Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

But Dionysia was not at this time signing an agreement with Tarantum, which made Histiaavis uneasy. He unwillingly reminded: "So you are already confident in defeating Syracuse?! I But I have heard that until now, the army of Dionysius still has an absolute advantage on land!"

"Isn't Syracuse defeating us exactly what you wanted!" Kunogolata said ironically: "You will no longer worry about the safety of the city-state and the life and death of captive citizens."

Hestiavis was speechless for a while, and then he couldn't help but ask: "If this war continues for a long time, wouldn't we Tarantum always send food to Turiri, know our food reserves Not enough."

"Since this is the case, you dare to tear up the covenant and fight with us!" Kunogolata sneered.

Ansitanos interjected: "A war of this scale has happened several times throughout the history of Greece, and it simply cannot last."

Hestiavis hesitated for a moment and finally said, "Well, I will convey Dionysia's proposal to the Senate, but I hope you understand that Tarantum is a Spartan son."

Kunogolata and Ansitano glanced at each other, and Kunogolata said lightly, "So what? Is Sparta ready to fight?"

Hestiavis did not speak. He found that the Dionysians at this time were not afraid of any threats. Perhaps, as the other party said, Tarantum can only hope that Syracuse will win... …

…………………………………

Just as Kunogolata, Ansitanos and the messengers of Tarantum negotiated post-war matters, Davers was also negotiating food with Bacilipi, Capus, Marigi, and Mercis problem.

"Your Majesty, the grains of the Turiyi granary have been transported to the troops in the south during this time, and it is almost empty now. The Cosenza granary, I estimate that there is still half of the stock, but its transshipment is difficult and it Sri Lanka’s offensive is about to begin again, and the supply of food will need to be provided from the Cosenza grain silo. As for the current situation of the Grummentum grain silo, I don’t know much about it..." Firth detailed Dionysia's current food situation.

"I am more aware of the situation of the Grummentum granary. The previous war with Samone ended sooner, and some were seized, so it did not consume much. However, Grummentum’s grain production was originally low and reserves It’s not good, but the number of livestock is huge, and the price is low, barely able to support the Third Army’s counterattack on the Samone region. Therefore, if the Lukania region can squeeze out food to supply Turui It’s not big, and transportation is also a big problem, so we don’t want to hit Grumentum’s granary.” Daveus introduced you to the situation he learned through Grummentum. .

"Your Majesty, it seems that if we want to organize a battle of more than 50,000 people against the Syracuses, food is a problem we need to solve!" Capps said worriedly, during this time he replaced Greek Lose took over the military affairs, and he has a detailed understanding of this: "Three days ago, Asprostum and Crimea sent back news that their food was a little tight. These days due to concerns about tin The harassment of the Rakuza fleet, the squadron has been busy adding guards to avoid being attacked by enemy sailors, so there has not been a large-scale transportation of grain to the two cities where the legions are stationed, and they do not know how they are now.

Moreover, Turri now has 1st, 2nd, and 7th, a total of three legions, as well as a large transport team, and your newly recruited 6,000 people, Your Majesty, there are nearly 32,000 people, which consumes grain every day. It is a huge number. If the food problem cannot be solved, even these troops in Turui will have to be disbanded because the food is exhausted within a few days."

"Don't forget, there are also the captives of Syracuse and Tarantum, I am afraid there are about 25,000 people!" Mercis reminded everyone loudly: "Even if they only give them a little food every day, keep them basic The survival of the country is also not a small food consumption. I think it is better to treat them as slaves and sell them for money."

Daveus looked at Mercis's greedy greed, he did not feel disgusted, because the war was consumed, the port market was shut down, and the treasury's money was only out, not in. It was already bottomed out, so Mel He was fully able to understand the anxious mood.

He just shook his head and said: "Tarantum's captives cannot be sold. That is the most important tool for us to control Tarantum. By them, Tarantum will obediently and constantly deliver food, plus Yesterday's seizure in Herakliya, I think at least it can alleviate the shortage of food in Turiri. As for the sailors of Syracuse... Mariji, now the Syracuse blockade of our port has been broken, believe Trade will slowly recover. Can these Syracuse sailor captives be sold?" Davos, who was a modern man in his previous life, has always hated the slave trade, but for the survival of Dionysia, he can't care about it. A lot.

