Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

In the battle of Minoa, in addition to Carthage’s sacred corps causing us some trouble, the other troops of Carthage were simply unbearable. Especially the morale of the army composed of Numbians was very low. A single charge of our heavy infantry can cause them to retreat, so our army can easily penetrate into the west and force the Carthaginians to shrink in various cities for a long time and have been afraid to fight out of the city.During this period, we did not find an opportunity to fight against the Iberian army that had been stationed in Palermo.

When Carthage sent a large army to Sicily for the second time, the situation changed. First of all, the commander of Carthage was due to the governor of Iberia, Marco. He has long been in Iberia and has a wealth of battlefield experience.Combining all kinds of information, this Marco brought more than 20,000 soldiers from Iberia, plus 20,000 Iberian soldiers in Palermos, there are more than 40,000 Iberians on Sicily The Leah soldiers, most of them mercenaries from Carthage, have long fought with Marco in Iberia, and their fighting power is very strong.

In Gera, I led the Eighth Army, the 4th Cavalry Army, and the friendly forces. The same Iberian army fought, and the number of the two sides was not much different. The Eighth Army stormed the Iberian heavy infantry, and even There is also the 4th Cavalry Corps assisting the attack from the flank, but the opponent has always been stubbornly defending and has not retreated -"

"Oh?!" Breru heard this and sat upright, with a surprised look on his face. Although the number of the Eighth Army was behind the Seventh Army, the Eighth Army settled the West Kyle area a few years ago. Before defeating the sacred corps that the Carthaginians called "the strongest heavy infantry" in Minoa, the combat experience is actually richer than that of the 7th Legion, which has not been fighting in these years. Deep in my heart, I felt that the Eighth Army might be a little more powerful than the 7th Army, and now that a heavy infantry army from Iberia was able to remain undefeated in the joint attack of the 8th Army and the Cavalry Army, it really made him Surprised.

"And many of this Carthage 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 are all armed with long shields and one hand. Holding a short sword similar to our legionnaires, they defeated the square formation made up of the heavy infantry of Jera and Kamalina from the front, which eventually led to my defeat in Jera..." Leotizides was at When it comes to this matter, there is no change in look or tone, as if to say something happened to someone else.

However, not only Breru, but also Seclian and Cipros were surprised in the conference room.

"In this way, the combat strength of the heavy infantry in the Carthage army from Iberia is not weaker than that of our legionnaires!" Cipros couldn't help but said that he was like Seclian, but he knew Leo roughly Tizides had no time to get a detailed understanding of the process of defeat in the Battle of Gerald. Suddenly he heard the details, and it was inevitable that he was uneasy.

"Not only the heavy infantry, but the light infantry of the Iberian army in Carthage is not weak. During the battle, they had a thousand slingmen who may be from the Balearic Islands. The shots thrown were accurate and ruthless. , Not weaker than the slingers in our 1st Legion Light Infantry Brigade, which caused a lot of casualties to the 8th Legion Light Infantry Brigade. They also had hundreds of Javelin throwers composed of indigenous Iberians. The javelin is not only heavy, but also has a hook. Once hit, it is difficult to be pulled out. The resulting wound is very large, which will cause a lot of bleeding and die. The medical camp has no good way for this." said When he arrived here, Leotizides' tone was slightly lower.

"It seems that there is only cavalry, and we Dionysia can be stronger than--" After listening to Leotizides, Seclion couldn't help but sigh, but he didn't want a cough from the side.

He turned his head to look at the embarrassed 4th Cavalry Corps Commander Asitmis, and suddenly remembered that Carthage occupied the Numbia region, but there were many Namibian cavalry in the army. The Central Numbian Cavalry caused the Dionysian Cavalry to suffer a great loss.

Sure enough, Leotizides continued: "It may be that this Carthage army was going through the mountains and assaulting the rear, so the cavalry was not accompanied, but the information shows that among the Carthage troops who landed in Sicily, there are 6. 7,000 cavalrymen, most of them are Numbian cavalry, and some Carthage cavalry, Mauritanian cavalry, and Iberian cavalry, the number of which exceeds the total of our four cavalry regiments."

