Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Time flies by.

In the early morning three days later, thousands of sails in the port of Lilibe sailed southward.

The reason for the one-day delay is because yesterday the wind and waves were strong and the wind was blowing from the south. Although there were some wind and waves this morning, it happened to be the north wind.

The Sicilian Fleet and the Third Fleet are located in front and on both sides of this huge fleet. The troop carrier is in the center, and the baggage ship is towed behind. With the wind, the entire fleet is moving faster, and it is not yet noon. Arrived at Kosia Island.

This small island that once belonged to the Phoenicians was now occupied by the Sicilian fleet, serving as a forward base for them to blockade the port of Carthage and patrol the coast of Africa, but the fleet did not stop and continued onward.

In the next process of approaching the coast, Alexis's little worry did not occur, and there was not a single Carthaginian or Phoenician merchant ship on the vast sea. Lanica, Egypt, and finally the passage to Tyre has always been busy. Although there were still ships coming and going here a few months ago, it has suddenly become so depressed, which just proves that Carthage is now in this war. The defeat in the navy and the strength of the Dionian navy.

It wasn't until the fleet was approaching the coast that Alexis saw some fishing boats along the coast.

The fishermen on the boat saw the overwhelming warships approaching, they were so frightened that they hurried to the shore to stop the boat, and desperately fled back to their city-state to report the news.

By this time, Alexis was no longer worried. According to his previous deployment, the fleet's warships had stayed in the offshore waters, and the troop transports quickly spread out along the long coastline. Driven by the tide and oars, the ships moved closer. On the flat sandy beach, the soldiers of the three legions stepped on the land of Africa, stepping on the water below their knees.

This is the land where Hercules defeated the giant Perphilion?! In fact, the scene of the beach here is no different from that of Turii and Catane, but the adjutant Eumatius, who came ashore, Feeling a little excited, he looked around in novelty.

Yeah, now we will soon conquer the giant Carthage like Hercules! Alexis said with emotion.

Lord Alexis, if you hold such an idea, you will be disappointed. Plintos's words surprised Alexis, but he blinked and continued: The current Carthage Not a giant.

I hope so. Alexis smiled.

It seems that they are in a very relaxed mood, but in fact Alexis keeps sending messengers around him,

Urged the various troops after landing to quickly gather, and at the same time quickly found the reconnaissance cavalry ashore, and asked them to immediately investigate the surrounding situation.

The news that came back one after another made Alexis relieved: not only was there no enemy within ten miles, but the Phoenicians living here were desperately fleeing with their families.

At dusk, Alexis led his army to Hadrummentum and began to build a camp on the ruins of the burnt town.

It wasn't until late at night that Carthage got the news that the Dionysian army landed in Hadrumentum. The silent city suddenly became noisy, and the people were very panicked and puzzled: there was news from Sicily a few days ago. , Although the army of the commander of Marco was defeated, the remnants of the army retreated to Segsta and Mazara, and they continued to hold on.

In fact, after Hasdrubal led the remnants of the army to retreat to Mazara, he did send a fast ship to venture out of the port at first, rushed to Carthage, and informed Sicily of the situation, but then due to the chaos in Mazara, the people were busy protecting their lives. The Dionysian fleet deliberately strengthened the blockade of the port until Dionia occupied Mazara, not to mention that Carthage knew nothing about it, and it was as ignorant as Eryx in Sicily.

The situation was severe. The Carthaginian Senate held an emergency meeting that night to discuss countermeasures. In addition to deciding to mobilize the war immediately, strengthen the city's defenses, issue orders to the surrounding allies, and deploy reinforcements... and other emergency measures, they decided to whether or not Immediately send envoys to negotiate with the Dionysians.

This time, most of the elders expressed their approval, and only a few Margonid elders headed by Pretakuba expressed firm opposition to allowing the cession of a new colony in southern Iberia as a condition for negotiation.

In the morning, the House of Elders temporarily adjourned the meeting. The elders returned to the mansion first, finished breakfast, and then continued to discuss at the meeting place. But when the elders walked out of the venue, a lot of Carthaginians had gathered outside the venue.

Some time ago, because the Hanoi faction made a proposal to make peace with Dionysus, they were criticized by the people, and some even called them treason. Their life was not very good, but this morning, many people have already The people who got the content of the meeting did not abuse Okriton, Taipanlacco and the others. Instead, they aimed at the Margonids and asked Pretakuba to consider the safety of Carthage and contact them as soon as possible. Hanno and the others reached an agreement and sent envoys to sign a peace agreement with Dionysus.

