Davers paused and continued, "The second is the sailor. A three-sculled warship requires nearly 200 sailors, and if a fleet has 100 three-sculled warships, it needs nearly 20,000 sailors. The navy is a military force that needs a large population to support, and the Phoenicians and Carthaginians are not a populous race, even if it uses the Numibians as sailors, but the Numibians are not a seafaring race, and their nature is relatively loose, which will inevitably reduce the combat capability of the Carthaginian navy. And we-"

Davers smiled: "Not to mention the full citizens and reserve citizens, once the navy begins to recruit new sailors, those free people will be clamoring and shouting to join, they hope to become citizens of the kingdom as soon as possible." ”

At this point, Thormead and Midorades laughed, and Davers's words completely dispelled their concerns. Only Printors didn't laugh and seemed to have something on his mind.

Davers noticed, and he asked, "Printors, if you have any other suggestions, say them." ”

Pryntors pondered for a moment, and then said softly: "Your Majesty, although we have the upper hand in Sicily from the present state of the war, Carthage's defeat in the battle, and then the loss of the fleet in naval battles and storms, will inevitably cause panic among the Carthaginians, and if they do not consider suing for peace, then they must do everything in their power to win in the next battle." In this way, the Sicilian army led by Prosous will probably face a Carthaginian army with more soldiers, more fighting spirit, and by no means a mediocre general—"

"Wait!" Tolmide interjected: "Our fleet has already occupied the sea superiority of Sicily, and it can completely cut off Carthage's troop transport route to Sicily, and even if Carthage forms a large army, it will be difficult to land in Sicily." ”

"The landing of the Carthaginian army in Sicily was difficult, but not impossible. Our fleet, although superior, is not yet a complete severance of Sicily from Carthage. "The sailors need food, water, and rest, and it is best to tow the ship into the military port at night for maintenance and maintenance," said Printors, "in order to keep it in good combat condition...... In Sicily, with the exception of the military port of Catania, only Messina in the north, and only the allies of Agrigento and Geera in the south, have a well-established military port for our fleet to stay, so that if our Sicilian fleet sets out from Messina or Agrigento in the morning and makes its tour to the westernmost point of Sicily, it is probably already afternoon, and they will have to hurry back......

Moreover, the number of the Sicilian fleet was now greatly reduced, and it was impossible to divide it into two or three detachments with strong combat effectiveness to patrol in turn, and the Carthaginians still had time to send supplies and reinforcements to Sicily. ”

"The Sicilian fleet can send clippers to take turns to keep watch over the waters west of Sicily—" Tolmide was halfway through his argument when he suddenly realized that something was wrong: even if the clippers detected the enemy, they would still need to return to the military port to report, and by the time the fleet arrived again, the Carthaginian fleet would probably have entered the harbor.

So, he changed his words and said: "It's not that Selinus and Minoa can't station some warships, right?" Midorades. ”

In the face of Tolmid's gaze, Midorades, as the commander of the navy, did not dare to speak indiscriminately in front of Davers, he thought about it seriously for a while, and said: "Judging from the war report, Selinus does not have a military port, and the warship can indeed stay in the ordinary port for a short time, but if it is not done for a long time, it will damage the life of the warship and affect its combat effectiveness. Of course, the Sicilian army could also build a simple military port in Selinus, but that would take time. ”

Midorades's sentence that "a warship staying in an ordinary port for too long will damage the life of a warship" was actually addressed to Davers, so he deliberately accentuated his tone, but he immediately changed the subject: "As far as I know, the best military port at the western tip of Sicily is Lilibal. ”

Tormides immediately shook his head: "Liliba is an important Carthaginian military town in Sicily, just like Mothia at the beginning, it is difficult to capture it with the existing forces of Prosous. ”

At this time, Pryntors continued the conversation and said: "Although Prosous has won successive battles, the enemy is concentrated in the two towns of Lilipi and Palermos, and Lord Tormede has made it very clear just now that although Prosious can decide the victory of Sicily by capturing Lilipa, in view of the fact that we cannot add a large number of troops to the Sicilian army now, it cannot be done by the Eighth Army alone. And attacking other towns is not only meaningless, but also disperses the forces, so it should be said that the Sicilian army is now inaccessible. ”

Speaking of this, Printols said earnestly: "Your Majesty, it's time for the Sicilian army to change its strategy!" ”

Tolmide and Midorades were taken aback, but Davers remained unchanged, but sat there and remained silent for a long time, knowing in his heart that Printolls was a tactful reminder that the instructions given to Prosous were wrong.

