ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 761 After the Storm
In the main tent of the military camp, Lizaru saw Printors, and he immediately greeted the undersecretary of staff who had helped him win the victory in Campania.

"Okay, let's talk about the gossip later. Let's quickly discuss how to complete the task assigned by His Majesty." Amyntas urged.

"What's the current situation in Latium?" Lizaru asked first. This is the basic quality that a senior commander of Dionysia should have. If you don't understand the surrounding situation and the enemy's situation, there is no way to win the battle. of.

Therefore, Amyntas did not take it for granted, pointed to the map, and explained seriously: "Since the Romans launched a large-scale attack on the Hernicians last month, they have conquered many towns in succession, and now they have conquered the Hernicians. The central town of Philentirum is completely besieged and the attack is being stepped up. Its troop strength has increased from 4 to 7. According to the Volscians, the situation in Philentirum is very critical and they must hold on. It won't be a few days. Once this town falls, not only the Herniki people will be finished, but the Volscians will also suffer serious losses, because the Volscians sent a large number of warriors to rescue Herniki, and now they are They are trapped in the city of Ferentilum, so the troops in the Volsey territory are already very empty, and they rely entirely on our First Army to support them."

Lizaru stared at the map for a while, then pointed to the north of Volsey's territory and asked: "Since the Roman troops are concentrated on attacking the Hernicians, the defense here must be very empty."

"The citizens of these Latin allies to the west of Rome were all deployed to attack Herniki. It is true that they don't have many troops, but here! Here! There are ten thousand Roman troops stationed here!" Amyntas pointed with his finger. Click three times on the map.

Lizaru took a closer look and saw that the names of the three city icons were: Vilitre, Satnicum, and Antium. They happened to block the access to the Latium region from the northwest of Volvo.

Lizaru made an estimate and was surprised: "The Romans could actually form such a huge army?!"

"According to the Volscians, Rome not only mobilized all its young and middle-aged citizens this time, but also asked all the Latin allies and the Etruscan allies in the north to provide a lot of reinforcements, so it is doing its best to carry out the campaign. Because of this war, I think this is why Your Majesty personally led the army to deal with the Romans first!" Printors emphasized at the side.

"But with these three cities blocking the way, it will take more than a day or two to capture one of them. I'm afraid it will delay His Majesty's attack plan." Lizaru pointed at the map and said worriedly.

"Are you stupid?" Amyntas criticized unceremoniously: "We don't need to attack them at all, we just need to bypass them, enter the coastal area of ​​Latium, and protect His Majesty's army from successfully landing on the coast. .”

Lizaru, who was thinking too hard just now, slapped his head and smiled awkwardly. He pondered for a while and said: "If we do this, we can only let the soldiers carry rations and leave the auxiliary troops in the military camp. We ensure that we can march quickly so that if the enemy comes out of the city to intercept us, we can quickly respond to the challenge. But in this way... our military camp and even the entire Volscian territory will be completely open to the Romans!"

Printors smiled and said: "Don't worry too much about this. Once our army successfully lands, the entire Latium region will be nervously on guard for our attack. Who will have the intention to invade Wolsey! And we will also arrange for the military camp to The rest of the men went to Selcher, took a fleet of ships, and turned the army to the newly occupied land."

Lizaru no longer had any worries and asked loudly and eagerly: "When will we act?!"

"We will wait until the army led by His Majesty arrives in the Latium area by boat, but before that, we have to discuss with the Wolsey senior officials and need them to provide some help for this army's attack."

.............................................

The news that "The Great Battle of Selinus was finally disrupted by a storm and almost all the warships on both sides were wiped out" spread throughout western Sicily early the next morning. Bomilcar, the acting commander of the Carthaginian army, learned of this Shocked by the bad news, they sent messengers quickly to Carthage on speedboats to quickly convey the news back to Carthage. At the same time, they notified the coastal city-states to conduct careful searches and rescues on the coasts of their territories, and sent all survivors to Lilibi.

The Dionia camp outside Selinus was overcrowded. Not only were the tents filled with survivors of the shipwreck, but the passages and open spaces outside the tents were also filled with struggling and groaning crew members; Outside the camp are densely packed, white corpses or people who have not yet been determined to be dead or unconscious. Doctors and nurses have been treating them for more than ten hours and are still busy; while the more than 2 Dionian legions and their Allied officers and soldiers are also fully assisting the medical battalion to save their compatriots and comrades in the navy.

