ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1045 Dido and Haka

The elders all felt nervous, especially the elders of the Magonide faction trembling.

"Let's retreat to the meeting place first, and quickly send someone to notify General Summers, and let him lead the army to disperse the crowd." At this time, Hanno was still able to maintain his composure, and whispered to the bewildered veterans own suggestions.

The elders returned to the meeting place, and while waiting for the arrival of the army, they also cautiously restarted the meeting. This time, the resistance was much smaller, and they passed the resolution of "resuming peace talks as soon as possible based on most of the Dionian negotiation conditions." It was decided to send envoys to reach an armistice agreement with Dionia as soon as possible.

When Hanno, under the protection of the arriving troops, walked out of the Senate venue and announced the Senate's new resolution to the people who were still gathered outside and still refused to leave, he aroused cheers from the people.

But Hanno also reminded them: Even if the peace talks are resumed, they cannot relax their vigilance. If they cannot repel the Dionian army invading Africa, then the possibility of the peace talks being successful will be very small, and Carthage will also lose more. Benefit.

Therefore, he encouraged the people present to actively prepare for war and defend Carthage.

People responded enthusiastically.

But things didn't end so smoothly.On this night, several Magonid elders were beaten by the people on their way home, and one even fell into a coma.

When the whole city was preparing for war urgently, although the Senate condemned this violent act and sent people to investigate, there was no result.

At the same time, some Magonid senators felt the danger and began to quietly flee Carthage.

When the Carthaginian envoy met Alexis, the Dionian army had already begun to besiege Ruspina.

After learning the intention of the Carthage envoy, Alexis made it clear that the order given to him by His Majesty King Davos was to attack Carthage.He will not stop attacking until he receives His Majesty's order to cease the war.

When the frustrated Carthaginian envoy left Ruspina, he was surprised to find that many Numibians also appeared here, and got along with the Dionia soldiers in harmony.

It turned out that the troop transport ships that encountered storms had returned to Hadrumentum one after another. Alexis allowed the East Numibians to return to their hometowns first, reunite with their families, and then regroup to assist Dionia. Army, attack Carthage together.

The reason why Alexis did not let these Eastern Numibians join the war immediately was because the Eastern Numibians were basically infantry and their combat effectiveness was not strong. Moreover, they were all eager to return home. He was worried that if they joined the army, not only would they be It will consume a lot of military rations and supplies, and it will actually drag down the army during the battle.However, he tried his best to retain the West Numibian cavalry. Except for those who drowned in the sea and insisted on leaving, about 2000 Numibian cavalry stayed to fight.

After the Carthaginian envoy left, Alexis began to order the army to launch a strong attack on Ruspina.The engineering battalions of several legions have stepped up to produce some siege equipment, and Alexis also has a basic understanding of the situation in the entire city.

Ruspina, like Hadrumentum, was one of the few larger Phoenician city-states in this area, but in Alexis' eyes it was still a small city, and it was not carefully constructed. Build defensive facilities.Based on what he observed, he carefully adjusted his siege deployment. He firmly believed that the city-state could be captured within a few days.

There are several reasons why Alexis was so anxious to attack Ruspina: First, although he had ordered his soldiers to repair the port of Hadrumentum, he lacked enough labor and lacked buildings. With limited materials and facing enemies in a strange environment, the port cannot be built in a short time.The experience of the second fleet made him know that in this season of late winter, this sea area is windy, and he needs to provide a safe harbor for the fleet that keeps delivering supplies to him as soon as possible, and at the same time, it can greatly improve The efficiency of unloading goods, so capturing a coastal city-state as soon as possible is the best choice.

Secondly, the Dionian army has just arrived. If it wants to gain a firm foothold, it must establish a solid rear so that it can attack Carthage boldly and confidently.Therefore, city-states like Ruspina that were very close to Hadrumentum had to be conquered first.

Besides, Alexis had something else in mind.In the early morning of the second day after the army landed, he received a report from the scouts: the Phoenician city-state of Addis in the west was heavily garrisoned (the road from Hadrumentum to Carthage is indeed flat on land, but This road is specific. There are a series of mountains between Carthage and Hadrumentum, and extend eastward to form the Capone Peninsula. Although the flat valley bottom in the middle is not narrow, Addis is located To the west of it, Carthage immediately sent additional reinforcements to Addis after learning that the Dionysian army had landed in Hadrumentum), Alexis hoped to attack Hadrummen The Phoenician city-state near Tum was able to attract Carthaginian troops for rescue, thereby wiping out Carthage's effective forces through field battles.

