ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 477 Hidden dangers of Dionia's army

But Dionia did not sign an agreement with Tarantum at this time, which made Histiavis feel uneasy. He reminded unwillingly: "So you are already full of confidence in defeating Syracuse?! I But I heard that until now, Dionysius’s army still has an absolute advantage on land!”

"Isn't Syracuse's defeat of us exactly what you wanted!" Kunogolata said sarcastically: "You will no longer worry about the safety of the city-state and the life and death of the captured citizens."

Histiavis was speechless for a moment, and then he couldn't help but ask: "If this war continues for a long time, won't we Tarantum have to keep delivering food to Thurii? You must know our food reserves Not abundant either."

"In this case, you still dare to tear up the alliance and start a war with us!" Kunogorata sneered.

Ansitanos interjected from the side: "Wars of this scale have happened several times throughout Greek history. It simply cannot last."

Histiavis hesitated for a moment and finally said: "Okay, I will convey Dionia's proposal to the Senate, but I hope you understand that Tarantum is a sub-state of Sparta."

Cunogorata and Ansitanos looked at each other, and Cunogorata said calmly: "So what? Is Sparta also preparing to join the war?"

Histiavis stopped talking. He found that the Dionians were not afraid of any threats at this time. Perhaps as the other party said, Tarentum could only hope for Syracuse's victory... …

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While Cunogorata, Ansitanos and the Tarantum envoys were negotiating post-war matters, Davos was also discussing food supplies with Baguilipi, Capus, Marij, and Melses. question.

"Your Majesty, the grain in the Turiyi Granary has been transported to the troops in the south during this period, and it is almost empty now. I estimate that the Cosenza Granary still has half of the stock, but its transportation is somewhat difficult, and it is very difficult for Laos. Sri Lanka's attack is about to begin again, and then the food supply will still need to be provided from the Cosenza granary. As for the current situation of the Grumentum granary, I don't know much about it..." Agricultural officer Bajilippi asked Dai Firth elaborated on Dionia's current food situation.

"I know the situation in Grumentum's granary quite well. The previous war with Samnite ended relatively quickly, and there were some seizures, so not much was consumed. However, Grumentum's grain output is already low, and its reserves are It's not a good situation, but the amount of livestock is huge and the price is low, which can barely support the Third Army's counterattack against the Samnai region. Therefore, it is possible to squeeze out food from the Lucania region to supply Thurii It’s not big, and transportation is also a big problem, so we don’t want to try the Grumentum granary.” Davers introduced the situation he learned when he led his army through Grumentum. .

"Your Majesty, it seems that if we want to organize a battle with a scale of more than 5 people against the Syracuda people, food is an urgent problem we need to solve!" Capps said worriedly. During this time, he replaced Xi Ross took over the military affairs and had a detailed understanding of this: "Three days ago, Asprostum and Krimisa sent back news that their food was a little tight. In the past few days, due to concerns about tin Due to the harassment of Lacuza's fleet, the baggage team has been busy adding escorts to avoid being attacked by enemy sailors, so there has not yet been a large-scale transportation of grain to the two cities where the legion is stationed, and it is not known what their current situation is.

Moreover, Thurii now has three legions, the First, Second, and Seventh, as well as a baggage transport team, and the 6000 people newly recruited by your Majesty. This makes nearly 3 people, and the grain consumed every day It's a huge number. If the food problem cannot be solved, even these armies in Thurii will have to disband in a few days because they run out of food. "

"Don't forget, there are also prisoners in Syracuse and Tarantum, and there are probably about 25000 of them!" Merses reminded everyone loudly: "Even if you only give them a little food every day, they can maintain their basic Their survival requires a lot of food, so I think it’s better to treat them all as slaves and sell them for money.”

Davos looked at Melses' impatient greed. He did not feel disgusted. Because of the consumption of the war and the shutdown of the port market, the treasury's money was only going out but not coming in. It had bottomed out, so Melses He could completely understand Si's eagerness.

But he shook his head and said: "Tarantum's prisoners cannot be sold. They are the most important tool for us to control Tarantum. If we let them, Tarantum will obediently and continuously deliver food. In addition, Yesterday's capture at Heraclea, I think, can at least alleviate the food shortage in Thurii. As for the Syracuse sailors... Marij, now that the Syracusan blockade of our port has been broken, I believe Trade will slowly recover. Can these captive sailors from Syracuse be sold?" Davos, who was a modern man in his previous life, always hated the slave trade, but for the survival of Dionia, he couldn't care less. A lot.

