Chapter 259 The Military Conference of Katanai (2)

In the Minoan battle, apart from the Carthaginian Holy Legion that caused us some trouble, the rest of the Carthaginian troops were simply vulnerable, especially the army composed of Numibians had low morale, A single charge of our heavy infantry can cause them to retreat, so our army can easily enter the west, and force the Carthaginians to hide in each city for a long time, never dare to go out to fight. During this period, we did not find an opportunity to engage the Iberian army that had been stationed in Palermos.

When Carthage sent an army to land in Sicily for the second time, the situation changed. First of all, Carthage was commanded by Marco, the governor of Iberia. He fought in Iberia for a long time and had rich battlefield experience. Combining all aspects of intelligence, this Marco brought more than 20,000 soldiers from Iberia, plus the 20,000 Iberian soldiers in Palermos, there are more than 40,000 Iberian soldiers in Sicily The Leah soldiers, most of whom were Carthaginian mercenaries, followed Marco to fight in Iberia for a long time, and their combat effectiveness was very strong.

In Gera, I led the 8th Army, the 4th Cavalry Army, and the armies of the Allies. The same Iberian army fought. The number of the two sides was not much different. The Eighth Army attacked the Iberian heavy infantry, and even There is also the 4th Cavalry Corps attacking from the flank, but the opponent has always defended stubbornly and has not retreated.”

"Oh?!" When Brelu heard this, he sat up straight with a look of surprise on his face. Although the number of the Eighth Legion was behind the Seventh Legion, the Eighth Legion had pacified the Sikel area a few years ago. He defeated the Holy Legion, which the Carthaginians called "the strongest heavy infantry", in Minoa before. In fact, the combat experience is richer than that of the Seventh Legion, which has not fought in all these years. Although Brelu doesn't admit it on the surface, he has more experience. Deep down in his heart, he felt that the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Army might be stronger than that of the Seventh Army, and now a heavy infantry army from Iberia could remain undefeated in the joint attack of the Eighth Army and the Cavalry Army, which really made him surprised.

"And many of this Carthaginian army may be indigenous warriors on the Iberian Peninsula. They are tall, aggressive, and able to obey discipline. The most notable thing is that they all hold long shields in one hand and hold in the other. Short swords similar to our Legionnaires, who smashed the phalanx of Gera and Kamanlina heavy infantry from the front, which ultimately led to my defeat at Gera..." Leotizides mentions When this happened, there was no change in his expression or tone, as if he was talking about something that happened to someone else.

However, in the meeting room, not only Breru, but also Cykrian and Cypros were surprised.

"In this way, the heavy infantry of the Carthaginian army from Iberia is not weaker than our legionnaires!" Cypros couldn't help but said, he, like Sekelian, only knew Leo roughly. Tizides's defeat in the battle of Gera had not yet had time to understand in detail, and it was inevitable to hear the details suddenly.

"Not only the heavy infantry, but also the light infantry of the Iberian army of Carthage. At the time of the battle, they had a thousand slingers, probably from the Balearic Islands, who threw the lead shot with precision and severity. , not weaker than the slingers in the light infantry brigade of our 1st Legion, causing a lot of casualties to the light infantry brigade of the Eighth Legion, and they also had hundreds of javelinmen composed of Iberian indigenous The javelin is not only heavy, but also has a hook. Once it is hit, it is difficult to pull out. When he got here, Leotidides' tone was slightly lower.

"It seems that there are only cavalry, and we Dionysus can be stronger than" after listening to Leotides,

Sekelian couldn't help sighing, but he didn't want to hear the coughing sound next to him.

He turned his head and looked at the embarrassed fourth cavalry commander Asitemis, and suddenly remembered that Carthage occupied the Numibia region. There were many Numibian cavalry in the army. The Central Numibian cavalry was a big loss to the Dionian cavalry.

Sure enough, Leotidides continued: "It may be because this Carthaginian army is going to cross the mountains and raid the rear, so the cavalry was not allowed to accompany it, but the intelligence shows that among the Carthaginian troops that landed in Sicily, some 6, 7,000 cavalry, mostly Numibian cavalry, and some Carthaginian cavalry, Mauritanian cavalry, Iberian cavalry, more than our four major cavalry corps combined."

