Chapter 733
Ancitanos continued, "In addition, His Majesty the Devers also asked me to remind you, 'The war between Diónia and Sammonae is a contest between brave warriors. No matter how many casualties there are, Diónia will not complain. But if the Sammonae people dare to point their spears at the unarmed people of Diónia and kill them wantonly! Then, Diónia will do everything in its power to vent its anger on the Sammonae region and let the Sammonae people taste a more cruel revenge! ' Please think about the tragic end of Dionysius and his mercenary cavalry of Syracuse in Sicily! "
On the surface, the Sammonae emissary did not seem to take Ancitanos' warning and threat seriously, but his heart was shrouded in shadow.
At the same time, Ancitanos also brought the Devers' apology to Alexis. After all, the Devers' agreement would increase the number of Sammonae soldiers by a few thousand, which would inevitably cause more trouble for the Dionysian Army in the Downey region.
However, Alexis asked Ancitanos to bring a message to the King of Devers, telling him that this move would not have any impact on the army. On the contrary, he was confident that he would be able to capture more Sammonae prisoners in the future!
With the help of Ancitanos, the words of the Devers quickly spread throughout the Downey region. Not long after, the captured people of Downey were released one after another. The people of Downey were even more grateful to the King of Devers, and they were even more proud of being Diónia. They were even more loyal to the Kingdom of Diónia, and at the same time, they were even more united against the Sammonae people.
And this incident did not only affect the people of Downey, but also the neighboring Pucchetti and Mesapi people.
… …
Just as Alexis's army gathered in Downey, Leotychides in Sicily also led his army to the Minoan region.
Along the way, the Dionysian Army was warmly welcomed by many Greek city-states such as Camanlina, Gela, Paccinus, Agrigento, etc. They were delighted with the brave move of Diónia to change its previous battle plan and take the initiative to confront the approaching Carthage army. Therefore, not only did they provide a large amount of food supplies, but they also sent their own militia. When the army arrived in Minoan, it had rapidly expanded from 15000 soldiers to more than 32000.
As the Dionysian Army advanced along the coast with great fanfare, their movements had long been discovered by the Carthage people. Therefore, these days, the Carthage army did not go all out to attack the city. Instead, they focused on strengthening the camp.
At the same time, as the Dionysian Army approached, Montenegro began to feel uneasy. He sent messengers back to Lilibo several times, requesting the Lord of Lilibo, Carthage's Colony City and the Phoenician city-states to immediately organize the young and middle-aged citizens of Sicily, the more the better, and immediately send them to the Carthage camp in Minoan. At the same time, do not forget to send the Sican army as well.
When the Dionysian Army arrived in Minoan, Montenegro had already withdrawn the Carthage army to the camp on the west bank of the Pletara River.
On the other hand, Leotychides did not attack rashly. He refused the invitation of the Minoans. After inspecting the surrounding environment, he began to build a camp on a few hills not far from the north of Minoan City.
The two camps were about four miles apart, separated by the Pletara River. They confronted each other for a few days and remained calm.
Because of this, Leotychides's subordinates and allied generals were puzzled by the fact that he did not allow the army to attack. In order to unify their understanding, he specially made an explanation, "We have fewer soldiers, but the Carthage army has more soldiers. Moreover, the defense of the Carthage camp is quite tight. If we attack rashly, the casualties will be high, and the chance of victory is too small. We should wait for the Carthage army to attack, so that we can use the advantage of defense, kill a large number of the enemy, and finally defeat them. "
"But the Carthage army has not attacked us yet," Michidames, the commander of the Aglygento army, said doubtfully.
Leotychides smiled and said confidently, "Our King Devers once said, 'This war with the Carthage will be a long war. The longer it drags on, the more Diónia will be able to get rid of the impact of the drought and restore the country's normal food supply. At that time, we will be able to send more troops to Sicily to fight the decisive battle with the Carthage …' So we don't have to be anxious. Let the ignorant Carthage continue to consume the time that is beneficial to them."
There was another point that Leotychides did not mention. Most of the food supply for his tens of thousands of soldiers was provided by the Greek city-states on the south coast, which greatly reduced the pressure on the food supply of Diónia's Sicily territory. Of course, he had a reason to leisurely defend in Minoa.
"But … the Carthage army may continue to increase their forces, and in the end, launch a fierce attack on us!" Poliard, the Minoan general who came to attend the military meeting, said worriedly.