"Carthage's army from Iberia, its heavy infantry and light infantry are not weaker than our legion soldiers, and the cavalry is slightly stronger than us, it seems that this is our enemy!" Breru looked dignified, in the past During his career in the Legion, he fought with the army of Syracuse, and with the forces of Mesapi and Pucciti. These city-state and ethnic troops always have defects of one kind or another, which makes him always against Dioni The corps is proud of its toughness. For the first time, he heard that there is an army that is not weaker than the Dionysian Corps in every aspect. While feeling uneasy, there was a trace of excitement in his heart.

He asked cautiously: "In addition to the army from Iberia, what is the combat strength of the other Carthage troops?"

"According to intelligence, in addition to more than 40,000 soldiers from Iberia, about 60,000 soldiers from the enemy troops that landed in Sicily this time came from the basic city of Carthage, the Phoenician allies in Africa, and Numbian soldiers, Among them, the Numbians are the most. I used to take the initiative to attack the Carthage army after the Carthage army surrounded the city of Serinus, and carried out a night attack on the Carthage army. It was successful. According to the soldiers who returned, Many of the enemies they hacked were Numbian soldiers. These Numbians were unable to organize effective defenses after being attacked, and most of them only knew to escape..."

Leotizides said that the expression on the faces of several other people became a lot easier, and then said, "Then this army was sent to attack Minoa. We all know that the Carthage army I had attacked the city of Minoa before but failed to make progress, which led me to go to the rescue. This time the Minoa people clearly felt the pressure, and they frequently sent envoys to me for help, and Eventually had to evacuate from Minoa City...

I asked Minoa’s refugees. They said that those dark-skinned Numisbians should not attack the city walls as if they were destined to attack them. They repulsed a wave, and soon rushed up again, constantly consuming not much of them. The defensive force of the city led to the failure of the defensive city... From this, it can be seen that the combat effectiveness of this army is not weak.From the defeat of the night raid to the capture of Minoa, it was like two armies.I'm guessing that the brother must have done something during this time, which boosted their morale..." Leotizides calmly analyzed.

"100,000 people! 100,000 soldiers who are not weak!" Breru could not help sighing.

"This time Carthage's army could be more than 100,000 people." Sekerian interjected: "When I was in the port of Lilithium, I had inquired in private. There were more than 10,000 soldiers in the city of Lilithium. There are thousands of civic soldiers in the Phoenician city states such as Mazara, Eriks, and Palermos. If they are all brought together, the army of Carthage will far exceed 100,000."

Cipros took a breath, touched his jaw, and pondered for a while, and said, "This large army requires a huge supply of military food."

"Master Cypress, you said the key to the problem!" Seclian praised, then pointed to the map of Sicily, which was placed in the middle of the wooden table where everyone sat, and said aloud: "So we must hold the plug Linus, as long as it is available, our fleet can frequently attack the western waters, attack their merchant ships and cargo ships, cut off the route from Carthage to western Sicily, and make the food supply of the Carthage army difficult. Even I can send a fleet of infantry to land on the rear of the Carthage army...After all, judging from the current situation, our navy and the army have a greater advantage in facing Carthage."

Seckrian looked at Leotizides and said confidently: "Although the Navy of Carthage is comparable to us in terms of courage and ability to handle ships, they are more familiar with the sea conditions in the western seas than they are, but they still use traditional The naval tactics cannot be changed in a short time. As long as the ships of the Sicilian fleet are restored to their previous numbers, I can even block the port of Carthage!"

Ciplos reminded helplessly: "The Senate has passed a resolution on this matter. All the port cities in the kingdom are manufacturing warships, but the time is too hasty. It is not yet possible to manufacture hundreds of warships to satisfy you. Requirements."

"But there is one thing you can help." Seclion said seriously: "Now before docking at the naval base in Catania... the twenty wars captured by Flarios on the surface of Serodiham Ships, as well as the 30 warships I captured on the South Coast this time. With some repairs and modifications, some of the warships can be incorporated into our fleet and go to sea. In this way, the battle of the Sicilian Fleet The ship can reach six or seventy ships in a short period of time, and you can continue to maintain the advantage of the Carthage navy. So, I need Lord Cypros. You will temporarily concentrate the shipmakers of several cities in Sicily to the naval base. , Help us to modify these Phoenician warships as soon as possible!" This time, Seclion spoke earnestly.