Chapter 902
Pomilka was taken aback and asked, "Aren't we going to take Serinus first?"
Margo blushed slightly, but he still said seriously, "After this period of siege, I believe you also know that Serinus is not only strongly defended, but the main force of Diónia is also in Serinus. Their morale is very good. Even if our soldiers far outnumber them, it will take us more time to take the city, and time is very important to me!"
Pomilka then remembered the promise made by Margo in the Senate. He no longer hesitated and immediately expressed his willingness to go to war.
Margo smiled and said generously, "You will lead 10,000 Carthaginian militias, 15,000 Phoenician militias, and 25,000 Numibian soldiers, a total of 50,000 people. This is 10,000 more than when Montt Adeno attacked Minoa! I hope you will lead the army to Minoa tomorrow, and don't make the same mistake as Montt Adeno. Take Minoa as soon as possible! "
Pomilka was not excited about leading such a large army. Instead, he asked with concern, "Lord Margo, according to this arrangement, you will not have many soldiers left with you. What if the Diónia in the city attack again?"
Pomilka did not say anything more, but he had already expressed his concern. In his opinion, if he left according to Margo's proposal, Margo would only have less than 20,000 troops brought from Iberia. This multi-ethnic army seemed to be very effective, but it was not easy to manage and lacked loyalty. There were also nearly 10,000 militia formed by the western Sicilian allies. These Sicilians lacked training and were more suitable for carrying supplies, building camps, and other chores rather than fighting. The remaining nearly 10,000 Numibian soldiers were the soldiers of the camp that had been attacked at night. Obviously, the attack of Diónia had frightened these dark-skinned Numibians. In order not to let their panic affect the morale of the other troops, Margo had specially separated them. These days, they had been busy training, and even prepared to be sent to Lili to replace the garrison there.
However, Margo was not worried about this. He said confidently, "If the people of Diónia act as you said, that's exactly what I want."
Pomilka did not try to persuade him further. He accepted the order. In fact, even if he didn't accept it, Magund would force him to accept it. This was because he had forcibly replaced a lot of Carthage's generals and replaced them with officers of the Iberian army that he trusted. Not only did this make the soldiers of the army formed by Carthage feel very uneasy, when the news reached Carthage, it also caused criticism in the Senate. The Hanoverian party even attacked his approach, claiming that he was doing this to turn the entire army into the private army of the Magund family, so that it would be convenient for him to dictate.
Margo asked the neutral elder, Pomilka, to temporarily take over Carthage's army, both to appease the soldiers and to reassure the elders.
… …
The next day, Pomilka led the army out of the camp and marched eastward along the coast.
Margo did not hide this military action, so the large-scale mobilization of Carthage's people in the barracks was clearly seen by Leotychides on top of the city wall. He was a little anxious because he could guess why the Carthage army left. It was not that he had not considered taking this opportunity to lead the whole army out of the city to attack the Carthage army that was still in the camp, but the previous night attack had already sounded the alarm for the Carthage people. Since they still dared to do so, they were obviously prepared.
Leotychides held the only main force of the Kingdom of Diónia in Sicily. In the case of the enemy being outnumbered, he could only take action with a high chance of winning, so he was now anxiously looking forward to the arrival of Catanai's fleet.
… …
Hasdrubal allowed his soldiers to pillage and slaughter the whole of Agrigento, partly to pay tribute to his father, Cimilco, who had once led an army to conquer Agrigento, so that his soldiers could be freed from the hardships of marching and fighting in the mountains, and partly to get enough food.
He had achieved his goal. Agrigento's territory was either mountainous or hilly. Though it was not known for agriculture, it was a famous city of livestock in Sicily. That was why Hasdrubal acquired a large number of livestock, enough to feed an army of twenty thousand for half a month.
So after a day's rest, while Pomilka marched to Minoa, Hasdrubal left 1,000 soldiers in Agrigento and led 16,000 soldiers eastward along the coast. Their target was Gela.