After Daveus finished his talk, Mercis also disliked Marighi's attitude and looked at Marighi anxiously.

Mariji nodded to Daveus and said slowly: "Dear Your Majesty, although we defeated the Syracuse at sea, we have not completely wiped out their power at sea. Our most important trade channel is- -The Strait of Messina is still controlled by the Syracuse Navy.

The situation is better in the east of the Mediterranean.The fleet of Tarantum was completely wiped out, and the joint fleet of Syracuse’s ally, Sparta, is now suppressed by our friendly Athenian fleet, so if the Messina blockade cannot be broken quickly, the future For a period of time, only the sea trade to the east of the Mediterranean will slowly recover, but the original east trade will not occupy a major position in our Dionysian market."

Commercial officer Mariji did not first talk about the slave problem, but made a brief estimate of the situation in the port market.

Davers immediately said: "I understand what you mean, and I will urge Seclion to lead the fleet to seize control of the Messina Strait as soon as possible! But with the arrival of the merchant ship, can our port guarantee normal operation?"

Daveus asked this point. During the war, it was not just the arrival of merchant ships. The operation of the entire port required a lot of management personnel, a large number of porters and sailors, and a security patrol... etc., the more prosperous the port , The more manpower is required.Now, in order to cope with the war, Dionysia has a large number of young and old labors transferred. Not only formal citizens, reserve citizens, free people, and even free people who have not been registered are also recruited. The original bustling ports and markets are now very much In the depression, women, the elderly and even children are more busy in the market stalls, and the lack of labor is evident.

Mariji certainly knows enough labor-this is also an important issue.In this regard, he has no better way, he can only say reluctantly: "Your Majesty, I will find a way to solve this problem... As for this large number of Siracusa prisoners, if you want to find it in a short time A city-state that can afford to pay and is not afraid of Syracuse and dare to take over is really rare... well, I have a goal." Mariji said with a deep tone: "We can try Carthage , You can even use this group of slaves to exchange Carthage's food."

As soon as the words fell, Mercis began to whisper: "Carthage, they have been frightened by the Syracuse, but they refused to ally with us before. I don't think they will agree to buy these captives."

Mariji ignored him and waited for Daveus' reply.

Carthage!As advised by Mariji, Daphes's eyes lit up: before the war, Carthage opposed the alliance with Dionia.But if the war continues until now, whether the Carthaginians will maintain the previous attitude is not necessarily the case. After all, Syracuse and Carthage have always been dead enemies. Although peace has been maintained during this period, it is not It means that the Carthaginians will watch Siracusa continue to expand their power in Greater Greece, and even turn Great Greece into Syracuse's backyard.Because of that, the more powerful Syracuse will only threaten Carthage's sphere of influence in Sicily.

Thinking of this, Daphes made up his mind and said: "It seems that we need to immediately send someone to Carthage again to find out the attitude of the Carthaginians to this war if they are willing to buy these slaves , We can further make some demands on Carthage, such as food trade. To know that this war is not only related to the survival of Dionysia, but also to the rise and fall of Syracuse, I don’t know how long it will last, Therefore, the food of Tarantum alone is not enough to guarantee the sufficient food supply of the Dionysian army under construction! Carthage is famous for its rich food, not far from Dionysian, and can satisfy our War is needed, otherwise where else can we buy food? You Xinghai? Or Egypt? These places are too far away from us for timely protection, and accidents are easy to happen..."

"Your Majesty, there is also Cyrenaica to consider." Marigi added.

Cyrenaica?Daveus was shocked. He really did not expect this Greek city-state located in Afrika, adjacent to Carthage and Egypt. Dionysia had never been in contact with it before, but it is said that although Cyranica Spartan relations are good (because it is a sub-state of Sparta’s sub-state, but it has always remained neutral among the Greek city-states, and it is a city-state dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry. It is a specialty commodity, and it is also rich in horses, cattle, sheep, wheat and flax.