Chapter 1126
Cypross also spoke up, "Your Majesty, if we send our army into the Wave River Plains and engage in a fierce battle in the territory of the Gauls, it will inevitably cause unease among the Ligurians and the Veneti. In order to prevent accidents from happening, we can also send messengers to these two races when we send our army. Tell them that the Kingdom of Diónia was invaded by the Gauls, and that is why it sent its army to fight back. Also, invite them to attack the Gauls' territory together. Even if they refuse to join us, they will feel less uneasy about our sudden appearance in the Wave River Plains … "
The Devers nodded in agreement.
"Your Majesty." At this time, Cydorum asked, "What should we do with the Gauls after our army has conquered them?"
Cydorum's question made the Devers fall into deep thought. Because he did not have a plan to attack Mountain Gaul at this stage, he naturally did not have a detailed plan to settle the surrendered Gauls after the war. What came to his mind was the war between Caesar and Mountain Gaul in the history of his previous life. In the eight-year long campaign, Caesar carried out a bloody conquest of the natives north of the Alps, all the way to England, and paid a heavy price in the continuous battle. Countless Gauls were killed, and finally, they surrendered. As for the Montane Gaul, it seemed that after Rome became stronger, they became obedient, and there was no major war. Of course, when Hannibal led the army across the Alps and attacked Rome, these Montane Gaul people joined his men and fought against the Romans … …
The Devers looked at Alexis and Printos with a cold glint in his eyes. In a tough tone, he said, "The Gauls are a fierce race. We should not show any mercy to them. As long as they are still fighting, the soldiers will not stop fighting and killing. Only when we are fiercer than them will they fear and surrender!
If there are Gaul tribes that want to surrender, we can tell them, 'Surrender is fine, but they must unconditionally accept our resettlement of their territory, and they must abide by some of the decisions made by the Kingdom for the surrendered Gauls.' "These resolutions … I'll have to discuss them with everyone before submitting them to the Senate for approval …"
But regardless of whether the Gauls surrender or not, some of the important towns in the Gaul territory must be captured and firmly controlled in our hands, such as Alimium. Only by occupying it can we transport food and supplies to the army more quickly and smoothly. There's also Boloma, the central town of the Cenones. Our army will only be safe if we cross the mountains from Etruria and enter the Po River Plain. There's also Mordecoland, the central town of the Salves. Only by occupying it can we stop more Gauls from crossing the Alps and entering the Po River Plain … "
"Understood, Your Majesty," Sedorum, Alexis, and Printos responded one after another.
"Your Majesty, even though the Gauls have suffered heavy losses, attacking from the sea will make it easier for the Gauls to defend. Why don't we wait for the army to attack Alimium and attract the main force of the Gauls, then let the army led by Patroclus and Hasdrubal in Etruria attack Gaul as well … If we're worried about the difficulty of fighting in the mountains, we can let the Legio III be the vanguard …" Hemont suggested.
The Devers' eyes lit up when they heard this. They couldn't help but tease, "Hemont, this suggestion of yours is a great complement to Alexis's attack plan. I didn't know you were so knowledgeable about military affairs. Isn't it a waste of your talent to let you just be the rotating chairman?"
"Your Majesty, Master He Meng's main purpose is to let the 3rd Legion join the war and earn some merits. As for the military advice that is said to be very good, it's just a lucky shot," Antares said half-jokingly. "That's right.
"What lucky hit? I racked my brains to come up with this idea, and it's exactly because I took into account the fact that the Legio III is good at fighting in the mountains … Because I was thinking about this along the way, I almost got knocked down by a pedestrian." Hemont didn't look at Antares. He complained while touching his knees with both hands, pretending to be afraid, as if it was really true.
Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became a little more relaxed. Hemont also cleverly covered up the awkwardness of Antares secretly accusing him of favoritism.
The Devers actually didn't care too much about this matter. He looked at the thin figure in front of him and asked, "Haka, what do you think of this?"
