Davers touched the stubble on his chin, his face finally showed a little joy, he looked around at everyone, and finally his eyes fell on Alexis: "The Gauls are menacing, I originally thought that this sudden war would last a relatively long time, and I also made everyone deliberately draw up a careful counterattack plan...... Alas, I didn't expect the Gauls to be so indifferent, and all these preparations we made were in vain, what new opinions do you have on the current situation of the war? ”

"Your Majesty." Alexis and Printors glanced at each other and said, "Before coming to the palace, I have had a brief discussion with Lord Printors about the current situation in Etruria, Patroclus led the northern coalition army to defeat the main force of the Gauls, and then he will inevitably launch a further continuous attack on the remnants of the Gallic army.

And we don't think that the three barracks of the Frontier Army could be conquered by the Gauls in such a short period of time, and it is very likely that the Gauls will only use a small number of troops to target the barracks, and the large forces will directly bypass and invade the Etruscan territory-"

"There is no need to speculate, I already have definite information, at least Hasdruba's military camp is still stubbornly defending, and it has not fallen." Davers said firmly.

Alexis was not surprised, he knew that the intelligence department under the command of King Davers was powerful, and after thinking about it, he took the opportunity to speak: "Your Majesty, can you send someone to inform Lord Hasdruba, cooperate with the attack of the northern coalition army, block the mountain pass leading to the Po River Plain, and make every effort to intercept the Gauls who want to flee back to the territory, and completely encircle and destroy them south of the mountain range!" ”

Davos said without hesitation: "I will send someone to give orders to Hasdruba, but I think even if we can't inform Hasdruba in time, with his ability, he will be able to make corresponding decisions according to the changes in the battle situation." ”

"Your Majesty." Printors took over and said loudly: "The reason why we want to wipe out all the invading Gauls south of the mountains is because we think that the Gauls are a very aggressive race, and their population is large and threatening, and it has only been sixteen years since the last large-scale invasion, and they can dispatch an army of far more than 50,000 men, and if we continue to adopt a defensive strategy, not only will we be too passive, but the Gauls will also learn from this fiasco, and the next time they will go south, I am afraid that it will create more trouble for us, so if we want to completely solve the problem of the Gauls, we should take advantage of this great opportunity for the strength of the Gauls to be severely damaged, change from defense to attack, and directly send troops to attack the territory of the Gauls, and completely conquer them! ”

As soon as these words came out, there was a small commotion in the conference hall, and several rotating chairmen began to whisper to each other.

The corners of Davers's mouth curled slightly, Printors' suggestion was exactly what he wanted, he glanced at the rotating chairmen who were whispering, and asked quietly, "Hmm... Do you have any specific plans to take the initiative? ”

Alexis walked to the wooden map of northern Italy placed in the center of the council chamber and said in a deep voice: "According to the current intelligence, the Gauls who invaded Etrunia this time are composed of Senones and Knomani, and it is estimated that most of the young and middle-aged warriors of these two Gallic tribes have joined this invasion army, so there will be such a large number, so its territory must be empty of defense due to insufficient troops."

Now that the soldiers of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 3rd Legions had been assembled, they were going to reinforce the northern coalition forces, but now it seemed that there was no need for them, so it was better to transfer these legions to Brindisi, sail north, and land near Ariminum (now Rimini). Alexis pointed to a location on the map and said in a sonorous voice: "Attack the territory of the Gauls directly!" ”

By this time, Davers and the others had already gathered in front of the map, their eyes focused on the landing site that Alexis had mentioned.

Looking carefully at the map, the other ministers realized that it would not be so easy to attack the Gauls directly.

The north side of the Gauls was bordered by the tall and precipitous Alps, to the west by the territory of the Ligurians and to the east by the territory of the Veneti, and the coast was almost occupied by these two races, with the Gauls sandwiched in between. Although it was Etruscan territory to the south, it was separated by a series of mountains, a direct distance of more than a hundred miles, many of which were impassable, and the lower terrain was often settled by Gallic tribes (mainly the Senonesians).

