Leotychides rarely showed a hint of a smile, and now he asked: "How is the situation in the camp today?"
Since occupying Selinus, Leotychides had temporarily taken on the responsibility of managing the entire city (although most of the people in Selinus had been sent to Catane), so naturally, he didn't have much time and energy to devote to the army. Therefore, he usually let Calcidius manage the camp for him, and so far, there hadn't been any major problems.
"Everything is fine. The navy's defeat has not affected the morale of the brothers. On the contrary, they hope that you will allow them to raid the enemy camp again and make more achievements," Calcidius replied.
Leotychides shook his head slightly: "The Carthaginians have already been fooled once. The same trick is difficult to work again, but I am preparing for a major military operation—"
Speaking of this, he looked at Calcidius.
Calcidius stood steadily, without showing any eagerness.
Leotychides praised him in his heart, but his expression remained as cold as ever: "Now the Carthaginians have divided their army into four parts: one part besieges Selinus, one part is attacking Minoe fiercely, one part is attacking Enna, and another part is attacking Gela. The situation is very serious. If you were me, what would you do at this time?"
For senior officers like Calcidius, the intelligence obtained by scouts and fast ships is generally open to them. Therefore, Calcidius has a better understanding of the current battlefield situation and has his own thoughts. So he thought for a while and said: "The number of Carthaginian troops is far greater than ours, but since they are attacking separately, we can use our naval advantage to defeat them one by one."
"Defeat them one by one... Hmm..." Leotychides asked again without showing any emotion: "Where do you think we should strike first?"
"Gela," Calcidius said without hesitation: "The Carthaginian army there is said to be not very strong, and it is isolated and close to the coast, making it the best target for attack!"
Only then did Leotychides nod: "You and I have the same idea. I plan to lead the Eighth Legion and the Fourth Cavalry Legion by ship to Gela and defeat this Carthaginian army as soon as possible. After I leave, you will lead 5,000 legion reserve soldiers to stay here."
Calcidius did not respond immediately, but showed hesitation, which made Leotychides, who knew him well, feel strange.
After a moment, Calcidius resolutely said: "Commander, 5,000 soldiers are too many, 3,000 is enough. This way, you will have more soldiers to defeat the Carthaginian army, and I am confident that I can hold on until you lead the team back in triumph!"
Leotychides looked slightly surprised. He sat on the wooden chair, stared at Calcidius for a while, then stood up, walked to him, and patted him lightly on the shoulder: "This time, after I lead the army away from Selinus, it's not just to defeat the Carthaginian army in Gela. I'm afraid I won't be back for a long time, and Selinus is very important to us, so we must try our best to hold it. That's why I left you with so many soldiers. You don't have to worry about the small number of troops I lead. When I get to the east, I will have soldiers available."
After hearing this, Calcidius immediately solemnly stated: "Commander, please rest assured, as long as I am here, the city of Selinus will be here. I will definitely defend Selinus to the death!"
Leotychides twitched his face and said in a rare gentle tone: "If you really can't hold on, you don't need to defend it to the death. There is a naval fleet in the port.
Bring the soldiers home safely. This war will be very long. We will have a chance to recapture Selinus in the future..."
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
When the Catane fleet arrived at the port of Selinus, Leotychides led the army to prepare to board the ship, and happened to meet the messenger sent by Minoe for help.
It turned out that after Bomilcar led the Carthaginian army to the territory of Minoe and set up camp, he began to attack the city of Minoe. Unlike Monte Adrano, Bomilcar personally went to the front line to supervise the siege. In addition, with the iron-blooded command of the Iberian army generals, the soldiers did not dare to slack off, and the attack was fierce, bringing great pressure to the Minoan defenders.
At this time, Leotychides had no good way to deal with this news. He could only comfort the Minoans to hold on for a while, and he would lead his troops to rescue them as soon as possible.
Under the escort of the Sicilian fleet, Leotychides's army successfully entered the port of Gela.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
At the same time, Brellus, the commander of the Seventh Legion in the Locri camp, received an order from the Ministry of Military Affairs: The Seventh Legion will go to Catane immediately! Urgent!
"It's finally our turn!" Brellus's sturdy body jumped up from the chair and excitedly shouted to the adjutant: "Quickly send someone to notify the Locri administrative officer and ask them to prepare for the expedition. Also... inform the major teams of this news and let them immediately recall the soldiers who are out!"