The army had to pass through the city of Econom on their way. Why did Leotychides not send reinforcements to this city, and why did Hasdrubal not set this city as his target? Because it was a small Greek city, only slightly larger than Germe. The low walls could only be used to stop wild beasts, not enemies. So Leotychides did not have high hopes for it, and Hasdrubal did not see it as a hindrance. (Note: In history, the tyrant of Agrigento built a new city on the cape of Econom a hundred years later. A few decades later, during the First Punic War, the largest naval battle in ancient Western history took place near this cape. Carthage and Rome sent in 680 warships, carrying about 290,000 sailors and soldiers. In the end, Rome won.)
Sure enough, when Hasdrubal arrived with his army, the residents of Econom had already fled, leaving only an empty city. Carthage's army successfully moved in.
After a night's rest, the army marched eastward the next day, and entered the territory of Gela at noon.
Gela had a long history. It was only four or five years after the founding of Syracuse. It was founded by colonists from Rhodes and Crete, and named after the Gela River in their territory.
The Gela River washed down a large amount of soil from the mountains, forming a fertile river plain in Gela's territory. After decades of successful transformation of the river and swamp, Gela became prosperous. At that time, Agrigento had just been founded, and Syracuse was still limited to Ortygia. So a hundred years ago, Hippocrates, the tyrant of Gela, and his successor Dillon, launched a war of conquest to the east. In the end, from Messina to Kamalina and other Greek colonial cities in eastern Sicily surrendered to Gela. Dillon had his eyes on the geographical location of Syracuse, and moved there. He let his brother Hillon take over Gela, and moved half of the population of Hillon, where he was born, to Syracuse. Thus, the start of Syracuse's prosperity. After Dillon's death, Hillon moved to Syracuse. Since then, the tyrants of Gela had abandoned their original cities and made Syracuse their own center of governance. Gela, which used to be the most powerful Greek city-state in Sicily, began to decline. However, at that time, Gela had established a close relationship with Syracuse.
The first conflict between Gela and Syracuse occurred more than 20 years ago. On the way to attack Syracuse, Carthage's commander, Himilco, first occupied Agrigento, and then surrounded Gela. Dionysius promised to send reinforcements, but in the end, the reinforcements did not arrive, and Gela was occupied. The conflict deepened after the Gela people returned to their homeland. Syracuse had become the overlord of the Greek city-states in Sicily. Dionysius exploited and oppressed the people of his allies, including Gela. The people of Gela were very dissatisfied with him, but they could only obey him because they were afraid of his powerful force.
It was not until Diónia defeated Syracuse that the Gela people were grateful to Diónia, but at the same time, they were wary of outsiders who entered Sicily. After ten years of friendly relations between Diónia and the surrounding city-states, the Gela people finally let down their guard. In this war between Diónia and Carthage, Gela actively provided material assistance and sent troops to participate in the war.
Now, Carthage's army had reached the city. This not only made the Gela people nervous, but it also shocked Syracuse and Katanai. After all, compared to the series of battles that happened in the west, Gela was much closer to them, so it could attract more people's attention.
… …
"Commander, Calsidis is here," Mukelu reported to Leotychides.
"Invite him in."
A middle-aged officer wearing a purple helmet strode into the hall of the governor's mansion.
His name was Calsidis, and he was born in Katanai. After Dionysius conquered Katanai, he became a refugee and fled to a settlement in the mountains for a while. Later, he quietly returned to Port Katanai and sold his labor for a living. He was not afraid of violence, helped the weak, and handled matters fairly. Therefore, he had a high reputation among the refugees and freedmen in Port Katanai. During the war in Southern Italy, Andraporis hid in Port Katanai and received great help from him. Later, when Katanai caused a riot, the freedmen he led were also one of the main forces. After Katanai successfully recovered, he also led his troops to help the First Legion chase after Masias's defeated army.
However, after the war ended and Katanai was incorporated into the Kingdom of Diónia, this hero in the hearts of the Gela people refused to become a royal official or a member of the city council. Instead, he volunteered to be a Protector. Every year, he was elected by the Gela people to participate in the Kingdom's Protector Conference because of his outstanding performance. At the same time, he was also the captain of the First Brigade of the Eighth Legion, and was highly regarded by Leotychides.
"Commander, Calsidis reporting for duty!" Calsidis gave a powerful military salute.
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