Chapter 967
"Here," Tormid pointed the wooden stick at the icon of a town to the west of Minoa City, "is Serinus City, which has been occupied by us. Currently, 4,000 reserve soldiers from our Sicilian territory are stationed there, and more than 10,000 sailors are assisting in defending the city."
"The Sicilian fleet is preparing to withdraw all sailors from Serinus City to the Catanai Naval Base," Sekerian interrupted him and said seriously. "I have received orders from the Ministry of Military Affairs to send the sailors who have lost their warships to Castellón or Tarantum Naval Base, and prepare to receive the newly built warships …"
Seeing Tormid's stunned expression, Sekerian emphasized, "This morning, I reported this matter to His Majesty."
Devers nodded and explained, "Sekerian did tell me, but because I was busy welcoming Alexis at the port, I didn't have the time to tell you. I agreed to Sekerian's request to withdraw the sailors. Paragonia is a small city with only 3,000 soldiers, but Carthage's army had to besiege it for more than 20 days, suffering many casualties before they could take it down. Serinus City has 4,000 soldiers stationed there, and they can receive reinforcements at any time by sea. Now that Carthage's main army is in a standoff with us, it is impossible for them to gather another army to attack Serinus … Even without the help of the sailors, Serinus City should be safe under such circumstances. "
"Understood, Your Majesty." Tormid glanced at Sekerian and continued, "According to the report from the clippers, Carthage has built a camp outside Serinus City and is besieging it. There are about 10,000 Carthage and Phoenician soldiers stationed there …
"Let's look at the east of Sicily. Carthage's new ally, Syracuse, has previously sent 15,000 soldiers to attack Taunis, but according to our deduction, Syracuse can form an army of more than 20,000 soldiers to fight. Therefore, His Majesty has arranged for Commander Prososus to lead the 7th and 8th Legions, as well as the Sicilian Alliance's army, to directly attack Syracuse City … "
"Your Majesty." Alexis interrupted, "The fleet that transported us stopped at the port of Catanai for a short while. I met with Governor Cypross and Commander Prososus. From them, I learned that the reserve soldiers from the Locri region have already replenished the Seventh Legion. At the same time, the troops from the Alliance of Leotini and Taunis, as well as the citizens of Agrigento, Gela, and Minoa, have also made preparations. According to their estimates, they can gather about 25,000 soldiers to attack Syracuse. I believe that by the time we arrived, Commander Prososus had already led his army towards Syracuse. "
"I didn't expect you to be a messenger for free, Alexis," Devers joked.
Everyone roared with laughter.
"I just introduced the situation of our army and Carthage's army. As for the navy …" As soon as Tormid started, Syracuse stood up and said loudly, "Your Majesty, let me explain the situation of the navy."
Devers looked at him, then nodded at Tormid. Tormid then passed the wooden stick to Syracuse.
Syracuse didn't take it. He pointed at the map and said, "I can't use this thing, because there's only an island drawn on it. There's no ocean, so it's impossible for our warships to stop on land."
There was another burst of laughter in the tent.
Syracuse straightened his chest, looked around at everyone, and said in a clear voice, "Everyone has heard Tormid's explanation. In terms of land, we don't have the advantage in terms of military strength in several directions. Perhaps it's slightly better in the east, but if Prososus wants to lead his army to attack the sturdy city of Syracuse, it will only be more difficult.
"However, in terms of the navy, ever since the storm at sea a few months ago, almost all of Carthage's warships were destroyed. After that, they even secretly invited naval reinforcements from their motherland, Tyre, but they were also defeated by the Sicilian fleet. The few remaining Phoenician warships no longer appeared in the waters around Sicily. They've probably been scared out of their wits.
"Not long ago, Carthage used about 190 newly built warships to form a fleet to guard Sardinia's sea route. His Majesty has already sent the Third Fleet to deal with it. Even if this new Carthage fleet has dozens more warships than the Third Fleet, I firmly believe that the Third Fleet will be able to defeat it in the end and obtain victory!
"In Sicily's waters, other than the 70 warships of our Sicilian fleet, there are also 50 warships of Syracuse. However, they're basically holed up in the port and don't dare to fight us. Now that Prososus is leading his army to attack Syracuse, I believe that Syracuse's warships will soon have no place to stand. There's no need to think about them anymore.
