saw the Syracuse legionnaires appear, he knew that his army would not be able to resist in a short time.

He had not expected the Dionian reinforcements to come so quickly, and he had always regretted in his heart: it had taken him a lot of precious time to be busy organizing the slave soldiers and dividing the forces of Herrolis last night, after learning that Herolis and the others had defeated his pursuing troops on the heights of Epipolé. Instead, he should immediately lead all his mercenaries to Epipolé, first completely eliminate Herois and the others, occupy the northern wall of Syracuse, and block the passage of the Dionians to the south!

It was too late to regret it now, and Dionysius' cautious personality led to the final defeat, and he vomited out the victory he was about to win in the blink of an eye, and he regretted it beyond measure.

Antonios led his troops forward quickly, and he soon realized the vastness of the city of Syracuse, and of course the sparseness of the population, which was probably related to the fact that Dionysius had sent a large number of citizens, sailors, and auxiliaries on an expedition to Great Greece.

It took nearly an hour for the Dionian coalition to reach the main city, and the mercenaries, who were driving and looting the population, saw their arrival and fled in a hurry to the island of Ortigia.

And the others who arrived afterwards wept as the square was littered with corpses and wounded, most of them family members of the rebels and the most staunch supporters of them.

Antonios pursued his army to the isthmus of the island of Ortigia, where he saw the towering fortress and the tall and strong walls behind it, and in order to prevent too many casualties in the siege, he abandoned the attack and retreated behind the newly built walls.

………………………………

In Sparta, too, it was depressed.

Sparta has always been on two sides. Achillidas led the Allied armies and mercenaries in Asia Minor to continue the battle against the Persians, and the fighting continued in the Corinth Isthmus of the Peloponnese, although the main force of the battle was either the allied armies or mercenaries, but the citizens of Sparta itself suffered many casualties.

The Council of Elders had to give an order: citizens over the age of 50 should also be put on armor, take up shields and spears, and serve as patrols in Sparta to prevent the movement of the Helots. Even they decided to hold a "hunting operation" in advance (that is, the planned killing of the helots, reducing their population, guaranteeing security in the territory of Sparta).

The clouds of war loomed over Sparta, and the population was in a state of high tension.

At this moment, Phoebidas, who had already returned to Sparta, met Agosilaus at the king's palace.

The Spartan king, who had made a name for himself in Asia Minor, in Central Greece, and on the Isthmus of Corinth, had already won the respect of the citizens of Sparta, and some even called him "the hero of Sparta after Lysander". At this time, he looked a little tired, he leaned back on the wooden chair, his right leg straightened, and the lame bend of his left leg, which was his habitual movement, and it was impossible to see the problem with his left leg. He leaned over and listened intently to Phoebidas as he recounted his experiences with Dionysius in the western Mediterranean.

The wooden chairs they sat on next to each other showed the importance he attached to Phoebidas, and although there was no feast of fruit or wine (in Syracuse, Phoebidas often enjoyed such treatment), this humble environment made Phoebidas feel more comfortable.

Phoebidas tried to tell the whole story of the Great Greek War as he knew it from the perspective of a neutral person, and then he took a large sip of the crude clay pot beside him, which contained cool river water, and he took a large sip, immediately feeling a little thirsty throat moistened.

Agosilaus recalled the narrative of Phoebidas and imagined the battles fought by thousands of soldiers on both sides in the land of Great Greece, and he couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect that the mighty Great Greek War was about to end in less than half a year, and the result was completely beyond our expectations!" ”

"Yes, no one thought that the weak Dionia would be the final victor!" Phoebidas also sighed, you must know that when Syracuse's army landed in Great Greece, it was like a bamboo, and at that time, I am afraid that the elders of Sparta were worried that Syracuse would win too easily, including himself who also had this idea, who knew that the result was just the opposite, and it is estimated that many Spartans were shocked and dropped.

"According to your judgment, is it still possible for Syracuse to turn defeat into victory?" With a hint of luck, Agosilauth asked again. After all, Syracuse has been an ally of Sparta for many years, and its failure will mean the bankruptcy of Sparta's original strategy in the Western Mediterranean, which may lead to a complete transformation of Sparta's foreign strategy, so Mr. Agosy has to be cautious.

"It's basically impossible." Phoebe Das replied directly, and then, after a moment's hesitation, he added, "Unless...... Blessed by the gods, let the Ionian army plague ......"

In the eyes of outsiders, during the years when Dionysius was a tyrant, Syracuse was twice under the city by Carthaginian soldiers (the first time was not long after Dionysius became a plenipotentiary general, about 406 BC), but because the Carthaginians contracted the plague, and finally was defeated, giving outsiders the feeling that Dionysius also had the protection of the gods, but in fact, there were a large number of swamps south of the port area of Syracuse and near the Anaps River, and every time the Carthaginian army camped near here, A large number of mosquitoes find numerous hosts for the transmission of bacteria.

For the Ionian army, the possibility of a plague was extremely small, as the Dionian Military Law required that the army should not camp near mosquito breeding areas. After a battle, the bodies of both the enemy and the enemy should be cremated and buried in a timely manner. The soldiers had to drink boiled water. Moreover, the baggage camp carried lime (from the Turiyi stone mines), and after the camp was established, it had to be disinfected in and around unclean areas......

Davers, who came from a previous life, of course, knew the cause of the plague, and took so many measures that basically minimized this possibility,

Of course, Agosilaus would not have known this, but a full-fledged commander would never have pinned his hopes on the "elusive gods", and Phoebedas's words actually sealed the coffin of the outcome of the Great Greek War.

With a solemn expression, Agosilaus smacked his left leg with his left fist a few times and asked, "Do you think Dionysius can defeat those rebels and regain the power of Syracuse?" ”

"It's hard!" Although Phoebidas had spent several months with Dionysius and had only seen the rebels, he said: "Dionysius lost his strong and loyal mercenary force, lost his large navy, and abandoned his army as a deserter, not only the people of Syracuse turned their backs on him, but most of the allies in Syracuse also turned their backs on him, not to mention the presence of Dionian troops in the city-states near Syracuse." Dionysius is surrounded by enemies and isolated, unless we Sparta send reinforcements to support him! ”

"Sparta has no reinforcements to send." Agosilauth said very dryly.

This was to be expected by Phoebeidas.

"It's a pity that we have supported Dionysius for so many years, and the result is ......," Agosilaus sighed, a look of pity on his face.

"We can instead support the Syracuse rebels, whose leader has promised me that they will continue to ally Syracuse with our Spartans, and send us reinforcements after the end of the Great Greek War, to help us overcome the allies who rebelled against Sparta."

Phoebeidas's words did not please Agosilaus, who muttered, "For us, this is a last resort. But...... The new Syracuse regime is probably democratic. ”

Phoebidas recalled the "nearly ten generals" he had seen at the Syracuse City Hall, nodded and said, "It should be." ”

"There is a great deal of uncertainty in democracy, and it is easy for ignorant people to be instigated by those who want to suddenly force the Syracuse leadership to tear up the covenant with us...... This is why the Council of Elders was willing to cooperate with Dionysius, the tyrant. Agesilaus expressed his concern.