ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1050 The end of the war
The fiasco in Minoa was actually caused by an unexpected incident and could not be regarded as a real battle. Moreover, he looked down upon Monte Adeno, who only knew about pleasure. He did not go to the front line in person during the battle. It would be strange if he did not fail.As for the final big defeat that was related to the success or failure of the war, according to the latest news he received, it was mainly due to the Carthaginian army's failure to attack the fortified city for a long time and the sudden rebellion of the Numibians, and not to the defeat at the hands of Dione. The runner-up army fights head-on.The only real battle was the Battle of Jela. Hasdrubal led his army to defeat the Dionian coalition and successfully captured Jela.

In addition, Samos had experience fighting the Greeks. He followed Himilko to fight Syracuse in Sicily 20 years ago. At that time, he was still a young captain, and the army attacked Syracuse. Under the city, if it were not for the damn plague, the Carthaginian army would not have suffered a disastrous defeat, and it would be more likely that they would capture the city of Syracuse.

Since the Kingdom of Dionia was established by the Greeks, even if their army was stronger than the Syracuseans, it was not much stronger. Now that the city of Carthage is facing a crisis, the soldiers share the same hatred, so they can naturally Exhibiting more powerful force than before, when the number of armies on both sides is roughly equal, they can completely repel the Dionians... It was based on this judgment that Samors decided to take the initiative to send troops and fight through the battle. Change the tide of battle.

But as the battle progressed, he found that he was wrong: at the beginning of the battle, Dionia's light infantry ran freely in that peculiar formation, and Dionia's array easily transitioned from dispersion to convergence... He knew very well that this It is difficult to achieve without long-term and rigorous training; and later in the battle, the Carthaginian soldiers, inspired by the belief in defending their country, bravely attacked the enemy, but the Dionian legionnaires were like rocks. Still standing still, until the soldiers were exhausted and mentally exhausted, they gradually increased the intensity of the attack... This is an attack method that only experienced and mature troops dare to take!
Summers has regretted it now, but once the battle starts, the battle situation is out of his control.

Alexis' expression was much more relaxed. He said to Printors: "It's time for the infantry of the Third Fleet to attack."

It turned out that the two of them had received news yesterday: Carthage had sent thousands of reinforcements to Addis, and these reinforcements looked either too young or too old.

Based on the current battle situation, they quickly concluded that the Carthaginians were probably preparing to take risks.

Just as Alexis said to the legion commanders before, "This may be the last battle for the Carthaginians. They will definitely try their best. Although the Dionian army now has the advantage, after all, they are in Once the battle is lost, the situation will also be quite dangerous." Therefore, Alexis faced a lot of pressure, so he took a prudent approach and immediately sent a clipper to notify the second officer stationed on Khosla Island. Three fleets (after the Dionian army landed in Africa, Davos made a simple division of labor for the two fleets under his command. The waters of Africa west of Carthage were handed over to the Sicilian fleet, and the waters east of Carthage were handed over to the Third Fleet. The fleet is responsible).

After Midorades received the news, he was delighted: the Sicilian fleet infantry had united with the Tenth Legion to launch an attack on Carthage's Phoenician allies. How could the Third Fleet miss this important battle to defeat Carthage? fighting!
So, he immediately gathered the warships patrolling everywhere overnight, and led the fleet south early the next day, entering the port of Ruspina. After the 2 fleet infantry he carried ashore, they quickly marched westward, waiting for them to arrive at Dio When they arrived at the Niya camp, the Dionyian army had already begun to line up outside the camp.

After learning that "the infantry of the Third Fleet had arrived", Alexis asked the messenger to inform them: have a good rest in the camp, wait for orders, and be ready to attack at any time.

And now it's time for this new force to fight the enemy!

When the Carthaginian army was in decline, the infantry of the Third Fleet appeared on the battlefield.

In a battlefield filled with dust and mist everywhere, it was difficult to accurately understand the battle situation in a timely manner, so when Samors learned of the bad news, the fleet infantry had already launched an attack on Carthage's left wing.

Although the Carthaginian soldiers were still fighting tenaciously, the defeat had become a fact. In order to avoid too many casualties and leaving the city of Carthage undefended, Samors ordered: Sound the retreat bugle immediately!
The physical strength and morale of the Carthaginian coalition soldiers were declining sharply. After the trumpet sounded, a comprehensive retreat soon formed.

The soldiers of the Dionian Legion immediately pursued, and Alexis also sent someone to urge the West Numibian cavalry, who had been watching and resting in the second half of the battle, to join the pursuit.

