ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 887 Landing in Sicily ([-])
If it was more than 10 years ago, the laborers at Lilibi Port were more Greek free people and there were very few Numibian slaves. However, the Kingdom of Dionia occupied eastern Sicily and absorbed Greek free people and Carthage. The conquest of Numbia changed this situation.

Braving the drizzle and the cold and humid sea breeze, the workers rushed to the dock shaking their heads.It was still daybreak, and although the port was open, no ships had come in yet. The workers took the opportunity to squat under the eaves of the warehouse on the shore and seize the time to rest.

Not long after, they heard noisy footsteps, and hundreds of Carthaginian soldiers poured into the port, began to drive away the idlers in the port, and stepped up the patrol of the dock.

Looking at the dock that suddenly became heavily guarded, the workers felt alarmed.

"Look! The Lord of Imisele City is here!" Someone shouted in surprise, and the surrounding atmosphere became even more tense.

At this time, the official in charge of labor came running over and scolded angrily: "Get up, slackers! Before Lord Margo leads the army to the port, you should clean up all the obstacles and rubbish at the pier immediately to ensure the safety of the road." Unobstructed and clean! And those dilapidated ships docked at the pier will be pulled away by me immediately! Quick! Quick! If anyone is lazy, I will let him know how powerful I am!..."

Accompanied by the official's roar, the supervisors swung their whips and the workers immediately ran towards the dock like frightened rabbits under the leadership of the foreman.

Among them, there was a stooped middle-aged worker, whose originally dim and dull eyes were shining brightly at this moment: The Carthaginian army actually chose to cross the sea and land at Lilibi in such a climate. How bold it was!I wonder if Flarios sent a clipper to detect this enemy action? !
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About an hour later, the first troop transport ship entered Lilibi Port. The sailors on the ship had already furled the sails. They shouted the trumpet, rowed the oars, and sailed to the pier closest to them.

Then it sailed into the second and third ships...

Before long, the sea surface of the port was covered with troop transport ships.

Seeing a ship approaching the trestle, the foreman led a dozen workers to run over quickly, hooked the side of the ship with a hand-held iron hook, and made one side of it completely close to the trestle, and then tied the cables on the ship to the wooden piles. Then put up planks and let the soldiers disembark.

This procedure that workers are usually very skilled in helping to dock ships has become somewhat difficult due to the cold wind and drizzle, because the trestle has become slippery and the ship has to use greater force under the agitation of the waves. It took a lot of strength to pull it. It became a very common phenomenon for workers to keep slipping on the trestle and falling into the sea. It was even not uncommon for ships to collide in the port and soldiers to fall into the water...

Although Imisele made some preparations for the landing of the army, chaos at the port still inevitably occurred and continues...

However, no matter how chaotic the Lilibi Port was, soldiers still boarded the dock one after another, and gathered densely on the shore of the port. Amidst the noise and noise, they lined up in columns and left the port one after another. Entering the city of Lilibi...

In the eyes of the stooped middle-aged laborer: the first people to come ashore should be Carthaginian soldiers (actually they are more Phoenicians), but these rumored delicate Carthaginians appear to be very calm. , there was little noise and confusion during the entire process of landing, and they obeyed the command of the team officer very much; there were also many dark-skinned and slender Numibian soldiers (actually some Mauritanians among them) who came ashore later. During the landing process, these rumored free-spirited nomads were actually able to obey orders and assemble relatively quickly ashore; of course there were also sloppy soldiers. These bare-chested, ferocious-looking natives with weird tattoos were said to be Although the Celts from the Iberian Peninsula were not used to riding in boats, they were tossed and vomited by the rough waves. They were all staggering and pale when they came ashore, but their tall and strong bodies still made him feel nervous. What concerned this worker most was the murderous aura exuded by these soldiers, which only veterans who have been on the battlefield for a long time can possess.

It seems that Carthage's army is not easy to deal with this time!He looked at the troop transport ships that were still coming in and out of the harbor entrance, hiding his worries in his heart...

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In this landing, Mago arranged the landing site of the main Iberian force that had followed him for many years in and around the port of Lilibi. In fact, the entire Carthaginian army-an army of more than 8 people The landing sites are all over the entire coast from Mazara to Elyx. There are not only the ports of various towns, but also beaches where ships can dock, because Mago hopes to be able to land soldiers, baggage, horses, etc. in the shortest possible time. After being sent to Sicily to avoid being discovered by the Dionians, he was attacked by their fleet.