"The Carthaginian army from Iberia, its heavy infantry and light infantry are not weaker than our legionnaires, and the cavalry is slightly stronger than us, it seems that this is our strong enemy!" Brelu's face was solemn, in the past During his legionary career, he fought against the armies of Syracuse, against the armies of Messapi and Puchetti, the armies of these city-states and races always with flaws of one kind and another, which kept him against Dionysus. He was proud of the strength of the runner-up. It was the first time he heard that there was an army that was no weaker than the Dionysian Legion in every way. While feeling uneasy, he also felt a little excited.

He asked cautiously: "Apart from the army from Iberia, how are the other Carthaginian armies fighting?"

"According to the intelligence, in addition to more than 40,000 soldiers from Iberia, there are about 60,000 soldiers from the city of Carthage, the Phoenician allies in Africa and Numibia among the enemy troops who landed in Sicily this time. Among them, Numibians are the most. I once had the army take the initiative to attack the city of Serinus after the Carthaginian army surrounded the city and carried out a night attack on the Carthaginian army, which was successful. According to the returning soldiers, Many of the enemies they killed were Numibian soldiers. After being attacked, these Numibians could not organize an effective defense, and most of them only knew how to escape..."

Leotides said this, seeing the expressions on the faces of the other people became much lighter, and then continued: "Then this army was sent to attack Minoa. We all know that the Carthaginian army I had attacked the city of Minoa before, but failed to make any progress, which led me to lead the army to rescue. This time, the Minoans obviously felt the pressure, they frequently sent messengers to me for help, and Eventually had to evacuate from Minoa City...

I asked the refugees in Minoa, and they said that the dark-skinned Numibians attacked the city wall as if they were dying. The strength of defending the city led to the final defeat of defending the city... It can be seen that the combat effectiveness of this army is not weak. From the rout of the night raid to the fall of Minoa, it was exactly like two armies. I guess, that Marco must have done something during this period of time to improve their morale..." Leotizides analyzed calmly.

"100,000! 100,000 soldiers who are not weak in combat!" Brelu couldn't help sighing softly.

"This time, Carthage's army is more than 100,000 people." Seklian interjected: "When I was in the port of Lilibe, I asked privately that there were more than 10,000 soldiers in Lilibe, and there were more than 10,000 soldiers in the city. The Phoenician city-states such as Mazara, Eryx, and Palermo have thousands of civilian soldiers. If they were all assembled, the number of Carthaginian troops would be far more than 100,000.”

Cypros sucked in a breath of cold air, touched his chin, pondered for a while, and said, "For such a huge army, the rations needed must be huge."

"Lord Cypros, you got the crux of the problem in this sentence!" Sekelian praised, then pointed to the map of Sicily placed in the center of the wooden table where everyone was sitting, and said loudly: "So we must guard the Linus, as long as we have it, our fleet can frequently attack the western waters, attack their merchant ships and cargo ships, cut off Carthage's route to western Sicily, and make the food supply of the Carthaginian army difficult. I can even send fleet infantry to land and attack the rear of the Carthaginian army... After all, from the current situation, our navy has a greater advantage in facing Carthage than the army."

Sekelian looked at Leotidides and said confidently: "Although the Carthaginian navy is comparable to us in terms of courage and ship maneuvering ability, and is more familiar with the sea conditions in the western seas than we are, they still use traditional It is impossible to change in a short time. As long as the number of warships in the Sicilian fleet is restored to the previous number, I can even block the port of Carthage!"

Cypros reluctantly reminded: "The Senate has passed a resolution on this matter. All the port cities in the kingdom are manufacturing warships, but the time is too short to produce hundreds of warships now to satisfy your needs. requirements.”

"But there's one thing you can help with." Sekelian said seriously: "Before now docked at the naval base in Catania... Flarios captured twenty warships off the sea of ​​Cerrodieum. Ships, as well as the thirty warships I captured on the south coast this time, as long as some repairs and modifications are made, some of these warships can be incorporated into our fleet and go to sea to fight. In this way, the battle of the Sicilian fleet If the number of ships can reach 60 or 70 in a short period of time, you can continue to maintain the advantage over the Carthaginian navy. Therefore, I need Sir Cypros, you will temporarily gather the shipmakers from several cities in Sicily to the naval base. , help us refit these Phoenician ships as soon as possible!" This time, Cykrian said earnestly.