Chapter 945
The Roman soldiers who had been quiet all this while began to cheer, accompanied by the curses of the Roman noble soldiers. The Roman nobles still believed that the defeat of Rome was inseparable from the surrender of Rome's civilian soldiers to Diónia and their rebellion against them. As the leader of Rome's civilian soldiers, Sextus was naturally the biggest traitor.
Sextus turned a deaf ear to the curses. He signaled the ten Roman soldiers behind him to get ready. He then took a deep breath and led them to sing loudly, "O River Tiber, you are the mother of the Romans. You have held Rome in your arms for hundreds of years, and you have selflessly given us the sweetness of love …"
Márquez was stunned when he heard the familiar song. He subconsciously hummed along, but his eyes slowly turned red …
"O River Tiber" was an old song that the Romans could sing since they were young. However, when it rang out at this time and place, it brought a different kind of bitterness to the Roman noble soldiers who were about to leave Rome to live in a foreign land.
The curses became softer, but the song became louder. The mellow and lyrical song echoed in the wilderness, mixed with the faint sound of sobbing …
"Look, the swollen river is roaring, the lone wolf is howling on the Capitoline Mountain, the Romans are plowing the land touched by the River Tiber, hard but happy …" Márquez sang emotionally. Suddenly, he saw the Diónia soldiers around him clapping their hands and humming along.
"It's a beautiful song, isn't it?" The captain raised his glass and smiled at him in a friendly manner.
The Diónia soldiers around each campfire raised their glasses to the Roman soldiers …
That night, the soldiers drank and danced to their heart's content, venting their anxiety, sadness, fear, boredom, and other negative emotions from the previous war.
… …
The next morning, the senior generals led by Amyntas and Matonis gathered in the military conference room of the Triene naval base.
"Matonis, didn't you sleep last night?" The Devers frowned as he looked at the Second Legion Commander who was slumped on the wooden chair.
"… Your Majesty." Matonis hurriedly propped himself up and yawned. "Last night, Amyntas forced me to drink with him. The bonfire party was already over, but he didn't stop … I was completely drunk. I didn't even know when I returned to the campsite …"
Hearing Matonis' tactful rebuke, Amyntas glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. Puffing out his chest, he said proudly, "Brat, now you know who's old, right?"
"Who was it that I threw to the ground yesterday?" Matonis retorted.
"Alright, haven't you two had enough? Do you want me to give you a few more cans of wine for you to drink to your heart's content? "The Devers's expression darkened. The two immediately quieted down, but their eyes were still glaring at each other.
"Last night, you two led the soldiers to have fun to your heart's content. Don't forget to thank Midolades. He arranged for the fleet infantrymen to maintain the order of the banquet and stand guard for the drunk soldiers to prevent any accidents …" The Devers said solemnly. Although he only dared to hold such a large-scale bonfire party because the entire army was located in the hinterland of the kingdom, there were still some safety issues that needed to be considered. For example, if the soldiers let down their guard after the fun, would the surrendered nobles of Rome take the opportunity to make things difficult for them … Therefore, he ordered thousands of fleet infantrymen to be on standby and monitor the situation at the campsite so that they could pass the night peacefully. This also gave him more confidence in commanding these nobles of Rome.
"Your Majesty, it's the responsibility of the 3rd Fleet to station the troops here and take care of the safety," Midolades said humbly.
The Devers nodded slightly, took out a letter, and asked Heniboris to pass it to him.
The Midolades opened it, and his eyes widened. "The Carthage will send a new fleet of nearly 200 warships to protect Sardinia?!"
The other generals were shocked when they heard this, and they rushed to pass the secret letter to each other.
"What? Are you afraid? "the Devers said calmly.
The Midolades smiled and said excitedly, "Your Majesty, this is great! The 3rd Fleet can finally fight a real naval battle! "
The Devers looked at him and asked seriously, "The Carthage have nearly 200 warships, and the 3rd Fleet only has 150. Are you confident in defeating them?"
"Of course!" The Midolades replied without hesitation, "Although the Carthage have many warships, they are still using traditional naval tactics. Many naval battles in the past have shown that our naval tactics have a great advantage. Moreover, the Carthage has formed a new fleet so quickly, and they haven't even gone through a period of running-in before they were hurriedly sent to the battlefield. When it comes to a real battle, whether their warships can cooperate well with each other is a problem.
