In fact, the military attack planned by Midolades and Tegtinos this time was a replica of the Third Fleet's strategy to take over Alenia. Midolades had long since thought of attacking Saint Iberia, the financial processing center, but the failure of the previous attack on Sardinia Island made him realize that he wasn't strong enough. The special terrain of Saint Iberia made it difficult for the fleet's infantry to escape from the Phoenician Alliance even if the attack was successful. However, with the addition of the 9th Legion, his strength was greatly increased, and he decided to carry out this plan.
After discussing with Tegtinos, he further refined the plan in order to achieve an even greater victory. They carefully learned about the specific situation on the island from the captives captured during the previous attack on Sardinia Island, and when they patrolled Sardinia Island, they surveyed the topography of the coast and came up with a way to land. They practiced it many times in Alenia before they began to carry it out.
The first few cargo ships that entered Saint Iberia's port were captured by the Third Fleet, but the crew that manned the cargo ships were from Alenia. They were all descendants of mixed Phoenicians and Greeks. Although their appearance and accent were no different from the Phoenicians, they were of low status in Alenia and had no social status, so they could only work as laborers in the port. After the Third Fleet occupied Alenia, they were allowed to apply to become citizens of Diolia. Before becoming citizens, they could rent land, and after becoming citizens, they could own land. Naturally, they were supported by the Third Fleet, and they were eager to make contributions.
There were no other soldiers on the decks of the warships of the 3rd Fleet that were wandering near the coast. This led the spies of Saint Iberia City to make the wrong judgment. In fact, the soldiers of the 9th Legion were all hiding in the cabins. They only came out of the cabins and went ashore after the warships entered the port.
Attacking Saint Iberia was just a way for Midolades to lure the Phoenician Coalition Army to help, but neither Midolades nor Tegthinus had any intention of taking it. After all, Saint Iberia was far from the core area of the Phoenicians in Sardinia, and it was not convenient to communicate with other Phoenician towns. If they only wanted to destroy Sardinia's supply of precious metals to Carthage, they could undoubtedly achieve their goal by taking over Saint Iberia. However, since they had already dealt a heavy blow to the Phoenician Coalition Army, captured a large number of defeated soldiers, and cut off their retreat route, making it impossible for the rest of the defeated soldiers to escape to the south in time, leaving the southern part of Sardinia defenseless, Midolades and Tegthinus' appetite naturally increased. They immediately targeted Sarros. Once they took over this important Phoenician town in Sardinia, they would obtain a good port and abundant resources, which would be more beneficial to the 9th Legion's next battle in Sardinia.
With the previous experience of taking over Alenia, the Diónia soldiers made some preparations and acted according to the plan.
In order to ensure that the Alenians who joined the Kingdom of Diónia would do their best, Midolades also promised that as long as this plan succeeded, he would apply to the Ministry of Household so that the Alenians could immediately become citizens.
So, these Alenians happily operated the 15 cargo ships that were parked in Saint Iberia's port. The ships were filled with dazzling silver ingots, and they sailed out of the port.
In order to ensure that the Carthaginian cargo ships that transported precious metals had enough cargo capacity, the ships were wide and long, and they needed at least 20 sailors. However, there weren't enough Alenians participating in this mission, and some of them were going to pretend to be the officers of the Phoenician Coalition. Therefore, most of the sailors were the infantrymen of the fleet, and the Alenians were mainly the captains and helmsmen.
The 15 cargo ships followed the speed of the Dionysian Army, which was pretending to be the Phoenician Coalition Army on the coast road, and slowly sailed south.
In the evening, when the sky turned dark, the fleet arrived at the port of Saros.
Faced with the interrogation of the Carthage patrol ships, the captains, who had already experienced this before, answered calmly, "The Phoenician Coalition Army has defeated the Diónia army that attacked Saint Iberia. For safety reasons, Sir Jiezhebe (the commander of the Phoenician Coalition Army) asked us to transport the smelted silver ingots to Saros for storage."
Hearing the news of the victory of the Phoenician Coalition Army, the crew members of the patrol ships were excited, and the dazzling silver ingots attracted their attention. Not only were they not on guard, but they also didn't notice the sailors, who were disguised by the Greeks.
So, the fleet was allowed to enter the port.
The geographical location of the city of Saros was very special. It was built beside a large lagoon, and the lagoon had a long and narrow channel that connected to a large bay outside. Therefore, Saros had two ports: one was built in the bay, and the other was built in the city. Considering the importance of the silver ingots, the patrol ships decided to let the fleet enter the inner port.
