ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 753 The new Carthage military commander

Hanno believed that many neutral senators opposed Mago as the commander-in-chief of the Carthaginian army for this reason. However, this reason could not be made public because Mago had complained to the Senate many times over the years, saying The Iberian natives were numerous and fierce, and the army suffered too many losses. He had to expand the army and asked Carthage to increase the pay of the soldiers to ensure their morale.

Hanno encouraged the Senate to agree to Mago's expansion of the army, but on the grounds of "continuous wars in Numbia and tight treasury", they kept delaying the payment of salary and asked him to find a way on his own.

At that time, Hanno gloated that even if Mago was not defeated at the hands of the Iberian natives, the lack of money and food would lead to mercenary riots.

Unexpectedly, Mago actually survived. Not only did he conquer the vast area in southern Iberia, but his family also lived a prosperous life. When Hanno thought of this, he regretted it in his heart.

Many elders did not know the inside story, but apparently some elders who did not belong to these two factions were thoughtful because of Preeta Kouba's words.

Seeing this scene, Taipanlaco reluctantly reminded: "Don't forget, everyone, the Dionysians have captured many of our citizens, and the army in Sicily is now in a difficult situation... Continuing to fight will only make them The situation has become even more difficult, which is completely indifferent and irresponsible towards the citizens of Carthage!"

"I think that proposing an armistice at this time allows Dionia to concentrate on destroying its powerful enemies in the north, Rome and Samona, thereby expanding its territory, increasing its population, and strengthening the kingdom's power again. This is the most irresponsible approach to Carthage! Our choice to compromise will not only make Carthage guilty of betraying its allies, but also miss a great opportunity to unite allies and jointly attack Dionia, making it difficult for them to do so. Dionia has become more difficult to deal with! Okriton, do you think Dionia will forgive us for tearing up the agreement and provoking a war because of our truce?! Think about Tarantum! Think about it! Think of Syracuse! By then, Dionia, which has stabilized the north, will organize an army of more than 10 to attack western Sicily. After occupying it, they will send naval transport troops to land in Africa and attack here on a large scale! Attack Carthage base!"

Preta Kuba pointed at the ground with his finger, looked around at everyone, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, if you want Carthage to become a free city in the Kingdom of Dionia, then - send someone to negotiate peace!"

Preeta Kuba's words caused the somewhat noisy venue to suddenly fall into silence.

After a moment, Okriton said angrily: "I protest! Preta Kuba is... this is malicious slander! What I ask for is just a temporary truce... in order... to save us from being Captive citizens!..."

Okriton's stammered words made Hanno frown. He knew that he could no longer remain silent, and he could never let his side, which was already in trouble, fall into the embarrassing situation of being accused by others, so he stood up.

Suddenly, everyone's eyes at the venue were focused on him.

"Whether it is Okriton's request for temporary peace with Dionia, or Pretakouba's insistence on continuing the war, everyone is for the benefit of our Carthage, but their views are somewhat different." Hanno With a serious expression, he said in a deep voice: "Carthage is now in a difficult situation. The army has been defeated, citizens have been captured, and the territory of Sicily is being invaded by the Dionians... We should work together to overcome the difficulties, instead of We are quarreling over private grudges here, regardless of the interests of the city-state! I suggest that we send an envoy to Sicily to ask the Dionysians to redeem our captured citizens, even if we are required to pay a large amount of food.

At the same time, although I have had conflicts with Master Margo in the past, personal gains and losses are nothing in the face of Carthage's national interests. Most of the elders here think that he is the most suitable candidate, and I have no objection to this, so I suggest that the Senate appoint Margo as the new commander of the Carthaginian army. The Nians fought and won victory for Carthage! …”

After Hanno finished speaking, Okreton was stunned, Pretakuba was suspicious, and the elders on both sides were surprised. Suddenly, the venue fell into a strange silence.

"Pa! Pa! Pa!..." Esiyaruba's applause broke the silence of the venue, and some elders also followed suit.At present, the two major political forces of Carthage can bridge their conflicts and fight against the enemy together. This is what any elders who are worried about the safety of Carthage want to see, so they gave their applause to Hanno without hesitation. , completely forgetting that it was precisely because Hanno refused Mago's participation in the war and personally designated Monte Adeno as the commander-in-chief of the army that it led to a tragic defeat.

When applause resounded throughout the venue, Hanno breathed a sigh of relief: Although he had to make concessions to the Magonid family, he also temporarily avoided the accusations against him by some elders and regained the initiative.

