Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Crotocatax scratched his head with his hand, and rarely showed a childish expression: "I said I did well, but pay attention to safety... because my father also wrote back to me."

Yasisters smiled heartily and said, "You just found it in a hurry. I haven't even had time to eat dinner. It happened to be today and the first day of the new year. You will accompany me for dinner. Now, we will eat and discuss how to hold a fishing competition tomorrow. I decided that you will organize this event."

"Me?" Crotocatax was surprised.

"Not confident?" Yasisters looked at him with a smile.

"No problem!" Crotocatax responded immediately.

………………………………………

Dionysia shocked Okreton with the newly added two negotiating conditions. Where did he dare to continue the negotiations, arguing that the matter required a decision by the Senate, and returned to Carthage by boat without stopping for a while, but did not The matter was not immediately reported to the Senate, but he first informed Hanno.

That night, several important Hanno veterans including Tepanraco arrived at the Hanno mansion in succession.

When Okritton repeated his negotiations with the Dionysians in Sicily, the expression on everyone's face became dignified.

"Master Hanno, the Dionysians put forward such harsh negotiation conditions. This is a provocation to us, and we absolutely cannot promise! If the Dionysians forcefully force us, we will stop the negotiation!" Delai was the first to speak Vika, he is the most active supporter of Hanno's "inland expansion policy", and of course received a friendly rebate from Hanno, making his family in the Weste (theveste, a town in East Numibia) , Inland in the south of Carthage) occupy a large area of ​​land.

"If we do not negotiate, then the Dionysians can continue to destroy our remaining troops in Sicily, take the entire western Sicily as our own, and then regroup the troops, land in Afrika, and attack our Carthage...not We want to negotiate, but the enemy is strong, the situation is grim, and the situation is forcing us to negotiate!" Samorus sighed bleakly. He is the most military-savvy man of the Hannos since Monte Adler. Nowadays Leading thousands of Carthage civic soldiers, they are stationed in East Numbia to suppress the rebellion and stabilize the order. This time he was specially called back, showing Hano's attention to it.

"The Dionysians want Corsica, Sardinia, western Sicily! Now they want southern Iberia, and they want us to return the land of Numbia!...If we all agreed, then Can the Dionysians be satisfied? No, our weakness will only encourage their greed, they will not only add new negotiation conditions, they will even send troops to land in Afrika, and threaten our Carthage! Since the situation is already It's so bad, why don't we become tougher, but let the Dionysians have some scruples!" Delevica retorted.

Listening to the debate between the two, Hanno turned his head and asked, "Teparako, what is your opinion?"

Tepanrak said in a contemplative manner: "The key question now is that we must first determine whether the Dionysians really want to negotiate with us? If so, then we will try our best to negotiate with them, with a view to Finally, we get a good armistice agreement for us; if not, then we must prepare for the battle and prepare for the invasion of Africa by the Dionysian army!"

After listening to Hanno, he looked at Ocreton: "You and the Dionysians have been negotiating for some time. In your judgment, do the Dionysians want peace talks? Or do you not want peace talks?"

The weight of this question was very heavy. Okreton did not answer it immediately. He pondered for a while before saying: "I have only seen it at the very beginning during the time I negotiated with the Dionysians. On their king’s side, his attitude towards me was fairly friendly, and afterwards I asked for goodbye several times, but they were rejected. I don’t think it’s because his anger towards our Carthage is increasing, precisely because He wanted to negotiate with Carthage, fearing that under my begging, he would make a bold decision and interfere with the plan of Dionysian messenger.

Secondly, I also deliberately angered Dionyssia’s negotiators, and threatened to'stop negotiations and let the Carthaginians prepare for the battle and fight Dionysian to the end!'But when I appeared in the negotiating room again on the second day, Dionysia's negotiating officials were still waiting there. Although they spoke ridiculously, they allowed the negotiations to continue.According to my observations, the official was a very proud person, but the fact that he was so patient showed that they had expectations for the negotiations.

However, the Dionysians want to get more in the negotiations, just as we want to pay less in the negotiations, which is understandable.So in the negotiations, we are all watching the development of the war situation, but unfortunately Marco failed, and the Dionysians have a greater advantage, of course they want to get more.

