Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 912

[Chapter 259 Katanai Military Conference (2)]

In the Minoan battle, apart from the Carthaginian Holy Legion that caused us some trouble, the rest of the Carthaginian troops were simply vulnerable, especially the army composed of Numibians had low morale, A single charge of our heavy infantry can cause them to retreat, so our army can easily enter the west, and force the Carthaginians to hide in each city for a long time, never dare to go out to fight.

During this period, we did not find an opportunity to engage the Iberian army that had been stationed in Palermos.

After Carthage sent a large army to land in Sicily for the second time, the situation changed. First of all, the commander of Carthage was the governor of Iberia, Marco. He fought in Iberia for a long time and had a lot of battlefield experience.

Combining all aspects of intelligence, this Marco brought more than 20,000 soldiers from Iberia, plus the 20,000 Iberian soldiers in Palermos, there are more than 40,000 Iberian soldiers in Sicily The Leah soldiers, most of whom were Carthaginian mercenaries, followed Marco to fight in Iberia for a long time, and their combat effectiveness was very strong.

In Gera, I led the 8th Army, the 4th Cavalry Army, and the armies of the Allies. The same Iberian army fought. The number of the two sides was not much different. The Eighth Army attacked the Iberian heavy infantry, and even There is also the 4th Cavalry Corps attacking from the flank, but the opponent has always defended stubbornly and has not retreated.”

“Oh?

!

Hearing this, Brelu sat up straight with a look of surprise on his face. Although the number of the Eighth Legion was behind the Seventh Legion, the Eighth Legion had pacified the Sikel area a few years ago, and it was in Mi Noah defeated the Holy Legion, which the Carthaginians called “the strongest heavy infantry”. In fact, his combat experience was richer than that of the Seventh Legion, which had not fought in all these years. Although Brelu did not admit it on the surface, he was secretive in his heart. He felt that the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Army might be stronger than that of the Seventh Army, and now a heavy infantry army from Iberia could remain undefeated in the joint attack of the Eighth Army and the Cavalry Army, which really surprised him.

“And many of this Carthaginian army may be indigenous warriors on the Iberian Peninsula. They are tall, aggressive, and able to obey discipline. The most notable thing is that they all hold long shields in one hand and hold in the other. Short swords similar to our Legionnaires, who smashed the phalanx of Gera and Kamanlina heavy infantry from the front, which ultimately led to my defeat at Gera…” Leotizides mentions At the time of this incident, there was no change in his expression or tone, as if he was talking about something that happened to someone else.

However, in the conference room, not only Breru, but also Cykrian and Cypros were surprised.

“In this way, the heavy infantry of the Carthaginian army from Iberia is not weaker than our legionnaires!” Cypros couldn’t help but said, he, like Sekelian, only knew Leo roughly. Tizides’s defeat in the battle of Gera had not yet had time to understand in detail, and it was inevitable to hear the details suddenly.

“Not only the heavy infantry, but also the light infantry of the Iberian army of Carthage. At the time of the battle, they had a thousand slingers, probably from the Balearic Islands, who threw the lead shot with precision and severity. , not weaker than the slingers in the light infantry brigade of our 1st Legion, causing a lot of casualties to the light infantry brigade of the Eighth Legion, and they also had hundreds of javelinmen composed of Iberian indigenous The javelin is not only heavy, but also has a hook. Once it is hit, it is difficult to pull out. When he got here, Leotidides’ tone was slightly lower.

“It seems that there are only cavalry, we Dionia can be stronger than” Hearing Leotizides’ words,

Cykrian couldn’t help sighing, but he didn’t want to hear a cough next to him.

He turned his head and looked at the embarrassed fourth cavalry commander Asitemis, and suddenly remembered that Carthage occupied the Numibia region. There were many Numibian cavalry in the army. The Central Numibian cavalry suffered a great loss from the Dionysian cavalry.

Sure enough, Leotidides continued: “It may be because this Carthaginian army was going to cross the mountains and raid the rear, so the cavalry was not allowed to accompany it, but the intelligence showed that among the Carthaginian troops that landed in Sicily, some 6, 7,000 cavalry, mostly Numibian cavalry, plus some Carthaginian, Mauritanian, Iberian cavalry, more than our four major cavalry regiments combined.”

