Chapter 965
Only the surviving Carthage sailors from the Carthage flagship were not chased into the sea. They were evenly distributed to the decks of the various warships. The sailors who had been captured by the Carthage and were lucky enough to survive were armed with wooden sticks and whips, returning all the humiliation they had suffered to the enemy.
Only two captives, Ademica and the boatswain of the Carthage flagship, were left on the flagship.
Midolades had the captive captain's men stab the boatswain to death with a spear, avenging the death of his captain.
When Midolades turned his gaze to Ademica, the former commander of the Iberian Fleet, a member of the Magonid Family, looked haggard but calm. "Do it."
Midolades smiled. "You are the biggest prize of this naval battle. How can I let you die so easily?"
As he spoke, he had his men take a helmet and had the crew pee in it. Then, he brought it to Ademica and said coldly, "Either drink the urine in it, or cut off the thing you pee on. Make your choice."
Ademica's expression finally changed drastically.
… …
In that day's naval battle, the new Carthage fleet lost a total of 70 warships and nearly 13000 crew members. The third Diónia fleet lost 56 warships, and seven warships suffered varying degrees of damage. They did not capture a single enemy ship.
After Annobus fled back to the port of Saros, he was busy reorganizing the warships that had fled back. He did not lead the fleet to rescue Ademica again. This was mainly because he was mainly responsible for the failure of this plan. For a moment, he did not know how to face this Iberian Navy admiral who seemed to be his subordinate but was actually his competitor. Thus, he decided to just not see him, not worry about him.
Unexpectedly, at night, news suddenly came: the Diónia had defeated the fleet led by Ademica, and even Ademica himself had been captured.
Annobus was shocked. The news he had received before was that the Dionysian fleet had already returned north to Alenia. He did not expect that these terrifying Diónia people would dare to return and fight Ademica's fleet!
Previously, he could still blame the storm for the destruction of the fleet, but this time, he had to face the fearsome fighting strength and high morale of the Diónia Navy.
In the next few days, the remnants of Carthage's new fleet hid in the port and refused to fight no matter how the Dionysian fleet provoked them.
The route from Sardinia to Carthage was cut off again.
… …
The army led by the Devers left Gela and marched westward along the coastline. They camped in Econum and Agrigento. Both towns were destroyed by Carthage. The Devers left enough time for the soldiers to build camps, but Carthage's army never showed up.
On the fourth day, the army arrived at Minoa. The city built on a hill was even more severely damaged.
"Your Majesty, it seems that we can only build our camp on the flat land across the river," Tormid suggested.
The Devers stood on the hill and looked down at the lowlands to the west. Although the fields had been harvested, they could still see a golden field.
He asked, "Is this the battlefield where Prososus led his army to defeat Carthage's people?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Tormid pointed to the north. "It is said that Commander Prososus's camp was built there."
The Devers turned and looked for a while, then turned to the front and asked, "How far is Serinus City from here?"
"About a hundred miles," Tormid replied.
The Devers thought for a moment and ordered, "We will camp on the hill. Inform the engineers to quickly survey the terrain and have the troops march faster. Hurry up the hill and clear Minoa City …"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Although Tormid slightly disagreed with the Devers' cautiousness, he knew that the Devers had made up his mind, so he did not raise any objections.
Just as they were about to return to the destroyed Minoa City, a group of Diónia scouts galloped over from the flat land to the west. They crossed the Pletani River and rushed to the foot of the hill. They shouted urgently, "Report! Carthage's cavalry is here! There are many of them! "
A soldier reported immediately after hearing it. Everyone was shocked when they heard it.
The Devers pondered and said, "It seems that Carthage's people finally couldn't help it."
"Your Majesty, I will inform the troops who have already gone up the hill to prepare for defense immediately."
The Devers nodded. Tormid turned and left.
The Devers looked around, then pointed to a large section of the western wall of Minoa City that was still standing in front of them. He said, "Let's go up to the city to check on the enemy."
The chief of the palace guards, Martius, immediately dissuaded him. "Your Majesty, Minoa City is seriously damaged. I'm afraid that the wall is not strong enough. It could be dangerous."
"Send someone to confirm it." The Devers did not give up.
Martius had to send a group of guards up the wall to investigate. After a while, they reported, "That section of the wall is still relatively strong."
The Devers immediately walked to the wall. The others could only follow.
Standing on the wall and looking to the west, the view was wider.
