ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 719 The Appointment of Sekerian

"But I heard that in the past ten years or so, he has led troops to conquer Numbia. It shows that he is not an incompetent person." Kisgo was slightly confused.

"Humph, the Numibian region has been under the influence of Carthage for decades. How many tribes are willing to actively attach themselves to Carthage? What's more, the Numibians have always been scattered. How can they unite to resist Carthage? A large army, even if the Senate sends a woman as its commander, they can conquer Numbia." Hasdrubal said disdainfully: "Uncle said that Monte Adeno was greedy for wine, lust, and could not endure hardship. I heard that he was in Numbia. When Biya commanded the war, he was afraid of the hot weather and never went to the front line to command the battle. Instead, he hid in a tent and commanded by remote control... It was a joke that Hanno sent him to be the commander-in-chief of the army! Hanno was also a man who had no idea about military affairs at all. Idiots who understand! Only 4 people were sent from this city to fight against Dionia, thinking that by winning a few towns and winning a few victories, Dionia would succumb and take advantage... He I think war is like doing business and you can bargain!”

"Yes, since we have already started a war with Dionia, we should use all our strength to defeat Dionia while it is still weak due to drought!" Kisgo said with a worried look: "If not early To change my mind, I am afraid this expedition will..."

"Isn't that just right? Hanno's failure is just conducive to our return to the center of Carthage!" Hasdrubal said with a relaxed look.

"But... what if Monte Adeno gives random orders to our army?..." Kisgo was a little worried.

Hasdrubal glanced at him: "Have you forgotten what Uncle Mago said! We don't have to obey Monte Adeno's command at all, we control our own army!"

Kisgo thought for a while and suggested: "In this case... we'd better be able to lead the army alone."

"I will make this request to Monte Adeno. I think he is not willing to stay with us who are always arguing with him and unwilling to obey his orders." Hasdrubal said with a bad look on his face. laugh.

At this time, the watchman shouted from the mast: "We are almost arriving in Sicily!"

Hasdroba and Kisgo were refreshed and rushed to the bow of the ship, looking at the faint outline of the land in the distance.

Hasdruba looked excited: "Kisgol, let's have a big fight together!"

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"I didn't expect that Carthage would send such a commander who could win the battle without being on the battlefield. It's an ability!" Davos was in a good mood after reading the information about the Carthage army.

"Copy this information about the Carthaginian army and send it to Proseus immediately. I believe he will make good use of it." Davos divided a part of the information from the pile on the desk and handed it over. To Aristiras.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Aris, do you think Hanno only sent 4 troops... Oh, plus the Iberian army, a total of 6 people went to Sicily. Does he really think that with only these 6 troops? Can the army defeat Dionia and completely occupy Sicily?" Daves suddenly asked.

Sometimes when Davos was thinking about some important state affairs, he would suddenly ask questions to the ministers around him to confirm his thoughts or broaden his thinking. Aristelas was already prepared for this, and he said calmly : "Maybe Sophie Hanno of Carthage didn't even think about completely occupying Sicily or completely defeating our Dionia. He just wanted to win some victories and force us to sign some agreements that were beneficial to them... "

"...That makes sense." Davos nodded thoughtfully. After a while, he touched his chin and said in a deep voice: "It's also possible...the Carthaginians don't want to send so many troops at once to increase the pressure on logistics. , but depending on the development of the war situation, more will be added in the future... But in any case, the leader of Carthage, Lord Hanno, plays politics well, but he is obviously not as courageous as the Magonides family. Maybe in He did not regard this war as a decisive battle between Dionia and Carthage at all, which should be a good thing for us..." Davos said, his voice gradually weakened, I fell into thinking again.

Aristelas stood aside quietly without making a sound.

After a while, Davos looked at him again and said: "At yesterday's tribunes meeting, the tribunes from Ugentum, Mesagne, and Udiai all mentioned that there were strangers. Messapian people are in and out of the mansions of some former Messapi tribal leaders in towns and villages. Send someone to investigate carefully."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"It's best to find out who is behind them! It seems that some people want to take advantage of the war between us and Carthage to cause us more trouble!" Davos looked at him sharply. Ahead, he actually already had an object of suspicion in his mind.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I'll do it right away!" Aristillas said solemnly.

At this time, the palace guard came in and reported: "Your Majesty, Lord Sekerian has arrived."