In the big tent, Leotizides, who had been busy until now and had not slept all night, sat on a wooden chair and listened to the report of his adjutant Muklu. Although he was very tired, he still straightened his back.

"Commander, from last night to now, our soldiers have found about 15 human bodies on the coast, and about 10 people have been rescued. Among them, there are more than 61500 Dionian people. There are 29379 crew members in Dionia..." Mukelu held the recording board, and every time he read a set of numbers, his heart jumped wildly. Behind these huge numbers meant the disappearance of countless once-living lives, and each family crying...

Leoticides didn't seem to have much reaction to this. After listening to the adjutant's report, he still looked expressionless and quickly asked: "How many people are there in our Sicilian fleet?"

Muklu thought for a while and said uncertainly: "Based on the last time the Minoan Sicilian fleet came to collect rations, they may have about 11 to 12 people..."

Leotizides made an estimate in his mind and said: "So we still have at most 3 crew members yet to be found."

"They probably drifted to the coast controlled by the Carthaginians, or they may have drifted to the coast of the allies. This requires us to contact Minoa, Agrigento and other south coast city-states in the next few days to understand. Details," Muklu said.

Leotizides nodded, and then sighed: "The navy really consumes the young and middle-aged citizens of the kingdom too much. This storm cost us tens of thousands of people, which is enough for us to build five or six legions." !”

Mukelu explained: "My lord, but we also easily captured nearly [-] Carthaginians or Phoenicians. If it was a normal battle, how many battles would it take to get so many prisoners?"

Leoticides frowned slightly when he heard this, and looked at Mukru with sharp eyes without blinking, until the other party lowered his head, he asked slowly: "Seklian and Florios did you find it?"

"...I haven't received any news yet..." Muklu looked sad.

"Continue to send people to search, don't give up. And we will entrust Shelophanis to send spies to the city-state of Carthage in the west to find information." Until this time, there was a slight wave of emotion on Leoticides' face: " I heard that Sekerian is very good at water, and he once crossed the raging Kraty River when he was young, so he should not drown in the sea so easily."

"Yes, Commander."

"Anything else?"

"Well... the medical camp reminds us that there are too many dead bodies inside and outside the camp. If they are left for too long, the corpses will rot and easily lead to the spread of epidemics."

"As long as they are confirmed dead, they will be cremated, and the living sailors will bring their ashes back to the fleet base in Catania or Tarantum. As for the ashes of the Carthaginians, bury them on the spot. "Leotizides said, thinking of something again, and said with emphasis: "This matter must be done immediately, so that these living sailors can return to their stations as soon as possible, so as to avoid consuming our food in vain, but those fleets The infantry will stay and fight with us."

Leotizides had long coveted these infantrymen in the Sicilian fleet. He had seen their military training in Catania and believed that their military quality was not weaker than the regular soldiers of the Eighth Legion. Taking advantage of the destruction of the Sicilian fleet, , when there was no news from Sekerian and Flarios, he incorporated them into his own team to enhance his strength.

Before Muklu responded, Leotizides emphasized again: "Also...take out [-] young and strong sailors from the navy, issue them with spears, and temporarily serve as our light infantry. "

Muklu was surprised. He tactfully reminded: "Commander, without the permission of the Ministry of Military Affairs, you have violated the regulations by deploying the navy's fleet infantry. If you have to reorganize sailors, I am afraid the navy will be dissatisfied with this."

Leotizides disagreed, and said in a deep voice: "We are now deep into Carthage's sphere of influence. Not only is the supply line stretched, but the enemy will also counterattack at any time. However, all the warships of the Sicilian fleet have been lost, and there is no way to fight for it. We provide coastline protection, and we fight alone. If we do not strengthen our strength, we may fall into trouble at any time. The Sicilian Navy cannot function without ships, so it is better to put the idle sailors and fleet infantry under my command temporarily. This is a special period, and I believe that Your Majesty and the Ministry of Military Affairs will understand my approach!”

As an adjutant, Muklu could only remind him that since Leotizides insisted on doing it, he could only execute it. Then he immediately turned the topic to other aspects: "Sir, what about the 4 Carthaginian prisoners?" Disposal?"

"Stay here for the time being, and deal with it according to the previous method of holding captives." Leoticides said thoughtfully: "The Carthaginians must also have our sailors, and we can exchange with them when the time comes."

(End of this chapter)