"Yes, Legion Commander!"
Soon, continuous cheers rang out in the camp.
Brellus smiled when he heard this.
Brellus was once the Bruttii leader of Bisigniano. Later, Bisigniano was incorporated into Daonia, and he became a senator, but he did not engage in government affairs like Bacerius, but chose to join the Daonian Legion. During the South Italian War, he was the first battalion commander of the Fourth Legion. As a result, he and the legion commander Dracos were captured by Dionysius. Dracos was killed, but he was imprisoned because of his former Bruttii leader status, and was eventually rescued. As the only Daonian Legion senior officer who was captured by the Syracuse people and survived in the South Italian War, he regarded this as the greatest shame, and always fought bravely in subsequent wars. He was promoted to the legion commander of the Seventh Legion for his merits.
In this war, other legions participated in the war, but only the Seventh Legion has been idle so far. Brellus has repeatedly written to the Ministry of Military Affairs to complain about the injustice. Not long ago, the Ministry of Military Affairs sent a message saying that the Carthaginian army had landed in Sicily again, reminding him to prepare in advance.
Brellus began to issue a Seventh Legion call-up order to the surrounding towns. Now the Seventh Legion in the camp is fully staffed, and the soldiers are in high morale, waiting to go to battle to kill the enemy and make meritorious service.
But soon, the Locri City Hall's reply poured a bucket of cold water on Brellus, because there were not enough passenger ships in the port of Locri to transport the troops for the time being, and it would take another day or two to prepare.
Brellus felt frustrated.
At this time, the adjutant reminded him: "Locri has no ships, isn't there still Rhegium!"
Brellus's eyes lit up: In the past, the soldiers of the Seventh Legion came from Locri, Hipponium, and Colonia, but after Rhegium and its sub-state Tauriana were completely incorporated into the kingdom last year, these two cities were also designated as the source of troops for the Seventh Legion by the Ministry of Military Affairs. It was just because the relationship had not been straightened out, coupled with the outbreak of the war, the Seventh Legion had not yet issued a notice, asking the military training officers of Rhegium and Tauriana to arrange for their citizens to go to the Locri camp for rotation training. Although there were no Rhegium citizens in the Seventh Legion for the time being, Rhegium, as a port city guarding the Strait of Messina, would not lack ships, and it could completely help transport the army.
Brellus immediately said: "Send a messenger to Rhegium as soon as possible to request their support!"
The next day, Rhegium responded to the Seventh Legion's request, and nearly two hundred passenger ships sailed into the port of Locri at dusk.
Early the next morning, Brellus led more than 8,000 soldiers of the 7th Legion out of the camp and into the city of Locri. The people of Locri gathered on both sides of the street to say goodbye to their relatives. Unlike the people of other cities in the kingdom who said goodbye to the army, they rarely shouted and screamed, did not over-excite, and did not rush into the streets to hinder the march, but stood more orderly on the side of the street and waved Non-stop.
Although after joining the Daonian Kingdom, Locri no longer implemented the cruel laws formulated by Zaleucus, and there have been no more disabled people in the past 10 years, the citizens of this city have integrated introversion and obedience into their blood. At the same time, this also made Locri, which was originally an enemy of Daonia, hardly cause any trouble to King Davos and the Senate after joining the kingdom. Of course, the Locri citizens who believed in Persephone and emphasized ruling the country by law were more likely to identify with the Daonian Kingdom was also an important reason.
Before entering the port, the army also passed through the Locri shipyard: seven or eight large dry docks were lined up on the beach, and many shipbuilders were building three-layer oar warships inside; piles of felled thick tree trunks were piled up on the surrounding open-air sandy ground, and teams of carriages carrying trees into the workshop from time to time; in several temporary wooden sheds, carpenters were constantly processing rough tree trunks into flat and smooth planks... Everyone in the entire workshop was focused on their work, and few people were distracted to watch the Seventh Legion passing by here.
This kind of lively and orderly shipbuilding scene is not only in Locri, but also in other coastal towns with shipbuilding capabilities, such as: Thurii, Crotone, Terina, Siris, Rhegium, Tarentum, Catane, Naxos... The entire Daonian Kingdom is doing its best to manufacture more warships as soon as possible, so as to continue to gain naval advantages in the war with Carthage.
In the morning, the fleet carried the Seventh Legion soldiers, left the port of Locri, and sailed to Catane on the east coast of Sicily.
