ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 913 Katana Military Council ([-])
"When the meeting is over, I will send someone to take care of this matter." Sipulos agreed simply, and Sekerian thanked him profusely.

Sipulos looked at Leotizides and said in a deep voice: "We don't need to worry too much about the problems at sea now, but on land, how will we deal with the attack of the Carthaginian army?"

Leotizides did not hesitate, pointed to the map on the table, and slowly said the plan he had already thought of: "Now Carthage and Syracuse have colluded, and all the friendly city-states on the south coast have been occupied by them. , it won’t be long before the Carthaginian army can gather in the southeast corner and attack our southern border and our two allies Leotini and Taunis.

This time the Carthaginians have not made any move to attack the north coast. I think they will not attack the north coast for the time being. This will distract their forces. Moreover, the terrain of the north coast is narrow, which is not conducive to the deployment of troops. Expand, although the city-states there are smaller than the city-states on the south coast, it will take a lot of time for the Carthaginians to capture them one by one. As long as we have enough troops in Mile, we can conquer Carthage for a long time. People keep out of territory.What worries me most is central Sicily—"

Leotizides pointed to the icon of Enna City on the map with his right hand and said in a deep voice: "The Carthaginian army from Iberia has many races that are good at mountain warfare, plus there are Tanikians who are familiar with the terrain. The tribe led the way, and the Sikel people were no match at all, so Kefaroitian was occupied by them. Now they are still besieging Enna. I decided not to reinforce Enna and retreated with the Sikel tribe who were willing to follow us. ——”

"You want to give up Enna?!" Sipulos was shocked and solemnly reminded: "Most of the Xikel tribe is gathered there, and I'm afraid most of them are unwilling to leave their homes."

Sipulos said this more euphemistically. In fact, he knew very well that once the Dionian army stopped reinforcing Enna, the Sikel tribe there would probably all fall to Carthage under the threat of the Carthaginians. Ji, this is because the measures taken by Dionia towards the West Kells for more than ten years are different from those towards Samonai.

For the Samnite people, Dionia maintains an alliance with this mountain race on the surface, but in fact it draws in and assimilates the various Samnite tribes through trade, culture, and even religion, especially in Abenirum. and the Naconia region, which is why the Samonite Tribal Alliance and the Priesthood panicked, so that they finally took the initiative to provoke a war. This is actually what Daves wanted, because the expansion to the north is the expansion of the Kingdom of Dionia. strategic focus;

As for Carthage to the south of the Kingdom of Dionia, in Daves' original strategic concept, Dionia did not want to be hostile to it for the time being before occupying the entire Italian peninsula. "Maintaining peace with Carthage" became First priority, so the kingdom signed peace treaties with Carthage twice.So for the Sikelians located between the two countries, although they have formed an alliance with Dionia, considering the attitude of the Carthaginians, Dionia's Sicilian territory is more of a win-win through trade. The Sikelians, instead of taking more radical measures, avoided irritating the Sikelians and causing conflicts, giving Carthage an excuse.

However, after quelling the Tanikian tribe's rebellion, the "Carthaginians secretly supporting the Tanikian tribe" was also exposed. Davers changed his previous approach and began to strengthen his control over the West Kells, directly The two Sikel towns of Hena and Hebita were incorporated into the kingdom, thereby cutting the Sikel region into two parts.The eastern region, dominated by Agilion and Kentripa, is adjacent to the Sicilian territory, so it has become a key area for Dionia to win over and assimilate. This area is basically filled with tribes that have close contacts and friendly relations with Dionia. .Some of the West Kel tribes in the western region, headed by Enna and Kefaroitian, have less contact with Dionia. Some tribes participated in the rebellion of the Tanikian tribe and were punished by Dionia. , and a small number of tribes took the initiative to move from the eastern region to Enna in the past two years, because their leaders could not stand Dionia's increasing control over the eastern region.

Dionia did not leave the western region of Sikel alone, but used its identity as the leader to coordinate and resolve the conflicts between the tribes, restrain them with trade and assistance, and use the method of recruiting their soldiers to participate in the war. way to control them.Some time ago, the Sikel troops who assisted the Eighth Army and participated in the battle were mainly from tribes in the western region.

Obviously, Dionia adopted a gradual cannibalization method, first focusing on assimilating and absorbing the West Kel tribe in the eastern region, and then turning to the west.I just didn't expect that just a few years later, the war with Carthage broke out so quickly. At this time, the assimilation of the eastern region had just begun to have some effect.

