If it was more than 10 years ago, the laborers in the port of Liliba were more Greek freedmen, and there were few Numibian slaves, but the occupation of eastern Sicily by the Kingdom of Dioonia and the aggressive absorption of Greek freedmen, and the Carthaginian conquest of Numibia changed the situation.

Braving the drizzle and the cold and wet sea breeze, the laborers rushed to the wharf with trembling ropes. At this time, it was still dawn, and although the port was open, no ships had yet come in, so the laborers took the opportunity to sit under the eaves of the warehouses on the shore and seize the time to rest.

It didn't take long for them to hear noisy footsteps, and several hundred Carthaginian soldiers poured into the harbor and began to drive away the idle people in the harbor, etc., intensifying patrols on the docks.

Looking at the docks, which had suddenly become heavily guarded, the laborers were amazed.

"Look! The Lord of Themis is here! Someone shouted in surprise, and the atmosphere around them became even more tense.

At this time, the official in charge of the labor ran over and scolded angrily: "Get up, slackers! Before Margoth arrives at the port with his army, you will immediately clear me of all the obstacles and rubbish at the docks, and make sure that the roads are clear and clean! And the dilapidated ships docked at the pier were also pulled away by me immediately! Fast! Fast! If anyone is lazy, I'll let him know I'm good! ……”

With the roar of the officials, the overseers shook the whips to a "snap", and the laborers immediately ran to the dock like frightened rabbits, led by the foreman.

Among them, there was a middle-aged laborer with a hunched waist, but his originally dull eyes were now shining: Carthage's army actually chose to cross the sea in such a climate and land in Lilipa, which is really bold enough! I wonder if Flarios sent a clipper to detect this action of the enemy?!

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About an hour later, the first troop carrier entered the port of Lilibal, and the sailors on board had put away their sails, shouted their trumpets, rowed their oars, and sailed to the nearest pier trestle.

Then the second and third ships were sailed in......

It didn't take long for the sea in the harbor to be filled with troop carriers.

Seeing a ship leaning towards the trestle, the foreman led a dozen laborers to run over quickly, hooked the side of the ship with a hand-held iron hook, so that one side of the ship was completely attached to the trestle, and then tied the ship's cable to the wooden stake, and then put on the plank, and let the soldiers disembark.

This set of procedures that the laborers are very skilled in helping to dock the ship has become somewhat difficult under the disturbance of the cold wind and drizzle, because the trestle has become slippery, and the ship has to exert more strength to hold it under the agitation of the waves, and it has become a common phenomenon for the laborers to slip and fall on the trestle and fall into the sea, and even the ships collide in the harbor, and it is not uncommon for soldiers to fall into the water......

Although Misse made some preparations for the landing of the army, chaos in the port was inevitable and continued......

However, no matter how chaotic the organization of the port of Liliba was, the boatloads of soldiers still boarded the pier without interruption, and gathered on the shore of the port in dense groups, and in the midst of the noise and noise, they formed a column, and left the port one after another, and entered the city of Liliba......

In the eyes of the middle-aged laborer who was hunched over, it was the Carthaginian soldiers who should have been the first to go ashore (in fact, they were more Phoenicians), but these rumored delicate Carthaginians seemed very calm, and there was little noise and confusion in the whole process of going ashore, and they obeyed the command of the captain; Then came a number of dark-skinned, slender Numibian soldiers (in fact, some Mauritanians), who were rumored to be free and loose nomads who were able to follow orders and assemble more quickly during the landing; Of course, there were also scattered soldiers, these ** topless, tattooed, vicious-looking natives are said to be Celts from the Iberian Peninsula, although they are not used to boating, they are constantly vomiting by the turbulent waves, and when they go ashore, they are all staggered and pale, but their tall and strong bodies still make him feel nervous, and what makes this laborer care most is the murderous aura exuded by these soldiers, which only battle-hardened veterans can have.

It seems that the Carthaginian army is not easy to deal with this time! He looked at the troop carriers that were still coming and going at the entrance to the harbor, and hid his worries in his heart......