… … … … … … … … … … … … …
After Midolades received King Davos's order, although he was very excited, he did not immediately lead the fleet to invade Corsica, because he aimed the first target of attack at Aleria. Compared with the small village-like strongholds scattered by the Phoenicians on Corsica, Aleria, as the only Phoenician town on Corsica, has small but fertile farmland, rich mining industry, and a large port, which undoubtedly made Midolades covet it.
But he also knew that Artena would not be easy to attack. According to the information he had learned from the intelligence department, the city had more than 3,000 citizen soldiers and a 6-7 meter high city wall. Once a battle occurred, defending the city would mean that the Third Fleet, with only 6,000 fleet infantry, would pay a heavy price to capture it.
Moreover, Miltiades was good at naval warfare but had no experience in land battles.
Miltiades knew his own capabilities, so he did not act blindly, but instead gathered his subordinates to discuss the matter.
The Fleet Infantry Commander, Myronides, offered his suggestion: that was to lure the citizen soldiers of Artena out of the city and annihilate them, thereby weakening their defensive strength, making the city easier to attack. (In the Daonian army sequence, there are 4 Fleet Infantry Commanders, each belonging to one of the four major fleets. They are the second-in-command of the fleet and must obey the fleet commander's orders. They have the power to manage and train all the fleet infantry of the fleet in peacetime and to command the troops to land on the coast to carry out assault operations and raids on enemy territory during wartime. The number of fleet infantry under his jurisdiction is not fixed and depends on the number of crow warships in his fleet.) The way to lure them out was to dress up as Etruscan pirates and attack Artena's silver mine.
For a hundred years, the two most famous pirate groups in the Italian peninsula were the Illyrians in the Adriatic Sea on the east coast and the Etruscans on the west coast. Unlike the Illyrians, who became pirates mainly for survival, the Etruscan pirates were initially privately organized by the Etruscan city-states to combat the Greeks, who were constantly colonizing the Italian peninsula and beginning to threaten Etruscan hegemony in north-central Italy. As the wave of Greek colonization in the western Mediterranean waned and the final spheres of influence of both sides were determined, Etruscan piracy clearly decreased.
However, 30 years ago, Etruscan piracy increased again, but the reason was not official organization, but rather the Celtic people of northern Italy began to invade southward, seizing Etruscan land. In particular, more than a decade ago, the Celtic army swept across the entire territory of the Etruscans and even captured Rome. Many Etruscans fled to the sea and became pirates. Even after the Gauls were defeated, some Etruscans still tasted the sweetness of unearned income and wanted to continue plundering the west coast of Italy.
However, during this period, due to the establishment of the Daonian Third Fleet, patrols along the coast of the Daonian kingdom and its allies were strengthened. Etruscan pirates, who were frequently attacked, decreased significantly again and could only huddle in the northern part of the west coast of Italy, not daring to go south. Although Carthage had once formed an alliance with Etruria and still maintained a tacit understanding of bordering each other and not infringing on each other, Artena had often been attacked by Etruscan pirates in the past.
After Myronides's suggestion was adopted, Miltiades began to prepare carefully. He even made a special trip to the newly occupied Etruscan city of Caisle, to learn about the situation of the Etruscan pirates in detail, and also borrowed several Etruscan freighters and the armor and weapons of their soldiers.
Two days later, dozens of warships of the 3rd Fleet, fully loaded with fleet soldiers,
quietly approached the beach between Artena and the northern Etruscan town of Mariana at nightfall. 4,000 fleet infantrymen landed ashore and sneaked into the mountains.
The next day, several Etruscan ships suddenly broke into the coastal waters of Artena and approached the northern beach of Artena. More than 200 "Etruscan pirates" landed ashore and rushed towards a famous silver mine in the northwestern mountains of Artena.
Since the Daonian army landed in the Latium region, the Artenans had been worried, but after a month or two, the Daonian army had not set foot on the land of Corsica, and even no Daonian warships could be seen in the coastal waters. The Artenans temporarily relaxed, believing that the Daonian army was still caught up in the war with Rome and could not spare any forces. They did not expect that the hateful Etruscan pirates would appear at this time, and they wanted to plunder a large silver mine in Artena, which was an important source of revenue for the Artenan treasury.
