"I was very happy when I received the order from Lord Sipros in Hena!" Breyru said sincerely: "Lord Lizarus, Lord Epitenis, you don't know that the Carthaginians have caused misery to the tribe of Sikaire! Your arrival has given us a chance to take revenge on the Carthaginians! Everyone has been waiting for you to come! Creroy said, pointing to the Sikyl soldiers who followed him behind, all of them looking eagerly at the flag-waving, neat, and imposing Dionian marching troops.

The two corps commanders were also looking at the auxiliaries recruited by Creroux: mostly Siquell light infantry in short-sleeved shirts and javelins in their hands, but also a few light armoured men armed with leather shields and spears and wearing black leather armor.

Seeing that the two legion commanders were puzzled by the attire of these lightly armored soldiers, Créru explained: "They are all citizens of Sikel who have joined the kingdom in recent years, and they are also drafted to participate in military training at the Katanai military camp, and they can be regarded as reserve soldiers of the legion. ”

"How many men do you have?" Lizaru asked directly.

"Of the 4,700 out of a total of 4,700 people, 780 became Ionian citizens, and the rest were all tribesmen." Creru replied.

Lizaru and Epitenis looked at each other, a smile on their faces. King Davos had asked Creru to gather the Sikels and assist them in the battle, but neither of them could have imagined that Creru would gather so many soldiers, including the 16,000 men of the full Third Legion and the Lucanian Reserve Legion, plus the nearly 1,000 additional Roman soldiers in the legion, adding up to a total of 23,000 men.

For them, this is already a huge number, which gives them confidence in defeating the enemy in the mountains.

"Two legion elders, it's getting late, let's let the soldiers into the city quickly." Creru reminded.

"I think it's better to camp outside the city, we have two legions, I'm afraid we can't live in this city." Epitenis shook his head and said, he had been observing when he had seen the city from a distance, although Agillion was once the central town of the Sikers, the walls were not too high, and they were still wooden, and it seemed that the area was not too large, considering that there were still residents in the city, so he would have this suggestion.

"You don't know, the Carthaginians forced the Sikel tribes in and around the city of Agilion to follow them to the west, and they cut off the heads of all those who resisted...... Now Agilion is an empty city, and there are enough empty houses in the city to house the soldiers......"

No wonder these Sikyll warriors have such eager eyes! Epitenis once again glanced at the soldiers who were standing behind Creru, and he thought that this was a good thing, because hatred would give strength to men, and in the future, these Sikel soldiers would fight the Carthaginians with all their might.

"Do you know where the Carthaginians retreated?" Lizarus was more concerned about the movements of the Carthaginian army.

"According to some Sichael tribes, the Carthaginians retreated to Enna, what is the specific situation, I have just gathered an army, and I have not done a more detailed reconnaissance." Creru explained.

"Draw ten Sikail warriors from your team who are very familiar with the mountainous terrain, and lead our reconnaissance team to find out the details of the enemy as soon as possible, so that we can formulate an attack plan as soon as possible." Lizaru immediately made a request to Crerou, and he also said to Epitenis: "We should not rely too much on Izzam, he must serve His Majesty first, and then when he conveys information to us, there will be a delay, and it is better for us to obtain information ourselves." ”

Epitenis nodded in agreement, and said, "Let's go into the city, the soldiers have marched for most of the day, and it is time to settle down and rest." ”

"Into town!" Lizaru waved back.

Standing at the head of the marching column, the flag bearer of the 3rd Legion, waving the Legion flag, led the soldiers into the gates of Agilion.

The Sikail warriors, standing at the head of the city and on both sides of the road, greeted them in their own way.

…………………………………………

Later, Davers' army arrived in Gera.

The famous Greek city-state on the south coast had been burned to ruins by the Carthaginians, and it was Margo's idea, even if he led his army to evacuate, he did not want the Dioonians to take advantage of the empty cities.

Not only did Gera suffer this fate, but Econum, Agrigento, and Minoa did not escape the same fate, with the exception of Agilion, who was the leader of the Western Celtanian tribe, Aconis, after all, Agillion was the town where his father lived, and he also looked forward to the future when the Carthaginians drove out the Dionians, and he did not want it to be destroyed, and it was not conducive to his prestige among the other Sikel tribes.

