ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 952 Infighting
The people of Syracuse were temporarily relieved, but at the same time they were confused: What are the Dionians planning to do? !

Not long after, another spy came to report: The Dionians were holding a swearing-in meeting, and their shouts of "revenge" could even be heard by the people living on the northwest border outside the city.

The MPs suddenly became nervous again.

At this time, Theagenis finally made a suggestion: "Everyone, the Carthaginians broke through the small city of Paragonia and killed all the Dionysian soldiers in the city. In addition, they invaded the Catania plain before. , wreaking havoc will inevitably arouse the anger of the Dionian reinforcements. They are the targets of the Dionian people's revenge!

As for us in Syracuse, it was only under the coercion of the Carthaginian army that we had to send troops to attack the Dionian alliance Taunis.However, thinking of our past friendship with Dionia, we have never launched a truly full-scale attack, leaving Taunis safe and sound so far, and there have been no casualties.

Now we should be grateful for the arrival of the Dionian reinforcements, forcing the Carthaginian army to retreat. Without the threat of Carthage, the safety of Syracuse has been guaranteed, and the previous peace with Dionia can be restored. ! …”

Some generals and congressmen were stunned: before, the alliance with Carthage and the declaration of war on Dionia were mainly proposed by the chief general, but now Syracuse has become a victim in his mouth. This is also It can confuse right and wrong!

But after being reminded by Theagenis, more people rushed to say: "Yes, that's right, we have never declared war on Dionia, nor have we directly attacked Dionia, so there is no request." The issue of peace. The Dionians should thank us. It is precisely because we cherished our past friendship and did not attack seriously and delayed the Carthaginian attack that Catanai was preserved. "

"Let us maintain peace with the Dionians for the time being, and let the Dionians and Carthaginians fight with all their strength. When they all suffer heavy casualties and are exhausted, it will be our opportunity in Syracuse."

……

"But we occupied Kamanlina and controlled Pachinus. I think it is impossible for Dionia to turn a blind eye to this." Someone objected.

Theagenes argued: "It is not to capture but to protect. It is precisely because Syracuse protected Pachinus and Carmanlina that they were prevented from suffering the tragic experience of Gela and Agrigento. , they should thank Syracuse, not to mention that they are not allies of Dionia. Based on this, I think Dionia should not have much reaction to this. Of course, this requires our envoys to go to Kata Nai lobbied hard..."

Finally, the Syracuse Council passed a proposal: send an envoy to Catanai to express friendship to Dionia and at the same time explore the attitude of the Dionia people.

The last time he negotiated with Mago, Theagenis took action personally because he was sure that the Carthaginians would not be disadvantageous to him, but for Dionia, he did not dare to be so trustworthy, so he recommended democracy He sent Cebernus, a very good councilor, to Catanai.

That night, while he was waiting anxiously, the servant came in and told him: "Cerberus asks for an audience."

Theagenis immediately rushed to the courtyard gate and personally introduced him into the study.

"How is the situation with the mission? What is the attitude of the Dionians towards Syracuse? Do they agree to maintain peace with us?..."

Theagenis looked anxious, completely different from the calm and composed person he was during the meeting during the day. This is probably the true state of mind of the chief general in the current situation... Cerberus thought to himself, On the surface, he did not dare to slack off at all. He said: "General, after I arrived in Catanai, I did not see King Dionia, but I met the original Lord of Catanai and is now said to be promoted to the governor of Sicily. Pros, his attitude towards me was lukewarm, and indeed, as you might expect, he did not mention the matters of Kamanlina and Pachinus. However, regarding our request for the restoration of friendship between the two sides, West Poulos proposed, 'Let's punish Falakus, Stasikos, and Kuchias, and then we can talk about restoring friendship.'"

"Punish Phalaicus, Staxicos and Cucias, why?" Although Theagenis was vaguely aware of the reason, he still asked the question.

"General, why did you forget that they led the army to besiege Taunis, and Taunis is an ally of Dionia, of course Dionia will stand up for it!" Cybernus reminded.

At first, Tyrgennes led an army to raid Camanlina, then forced Pacinus to surrender, and then successfully negotiated with the Carthaginians, thus gaining great prestige.This made the neutral generals jealous, so in the following military operations, they, who constituted the majority in the General Executive Committee, strongly requested to serve as the unifying generals.On the one hand, Theagenis did not want to have a stalemate with the neutral generals, but on the other hand, he considered that the Carthaginians would take the lead in the next war, and the Syracuse army would only be auxiliary, and there would not be much benefit to be gained.So he chose to give in.

