Hanno believed that many of the centrist senators opposed Margo's appointment as commander of the Carthaginian army for this reason, but this reason could not be declared, because Margo had repeatedly complained to the Senate over the years, saying that the Iberian natives were numerous and fierce, and the army had suffered too much loss, so he had to expand it, and asked Carthage to increase the salaries of the soldiers to ensure their morale.

Hanno instigated the Senate to allow Marco to expand the army, but on the grounds that "there was a constant war in Numibia and a tight treasury", he always delayed the payment of his salary, and instead asked him to find a way to do it himself.

At that time, Hanno gloated that even if Marco was not defeated in the hands of the Iberian natives, he would have caused mercenary rebellion due to lack of money and food.

As a result, Marco survived, not only conquering the vast territory of southern Iberia, but also his family lived a prosperous life, and Hanno regretted it when he thought of it.

Many of the patriarchs were not unaware of what was going on, but it was clear that some of the patriarchs who did not belong to these two factions were thoughtful about Pretakuba's words.

Seeing this, Tepanlako reluctantly reminded, "Don't forget, the Dioonians have captured many of our citizens, and the army in Sicily is now in a difficult situation...... Continuing to fight will only make their situation even more difficult, and this is completely indifferent and irresponsible to the citizens of Carthage! ”

"I think it would be most irresponsible for Carthage to propose an armistice at this time, so that Dionya could concentrate on destroying its powerful enemies to the north, Rome and Samone, and thus expand its territory, increase its population, and make the kingdom more powerful again! If we choose to compromise, we will not only saddle Carthage with the crime of betraying our allies, but also miss the great opportunity to unite with the allies and attack Dionya together, making the already difficult Dionya even more difficult to deal with! Ocleton, do you think Dioonia will forgive us for tearing up the agreement and provoking war because of our truce?! Think, Tarantum! Think of Syracuse! At that time, Dionia, which had already secured the north, would organize an army of more than 100,000 to attack western Sicily, and after occupying it, it would send a naval transport force to land in Africa and attack it in a big way! Attack Carthage! ”

Pretakuba pointed to the ground, looked around at the crowd, and said in a deep voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, if you want Carthage to become a free city in the kingdom of Dionia, then—send someone to negotiate peace!" ”

Pretakuba's words caused a sudden silence in the somewhat noisy venue.

After a few moments, Ocliton said angrily, "I protest! Pretakuba This is ...... This is malicious slander! All I am asking for is a temporary truce...... In order to...... To save our captured citizens! ……”

Ocriton's stammering words made Hanno frown, and he knew that he could no longer remain silent, and that he could never let his side, which was already in a difficult situation, fall into the embarrassing situation of being blamed by others again, so he stood up.

Suddenly, the eyes of everyone in the venue were focused on him.

"Whether it is Ocleton's request for a temporary peace with Dionys, or Pretakuba's insistence on continuing the war, everyone is in the interest of our Carthage, but their opinions are somewhat different." Hanno looked serious and said in a deep voice, "Now Carthage is in a difficult situation, the army has been defeated, the citizens have been captured, and the Sicilian territory is being invaded by the Dionians...... We should work together to get through this together, instead of arguing over personal grievances and ignoring the interests of the city-state! I propose that emissaries be sent to Sicily to demand from the Ionians the ransom of our captured citizens, both at the expense of a large amount of food.

At the same time, although I have had conflicts with Master Margo in the past, in the face of Carthage's national interests, what is the personal gain or loss, since Lord Pretakuba strongly recommended Margo to be the new commander of the army to fight against Dionia, and most of the senators here think that he is the most suitable person, and I have no objection to this, so I suggest that the Senate appoint Margo as the new commander of the Carthaginian army, fight against the Dionians in Sicily, and win the victory for Carthage! ……”

When Hanno had finished speaking, Ocriton was stunned, Pretakuba was suspicious, and the elders of both sides were surprised, and suddenly the meeting fell into an eerie silence.

"Smack! Syllable! Syllable! ......" Esyaruba's applause broke the silence of the venue, and some of the elders also applauded. At present, the two major political forces of Carthage can bridge the contradictions and fight the enemy together, which is what any senator who is worried about the safety of Carthage wants to see, so they did not hesitate to give Hanno applause, completely forgetting that it was because Hanno refused to enter the war and personally appointed Monte Adeno as the commander of the army that led to a fiasco.

