Chapter 281 The Fall of Agilion

The soldiers of the Roman Reserve Brigade, who had been relatively quiet, began to cheer, accompanied by the shouts of many Roman noble soldiers. The Roman nobles still believe that the reason why Rome fell is that the Roman civilian soldiers surrendered to Dionia and rebelled. Coming to confront them is inseparable, and Sextus, as the leader of the Roman civilian soldiers, is naturally the biggest traitor.

Sextus turned a deaf ear to the scolding. He signaled the 10 Roman soldiers who followed him to get ready, then took a deep breath and led them to sing aloud: "O Tiber, you are the mother of the Romans, For a hundred years, you have held Rome in your arms, selflessly giving us sweet **…”

Hearing this familiar song, Max was stunned, and subconsciously hummed, but his eyes slowly turned red...

"Oh, the Tiber" is an ancient song that the Romans could sing since childhood, but when it sounds here and now, it has a bitter taste for the Roman noble soldiers who are about to leave Rome and live in a foreign country.

The scolding became smaller, the singing became louder, and the melodious and lyrical ballads echoed in the wilderness, faintly mixed with the sound of choking...

"Look, the swollen river is roaring, the lone wolf is howling on the Capitoline Mountains, Romans, working hard on the land touched by the Tiber River, hard but happy..." Max sang emotionally, suddenly He saw the surrounding Dionian soldiers clapping their hands and humming along.

"Nice song, isn't it!" The team officer raised his glass and smiled kindly at him.

Dionian soldiers raised their wine glasses to the Roman soldiers by each bonfire...

That night, the soldiers drank as much as they wanted, danced as much as they wanted, and vented their unease, sadness, fear, boredom... and other negative emotions from the previous war.

……………………………………

In the early morning of the second day, senior generals led by Amyntas and Matonis gathered in the military conference room of the Trina Naval Base.

"Matonis, didn't you sleep last night?" Davos frowned, looking at the sleepy Second Army commander slumped on the wooden chair.

"...Your Majesty." Matonis hurriedly stood up, yawned, and defended: "Last night, Amintas forced me to drink with him, the bonfire party was over, and he didn't stop... I Totally drunk, I don't know when I returned to the camp..."

Hearing Matonis' tactful rebuke,

Amyntas glanced at him sideways, straightened his chest, and said proudly: "Boy, now you know who is old!"

"Who was it that I fell to the ground yesterday!" Matonis retorted.

"Okay, haven't you two made enough trouble! Do you want me to give you a few more cans of wine so you can drink enough!" Davos sank, and the two immediately quieted down, but their eyes were still looking at each other. stare.

"Last night, you brought the soldiers to make a fuss, but don't forget to thank Midorades, he arranged the fleet infantry to maintain the banquet order, and stood guard for the drunk soldiers to prevent accidental accidents. It happened..." Davos said this with a serious expression. Although he dared to hold such a large-scale bonfire party because the entire army was in the hinterland of the kingdom, there were still some safety issues to be considered, such as in the The legionnaires relaxed their vigilance after having fun. Will those Roman noble soldiers who surrendered take the opportunity to attack... So, he let thousands of fleet infantry stand by and pay close attention to the situation in the camp. Fortunately, the night passed smoothly, and also Let him have more confidence in commanding these Roman noble soldiers next.

"Your Majesty, the army is stationed here, and it is our 3rd Fleet's responsibility to be responsible for security." Midorades said humbly.

Davos nodded slightly, took out a letter, and let Henepolis hand it over.

Midorades took a look, and his eyes suddenly widened: "The Carthaginians will send a new fleet of nearly 200 warships to escort Sardinia?!"

As soon as these words came out, the other generals were also surprised and scrambled to read the secret letter.

"What? Are you afraid?" Davos said lightly.

Midorades smiled and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, this is really great! Our 3rd Fleet can finally fight a real naval battle!"

Davos looked at him and asked seriously: "The Carthaginians have nearly 200 warships, and the Third Fleet only has 150. Are you sure you can defeat them?"

"Of course!" Midorades replied without hesitation: "Although the Carthaginians have many warships, they still use traditional naval tactics. Many past naval battles have shown that our naval tactics occupy the It's a great advantage. Moreover, Carthage formed a new fleet so quickly, and they hurriedly dispatched to the battlefield without a period of running-in. When it comes to battle, will their warships be in good shape? coordination is an issue.

