Chapter 1125
The Devers stroked the stubble on his chin, his face finally showing a hint of joy. He looked around at the crowd, and his eyes finally fell on Alexis. "The Gauls are coming at us fiercely. I thought this sudden war would last for a long time, so I had everyone come up with a detailed counterattack plan … Alas, I didn't expect the Gauls to be so weak. All our preparations have gone to waste. Do you have any new opinions on the current situation?"
"Your Majesty." Alexis and Printos looked at each other. "Before coming to the palace, I had a simple discussion with Lord Printos about the current situation in Etruria. Patroclus led the northern coalition to defeat the main force of the Gauls. Next, he will certainly continue to attack the remaining Gaulish forces.
We believe that the three camps of the border legion cannot be conquered by the Gauls in such a short period of time. It is highly likely that the Gauls only have a small number of troops to keep an eye on the camps, while the main force bypasses them and invades Etruria — "
"There is no need to speculate. I have confirmed that Hasdrubal's camp is still tenaciously defending. It has not fallen," the Devers said confidently.
Alexis was not surprised. He knew that the Devers's intelligence department was very powerful. After thinking for a moment, he took the opportunity to speak. "Your Majesty, can you send someone to inform Lord Hasdrubal to cooperate with the northern coalition's attack and block the mountain pass leading to the Wave River Plain? Do everything in your power to stop the Gauls who are trying to escape back to their territory, and completely surround and destroy them south of the mountain!"
"I will send someone to give the order to Hasdrubal. But I believe that even if we cannot inform him in time, with his ability, he will be able to make the appropriate decisions according to the changes in the situation." Alexis did not feel surprised.
"Your Majesty." Printos continued, "The reason why we want to eliminate all the invading Gaul in the south of the mountains is that we think that the Gaul are a very aggressive race, and they have a large population and a great threat. It has only been 16 years since the last large-scale invasion, and they are already able to mobilize more than 50,000 troops. If we keep adopting a defensive strategy, not only will we be too passive, but the Gaul will also learn a lesson from this fiasco. The next time they move south, I'm afraid they will cause us even more trouble. Therefore, to completely solve the problem of the Gaul, we should take advantage of this great opportunity to change from defense to offense. We should directly send troops to attack the Gaul's territory and completely conquer them!"
As soon as this was said, there was a small commotion in the conference hall. The rotating presidents began to whisper to each other.
The corners of Devers's mouth curled up. Printos's suggestion was exactly what he wanted. He glanced at the presidents who were whispering to each other and asked calmly, "Hmm … Do you have any specific plans for taking the initiative to attack?"
Alexis walked to the wooden map of northern Italy that was placed in the center of the conference hall and said in a deep voice, "According to the current intelligence, the Gauls that invaded Etruria this time are made up of Senonis and Conomani. It is estimated that most of the young warriors of these two Gauls have joined the invading army, which is why there is such a large number of them. Therefore, their territory must be defenseless due to the lack of troops.
Now, the soldiers of the First Legion, Second Legion, Legio IV, and Legio III have all gathered. They were originally prepared to reinforce the Northern Coalition Army, but it seems that there is no need for them now. Why don't we transfer these legions to Brindisi, take the ships north, and land near Ariminum (now Rimini)? " Alexis pointed to a location on the map and said in a sonorous voice, "Directly attack the Gauls' territory!"
At this time, Devers and the others had gathered in front of the map, their eyes focused on the landing point that Alexis mentioned.
Looking at the map carefully, the other ministers realized that it was not that easy to directly attack the Gauls' territory.
The Gauls' north was against the high and steep Alps, the Ligurian's territory to the west, and the Veneti's territory to the east. Almost the entire coast was occupied by these two races, and the Gauls were sandwiched in the middle. Although the Etruscan territory was to the south, there was a continuous mountain range between the two. The direct distance between the two was more than a hundred miles, and there were many areas that were difficult to pass through. The lower areas were often inhabited by Gaulish tribes (mainly the Cenonis).
