Chapter 1031
Heniboris thought for a while but did not answer.
Devers said in a low voice, "No, I don't think so. Because Diónia has no foundation in Africana, those Phoenician city-states will be secretly dissatisfied with us. The Numibians in the east and west will pursue their own interests because Carthage has been eliminated and the shackles on their heads are gone. If we want to replace Carthage's position, we may have conflicts with them …
There are also Mauritanians and Libyans in the land of Africana. These are all races with a large population. Once Carthage no longer exists, Africana is likely to be embroiled in disputes and we will be involved. It will consume a lot of our energy and material resources. Is it worth it? After all, the center of the Kingdom of Diónia is in Italy. Not only do we have to consolidate our rule in Italy, but we also have to continue the strategy of developing northward. We can't neglect the essentials … "
Heniboris listened carefully and pondered for a while. He suddenly said, "We want to take Sicily, Sardinia, and southern Iberia to eliminate the threat of Carthage to the kingdom, but at the same time let Carthage continue to exist as a major force in the land of Africana, ensuring that the Numibians continue to rely on us. And we, Diónia, can mediate between the various forces, mediate disputes, and continue to increase our influence in Africana … "
Devers nodded and said, "Henny, you understand well, so in future negotiations, we need to grasp this well. Of course, our army will continue to exert pressure. I think Carthage will eventually agree to all our demands … "
When Devers said this, he could not help but think of Carthage in the history of his previous life. After the Second Punic War, they had lost all their colonies, but after decades of development, they regained their prosperity. This made the people of Rome nervous and eventually destroyed them.
From the Devers' point of view, the people of Rome were frightened by Carthage. They always had a kind of persecutory paranoia. In fact, at that time, it was impossible for Carthage to pose any threat to Rome. When the people of Rome got angry, Carthage immediately sent out a large number of hostages. Today, Diónia did not have the fear of Rome. They had destroyed Rome and defeated Carthage in one battle. They were even more confident and powerful.
Diónia was not afraid of Carthage even if they were only competing in terms of trade. Even after Rome won the Punic War and became the overlord of the Western Mediterranean Sea, it was still a city-state that mainly focused on agriculture and was not very developed in trade and commerce. However, under his guidance, Diónia had already developed both agriculture and commerce. After acquiring the colonies of Carthage, the trade and commerce of the entire kingdom would only grow faster.
… …
Two days after the victory at Serinus, the Dionysian Army mainly stayed in the city of Serinus and the original Carthage camp to rest and reorganize. The Devers did not send troops to besiege the remnants of the army. They only ordered the two fleets to no longer patrol the waters of Carthage. Instead, they focused on sealing off the ports of Mazara and Eryx. At the same time, they also sent Diónia cavalry to patrol around the two towns and report back immediately if they found any abnormalities.
The Devers believed that there were more than ten thousand remnants of Carthage's army hiding in these two towns. Without food supplies, it would be difficult for the people of these two towns to provide for them. Besides, the army led by Prososus had wantonly destroyed the farmlands in the western region, causing a sharp decline in the wheat harvest of these towns. It was hard to say whether the two towns could survive the winter, so how could they have any surplus food to support the remnants of the army? It would not be long before these two cities fell into chaos because of the food problem.
In these two short days, there were no major movements in Mazara and Segesta. Instead, the leaders of the Sicans came to Serinus together.
The Sicans who lived adjacent to Segesta were the first to receive the news that the Carthage army had been defeated. When they saw the once arrogant Carthage soldiers fleeing into Segesta in panic, they were shocked to the core. In addition, hundreds and thousands of Diónia cavalry and Numibian cavalry appeared at the edge of the Sicans' territory from time to time, scaring the weak mountain race of the Sicans. They quickly decided to surrender to Diónia. They even captured the leader of the Sicans' Tanik tribe, Arconis, and his cronies. They begged for forgiveness from the Diónia.
Dyvers accepted their surrender and comforted them with gentle words that put the leader of the Sikais at ease.
But then, in front of them, the Devers ordered their men to take Arconis and his cronies into custody and announced that they would be escorted to Mount Sikaer, where all the tribes who had been attacked by the Carthage army and lost their territories and people would be publicly judged and executed.
