Chapter 379 The Choice of the Hanno Faction
Clotokatax scratched his head with his hand, showing a rare childish expression: "Say I behaved well, but pay attention to safety... Because father also replied to me."
Asisters laughed heartily and said, "You guys came here in a hurry just now, I didn't even have time to eat dinner, it just so happens that today is the first day of the new year, so you can accompany me to dinner. After that, while we eat, we discuss how to hold a fishing competition tomorrow, and I decided that you will be responsible for organizing this matter."
"Me?" Clotokatax was a little surprised.
"No confidence?" Asisters looked at him with a half-smile.
"No problem!" Clotokatax responded immediately.
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The two newly added negotiating conditions of Dionia shocked Okredon. How dare he continue to negotiate. He shied away that the matter needs to be discussed and decided by the Senate. He did not stop for a moment and returned to Carthage by boat, but did not The matter was not reported to the Senate immediately, but Hanno was informed first.
That night, Taipanlako and several other important Hannoist elders all arrived at the Hanno mansion one after another.
The expressions on everyone's faces grew solemn as Okreton repeated his negotiations with the Dionians in Sicily.
"Lord Hanno, the Dionysians put forward such harsh negotiating conditions. This is a provocation to us, and we absolutely cannot agree! If the Dionysians force us, we will stop the negotiation!" Delei was the first to speak. Vika, who was the most active proponent of Hanno's "inland expansion policy", was of course also kindly given back by Hanno to keep his family in theveste (a town in eastern Numibia). , inland south of Carthage) occupied a large area of land.
"If we don't negotiate, then the Dionysians can go ahead and wipe out our remnants in Sicily, take all of western Sicily for themselves, and then regroup their troops, make a massive landing in Africa, and attack us in Carthage... not We want to negotiate, but the enemy is strong and we are weak, and the situation is grim, forcing us to negotiate!" Summers said with a gloomy sigh, he is the most proficient in the military since Monte Adler, and now He led several thousand Carthaginian civic soldiers and was stationed in Eastern Numibia to suppress the rebellion and stabilize the order. This time, he specially called him back, which shows that Hanno attaches great importance to him.
"The Dionians want Corsica, Sardinia, western Sicily! Now they want southern Iberia, and they want us to return the land of Numibia! . . . If we all agree, we will Satisfying the Dionysians?! No, our weakness only fuels their greed, they not only add new bargaining conditions,
They will even send a large army to land in Africa to threaten our Carthage! Since the situation is already so bad, why don't we get tougher and make the Dionysians have scruples instead! ' Delevica retorted.
Hanno listened to the debate between the two, without making a statement, turned his head and asked, "Taipanlacco, what's your opinion?"
Taipanlacco pondered and said: "The key question now is that we must first determine whether the Dionysians really want to negotiate with us? If so, then we will try our best to negotiate with them, in order to Finally got a truce that was pretty good for us; if not, we're going to get ready for the battle against the invasion of Africa by the Dionian army!"
After Hanno heard it, he looked at Okriton again: "You and the Dionysians have been negotiating for a while. In your judgment, do the Dionysians want peace talks? Or do they not want peace talks?"
The weight of this question was very heavy, and Okleton did not answer immediately. He pondered for a while before opening his mouth and said: "During the time I negotiated with the Dionysians, I only met at the very beginning. On their king's side, he was fairly friendly to me, and then I asked to see him several times, all of which were rejected, not because of his growing anger at us in Carthage, but because He wanted to make peace with Carthage, fearing that at my begging, he would make a rash decision that would interfere with the plans of the Dionysian negotiator.
Secondly, I deliberately angered Dionia's negotiator several times, and threatened to stop the negotiations, let the Carthaginians prepare for the war, and fight Dionia to the end! ’ But when I reappeared in the negotiating room the next day, the Dionysian negotiator was still there, making sarcastic remarks but letting the negotiation go on. According to my observation, the official was a very proud person, but he was able to endure like this, which just shows that they are looking forward to the negotiation.
Still, it's understandable that the Dionysians want more in negotiations, just as we want to give less in negotiations. So in the negotiation, we were all waiting to see how the battle unfolded, but unfortunately Margo lost, the Dionysians had a bigger advantage, and of course they wanted more.
