Macias then pointed to the archon’s three-storey residence dozens of metres away and coldly said, “The target is that, so we don’t need to worry about hurting our soldiers.”
Besides hitting the tall building easily, the ballistae would also crush those Theonian light infantry in the building, who were planning to make long-range attacks, and remove their threat to the Syracusan formation. Furthermore, Macias sensed that the Theonian commander was on it and would destroy the Theonians' morale if they bombarded it, killing three birds with one stone! Macias' adjutant quickly understood it and immediately sighed, “Strategos, you are right! Herald! Herald! Inform the ballista teams outside to bring the ballistae here immediately!…”
Macias stared at the building in front as he seemingly felt that the enemy commander was also looking at him. Macias admitted that he underestimated the Theonian army, resulting in his army suffering considerable casualties, but that was the end of the trouble they could do! Now that the Syracusan allied army surrounded them with twice the number of troops on this open flat ground, the victory would eventually come as long as they continued to attack!
And Macias is very confident about this…
But as the two armies fought fiercely, a loud cry came from behind, “Lord Hibagris! Lord Hibagris!…”
In the corner of Macias' disgruntled eyes, the guards of the tyrant of Sikuri hurriedly brought the man over.
“Bad news, milord! An uprising happened in the city of Sikuri and the port!” As soon as the man saw Hibagris, he shouted with panic on his face.
This news shocked everyone around.
While clutching his chest tightly, Hibagris asked impatiently, “What are you saying?! Everything was calm in Sikuri when I left, without any uprising!”
“It's true, milord!” The man cried out and reported in panic, “The freemen and slaves in the port rebelled and attacked the city this morning. But when lord Celtas was about to lead the soldiers to defend, some citizens suddenly attacked them from behind and opened the city's gate. And Lord Celtas could only lead his troops to retreat to the Acropolis. Fortunately, your family members managed to hide in the Acropolis… Milord, you are the only now that could save Sikuri by leading your troops to rush back and crush those bastards!”
When Hibagris heard this, He shouted anxiously, “Callitratus, gather our troops. We will return to Sikuri immediately!”
“Yes, milord!” A Sikurian strategos rushed forward.
“Wait!” Macias hurriedly shouted, “Lord Hibagris, we are not sure whether Sikuri was attacked or not, so it's better to send a scout to check on the situation first. Only after we get a confirmation should we send the soldiers.” It was already difficult to get their allies to send troops and slightly gain the upper hand, so Macias did not want their momentum interrupted. Hence he wanted to stall them for a while.
Yet Macias didn't expect Hibagris to see through his intentions. Hibagris pointed to the messenger and said seriously, “Duras is my slave attendant and had followed me for decades, so there is no doubt about his words! Lord Macias, I apologise, but I must immediately go back and wipe out those bastards. Besides saving my family, I also need to save the tons of food stored in the city to supply the army!”
After Hibagris' reminder, Macias' expression greatly changed. So instead of stopping Hibagris from leaving, he said, “After we eliminate the enemy here, I will immediately lead my troops to Sikuri and assist you!”
With only a thousand or so Sikurian soldiers participating in the battle, Macias couldn’t place them in the forefront after considering their weak impact on the battle. Thus it was easy to withdraw them. While watching Hibagris lead his soldiers away in a hurry, a trace of uneasiness rose in his heart, so he ordered, “Sound the salpinx again and urge the soldiers to step up their attack!”
“I have long said that Hibagris is incompetent. If only Lord Dionysius destroyed Sikuri and let our mercenaries manage this small town, we wouldn’t have this trouble now…” Pavlos, who was a former mercenary leader and now the tyrant of Catania, mocked without any scruples. Naturally, it led to the nearby city-states ruler’s expressions changing.
The restless Macias admonished him in a low voice, “Shut your mouth!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Suddenly, the officer in charge of the ballistae came and said, “Milord, we have brought the ballistae!”
With the report of the ballista officer cheering him up, Macias pointed to the archon's residence and said with excitement, “Find a place to set your ballistae and bombard that building!”
But as soon as Macias uttered those words, someone in the rear shouted, “Lord Pavlos, it's not good! The rebels occupied Catania!”