This forced a large number of Carthaginian troops to flee into the mountains to escape the fierce pursuit of the Dionian army.

At dusk, Alexis withdrew his troops and returned to camp.

This battle, which involved more than 5 people and lasted for nearly four hours, was very brutal. The frontal fighting alone caused nearly 5000 casualties on both sides (the Dionian soldiers suffered nearly 2000 casualties, and the Carthaginian soldiers suffered nearly 3000 casualties. More than 6000 casualties), and nearly [-] Carthaginian soldiers were captured.

When the news spread back to Carthage, the whole city was shaken, the people panicked, and the cries of pain continued...

On the 2nd day, regardless of the attempts of the Addis people to stay and the broken troops returning one after another, Samos gathered the remaining troops and fled back to the city of Carthage.

The people of Carthage, angry with grief, surrounded Samors as he entered the city in despair. They first cursed and then beat him until he fell to the ground.

In order to quell public anger, the Senate tried in absentia as quickly as possible, and the result of the trial was: crucifixion.

This was perhaps the most tragic death of a leading general in the history of Carthage.

But executing Samors would not help change the situation of the war.

On the third day, Alexis led the rested army to march westward, and Addis opened the city and surrendered.

On the fourth day, the Dionian army and the East Numibian troops heading north met at Addis.

On the fifth day, the Dionian coalition continued to advance westward, and the city of Tunes surrendered, followed by the surrender of Megalopolis.

Finally, more than 4 Dionian coalition soldiers bypassed Lake Tunes (now Lake Tunisia) and approached the city of Carthage.

The horrified Carthage people stood on the west wall and watched the densely packed Dionian soldiers destroying ditches and shoveling away a piece of the isthmus between Lake Bizer and Lake Tunes. They took a piece of farmland and started building a camp on it, obviously preparing to completely block the Carthaginians in the city (the Carthaginians thought it was an isthmus. In fact, the shortest distance between the two lakes was about 10 miles, and the terrain was very flat).

The frightened Carthaginians did not dare to attack, so they could only hide within the tall and thick city walls and step up preparations for defense.Both men, women and children were mobilized, equipped with weapons, and ready to go to the city to fight at any time. All the blacksmith shops in the city were working 24 hours a day, urgently producing various weapons: daggers, javelins, spears, shields...

Even the panicked senators approved the high priest's proposal and persuaded the people in the city to hold an unprecedented scale of sacrifices to pray for blessings from Bar Hamon, the patron god of Dionia. This ceremony was once performed by the Phoenicians in the Western Mediterranean. It is a fire festival that is very popular among Chinese people and makes other races talk about it. It has been rarely held in recent decades.

But at this time, the people of Carthage were on the verge of despair. This was their last remaining hope, so almost no one opposed it.Through drawing lots, a total of two hundred children under the age of six were selected. Amid the chants of the people in the city, they were pushed alive into the fire pit in front of the statue of Baal Hamon. Their shrill screams made people even more sad. The Carthaginians were miserable and confused...

However, after the fire ceremony, Baal Harmon's blessing did not appear. Instead, bad news kept coming: Daritos also surrendered to Dionia... Before long, in addition to Carthage, Africa The second largest Phoenician city-state, Utica, also chose to surrender.Therefore, another Dionian army (i.e., the Fourth Legion and the Sicilian Fleet Infantry) was able to pass the western coast road and approach the city of Carthage from the west.At the same time, some warships of the Sicilian Fleet and the Third Fleet sailed into Lake Bizerte and Lake Tunes, and anchored at the simple dock built by the Dionysian army in the camp (the Carthaginians had opened it long ago The communication between these two lagoons and the sea, and a port was built where the lake extended into the city), by now the city of Carthage had been completely surrounded and fell into an isolated and helpless situation.

The reason why the senators headed by Hanno have not yet made up their minds and fully accepted Dionia's negotiation conditions at this moment is because they still have the last bit of luck: intervention from Persia.

Tire did in fact respond to Carthage's request and sent an envoy to Babylon.

King Artaxerxes of Persia was very surprised when he learned the news that "Carthage was actually forced into desperation by Dionia". After careful consideration, he decided to send an envoy to the Western Mediterranean to learn more about this situation. During the war, explore the reality of Dionia and understand the true attitude of this newly rising Greek kingdom towards Persia.

Mediating this war is only a secondary purpose. After all, he who has been in office for more than 20 years knows very well: Dionia has gone through all the hard work and finally forced the enemy into a desperate situation. How could it be possible because he was thousands of miles away? With just a few words, he gave up all previous efforts, not to mention that Persia had never shown its power to this newly established country.

