Chapter 144 The Hidden Danger of Dionia's Army

But Dionia did not sign an agreement with Tarantum at this time, which made Histiavis uneasy, and he reminded unwillingly: "So you have full confidence in defeating Syracuse?! I But I heard that until now, the army of Dionysius still occupies an absolute advantage on land!"

"Isn't Syracuse defeating us exactly what you want!" Kunogolata said ironically: "You will no longer worry about the safety of the city-state and the life and death of captured citizens."

Histiavis was at a loss for words, and then he couldn't help asking: "If this war continues for a long time, won't we Tarantum continue to deliver food to Turii, and we must know our food reserves. Not enough."

"Since this is the case, you dare to tear up the covenant and start a war with us!" Kunogolata sneered.

Ancitanos chimed in: "A war of this magnitude, which has occurred several times throughout Greek history, simply cannot last."

Histiavis hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Okay, I will convey Dionia's proposal to the Senate, but I hope you understand that Tarantum is a sub-state of Sparta."

Kuno Gorata and Ancitanos looked at each other, Kuno Gorata said indifferently: "So what? Is Sparta also going to join the war?"

Histiavis stopped talking. He found that the Dionysians at this time were not afraid of any threats. Perhaps as the other party said, Tarantom could only hope for the victory of Syracuse... …

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While Kunogolata, Ancitanos and Tarantum's messenger were negotiating post-war matters, Davos was also negotiating food with Baclipi, Kapus, Marigi, and Mersis. question.

"Your Majesty, the grains in the Turii granary have been transported to the troops in the south for a while now, and now they are almost empty. The Cosenza granary, I estimate that there is still half of the stock, but its transfer is somewhat difficult, and it is not suitable for Latin America. The attack is about to start again, and the food supply will still need to be provided from the Cosenza granary. As for the current situation of the Grummentum granary, I don't know much..." Farming officer Basilipi told Dai Firth elaborated on Dionia's current food situation.

"I know the situation of Grummentum's granary. The previous war with Samonay ended relatively quickly, and there were some seizures, so there was not much consumption. But Grummentum's grain production is already low, and its reserves are low. This is not very good, but the large number of livestock and the low price can barely support the third army's counterattack against the Samone region. Therefore, it is possible to squeeze out the food from the Lucania region to supply Turii. It’s not big, and transportation is also a big problem, so we don’t have the idea of ​​Grummentum’s granary.” Davers introduced what he learned through Grummentum with his army. .

"Your Majesty, it seems that we want to target the Syracuses and organize a campaign with a scale of more than 50,000 people. Food is an issue that we urgently need to solve!" Kapus said worriedly, during this time he replaced the Greek Ross took over the affairs of the quartermaster and had a detailed understanding of this: "Three days ago, Aspurustum and Crimisa sent back news that their food was in short supply. The harassment of the Rakuza fleet, the baggage team has been busy adding escorts to avoid being attacked by enemy sailors, so there has not been a large-scale transportation of grain to the two cities where the legion is stationed, and I don't know how they are now.

Moreover, now Turiyi has the first, second, seventh, a total of three legions, as well as the baggage transportation team, and the 6,000 new people you have summoned, Your Majesty, there are nearly 32,000 people, and the daily consumption of grain It is a huge number. If the food problem cannot be solved, even these troops in Turii will have to be disbanded because of the lack of food in a few days. "

"Don't forget, there are also prisoners of Syracuse and Tarantum, and there are probably about 25,000 people!" Mersis reminded everyone loudly: "Even if you only give them a little food every day, to maintain their basic The survival of the people is also a lot of food consumption, I think it is better to treat them as slaves and sell them for money."

Davos looked at Mersis' impatient greed. He was not disgusted. Because of the consumption of the war and the suspension of the port market, the money from the treasury could only go out, but not in. It was already bottomed out, so Mel He was completely able to understand his eagerness.

But he shook his head and said: "The captives of Tarantum cannot be sold, that is the most important tool for us to control Tarantum. With them, Tarantum will obediently and continuously deliver food, plus Yesterday's capture in Heraclea, I think at least alleviates the food shortage in Turii. As for the sailors of Syracuse...Marigi, now the blockade of our port by the Syracuses has been broken, I believe Trade will slowly resume, can these sailor captives in Syracuse be sold?" Davos, who was a modern man in his previous life, has always hated the slave trade, but for the sake of Dionia's survival, he couldn't care less. Many.