Also... According to tradition, newly built warships need to go through sea trials and repairs for a period of time before they can have quality assurance. Obviously, these new warships of Carthage have not undergone rigorous testing, and they are very difficult in the fierce battle. There may be problems..."

After listening to Davos, he turned his head and asked Thormid: "How is our newly built warship?"

"Two days ago, a message from the Ministry of Military Affairs said, 'Turii has 26 warships built, Tarantum 23, Brindisi 20, Crotone 15, Trina 17 ships...' So far, 213 3-tier oared warships have been built in the kingdom, and they are undergoing sea trials one after another. According to normal procedures, they will be put into use at the end of this month. Thormid introduced the new construction in a fluent language. Regarding the situation of the warships, he asked again: "Your Majesty, do you need to put these warships into service in advance? "

Davos shook his head: "No, just follow the normal procedure. But when these warships are in service, 50 ships must be allocated to the Third Fleet first."

When Midorades heard this, he was overjoyed: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Davos tapped the table with his hand and said sternly: "The Carthaginians sent this newly-built fleet to Sardinia instead of Sicily, which shows the importance of Sardinia to them. What's more, The presence of such a fleet in the Sardinian waters is a great threat to the region of Ladium we just conquered and to the west coast of our entire kingdom! So, Midorades, your task now is to find It, annihilate it! Then continue to harass the coast of Sardinia and cut off Sardinia from Carthage!"

"Your Majesty, the Third Fleet will definitely fulfill the important task you entrusted to me!" Midorades responded decisively.

"But before that, the 3rd Fleet must first escort the army to land in Sicily." Davos glanced at the generals in the room and said slowly: "Following this news about the new Carthage fleet, there is also a copy of Sicily. Battle report... The Carthaginians have captured Agilion."

Agilion was captured? ! The generals were surprised. During their stay in the camp of Satnicum, they had a detailed understanding of the battlefield situation in Sicily, considering that they were going to fight south soon, and knew that the Carthaginian army had been intercepted at Pala. Gonia and Hena could not advance an inch, but now when they were about to land in Sicily, the situation of the battle suddenly changed.

"What is Prosius doing?! How could Agilion be lost so easily! The Carthaginians occupied it, and they were able to break into the Etna area. Not only was Catane threatened, but Naxo was also threatened. Si is also threatened!..." Amyntas said angrily.

"Plosaus, as the commander of Sicily, was not only able to defeat the first army formed by Carthage with less, but also captured Serinus and disturbed the enemy in western Sicily. Later, he faced the sudden attack of the 100,000 Carthaginian army led by Marco and the Syracuses. With such a huge disparity in strength, he was able to resist the attack of the Carthaginians and ensured the main towns of Sicily. Safety has bought us time to land in Sicily in time... Prosous can do this only by relying on the military strength of the Sicilian territory, it is not easy, we should not be too harsh." Davos said softly , his generous praise of Prosous (Leotizides) embarrassed Amyntas.

Although some of the other generals were unconvinced, they all remained silent at the moment.

"Your Majesty, the fall of Agilion has little effect on us." Printols has always sat in the corner in previous military conferences, but his brilliant record in Ladium has made his status obviously great. Not only did he sit at the large wooden table with a map engraved on it, not far from Davos, but he also began to speak proactively: "We can see from this map that the Carthaginians captured Agilion, in fact, It does not have much impact on our Sicilian territory. It is a mountainous area and it is difficult to transport food. Even if the Carthaginians enter the Etna area through Agilion, as long as Naxos and Catanay hold the city, they will The attack will certainly not last, not to mention the two cities of Hena and Herbita threatening their rear."

"Printors, don't forget the Sikai people." Thormid finally got a chance to refute his colleagues: "Although Agilion was not incorporated into the kingdom, it was the Sikai. The former center of the Sikel people, which is of great significance to the Sikel people, has now fallen into the hands of the Carthaginians, which may cause the confidence of the eastern Sikel tribes to be shaken."

"Isn't it that these Sikel tribes in the east have been in close contact with us, and are almost about to be incorporated into the kingdom? Wouldn't they surrender to the Carthaginians so easily?" Olivers objected.