Chapter 915
"Once the meeting is over, I'll send someone to do it," Cypross agreed without hesitation, and Cypross thanked him profusely.
Cypross looked at Leotychides and said in a low voice, "We don't have to worry too much about the problems at sea, but on land, how are we going to deal with Carthage's army?"
Without hesitation, Leotychides pointed at the map on the table and slowly explained the plan that he had long thought of. "Now that Carthage and Syracuse have colluded, all the friendly city-states on the south coast have been occupied by them. It won't be long before Carthage's army converges at the southeast corner and attack our southern border, as well as our two allies, Leontini and Taunis.
This time, Carthage hasn't made any moves to attack the north coast, and I think they won't attack the north coast for the time being. Doing so will disperse their forces, and the north coast's terrain is narrow, which is not conducive to the deployment of their forces. Although the city-states there are smaller than those on the south coast, it will take a lot of time for Carthage to conquer them one by one. As long as we have enough forces in Millais, we can keep Carthage out of our territory for a long time. What I'm most worried about is the central part of Sicily — "
Leotychides pointed at the icon of Enna on the map with his right hand and said in a low voice, "There are many races in Carthage's army who are good at fighting in the mountains, and with the Tanik tribe who are familiar with the terrain leading the way, the Sikells are no match for them at all. So, they have occupied Kafaloytian, and now they are besieging Enna. I've decided not to reinforce Enna, but to retreat with the Sikells who are willing to follow us —"
"You're giving up on Enna?!" Cypross was shocked, and solemnly reminded him, "More than half of the Sikells have gathered there, and I'm afraid most of them are unwilling to leave their homes."
Cypross's words were tactful, but in fact, he knew very well that once the Dionysian Army stopped reinforcing Enna, the Sikells there would probably all fall to Carthage's side under the threat of Carthage's army. This was because the measures Diónia had taken against the Sikells for the past ten years were different from the measures it took against the Samonese.
As for the Samonese, on the surface, Diónia maintained an alliance with this mountainous race, but in fact, through trade, culture, and even religion, they had drawn and assimilated the Samonese tribes, especially in the Abenilum and Naconia regions. That was why the Samonese tribal alliance and the High Priests panicked and finally took the initiative to start a war. This was in fact what the Devers hoped for, because the expansion to the north was the strategic focus of the Kingdom of Diónia.
As for the Kingdom of Diónia's Carthage to the south, according to the Devers' original strategic plan, Diónia did not want to become enemies with the Kingdom of Carthage before they occupied the entire Italian peninsula. Therefore, "maintaining peace with Carthage" became the top priority of the Kingdom of Carthage. Therefore, the Kingdom of Carthage signed two peace treaties with Carthage. Hence, even though the Sikells had formed an alliance with Dionia, Dionia's Sicily territory still used trade to rope in the Sikells due to the attitude of the Carthaginians. This was to avoid provoking the Sikells and causing a conflict, which would then give the Carthaginians an excuse to attack the Carthaginians.
However, after the rebellion of the Tanik tribe was quelled, the fact that the Kingdom of Carthage was secretly supporting the Tanik tribe was exposed. The Devers then changed their approach and began to strengthen their control over the Sikells. They directly annexed the two towns of Hena and Hebita to the Kingdom of Diónia, thus splitting the Sikell region into two. As the eastern region, which was dominated by Agilion and Kentrippa, was adjacent to the Kingdom of Sicily, it became a region that Diónia focused on drawing in and assimilating. Most of the tribes in this region had close and friendly relations with Diónia. On the other hand, a portion of the Sikells in the western region, led by Enna and Kefaloition, had less contact with Diónia. Some of the tribes were punished by Diónia for participating in the rebellion of the Tanik tribe. There were also a few tribes that voluntarily migrated to Enna from the eastern region in the past two years. This was because their leaders could not stand the increasing control of the eastern region by Diónia.
Diónia did not ignore the western region of the Sikells. Instead, it used its position as the leader of the alliance to coordinate and resolve conflicts between the tribes. It used trade and aid to restrain the tribes, and when war broke out, it used the tribes' warriors to control them. Previously, the Sikells that assisted the Eighth Legion and participated in the war were mainly from the tribes in the western region.