At the beginning of the war with Carthage, because the focus of the attack was to focus on Rome, Davos was still cautious about the situation in Sicily, so he ordered Prosous to hold the territory of the Kingdom of Sicily at the beginning, but the Eighth Army defeated the Carthaginian army in the Battle of Minoa, and the navy won a victory over the sea of Cerrodium, which made him realize that the Carthaginians were strong in the middle, so he changed his strategy: let the Sicilian army and navy attack with all their might, trying to take advantage of the enemy's defeat, It can weaken Carthage's power in Sicily even more, and give it a better chance of winning the next decisive battle with Carthage.

Even deep down, Davos hoped that Prosous would be able to perform another miracle and completely drive out Carthage's power in Sicily.

The battle has been going on so far, except for that storm, the Sicilian army's offensive has been relatively smooth and meets its expectations...... But have you become a little too optimistic because of the successive victories? It was Carthage, after all! Davers looked at the staff officer he admired, and he understood the meaning of Printors's words: he was clearly reminding himself that the Sicilian army led by Prosous was not capable of conquering the western end of Sicily in one fell swoop, but might be in a dangerous situation because of its lack of troops and its own strength.

Printors' reminder reminded Davers of the Iberian army, which had not suffered any losses so far, and that the successive defeats of Carthage were likely to allow the Magonides family to regain control of Carthage, they were no more aggressive than Hanno, they valued Sicily more, and at the same time had more experience in warfare, and it can be seen from the fact that the Iberian army was able to capture the city of Cerrodium was quite combative.

But according to Davers's understanding of Carthage over the years, it will take time for Carthage to form a large army again, and the elders of the Carthage Senate will continue to delay this time, I am afraid that even if that Margo can finally land the army in Sicily, at least in a month or two, and it would be a pity that such a long time only made Prosous retreat and defend! With this young commander's ability, he could completely mess up the situation at the western end of Sicily, so that even if the Carthaginian army landed, they would need more energy and time to stabilize the situation and buy more time for the kingdom......

Davers thought about it, but at last he couldn't make up his mind, so he said: "Tell Prosous of our fears, and let him be vigilant, and decide whether to continue the offensive or retreat to the defense, after all, he is the commander of the Sicilian battlefield!" Prosious's repeated miracles and victories led Davers to believe in his abilities.

"Yes, Your Majesty." As Tolmide spoke, his eyes glancing at Printors beside him, feeling a little envy and jealousy: as far as he knew, Davers's military decisions were rarely modified by persuasion, and this time he made a compromise......

Tolmid was thinking about it, but Davers looked at Printors and said in a serious tone: "In the future, suggestions like this should be put forward directly, instead of waiting for me to ask them!" War is a matter of life and death for a country, and humility and comity can cost hundreds of soldiers their lives, understand?! ”

Printors' expression froze, and then he saluted ashamedly and said, "Understood, Your Majesty, I will pay attention next time!" ”

Tolmid cast envious glances at him again.

…………………………………

After the military council, Davos summoned the new elders of the kingdom, his brother-in-law Alcibidas, and Mikris, a shipbuilder from Turiyi.

These two are both well-known merchants in the shipbuilding industry of the Kingdom of Dionia, and Davos called them, of course, hoping that they can take the lead in working with the kingdom to speed up the construction of warships, and because the treasury is tight, he also hopes that they can agree that the kingdom can temporarily pay them for their shipbuilding costs, and of course, the kingdom will also give them corresponding compensation after the war, such as relaxing the ban on cutting down trees......

To Mykrys, Davos also focused on Enanilus, who had long been released from prison and had been staying at home, and he stressed: Enanilus has been sufficiently punished for his mistakes, and now the kingdom has been expanding, and there has always been a shortage of officials at all levels, and Enanilus was once a senator, and he also served as a naval commander, and he has rich administrative experience, so he can come out to serve the kingdom again.

Listening to Davers's words, Mikrice was very excited, and immediately said that after he returned, he would do his best to persuade Enanilus to come out and do things.