The Carthage cavalry came quickly. They poured into the flat lowlands like a tide. The vanguard had already galloped to the other side of the Pletani River.
"Carthage has so many cavalry. I think there are at least 5,000 of them!" Heniboris, who was next to him, exclaimed.
"To be precise, those should be foreign cavalry recruited by Carthage. I'm afraid the real Carthage cavalry only accounts for a small part of them." Dyvers widened his eyes and pointed at the Carthaginian cavalry that was shrouded in dust at the foot of the mountain. He said in a serious tone, "Look, those cavalries that are poorly equipped but have the largest number should be the Numibians. They are good at throwing javelins. And over there … those cavalries with leather helmets and long swords should be the Iberians. As for the Carthaginian cavalry … Oh, I finally found them. There, they are wearing shiny armor. I heard that Margo also hired some cavalries from Mauritania. But the Mauritanian cavalry and the Numibian cavalry are wearing similar clothes, so it's hard to tell them apart …" Dyvers said as if he was counting his family treasures.
"From the looks of it, the Carthaginian cavalry is a patchwork. Although our cavalry army is smaller in number, we shouldn't lose to them, right?" Heniboris, who didn't know much about military affairs, was very confident in the kingdom's army.
The Devers was silent for a moment before saying frankly, "In terms of cavalry, we are weaker than the Carthage people."
In the previous battle, several cavalry legions had suffered varying degrees of loss of soldiers, and they had not been well replenished after that. After all, cavalry was different from infantry. It was too costly and not easy to cultivate. However, even if the four cavalry legions of Diónia were fully formed and gathered together, the Devers did not think that they would be able to defeat the enemy cavalry at the foot of the mountain. For cavalry to win, they mainly relied on horsemanship, numbers, and training. In terms of training, the Diónia cavalry was naturally better than their opponents, but in the other two aspects, Diónia did not have the advantage.
When Heniboris heard this, he suddenly choked. After a moment, he comforted, "It's nothing. Our Dionysian Army mainly relies on the infantry legion, and they are much stronger than the Carthage."
At this time, Printos, who was also watching the enemy's situation, said in a deep voice, "The Carthage infantry is here too."
The Devers did not speak, but stared intently at the battlefield. In the distance, teams of Carthage infantry entered the lowland plains from the west in an endless stream. The originally empty field was being filled by the Carthage army …
The Devers put their hands on the cracked battlements and said thoughtfully, "It seems that Brother Mara is really ready to fight us here."
When Heniboris heard this, he blinked and asked curiously, "Here? We are on the mountain, and they are at the foot of the mountain? This is not a good choice. Why don't they wait for us to march to the lowland at the foot of the mountain before they fight? "
The Devers did not answer, but looked at Printos.
Printos understood that this was a test from the King of Devers. He thought for a moment and said, "If the Carthage people let us enter the lowland below, we can send troops to block the coast road to the west, and it will be easy to organize a defense. It will be more troublesome for the Carthage people to attack, and their superior forces will not be able to spread out."
"Then why don't the Carthage people just occupy Minoa City? In this way, they will have the advantage of defense, and our army will be in trouble. "Facing Printos, Heniboris' question was more direct and bold.
Printos' answer was also very quick. "If that is the case, I think Your Majesty will not march to Minoa at all, but will return to Agrigento, or even Gela. In this way, the Carthage people will be anxious. I think the reason why they abandoned these towns on the south coast and retreated to the west is to lure our army to attack the west. This will not only make it convenient for them to fight, but also convenient for their food supply … "
Heniboris suddenly realized and said, "The Carthage people chose this place as the battlefield because they think we and they can accept it?"
The Devers smiled faintly and said, "I heard that Brother Mara is a decisive and determined person, but not meticulous and patient enough. It is rare that he is so thoughtful and considerate of our feelings!"
"Your Majesty, are we going to fight the Carthage here?" Heniboris immediately became excited.
The Devers glanced at the solemn Printos and said softly, "Unfortunately, I am not going to follow the script that Brother Mara has made up."
Heniboris said, "Oh."
At this time, Amyntas, Matonis, Olivers, Trotiras, and several other senior generals rushed to the bottom of the city wall and shouted while panting, "Your Majesty, the First Legion has arrived! … The Second Legion has arrived! … The Legio IV has arrived! … The Legio VI has arrived! … The Rome Reserve Brigade has arrived! … "
Comments