Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Davos said sternly: Dionia and the Phoenician region in the east have never had any grudges, but they sent a fleet to attack Dionia's fleet from thousands of miles, and they deserved their destruction! I am very welcome to send the army, we have just acquired a lot of mines recently, and we are running short of slaves.

El Accra froze in his heart, but he had to continue on the topic, because the combined Eastern Phoenician fleet was completely wiped out within the Carthaginian sphere of influence, and if the Carthaginians did not make amends, they would have nothing to do. Yan Zai went to meet his fellow Eastern Mediterranean Phoenicians who had given Carthage a huge aid.

What do we need to pay to redeem these Phoenician sailors from the Eastern Mediterranean who were captured by you? El Accra's tone softened.

Davos looked at him and said slightly mockingly: When your army occupied Agrigento, Exium, and Gera, you originally had the opportunity to redeem them by exchanging prisoners. But the army led by Marco killed all the people in the city!

El Accra was silent for a while, and said softly, What if Carthage wants to truce with you Dionia?

Davos was a little surprised when he heard this suddenly. He blinked his eyes and said teasingly, I mustn't have heard it wrong? Carthage, the overlord of the Western Mediterranean, wants to stop this fight for these prisoners. A huge war?!

Taking advantage of the prisoner's excuse, El Accra managed to say this sentence, ignoring Davos' ridicule, and continued to say: King, you are right, this is indeed a game that consumes a lot of money for both parties. war! I mean if—if you and I had a truce, would these captives be released?”

This time, Davos didn't joke anymore, but said with a serious expression: Since the armistice has been reached, of course the prisoners will be released. However, it was you who broke the covenant! It was you who provoked this war! Now it is you who think To end the war! You want to start a war, we can't control it, but you want to end it, but it's not that easy!

Then...what conditions do you need to accept the truce? El Akela asked sternly.

Davos didn't answer directly, he said lightly: The armistice negotiation is a very important matter for both of you and me. Of course, you and I have to negotiate and decide together. Just like trade and business, you need a Long bargaining process...

But as the most honorable person in the Kingdom of Dionia, you must have some demands of your own for the truce, right? El Accra continued to ask without giving up.

To be honest, I've been running around since the outbreak of the war, and I haven't really thought about the truce. After you mentioned it just now,

I have a doubt now. ' Davers said, pausing deliberately.

What doubts? El Accra asked subconsciously.

If... if your Carthaginian senate wants to negotiate a truce with us, will your military commander, Marco, agree?

El Accra hesitated for a moment, and then immediately replied: Of course, Lord Margo will agree, because Carthage is different from Dionia, we do not have a king, but there is a senate, and the important affairs of the city-state are handled by the senate. to decide.

Davos immediately smiled, raised his glass, and said, The war is indeed a headache, and peace is a good thing for the people on both sides of you and me! ... Welcome to your arrival today, come, drink this cup!

El Accra thought he understood what Davos said, and hurriedly toasted and drank together, and then no longer asked any questions.

……………………………………

After sending El Accra away, Henepolis couldn't wait to ask, Your Majesty, are you really going to make peace talks with Carthage?

Davos smiled slightly: I want to negotiate with Carthage, but I'm afraid it will be difficult for them to agree to my conditions.

What conditions? Henepolis asked directly without any hesitation.

This time, Davos did not avoid answering: At least Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia must belong to the kingdom, and then hand over part or all of their southern Iberia territories...

Henipolis listened, his eyes widened unconsciously, and after a while he said reluctantly: I think it is difficult for the Carthaginians to agree to these conditions of yours...

Davos glanced at him and said leisurely: I didn't tell the messenger these conditions, just for fear of causing the Carthaginians to be alert. In fact, I don't want to have a truce with Carthage at this time. , because the favorable situation of closing the door to beat the dog was finally formed, how could it be possible to waste this excellent opportunity, and then reopen the door to let the dog escape again... Unless the dog is completely beaten to death, maybe it is when I made these conditions.

Henipolis suddenly realized, but he also reminded a little worriedly: Your Majesty, in case the Phoenician region of the Eastern Mediterranean sends reinforcements, or even Persia really sends reinforcements...