In the words of the Devers, any ally who betrayed Diónia should be severely punished. It made the leaders of the West Kai Tribe nervous and alarmed them in their hearts.
… …
Margo refused to obey the Senate's order and insisted on attacking Serinus. This caused the anger of the other elders, except for the Magonid faction. The Senate held meetings for several days, fiercely debating whether to give this bold military commander the most severe punishment. In fact, many of the elders secretly hoped that Carthage's army could take down Serinus, so that Carthage could regain some of his disadvantage in the following negotiations.
On the night when the Carthaginian army was defeated, Mazara City sent out a few cargo ships. They took a huge risk and quietly sailed towards Carthage in the dark night. In the end, there was only one ship that successfully reached its destination.
When the elders learned of this news, they were shocked for a long time and did not come back to their senses.
Previously, the navy was almost completely annihilated, and now, the army suffered a crushing defeat. The defeat of both Carthage's army and navy made the elders grieve, completely destroying any remaining arrogance in their hearts. In order to save the remaining army trapped in Sicily and the large number of soldiers captured by Diónia, the Senate held an emergency meeting.
Unlike the usual debates in the meeting hall, the Magonid senators had heard from Mazara's messenger that although Hasdrubal had fortunately escaped to the city of Mazara, there was no news of Margo. Therefore, they were eager to restart the negotiations immediately, and try their best to agree to the terms proposed by the Daenians, so that a truce could be reached as soon as possible.
But under such difficult conditions, negotiations with Diónia would definitely face more difficulties. Therefore, the elders actively discussed where they should make concessions, where they should insist, and what new demands Diónia might put forward.
After spending two days, they finally came up with a more complete diplomatic negotiation plan. It was the first time for Carthage to pass a resolution on such a major issue in such a short period of time.
During the meeting, the Senate also spent some time comforting the citizens of Carthage who were crying in anger when they heard the news.
Okridon once again acted as Carthage's envoy and sailed to Sicily. This time, he felt a great responsibility.
After entering the western seas of Sicily, Okridon prepared to enter the City of Mazara and meet with Hasdrubal. He wanted to know more about the situation so that he could be prepared.
Unexpectedly, when the ship approached Mazara, it was intercepted by Diónia warships. After learning that Okridon was Carthage's envoy, they did not allow him to enter the port of Mazara. Instead, they suggested that he go directly to Serinus.
Okridon, who was on the ship, saw many Diónia warships patrolling the port of Mazara. He felt the urgency of the situation and immediately ordered the ship to speed up to Serinus.
The King of Diónia's encampment had moved from the Minoan West to Serinus. For the Dionysian Army, this was a step of victory. However, for Carthage, this change meant that Carthage had completely lost this war.
After Okridon arrived at Serinus, he requested to meet the King of Devers, but he was rejected. He requested to negotiate again, and this time, he was granted permission.
The negotiations were held in an empty house in the port area.
Okridon had entered the living room early to wait. Heniboris had delayed for a long time before he finally arrived.
Okridon suppressed his dissatisfaction and went straight to the point. "In the past few days, we, the Senate, have discussed the conditions that you have proposed. We have decided to hand Corsica over to Diónia, and Sardinia, except for Santa Iberia and Kalaris, to Diónia. As for Sicily, we hope that Diónia can return it to us, and we, Carthage, will give up … our responsibilities towards the other city-states and territories in western Sicily. Erox, Mazara, Segesta, Palermos, and so on are all independent city-states. Whether Diónia wants to annex them or make them its subordinates, Carthage can negotiate with them on its own. Carthage will not interfere in any way."
After that, Okridon looked at Heniboris, but he was a little nervous. In fact, the bottom line that the Senate gave him for the negotiation was to agree to all the conditions that Diónia had put forward. However, since it was a negotiation, he could not show all his cards at the first meeting. He had to bargain for a while.
Now, Okridon was most worried that Diónia would use this victory to once again demand an exorbitant price and put forward new conditions.
Sure enough, after listening to Okridon's words, Heniboris sneered repeatedly, "Lord Okridon, when you first came to negotiate, I said, 'If Carthage does not agree to our conditions as soon as possible, we may have to increase the price in the next negotiation.' In the end, you took a chance and not only delayed the negotiation, but also let your army attack Serinus during the negotiation — "
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