After listening to Cerberus' words at this moment, Theagenis felt a little lucky in his heart, and it also made him fall into thinking.

"General." Cerberus took a few steps forward and whispered: "This is a good opportunity! Falekus and the others have occupied the committee for many years, causing you so much trouble, and seriously hindering those who support you from entering the committee. , now may be a good opportunity to solve this trouble..."

Theagenis raised his eyes and looked at him: "But the Dionysians did not say that after punishing Falaikus and the others, they would restore friendship with Syracuse."

"But they haven't shown any obvious malice towards us. They always have to give it a try." Cebernus continued to persuade.

Theagenis did not respond for a while. He pondered for a while and then said hesitantly: "Be careful of the Dionians playing tricks!... Let's do this... Tomorrow, at the meeting, in addition to sending you out as an envoy Apart from telling the truth about Katanai's situation, don't say anything else. I will also inform our people in advance not to speak casually, and see other people's reactions before making plans..."

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

The next day, at the meeting in Syracuse, after Sebernus told Dionia's request, the entire meeting was in an uproar.

Kuchias first jumped out angrily, accusing this of being a ridiculous request.

Some centrist legislators also expressed clear opposition, believing it to be an insult to Syracuse.

Of course, some people also pointed out: For the benefit of Syracuse, it is okay for several generals such as Falaikus to be aggrieved. Anyway, they are just making a gesture to satisfy Dionia, so Syracuse can avoid it. Deolia's military front.

A handful of MPs from the port's populist faction agreed.

The two sides argued endlessly.

The democrats, led by Theagenes, have been watching.

When it was almost noon, the meeting suddenly received news: There was a lot of panic and changes among the people in the city!
It turned out that rumors suddenly spread among the people in the city: Dionia's tens of thousands of troops were about to attack Syracuse. Such terrible consequences were caused by Theagenis!It was his forced demand to 'form an alliance with Carthage and declare war with Dionia' that angered the Dionia. As a result, the Carthaginians he relied on retreated alone without any faith, leaving Syracuse in a dilemma. In danger, Theagenis must be held responsible!Punishing Theagenis may calm the anger of the Dionians...

Rumors quickly spread throughout the city, and people gathered together to discuss the matter.

This news shocked the democrats, especially Theagenis. He knew that if this matter was not handled well, it would have a great impact on his prestige, so he proposed to temporarily adjourn the meeting and send someone to appease the people first.

But at this time, Falaikus and others expressed their opposition, especially Kuchias angrily pointed out: "If you want to calm down the anger of the Dionians, the one who should be punished most is Theagenis, because he He is the chief culprit of all this! Moreover, as the chief general of Syracuse, not only did he fail to fulfill his duties, but he also brought disaster to Syracuse, and he is not worthy of this sacred position!..."

Kuchias's words caused an uproar.

The democrats headed by Theagenis are now more certain that the rumors in the city were most likely created by Falakus and the others in order to divert conflicts and undermine Theagenis' prestige.

Therefore, Theagenis was the first to attack, criticizing Falecus and others, and other democrats also started to support him.

Neutral generals and parliamentarians such as Falekus did not dare to show weakness and accused the democrats one after another.

The originally fairly orderly debate at the venue turned into a fierce quarrel, especially since Falekus had long been dissatisfied with Theagenis, and simply put away what Theagenis had secretly done for the neutral faction over the past year, Sordid things such as estrangement and bribery are exposed one by one.

Theagenis was also unwilling to be outdone, accusing Falaikus and other neutral factions of uniting to exclude him during his tenure as chief general, and that they secretly forced him to join forces with them to jointly suppress the port civilian faction...

There was a lot of curses in the venue, and there was no order at all. The curses even turned into fights.

Only a handful of port civilian MPs, headed by Siktas, watched expressionlessly.

In the end, the meeting failed to reach any agreement and had to adjourn early.

It didn't take long for what happened in the venue to spread throughout the city of Syracuse, and also affected the people in the city.Under the instigation of interested people, the supporters of the neutral faction began to curse the hypocrisy of Theagenes, and declared: the council should punish him to quell the war.

The people who supported Theagenis had the opposite view, and the two sides had a dispute, which turned into a conflict.

　Today is the birthday of our motherland. I wish my brothers and sisters a happy holiday! !

　　I have to take my kids out to play tomorrow, so I won’t be able to update for the next two days. I hope everyone understands!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)