Moreover, from my conversation with the Dionysian negotiator, I found out that the Dionysians defeated Marco's army this time without paying a great price... I have carefully observed the Dionysian soldiers I have seen. , they are all arrogant, and they can't see the slightest look of burnout war..."
The expressions of several people in the house changed greatly.
After a while, Taipanlako reluctantly said with a reassuring expression: "...Maybe they pretended to act on purpose to show you, and then they came to put pressure on you."
"Stupid Marco! He is the sinner of Carthage!" Delevica scolded angrily.
Hanno, who was usually at odds with the Margonides family in the Senate, did not scold Marco loudly at this time, but sighed with a worried look: "Dlevica, what you said before is right, the Dionysian's Greed can be changed. Perhaps the former king of Dionia did have the will to negotiate, but as the strength gap between the two sides widens, it is inevitable that they will not have other ideas! From the current situation, we must Acknowledging that the Dionysians have an absolute advantage in both the navy and the army, we must first do everything possible to strengthen the armament of Carthage and dispel the idea of the Dionysians wanting to destroy us! Satsuma Sir, what advice do you have on this?"
Summers hesitated in his heart and did not answer for a while.
"What time is it now, just say anything!" Hanno became impatient.
"Lord Hanno, then I'll say it." Summers simply went out of his way and said bluntly: "The Sicilian army suffered a crushing defeat, and the entire sea area was completely blocked by the Dionysian Navy, and the remnants of the army on the island are no longer there. There may be any hope of escape, and eventually surrender to the Dionysians is inevitable. Now that the Dionysians have put forward such harsh negotiating conditions, it should be impossible for them to release the captives until an agreement is reached. After solving the problem in Sicily, the Onians really landed in Africa and launched an attack on the city of Carthage. How many soldiers can we organize to defend Carthage? How much food do we have to protect the city of Carthage in Dai How much longer will the siege of the Onian army hold out? How much foreign aid do we have to help us when Carthage is in distress? …”
Some of the questions from Summers caused the expressions of several people in the room to change.
As this year's Sofitel, Okredon coughed a few times and said with reluctance: "The young and middle-aged citizens of Carthage suffered a lot of casualties after landing in Sicily with Monte Ardeno for the first time. Since then, Marco forced us to recruit more than 10,000 citizens, and now they are all trapped in Sicily. At the same time, there are nearly 8,000 citizens stationed in Numibia, under your command.
If the city wants to forcibly recruit more than 4,000 people at most, including old people and young people (although Carthage is the most prosperous city-state in the Western Mediterranean, it seems to have a large population, but in fact the real There are not many citizens, more are slaves, especially the Numibians. The Phoenicians are only a small race throughout the Mediterranean, so for hundreds of years, although their civilization and technological capabilities are stronger than the Greeks , but has been largely at a disadvantage in the conflict of immigration waves in the Western Mediterranean, and that is the main reason.).
But I can guarantee that the food is sufficient. Due to the blockade of the Dionysian fleet, most of the rations we have collected from Numibia and our allies to supply the Sicilian army have not been sent out, which is enough for the people of our city for three months. The above food, and don't forget that people also have food in their homes. There is absolutely no problem in holding on for half a year under the siege of the Dionians!
As for the foreign aid you mentioned... The entire Phoenician city-state in Africa is our Carthage aid, and the Dionian army will be unable to move on this land. "
Okleton's relief was obviously not effective, Samuels still looked solemn and said solemnly: "Although the city of Carthage has lagoons and hills as a barrier, 4,000 people are not enough to resist the attack of the Dionysians. The eight thousand soldiers stationed in Numibia should be brought back to strengthen the defense of the city.
In addition, the Phoenician confederates that Lord Okritton just said are our helpers, I don’t agree, I just think that the Phoenician confederates in Africa are our burden, and most of their young and middle-aged citizens are recruited by us. In Sicily, once the Dionysian army really landed in Africa, the Phoenician allies who had no strength to protect themselves might turn to us for help. Should we send reinforcements at that time?
If sent, not only will we weaken our already few defenses, but also put the reinforcements in danger of being attacked by the Dionian army at any time; if not, will the Phoenician allies still trust us? Maybe they will fall directly to the Dionysians! and also--"
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