After Davos finished speaking, Melcis also changed his previous attitude of hating Mariji and looked at Mariji eagerly.

Mariji nodded and saluted Davos, and then said slowly: "Your Majesty, although we defeated the Syracuseans at sea, we have not yet completely eliminated their power at sea. Our most important trade channel - —The Straits of Messina are still controlled by the Syracuse navy.

The situation is better east of the Mediterranean.Tarantum's fleet was completely wiped out, and Syracuse's ally, the Spartan combined fleet, is now suppressed by the Athenian fleet that is friendly to us. Therefore, if the blockade of the Strait of Messina cannot be broken quickly, the future will For a period of time, our only sea trade to the east Mediterranean will slowly recover, but the original trade to the east will not occupy a major position in our market in Dionia. "

Commercial Officer Mariji did not talk about the slave issue first, but made a brief estimate of the situation in the port market.

Davos immediately said: "I understand what you mean. I will urge Sekerian to lead the fleet to seize control of the Strait of Messina as soon as possible! But with the arrival of merchant ships, can our port guarantee normal operation?"

Daves made a point. During the war, it is not just the arrival of merchant ships. The operation of the entire port requires a lot of management personnel, a large number of porters and sailors, and patrols to maintain law and order... Wait, the more prosperous the port is , the more manpower is needed.But now in Dionia, in order to cope with the war, a large number of young and middle-aged laborers have been transferred, not only official citizens, pre-citizens, free citizens, and even free citizens who have not yet been registered. The originally bustling ports and markets are now very Depression, more women, the elderly, and even children can be seen busy in the market stalls, which can be seen from the lack of labor.

Marij was certainly aware of adequate labor - which was also an important issue.In this regard, he had no better way, so he could only reluctantly say: "Your Majesty, I will find a way to solve this problem... As for the large number of Syracuse prisoners, if we want to find them in a short time There are indeed very few city-states that can afford the cost and are not afraid of Syracuse and dare to take over... well, I have a goal." Mariji said with emphasis: "We can try Carthage , you can even use these slaves to exchange for food from Carthage."

As soon as he finished speaking, Melses began to mutter: "Carthage, they have been frightened by the Syracuseans. They refused to ally with us before. I don't think they will agree to buy these prisoners."

Marij ignored him and waited for Davos's reply.

Carthage!After Mariji's reminder, Davos's eyes lit up: Before the war, Carthage was opposed to forming an alliance with Dionia.However, as the war continues to this day, it is not certain whether the Carthaginians will maintain their previous attitude. After all, Syracuse and Carthage have always been mortal enemies. Although peace has been maintained during this period, it is not certain. It means that the Carthaginians will watch helplessly as Syracuse continues to expand its power in Magna Graecia, and even turn Magna Graecia into Syracuse's backyard.Because in that case, the more powerful Syracuse would only pose a greater threat to Carthage's sphere of influence in Sicily.

Thinking of this, Davos made up his mind and said: "It seems that we need to immediately send someone to Carthage again to find out the Carthaginians' attitude towards this war. If they are willing to buy these slaves, , we can make further demands on Carthage, such as food trade. You must know that this war is related to both the survival of our Dionia and the rise and fall of Syracuse. I don’t know how long it will last. Therefore, the food in Tarantum alone is not enough to ensure adequate food supply for the Dionian army being formed! And Carthage is famous for its rich food production, and it is not far from Dionia, so it can satisfy our needs. The war is necessary, otherwise where else can we go to buy food? Yuk Xinghai? Or Egypt? These places are too far away from us to provide timely protection, and accidents are prone to happen..."

"Your Majesty, there is also Cyrenaica to consider." Marij added.

Cyrenaica?Davos was stunned. He really had not thought about this Greek city-state located in Africa, adjacent to Carthage and Egypt. Dionia had never had contact with it before, but it is said that although Cyrenaica has Sparta has good relations (because it is a sub-state of Sparta, but it has always maintained neutrality among Greek city-states, and it is a city-state based on agriculture and animal husbandry. Silphium grass is just one of its A specialty commodity, it is also rich in horses, cattle and sheep, wheat and flax.

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(End of this chapter)