Chapter 481
However, Diónia did not sign an agreement with Tarantum at this time, which made Cestiavis feel uneasy. He reminded them unwillingly, "So you're already full of confidence in defeating Syracuse?! I heard that up until now, Dionysius's army still has the absolute advantage on land! "
"Isn't Syracuse defeating us what you want?" Cunogorata said sarcastically, "You will no longer have to worry about the safety of the city and the lives of the captured citizens."
Cestiavis was speechless for a moment, and then he could not help but ask, "If this war continues for a long time, won't Tarantum have to constantly send food to Turií? You must know that our food reserves are not sufficient."
"If that's the case, you still dare to tear up the alliance and start a war with us!" Cunogorata said sarcastically.
Ancitanos interrupted, "A war of this scale has happened several times in the history of Greece. It can't last at all."
Cestiavis hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "Well, I will convey Diónia's proposal to the Senate, but I hope you understand that Tarantum is Sparta's territory."
Cunogorata and Ancitanos looked at each other, and Cunogorata said lightly, "So what? Is Sparta also going to participate in the war? "
Cestiavis did not speak. He found that Diónia at this time was not afraid of any threat. Perhaps it was as the other party said, Tarantum could only hope for Syracuse's victory …
… …
While Cunogorata and Ancitanos were negotiating with the Tarantum emissary about post-war matters, the Devers were also discussing the food issue with Bagylipi, Capus, Marigi, and Mercies.
"Your Majesty, the grain in Turií's granary has been delivered to the troops in the south all this time, and now it's almost empty. I estimate that the Cosenza granary still has half of its stock, but it's a little difficult to transport it, and the attack on Laos is about to begin. When the time comes, the food supply will still need to be provided from the Cosenza granary. As for the current situation of the Grumentum granary, I don't know much about it … "Agriculture Officer Bagylipi explained the current situation of Diónia to the Devers in detail.
"I know the situation of the Grumentum granary better. The previous war with Samonai ended relatively quickly, and there were some gains, so the consumption wasn't much. However, the production of Grumentum's food is low, and the reserves are not great. But the number of livestock is large, and the price is low, so it's barely enough to support Legio III's counterattack on Samonai. Therefore, it's unlikely that Lucania Municipality will produce food to supply Turií, and transportation is also a big problem, so we shouldn't think about the Grumentum granary. "The Devers told everyone about the situation he learned when he led the army through Grumentum.
"Your Majesty, it seems that if we want to organize a campaign of more than 50,000 people against the people of Syracuse, food is an urgent problem for us to solve!" Capus said worriedly. During this period of time, he had taken over the military affairs on behalf of Hilos, and had a detailed understanding of the situation. "Three days ago, Asprostum and Crimissa sent back news that their food is a little tight. Due to the worry of harassment from the fleet of Syracuse, the supply team has been busy increasing the number of guards to prevent the attack of enemy sailors. Therefore, there hasn't been a large-scale transport of food to the two cities where the legions are stationed. We don't know how their situation is now.
Besides, now Turií has the First, Second, and Seventh Legions, a total of three legions, as well as the supply team and the new 6,000 people that Your Majesty has recruited. That's nearly 32,000 people, and the consumption of food every day is a huge figure. If we can't solve the food problem, even the Turií army will have to disband in a few days due to the lack of food. "
"Don't forget, there are still the captives from Syracuse and Tarantum. I'm afraid that's about 25000 people!" Mercies reminded the crowd loudly. "Even if we only give them a little food every day to maintain their basic survival, it'll still consume a lot of food. I think it's better to treat them as slaves and sell them for money."
Dyvers looked at Mercies' impatient and greedy appearance, but he didn't feel disgusted. Because of the consumption of the war and the shutdown of the port market, the treasury's money was only coming out and not coming in. Thus, he could completely understand Myers' impatience.