"Your Majesty." Haka said unhurriedly, "Now that Carthage has surrendered to the kingdom, and the Numibians in the east and west are also obedient to us, the order in the southern part of Iberia has been greatly improved under the iron fist of Administrator Bagoule. Commander Sextus led the 18th Legion and the Border Legion to join forces and defeated the indigenous people who came to invade several times in the past year. He also took the initiative to attack and slaughtered a Lusitanian tribe who plundered as their second nature, which also deterred the surrounding indigenous people … Now everything within the kingdom's sphere of influence is very stable, and the country's financial and material resources are relatively rich.
And in our east, the war between Sparta and the Thebes and Athens is still ongoing, and it won't affect us for the time being. We should take advantage of such a great opportunity to concentrate our forces and completely eliminate the kingdom's biggest trouble on the Italian peninsula, the Gauls, and clear the obstacles for our complete domination of the western Mediterranean! "
"Well said!" The Devers smiled and said approvingly, "Now is indeed the best time to conquer the Gauls! Therefore, I agree with the attack plan formulated by the Ministry of Military Affairs! But just sending the first, second, fourth, and fifth legions is not enough. The entire Apulia region is on the side of the Adriatic Sea, and it is more convenient to go to the Po River Plain by sea. Therefore, I have decided to add the ninth, tenth, and eleventh legions of this region, as well as the first and second cavalry legions, to the attack team, a total of seven infantry legions and two cavalry legions. At the same time, let the first fleet act as transport and support to attack the Gauls from the side of Alimium! "
Without waiting for Alexis to respond, the Devers continued, "The candidate for the commander will be Prososus. In addition … transfer the Legio III to the Etruria region to assist the northern coalition forces in eliminating the remaining Gauls in their territory as soon as possible, and then appoint Patroclus as the commander to lead the Legio III, the 12th Legion, the 14th Legion, and the Border Legion, a total of four legions to cross the mountains and attack the Gauls from the south! "
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Alexis, Printos, Alpines, and the other ministers of the Ministry of Military Affairs were more or less excited after listening to the doctor's order: 100,000 troops! It was another large-scale war! But compared to the war in the Western Mediterranean a few years ago, the Kingdom of Diónia today was much stronger. It could easily send 100,000 troops to fight (mainly in short-range wars at home).
The Devers saw their excitement and shouted towards the door, "Go and get the herald."
Very soon, Aristiras walked into the meeting hall.
"Immediately go and inform the heads of the various departments that the palace is holding an urgent administrative meeting of the kingdom. Let them come immediately to attend."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After Aristiras left, the Devers turned back to look at the chairmen and said with a smile, "Everyone, take a break for now. When everyone is here, we will discuss how to ensure the smooth progress of this war, as well as how to settle the surrendered Gauls after the war. We will make a more detailed plan."
… …
The Gauls were a semi-agricultural, semi-nomadic race. They adopted a tribal system and lived in groups. Their way of life determined that they were relatively isolated, and their surrounding environment just happened to add to this isolation.
The large-scale invasion 20 years ago broadened the horizons of the Gauls (mainly the Senones), but it also deepened their blind confidence in their own strength. They did not think that they were defeated by the Rome, because Rome had been occupied by them for half a year. The Romans who were trapped in the mountains even tried to bribe them with gold and silver, begging them to retreat …
The Senones believed that the reason for their final defeat was that they had conquered too many places, but they did not have enough warriors. They also had to divide their forces and garrison them. If they were too scattered, they would be easily attacked by the enemy. They had been out on the battlefield for too long, and the warriors began to get tired of fighting. There was also the damn plague … If they could learn from these lessons, the weak Etruscans, Romans, and Latins were destined to become their slaves … These thoughts were widespread in the minds of the tribal leaders and warriors who had fled back to the Senones. So when they recovered their strength, this strong unwillingness turned into the driving force for them to continue to invade the Etruscan territory.
Of course, they also learned from the captured Etruscans that Rome and some nearby city-states had been occupied by the Kingdom of Diónia.
In the past few years, the Senones had also heard the name "Kingdom of Diónia" from the merchants who came to Alimium to trade. They heard that it was a powerful kingdom in the south of this land.
Speaking of powerful, aren't the Etruscans powerful?! They used to occupy a large piece of land in the north, but didn't they also flee to the south after being beaten by us?! Rome and other Latin city-states occupied by the Kingdom of Diónia were easily occupied by us twenty years ago … There were many Senones who thought the same, so they did not take Diónia seriously.
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