Seclian turned his head to look at Myrtias, his eyes blazing, and rebuked loudly: "Myrtias, since its creation, the Dionian Navy has always been a tradition of our navy to advance bravely, and you did not follow the established plan to cruise the waters of western Sicily because you were afraid of too much wind and waves, and missed a good opportunity to take advantage of the Carthaginian army to land in Sicily and inflict heavy damage on them, I am very disappointed about this!" ”

Miltias was listening intently to Seclian's adventures, and sighed in his heart that if it weren't for the good luck of the old chief, and his great physical strength and swimming skills, the average sailor would have become a captive of the Carthaginians.

When he suddenly heard the latter words, his face suddenly turned red, and he did not argue, but lowered his head in shame.

"It's okay, now I'm back." Sekrian said in a deep voice, "You can give me back the command of the fleet. ”

Miltias raised his head suddenly, and after making contact with Sekerian's sharp gaze, he immediately avoided it, and after a moment he met Sekerian's gaze again, plucked up his courage and said, "...... My lord...... The command of the Sicilian fleet was granted to me by His Majesty and the Ministry of War, and I ...... Don't dare to transfer it privately, because it is a violation of military law! ”

Miltias's objection stunned Secrian, his face showing a bit of uncertainty, and he tried to calm his tone and said: "You don't understand what I mean, you can continue to serve as the commander of the Sicilian fleet, but the fleet under my command. You know, if it weren't for the fact that I was trapped in Lilibal, you wouldn't have been the commander of the Sicilian fleet! ”

What Sekrian said is indeed true, and the previous letter from Davos to the Ministry of War also specifically mentioned the "appointment of the commander of the Sicilian fleet", so Miltias was originally appointed as "acting as the commander of the Sicilian fleet", but because Sekrian had not been able to be recovered, and Vlarios drowned, out of the convenience of command, the Ministry of War finally decided to appoint Miltias as the official commander of the Sicilian fleet.

As the former commander of the Dionian Navy, Sekrian won successive battles at the beginning of the establishment of the navy, leading the Dionian Navy that had just come out of its infancy to play a prestige, and his prestige in the navy was very high.

However, Miltias has been in charge of the Fourth Fleet for so many years, and he is no longer the captain of the Davers ship of the year, and he also has some confidence and prestige (which is also one of the purposes of Davers to divide the navy into four). What's more, Miltias thinks that he has made a big mistake before, and now he is thinking about making up for it in the future battle, and if he cedes the command of the fleet to Sekrian at this time, I am afraid that by the end of the war, this mistake will not be remedied, because everyone will attribute the victory to Sekrian, and he himself will become a joke of the navy......

In a matter of moments, Miltias had already thought through these powerful relationships, so his mind calmed down, and his tone of voice became a little tougher: "Lord Sekrian, you were once my commander and the senator of the Senate, and I remember what you once said, 'As the captain of the warship, you must set an example for the whole crew, perform your duties well, command your crew well, and ......fight bravely', I think you should know very well that since the establishment of the kingdom, There is not a single general in the army who only enjoys the benefits of promotion and does not perform his duties seriously, and I don't want to be the first! ”

Miltiacchi said with an extremely serious expression, and then he smiled bitterly: "Of course, if you think that I am incompetent, you can apply to the Ministry of War to remove me from the post of commander of the Sicilian fleet......

Sekerian's face sank, and his gaze at Miltias sharpened.

Miltias was also undaunted and calm.

The two looked at each other, and the atmosphere in the room became solidified, and even the slaves who cleaned up the table quickly escaped lightly.

After a few moments, Sekrian twitched his cheeks a few times, and managed to squeeze out a smile: "Very well, Miltias, as a commander...... It is necessary to have this kind of momentum of self-sacrifice. ”

Although Sekrian was very strong in the Dionian navy, he was not arrogant, and in the absence of Miltias, he certainly could not have forcibly usurped the command of the fleet, because it would not only violate military law, but also the laws of the kingdom, and King Davos's temperament would probably send him to prison in anger. As for directly proposing to the Ministry of War that "Mirthias be removed and he will be reappointed as commander of the Sicilian fleet", this approach is too overbearing, which will arouse the disgust of some people in the royal team and damage his own image.

