Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 911

[Chapter 258 Katanai Military Conference (1)]

So, upon hearing this news, Hasdrubal’s first reaction was: Oops, reinforcements from the Dionysians are here!

When he ran to the coast in person and saw the ships full of people leaving the port one by one, he realized that this Dionysian coalition force, which had been fighting with him tenaciously for more than 10 days, was actually going to flee!

Hasdrubal hurried back to the camp immediately and gathered his troops.

More than an hour had passed by the time the Carthaginian army arrived with the siege equipment to take up the battle, and Dionia’s fleet had already evacuated most of the people, and only more than 400 voluntarily stayed behind. The city and the citizens of Jera (including some elderly people who were unwilling to abandon their homes), who were able to leave their homes smoothly, fought to the end and successfully ensured the smooth evacuation of more than 30,000 people.

On the way back, the Sicilian fleet as an escort looked more powerful (because there were more than 30 Phoenician warships in the scene), so the Syracuse fleet was even less visible.

At dusk, the fleet entered the port of Katana.

Seeing the familiar wharf and only a few people on the wharf to greet them, the soldiers of the Eighth Legion felt a little lost, but they felt more relieved: these months, they have been fighting abroad, and there are Minoa battles. Brilliant, there is the triumph of raging in the sphere of influence of Carthage and Sicily, the sympathy for the navy being destroyed by the storm, and the humiliation of being defeated in the battle of Gera. Not coming back makes them a little embarrassed to see their relatives.

Leotides’ boat docked at a specific pier. After he got off the boat, he saw Cypros, the wartime governor of Sicily and the administrator of Catane, who came to greet him.

“Welcome home, Commander Prosous!” Cypros saluted with a smile.

Leotidides returned the salute with indifference and said, “What is there to welcome for a defeated general.”

Cypros was taken aback for a moment, and then sincerely comforted him: “Lord Prosous, ‘You defeated the Carthaginian army with less victory in the battle of Minoa, and captured Serinus, The Carthaginian-controlled western Sicily is in chaos, completely disrupting the Carthaginian plans, forcing the Carthaginians to delay another attack on Sicily for a few months, your performance has exceeded Your Majesty’s expectations have successfully completed the task he once gave you… ‘The above words are not what I said, but what His Majesty said in the letter.”

“Your Majesty wrote a letter?!” At this time, Leo Tizides was a little moved.

“I, the dignified Governor of Sicily will lie to you?!” Cypros joked, and then took out the letter.

Leotidas immediately took it and started reading.

In the letter, Davos indeed praised the outstanding performance of Leotidides and his army in the previous period, and he also reminded that: the Carthaginians once again attacked Sicily in a big way, and obviously there are more sufficient Prepare, the Dionysian coalition is too deep into the enemy’s territory, not only should it not fight recklessly, but also retreat in time to avoid being attacked by the Carthaginians in the empty rear.

If the situation is unfavorable, you can even give up the friendly city-states on the south coast and stick to the kingdom’s territory…

This letter almost amazingly foresees the development of the Sicilian war during this period, and Leotidides was shocked by Davos’ superb At the same time, there is also a lot of complaints: why did this letter not arrive earlier?

“Oh, it’s a letter from Your Majesty!” While Leotizides was still thinking about it, the letter in his hand was taken away by Cykrian behind him.

“When Your Majesty was writing this letter, he

didn’t know that you were still alive and had already returned to the fleet, otherwise the letter…” Cypros explained.

“It’s better to know later…” Secrian responded casually, but the image of Miltias who died in battle appeared in his mind, he sighed, and looked down at the letter: “…Oh, Your Majesty still Said that they have occupied Rome, gained a large tract of land in the Latinum area, and also obtained the support of most of the Latin city-states, the remnant Roman army has retreated into a few small towns, and it will only take a month or two to end The battle at Latium, and then lead the army south to Sicily to fight the Carthaginians to the death! He hopes that during this period of time we can defend against the attack of the Carthaginian army and prevent them from destroying the territory of Sicily…

” Ross took the opportunity to take over the conversation and said: “In order to complete the task assigned by Your Majesty, we will hold a military meeting in a moment to formulate a new plan to deal with the next attack of the Carthaginian army. I have notified the seventh army commander Brelu. , he is rushing this way from the new barracks.”

Leotizides looked slightly: “I have no opinion.”