Also … according to tradition, the newly built warships need to go through a period of sea trials and repairs before their quality can be guaranteed. The new warships of the Carthage have obviously not gone through strict tests, and problems are likely to occur in intense battles … "
After hearing this, the Devers turned to ask Tormid, "How's the situation with our newly built warships?"
"Two days ago, the Ministry of Military Affairs sent a message saying that '26 warships have been built in Turií, 23 in Tarantum, 20 in Brindisi, 15 in Crotone, 17 in Triene …' So far, the kingdom has built 213 three-deck oar warships and is undergoing sea tests. According to the normal procedures, they will be put into use by the end of this month. After introducing the situation of the new warships smoothly, Tormid asked, "Your Majesty, do we need to put these warships into service in advance?"
The Devers shook his head. "No, just follow the normal procedures. However, when these warships are put into service, allocate 50 of them to the 3rd Fleet first. "
When the Midolades heard this, he was overjoyed. "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The Devers knocked on the table with his hand and said seriously, "Carthage sent this new fleet to Sardinia instead of Sicily, which shows how important Sardinia is to them. What's more, the appearance of such a fleet in the waters of Sardinia is a great threat to the Latin region that we have just conquered and to the entire west coast of our kingdom! So, Midolades, your task now is to find it and destroy it! Then continue to attack the coast of Sardinia and cut off the connection between Sardinia and Carthage! "
"Your Majesty, the 3rd Fleet will definitely complete the task you have given us!" Midolades replied resolutely.
"But before that, the 3rd Fleet must first escort the army to land in Sicily." The Devers' eyes swept across the generals in the room and slowly said, "Along with this news about the new Carthage fleet, there is also a battle report from Sicily … The Carthage have captured Agillion."
Agillion has been captured?! The generals were all surprised. During their stay in the Saturnicum camp, they had a detailed understanding of the battlefield situation in Sicily, considering that they would soon be fighting south. They knew that Carthage's army had been blocked at Paragonia and Hena, unable to advance an inch. But now that they were about to land in Sicily, the situation suddenly changed.
"What is Prosos doing?! How can he abandon Agillion so easily?! If Carthage's people occupy it, they can break into the Aetna region. Not only will Katanai be threatened, but Naxos will also be threatened! " Amyntas said angrily.
"Prosos, as the commander of Sicily, not only was he able to defeat Carthage's first army, but he also defeated Serinus and disturbed the enemies in the west of Sicily. After that, he faced the sudden attack of the 100,000 Carthage army led by Margo and the people of Syracuse. With such a huge difference in strength, he was still able to resist the attack of Carthage's people, ensure the safety of the main cities in Sicily, and buy time for us to land in Sicily. It's already not easy for Prosos to do all this with just the military forces of Sicily. We shouldn't be too harsh on him, "the Devers said softly. His generous praise for Prosos (Leotychides) made Amyntas feel a little awkward.
Although there were some generals who were not convinced, they remained silent at the moment.
"Your Majesty, the loss of Agillion won't affect us much." Printos had always sat in the corner during military meetings in the past, but his glorious achievements in Latin had raised his status significantly. Not only did he sit beside the large wooden table with a map engraved on it, but he was also not far from the Devers. He also took the initiative to speak, "Looking at this map, we can see that the capture of Agillion by Carthage's people doesn't have much of an impact on our territory in Sicily. This is a mountainous area, so it's difficult to transport food. Even if Carthage's people enter Aetna through Agillion, as long as Naxos and Katanai defend the cities, their attack won't last long. Moreover, Hena and Hebita are still a threat to their rear. "
"Printos, don't forget about the people of Sikeres." Tormid finally found an opportunity to refute his colleague, "Although Agillion hasn't been annexed by the kingdom, it used to be the center of the people of Sikeres. It's very important to them. Now that it has fallen into the hands of Carthage, I'm afraid that the Sikeres in the east will lose their confidence in us."
"Didn't you say that the Sikeres in the east have always been close to us and are almost annexed by the kingdom? They wouldn't surrender to Carthage so easily, would they? "Olivers objected.
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