The Dionian army wanted to attack the Gauls through the mountains, which was of course possible in the case of the Gallic army suffering heavy losses today, but it was unfamiliar with the terrain, difficult to transport, and the overall ability to fight in the mountains was weak compared to the Gauls...... These shortcomings will not only make the Dionian army more attritional, but also move slowly, so that the Gauls in the Po Plain have enough time to prepare for defense in advance, which will greatly reduce the effectiveness of the attack, and the war will continue to prolong...... Therefore, after analysis, the Ministry of Military Affairs believes that this is not a good choice.

The Ligurians and the Veneti were two conservative races, and had little contact with Dionys, and it is estimated that even the Dionian envoys assured them that the Dionian army was only for the purpose of attacking the Gauls, and that they would never infringe on their interests, and that they would not allow a strange and powerful army to land on their shores and cross their own territory.

And if the Dionian army were to force a landing on their shores, it would undoubtedly provoke a new war, which was certainly not a wise move.

So, it seems, the best and only place to attack first was Alimium. Because it is the only seaside town of the Gauls, it is located in the south of the territory of Venneti, north of the Apennines, and on the edge of the Adriatic Sea.

"Arimium......" Davers stared at its icon, recalling the information about it. He had a lot of affairs in the past few years, and the attack on the Gaul territory was not in his plan, and he did not care too much about the details of the situation in the Gallic territory, so he did not have much memory of him in his mind, so he simply asked: "Is the coast there convenient for landing?" What is the situation with Arimium? Are the defenses tight? ……”

"Your Majesty." Printors explained in detail: "Arimium was originally a town of the Veneti, more than 20 years ago by the Senonesians, at first they seemed to only fancy the flat land around Arimium, using it to cultivate farmland, grazing cattle and sheep, it is said that it was not until the Adriatic pirates ventured to land in this small town, offered to trade with the Gauls, and successfully exchanged some of the looted goods for the horses of the Senonesians, which made the Senonesians realize the benefits of sea trade, So in the last 10 years, the Selonians began to develop the maritime trade of the city of Aremiaum. They expanded the city, built markets and ports in the city, and the Senonesians gradually made some progress in their maritime trade, but they lacked sailors and relied mainly on merchants from other city-states to trade in the city of Alimium.

However, the notoriety of the Gauls, and the fact that they were just beginning to develop, did not have many merchants willing to trade in the city of Arimium, mainly pirates from the Adriatic Sea, or some merchants from the Illyrian region on the other side, and occasionally Umbrians and Floranyans who went in small boats to exchange goods.

The patrol ships of the 1st Fleet, while cruising in the Adriatic Sea, carefully observed Arimium, and reported that its walls were low and all wooden, and that the city was not very large, and that it was not so much a city as a Gallic camp, and that the city was loosely guarded, and that the coast on which it was located had a number of gentle beaches, which could accommodate hundreds of ships to land at the same time......"

Davers listened intently, staring at the tentacles on the map that stretched out to the southeast of the Gauls' territory, a small area that had been an attempt by the Gauls who had lived inland for many years to reach the sea, but now Dionyas was about to interrupt their vision and longing for the sea.

Davers looked back at the rotating chairmen and asked, "What do you think of the Military Department's proposal?" ”

Despite seeing the excitement in Davers's eyes, Lycias had to remind: "Your Majesty, now we all know that there are three tribes of the Gauls south of the Alps, and in this invasion the Senones and the Knomani have suffered heavy losses, and their territory may be empty of defense, but what about Salves? They didn't take part in the invasion.

Moreover, according to the intelligence of the Gauls, this tribe has always been safe to develop, and has rarely carried out external expansion, but it is the strongest of the three tribes, and once our army attacks the territory of their compatriots, the Salves will probably fully assist in its defense, and this war may not end so easily. ”

Davers groaned, yet to respond.

Antaoris laughed and said aloud: "It is not a bad thing that the Salveans want to join this war, and it is precisely on this ground that they will be completely conquered and all the Gauls south of the Alps will be solved at once." Lord Lucias felt that with the addition of the Salves, the war would become difficult, because we were only going to send the first, third, fourth, and fifth legions before, and with the current kingdom's abundant treasury and well-stocked granaries, we could send a few more legions to defeat all the Gauls in a short period of time with absolute superiority! ”

When Davers heard this, his eyes lit up and he cast an approving glance at Antaorris.