After Davos finished speaking, Mersis also turned away from the attitude that he hated Marigi, and looked at Marigi eagerly.

Marighi nodded and saluted Davos, then said slowly: "Your Majesty, although we defeated the Syracuses at sea, we have not completely wiped out their power at sea, our most important trade route— - The Strait of Messina is still controlled by the Syracuse Navy.

Things are better in the eastern Mediterranean. Tarantum's fleet has been completely wiped out, and the combined fleet of Sparta, an ally of Syracuse, is now suppressed by our friendly Athenian fleet, so if the blockade of the Strait of Messina cannot be broken quickly, future For a period of time, our only sea trade to the eastern Mediterranean will slowly recover, but the original eastward trade does not occupy a major position in our Dionia market. "

The commercial officer Marigi didn't talk about the slave issue first, but made a brief estimate of the situation in the port market.

Davos immediately said: "I understand what you mean, and I will urge Sekelian to lead the fleet to seize control of the Strait of Messina as soon as possible! But with the arrival of merchant ships, can our port guarantee normal operation?"

Davos's question is on point. During the war, it is not just about the arrival of merchant ships. The operation of the entire port requires many managers, a large number of porters and sailors, and patrols to maintain law and order... and so on, the more prosperous the port is. , the more manpower is required. And now Dionia has been recruiting a large number of young and middle-aged laborers in order to cope with the war. Not only regular citizens, prospective citizens, freedmen, and even unregistered freedmen have also been recruited. The bustling ports and markets are now very busy. Depression, more can see women, the elderly, and even children busy in the market stalls, the lack of labor is evident.

Marigi is of course aware of adequate labor—an important issue as well. In this regard, he has no better way, and can only say reluctantly: "Your Majesty, I will find a way to solve this problem... As for this large number of Syracuse prisoners, if we want to find a solution in a short period of time. There are indeed very few city-states that can afford the cost, are not afraid of Syracuse, and dare to take over... Well, I do have a goal." Mariji said with emphasis: "We can try Carthage. , and even these slaves can be exchanged for food in Carthage."

As soon as the words fell, Mersis began to mutter: "Carthage, they have been afraid of being beaten by the Syracuses. They refused to form an alliance with us before. I don't think they would agree to buy these captives."

Marigi ignored him and waited for Davos' reply.

Carthage! After being reminded by Marigi, Davos's eyes lit up: before the war, Carthage was against the alliance with Dionia. But since the war has continued to this day, whether the Carthaginians will maintain their previous attitude is uncertain. After all, Syracuse and Carthage have always been mortal enemies. Although they have maintained peace during this period, it is not It means that the Carthaginians will watch Syracuse continue to expand its power in Great Greece, and even turn Great Greece into Syracuse's backyard. Because then, the more powerful Syracuse would only be a greater threat to Carthage's sphere of influence in Sicily.

Thinking of this, Davos made up his mind, he said: "It seems that we need to send people to Carthage again immediately to find out the attitude of the Carthaginians towards this war, if they are willing to buy these slaves , we can make some further demands on Carthage, such as grain trade. Knowing that this war is both about the survival of our Dionia and the rise and fall of Syracuse, I don't know how long it will last, Therefore, the food of Tarantum alone is not enough to ensure the sufficient food supply of the Dionysian army that is being formed! Carthage is famous for its rich food, and it is not far from Dionia, which can meet our needs. If we need it in the war, where else can we go to buy food? The Eoke Star Sea? Or Egypt? These places are too far away from us to be guaranteed in time, and accidents are prone to happen…”

"Your Majesty, there is still Cyrenaica to consider." Marigi added.

Cyrenaica? Davos was taken aback for a moment. He really did not expect that this Greek city-state located in Africa, adjacent to Carthage and Egypt, had never been in contact with Dionia before, but it is said that although Cyrenaica has Sparta has good relations (because it is a sub-state of a sub-state of Sparta, but it has always remained neutral among the Greek city-states, and it is a city-state dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry, and silphion grass is just it A specialty commodity of , it is also rich in horses, cattle and sheep, wheat and flax.