ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1027 Establishing the New Order in Africa ([-])
"Great! We are very willing to attack Carthage City with Dionia!" Almost all the Numibians showed joy. Davos's words could be said to have completely relieved their doubts, and they successively Expressed willingness to form an alliance with Delnia.

At this time, a voice suddenly rose: "Dear King Davos, I am Tinum, the leader of the Biamasili tribe in West Numi. I have a question. Dionia is a kingdom, and we Numi Biya is not only divided into eastern and western parts, but each is composed of many tribes, and the interests of each tribe are different. Once an alliance is formed with Dionia, in the event of a war between the tribes, as an alliance Who will Dionia choose to help?"

Davos looked at the slender Numibian leader with sinister eyes. He was no stranger to his name, and immediately said sincerely: "Chief Tinum, I have heard that you can be brave this time." They rose up against the Carthaginian army, and you played a big role in it. I am very grateful for this, and will never forget the contribution of your tribe!"

Davos looked directly at him. Although he did not explicitly say that the promise given to him would not change, he believed that he could understand the meaning of the words.

Sure enough, Tinum showed a smile on his face and bowed slightly in return.

"The question you just raised is a very good one. What I want to emphasize to you is that the alliance formed by our Dionia and your East and West Numbia is not like the city-states of Carthage and Phoenicia. Alliance, I think you all know that alliance is that other Phoenician city-states must obey Carthage's orders, and what I hope to establish is an equal alliance. Every tribe in Numbia, regardless of size, Strong and weak, they are all equal to Dionia, so you can rest assured that Dionia will respect each of your tribes in accordance with the covenant and will not interfere in your internal affairs.

Of course, if there is a conflict among you and you take the initiative to ask for Dionia's help, we will try our best to mediate for you, but we will never favorably support a certain party, let alone provide supplies or send troops, so You can rest assured!And as far as I know, you Numibians are a relatively united race, and there have basically been no major conflicts between tribes..."

Davos complimented the Numibian tribes for their unity and rare conflicts. This is only a superficial fact, but the fundamental reason is that the tribes of East Numibia are unable to cope with the pressing pressure of the Carthaginians and are struggling to survive. When everything becomes a problem, how can there be energy to pursue the development of the tribe? As for the West Numibian tribe, Carthage also has relatively tight control over it. Tribes that are in conflict will be vigorously attacked and weakened. Just like the Masili tribe, after learning several lessons, they have to become more disciplined.As a result, many tribes in the entire Numibian region stayed together for a long time, not only maintaining peace, but also maintaining good relations.

But the shrewd Davos will never mention whether such peace can still be maintained among the tribes of Numbia when the threat of Carthage is eliminated.

However, the vast majority of Numibians cannot have a long-term vision and think deeply. Instead, after listening to Davos's words, they nodded repeatedly with pride on their faces. Now they feel very much about Davos's answer. Satisfied, all their doubts and worries were eliminated, leaving only one thought - Dionia is indeed different from Carthage, and it will become the staunchest ally that the Numibians can rely on.

Therefore, they all raised their wine glasses and toasted to Davos to express their gratitude. Davos and the generals also toasted in return, and the atmosphere of the banquet became more enthusiastic.

..........................................

At the end of the late-night banquet, the Numibians left drunkenly and contentedly, and the generals also returned excitedly because the war would not end soon.

Only Henepolis did not leave and followed Davos into the living room.

The slave brought hot water and clean linen. Davos covered his face with the linen that had taken up the hot water. He suddenly felt that all the pores on his face were opened under the fumigation of the heat, which seemed to bring out the smell of alcohol. I left, refreshed.

He lay on his back for a while, until the cloth became cold, then he stood up and took it off. Seeing Hernipolis still sitting quietly next to him, he asked in surprise: "Herni, what else do you want?"

"Your Majesty." Henepolis bowed and asked softly: "We have completely defeated the Carthaginian army. You also said at the banquet tonight that we will land in Africa and attack the city of Carthage. So is it still necessary to negotiate with the Carthaginians?"

