Will the Carthaginians agree? You had resolutely rejected their request to ransom the captured soldiers of the Carthaginian Holy Legion! Mukru only dared to say that this doubt was buried in his heart and did not speak.

"We still have to take Selinus down as soon as possible!" Leotizides whispered, both from the strategic point of view of attacking western Sicily and from the point of view of facilitating the transportation of grain and baggage...... Even from the point of view of having a safer place to hold so many prisoners, the capture of Selinus was a priority.

Mukru hurriedly reminded again: "Commander, the soldiers were quite tired after a busy night last night, and they no longer have the physical strength to attack the city today. And yesterday the Carthaginians also transported several thousand soldiers into Selinus, and their defenses were strengthened. And—"

"And we have lost the Sicilian fleet, we can no longer block the port, and the Carthaginians can send reinforcements from the sea at any time!" Leotizides took over the conversation and said with a solemn expression, this is what he is most worried about: the disappearance of the superiority of the Dionian army in the Sicilian Sea will add a lot of difficulties to the land offensive, because the farther the army goes west, the closer it is to Carthage, and the stronger the reinforcements from the sea will be, and the Dionian army, which has lost its fleet, has no way to stop them, and can only hope that after the news of the "destruction of the Sicilian fleet" reaches Turiy, His Majesty will be able to send the Third Fleet or the Fourth Fleet, Regain Sicily's maritime superiority.

While Leotizides was thinking sadly, the guards came in and reported: "The captain of the company of Diocassis, who is patrolling the seashore, asks for an appearance, saying that there is an urgent military report. ”

……………………………………………

"You mean there are 42 of our three-sculled warships in the port of Selinus?!" Rao is Leotizides, who has always looked indifferent, couldn't help but be greatly moved when he heard the news.

"Yes, Commander." Diocassis also said excitedly: "When the storm came, the second detachment of the first fleet was attacking the Carthaginian fleet outside the port of Selinlus, and the commander of the detachment, Stephacas, urgently led the surrounding warships to break into the port of Selinus, and went ashore smoothly, occupying the southwest corner of the port, they were going to send a clipper to inform us last night after the storm subsided, but the wreckage of the ships caused by the storm blocked the harbor, making it dangerous to sail at night, So it was only this morning that I ventured to open a passage from the port and sent a clipper to report the news. ”

In fact, the harbor of Selinus, like that of other Greek city-states, had a water gate with a poopi and entrance, which could be blocked with iron chains, and a tower built into the breakwater to attack enemy ships. But yesterday, when the Carthaginian fleet entered the port, the water gate was blocked due to panic, so that the Selinus could not close the port, and the storm hit, the port personnel only wanted to go home as soon as possible to escape, causing the port defense to be lax, so that the Dionian warships easily broke into the port and went ashore smoothly.

Leotizides quickly calmed down his mood swings and calmly asked, "How many of them are there now?" Can you resist the enemy's attack? ”

"According to the messenger, the commander of the detachment, Stefacas, was very confident in this, because 30 of the 42 warships that entered the port were raven ships, so they had about 1,200 heavily armed fleet infantry, and nearly 7,000 sailors, who sank many Carthaginian troop carriers, and when they came ashore, they also robbed Carthaginian grain convoys, and even stripped off the armor and weapons of many drowned Carthaginian soldiers, so as to obtain more than 400 sets of heavy infantry equipment and more than 30 bows and arrows, They also had some of the sailors sharpen the end of the oars and use them as elongated wooden guns, and their ships controlled the sea in the harbor...... The Carthaginians did not attack them when he left the port, the messenger said......"

"After several sieges by us, the number of Selinus' defenders is probably less than 2,000 people, even if there are reinforcements this time, it will not exceed 5,000 people, if the Carthaginians attack with all their might, it will cause great trouble to the navy in the port, but it seems that the Carthaginian defenders have no courage, and they are worried that we will take advantage of the situation to attack the city, and they do not take immediate action......" After listening to Diocassis's narration, Leotizides analyzed and said, he had realized that this was a great opportunity, and asked Mukru in a slightly excited tone: " What time is it? ”

"About 8 a.m."

"Mukru, you immediately go and inform the soldiers of the Eighth Legion and the Reserve to go into the tent to rest, I will only give them four hours to sleep and recover, and they must wake up at noon, and after lunch, immediately start the siege!" Leotizides gave the order decisively.

"Yes, Legion Commander, I'll deliver it at once."