After a detailed investigation by a fast ship, no other abnormalities were found in the coastal waters. Considering the difficulty of dealing with the Etruscan pirates, for safety reasons, the Carthaginian instructor of Artena decided to eliminate them as soon as possible to avoid other accidents. Therefore, he urged the city hall to quickly gather 800 Artenan citizen soldiers, and he led this army out of the city and quickly rushed to the location of the silver mine.
When they launched an attack on the Etruscan pirates who were plundering the silver mine, 4,000 fleet infantrymen suddenly appeared behind them and surrounded them.
The Artenan army was quickly defeated, the Carthaginian instructor was killed in battle, and the soldiers were either killed or captured.
The fleet infantry first separated them into teams for interrogation, and then put them together and escorted them towards the beach. On the way, the Artenan prisoners at the front of the column suddenly launched a riot, knocking down the soldiers escorting them. Then, these prisoners, with blood and filth on their faces, turned back to save their companions.
Suddenly, the entire escort team fell into chaos, causing a blockage at the city gate, making it impossible to close it immediately.
The main force of the fleet infantry then arrived and took the opportunity to kill their way into the city...
After a period of fighting in the city, Artena was captured.
.................
At dusk, the heavy and low sound of military horns resounded outside the city of Satricum, and the Daonian soldiers who were attacking the city retreated like a tide.
Inside the large tent in the military camp, Tolmides was reporting to Davos: "Your Majesty, we have launched continuous attacks on the city of Satricum in the past few days. The Roman defense is quite tenacious, which has prevented our attacks from making any progress. The casualties of the soldiers have been close to 3,000, and the continuous hard fighting has made the soldiers feel tired and their morale has declined."
"Tolmides, you're wrong. The morale of the brothers is still very high. They are eager to attack the city and avenge the dead comrades! Moreover, we have casualties, and the Roman casualties are not small either. They have fewer people than us. If we attack fiercely for a few more days, they won't be able to hold on!" Amyntas retorted loudly.
Tolmides did not argue, but just looked at Davos.
Davos's face was deep in thought, and his fingers were lightly tapping on the table.
After a moment, he said: "The Romans are different from other enemies. They are disciplined, tenacious, and no less than our legion soldiers. Moreover, their commander Camillus is very capable. In the past few days, their several sudden attacks during the defense have caused us a lot of trouble.
For an army with strong morale, the more fierce our attacks are, the more fierce the resistance will be. Moreover, Tolmides is right. Since landing in Latium, how many major battles have our soldiers fought in a few months? Siege warfare, raid warfare, pursuit warfare... Only then can we defeat Rome and conquer such a large territory in just a few months. It's time to slow down! The soldiers are made of flesh, not iron. Even iron, after continuous impact, will bend... Therefore, I have decided to stop attacking the city from tomorrow and continue to besiege Satricum.
I think... the last time we held a rugby game in the city of Rome, it was very popular with the soldiers. We can continue to hold rugby and football games in the camp, and expand the scope of the games. First, hold games between the detachments of each legion. The winning teams will then participate in the competitions of each legion. Whether it is the team that wins the final victory within the legion or the team that wins the championship between the legions, they will receive generous rewards, so that the soldiers can relax and be happy."
As soon as the topic turned to the sports that the legion soldiers liked the most, the legion commanders all smiled and agreed.
According to the Roman military concept, war is the most important event related to the life and death of the city-state. Citizens gather to go on expeditions, kill enemies and return, always going all out, and there has never been a case of playing games and having fun in the camp. However, since participating in the game last time, Sextus has been fascinated by this new game, and at this moment, his face is also full of joy. He also specifically asked: "Your Majesty, will you still play with us this time?!"
"That's absolutely not allowed!" Matonis loudly objected, his attitude extremely firm: "Your Majesty, you can't participate, otherwise the other legions won't be able to compete seriously!"
"Don't worry, this time I will only be an audience member." Davos looked at the anxious Matonis with a smile, and then looked at the somewhat disappointed Sextus: "However, the reserve soldiers really don't know how to play rugby very well, and they don't know how to play football even more. It's not fair for your legion to compete with them..."
Davos seemed to remember something, turning his head to look at his son standing beside him: "Croto, I'm giving you a task. Take a few staff officers to the reserve battalion's camp and diligently teach the soldiers how to play rugby and soccer, so they can play in matches. I'll have Tolmid delay the reserve battalion's matches as much as possible…"
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will teach them in the shortest possible time!" Croto Cartaxes answered solemnly, then couldn't help but ask: "Can I play in the matches with them?"