Moreover, in my conversation with the Dionysian negotiating officer, I discovered that the Dionysians defeated Marshal’s army this time without paying a great price... I have carefully observed the Dionysian soldiers I saw. , They are all high-spirited, can't see the slightest look of tiredness in war..."

Several people in the house changed their complexions.

After a while, Tepanraco's expression reluctantly reassured: "...Maybe they deliberately pretended to show you the performance, and then came to pressure you."

"Stupid Marco! He is Carthage's sinner!" Drewika scolded resentfully.

Hano, who was usually in conflict with the Magonide family in the Senate, did not rebuke Marco at this time, but sighed with anxiety: "Drevika, you said well before, the Dionysian Greed can be changed. Perhaps the former Dionysian king did have the will to negotiate, but as the strength gap between the two sides grows, it is inevitable that they will not have other ideas! From the current situation, we must Acknowledging that the Dionysians have an absolute advantage in the navy and army, we must first do everything possible to strengthen the armament of Carthage and dispel the idea of ​​the Dionysians to destroy us! Do you have any suggestions for this, Mr.

Summers hesitated in his heart and did not answer for a while.

"When is it now, just say anything!" Hanno was impatient.

"Sir Hanno, I'll just say that." Samuels simply cut out and said bluntly: "The Sicilian army suffered a terrible defeat, and the entire sea area was completely blocked by the Dionysian Navy. The remaining army on the island is no longer There may be any hope of escape, which will eventually surrender to the Dionysians. Now the Dionysians have put forward such harsh negotiation conditions, they should not be able to release the prisoners before reaching an agreement, then once Dai After solving the Sicilian problem, the Onia really landed in Afrika and launched an attack on Carthage. How many soldiers can we organize to defend Carthage? How much food do we have to protect Carthage? Under the siege of the Onia Army, how long will it last? How much foreign aid can we provide to help us when Carthage is in distress?..."

Some of the interviews by Summers made the faces of several people abruptly change.

As this year's Sofitel, Okritton coughed a few times and said with reassurance: "The young and middle-aged citizens of Carthage suffered a lot of deaths and injuries after they first landed in Sicily following Monte Adnor. Since then, Marco has forced us to recruit more than 10,000 citizen soldiers, and now they are all trapped in Sicily. At the same time, there are nearly 8,000 citizens stationed in Numibia, under your command.

If the city still wants to forcibly call again, I am afraid that it can also organize up to more than 4,000 people, including the elderly and juveniles (Carthage is the most prosperous city-state in the Western Mediterranean, it seems that the population is also quite large, but in fact it is really Of the citizens are not many, more are slaves, especially the Numisbians. The Phoenicians are only a small race in the entire Mediterranean, so for centuries, despite their civilization and technological ability, they are stronger than the Greeks. However, the conflict in the Western Mediterranean immigration wave has basically been at a disadvantage, mainly because of this.).

But I can guarantee that the food is sufficient. Due to the blockade of the Dionysian fleet, most of the military food we collected from Numbia and the Allies and supplied to the Sicilian army failed to be delivered, enough for the entire city for three months. Eat more than that, and don’t forget that people also have food in their homes.Under the siege of the Dionysians, it is absolutely no problem to insist on half a year!

As for the foreign aid you mentioned... The entire Phoenician city-state of Africa is powered by our Carthage, and the Dionysian army will not be able to move on this land."

Okreton’s relief was obviously not effective, and Samorus’s expression remained dignified. Shen Sheng said: “Although Carthage has lagoons and hills as a barrier, 4,000 people are simply not enough to resist the attacks of the Dionysians. The 8,000 soldiers stationed in Numibia should be transferred back to strengthen the defense of the city.

In addition, the Phoenician confederation that Lord Okreton just said is our help. I don’t agree. I just think that the Phoenician confederation of Africa will be our burden. Most of their young citizens are transferred by us. In Sicily, once the Dionysian army really landed in Africa, the Phoenician confederacy without the power to protect itself might instead ask us for help. Will we send reinforcements at that time?

If it is dispatched, it will not only weaken our defensive force, but also put the reinforcements in danger of being attacked by the Dionysian army at any time; if not, will the Phoenician allies trust us?Maybe they will fall directly to the Dionysians!and also--"