When these words were uttered, not only had it shook Macias, but it had also made the tyrant of Catania, who had spoken sarcastically before, run to the rear anxiously. At the same time, the other city-state rulers whispered to each other.
Pavlos quickly came to Macias and said anxiously, “Macias, I must lead my brothers immediately!”
For a comrade, Macias wouldn’t play any tricks. After forcing Pavlos to calm down, he seriously analysed the situation and said, “Pavlos, we already lost Catania. Even if you rush back now and take Catania back, it would already have suffered great damage. But if you leave now, you will ruin the efforts we made to win this battle! You have also seen the might of these Theonian soldiers. Once they escape, they will cause greater problems for us!”
Macias could let the Sikurians leave, but he could not let the Catanian troops leave as their 3,000 mercenaries were one of the main forces in this battle.
Listening to Macias' persuasion, Pavlos became hesitant and was no longer as stubborn as before, “I am afraid this battle will last until dusk before we could decide a winner… By then, we would only be able to attack Catania tomorrow… And with such a long time, those rebels will be able to strengthen their defences and cause us greater difficulty in attacking the city! And…and once our brothers learned that I did not lead them back to their homes in time, I am afraid that I will not be able to keep this position…”
“With Lord Dionysius' support, do you still have something to fear?!” Macias encouraged him. Then he added, “As for our brothers' losses, Syracuse will make it up for them!”
Just as Pavlos hesitated, a messenger from the rear arrived on horseback and shouted anxiously, “Lord Phraotes, it's terrible! Leontinoi…”
The tyrants and strategoi of the allies city-states besides Macias became agitated. As someone who can sit in this position, they are naturally not fools: A revolt in Sikuri! A revolt in Catania! A revolt in Leontinoi!… It was no longer an isolated case but most likely a storm of rebellion against Syracuse in the southeast of Sicily!
‘The populace had long been dissatisfied with Syracuse!’ Those present here knew it by heart as they had all benefited from Dionysius' rule in Sicily, but they could no longer care about respecting the alliance leader. Thus they all said to Macias that they would take their troops back to stabilise the situation of their city-state!
They didn't even wait for Macias to reply before directly withdrawing their troops. After all, the only reason Macias could make the noble of these allies of theirs obey his orders was because of Syracuse's might. But now that a great disaster fell, they no longer wanted to obey the orders of a mere mercenary.
Even though Macias still tried to persuade them, he couldn't stop them from acting. While he was at a loss, Pavos coldly said, “Macias, I will also go back with my troops. My only advice is for you to withdraw immediately as well. After all, if there is an uprising in our city-states, Syracuse won't be spared! Don't forget that you and Lord Dionysius had taken the soldiers, leaving Syracuse quite empty!”
Macias was shocked when he heard those words as he had only thought about wiping the enemy in front of him but forgot about his most important duty! While watching Pavlos lead his men to rush to the phalanx formation formed by the Catanian army in dismay, Macias' heart sank as he knew that the battle was over…
He looked at the archon's residence in front of him and felt as if he saw the enemy commander sneering at them, ‘With a massive uprising happening in Sicily at this time, the Theonians were definitely the one behind it!’
After thinking of that, Macias became angry and shouted, “Ballista team, bombard that building immediately!!!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Legatus, it seems the enemy is retreating!” Antonios' adjutant shouted excitedly.
Even without his reminder, Antonios was already watching them: A group of strategoi wearing helmets with gorgeous plumes rode to various positions on the enemy formation one after another, shouting something. Afterwards, commotions arose in the enemy formation, and then groups of enemy soldiers withdrew from the formation as they followed their strategoi to the west. With numerous gaps appearing in the thick formation surrounding the first legion and the exiles, the withdrawal affected the morale of the Syracusan soldiers. They then stopped fighting and instead looked around, shouted at each other and conveyed their uneasiness to the other soldiers. Soon, the whole circular formation fell into chaos…
‘Could it be that the enemy learned about the uprising on the various city-states that Antrapolis led?!’ Antonios subconsciously looked at Seraphinus.
“Legatus, I think we should take this opportunity to attack the enemy!” The words of Antonios' adjutant pulled him back from his thoughts, only for him to see several stone projectiles flying rapidly towards them from afar.
“Watch out! Ballistae!!!” A guard shouted in alarm as he covered Antonios with his long shield.
