ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 754 Unifying the Carthage Navy

This made the Selinus people angry, and they shouted angrily: "As long as the Carthaginians dare to leave, Selinus will surrender to Dioria immediately!"

Hearing this threat, Milephio hesitated again.

Just when the two sides were in dispute, the soldiers of the Eighth Army who had landed had already rushed to the city of Serinus.

After hearing the news, Milephio climbed to the top of the city and saw the enemies outside the city wearing black helmets and black armor, with neat military appearance and high morale. He immediately remembered that the Holy Legion army he led was defeated head-on by this Dionian army and The scene of the pursuit made him feel chilly. He lacked confidence in whether he could lead this remnant army out of the city to repel the enemy, or successfully avoid the enemy's attack and return to Lilibi smoothly.

After urgent discussions with the equally timid officers, Milephio decided to stay in the city and urgently sent a messenger to Lilibe for help.

The messenger rushed to Lilibi and reported to Monte Adeno the news that "the Dionian army is marching towards Selinus, and the return route of the troops led by Milephio has been cut off", and informed Selinus Sri Lanka is now short of military rations and hopes Monte Adeno can send troops to rescue them.

Monte Adeno, who had somewhat recovered from yesterday's fiasco, did not make the sarcastic remarks as Milephio expected. On the contrary, he considered the possible punishment of the Senate for his defeat and, for the sake of his own life, He had to repair his relationship with Milephio, so he immediately issued a rescue order, asking the generals to quickly recruit troops. This time he would personally lead the troops to Selinus for rescue.

But this round and round, including the time spent in the middle, was enough for the main force of Dionia to rush to Selinus, so Monte Adeno saw the Dionia army waiting in formation outside the city. The only option is to bite the bullet and fight.

The bugle sounded, and not long after the two sides engaged in battle, the Numibian soldiers with low morale quickly retreated.Although fighting in a vast area this time allowed the Numibian cavalry to fully utilize their capabilities, it did not affect the overall situation at all.

The reinforcements led by Monte Adeno were defeated and fled back to Lilibi in a hurry. The Dionysian army suffered minor losses, which made Milephio, who stood at the top of the city watching the battle, completely stop thinking about leaving the city to attack.

Leotizides did not let the soldiers desperately pursue Monte Adeno's defeated army, but also let the army build a camp outside the city of Selinus, as if to destroy this city that once led to Carthage and Syracuse. The city-state, the culprit of more than ten years of war, was completely besieged.

During this period, Monte Adeno, who had fled back to Liliber, did not give up his efforts. He sent a messenger to Palermos and ordered Hasdroba to lead the Iberian troops to rescue Selinus.

Hasdrogba originally didn't obey Monte Adeno's orders very much, and now that he heard that the main force of Carthage was defeated by the Dionians even though they had the advantage in strength, he even ignored Monte Adeno. .

Poor Milephio watched the Dionian camp outside the city expand and become stronger day by day. He even heard the spies report that "The Dionians built super siege towers in the camp." His mood was naturally Getting more anxious every day.

The only good thing is that Dionia's sea blockade is not too tight. The clippers sent by Selinus have repeatedly escaped enemy interception and went to Carthage for help.

A few days later, the Carthaginian Senate finally stopped arguing and reached a resolution: Monte Adno was dismissed from the position of commander of the Carthaginian army and sent back to Carthage for trial.Appoint Mago, the governor of Iberia, as the new commander-in-chief of the army.During his absence, the senator Pomirka temporarily took his place and handled the affairs of the Sicilian army urgently.

Pomirka, he neither belonged to the Magonides faction nor was he close to Hanno, but belonged to the neutral faction of the Senate.However, unlike Esiyaruba, he had a good relationship with the other two factions. Perhaps it was for this reason that his election as acting commander-in-chief was recognized by most senators.

After being appointed, Pomirka immediately rushed to Lilibi by boat and announced the Senate's resolution to Monte Adeno. Monte Adeno, who had already expected this result, was escorted away by the guards without any resistance. After all, As a prestigious family patriarch in Carthage, his resistance or even escape would seriously affect the future of his relatives and the reputation of his family.

Pomilcar personally escorted Monte Adeno to the port.

Before boarding the ship, the frustrated Monte Adeno couldn't help but remind: "... Dionia is different from the enemies we have encountered before. Their soldiers fight bravely, and their generals are also very cunning, and The combat effectiveness of our Numibian troops is really worrying, so even if we have more troops than them, we must be vigilant when fighting!..."

Pomirka thanked him for the reminder.

Finally, Monte Adeno sighed: "The Senate has been worried for so long, but they still let Mago, the leader of the aliens, become the commander-in-chief of the Carthage army! This is not a good thing for Carthage!"