"That you'll have to ask your Uncle Matonis," Davos said, smiling again at Matonis.
Facing Croto Cartaxes' eager gaze, Matonis chose to give in: "That… of course."
After the celebration in Rome that day, Sextus now knew that Croto Cartaxes was King Davos' son. This showed how much Davos valued the Roman reserves, so he naturally expressed a warm welcome to Croto Cartaxes' joining.
"Your Majesty, we are not attacking Satricum for now, so what about Antium and Velitrae?" Olivus reminded.
"For the time being, keep an eye on them with cavalry as before, and discuss it after the rugby and soccer matches," Davos said, but in his heart, he already had a plan. He intended to turn the next attack towards Antium, because the city had few defenders and was a port city, making it easier to transport military supplies by sea, while also putting pressure on the defenders of Satricum.
"Your Majesty, the Carthaginian army has already landed in Sicily. This time is different from the last. Our army in Sicily will face a huge threat. Shouldn't we end the war in Latium as soon as possible and go to the rescue of Sicily?!" Amyntas said, somewhat resentful, so his tone was a little heavy.
Davos looked at him, his expression becoming serious: "I just said that the soldiers, like us, are made of flesh and blood, not iron. They need proper rest and entertainment to relieve their melancholy and war-weariness. Go back and look at your First Legion, and see how many new faces there are compared to when you first arrived at Volsci! Don't you feel any guilt! Since you all say that the Carthaginian army is a threat to Sicily, then we pay countless soldiers' deaths and injuries to forcibly attack Satricum, which can indeed end the war in Latium as soon as possible, but leading such a crippled army to face the Carthaginian army, do you think we can win?"
Davos' voice was not loud, but everyone could feel the anger in his words. A cold wind seemed to blow into the tent, and almost everyone felt a chill in their hearts.
Amyntas' face was slightly red, but he dared not speak again.
Davos smiled slightly at the sight,
softened his tone, and said slowly: "Our not forcibly attacking Satricum does not mean that we will let it go. The camp must continue to advance towards the city, clearing the traps under the city and tightening the encirclement; catapults must bombard the city walls every day, and throw fireballs into the city; siege earthworks must be built as soon as possible, so that light infantry can attack the Roman soldiers on the city walls from a distance… In short, keep the Roman defenders in a state of tension and exhaustion!"
Speaking of this, Davos suddenly looked at Sextus in the far corner and asked softly: "Sextus, before we attacked Satricum, we sent Roman relatives down from Capitoline Hill to persuade the city to surrender. Why wasn't the effect very good?"
Everyone's eyes shifted to this Roman general. The young Sextus did not feel nervous because of his background. He said with a complex expression: "I think this… may be related to Camillus. He is highly respected by these Roman citizens of noble birth and is also a role model for them to learn from. He returned the family members that Your Majesty sent to him under the city of Rome, and some citizen-soldiers in the city will definitely learn from him. Roman nobles maintain the interests of their clans and will try their best to obtain honor for their families, so in the past… surrendering to the enemy… would be regarded as a disgrace by them, so many people may learn from Camillus' approach, and others who have other ideas in their hearts will temporarily follow suit… Moreover, we attacked too quickly afterwards, and the defenders in the city resisted with all their strength, so naturally no one would sneak out of the city to surrender…"
"Camillus is a great Roman! Whether it's in his conduct or his actions, he leaves no room for criticism, and even at such an old age, he is still good at learning. You can see that the defensive facilities he has set up under the city are learned from us, and he has even made improvements, which have caused us a lot of suffering! It's a pity that, according to the narratives of the Trusterons, he is already paralyzed in all four limbs and is said to have difficulty even speaking. It seems that he won't live much longer…" Davos said with a sigh.
The legion commanders were somewhat unconvinced when they heard this, while Sextus' face naturally revealed some bitterness.
Davos didn't dwell on this topic. He looked at Sextus and said, "It's early August now, approaching the harvest season. Usually, the people of Daonia are running low on stored grain at this time, waiting to harvest the new crops. I imagine the Latins are the same. Camillus led the army to retreat to Satricum in a hurry. Even if they have some grain reserves, I doubt it's much. To supply tens of thousands of soldiers, I believe it won't last long. When the families go to the city walls every day to persuade them to surrender, do you think those Roman soldiers, tired, hungry, and constantly on edge, can still uphold the honor they preach?"