The Carthaginians, in order to be able to continue to secure the allegiance of Arconis, agreed to his request.

Davos had known about the destruction of Geral in advance, but because the Carthaginians had retreated hastily and did not have the patience to destroy the city after burning, Gela's walls were still relatively intact.

Yesterday, Davers had ordered Secrean to send ten ships to land here, and the crew had cleaned up the city more thoroughly and lightly. Therefore, although it was already dusk when Davers and his army arrived, the tired legionnaires did not need to build any more camps, but went directly into the city, and each entered the allotted area, set up his tent, and rested.

Moreover, Davers learned from the constant messages from the mountain reconnaissance brigade that there was no trace of the Carthaginian army within a radius of several tens of miles, and the only city of Camanlina, which was potentially hostile, had only more than 1,000 Syracuse soldiers stationed in it, and it was impossible to pose a threat to the Dionian army.

However, Davers still reminded the commanders of all corps to strictly follow the requirements of camping in enemy-occupied areas during wartime, arrange the necessary defensive facilities, arrange sentry posts and patrols, and prevent the enemy from attacking at night.

On this day, after the commander of the Apulian theater of operations, Alexis, completed the defense deployment of the area under his responsibility (let the 11th Army guard the Dauni area to deter the newly surrendered Samonai and prevent attacks on the other side of the Adriatic Sea, and the 9th Army was to be responsible for the defense of both Meshapi and Puchetti), leading the 10th Army and the 3rd Cavalry Corps, which had been replenished and fully staffed, and 4 reserve brigades, totaling nearly 14,000 men, to take ships in the port of Tarantum. Sailed to Sicily.

………………………………………

The war lasted for almost a year, and the casualties of the citizens of Dionya were not few, even the Turi region, with a population of nearly 30, was not affected a lot, after all, it provided the first and second legions of troops, and these two legions were precisely the main force of the battle, and the casualties were not small, and after a while, a group of urns of dead soldiers and seriously wounded soldiers were transported to the port by passenger ships.

At this time, the people of the Turi region are most afraid of being approached by officials from the Ministry of Household Registration, because it means that their relatives have left them.

The Ministry of Military Affairs, on the other hand, will inform the next group of citizens to be ready to be called up at any time, and their families will no longer be as anxious as they were at the beginning of the war, with the hope that their loved ones will be rewarded and honored.

The number of people in black veils inside and outside the city began to increase, and the sound of mourning echoed in the plains of Xubari from time to time, and the people who went to the various Hades temples every day were endless: some prayed that the souls of those who died in the war would reach the Elysée Paradise safely, some prayed that the relatives who were still fighting would return home safely, and some prayed that the war would end as soon as possible......

The priests of Hades were also very busy, not only to perform a solemn ceremony for the ashes of these citizens who had sacrificed their lives for the country, but also to comfort their grief-stricken relatives and solemnly assure them that the Elysée Paradise was the final destination for the souls of these heroic warriors!

More often than not, they used divination and oracles to soothe the restless populace.

Trade in several markets inside and outside the city began to decline significantly, mainly because the relatives of the deceased apparently did not consume strongly in a short period of time**, which of course had something to do with the funeral culture of Dionia.

Although the sea routes remained basically smooth due to the strength of the Dionian navy, the recession of the market also directly affected the prosperity of the port, and the decrease in merchant ships directly affected the income of the people in the port, which in turn affected their purchasing power and led to the weakening of their spending power...... This is a vicious circle created by war.

The only fortunate thing is that this year has just been harvested, and people have enough surplus food at home, and the fluctuation of grain prices in the market has little impact on them.

Only two markets have become more thriving at this time.

One is the arms and ironware market. Due to the final victory of the army in several battlefields, most of the captured weapons were sold to domestic arms merchants at low prices, and the merchants sold them directly or after casting and manufacturing, and the prices were lower than usual. Most of the citizens of Dionya would buy some more weapons and equipment in order to build up their merits and develop better in the kingdom in the future, so that they could use them as a backup when they went to war.

Then there is the slave market. A small number of the captives captured by the Dionian army were not released for various reasons, such as soldiers recruited by the fugitives of the former Mesapi, Puchetti and Dauni who crossed the Adriatic Sea by boat and attacked the Apulian region...... These slaves were eventually resold to slave traders.