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Just when the Carthaginian envoy Ocreton rushed to Sicily again by boat to renegotiate with Henipolis, several Magonid elders had already fled to Sexi in southern Iberia. Out of resentment and fear, they exaggerated what happened in Carthage, and the members of the Magonid family and local officials who were stationed in the city were shocked when they learned about it.

In the governor's palace, Dido called Haka urgently, and asked him anxiously when they met: "I heard that our army in Sicily was either wiped out or captured. Now my father and brother don't know whether they are alive or dead. So many people The tribesmen don’t know what’s going on! But at this moment, the cursed Hanno was ruthless against our forces in Carthage. He sent people to assassinate Uncle Pretakuba and drove out the others. Carthage...what should we do now?!"

While Dido was talking, Haka was already lying down on the wooden chair, supported by his slaves.Since Mago led his army to Sicily, Haka has been mainly responsible for all affairs in Iberia. In addition, he is also responsible for the logistics and transportation of the Iberian army, always paying attention to the dynamics of the indigenous people inside and outside the territory, which lasted for half a year. Working day and night caused his physical condition to deteriorate, his body lost weight rapidly, and it was even difficult to walk.

"Not only what you said, I also got a piece of news..." Haka touched his forehead with his hand and said softly: "The important leader of the Hanno faction, Typan Laco, has proposed to the Senate to deal with my uncle and my brother. Trial in absentia, said to be severe punishment, because they caused such a major failure, put Carthage in danger, and at the same time to appease the Carthaginian people-"

"To appease the people of Carthage?! Then who will appease us?! For Carthage, most of the adult men of our Magonid family have gone to Sicily, and there is no news yet!" Dido said with tears in her eyes. But anger distorted her beautiful face, looking a bit ferocious: "Also, we have stayed in this backward and barbaric place full of dangers for so many years, how much effort we have put in, how many family members have died, and we have obtained these things. Isn't the land also for the benefit of Carthage?! Otherwise, after Carthage declared war with Dionia, Iberia could send so many soldiers! But the Carthage Senate ignored our attack and did not go through us With our consent, we have to hand over the land we worked so hard to obtain to the Dionians! My father and brother fought bravely for Carthage, and now their life and death are unknown. Not only do they not get the respect and sympathy of Carthage, but they also want Being judged and having their honor humiliated, the Carthage Senate is trying to push our Magonides family to death!"

Dido gritted his teeth and said sternly: "Haka, since the Carthage Senate is going to ruthlessly attack us, why should we still be manipulated by them? Let's just break away from Carthage and no longer listen to the Carthage Senate. The command!"

Haka listened quietly, not surprised by what Dido said. In fact, she had vented similar anger to him many times in the past two days, but the reason why she was so decisive this time was because she heard Gatha The Cardinal Senate wanted to impose a severe trial on Mago and Hasdrubal. According to the military tradition of Carthage in the past, military generals who had suffered major war defeats were severely tried by the Senate and were basically crucified. At the cross, the only one who escaped punishment was Mago's brother Himilco. Although he committed suicide in the end, the citizens at the time still complained to the Senate that they were too indulgent to him.Now Mago has suffered a greater military defeat than Himilco did back then. In addition, the Magonid family has very little influence in the Senate. With Hanno and others obstructing it, Mago and Hasdru Ba was probably in danger of being executed, so it was no wonder that Dido went into a rage.

"Are you serious?" Haka asked softly.

"Of course I'm serious!" Dido walked over, looked down at Haka, and said sharply with firm eyes: "Carthage regards us as enemies, then we are no longer Carthaginians! Haka, your general The local officials gathered together and announced to them that the Iberian colony was independent and had nothing to do with Carthage anymore!”

Haka rubbed his forehead and sighed softly: "Now the main officials in the territory are all members of our Magonid tribe. If they declare independence, they may not have much objection, but it will inevitably not cause dissension in the territory. The panic among those in Carthage and Phoenicia.

And you should know that the biggest danger we are facing directly is the Iberian natives inside and outside the territory. Since we blocked the news of the defeat, they are temporarily quiet, but they will always know after a long time. Launch an attack on our territory on the grounds of 'demanding compensation', but there are not enough troops in our territory, and once we break away from Carthage, we will not receive reinforcements, and we will not be able to resist these fierce natives The attack, the land will be occupied by them, and the people will be tortured and killed by them!

What's more important is that we have declared our independence. Carthage may not be able to do anything to us for the time being, but Dionia has regarded our territory as its own, but it failed. Will they be angry?Will I kill my uncle and my brother because of this?And then send an army to seize this land? ...Have you ever thought about this? "

(End of this chapter)