Chapter 892
The strong military force gave Ma Ge enough confidence. He didn't care about a few casualties, and his words also made the generals excited.
Margo then said to his adjutant, "Immediately send someone to inform Ademica in the southern camp. Let him organize ten thousand soldiers and rush to the eastern camp as our backup."
"Yes, sir!"
Margo looked around at the crowd and said in stiff Celtic language, "Lutham, you and your people will be the vanguard."
The Celtic leader Lutham, whose appearance and attire were obviously different from the others, replied in a low, muffled voice, "Oh!"
Lutham was a Lusitanian, a fierce and warlike race that lived widely in the northwest of Iberia. They had once caused great trouble for Margo's expansion in the Iberian Peninsula, and even threatened his rule in the southern part of Iberia. In the end, Margo had no choice but to sign a peace treaty with them. This time, he moved several large tribes of the race with generous benefits, and they formed an army of about eight thousand men to follow Margo to conquer Sicily. Lutham was only one of the leaders of the tribe. Since the battle at night relied more on individual strength, it was advantageous for them to perform well.
About ten minutes later, the army of the central army left the southern gate of the camp. They followed the mud wall and advanced towards the eastern camp that was in chaos.
… …
When evening came, Leotychides went up to the eastern wall and watched Carthage's camp attentively. He waited until the opposite camp was filled with battle cries and clamor before he temporarily heaved a sigh of relief. He then immediately ordered the Eighth Legion and reserve soldiers to form ten thousand heavy infantry to rush out of the city and continue attacking the enemy's camp that was in chaos.
At the same time, the meticulous Leotychides did not forget to send a small team of scouts to climb over the mud wall and hide in front of the various camps of Carthage while the enemy's attention was distracted by the night attack. They reported what they saw in time so that he could understand the enemy's situation in detail.
Therefore, even when he learned that the ambushing troops had already converged and completely crushed the enemy's resistance, he did not feel excited. On the contrary, he felt uneasy when he found out that most of the soldiers in Carthage's camps in other regions did not rush over to help after gathering. Instead, they were stationed at the borders of their respective camps.
As expected, the assault troops wanted to drive the defeated soldiers to destroy the neighboring camps and continue to spread the chaos, but their progress was a little slow.
At this moment, another urgent message came: Carthage's central camp had already sent out troops, and they were rushing to the east along the earthen wall.
Leotychides immediately realized that Carthage's people wanted to cut off the Night Raid's way of retreat and surround and annihilate them.
The Diónia soldiers who participated in the night attack were the main forces under Leotychides's command. She had been standing at the top of the city wall, observing the progress of the battle, in order to prevent such a thing from happening.
"Wu! Wu! Wu! The buglers who had been standing at the top of the city walls for a long time immediately blew the bugles for retreat.
Before they set off, the assaulting soldiers, who had been repeatedly warned by their commander, heard the horn sound. They reminded each other to stop chasing after the routed soldiers …
Before they retreated, they did one last thing, which was to burn down the camp.
… …
The reinforcements led by Margo had not arrived yet. The news that the Diónia people had retreated back to the city was indeed beyond his expectation. In his opinion, after the Diónia people succeeded in the night attack, they would definitely take advantage of the victory to chase after the routed soldiers and expand the victory. This would give him time to surround them. However, the calmness and decisiveness of the Diónia people made his plan fail, and the reinforcements that came in a hurry had to become a firefighting team.
As the vanguard, the Lusitarians chased after the routed soldiers unwillingly, but they were attacked by the long-range attacks of the well-prepared defenders at the top of the city wall. After paying some casualties, they had to retreat resentfully.
In this night attack, the Diónia people only suffered more than 400 casualties, but it caused nearly 4,000 deaths and injuries in the Carthage army, half of which were caused by the Carthage soldiers pushing and trampling each other as they fled at night. At the same time, 1/3 of the eastern barracks area was burned to the ground. The Carthage army could be said to have suffered heavy losses.
After Margo returned to the main tent, he couldn't sleep. He was still brooding over this failure. The tenacious fighting spirit and tactical flexibility of the Diónia people, who were far inferior to him, shocked him. It also made him realize that the huge force numbed him and made his reaction to the battle slow.
After learning from the painful experience, the next day he used this reason to forcefully dismiss most of the Carthage generals. He let the senior team officers who had followed him in the Iberian Peninsula for many years take over the Carthage army and began to reorganize and train them.
At the same time, he suspended the construction of the earth wall and stepped up the repair of the simple camp.
Of course, the fire last night caused the Carthage people to lose a lot of supplies. Margo also sent a messenger to inform the governor of Lili, Imisere, to send a batch of supplies to the camp.
There was no shortage of supplies in the city of Lili for the time being, but there was a lack of manpower, so they had to temporarily recruit labor from the port.