"Let him in quickly!" Davos said happily.

Aristelas immediately resigned.

Sekelian, who is already in his 40s, is still slender and has a vigorous movement. There is no sign of a middle-aged man's body fat. He strode into the office and came to Davos, moving quickly and simply. He gave a standard military salute: "Your Majesty, here I come!"

"Looking at you, it seems you can't wait any longer." Davos joked.

"Isn't it, Your Majesty! I have been in the small bay of Tarentum for almost ten years, and I have almost forgotten how to drive a warship!" Sekolian also said jokingly.

"It seems that I have to reconsider changing to a naval commander." Davers said solemnly.

"Is there a better admiral than me in the kingdom?" Sekerian responded immediately.

Both of them burst out laughing.

"This time you are sent to Sicily to command the First and Third Fleets to fight against the Carthaginian navy. The naval commander of the Third Fleet, Flarios, is your former subordinate, and it is easier to command. You also have What's the request?" Davos said seriously.

"Can you also put the Second Fleet under my command?" Sekerian made his request unceremoniously.

Davos shook his head: "Midolades' fleet needs to contain the Romans on the west coast. Besides, after nearly 6 people in the First Fleet went to Sicily, most of the military supplies were supplied by the Kingdom. You also know that the Kingdom has just experienced Due to the drought, all cities in southern Italy are in short supply of food, but I have given priority to the food shipped from Egypt to your fleet, if you add another 4 to [-] people, I am afraid that most of the navy under your command will be hungry."

There are currently four fleets in the Kingdom of Dionia.The First Fleet is mainly based in Tarantum, the Second Fleet is based in Trina, the Third Fleet is based in Catanai, and the Fourth Fleet is based in Brindisi.Since the manpower required to form a fleet is very large, in principle, they are all assigned nearby. For example: the main force of the First Fleet is stationed in the northwest corner of Tarentum Port, and the land from there to Metapontum is basically allocated to The sailors and helmsmen of the First Fleet, and some sailors from Tarentum, Metapontum, Heraclea... Therefore, every time the First Fleet trains, they can carry enough rations and prepare them in time. Rush to the base.

In addition, the main combat force of the Dionia fleet is the crow warship, and the main combat method is boarding warfare, which requires a large number of infantry to board the ship to fight.During the Southern Italian War, the infantry was completely provided by the army corps, but after the establishment of the kingdom, Sekerian made a suggestion to the Ministry of Military Affairs. He believed that every time the corps would participate in naval operations, it would be very difficult in normal training. It is difficult to coordinate (because the fleet station and the legion station are not together, and it is impossible to train with each legion), and the power of the legion cannot be fully exerted in the war (because it will be transferred from time to time to fight on the fleet), it is better to let each The fleet is equipped with its own infantry dedicated to the navy, allowing them to devote themselves wholeheartedly to fighting at sea and intruding on the enemy's coastline...

The Ministry of Military Affairs continued to debate his suggestions, and the report was finally passed to Davos, who readily signed "agree."Because he knew very well that the navy had always been used for offense, and they needed to have a Marine Corps of their own.

For this reason, the naval station needs to have enough land to accommodate sailors and fleet infantry.Therefore, the second fleet is in Trina, where there is the plain of Euphemia; the third fleet is in Catanay, where there is the fertile plain of Catania; the fourth fleet is in Brindisi, and the city of Brindisi It is a naval base in itself; in addition to Tarantum, the First Fleet also has a squadron stationed in a military port in the southern part of the Subali Plain.Therefore, the size of each fleet is quite large, especially the First Fleet, whose number completely exceeds the sum of the five army corps. Once it is far away from the station, the consumption of food is huge.

Of course, Sekerian knew the pros and cons of this, so he stopped forcing it, and then raised a sensitive question: "I went to Sicily, who made the final decision in commanding the operations? Is it me or the newly appointed Sicilian commander Prosou? S?"

Davos stared at him and said solemnly: "In principle, you are in charge of the navy and Proseus is in charge of the army. The navy and army work together to defend our territory in Sicily and destroy the invading Carthaginian army. You When discussing the military plan with Proseus, the governor of Sicily, Sipulos, will also participate. When the two of you disagree, he will make the final decision. Once the plan is established, it must be fully implemented without any shirk or delay. "

(End of this chapter)