Pretakuba believed in his heart that this was a ruse by the Hanois, and did not respond to it. In fact, he could not agree with Carthage to give up the colony in southern Iberia, because it had become the foundation of the Margonid family. .

……………………………………

Just as the people of Carthage gathered in front of the Senate, Alexis ordered the army to continue to consolidate the camp, while dispatching a large number of soldiers to speed up the repair of the original port of Hadrummentum, so that the cargo ships could be transported more quickly. while waiting for the arrival of the Numibian army.

But in the evening, Alexis, who had been waiting for a long time, got bad news: the fleet full of Numibian soldiers set off from Lilibe with a weak north wind. When the fleet was halfway, it suddenly changed. Due to the strong northwesterly winds, the entire fleet was pushed to the coast east of Hadrummentum, and some ships are said to have capsized on the way.

Alexis hurriedly prayed to Hades, thanking him for his blessings, so that this kind of thing did not happen to the Dionian army.

Then he dispatched scouts to search eastward along the coast for signs of the convoy.

But then he was dismayed by the news that he had seen no sign of the fleet, except for a very small number of ships scattered along the nearby coast.

Alexis speculated that most of the ships may have been blown near the waters of Cyrenaica by the wind and waves, which forced him to make a decision: he couldn't wait any longer, and he had to take the initiative.

So on the third day, he let the third legion stay in the camp, and personally led the first and second legions, a total of more than 16,000 people, to a Phoenician less than thirty miles east of Hadrummentum. The base city-state, Ruspina, launched an attack.

Ruspina and its nearby neighbors sent messengers around the road to ask Carthage for help.

This incident further aroused the panic of the Carthaginian people, and soon led to a major event.

……………………………………

At dusk, the meeting of the Carthaginian senate again ended in a quarrel.

After the elders stepped out of the gate, Pretakuba and others were unexpectedly surrounded by the people waiting outside the hospital again. For their requests, insults and even threats, Pretakuba has experienced many times. Without responding, he walked forward with his head held high after the guards pushed the crowd away.

At this moment, several young people suddenly rushed towards the front, knocked off the guards who were caught off guard, and rushed in front of Pretakuba, holding a bright dagger in his hand, and quickly and fiercely moved towards Prey, who had not yet responded. Takuba stabbed a few times in the chest...

The whole process went up and down, it was just a blink of an eye, and when everyone around him reacted, Pretakuba had already fallen in a pool of blood...

The frightened people screamed and fled, and the servants who followed them hurriedly helped Preta Cool, who was in a pool of blood, shouting for the doctor to come to rescue, and the guards rushed to arrest the perpetrator... The scene was very chaotic .

Taking into account their own safety, the elders retreated to the gate of the venue one after another, under the protection of the guards. Many people turned their attention to Hanno, apparently suspecting that the assassination of Tapre Takuba was related to his sworn enemy Hanno.

But Hanno was also shocked at this time, and shouted: Quick, catch them! Catch those murderers!

Fortunately, the murderers did not run away, but stood there, waiting for the guards to come and arrest them, and one of them shouted confidently: I am Ildu, the son of Blaka! My eldest brother follows Montea. Deno, died in Minoa! My second brother was also recruited to Sicily, and I don't know if he is alive or dead! My father drove a cargo ship and ventured late into the night to transport food for the Sicilian army, but we haven't returned yet! The Margonid family has already paid enough blood for this war! Now Carthage is in so many dangers, they are all caused by them! There is nothing wrong with killing him, this is the oracle of Baal Harmon! Only in this way can Carthage be saved!  …”

Several other young people also shouted loudly: I am not guilty, this is for Carthage!...

There were still a lot of people present who did not leave. When they heard the shouts of the youth, they all felt the same way. They shouted at the guards who arrested the youth: Let go of them! They are the heroes of Carthage! They want to let Carthage go. Taiji got rid of the danger of war and wanted to restore peace and tranquility to Africa! Pretakuba is the sinner! Marco is the sinner! This is the punishment from Bar Harmon, and they deserve it!  …”

The people roared like thunder and protested to the elders, venting all the sadness and fear they had accumulated in their hearts during this time. Their shouts attracted more people to come, and they gathered more and more in the square in front of the elders. Some people started fighting with the guards, trying to save the young people, and saw another riot about to happen.