"That's why I asked you to strictly and carefully arrange the defense facilities according to the standards of Diónia when you build your camp, so that you can resist the attack of the Carthage army!" Leotychides said with a serious expression, "Moreover, the Carthage army has concentrated in Minoa, so the defense at their rear must be relatively weak, which will be advantageous for the Dionysian fleet to attack and harass them. And the more enemies there are, the greater their demand for food, so the transportation of food will be more frequent. This will be advantageous for the Sikere army to attack their supply team and cut off their supply lines. Once such a large army runs out of food, they will collapse without us even having to attack! "
Leotychides's explanation temporarily dispelled the worries of the allied generals.
… …
In the main tent of Carthage's camp, Montt, who had also not participated in the battle, explained to Milefio, "The reason I'm not participating in the battle is because … according to the intelligence, the Diónia army has more than 30,000 soldiers, and most of them are heavy infantry. We only have 10,000 more soldiers than them, and half of them are lowly Numibians. You've seen their performance in the siege. I don't think they can withstand the attack of the Greek heavy infantry, even if they have the advantage in numbers! So, we need more soldiers, the truly brave and noble Carthage soldiers or Phoenician soldiers — "
"But you still have 10,000 Paladins under your command. We are more than enough to repel the Greek heavy infantry. There's nothing to be afraid of!" Milefio said proudly.
"You're right!" Montt went along with Milefio's tone and said, "The Paladins' ability and courage are unquestionable. I have full confidence that you can repel the Diónia, but putting the heavy responsibility of the attack on your shoulders will only increase your casualties! The infantrymen of the Holy Knights are the cream of the Carthaginian citizens. Because we are not only focusing on this battle, we are also going to occupy the Sicilian Islands and even go on an expedition to Greece. Therefore, I must protect the best troops of the Carthaginians and make good use of them! That's why I'm urging Semiray to organize more Carthage and Phoenician soldiers to strengthen our forces so that we can defeat the Diónia! "
Milefio was immediately convinced. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Maybe we can call back Hasdrubal's army."
Hearing this, Montt shook his head like a rattle. "No! No! No! Milefio, don't you understand? It was Hasdrubal who refused to listen to orders and insisted on acting independently. Now, if we ask him to come back, wouldn't that make him think that we can't do anything without the Iberian army? Wouldn't that make him even more arrogant? When the time comes, it won't be us commanding him, but him commanding us!
Before I set off, Lord Hanno had repeatedly warned me that the commander-in-chief of the Carthaginian army could only belong to Hanno and not Magonid. Moreover, the glory of obtaining victory in this war could only be shared by us and had nothing to do with Iberia! "
In fact, Milefio regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. How could he not know what Montt said? At this moment, he could only remain silent.
Montt continued, "What we urgently need now is not Hasdrubal's army, but our Carthage navy! I don't know what happened to our fleet. Why are we only seeing Diónia's warships on the sea these days? Where is our navy?! Milefio, I suggest you write a letter immediately and urge Lord Hanno. We need a strong Carthage navy to protect our empty rear, or even defeat the enemy's fleet and harass their rear. Let Diónia be attacked from both sides! … … "
Milefio obviously realized the importance of this problem and agreed without hesitation.
… … …
Both the Diónia and Carthage armies were trying to delay the battle as much as possible in order to make adequate preparations.
However, the two huge camps stretched for seven to eight miles from north to south, and only three to four miles from east to west. Standing on the highest hill where the Diónia camp was located, one could even see the central tent of Carthage's camp. With so many soldiers gathered at such a close distance, with the characteristics of the city-state army, the generals could not completely control these citizen soldiers. Often, a small conflict or friction would lead the battle in an unexpected direction.
It was already February 14 of the Kingdom of Diónia (379 BC). Although it was still spring, the weather in some seaside towns on the Mediterranean Sea had begun to heat up. Especially on this day, the temperature in Minoa suddenly rose by several degrees. By noon, the ground was scorching from the scorching sun. Whether it was the soldiers of Diónia or the soldiers of Carthage, many of them could not bear the discomfort and thirst brought about by the high temperature. They ran out of the camp and went to the Puletara River not far from the camp to get water or even bathe.
The Puletara River was not a large river. Except for the part near the sea, which was more than 30 meters wide, the average width of the river was less than 20 meters, and some parts were even only 10 meters wide. Moreover, the lower part of the river flowed on flat land. The water was gentle, and the depth of the water did not exceed the knees.
Therefore, the soldiers on both sides of the river were less than 10 meters apart. They could even hear each other's faces and words clearly (of course, they did not necessarily understand). ()
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