ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 910 Retreat

Theagenis responded confidently: "The huge war between Dionia and Carthage in Sicily involved all the Sicilian city-states. Can Syracuse be an exception? ? No! Carthage's army has approached Gela, and Dionia's army is stationed in Leotini. We must make a choice, otherwise we will be crushed by the forces of both sides.

However, we will not be true allies with the Carthaginians who have been our mortal enemies for decades, nor will we rashly challenge the Dionians who have taken away our hegemony. What we have to do is- In this fierce war, seize every favorable opportunity to regain Syracuse's former glory! "

Theagenis said so and did so.

When Sipulus of Catanai sent an envoy, he angrily asked at the Syracuse Council: "Your Syracuse fleet attacked Pacinus's fleet and led its troops to capture Camanlina. This is A provocation against Dionia! This dangerous behavior must be stopped immediately, the troops must be withdrawn from Camanlina, compensation should be paid to Pacinus, and a guarantee will not be made again in the future, otherwise Dionia I will not sit idly by and watch!”

Theagenis responded unhurriedly: "May I ask if Dionia is an alliance with Pachinus and Kamenlina? Of course not. You have neither an alliance with these two city-states, nor even an agreement." No, but we do, and it’s a comprehensive military alliance.”

Kamanlina said, and also asked someone to take the covenant that had just been signed, show it to the Dionia envoy, and said slightly sarcastically: "Thank you very much for Dionia's concern about recent events, but This is an internal matter between us and our allies, we can resolve it through our own negotiation, and we don’t need you, an outsider like Dionia, to worry about it.”

The Dionysian envoy was speechless for a moment, and after a moment, he said bitterly: "Syracuse is preparing to join forces with the Carthaginians?!"

"How can we Syracuseans join forces with our mortal enemy Carthage!" Theagenis said seriously: "We just want to protect ourselves on this island of Sicily where wars are frequent."

The Dionysian envoy understood, and he said coldly: "It turns out that you Syracuse are going to be crows and eat the dead bodies after the beasts fight, but no matter how much carrion the crow eats, it will still be a crow. I hope there will be more than a dozen The peace and tranquility of Syracuse that Herolis and other heroes who resisted the tyranny of Dionysius bought with their blood years ago will not be lost in your hands!"

The conversation between Theagenis and the Dionian envoy was spread during the meeting. Many people praised their chief general for his toughness and wit when speaking to the Dionian envoy. There were also a few People are worried about the warning given by the Dionian messenger.

Just when the Dionia envoy left the city of Syracuse, many Syracuseans came after hearing the news and cursed and humiliated them to vent their dissatisfaction with Dionia.

Theagenis had expected this. He didn't want to openly break up with Dionia yet, so he sent a patrol to escort him.

When the Dionia messenger left Syracuse, his nose was bruised and his face was bruised, and his clothes were torn, which was regarded as a great shame.

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When Seconian led the fleet to Gela, Leotizides already knew that Camanlina and Pacinus belonged to Syracuse, which forced him to cancel the original plan, and at the same time, a series of changes occurred It also shook his confidence in continuing to defend the south coast.

So, as soon as he saw Sekelian who had just arrived, he said bluntly: "Camanlina and Pachinus have surrendered to Syracuse, and it is estimated that Minoa will not last long. Now we are completely in However, my army was scattered in Selinus and here, which would not have any effect on the overall battle situation, so I decided to withdraw all the troops in the city-states on the south coast. If the Minoa and Gela people are willing Follow us, then return to Catania together, join the Seventh Legion, re-strengthen our strength, and then look for opportunities to continue to resist the attacks of the Carthaginians and even Syracuse."

Seekerian looked at Leotizides' serious expression, thought about it seriously, and said in a deep voice: "Every other place can be evacuated, but Selinus must be reserved!"

"The armies in other places have evacuated, and Selinus has completely turned into an isolated city. How many days can Chalcedis hold on?" Leotizides seemed not to have confidence in this.

Seclian was very confident about this: "The Carthaginians have launched several attacks on Selinus in the past few days, but they were all repulsed, and the losses of our defenders were not too great. I think Chalcedis He has the bearing of a general, he is not in a hurry or panic, he has a good way of defending the city, and Selinus should be able to defend it."

"Chalcides is of course very capable." Leotizides shook his head lightly: "It's a pity that he has too few troops. As soon as we leave, Selinus will become the focus of the Carthaginians' attack and will not last long. of."