For this purpose, not only Carthage and Utica dispatched a large number of ships, but also hadrumetum, ruspina, lgilgili... and other ships located on the African coast. The city-states of Feniki also provided ships to help transport soldiers.

Therefore, the entire sea area from western Sicily to Africa can be seen as a spectacle: countless ships cover the sea surface, as if laying out a huge pontoon bridge connecting the two places.And everywhere on the western coast of Sicily, exhausted soldiers can be seen gathering on the beach, frightened war horses are running around, shouts, neighing one after another, from Mazara to Eryx...

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In the palace of the city lord in Selinus, the adjutant Muklu gently opened the door of the study. Sitting alone in the room was Leonticides, the commander of the Kingdom of Dionia in charge of the Sicilian war. He sat motionless on a wooden chair like a puppet, staring attentively at the map of Sicily hanging on the wall.

Having followed Leotizides for some time, Muklu knew some of the commander's weird habits, so he did not speak, but stood quietly behind Leotizides.

I don’t know how long it took, Muklu felt his eyelids were fighting, and suddenly heard Leotizides ask: "Yesterday, the Iberian army of about 2 people who had been entrenched in Palermos suddenly attacked. Marching south and entering the city of Lilibi, what do you think is the reason?”

"Uh... maybe it has something to do with the fact that Mago, the Iberian governor of Carthage, took office as the military commander, and the conflict between the Iberian army and the Carthaginian army no longer existed..." When asked about this suddenly, Muklu failed to respond. After thinking deeply, I came up with a reason that I thought was reasonable.

Leotizides did not look back, still sitting upright, and continued to ask: "It has been a long time since Mago became the military commander of Carthage. Why did the Iberian army in Palermos until yesterday?" Did you just set out to enter Lilibi?"

Muklu heard a hint of dissatisfaction in Leotizides's words. This time he thought for a while before cautiously answering: "It may be because we have been sending soldiers to harvest Mazara during this period. , Segesta, Lilibi, and even the half-ripe wheat fields outside the city such as Elyx. The Iberian army came from the north coast, probably to strengthen the Carthaginians’ military power here and prevent us from harvesting wheat. Action..."

After Muklu said these words, seeing that Leotizides did not respond, he thought for a while and added very uncertainly: "It may also be... cooperating with the Carthaginians' military operations..."

After a while, Leotizides replied faintly: "Carthage's military operation?... Besides landing in Sicily, what else can they do?"

Taglu was suddenly shocked.

At this time, Leotizides stood up, looked at Muklu, and said in a deep voice: "Go and inform the cavalry corps to send me the best scouts. In the past few days, let me carefully explore Lilibi, E Lyx... report any abnormal movements of the enemies in these cities immediately!"

"Yes!" Mukru responded with a low voice, because he knew: From now on, the only weakness of the Dionysian army compared to the Carthaginian army is the cavalry. This order of the commander determines the fourth The cavalry regiment must pay a certain amount of casualties.

"...At the same time, send five reserve brigades to follow these scouts to protect our scouts from being attacked by the Numibian cavalry." Leotizides' next words made Muklu relaxed. At the same time, with the backing of 5000 legion reserve heavy infantry, the safety of the Dionia reconnaissance cavalry is guaranteed.

"Also, go tell Miltias and ask him to send more clippers deeper into the sea further west of Sicily to detect the movements of the Carthaginian army across the sea."

After Leotizides finished speaking, Muklu looked embarrassed and said: "Commander, I came to the study just to tell you that our fleet still did not send any warships like yesterday. Go sailing in the western waters. According to the information I found, Miltias, the commander of the Sicilian fleet, said to his admirals, "They are not familiar with the sea conditions here. If they go to sea in such bad weather, they are likely to encounter them again." Like the previous misfortune, he must be responsible for the lives of the crew of each warship. He cannot let them die in vain without gaining any military merit. And in such weather, the Carthaginians are also worried , there will be no big action...'"

Hearing what Muklu said, Leotizides' face was terribly gloomy, and he snorted softly: "The new captain of the Sicilian fleet has been frightened by the storm, and he is more courageous than Sekeli. The difference is too much! You still have to go to the port and tell Miltias yourself that it was my order that he must send a fast boat to patrol the western waters of Sicily in the next two days!"

(End of this chapter)