Chapter 188

"The messenger of Dionia, I don't think you are here to study and study the Carthaginian gods." Hanno said meaningfully with a smile: "It's a pity that our answer is different from the previous one. Again, Carthage will always honor its agreement with Syracuse, so you may be disappointed."

"Lord Hanno, we Dionia will not embarrass Carthage, and we have no intention of forming an alliance with you." Ancitalos said seriously: "I am here to represent the Dionysian Senate this time. Hope to trade with Carthage."

"What kind of trade?" Hanno asked with a move in his heart.

"Grain!" Ancitanos said bluntly: "We Dionians are struggling to resist the invasion of the Syracuses. Due to the devastation of the Syracuses on our territory, the food supply of the entire alliance is now very limited. Tension, if we can't buy a large amount of grain from the outside, then our army will not be able to last long, and it will be unable to fight because of lack of food! At that time, the Syracuses can easily defeat our soldiers and occupy Dio Nia, so as to achieve complete control over Greater Greece."

Hanno's right eyelid jumped, he pondered for a while, and said, "If we just buy grain, we can consider it. Africa has abundant rain this year, and the grain yield is abundant. Carthage has a lot of surplus grain, but I heard that Dio Nea has a large population, and the amount of grain you need is probably not a small amount. Your war with Carthage has lasted for so long, can you still get the money to buy grain?"

"I heard that Carthage is also in short supply of money recently, and it is impossible to give us preferential grain prices, and our treasury is indeed almost exhausted, but the people of Dionysian actively donated the silver coins they treasured at home, Only to be able to defeat Syracuse and restore peace to Great Greece, so we can afford to buy grain!" Ancitanos said passionately.

His words shocked Hanno, not only because of the determination of the people of Dionia to fight Syracuse to the death, but also because of the sentence "Carthage is also in desperate need of money" that affected his sensitivity nerve.

Why is the rich city-state of Carthage also short of money? ! That's because several wars with Syracuse cost the Carthaginian treasury a lot, and although the war has ended, the consumption of the Carthaginian treasury continues. In order to guard against the powerful Syracuse, the Carthaginian senate decided to rebuild the defensive circle in the west of Sicily to ensure the security of the city. For this reason, they appointed Marco as the army commander of Sicily and gave him some autonomy. .

After Marco took office, he not only recruited labor and purchased a large amount of materials to build defensive fortresses, but also recruited tens of thousands of Celtic soldiers to make up for the lack of troops due to the heavy casualties of the Carthaginian citizens in the war. , Numibia, Iberia and other mercenaries. To this end, the Mint of Carthage produces a large number of amber gold and silver coins with high purchasing power every month, which are used to pay the wages of mercenaries, the monthly income of Carthage's trade, and the income from Iberia, Sa The bulk of Dinia's mining revenue is spent on this.

But this was not Hanno's main concern. His greatest concern was that, as the Carthaginians were increasingly tense as the Syracuse army raged in Greater Greece, with the support of those allies of the House of Margonides, Marco's power in Sicily continued to expand. A few days ago, he also sent a letter asking the Senate to give him the power to mint coins in Sicily, so as to save the trouble of shipping large amounts of gold and silver coins back and forth by ships and potential dangers, such as the sinking of ships in case of storms... Because of this matter The Senate has been arguing for days.

During this time, Hanno had been uneasy: Marco's growing power in Sicily had threatened his political dominance in the Carthaginian senate, and he had managed to steer Carthage's dominance away from the Margonides. Take it, never allow Marco to take it back!

Ancitanos saw that Hanno's brows were furrowed and he was lost in thought, so he added: "Of course, if you allow, we hope to use Syracuse captives to replace part of the cost of buying grain."

"Captive of Syracuse?" Hanno was a little puzzled. Although he received the news of the victory of the Dionysian navy, he was not very clear about the specific battle situation.

"Our fleet defeated the Syracuses on the sea of ​​Turii, and captured tens of thousands of Syracuse sailors. I came to Carthage twice, and I deeply felt the Carthaginian people's love for Syracuse. People's hatred, I think if you can make Syracuse captives as their slaves, maybe it can help them vent the hatred in their hearts..." Ancitanos said unhurriedly.

Hanno's eyes lit up: exchanging grain for Syracuse slaves might win the favor of the Carthaginian people.

Of course, this is not the most interesting place for Hanno. He leaned forward slightly, stared at Ancitanos, and asked in a deep voice, "It's amazing that your fleet can defeat the Syracuses. But can your army defeat the mighty army of Syracuse?!"