"Of course it is necessary to continue negotiations." Davos explained patiently: "As for the remaining Carthaginian troops who fled into Segesta and Mazara, our army cannot relax and must continue to attack. And... Mazara La, Segesta, Elyx, Sican...these remnant forces in Sicily need time to surrender and deal with them to ensure that we have no worries, so it may take some time for the army to land in Africa.

During this period of time, I don’t want the Carthaginians to completely see through our true intentions and try every means to make adequate defense preparations. This will cause great difficulties for our landing army, so we still Gotta keep playing with them, let their guard down, and buy us time. "

"Your Majesty, this victory will probably make the Carthaginians even more eager to negotiate with us. If we continue to negotiate according to the previous conditions, it is very likely that the Carthaginians will agree."

Hernipolis' reminder made Davos think. After a moment, a smile appeared on his lips: "Herni, you are right. Since we have won a new and major victory, we need to ask for more benefits. It's a matter of course. Who told the Carthage envoy not to agree to our conditions earlier?"

"Yes, I specifically reminded the envoy named Okriton during the last negotiation." Henipolis also had a bad smile on his face.

"This new condition... is to let the Carthaginians cede southern Iberia to us. What do you think?" Davos asked.

"...The gold and silver mines in southern Iberia are an important source of Taiji's precious metal trade. We previously occupied Sardinia, and now we want southern Iberia. If Carthage agrees, their precious metal trade will If it is completely destroyed, its treasury revenue will also be reduced sharply. I don’t think they will agree easily. What’s more, the inland area of ​​southern Iberia was developed by the Magonides family with more than 10 years of hard work. It is theirs Basically, they will never agree to this condition! In this way, we can bargain with the Carthaginians and achieve the purpose of delaying time..." Henipolis analyzed seriously.

"Yes! In Carthage, the Magonids and the Hannos are deeply hostile and contradictory. It is precisely because they held each other back in the war that they created many conditions for our victory." Davos sighed and said that there were some words that he did not say out loud but kept in his heart.

Davos remembered that in previous life history, after the First Punic War, Carthage ceded Sicily to Rome (Sardinia was later forced to cede), but the Hannibal family mainly relied on opening up Ibi. The financial and manpower accumulated in southern Italy caused great disaster to Rome during the Second Punic War... Therefore, he did not propose this condition just to delay time, but was determined to completely occupy this area. The treasure land gave Carthage no chance to turn around.

"Your Majesty, do we really want to capture the city of Carthage...to completely eliminate Carthage?" Henepolis's voice brought Davos back from his thoughts.

Looking at the worried face of the palace secretary, Davos smiled: "What, you can't bear to part with it?"

"I am... worried that attacking the city of Carthage will cause a lot of casualties to our army..." Henepolis did not tell the truth completely. Although he had a bad attitude towards the Carthage envoy during the negotiations, as a A highly educated citizen of Dionia, in these years of researching Carthage intelligence, he has gradually become interested in the culture created by the Carthaginians, and he does not want such an ancient and glorious city-state to be completely destroyed. .

Davos did not reveal his thoughts, and said in a calm tone: "In ancient times, there was a giant snake. It was ferocious and powerful, and no one dared to mess with it. But it had a flaw, it was very greedy. I was eating from morning to night, and in the end I stuffed myself to death..."

Henepolis blinked and said, "Your Majesty, are you worried that the kingdom's expansion too fast...will lead to danger?"

Davos stretched out his hand and counted down one by one: "Campania, the Samnite Mountains, the Latium region, Corsica, Sardinia, the entire Sicily, and if possible, Iberia." The south and the new towns in Africa... In this war, the land we acquired in Dionia has exceeded the original land area... Just to digest and absorb these lands and let the people on the land integrate into Dionia Kingdom, we have to spend a long time, a lot of manpower and material, this is not something that can be done easily.

Africa on the other side of the sea is a broader continent that we are completely unfamiliar with. The Carthaginians have lived there for hundreds of years and have a great influence. If they want to completely eliminate them, they will pay a high price!And if we destroy Carthage, will we be able to replace Carthage's position in Africa? "

Davos looked at Henipolis solemnly.

(End of this chapter)