Camillus said: "...... Fortunately, the people of the city did not give in, the senators led them up to the Capitoline, held on to our temple, and many people who fled Rome slept in the wilderness not far ahead, they were able to endure the difficulties and did not give in, believing that you, the warriors of Rome and the allies, could drive out the enemy and retake Rome! But if you can't unite as one, if you don't strictly enforce the discipline of the army, if you don't obey orders, if you don't act like a plate of sand, we won't be able to defeat the mighty enemy of Dionia! At that time, Rome will not be able to recapture, your relatives will become slaves, you will never be able to see each other, and you will either die in battle, or you will become homeless wild dogs, and you will become slaves captured at will by aliens, are you willing to do that?! ”

"I don't want to!!" The generals and squadron leaders were the first to raise their arms and shout.

The soldiers, also frightened by the tragic prospect described by Camillus, shouted along.

When this shout gradually merged into a torrent of sounds, Camillus knelt down at the head of the city, raised his hands in the air, raised his head to the sky, and shouted in a reverent voice: "O Jupiter, we will surely defeat the Dionians, as we defeated the Celts, and will never let the aliens defile your temple, so please protect us!" ”

Not long after he finished shouting, he heard a loud "rumbling" sound from the cliff behind the city of Signaia, and a huge rock accompanied by gravel rolled down the hillside, and finally smashed into the open space on the side of the city of Sigenia.

The generals first shouted excitedly: "It's a divine omen!" Jupitt responded!! ”

Immediately, the soldiers reacted, and joy swept away the gloom on their faces, and they hurriedly bowed their heads and prayed to the god Jupiter.

Jupiter's miracle shook the Roman soldiers present, and they quickly unified their understanding and began to shout the slogan "Repulse the enemy, take back Rome", so Camillus led them to march quickly to Prinister in the posture of mourning soldiers.

At dusk, when the army arrived in Priniste, the situation became somewhat chaotic: the generals were busy setting up camps and arranging for the soldiers to rest; The Roman people who had been displaced here poured in, and the soldiers also flocked over, both eager to find their relatives in the crowd. Those who saw their relatives were very happy and thanked Jupiter for their protection; If you don't see your loved ones, you will be sad...... But the dire situation of the exiles made the soldiers even more desperate to retake Rome.

The dictator, Camillus, first went to meet with the top brass of Prinister and thanked them for their great help to Rome.

He then quickly summoned Mezius, Quintus, and Frius to learn more about the Dionian army's breach of the city.

…………………………………………

When Davers welcomed the arrival of the kingdom's administrators, he also received war reports and proposals about Sicily from the Senate and the Ministry of War.

He never imagined that the huge Sicilian fleet would be destroyed by a storm, which would make Dionia's maritime superiority in Sicily less so strong, and that the war between Dionya and Carthage might change somewhat, so Davers first urgently convened a military council.

The meeting was attended by the General Staff Tolmid, Printoles and the Third Fleet Commander Midorades.

Davers looked at the three of them with a stern expression, and then said, "You all read the battle report, what do you think?" ”

Tolmide coughed and said, "Your Majesty, this storm destroyed more than half of the kingdom's warships, but it also destroyed almost all the warships of Carthage, and judging from the results, it is not too bad, we still have the advantage at sea. Moreover, the Ministry of War proposed to transfer Brindisi's Fourth Fleet to Sicily, plus the dozens of warships that were originally left of the Sicilian fleet, so that we have an even greater maritime advantage in Sicily than before, and it will be more difficult for Carthage to send reinforcements and supplies to Sicily, and our victory in Sicily will become more secure! ”

Davers tapped his fingers on the table and said in a deep voice: "Will the transfer of the Fourth Fleet on the east coast of Great Greece make Sparta and the remnants of the former Puchetti and Mesapi who fled to Greece feel that they have an opportunity?" ”

"According to intelligence, after the revolt in Thebes and the liberation from Sparta's control, another war will break out in Central Greece, and how many city-states will join this war and how long will it last? We can't make an accurate judgment now, but Sparta obviously can't get out of this war in a short time, and they don't have the strength to fight the idea of the kingdom. As for the enemies who fled to Greece proper, their numbers were too small, and the political situation in Apulia was stable, so they could not cause any major chaos. Tolmid said confidently.

Davers groaned and nodded.