However, the distance between the bay and the inner port was eight miles, and they had to pass through the long and narrow channel and two water gates. Because it was night time, the patrol ships in the front were sailing very slowly. The crew members of the fleet following behind them were very anxious, but they didn't dare to show it. According to the original plan, the fleet would stop at the outer port, occupy the port, open the water gates, and let the Third Fleet, which was full of soldiers of the Ninth Legion, enter the port. Then, they would rush to reinforce the troops of the City of Deception.
Now that their plan was disrupted, the Alenians, who were pretending to be captains, didn't know what to do. The infantrymen, who were pretending to be sailors, also panicked a little at first, but they were brave enough to attack the Phoenicians. They quickly calmed down, comforted the Alenians, and started to make preparations for an emergency.
… …
At the same time, the sentries on the city wall of Saros saw thousands of Phoenician soldiers escorting more than 100 captives. They were punching and kicking the captives to the bottom of the city wall. Then, the officer told the soldiers on the wall, "Master Jiezhebe has already defeated the Diónia and is on his way back. As the vanguard, he came back to tell the people the good news."
At this time, the news of the victory of the Allied Forces came from the water gate of the lagoon. After comparing the two, the sentries did not suspect anything. Not only did they open the gate, but they also excitedly ran down the wall, wanting to ask about the victory of the battle. However, they were greeted by sharp spears.
After the 1,000 infantrymen disguised as Phoenician soldiers killed the sentries on the wall, they left 100 soldiers and the 100 soldiers disguised as captives to control the north gate. The remaining 900 soldiers were sent out to kill the people of Saros and create chaos on the streets as they advanced toward the center of the city.
On this night, most of the citizens of Saros did not sleep peacefully. They were worried about their loved ones in the Phoenician Coalition Army. Suddenly, they heard the sounds of killing, and heard the fleeing citizens shouting, "The Dionians are coming!" They were all panicking.
At this time, the alarm bell in the center of the city rang. Although the Allied Forces had recruited many people of Saros, there were still some people left in the city. When they heard the alarm bell, they subconsciously put on their armor, picked up their weapons, and quickly rushed to the city square.
Saros was a Phoenician town with a relatively large urban area. Since it was night time, the Third Fleet's infantrymen followed the map and ended up taking many wrong turns. By the time they arrived at the city square and the city hall next to it, more than 400 Saros militia had already gathered in the square.
Thus, a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.
Although the people of Saros were few in number, they fought to protect their homeland and performed very bravely. The infantrymen of the Third Fleet, who outnumbered them twice as much, could not defeat them in a short time. After the initial panic, the people of Saros rushed to the square under the organization of the officials of the Town Hall and surrounded the infantrymen of the Third Fleet.
The infantrymen of the fleet were wearing the light armor of the Phoenician Coalition Army. They only had a leather helmet, a round wooden shield, and a long spear. They did not have any breastplates, so their defense was not strong. However, they were not afraid at all. Under the command of the team officers, they quickly formed a defensive circle and fought the enemies on all sides.
The people of Saros were stabbed from time to time, but they were quickly replaced by people from the back. The sounds of fighting and screams continued, but it gradually calmed the people of the city. With the officials of the Town Hall running around and informing them, the square became the focus of the people of Saros that night. In order to drive the enemies out, people kept mustering their courage and rushing to help with rusty spears and wooden sticks.
The whole square was brightly lit by torches. The infantrymen of the Dionysian Fleet were surrounded by three layers of people.
… …
The Diónia's disguised fleet finally docked at the inner harbor. Although it was already night, considering that the cargo on the ships were all precious silver, to ensure safety, they had to unload the silver at night, transport it to the warehouse, and keep it safe. Therefore, the officials of the harbor went to inform the workers who had already gone to bed and asked the crew of the cargo ships to help unload the silver.
The captains of the Alenian fleet were afraid that if they refused, it would cause a quarrel and raise the vigilance of the enemy. Therefore, they agreed, but they deliberately delayed the time.
Just then, the crew saw a group of people walking toward the harbor. They were half-naked, and they seemed to be laborers who were here to unload the cargo. However, many of them were holding spears and shields, and the crew immediately became alert.
There were 15 cargo ships, and on average, there were 20 sailors on each ship. There were more than 300 people in total, including 240 infantrymen. As the actual commander of this fleet, the captain of the infantrymen of the Third Fleet shouted decisively, "Prepare for battle!"
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