"Our Sicilian fleet has always had the absolute advantage in this area of the sea. That's why we can boldly send ships to transport soldiers and supplies, use warships to attack Carthage's sea route, and transport soldiers to attack the rear of Carthage's army. This is also one of the reasons why Carthage's army retreated from the east. Even though Carthage's newly built warships have been put into service, our warships are also about to enter the battle. Not only will the newly formed Sicilian fleet be able to control Sicily's waters, but it will also increase the pressure on Carthage's navy to achieve His Majesty's goal of threatening Carthage's territorial waters! "
No one raised any objections after Sequerian finished speaking. After all, no one in the tent was more authoritative than Sequerian in terms of the navy.
"Now, everyone has some understanding of the current situation, right?" Devers looked around and said slowly, "Do you have any suggestions on how to fight against Carthage's army?"
As soon as Devers said this, the tent temporarily regained its silence. Many people fell into deep thought.
The leaders of the Sammonae army were still in shock. Previously, the four major tribes of Sammonae united to declare war on Diónia. The 40,000 soldiers that they had painstakingly put together gave the leaders courage. But now, the Kingdom of Diónia had gathered more than 100,000 soldiers to fight against Carthage. This did not include the number of people in the navy. Moreover, it seemed that they still had strength to spare. The strength of Diónia was evident!
At this time, they deeply realized that the Sammonae people's extravagant hope was a mistake from the beginning. It was completely caused by their shallow understanding of the Kingdom of Diónia!
Alexis understood that the reason why Tormid was asked to explain the situation of both sides in detail before the start of the military conference was mainly for those who had just arrived in Sicily and were unfamiliar with the situation. So, he coughed lightly and said, "Your Majesty, with the addition of the 10th Legion, Potentia, and Sammonae reinforcements in Minoa, our military strength and that of Carthage's is already equal. Can we …"
He pointed to the lowlands west of Minoa City with his hand and said, "Can we fight against the Carthage army and defeat their main force first?"
Devers didn't even think about it and shook his head lightly.
"Your Majesty, is it because the Carthage army of Kafaloition north of Minoa will return?" Melisande asked anxiously.
Melisande's question was exactly what Amyntas and Matonis wanted to know. Devers saw their expressions and said in a deep voice, "It's because of the cavalry! In terms of heavy infantry, I think our legion is better than the Carthage army, but in terms of cavalry, not only do they surpass us in number, but they also slightly surpass us in terms of the combat power of the cavalry. You should know that if we fight against the Carthage army on flat ground, such a large number of Carthage cavalry will inevitably become a decisive force that can determine the outcome of the battle. So, we can't take such a huge risk and fight against the Carthage army! "
While Devers was explaining, his mind was thinking about the glorious victories created by Alexander and Hannibal in the history of his previous life. Basically, the final victory or defeat was decided by the cavalry.
Everyone fell into deep thought. Some even looked at the cavalry commander Ledes and Kuzius.
They all remained silent and didn't refute.
Alexis leaned over and looked at the map. When his line of sight moved from Minoa to Kafaloition north of Minoa, he suddenly had an idea. He thought carefully and said, "Your Majesty, since we are at a disadvantage in terms of cavalry, can we start a battle with the Carthage army near Kafaloition? This way, they won't be able to use the advantage of cavalry. We have the Lucanians and Samonai, who are good at fighting in the mountains. The other legions are not trained for fighting in the mountains. In this aspect, we should have the advantage."
Alexis's words made everyone's eyes light up.
Amyntas looked at Alexis and was a little annoyed. Why didn't I think of this? Is it because I'm not as good as Alexis?
In fact, it was against common sense to let heavy infantry fight in the mountains. Most people wouldn't dare to try it. Alexis only dared to propose this idea because he had conquered the Samonai Mountains and had experience in this aspect.
However, Devers said, "Last night, Printos made a similar suggestion to you."
Alexis subconsciously turned to look at Printos who was sitting in the back.
More than ten years ago, he had a good cooperation with Printos. With the help of Printos, he led the army to conquer Kopsa and Enona, and finally forced the Samonai to sign an agreement. Alexis admired Printos very much. She thought that he was quick-witted and often had amazing and bold ideas. She valued him very much. When the General Staff Office of the Ministry of Military Affairs was established, he even took the initiative to recommend him to King Devers. But he didn't expect that since the outbreak of the war last year, Printos's name would light up the military headquarters of Diónia. Every time Alexis read about his deeds in the military newspaper, she felt happy for him.
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