Davos said indifferently: Persia sent reinforcements from thousands of miles away to fight with us, with his enemy Egypt and the Greek city-states that could become his enemies at any time in the middle. This would take a very big risk! The defeat of the Athenian army in attacking Syracuse was a lesson. I am afraid that Artaxerxes did not have such great courage, and according to the information obtained, the Persians are still preparing to attack Egypt again. In addition, the Duqya people are in the hinterland of Persia. There has been a riot... Now Persia has neither the ability nor the possibility to send an army thousands of miles away to aid an alien city-state that has no close relationship with them.

As for the Phoenicians in the east, as far as I know, their strength is much worse than that of Carthage. The only thing worth mentioning is the navy, and they were all wiped out by us, so there is nothing to worry about.

After hearing this, Henepolis felt relieved.

By the way, the Sicilian fleet captured a lot of Phoenician sailors in the Eastern Mediterranean yesterday. You asked Martius to bring some Greek-speaking prisoners. I want to ask them something about Persia.

Yes, Your Majesty. Henepolis said to himself as he walked out: Actually, the Eighth Legion captured a lot of Numibians in the previous Minoan War, but the Carthaginians were few and far between. The next time I came to talk about redemption, they were never mentioned, as if they were completely forgotten.

A flash of light flashed through Davos' mind, and he immediately said, Heney, where are those Numibian captives now?

Your Majesty, they work as coolies in Katana.

It was only then that Davos remembered that Prosous had reported to him at that time, but he had just landed and had a lot of business, so he didn't care too much.

Send someone back to Katanai to inform Cypros and ask him to send these Numibian captives to Minoa!

Henepolis moved in his heart and quickly asked, Your Majesty, are you trying to—

The corners of Davos' mouth curled slightly: Since the Carthaginians don't treat the Numibians as human beings, then let's take care of these poor Numibians.

……………………………………

El Accra left Minoa and did not return directly to Carthage. Instead, he took a boat to Mazara, and then arrived at the Carthaginian camp outside Serinus, where he met Carthaginian military commander Martha. elder brother.

You didn't come to see me specifically, did you? Marco asked directly as soon as they met. El Accra, as the envoy of Carthage, just went out on the front foot, and Pretakuba on the back foot sent a clipper to Sicily and informed him. he.

Does Margo-sama know about the fact that Hadrummentum City was raided by the Dionysian Navy and burned down? El Accra asked rhetorically.

Yes, I just heard about it. Margo said calmly: Dionia is a powerful country, and fighting against them will inevitably lead to such a situation. The Senate should not blame Morbar. , I think he is much stronger than Annobas, he solved the army's food transportation problem not long after taking office, and also won a naval battle, this old man is really not easy!

But he proposed to the Senate to 'make peace with Dionysus', Lord Margo, what do you think? El Accra looked directly at him and asked this important question.

Marco raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice: Morbar has just joined this war, and he still knows too little about the whole situation. He only knows that we are not as good as Dionia in the navy, but we are worse than Dionia in the army. The Dionysians are strong, and I have no doubts that Carthage will finally win this war!

Since we are stronger than the Dionysians in land warfare, why didn't Lord Margo attack the Dionysians? The news we heard in Carthage was that you were leading the army to retreat! Isn't this because of fear of Dionia's attack? El Accra asked unceremoniously.

Afraid of the Dionysians? Margo laughed contemptuously, and then said helplessly, Hasdrubal defeated the Dionysian army, which was equal in number to him, in the battle of Gera. , in the field we were not afraid of the Dionysian army at all! But the Dionysian navy controlled the coast of Sicily, and our food supply was difficult, and I had to retreat to the west in order to prevent the soldiers from falling apart because of hunger. , hoping to defeat the main force of Dionia in a battle, but the king of Dionia obviously knew that we were inferior to us in land warfare, so he refused to battle and led his army to defend the Minoan Mountains, of course I They will not lead the troops to attack the enemy defending on the mountain, which will cause the soldiers to suffer heavy casualties...

Did you just keep confronting the Dionians like this?! El Accra couldn't help asking.