"I agree with Lord Proseus that the decision to abandon Enna is correct." Brelu also stood up at this time, leaned over and looked at the map, and said: "Look, Enna is in the center of Sicily, about [-] meters away from Cai. Faroition is closer and further away from our sphere of influence. After the Carthaginians occupied Kefaroition, Agrigento, and Gela, this town became too prominent and was already in the surrounded by Carthaginians.

If we send less reinforcements, it will not have any effect. Enna will still be easily captured by the Carthaginians.And if we send more reinforcements, it will weaken the defenses in other places. The Carthaginians can bypass Enna and attack other towns with empty defenses. For example, send troops north from Gela and directly attack Hena... So , simply pull back all the troops and tighten our fists! "After Brelu finished speaking, he looked at Leotizides.

Leotizides did not look at him, but said to Sipulos: "The next battle will be fierce. It is related to the safety of the Sicilian territory. Any small mistake will lead to a big defeat. Today , with the Carthaginians gaining the upper hand, I doubt whether the Sikel tribe in the western region is still loyal to the kingdom. If we support En, they suddenly rebel—"

Sipulos was silent for a moment and sighed: "Okay, I agree with you. Give up Enna and withdraw to the eastern region with the tribes willing to follow us. So, what's the next step?"

Leotizides said to Brelu at this time: "Master Brelu, how about your 7th Army being responsible for guarding the southern defense line?"

"You mean the line of defense from Paragonia to Taunis?" The reason why Brelu was able to say it so quickly was because his legion was currently stationed at Lake Leotini, north of Leotini. There was a new military camp nearby, so I had some knowledge of it.

"Yes." Leotizides nodded and continued: "The Eighth Army will be stationed in Agilion and will be responsible for defending the western defense line from Hena to Hebita."

Brelu looked at the map carefully and found that the western defense zone was basically filled with towns and settlements of Sikel. He immediately thought: he had just arrived, and he was completely unfamiliar with the Sikel race, and he had no prestige among them. It is difficult to deter them, in case something goes wrong... The southern defense line is basically within the Catania Plain, and the two allies are both Greek city-states and have been attached to Dionia for more than ten years. It will be more convenient.

He pretended to ponder, and then said: "I basically agree with your defense plan, Lord Proseus, but judging from the current situation, the southern defense line may become the focus of the Carthaginian army's attack. The Seventh Legion only has more than 8000 people. , the military strength is somewhat insufficient."

"Not only the southern defense line, but the two towns of Gena and Agilion may also become the focus of the Carthaginians' attack." Leotizides clicked on the map and said: "The entire Sicilian territory can at least be maintained. An additional 2 citizens will be deployed to fight, and if any losses are excessive, they will be immediately replenished."

"Let me remind you." Sipulos interjected: "In more than ten days, it will be the autumn harvest! I hope you will not recruit other citizens before then, so as to ensure that there is enough labor in the territory, and in the shortest possible time Complete the harvesting of farmland within the time limit so that we can have enough military ration supply for future wars.”

"I don't think they will recruit any more soldiers in a short period of time. If the Carthaginians want to attack us, I think it will take at least 10 days. We can use the existing troops to last until after the autumn harvest, but we must be careful. The Carthaginian cavalry rushed into the plains of Catania and caused damage to our farmland and villages..."

After Leotizides finished speaking, Brelu said seriously: "I have no problem anymore. Our Seventh Army will hold on to the southern defense line!"

"I have a question." Sekerian said loudly: "What's going on in Syracuse?! Is it possible to confirm that they colluded with Carthage and participated in the war against our Dionia?!"

"Syracuse does have contact with Carthage, but it is still unclear whether they will declare war on our Dionia." Sipulos said cautiously: "I once sent an envoy to Syracuse. The Council of Cusa asked. From the answer of their chief general Theagenis, we can judge that Syracuse wants to take advantage of our war with Carthage to make profits for itself, but it does not want to completely fight with us yet. They broke up with each other, became the accomplices of the Carthaginians, and fought on the front line, so it is best for us not to actively provoke the Syracuseans now, as long as we take precautions against them, and concentrate all our efforts on resisting the Carthaginians."

Leotizides and Brelu both nodded and said: This is a safe approach.

(End of this chapter)