Sextus thought seriously for a moment, then replied honestly, "I think many won't be able to."
"Yes, they won't be able to. Hunger is more painful than death."
Davos raised his eyebrows slightly and said loudly, "As long as a small number of people choose to leave the city and surrender, it will affect the other Roman defenders. Their morale will rapidly decline until it finally collapses… Sometimes, killing with a soft knife is more effective than a head-on confrontation."
"Your Majesty is right. Not attacking head-on will make it easier to capture Satricum, and it will also greatly reduce casualties!" Tolmides immediately praised.
Several legion commanders also expressed their agreement, but Amyntas remained silent, somewhat unconvinced.
Davos saw this but didn't pay much attention. He saw Martius walk into the tent and asked, "What is it?"
"Your Majesty, Commander Midolades has sent a messenger."
"Let him in."
The messenger from the Third Fleet respectfully saluted King Davos and then excitedly said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, our Third Fleet captured Aleria in Corsica yesterday!"
The people in the tent were shocked by this news. Aleria was the largest city-state in Corsica, and its city was no smaller than Adria and Antium. The Third Fleet only had 6,000 fleet infantry, and no heavy infantry. How could they have captured Aleria in such a short time?!
"How did you capture Aleria?" Davos asked curiously, and the other generals also pricked up their ears.
The messenger immediately recounted the entire process of capturing Aleria.
"He's good at listening to his subordinates' advice, and once a plan is made, he implements it seriously. Midolades has done a very good job!" Davos praised loudly, "He should formulate the most effective battle plan based on the enemy's and our own situation, instead of acting recklessly. This way, he can achieve victory with fewer casualties. From this point of view, Midolades is already an excellent commander! And the fleet infantry commander of the Third Fleet is called… called…"
"His name is Maiontides," Tolmides whispered immediately to remind him.
"Maiontides, yes, I've noted it down. He's also very good!" Davos praised seriously.
Several legion commanders also congratulated him on the victory, but their expressions were somewhat complicated. After all, the navy had actually managed to capture a city-state without the help of the infantry legion.
Amyntas felt that what Davos had just said was a warning to him.
"Your Majesty, Commander Midolades hopes to get your approval to advance south and attack the Phoenician towns in Sardinia," the messenger said, seizing the opportunity while Davos was in a good mood.
"Go back and tell Midolades that I told him before that he could decide on the target of the invasion according to his own situation," Davos said with a smile, in a good mood. "Now that he has captured Aleria, he has gained a firm foothold in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Of course, he can choose the target of the attack according to his own situation, but go back and tell him one thing: just like capturing Aleria, continue to use your brain more and reduce casualties."
"Your Majesty, I will remember."
After the messenger left, Davos looked around at the crowd and said spiritedly, "Gentlemen, Alexis has already captured Cautium and Beneventum. The Cautini have been completely defeated, and the Hirpini tribes have successively submitted to us. The Calaceni and Pentri have retreated into the mountains and are unable to resist. The war in Samnium is coming to an end.
Here in Latium, the Latin city-states have almost all submitted, and the surrounding forces have also expressed their friendship to us. Asistetes has governed Rome well, maintaining stability. When the autumn harvest comes, the Roman people will once again benefit, and their support for Daonia will be further deepened, and the army's food supply will be greatly improved.
Just now, the Third Fleet sent good news that the Carthaginian forces in Corsica have been eliminated, and they will advance into Sardinia… Now, the war in Daonia north of Ligium has become stable. All battlefields either have a great advantage or are about to end.
With the overall war situation in our favor, the Carthaginian army has actually landed in Sicily again. In my opinion, it is not a bad thing, but a good thing. The Sicilian fleet has a naval advantage, and both Plaesius and Sippus are very capable. They can completely resist the Carthaginian attack for a period of time, drag down the Carthaginian army, and wear down their spirit. When we end the war in Rome, we will gather a large army and rush to Sicily to annihilate the Carthaginian army! By then, I don't believe Carthage will have the ability to send another large army!"
Davos's words greatly encouraged the generals.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
On the third day after Leotychides led his army to Gela, he prepared to go out of the city to meet the enemy, even without waiting for the reinforcements from Pachynus to arrive. Why was he in such a hurry?