Sekerian said anxiously: "With the help of our navy, how can there be so few soldiers under Chalcedis! As long as he holds on for a few more days, after September, after the farmland in Catania is harvested, I will send the navy to There were no warships in the base, and the crews transported thousands or tens of thousands of people there. Although these crews did not have the ability to fight the Carthaginian soldiers head-on, they could still help defend the city.

Selinus is so important!As long as it is still in our hands, our warships and crews will have a foothold in western Sicily, and the fleet can hunt in the western waters with confidence, while their Carthaginian ships will not dare to easily Transporting soldiers and baggage to the south coast..."

When Seclian was about to speak, Leotizides interrupted him and said simply: "Okay, just do what you said, your Sicilian fleet will provide reinforcements to hold Selinus, and the rest All city-states and armies evacuate the south coast."

Sekerian was stunned and immediately reacted: "Did you have this plan a long time ago and just want to trick me into helping you defend the city?!"

Leotizides said expressionlessly: "Now I am going to persuade the generals of Gera to leave here and take refuge in Catanai, and the matter of persuading the Minoans must be left to you, Lord Sekerian. Yes, our Eighth Legion is guarding Jela here, so there is no big problem for the time being, but Minoa is already in danger, I hope you can seize the time."

"Uh... I say, Proseus, you are not His Majesty Davos, what right do you have to assign tasks to me! This matter should be discussed between the two of us before we make a decision..." Sekerian expressed loudly He was dissatisfied, but Leotizides had already strode out of the hall...

A day later, under the escort of the Dionia fleet, a fleet full of Minoan people sailed eastward along the south coast. When passing through the southeast corner of Sicily, Sekelian was nervous and excited. All the clippers were thrown out, and the watchmen on all warships were ordered to open their eyes wide and carefully observe the abnormalities on the sea.

But to his disappointment, the Syracuse fleet did not appear, and the entire fleet arrived at the port of Catanay smoothly.

At the same time, the city of Minoa was conquered by Pomirka's army, and all the remaining Minoan civilian soldiers died in battle.

The Gerans also agreed to evacuate to Catania, not because of Leotizides' persuasiveness, but because they had the same idea as the Minoans: if they were surrounded by Syracuseans, their homeland would be in jeopardy. The people who left the city might still consider whether to surrender, but outside the city were the Carthaginians and the ferocious-looking indigenous people. The Agrigento people had been massacred, and the Gera people did not want to follow them. ’s footsteps.

The Sicilian fleet soon returned to the south coast from the Catania naval base, guarding this large fleet. The fleet not only carried food baggage, but also [-] sailors. He came to honor Leoti's agreement. Zides promise.

Originally, Cyklian was planning to do this after the autumn harvest, but after a conversation with Sipulos, Sipulos suggested to him: "After you all evacuate from the south coast, the Selinus defenders will inevitably face Greater offensive pressure, since this city is so important, don’t delay, send the crew there as soon as possible, you don’t have to worry about their farmland harvesting problems, I will help them solve it.”

Cyklian accepted Sipulos's suggestion.

The fleet successfully arrived at Selinus.

Seclian first unloaded the food and weapons in the fleet from the dock, and stationed 1 sailors at the port. While managing and defending the port, he assisted Chalcedis in defending the city to make up for its defensive strength. shortcomings.

After a night's rest, he asked the remaining 6000 sailors to drive more than 30 Phoenician warships that were simply repaired and stayed in the port (captured during a previous battle with the East Phoenician fleet from Persia) ), following the Sicilian fleet and the fleet, rushed to Gela.

According to the advance notice of the clipper, Leotizides took the soldiers of the Eighth Legion, the cavalry of the 4th Cavalry Legion, a large number of Gela people, and the Agrigento people who had previously fled to Gela. Prepared, they queued up and waited at various docks in an orderly manner.

So as soon as the fleet entered the port and docked, everyone quickly boarded the ship in sequence.

When the Carthaginian spy told Hasdrubal the news that "a huge fleet had arrived at the port of Gera", he did not realize at first that the entire city of Gera was preparing to retreat, because after the victory in the battle , several sieges by the Carthaginian army failed. Even in the siege the day before yesterday, the Dionian soldiers came out of the city to attack, catching Hasdrubal off guard, causing the Carthaginian siege force to be defeated. , It can be seen that the morale of the defenders in the city is very high. In the past two days, Hasdrubal had to rest the soldiers who had been defeated.

(End of this chapter)