Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 235: Division of forces (continued)

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From the map, Dionia's territory in Sicily is actually the smallest of the three forces. In fact, Daves played a trick, he did not enclose the entire Catania Plain, and the eastern part of this plain was actually under the control of Antrapolis.

"Other city-states, like Agrigento, Gela, Tindaris... are all neutral city-states, serving as a buffer zone for Carthage, Syracuse, and Dionia." Dave Si pointed at the icons on the map with his pen, and said seriously.

Okliton looked at the map carefully, and suddenly he said, "Do these neutral city-states also include Messina?"

Although Messina is not a big territory, its location is important, so Sicily is also a relatively important city-state.

"Of course not!" Daves said without hesitation: "The citizens of this new Messina are colonists from Lockley and Medmar. They are Dionysius' accomplices. In this war, he assisted Syracuse to block the Strait of Messina and attacked the port of Lijim several times. Lijim made suggestions to us Dionia and decided to attack Messina to protect his own safety. Dio The Senate of Nia has agreed to their request to send troops together..." Daves again concealed the fact that "Dionia and Lijim decided to manage Messina together."

Carthage is not a Greek city-state, and its two most important waterways do not need to pass through Messina, so it doesn't care much about it. Okriton looked at the map while thinking about Davos’s suggestion. For a long time, he raised his head and said: “Dear King Daves, the Carthaginian Senate sent me here. The main reason was to revise Davos. The friendly treaty signed between Nia and Carthage, and at the same time, let’s learn about how Dionia’s war against Syracuse will proceed. I didn’t expect...Unexpectedly, you gave me such a big one...Um... …Surprise! However, this is beyond the scope of my authority. I must bring your proposal back to the Senate, and they will decide whether to accept it."

Daves expressed his understanding, but he said unhurriedly at the same time: "I hope Carthage's reply can be quicker, because the Syracuses in Siriting City may not be able to hold on for a few days, so they should surrender. "Daves confidently said these remarks with grounds. The news of "Dionysius running away" has leaked out. The soldiers in the city panicked, and the Syracuses had to send someone out to negotiate a peace. . And Daves took the opportunity to tell the messenger about the latest battle in Sicily, whether he believes it or not, a greater storm will surely be set off in the city of Sicily.

Okliton was shocked when he heard this. He understood what Daves meant. The surrender of the Syracuses in Siritín meant the basic end of the South-Italian War. By then, Carthage would negotiate with Dionia, which had slowed down. , I am afraid the conditions will be different again.

………………………………

Sending off the Carthage messenger who left in a hurry, Hernipolis hurriedly asked: "Your Majesty, will the Carthaginians agree to your suggestion?"

"From the performance of the messenger just now and the situation in Carthage we have investigated during this period, it is true that the city of Carthage is really war-weary, even though the situation in Sicily is very favorable for Carthage. I am afraid that many people in the Senate would not approve of launching a war..." Daves recalled a lot of information about Carthage he had seen before, and said: "What can be obtained through negotiation, the efficiency of the car How can the Taiji people be so stupid to use force to solve it. What's more, Carthage should understand that occupying the whole Sicily is not only not good for it, but it is extremely harmful."

"Why?" Henipolis asked curiously.

"You can understand why you think about it."

"...Uh...Is it because this will arouse the anger of the whole Greek world against it?"

"Yes. Carthage occupied all of Sicily. Not only our Greater Greece, but also the Greek mainland will be directly threatened by a foreign race. How can this situation be acceptable to us Greeks! Carthage used to interact with Sila? You should be able to feel this in Kuza’s war. It is not only fighting Syracuse, but also fighting Greeks in Italy and Greeks in Greece..." Daves said meaningfully. .

"Oh, of course, a city-state of Carthage cannot defeat the power of the whole of Greece. No matter what, it will eventually fail."

"Herney, your teacher is interested in Carthage recently and has collected a lot of information about it. Have you read it?" Daves turned a topic and asked.

"Your Majesty, you don't know, I have been in Laos before, so I don't have time to visit the teacher." Henipolis felt a little uncomfortable when he mentioned Laos.

"I have read these materials and discussed with Ansitanos. Only then did I understand that the Phoenicians had many colonies in the Western Mediterranean, and the colonization time was much earlier than that of the Greeks, but why we Do you only know a Carthage?"

"Yeah, why?" Henipolis asked with interest.

Daves explained in detail: "Because the Phoenicians colonized the way differently from our Greeks. The Greeks colonized because there were more people and less land, unable to feed more people, and they were forced to colonize in order to survive. In order to obtain new land and be able to survive... Phoenician colonization... No, it should not be called colonization, but a business practice. The Phoenicians went west hundreds of years ago in order to obtain high profits. After exploring the Mediterranean, they found silver mines on the Iberian Peninsula and precious metal mines in Sardinia... In order to collect these precious metals and transport them back to Phoenicia, they built them on the coast of Africa and the western part of Sicily. A lot of commercial stores.