Secrean had been in a high position for more than ten years, and he was no longer the young and impulsive poor sailor he had at the beginning, so he naturally had a lot of concerns, and after a moment he said with a sigh of relief: "In a moment, you will send a clipper ship to take me back to the naval base in Catania...... I should also pay my respects to Flarios and his brothers who died in battle......"

Myrthias didn't know what Sekrian was thinking at the moment, but Sekrian stopped the persecution and made him breathe a sigh of relief for the time being, of course he wanted Sekrian to leave, so he didn't do anything to stay: "Okay, my lord, I'll arrange it right away." ”

As he spoke, he quickly left the frozen living room as if he were hiding from the plague, and strode towards the courtyard.

At this moment, the wooden door was pushed open, and Leotizides' adjutant Mukru walked in: "General Miltias, Commander Prosous invites you to the city lord's mansion, there is an urgent military situation to discuss with you!" ”

When Miltias heard this, he sent a pillow just because he wanted to fall asleep, and he was overjoyed, and he didn't ask what the emergency military situation was, but turned around and said, "My lord, I want to go to the city first and discuss the battle plan with their army." ”

"Without affecting the overall strategy, we must try to safeguard the interests of our fleet!" Secrean walked out of the living room slowly, and on the way he had heard that "Leotizides had incorporated tens of thousands of sailors of the fleet into the legions", so he had made a special reminder.

Mukru stared at him with wide eyes and shouted in surprise, "Lord Sekerian, are you still alive?!" ”

………………………………………

As soon as Dionia's two supreme naval and army commanders in Sicily met, Leotizides said: "Agrigento has sent messengers for urgent help, and tens of thousands of Carthaginian troops are attacking the city of Agrigento. ”

On the way here, Tagru did not reveal any urgent military information to Myrtias, so he was a little surprised when he heard this: "Tens of thousands of Carthaginian soldiers are attacking the city of Agrigento?!" It's impossible! Our patrol ships have found no trace of the Carthaginian army marching eastward on the coast east of Selinus these days, and the city of Minoa is very calm! ”

"The Carthaginian army did not go to the south coast, they probably went through the central mountains." There was a hint of remorse on Leotizidesmna's face: "We fell for the Carthaginian general named Margo!" He laid siege to Selinus to draw our attention to rest, but secretly sent part of his army over the mountains to attack the allies in our rear. ”

"Aren't there Sikers in the mountains? How could they let the Carthaginian army pass through so easily......" Miltias asked suspiciously, remembering this Dionian ally he had not yet dealt with.

"I was careless this time, and although the news of the Sikels has not yet arrived, I think they may have been defeated. Among the soldiers Margo brought with him from Iberia were races that were very adept at fighting in the mountains, and the fall of Seirdiam was a good example of this. Leotizides' voice was a little eager: "Agrigento has killed and wounded many soldiers in the battle of Minoa, a few days ago because of the Carthage siege of Selinus, they also sent some reinforcements, now I am afraid that the city of Agrigento is empty, we must rescue immediately!" Now that there are no extra ships in the harbor, I need your fleet to send 6,000 reinforcements to the port of Agrigento at once! ”

Miltias also knew that the situation was urgent, once Agrigento fell, not only the neighboring Gera and Minoa would be in danger, but the land access of the Dionian army would also be cut off, and under the attack of the Carthaginian army, the situation on the entire south coast of Sicily would become complicated, so Miltias did not say anything such as "the Sicilian fleet is for fighting, not for transporting ......troops", but immediately responded: "I will go to the port now, let the fleet be ready, and wait for the soldiers you sent to arrive, He sent them to Agrigento at once. ”

Leotizides breathed a sigh of relief from Myrtias's cheerfulness, and only then did he ask, "I heard from Tagru that Sekrian is still alive and has returned to the port of Selinus?" ”

"Yes, Hades bless! He was going to go to the Catania naval base first...... Stay for a while and pay homage to your dead brothers. Miltias wanted to show his joy, but he remembered that Sekrian wanted to take over the fleet, so his expression was a little strange.

Leotizides looked at him and said lightly: "Seklian must have suffered a lot during this time, and he should take a break." ”

Seclian's return will naturally involve the question of the command of the Sicilian fleet, and Leotizides would prefer to work with Miltias, who has become active because of his mistakes, compared to Seclian's strength, so his words faintly reveal the meaning of supporting Miltias, which makes Milthias happy, after all, if the Ministry of War really thinks about this issue, they may also consult Leotizides, who fought alongside him.