However, he shook his head and said, "We can't sell the captives from Tarantum. They're the most important tool for us to control Tarantum. With them, Tarantum will obediently send us food. In addition to the spoils from Heraclea yesterday, I think we can at least alleviate the food shortage of Turií. As for the sailors of Syracuse … Marigi, now that Syracuse's blockade on our port has been broken, I believe that trade will slowly resume. Can these sailors of Syracuse be sold? " Devers, who was a modern person in his previous life, had always hated the slave trade. However, for the survival of Diónia, he couldn't care less.
After Devers finished speaking, Mercies changed her previous attitude of hating Marigi and looked at him eagerly.
Marigi nodded at Devers and said slowly, "Your Majesty, although we've defeated Syracuse at sea, we haven't completely wiped out their forces at sea. Our most important trade route, the Strait of Messina, is still controlled by the navy of Syracuse.
The situation on the east side of the Mediterranean Sea is better. The fleet of Tarantum has been wiped out. The allied fleet of Sparta, Syracuse's ally, is now being suppressed by the fleet of Athens. Therefore, if the blockade on the Strait of Messina can't be broken quickly, we can only slowly recover our sea trade towards the east. However, the trade towards the east will not occupy a major position in Diónia's market. "
Commercial officer Marigi didn't talk about the problem of slaves first. Instead, he made a simple estimation of the port's market.
Devers immediately said, "I understand what you mean. I'll urge Syracuse to lead the fleet to seize control of the Strait of Messina as soon as possible! However, with the arrival of the merchant ships, can our port operate normally? "
Devers's question hit the nail on the head. During times of war, merchant ships were not the only thing that could solve the problem. The entire operation of the port required a lot of management personnel, a large number of porters and sailors, as well as patrols to maintain law and order. The more prosperous the port, the more manpower was needed. Now, in order to deal with the war, Diónia had mobilized a large number of young and middle-aged laborers. Not only were they official citizens, preparatory citizens, free citizens, and even unregistered free citizens were recruited. The port and market, which used to be bustling with activity, were now very desolate. Women, the elderly, and even children were busy at the market stalls. The shortage of labor was evident.
Marigi, of course, knew that sufficient labor was also an important problem. In this regard, he had no better solution. He could only reluctantly say, "Your Majesty, I'll think of a way to solve this problem … As for the large number of Syracuse captives, there are very few city-states that can afford the cost, are not afraid of Syracuse, and are willing to take over … Hmm, I have a goal." Marigi's tone became more serious. "We can try Carthage. We can even use these slaves to exchange for Carthage's food."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mersis began to mutter, "Carthage is afraid of Syracuse. They refused to form an alliance with us before. I don't think they will agree to buy these captives."
Marigi ignored him and waited for the Devers's reply.
Carthage! With Marigi's reminder, the Devers' eyes lit up. Before the war, Carthage was against forming an alliance with Diónia. However, with the war going on, it was hard to say if Carthage would still maintain their previous attitude. After all, Syracuse and Carthage had always been enemies. Although peace had been maintained during this period, it did not mean that Carthage would watch Syracuse continue to expand its influence in Greece. It might even turn Greece into Syracuse's backyard. This was because if that happened, the stronger Syracuse would only pose a greater threat to Carthage's influence in Sicily.
With this in mind, the Devers made up his mind. He said, "It seems that we need to send someone to Carthage immediately to test Carthage's attitude towards this war. If they are willing to buy these slaves, we can make further requests to Carthage, such as food trade. This war concerns the survival of Diónia and the rise and fall of Syracuse. I don't know how long it will last, so the food in Tarantum alone is not enough to ensure sufficient food supply for Diónia's army that is being built! Carthage is famous for its food production, and it is not far from Diónia. It can meet our needs. Otherwise, where else can we buy food? Yoke Galaxy? Egypt? These places are too far away from us. We can't guarantee them in time, and accidents might happen … "
"Your Majesty, we can also consider Cyrenaica," Marigi added.
Comments