If the Dionysian Army wanted to attack the Gauls' territory through the mountain range, it was naturally possible to do so given the heavy losses suffered by the Gauls. However, the Dionysian Army was unfamiliar with the terrain, difficult to transport, and the overall strength of the Dionysian Army was weaker than the Gauls. These shortcomings would not only cause the Dionysian Army to suffer heavy losses, but also slow movements, giving the Gauls on the Wave River Plain enough time to prepare their defenses, greatly reducing the effectiveness of the attack, and prolonging the war. Therefore, after some analysis by the Ministry of Military Affairs, this was not a good choice.
The Ligurians and the Venetians were two conservative races, and in the past, they did not have much contact with the Diónia. Even if the Diónia emissary assured them that the Dionysian Army was only there to attack the Gauls, and would never infringe on their interests, they would not allow a strange and powerful army to land on their coast and cross their territory.
If the Dionysian Army were to forcibly land on their coast, it would undoubtedly trigger a new war, which was certainly not a wise move.
Therefore, it seemed that the best and only place to launch the attack was Alimium, because it was the only coastal town of the Gauls. It was located to the south of the Venetians' territory, north of the Apennine Mountains, and bordering the Adriatic Sea.
"Alimium …" Devers stared at its icon, recalling the information about it. He had been busy for the past few years, and attacking the Gauls' territory was not in his plan. He did not pay much attention to the details of the Gauls' territory, so he did not have much memory of it in his mind. So he simply asked, "Is it convenient to land on the coast there? How is the situation in Alimium? Is the defense tight? … "
"Your Majesty." Printos explained in detail, "Alimium was originally a town of the Venetians, but it was captured by the Senones more than 20 years ago. At first, they seemed to have taken a fancy to the flat land around Alimium, using it to open up farmland and graze cattle and sheep. It was said that it was not until the Adriatic Sea pirates ventured into this small town and proposed to trade with the Gauls, and succeeded in exchanging some of the plundered goods for the Senones' horses that the Senones realized the benefits of sea trade. So in the past 10 years, the Senones have begun to develop the sea trade in Alimium. They expanded the city, built markets and ports in the city, and the Senones' sea trade gradually made some progress. However, they lacked sailors, so they mainly relied on merchants from other city-states to trade in Alimium.
However, due to the Gauls' notoriety and the fact that they had just started to develop, there were not many merchants who were willing to trade with the city of Alimium. Most of them were pirates from the Adriatic Sea or some merchants from the Illyrian region. Occasionally, Umbrians and Frentani would take small boats to trade goods there.
When the patrol ships of the 1st Flotilla cruised in the Adriatic Sea, they carefully observed Alimium. In their report, they said that its walls were low and all made of wood, and the area of the city was not large. It was more like a Gaulish camp than a city. The city's security was lax. The coast where it was located had many gentle beaches that could accommodate hundreds of ships landing at the same time … "
Devers listened attentively while staring at the tentacle that extended southeast of the Gauls' territory on the map. That small area was an attempt by the Gauls, who had lived inland for many years, to move towards the sea. But now, Diónia was going to disrupt their vision and longing for the sea.
Devers looked back at the presidents and asked, "What do you think of the suggestion of the Ministry of Military Affairs?"
Although he saw the excitement in Devers' eyes, Lucius still had to remind him, "Your Majesty, now we all know that there are three Gaulish tribes south of the Alps. The Senones and the Cnomani suffered heavy losses in this invasion. Their territory may be defenseless, but what about Salves? They did not participate in this invasion.
And according to the intelligence of the Gauls, this tribe has been developing in peace and has not expanded externally. However, their strength is the strongest among the three tribes. Once our army attacks the territory of their compatriots, I'm afraid the Salves will go all out to help us defend. I'm afraid this war will not end so easily. "
Devers pondered and did not respond.
Antares laughed and said in a clear voice, "It's not a bad thing that the Salves want to join this war. We can use this as a reason to completely conquer them and solve the problem of all the Gauls south of the Alps once and for all. Lord Lucius thinks that the war will become more difficult with the participation of the Salves. That's because previously, we only prepared to send the first, third, fourth, and fifth legions. With the kingdom's abundant treasury and well-stocked granaries, we can definitely send a few more legions and defeat all the Gauls in one fell swoop with absolute superiority! "
After hearing this, Devers' eyes lit up and cast an approving look at Antares.
Comments