When the applause rang out in the room, Hanno breathed a sigh of relief, and although he had to make concessions to the Magonides, he also temporarily avoided the accusations of some of the patriarchs and regained the initiative.

………………………………………

After his victory at Minoa, Leotizides easily captured the Carthaginian camp and captured a large amount of baggage, including, of course, mountains of grain, which greatly alleviated the shortage of food for the Dionian army in Sicily. The Dioonian troops, who had pursued the rout, occupied Germe, and after enjoying the thermal baths, they all returned to Minoa under his orders to prevent the lone army from being attacked further.

The next day, Leotizides began to reorganize his troops, treat the wounded, and transport supplies...... At the same time, keep an eye on the enemy's movements.

As a result, he was surprised by the information sent back by the spies, and that not all of the Carthaginian troops had retreated to Selinus, most of them had retreated to Lilibi, and only a few remained in Selinus, including the remnants of the Carthaginian Holy Legion.

Leotizides immediately realized that this was another advantageous opportunity, and in order to scare away the enemy, he had 4,000 heavy infantry of the Eighth Army land on the beach west of Selinus in a flotilla, under the protection of naval warships, in order to cut off the return of the rout, and at the same time he himself led a force of 20,000 men to advance west along the seaside road.

The Holy Legion under the leadership of Millefio and some of the Carthaginian citizen soldiers remained in the city of Selinus, which was not Monteadeno's intention.

It turned out that after the defeat at the Battle of Minoa, most of the Carthaginian army fled to Selinus, and after spending the night in terror and anxiety exhausted, the lost Monte Adno wanted to continue to lead the troops to the west, but Minerfeo made it clear that he was against it.

As Hanno's son-in-law, Millefio felt that this defeat would have a great impact on the Hannoites, and if he abandoned his allies and allowed the Dioonians to invade Carthage's sphere of influence despite the strong retention of his allies, then he would never end well when he returned to Carthage. Besides, there are still many defeated soldiers lost in the mountains, and they also need to stay in this city for a while, waiting for their return. In the final analysis, as a famous son of Carthage, Millefio has his own pride and persistence.

As the defeat in this battle reduced Monteadeno's prestige, some of the routs were willing to stay with Minerfio, and after several attempts to persuade them to no avail, Monteadeno abandoned them in anger and hurried back to Liliba with an army composed mainly of Numibians.

Millefio was actually apprehensive, but he was relieved when he learned that the Dioonians had withdrawn from Germe. Coupled with the routs that kept fleeing, the number of troops in Selinus reached 3,000, which gave him some confidence.

At this moment, Millefio received news that a Dionian army of several thousand men had landed west of Selinus.

At the same time he was alarmed, he could also report that Dionia's army of tens of thousands was marching from Minoa along the seaside road to the west.

Minerfio immediately realized that his Selinus would be the first target of the Dionians.

What to do? Millefio, who had just suffered a crushing defeat, was caught in a difficult choice and led his army to retreat immediately before the enemy arrived? But he had sworn to Monteadeno before that he would stick to Selinus, and now that he had slipped away without fighting, he didn't know what kind of face Monteadeno would taunt him; Stay and hold on? With 3,000 troops in the city, plus the citizens of Selinus, it may be possible to hold out for a few months.

However, some of Millefio's officers objected, arguing that the soldiers had just experienced defeat, their morale was low, and the rout came from multiple units, so it was difficult to command the battle, let alone cooperate tacitly.

More importantly, one of the officers pointed out that in order to hold Selinus, it was necessary to have sufficient food supplies, and the food reserves in Selinus City were not enough, and I am afraid that it would not be able to support the army for a long defensive battle.

It turned out that the Carthaginian army attacked eastward, and when it passed through Selinus, it took the city's grain with them, and as a result, the battle of Minoa resulted in the capture of all the baggage stored in the Carthaginian camp.

When the inexperienced and war-torn Millefio heard this, he suddenly realized that he had made a big mistake, but it also gave him a reason to return to Lilipo without reproach.

Just as Millefio was gathering his troops and preparing to withdraw, the Selinus higher-ups got the news and immediately rushed to dissuade them.

Minerfio had to take some time to convince them, and at last under the onslaught of the words and tears of the Selinus, he had to abandon his efforts and send his soldiers to disperse them, preparing to force them out of the city.