When the transport team was about to arrive at the Carthage camp, there was an accident: a laborer from the port, on the excuse of stomach discomfort, left the transport team and tried to escape from the team. Halfway through, he was discovered by the patrolling cavalry. Under their pursuit, the laborer jumped off the cliff and fell into the sea.
For the Carthage people, this was a trivial matter, and no one mentioned it after the transport team arrived at the camp.
… …
These two days, Miltias' uneasy mood improved a little, because the Sicilian fleet had made a great effort in the night attack the night before. Not only did they win a big victory, but they also suffered light casualties. He believed that the Ministry of Military Affairs would be less dissatisfied with him after receiving the news of this victory.
After breakfast, he prepared to go to the dock and command the fleet to leave the port and cruise the waters west of Sicily.
Although the Carthage army had landed in Sicily, to support such a large army, it was not enough to rely on the help of the Carthage allies in the west of Sicily. More supplies needed to be continuously transported from the Afrika continent across the sea. This required the Sicilian fleet to cut off the shipping route between Carthage and Sicily. As time passed, the Carthage army would fall into a predicament of insufficient supplies, so Miltias did not dare to slack off any longer.
But before he could leave the house, the courtyard door was suddenly pushed open, and a guard rushed in. "General, good news! Lord Sykerian … is still alive! He … he's back! "
Miltias was shocked. Looking at the excited guard, he asked subconsciously, "Who did you say is alive?!"
"Miltias, with the blessing of Hades, of course I'm still alive!" Along with this familiar voice, a familiar figure appeared at the door.
"Ah … Lord Sykerian!" Miltias hurriedly gave a military salute.
At this time, Sykerian's face was thin, and he looked exhausted. He was tightly wrapped in a red cloak. He said urgently, "Hurry up and get me something to eat. I'm starving to death."
"Inform the kitchen to reheat the oatmeal and bread, and fry a few fish …" Miltias hurriedly ordered the guard.
"Reheat what? Just bring the bread and oatmeal over. I'll fill my stomach first," Sykerian said impatiently. Then, he turned around and said to the fleet soldiers who had accompanied him here, "Brothers, hurry back to carry out your mission. You'll be punished if you delay. After I've rested, I'll have a good chat with you."
The large group of sailors who were crowding outside the door listened to Sequerian's persuasion. They reluctantly left the house and returned to the dock. The news that "Sequerian had returned alive" quickly spread throughout the fleet. Every crew member was excited because the navy commander and hero that they thought was dead had returned. This was simply a miracle!
Looking at Sykerian wolfing down his breakfast, Miltias's words were stuck in his throat. Sykerian burped and stopped eating. He placed his hands on the wooden table and stared blankly at the clay pot filled with oatmeal. After a moment, he said in a low voice, "On the way here, my brothers told me … Flarios died in battle, and the entire Sicilian fleet was destroyed by the storm. Many of our brothers drowned …"
Miltias watched Sykerian's body slowly lean forward as if he was going to collapse on the wooden table. Just as he was about to speak, a loud bang was heard. Sykerian slammed his right hand on the wooden table, almost knocking over the clay pot. He straightened his back. "However, we still have a few dozen warships that survived, while the Carthage fleet was completely annihilated. We also seized the opportunity to occupy Serinus, so the Sicilian fleet won the naval battle!"
Confidence and disdain returned to Sykerian's face. Of course, Miltias wouldn't argue with him about whether it was right or wrong to fight the Carthage fleet on a stormy day. Instead, he took the opportunity to raise the doubts in his heart. "My lord, we've been looking for you all this time, but we couldn't find you. Where did you go?"
"I'm in Lili," Sykerian replied calmly.
"You … You were captured by the Carthage fleet?!" Miltias was shocked. Why didn't the Carthage fleet mention this when they came to exchange captives?!
"Of course not." Sykerian recalled painfully. "After the storm, I woke up to find myself lying on the beach, surrounded by drowned and unconscious sailors. I wanted to save them, but I saw the Carthage fleet rushing to the beach. I didn't want to be captured by them, so I swam back into the sea … But I was tired and hungry.
But at that time, I was tired and hungry. Not long after I swam, I felt weak. Coincidentally, there were a few slow-moving Carthaginian ships searching for survivors of the shipwreck nearby … I had no choice but to dive into the water. Under the cover of the darkness of the night, when the Carthaginians weren't paying attention, I grabbed the side of a large ship that was about to return. As a result, I was brought into the port of Lili.
I was able to make my way quietly to the quay because of the storm and the shipwreck, and, with the help of my Greek compatriots in the harbor, I was able to lie in wait at Lillebo.... I have since come to think that the beach on which I was lying may have been between Mazara and Lillebo....
As the people of Lili were worried about being attacked by our army, the city was heavily guarded, and it was difficult for me to go out. If it wasn't for the fact that the Carthage fleet needed us to transport their supplies, I'm afraid I would still be waiting in Lili for an opportunity. But … "
Comments