It was obvious that Diónia adopted a gradual approach. They first focused on assimilating and absorbing the Sikells in the eastern region before turning to the western region. However, they did not expect the war with Carthage to break out so soon after a few years. The assimilation of the eastern region had just begun.
"I agree with Lord Prososus. The decision to abandon Enna is the right one." Brereu stood up and looked at the map. "Look, Enna is in the center of Sicily. It's closer to Kefaloition, but further away from our sphere of influence. After Carthage's people occupied Kefaloition, Agrigento, and Jaira, this town became too prominent. It's already surrounded by Carthage's people.
If we send less reinforcements, it won't be of any use. Enna will still be easily taken by Carthage's people. And if we send more reinforcements, it will weaken the defenses in other places. Carthage's people can bypass Enna and attack other defenseless towns. For example, they can send troops north from Jaira and attack Henna directly. So, we should be more straightforward. Withdraw all the troops and tighten our fists! "Brereu finished and looked at Leotychides.
Leotychides did not look at him. Instead, he said to Cyprosus, "The next battle will be very fierce. It concerns the safety of Sicily. Any small mistake will lead to a major failure. Now that Carthage's people have the upper hand, I have doubts about whether the Sikells in the western region are still loyal to the kingdom. If they suddenly rebel when we support Enna — "
Cyprosus was silent for a moment. He sighed. "Alright, I agree with you. Abandon Enna and retreat to the eastern region with the tribes that are willing to follow us. So, what's next? "
Leotychides then said to Brereu, "Lord Brereu, your 7th Legion will be responsible for defending the southern line of defense. What do you think?"
"You mean the line from Paragonia to Taunis?" Brereu could say this so quickly because his legion happened to be stationed in the new barracks near Lake Leotini to the north of Leotini, so he had some understanding of the area.
"Yes." Leotychides nodded and continued. "The 8th Legion will be stationed in Agilion and will be responsible for defending the western line of defense from Henna to Herbita."
Brereu carefully looked at the map again and found that the western region was basically filled with Sikells' towns and settlements. He immediately thought: I've just arrived, I'm completely unfamiliar with the Sikells, and I have no prestige among them, so it'll be difficult to intimidate them. If something goes wrong … The southern line of defense is basically within the Catania Plains, and the two allies are both Greek city-states that have been dependent on Diónia for more than a decade, so it'll be more convenient for us to fight.
He pretended to ponder, then said, "I basically agree with your defense plan, Lord Prososus. But from the current situation, the southern line of defense may become the focus of Carthage's attack. The 7th Legion only has a little more than 8,000 people, so it's a little insufficient."
"Not only the southern line of defense, but the two towns of Henna and Agilion may also become the focus of Carthage's attack." Leotychides pointed at the map and said, "The entire territory of Sicily can still deploy at least 20,000 more citizens to fight. If there's too much loss, we can immediately replenish them."
"Let me remind you," Cypross interrupted, "It'll be the autumn harvest in a dozen days! I hope that you will not recruit any more citizens before this, so as to ensure that there is enough labor in the territory to complete the harvesting of the farmland in the shortest time possible, so that we will have enough rations for the future battles. "
"I don't think we'll recruit any more soldiers in the short term. If Carthage wants to attack us, I think it'll be at least ten days later. We can definitely use our current troops to hold out until the autumn harvest, but we have to be careful of Carthage's cavalry entering the Catania Plains and causing damage to our farms and villages …"
When Leotychides finished, Brereu said seriously, "I have no more questions. The 7th Legion will hold the southern line of defense!"
"I have a question," Secorian said loudly, "What's going on with Syracuse? Is it confirmed that they're colluding with Carthage and participating in the war against Diónia? "
"Syracuse is indeed in contact with Carthage, but we can't be sure if they're going to declare war against Diónia," Cypross said solemnly. "I've sent messengers to the council of Syracuse to question them, and from the reply of their chief general, Teagenis, I can tell that Syracuse wants to take advantage of the war between us and Carthage to gain benefits for themselves, but they don't want to completely fall out with us and become Carthage's accomplices for the time being. So, it's best that we don't provoke Syracuse. We just need to be on guard against them, and focus on defending against Carthage first."
Leotychides and Brereu both nodded in agreement. This was the safest course of action.
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