Midorades interjected: "Although Lord Tormead is reasonable, after all, the transfer of the Fourth Fleet will still bring hidden dangers to the Apulian region, not to mention that now Commander Alexis is leading all the troops of Apulia to defend against the invasion of the Samonai, if at this time, it will be more troublesome to have some chaos in the rear, why don't you transfer some of the warships of our Third Fleet to Sicily?" ”

Davos looked at him, and after a moment, he said with a straight face: "In this military plan to attack Rome and the Latium region, your Third Fleet is very important, and it must cooperate with the army to fight, and it must not be easily dismantled!" Although the Third Fleet is still only serving as a guard, it may play an even bigger role in the future! Don't be distracted, Midorades! However, if you personally want to go to the Sicilian fleet, I can approve it at my discretion. ”

Davers's words made Midolad break out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I will lead the Third Fleet to ensure the safety of the army at sea, please rest assured!" ”

Davers's expression was slightly gloomy, and he turned his head to Tormid and said, "I agree with the opinion of the Ministry of War, and transfer the Fourth Fleet to Sicily." However, Alexis must be reminded to strengthen the defense of the east coast of the Apulia region to prevent other enemies from taking advantage of the gap. ”

Speaking of this, he said with a heavy expression: "Other...... Inform Prosous to increase the search for Seklian and Vlarios, and see people alive and corpses dead! Even if they do die in battle, they must not let the bodies of the two high-ranking generals and heroes of the kingdom be thrown into the wilderness, and their only destination is Valhalla and the Temple of Death! As for the choice of commander of the newly integrated Sicilian fleet...... First of all, it was Sekrian, if he ...... If it's gone, then it's Flarios. If Vlarios is no longer there, let Miltias of the Fourth Fleet take the role. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Tolmid replied as he put pen to paper on the board he had brought with him.

Davers let out a long sigh: "The most painful thing about this sea disaster is not the warship, but the dead crew...... How many people died in this naval battle? ”

Tolmid immediately replied: "Now preliminary statistics show that the dead crew members have exceeded 10,000 people. ”

After hearing this, Davers's expression became even heavier: "More than 10,000 people! They were all sailors who were familiar with the tactics of the Dionian Navy and experienced in naval warfare, and all of them were gone in a storm, and tens of thousands of families were left without relatives...... The Ministry of War is to send people to the military ports of Tarantum, Castelon and Catania to offer condolences to the relatives of these dead sailors, to soothe their grief, and to discuss their post-war pensions now! ”

"Understood, Your Majesty. I will immediately write a letter to the Ministry of Military Affairs and ask you to sign it. Tolmid replied.

Davers remembered something, and asked, "What is the name of the admiral who led the warship in time, broke into the port of Selinus, and finally helped Prosous take the city?" ”

"Stefacas."

"Stefacas......" said Davers approvingly, "to be able to protect the fleet at such a critical moment, and to be able to achieve battle merits, it seems that he is a decisive and nimble general!" ”

When several people in the audience heard this, they immediately felt envious of Stefacas: to be named by Davers, and to remember that the future must be very good!

Davers turned his gaze to Printols, who had not yet spoken, and asked, "What do you think of the war in Sicily?" ”

"Your Majesty." "Although our navy now has the upper hand in the waters of Sicily, Carthage has been a maritime power in the western Mediterranean for a hundred years, and their shipbuilding capabilities are better than those of the kingdom," Printors reminded. According to intelligence, there are four large shipyards in the port of Carthage, and the dozens of Phoenician coastal city-states attached to it also have strong shipbuilding capabilities. ”

"You're right!" Davers nodded and said seriously: "This is indeed an issue that we should pay attention to!" We must also speed up the pace and vigorously build new warships, restore and strengthen our naval fleet, so that we can meet the continuing maritime challenges of Carthage and completely gain maritime supremacy in the Western Mediterranean! I will immediately write to the Senate and ask them to organize and mobilize the various coastal cities of southern Italy and start building warships!

But don't worry too much, maybe Carthage has more shipbuilding skills and more shipwrights than us, but it has two fatal flaws that doom it to defeat the kingdom's navy! ”

Davers's words attracted the attention of the three people, he stretched out two fingers, and said slowly: "The first is timber, there are no tall trees in the land of Africa, and the source of their shipbuilding timber is the Iberian Peninsula, but its developed shipbuilding industry is concentrated in Carthage and the surrounding Phoenician city-states, which determines that they must first transport timber from Iberia to Carthage before they can start shipbuilding, which is time-consuming, and it is easy to be cut off from shipping routes and get into trouble."

In our territory there are mountains with abundant timber resources, and they are located next to various coastal cities in southern Italy. This time I will ask the Senate to temporarily lift the ban on cutting down trees and provide enough marine timber to the shipyards free of charge. ”