Pomerka watched silently as Monte Adeno boarded the passenger ship, and then he turned back to the city of Lililibi. The next thing he had to do was to resolve the conflict between the Carthaginian fleet and the Iberian fleet. .

Since the Iberian fleet was built by the Magonid family themselves, Magonide did not want the fleet to be controlled by the Senate, so Admika, the fleet commander who was a member of the Magonid family, did not want to put it under the control of the Senate. The fleet belonged to the Carthaginian fleet, under the command of the fleet commander Annobas.

In the name of acting commander-in-chief, Pomirka invited Anrobas and Admica to the commander-in-chief's residence in Lillibee for discussion, and solemnly announced to them the Senate's decision: the Iberian fleet accepted the command of the Carthaginian fleet. The command of Annobas is a prerequisite for agreeing to Margo to take over as the commander of the Carthaginian army.

Admika looked at Ambalos, who gave him a friendly smile.

Admika was not fooled by his smile. He had heard Mago say when he was in Iberia that Annobas was not friendly to the Magonides group.Of course, he was once close to the Magonides family in the Senate, which is why he became the commander of the Carthaginian navy when Himilko led an army to attack Syracuse more than twenty years ago, and he also participated in the naval battle. The main fleet of Syracuse led by Leptinis was severely defeated. However, the Carthaginian army suffered a disastrous defeat under the city of Syracuse. In order to survive, Himilco, who was in trouble, secretly talked with Dionysius, and In order to keep it secret, Annobas was not informed. As a result, Himilko and his cronies successfully escaped on more than a dozen ships, while the Carthaginian fleet led by Annobas was besieged in the great harbor of Syracuse and almost lost everything. Finally, with the desperate rescue of his subordinates, he took a speedboat and barely escaped with his life.From then on, he hated the Magonid family and became a neutral faction.

In fact, it was precisely because of this that the Senate continued to give him the important task of commanding the Carthaginian fleet in order to check and balance Mago, who had already mastered powerful military power.

Although Admica knew Mago's desire for the position of commander of the Carthaginian army, he felt uneasy about having the Iberian fleet under Annobas' command.However, the recent defeat in the naval battle had worn away a lot of his strength. He did not dare to object directly, so he reasoned: "This fleet was built by Lord Mago himself. I cannot make a decision. I must obtain Lord Mago's consent." .”

Pomilka did not force it, but immediately sent a messenger to Iberia to consult Mago. During this period, he also sent a messenger to Hasdrubal stationed in Paramos, hoping that this The young and promising general was able to lead his army south and rescue the besieged Carthaginian army.

Pomirka's humble tone suited Hasdrubal's taste very well. He decided to lead the team to set off almost immediately. Fortunately, Kisgo reminded him: "The enemy has been repulsed and the friendly army has been saved. When the time comes, the credit Whose responsibility is it? Maybe the Senate will think that Pomirka can command us as the commander-in-chief, so there is no need for Lord Mago..."

Hasdrubal obeyed the advice and did not respond to Pomilka, and continued to lead the army to stay in Palermos, watching the battle.

Pomirka could do nothing about it.

But a few days later, Mago's reply came: He agreed with Pomerkard's suggestion to let the Iberian fleet obey the command of Carthaginian naval commander Annobas, but asked Annobas not to interfere with the fleet's affairs. manage.

As a result, the Carthaginian fleet and the Iberian fleet were unified under Annobas, bringing the total strength of its navy to about 540 warships, of which 432 were the main triremes, which can be said to be powerful. .

At the same time, the mission given to Annobas by Pomirca also came: in view of Selinus's critical situation, Lilibi must urgently transport food and soldiers to him, and asked the Carthaginian fleet to escort the fleet.

In fact, during this period, the Dionysian army had launched several attacks on the city of Selinus, and Milephio repeatedly sent clippers to Lilibi for help, although the Carthage Senate had The first batch of 4 mobilized Carthaginian citizen soldiers was transported to Lilibi. However, in view of the current state of the Carthaginian army, Bomirka did not dare to lead his army to rescue by land. He set his sights on Dionysus. At sea, where the sub-military power is relatively weak, reinforcements are transported to Selinus through sea transportation, strengthening Selinus's defense force, using it to hold back the enemy, draining the enemy's energy, and waiting for the arrival of Mago's army. .

However, Annobas had rejected Bomilcar's request many times before, on the grounds that the command authority of the Iberian fleet had not yet been resolved, and it was impossible to cooperate on the battlefield, which would easily lead to failure.The strength of the Carthage fleet alone is not enough to match the Dionia fleet.

Although the Carthage fleet has been docked at the city-state military ports at the western end of Sicily, Annobas has been paying attention to the movements of the Dionysian Sicilian fleet and has some understanding of the strength of its fleet.Of course, on the other hand, he was also urging Pomirka to solve the problem of the Iberian fleet as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)