“Wait for me.” Cykrian turned to find his men, and told them: “Wait for the soldiers and the people. After getting off the ship, don’t wait for me, the fleet will immediately return to the Catania naval base not far to the south to rest, I-”

Cypros interrupted him: “Lord Sekelian, before you let the fleet crew members Before returning to the base, please let them go ashore and form a line and walk around the city of Katanai. Lord Leotizides, the soldiers of the 8th Legion and the 4th Cavalry Corps, please also line up and enter the city.”

“What? What do you mean?” Cykrian felt a little strange.

Leotizides looked at Cypros with the same doubts.

Cypros explained solemnly: “Although the war is far from over, the people of Catane are already waiting in the city, ready to warmly welcome the returning soldiers and sailors to thank them for their heroic battles in the past few months. Safe for our home!”

Hearing this, Cykrian and Leotidides glanced at each other subconsciously: whether it was the Eighth Army, the Fourth Cavalry Army, or the Second Fleet to which the Sicilian Fleet belonged, more than half of the soldiers and crew members They all came from Katanai, and there have been many casualties since the start of the war, especially in the fleet, and even lost two commanders, so the crew members were a little afraid to see the people of Katanai and to hear that they lost their relatives. of crying.

But Cypros organized such a simple triumph, which was undoubtedly a good opportunity to boost the morale of the soldiers and crew members who had experienced defeat, were forced to return home, and were depressed and depressed.

So Leotides said coldly: “I will gather the soldiers and have them line up into the city, but I will not participate.”

“Me too.” Sekelian remembered something, and turned his head to point to the man who was disembarking at the far pier. The people, reminded: “Don’t forget about them.”

Cypros understood what he meant. These refugees from Minoa, Gera, and Agrigento have lost their homes, lost their relatives, and are in While weeping in agony and at a loss, Catane was cheering for the return of the soldiers. What would they think when they saw it?

Cypros said calmly: “Don’t worry, I have officials responsible for them, and I won’t let them enter the city for the time being

.

”

There were five people sitting in the executive meeting room of the city hall of Catanay. They were the Governor of Sicily Cypros, the Sicilian Commander Leotizides, the Sicilian Fleet Commander Cypros, and the Seventh Army Commander Breru and the commander of the Fourth Cavalry Corps, Asitemis.

In fact, Brelu had already arrived in Catane, but he did not go to the port with Cypros to meet him, so Cypros had to make up a white lie.

But after the meeting, Brerou still expressed his admiration for the battles that Leotizides had fought in the past period, and the tone of his speech was more decent, but he did not mention anything about “the Seventh Legion comes to Sicily and must obey The command of Leotides” and so on.

Cypros coughed a few times, glanced at the other four, and said, “My lords, you have all read your majesty’s letter, how to resist the Carthaginian army in the next one or two months. To prevent them from causing damage to the territory of Sicily, UU read www.sonicmtl.com to welcome the arrival of the army led by His Majesty to counterattack and surround the Carthaginians. This is what we are going to discuss today… Everyone first Tell me

your opinions.”

“I don’t have any suggestions right now.” Brelu took the lead, but said humbly: “Because according to the combat principles of the “Dionysian Military Law”, you must understand the specifics of the battlefield. Only in light of the situation can we formulate a correct battle plan. Our Seventh Legion has just arrived in Catane, and we still don’t understand the situation here. Lord Prosous has been in Sicily for so many years, and he led his army to join the Carthaginians. After fighting for several months, I must have a very deep understanding of the Carthaginian army, can you please give us a detailed introduction to the situation?”

Cypros frowned slightly, although Brelu spoke very politely, but this politeness showed What came out was an equality between the two, but the reality was that according to the instructions of King Davos and the Ministry of Military Affairs, Brelu led the Seventh Legion to Sicily to accept the command of Leotidides, They are superiors.

There was nothing unusual on Leotidize’s expressionless face, and he said simply: “In the past few days, I have seriously thought about my battle experience with the Carthaginians during this period of time, and made a statement. Some analysis and summary, just for you to listen to, so that you will not suffer losses in the future battle.”

Leotizides stood up, looked at Brelu, and said seriously: “During these few months, Here, the Carthaginians sent a large army to attack Sicily twice. From the perspective of combat effectiveness, the first army and the second army were not the same army at all.

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