Please note that it is a shop, not a town! Most of the Phoenicians in the trading post were engaged in metal processing and transshipment trade. In order to meet their daily needs, they had to trade with the neighboring natives and our Greek city-states. Therefore, the Phoenicians were the most popular in the Western Mediterranean. A race that can blend into the local environment and live in harmony with the surrounding aliens. Even though royal battles occurred in the Phoenician base soil, some of the Tyre royal family members fled to Carthage, which led to the rise of Carthage, replacing the mother Bontel of the Phoenician base soil and becoming the new trading center of the Phoenicians in the Western Mediterranean. , The Carthaginians and the Greeks live in harmony—"

"Wait a minute, Your Majesty. The Carthaginians are full of malice towards the Sicilian Greeks. They have repeatedly invaded the territories of the Greeks, and they also sacrificed children and behaved ugly!" Hernipolis interrupted Dave rashly. Si said with an angry face.

Daves didn’t care, he smiled softly, “It’s their custom to sacrifice children in Carthage, and I’m not going to comment. But according to your teacher’s review of the information, the conclusion is, “It’s just us. The Greeks took the initiative to attack Carthage’s allies several times, which led to its counterattack.'

One hundred years ago, Prince Dolius of Sparta declared that the land near Erlux in western Sicily was once the resting place of his ancestor Hercules, so he wanted to build a city there. Erlux was the religious center of the Carthaginians in Sicily. How could it be possible for the arrogant Spartans to build a city, so Carthage launched a war and drove away the Greek coalition forces brought by Sparta.

Decades ago, the army commanded by Dillon, the tyrant of Syracuse, launched an offensive against Carthage’s friendly ally, Himera, and it attracted Carthage’s reinforcements. After Dillon defeated Carthage, he rendered the war a great victory comparable to that of the Greek coalition forces defeating the Persians.

In recent years, most of the horrible images of the Carthages are probably deliberately spread by the Syracuse people, so as to force other city-states in Sicily to unite around it..."

"Your Majesty, are you saying this is the trick of the Syracuse?!" Hernipolis was surprised.

"The mothers of the Carthaginians, Bontel and Sidon, cannot provide a steady stream of new immigrants like the Greeks. The Carthaginians, whose population is not too large, may be always on guard against the influx of people from the Eastern Mediterranean. Greek immigrants show covetousness towards western Sicily, so they have to show force from time to time to deter the greed of these people..."

Daves said in a stern face, Hernipolis "pushed" with a laugh: "Your Majesty, you speak like this, it feels like you are not Greek."

Daves said with a straight face: "Only from the standpoint of a neutral person can you experience the true feelings of the Carthaginians. I think Carthage at this time will definitely be happy to accept a strong neighbor from Greece. Friendship!" Daves said so, but what he thought was: At this time, Dionia can't afford Carthage, which has powerful war potential, don't wake it up, let him continue to do business with peace of mind. , Trade, and run a farm.

……………………………

The ship of Dionysius used its familiarity with the east coast of Sicily to bring the chasing Diorian Clippers into the reef area, thus getting rid of their pursuit. While passing by Taunis, the ship bypassed the blockade of the Dionian fleet and finally reached Ortigia Island.

Ortigia Island is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and there are cliffs everywhere, with walls built on top of it, and its defenses are quite tight. It also has a small port of its own, but unless permission is obtained from the people on the island, it can neither stop the boat nor get on the island, but for Dionysius, this is not a problem.

As soon as Dionysius came to the island, Hyparinus, Callidemus, and the mercenary leader Meji Corliss all rushed to get the news.

"Apollo! Lord Dionysius, you are finally back! When you were away, Herolis launched a rebellion, and he instigated..."

After listening to the long-winded narrative of the Minister Callidemus, Dionysius’ heart sank to the bottom. When he saw the Dionian fleet on the sea near Taunis, he had a lot of thoughts in his heart. The bad premonition has now become a reality. He did not expect that the situation in Syracuse would be so bad: the coalition led by Massias was defeated by the Dionian army, and the city-state north of Syracuse was almost The entire rebellion was out of Syracuse's control. Except for the island of Ortikia, the city of Syracuse has become a world of insurgents...

The more he listened, the more annoying he became, and he couldn't help yelling: "So much nonsense! Stop it!"

Calli Demus immediately fell silent.

Dionysius stood on the spot, gasping for breath, straightened out the disordered thoughts a bit, and looked up to his father-in-law: "Where is Phylistus?!"