The Carthaginians have always believed that their navy is the most powerful in the Western Mediterranean. In the previous war with Syracuse, the reason for the navy's two disastrous defeats was not the real confrontation at sea, but the fact that it was trapped in the port and the sea. In the bay, they were either hit by ballistas, or the sailors didn't get on board at all because of the raid. The Carthaginians were not convinced, so although the Dionysian victory in the naval battle was surprising, it did not give Hanno a big shock, but the huge army of Syracuse really made the Carthaginians feel fear.

"Lord Hanno, if you know Dionysian, you will know that our King Davos has never failed since the establishment of the Dionysian Alliance, and he has won many times with less. Much. Before, Dionia suffered some setbacks because His Majesty King Davos was leading an army to fight against the Samonites to the north, and now he has led his army back to Turii, and the victory of the naval battle was in him obtained under the plan.

Before I left Turii, he had led his army to Crotone to defend against the army of Syracuse there. Although the number of our soldiers is less than that of the Syracuse army, all the soldiers and generals have full confidence in His Majesty Davos and are willing to obey his orders and fight to the death with the Syracuses! As long as we have enough food, I believe we can finally defeat the army of Syracuse! "It's rare for Ancitanos to speak so excitedly.

Hanno stroked his beard with his hands and his eyes flashed. Although he had never commanded an army, he had discussed the battle of Great Greece many times with his subordinates who were familiar with the military and the elders who belonged to him: if the Dionians could really defeat Thera The Syracuse army, coupled with the navy of Syracuse, also suffered a fiasco. The Syracuse soldiers who invaded Greater Greece may not be able to return to Sicily. Then Syracuse, who has lost its strength, needs Carthage. Kei to worry about? ! The safety of Carthage's north is guaranteed, so there is no need to guard Syracuse in Sicily, and there is no need to spend money to maintain a large number of mercenaries, and Marco's position as the governor of Sicily can be revoked! ...

Hanno had countless thoughts in his mind, and then said with a smile: "Tomorrow morning, when you go to the Senate, I will invite you to enter and tell the elders what Dionia wants."

When Ancitanos heard it, he was overjoyed. There was Sophie Tehanno's words. In fact, the purchase of grains would definitely be approved by the Carthaginian senate.

"Thank you, Lord Hanno!" Ancitanos said gratefully.

…………………………

The news of the disastrous defeat of the Syracuse army reached Trina that night, causing panic among the defenders in the city. It was only because it was too late, they did not dare to withdraw to the Sirius Court in the dark for fear of accidents.

Early the next morning, more than 3,000 Trina defenders began to prepare to retreat.

But soon after leaving the city, an accident happened: more than a thousand Hibernians were reluctant to go to Sirius, but only wanted to go south to their city-state.

After some negotiations and disputes, the generals of the Syracuse garrison reluctantly agreed. When they started to retreat east again, more than an hour had passed, but they brought a lot of looted from Trina. supplies, resulting in slow movement. Just after crossing the Lamato River, he was spotted by Dionia's sentinel cavalry.

When Ryders got the news, he sent someone to report to Davos in the rear, and at the same time he led more than a thousand cavalry to harass him, in order to delay the time for the enemy to escape back to the Sirius.

After receiving the news, the First and Second Corps at the forefront of the marching column also sent light armour and light infantry battalions to intercept them.

The more than 2,000 Trina defenders felt bad when they discovered Dionia's reconnaissance cavalry. Under the strict order of the general, they put on their armor, picked up their shields and spears, discarded the excess baggage, and accelerated their marching speed.

However, the undulating hilly road was not easy to walk. After about half an hour, the Trina defenders were still ten miles away from the Siriting, but Dionia's cavalry regiment had already arrived.

Before the cavalry corps threw the javelin, a thousand Collenian soldiers suddenly knelt down and surrendered, causing the already panicked Trina defenders to panic and form an array.

Seeing this, Ryders gave a decisive order: the cavalry attacked the enemy directly.

Trina's Syracuse garrison immediately collapsed. Pursued by the cavalry regiments, they were either killed or captured. In the end, only a hundred of more than a thousand people fled back to the Siri Court.

The Hibernians retreating to the south were equally unlucky, as they ran into the Ligium army who had landed on the coast north of Hibernian in the Cykrian fleet.

How could Feidun let go of this great opportunity to fight with less, and immediately lead the army to attack.