Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

"Of course not." Seckrian looked contemptuously at the two carthage captives who were gagged: "This is a masterpiece of the greedy Carthage merchant!..."

It turned out that Lili Pui was originally built by Himilco, and later rebuilt by Marco. Originally, Carthage was planning to use it as a center to build a military defense system to resist the attacks of the Syracuses.But I didn’t expect that in a short time, Syracuse was defeated by Dionysia and hegemony was lost. Carthage and Dionysia then signed a peace agreement, and since then Sicily restored tranquility, and the original defense plan became Miscarriage.

However, out of natural vigilance against Dionysia, the emerging Greek kingdom, Lilifang's status as a military center in Sicily is still retained, and the reservation also includes the deployment of garrison troops to Lilibian, but the number of civilian soldiers has been greatly reduced .

This period coincided with the departure of the Magnid family in Carthage from Iberia. The senate was controlled by Hano. Under his vigorous promotion, the Carthage began to advance inland and occupied Numibi on a large scale. In the land of the Asians, the citizens of Carthage are busy sharing the fruits of war, and no one wants to be drawn to Lilibe to defend the city, even if it is only in rotation.Therefore, Carthage gave Lilly the adequate logistical support and additional salaries for the defenders, so that they could fulfill their obligations with peace of mind.But even so, in the hearts of the citizens of Carthage, going to Lilibe to defend the city is still a chore.

Seven years ago, a member of the Hannuo family was appointed as the general of Lilifang. He was reluctant to go, and even went to Hanno to plead, but the result was unsuccessful, because the position of the general of Lilifang became a The big problem is that the nobles of Carthage are not willing to take office, and of course Hanno, who is in power, should set an example.He could only come to Lilipy with grievances. Just a few days later, Lampukuba in the port area came to visit. After the two had a close talk, the defending general dispelled his grievances and seriously Fulfill his duties.

Since the signing of a peace agreement with Dionia, Lilithium’s maritime trade has become more and more prosperous, and it has promoted more and more residents of Lilithium, but due to the high barriers to settlement in the city, many from Carthage The people of the Phoenician alliance can only choose to live in the port area. Because Lili Peng has little farmland outside the city, the food cannot be self-sufficient, but it is in great demand. It can only be solved by the sea food trade, mainly Coming from Carthage, although Carthage relies on the vast land of Numbia, food is sufficient every year, but the food is transported to Rilitan by sea, the price is not low, and the competition is fierce.

Lampakuba was also a member of the Hanno family. He settled in the Port of Lilibei 10 years ago, mainly engaged in food trading. He did not benefit much from the competition in the mall for several years, so he racked his brains to find Earning money in other ways, he found that the military supplies in the military barracks in the city were very sufficient, and there was a lot of surplus at the end of the year. It happened that the defending general who was taking office at this time was also a member of the Hanno family. The two had a good relationship before, so he He came to him to discuss cooperation in secret.

It is not a shame for the Carthaginians who value businessmen to use their power to obtain money.The generals of the Lili defending army are naturally willing to agree, but there is a problem: the military food is transported from the city to the port, and it must inevitably pass the strict gate check of the city gate. This will make the world known. Private military supplies are after all Violated Carthage’s laws, and the then Lord of Lillybe happened to be from the Margonides. It’s hard to guarantee that he wouldn’t make a big fuss about it. Then the defending generals and Lampukuba would inevitably be sent to the Senate Punishment, so they negotiated and decided to use an unknown method—that is, dig tunnels.

In fact, at that time, because the Gentiles were very difficult to enter and exit Lilifang District, for various needs, several tunnels have appeared in the port area, quietly sending people in, serving as officials, slaves of the rich, and temporary labor...

It's just that the two of them have done more secretly: Lampukuba spent a lot of money to buy the land near the wall of the southwest military barracks, built tall walls and warehouses, and let his servants secretly excavate tunnels; the defending generals let their own The servants under their confidantes and their families took the training as an excuse to set up the barracks in the barracks as a restricted area and dug the tunnel quietly.The two sides made joint efforts and dug it in less than half a year. The tunnel was still being perfected as it began smuggling military food into the port area.

The defending generals converted a large amount of surplus military grain into their own by forging rosters of soldiers, inflating the number of soldiers, generously approving long vacations for citizens who were drawn, but were unwilling to come to profiteering...Rampcoba used these military grains that didn't need money to enrich his grain store, and also reduced the price of grain sold, so that other grain merchants in the port could not compete with it, so that he eventually monopolized the grain of profit. The market has become the richest man here.