In mid-February, when the passenger ship on which the Persian envoy entered the waters of Carthage, it was intercepted by the Dionian warship. Even though he claimed that he was an envoy sent by the King of Persia, he was still prohibited from entering the city of Carthage.

The Persian envoy had to turn to see the King of Dionia and was taken to Lilibi.

Davos did not treat the Persian envoy slowly, and the reception ceremony was quite grand.

But since the Corinthian War, not only did Sparta, the overlord of Greece, rely on the support of Persia, but also large Greek city-states such as Athens, Corinth, and Thebes had to rely on Persia. Persia became the de facto overlord of the Eastern Mediterranean, so Greece Whenever city-state envoys came to Persia, in order to achieve their goals, they often bribed officials at all levels to please them. However, Persian envoys enjoyed high-level reception when they went to various parts of Greece.

But this Persian aristocratic envoy came to the Western Mediterranean with great ambitions, but he was hit in the head. Not only was the passenger ship hijacked, but his request was also rejected. Naturally, he felt suffocated. After seeing Daves, he was shocked again. Seeing that the barbarian king neither wore a noble crown nor a gorgeous robe, and even just received him in an ordinary living room, he was filled with contempt. Before he could say a few words, he said: He said to Davos in a commanding tone: "Our sacred and noble king is very concerned about the war between Dionia and Carthage. He hopes that both parties can immediately stop the war, return the lands they occupy, and return to The state before the start of the war! As long as both sides implement this, they will gain the friendship of Persia, otherwise the consequences will be very serious, and Dionia will not be able to bear it! "

Facing the arrogance of the Persian envoy, Davos, who was almost 50 years old, had a deeper understanding of the city. He did not mock the Persian envoy as powerfully as he did when he ridiculed the Spartan envoy Phoebus. He said in a calm tone: "It's good that you in Persia can manage the affairs of Asia well, and you don't need to worry about the affairs of the Western Mediterranean."

The two parties broke up on bad terms, and even the banquet to be held after the meeting was cancelled.

The next day, the Persian envoy's passenger ship left Lilibi and was "escorted" all the way until it was far away from the Western Mediterranean.

After the Persian envoy returned to Babylon, he told Artaxerxes his "tragic experience" in the Western Mediterranean and what King Dionia wanted him to bring to the King of Persia. The Persian king was very angry and swore in public: One day, the Kingdom of Dionia will be given the most severe punishment!
The Carthaginian senators have never waited for news from the Persians, but the Dionian attack has always made them nervous: the Dionian army has not sent soldiers to attack the city directly so far, but their crossbows But they bombarded the city wall every day, and even threw fire cans into the city, increasing the panic of the people in the city; they also built earthen fortresses higher than the city wall, condescendingly attacking the defenders on the city from a distance; the Dionians did not But the army was attacking, and the navy was also not idle. They spliced ​​several warships together, laid them with wooden planks, placed ballistas and belly bows on them, approached the ports in the two lakes, and attacked the defense facilities in the city... The Dionian army did not use all its strength, it was more like practicing the tactics of sea and land siege, but the Carthaginians, who had never encountered such a desperate situation, already felt a little out of breath.

The siege lasted for more than three months. The city walls were damaged, drinking water was lacking, most of the city was destroyed, and morale was extremely low. The Carthaginians finally lowered their proud heads and were forced to sign an extremely harsh truce agreement with the Dionysians: Carthage recognized Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia as being placed under the rule of the Kingdom of Dionia;
cede all colonial cities in Iberia to Dionia (excluding the new colonies later conquered by the Magonid family);

Carthage agreed to annex the territory of Hadrumentum to the Kingdom of Dionia;

Carthage must not infringe on the interests of Dionysian allies East and West Numibia;

Carthage and Dionia restored peace and resumed trade for a period of 20 years. Interest disputes arising within the period shall be resolved through negotiation between the two parties;
Allies of both parties to the agreement shall not be invaded within the time limit...

……

Six months later, Ortigia also surrendered due to running out of food.At this point, the war between Dionia and Carthage ended.

　The Spring Festival is coming soon. I took two weeks off to go home to visit relatives. I will leave tomorrow and return on February 2st. In the meantime, I will take my children to other cities to play. Therefore, updates cannot be guaranteed during this period, so I will only Some of the saved manuscripts will be posted at once, I hope you can understand!I’ll continue updating when my vacation is over!

　　I wish you all a happy New Year and all the best! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)