“From Iberia

In the Carthaginian army, its heavy infantry and light infantry are not weaker than our legionnaires, and the cavalry is slightly stronger than us, it seems that this is our strong enemy!” Brelu’s face was solemn, in the previous legionary career , he fought against the armies of Syracuse, against the armies of Messapi and Puchetti, the armies of these city-states and races always had one or another flaws, which made him always stand out against the strength of the Dionian Legion. Proud, it was the first time he heard that there was an army that was no weaker than the Dionysian Legion in every way, and he felt a little excited at the same time.

He asked cautiously: “Apart from the army from Iberia, what is the combat effectiveness of the other Carthaginian troops?”

“According to the information, in addition to the more than 40,000 soldiers from Iberia, among the enemy troops who landed in Sicily this time, there are still others. About 60,000 soldiers came from the city of Carthage, the Phoenician allies in Africa, and Numibia, with the largest number of soldiers from Numibia. I once let the army in after the siege of the city of Serinus by the Carthaginian army They took the initiative to attack the Carthaginian army at night, which was successful. According to the soldiers who returned, many of the enemies they killed were Numibian soldiers, and these Numibians were being attacked. After that, I couldn’t organize an effective defense, and most of them only knew how to run away…”

Leotizides said here, seeing that the expressions on the faces of the other people became much more relaxed, and then continued: “Then this army was captured. Sent to attack Minoa. We all know that the Carthaginian army has attacked the city of Minoa before, but it has never made progress, which led me to lead the army to rescue. This time Minoa People clearly felt the pressure, they frequently sent messengers to me for help, and finally had to evacuate from Minoa City…

I asked the refugees in Minoa, and they said that the dark-skinned Numibians attacked the city wall as if they were dying. The strength of defending the city led to the final defeat of defending the city… It can be seen that the combat effectiveness of this army is not weak.

From the rout of the night raid to the fall of Minoa, it was exactly like two armies.

I guess, that Marco must have done something during this period of time to improve their morale…” Leotizides analyzed calmly.

“100,000 people!

100,000 soldiers who are not weak in combat!

“Braylu couldn’t help sighing.

“This time Carthage has more than 100,000 troops.”

“Sekirian interjected: “When I was in the port of Lilibe, I asked privately that there were more than 10,000 soldiers in Lilibe, and people like Mazara, Eryx, Palermus, etc. The Phoenician city-state also had several thousand civilian soldiers. If they were all assembled, the Carthaginian army would number far more than 100,000.

Cypros

sucked in a breath of cold air, touched his chin, pondered for a while, and said, “For such a huge army, the rations needed must be huge.

”

“Lord Cypros, you got the crux of the problem in this sentence!”

“Sekelian praised, and then pointed to the map of Sicily placed in the center of the wooden table surrounded by the crowd, and said loudly: “So we must defend Serinus, as long as we have it, our fleet can be frequent. Attacking the western waters, UU read www.sonicmtl.com attacked their merchant ships and cargo ships, cut off Carthage’s route to western Sicily, and made the food supply of the Carthaginian army difficult, and even I could send fleet infantry to land and attack. The rear of the Carthaginian army… After all, judging from the current situation, our navy has a greater advantage in the face of Carthage than the army.

Seekrian

looked at Leotidides and said confidently: “Although the Carthaginian navy is comparable to us in terms of courage and ship maneuvering ability, and is more familiar with the sea conditions in the western seas than we are, they use the Traditional naval tactics cannot be changed in a short period of time.

I can even block the port of Carthage as long as the Sicilian fleet’s ships return to their former numbers!

”

Cypros reluctantly reminded: “The Senate has passed a resolution on this matter. All the port cities in the kingdom are manufacturing warships, but the time is too short to produce hundreds of warships now to satisfy your needs. request.”

“But there is one thing you can help with.” Sekelian said earnestly, “Before it is docked at the naval base in Catania… Flarios was captured on the sea of Cerro Dium. Twenty warships, and the thirty warships I captured on the south coast this time, as long as some repairs and modifications are made, some of these warships can be incorporated into our fleet and go out to sea. In this way, The Sicilian fleet can have six or seventy warships in a short period of time, and it can continue to maintain its superiority over the Carthaginian navy. Therefore, I need Sir Cypros, you will temporarily all the shipmakers in several cities in Sicily. Concentrate on the naval base and help us refit these Phoenician ships as soon as possible!” This time, Sekelian said earnestly.