The defending general made a lot of money, and naturally he was unwilling to leave. He repeatedly requested to continue to hold the position.Some veterans of Carthage know how much of this may be sloppy, but many people have been bribed by him, and besides him, the candidates for the generals of Lilifang have always been relatively difficult to produce, so everyone opened their eyes and closed At a glance.

Therefore, the defending general stayed in Lily for four to five years. Until last year, relations with Dionysia were tense and the war was overshadowed. The Senate strictly ordered all cities in western Sicily to increase vigilance, rectify armaments, strengthen training, and prepare Combat.

The new city owner Imiserre sent a patrol to completely block the tunnels that have been in existence for many years, and also issued a notice: If someone finds another tunnel, he will be sentenced to death in accordance with the crime of treason!

The defending general felt that the situation was not good. After consulting with Rampcuba, he blocked the tunnel crossing over the barracks, and then bribed the veterans with heavy money to transfer himself back to Carthage to avoid becoming an upcoming one. Victim of war.

Lampukuba still kept the tunnel, waiting for the end of the war before continuing to use...

"So the end of the tunnel is blocked?" Leotizides asked when he heard this.

Seckrian pointed to the two captives and said, "According to their explanation, they only blocked the exit there. There were not many places. I have sent soldiers to investigate..."

As he said, footsteps were heard in the tunnel, and several mountain reconnaissance team members appeared before them.

"Adult, if you walk more than 150 meters in the tunnel, you can see the blockage. It is indeed like the captain said. It is blocked with mud. I think it will not take long to dig to see the exit."

The words of the Mountain Scouts excite Sekerian. He smiled and said, "Master Prosius, you can now bring your army and follow this tunnel to the city!"

At this time, what went that day seemed calm: "Don't worry, we have to make some arrangements first to divert the attention of the Carthage garrison."

…………………………………………

"Master, look! The Dionysians are ready to attack the city!" a team officer pointed to the city and shouted.

Without his reminding, Imiserre had noticed: Thousands of Dionysian soldiers in black helmets and black armor appeared in front of him on the right side of the city. They were lining up, and the front soldier was carrying With a long cloud ladder, it seems to be preparing for the ant attach project...

He probed outwards, and wanted to look more closely, he heard the men beside him shouting, "Master, be careful!" When he dragged him behind the dust, he heard a bang, a few stones The bomb was hitting the city wall not far from him, and the splattered stones wounded several soldiers defending the army.

The frightened Imiseray immediately shouted: "Go and call Ragnaca, the Dionysians are about to attack the city!"

When Ragnaca was called by force, he was a little angry, because the Dionyan soldiers at the tower gate attacked fiercely, and the gate was deformed by the sash. If it was not blocked by a large number of stones behind, I am afraid they Has rushed in, and the long-range attack of the Dionysian light infantry is also very powerful, causing many casualties of the Carthage archers behind the tower gate, they also carried the ballista to the city gate aisle for launch, to the sides The javelin thrower on the tower posed a huge threat, and the light infantry had changed several times. Now Ragnaca is commanding the soldiers to carry out full defense with a high degree of nervousness, and has no extra energy to take care of others.

So after seeing clearly the enemy's situation under the city, he angrily rebuked: "The enemy is so close to us, why don't you use a bow and arrow to attack?"

Imisely responded in a cold voice: "The light infantry were all taken out of the tower gate by you. Where is there an archer?"

Ragnaca remembered the measures he had done before. He saw that the city owner was dissatisfied, he coughed twice, and his tone softened: "It doesn't matter if you don't have light infantry, the Dionysian ballista seems terrible. , But they can’t destroy our thick and tall city walls. If they want to attack the city, they have to rely on those wooden ladders. When they come under the city, we can attack them with wood, stones, tar... Casualties, but—"

Ragnaca looked to the place where countless people gathered more than 100 meters to the left-where is the gate of the city, he reminded: "Be careful of the Dionysians to disperse the people and rush into the city gate with sapwood , So to strengthen the defense there, it is best to send someone to block the gate of the city."

Despite some worries, Ymiserei shook his head and refused: "You can't block the door, otherwise Master Marco will be able to quickly attack the Dionysians after his army arrived."

"Then leave an army under the city, and in case the enemy breaks through the city gate, they will intercept it..." Ragnaca hurried to the gate after arranging the defensive measures here.