"Diocassis, go and call the messenger in, and I will ask for more details." Leotizides said that out of an abundance of caution, he first wanted to confirm the authenticity of the information himself, and second, he wanted to know more about the situation on both sides of the city.

At noon, Leotizides led an army to attack the city.

Contact had been made, and the remnants of the Sicilian fleet in the harbor responded by attacking the city from the port.

The Carthaginian defenders were in a difficult situation with a two-sided attack.

After fighting until the afternoon, Millefio led a small number of cavalry to escape from the south gate, and the defenders of Selinus opened the door and surrendered.

……………………………………………

The southwest of Latin in March is really a rainy season, the mist in the early morning and the misty drizzle are the most hated weather for the sentries at the head of the city, which can not make people sleep more against the wall, and the temperature is a little wet and cold so that the sentinels who have just eaten breakfast quickly feel hungry again, the serious character and strict military law of the Romans make them dare not leave their posts easily, and can only patrol the city of Antium slowly, while praying that time will pass quickly, so that the next group of comrades will hurry up and rotate.

"Tell me what it sounds like?" A sentry asked suddenly nervously.

The other sentry immediately listened.

"Whoa! Crash! Crash! ......" The slight and persistent sound is different from the sound of the tide on the seaside, and has a metallic texture.

The sentry's face changed: there were troops outside the city, and there were quite a few of them.

Is it the enemy?! The sentry looked up, and there was no figure in sight in the drizzle outside the empty city.

The keeper of Antium was Paulus. Valerius. Portitus, not long ago, was the Roman military and political officer, but after Camillus was appointed dictator, the six Roman military and political officials naturally stepped down. Because Paulus had always been cautious and steady, the Senate appointed him as the guard of the newly occupied town of Antium, hoping that he would secure the southwestern border and coast between Rome and the Latin allies in order to ensure complete Roman conquest of the Helnians.

The sentry's report quickly caught his attention, and he immediately sent a team of scouts out of the city to investigate.

Soon, this group of scouts fled back in disarray, because not long after they left the city, they were attacked by many black helmets and black armored cavalry, and they were almost wiped out.

It's the Dionians! Paulus gets nervous: are they ready to attack Antium?!

He immediately gathered his troops in the city and began to set up defenses to defend against the Onians.

Roman soldiers stood all over the city, nervously watching the outside of the city.

This stop lasted more than an hour, the mist had lifted, the drizzle had stopped, and the sky was bright, but no Dionian troops were seen outside the city, and even the previous sound of "bang, bang, bang" had disappeared.

Puzzled, Paulus decided to send out scouts again to find out the enemy's movements.

As a result, the scouts were again intercepted, and according to the escaped scouts, there were Dionian cavalry roaming in all directions a mile from Antium, and they could not break through to find out the movements of the Dionian troops.

Paulus was confused and nervous, and he did not dare to send his army out of the city until he understood the movement of the Dionian army, after all, the Roman army was still attacking the Helnikians in the east, and the Latin region was empty, and his task was to defend Antium, and together with the defenders of Villitre and Satnikum, he would stop the enemy attack from the south.

While Paulus was holding his ground, the defenders of Satnikum to the north encountered the same situation, and they responded in the same way. In order to ensure the security of the territory and the Latin allies, the Roman Senate sent cautious and serious generals to the two newly occupied towns, so that they did not dare to send troops at the first time, and launched a tentative attack on their own initiative, so that they could detect the movements of the Dionian army.

In fact, a large force of nearly 20,000 men consisting of the 1st, 3rd, 1st Cavalry and part of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment of Dionya was lined up in eight columns, with the cavalry corps guarding the flanks of the marching column, and no baggage regiments followed. They marched north from the barracks of Setia in the early morning, and by morning they had reached the border between Latium and Wolsey.

Amintath had two cavalry legions each block the passage of Antium and Satnikum, and raid the scouts to ensure a quick and stealthy passage of his main force from the middle of Antium and Satnikum, and then continue to the northwest.

Located not far north of Antium, Adrea is an ancient Latin city-state and one of the few seaside towns in the Latin city-state. It had a close relationship with Rome, and twenty years ago Camillus was dissatisfied with the Roman Senate's verdict against him, and he went into seclusion in Adi. More than a decade ago, when the Celts conquered Rome and plundered the Latin region, Camillus, with the support of Adi's citizens, was the first to raise the banner of rebellion and eventually conquered Rome, and then Rome and Adi established a stronger alliance.