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After Leotizides won the battle of Minoa, he easily captured the Carthaginian camp and captured a large amount of baggage, which of course included mountains of grain, which greatly relieved the Dionian navy and army. The problem of food shortage in Sicily.After chasing the defeated Dionian troops and occupying Germe, after enjoying the hot spring bath, in order to prevent the lone army from being attacked in depth, under his order, they all returned to Minoa.

The next day, Leotizides began to reorganize the troops, treat the wounded, and transport supplies...At the same time, he paid close attention to the enemy's movements.

As a result, the intelligence returned by the spies surprised him: not all of the Carthaginian troops retreated to Selinus, most of them retreated to Lilibi, and only a small part stayed in Selinus. Including the remaining Carthaginian Holy Legion soldiers.

Leotizides immediately realized that this was another advantageous fighter opportunity. In order to avoid scaring away this enemy, he sent 4000 heavy infantrymen of the Eighth Legion to take a fleet. Under the protection of naval warships, they attacked Selinnu He landed on the beach west of Sri Lanka to cut off the return route of the defeated soldiers. At the same time, he led 2 troops and marched westward along the seaside road.

The city of Selinus was left behind by the holy legions led by Milephio and some Carthaginian citizen soldiers. This was not Monte Adeno's original intention.

It turned out that after the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Minoa, most of Carthage's rout troops fled to Selinnus. After they spent the night in panic and anxiety, the distraught Monte Ardenau would continue to lead the troops to Selinnus. Fleeing westward, Milephio clearly expressed his opposition.

As the son-in-law of Hanno, Milephio felt that this failure would have a great impact on the Hanno faction. If he ignored the strong efforts of his allies to stay, abandoned his allies and allowed the Dionians to invade Carthage, ’s sphere of influence, then he will never end well after returning to Carthage.Besides, there are still many broken soldiers lost in the mountains, and they need to stay in this city for a while, waiting for their return.After all, as a son of a famous Carthage family, Milephio has his own pride and persistence.

Since the failure of this battle reduced Monte Adeno's prestige, some of the defeated soldiers were willing to stay with Milephio. After many attempts to persuade them to no avail, Monte Adeno abandoned them in anger and took the main leader Nuno with him. The army composed of the Mibias hastily retreated to Lilibi.

In fact, Millefio was also very worried, but he was relieved when he learned that the Dionians had withdrawn from Germer.Coupled with the broken soldiers who kept fleeing back, the strength of Serinus's troops reached 3000, which gave him some confidence.

At this moment, Milephio got the news: a Dionian army of several thousand people landed west of Selinus.

While he was panicking, he could hear an urgent battle report: Dionia's tens of thousands of troops were setting off from Minoa and marching rapidly westward along the seaside road.

Milephio immediately realized: Next, Selinus, where he was, became the first target of attack by the Dionians.

what to do?Millefio, who had just experienced a disastrous defeat, was caught in a difficult decision: lead the army to retreat immediately before the enemy arrives?But he had vowed to Monte Adeno before that he would stick to Selinus, but now he ran away before a battle was fought. He didn't know what kind of face Monte Adeno would use to ridicule him; stay and hold on?With the 3000 troops in the city, plus the citizens of Selinus, they might be able to hold on for a few months.

However, some of Milephio's officers expressed objections, believing that the soldiers had just experienced a defeat and their morale was low. Moreover, the defeat came from multiple units, making it difficult to command the battle, let alone cooperate tacitly.

More importantly, a team officer pointed out: To hold on to Selinus, there must be an adequate supply of food. However, the city of Selinus does not have enough food reserves and may not be able to support the army's long-term defensive operations.

It turned out that the Carthaginian army attacked eastward and took away the food stored in the city when passing through Selinus. As a result, in the Minoan battle, all the luggage stored in the Carthaginian camp was captured by the enemy.

After hearing this, Millefio, who was inexperienced and worried about the war, suddenly realized that he had made a big mistake, but it also gave him a reason to return to Lilibi without being blamed.

Just as Milephio was gathering his troops and preparing to withdraw, senior Selinus officials received the news and immediately came to dissuade him.

Millefio had to spend some time persuading them, and at last, under the barrage of words and tears of the Selinus, he was obliged to give up his efforts, and sent soldiers to disperse them, preparing to force their way out of the city.

(End of this chapter)