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In fact, the entire Carthaginian army of more than 80,000 people landed on the entire coast from Mazara to Erlux, not only the ports of various towns, but also beaches that could be docked by boats, because Margo wanted to be able to send soldiers, baggage, horses, etc. to Sicily in the shortest possible time, so as to avoid being discovered by the Dioonians and attacked by their fleet.

For this reason, not only Carthage and Utika sent a large number of ships, but also Hadrumetum, Ruspina, Lgilgili...... Other Phenician city-states on the coast of Africa also provided ships to help transport troops.

Thus, the entire sea area from western Sicily to Africa is a spectacle: numerous ships cover the sea, as if a huge pontoon bridge connecting the two places. And on the western coast of Sicily, weary soldiers can be seen gathering on the sand, frightened horses galloping around, shouting and neighing, from Mazara to Erlux......

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In the city lord's mansion in the city of Selinus, the adjutant Mukru gently pushed open the door of the study, and in the room sat Leoticides, the commander of the Dionian kingdom in charge of the Sicilian war, sitting motionless like a puppet, staring intently at the map of Sicily hanging on the wall.

Having been following Leotizides for some time, Mukru knew some of the commander's strange habits, so he did not speak, but stood quietly behind Leotizides.

I don't know how long it took, Mukru felt that his eyelids were fighting, and suddenly heard Leotizides ask: "Yesterday, the Iberian army, which had been entrenched in Palermos, about 20,000 men, suddenly marched south and entered the city of Liliba, what do you think is the reason?" ”

"Uh...... Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Margo, the Iberian governor of Carthage, had taken up military command, and that the contradictions between the Iberian army and the Carthaginian army no longer existed......" Muqru was suddenly asked about this, and before he had time to think deeply, he threw out a reason that he thought was reasonable.

Leotizides did not look back, but still sat upright, and continued to ask: "Margo became the military commander of Carthage a long time ago, why did the Iberian army in Palermos not leave for Liliba until yesterday?" ”

Mukru heard the slightest dissatisfaction in Leotizides's words, and this time he thought for a while before he replied cautiously: "It may be that because we have been sending soldiers to harvest the half-ripe wheat fields outside the city such as Mazara, Segesta, Lilipa, and even Erix, the Iberian army has come from the north coast, I am afraid that it is to strengthen the military power of the Carthaginians here and stifle our wheat harvest......"

After Mukru said this, seeing that Leotizides did not respond, he thought about it and added very uncertainly: "It is also possible...... ...... with the Carthaginians' military campaigns"

Half-ringing, Leotizides replied faintly: "Carthaginian military operations? …… What else could they do but land in Sicily? ”

Targlu was shocked.

At this time, Leotizides stood up, looked at Mukru, and said in a deep voice: "You go and inform the cavalry regiment to send me the best scouts, and give me a careful investigation of Lilibel and Erix in the next few days...... The movements of the enemies in these cities will be reported immediately if there is any abnormality! ”

"Yes!" Mukru's voice was a little muffled in response, because he knew that from now on, the only weakness of the Dionian army compared to the Carthaginian army was cavalry, and this order of the commander determined that the Fourth Cavalry Regiment would inevitably pay a certain amount of casualties.

“…… At the same time, send five reserve brigades to follow these scouts to protect our scouts from the Numibian cavalry. Leotizides' next words relieved Mukrul that with the support of 5,000 legionary reserve heavy infantry, the safety of the Dionian scouts was assured.

"Also, tell Myrthias to send more clippers into the seas further west of Sicily to find out the movements of the Carthaginian army on the other side of the sea."

After Leotizides finished speaking, Mukru looked embarrassed, and he said: "Your Excellency, I have come to the study to tell you that our fleet still did not send a single warship to cruise in the western seas as it did yesterday. According to the information I have received, the commander of the Sicilian fleet, Miltias, said to his admirals, 'They are not familiar with the sea conditions here, and it is very likely that they will suffer the same bad luck again when they go to sea in such bad weather, and he must take responsibility for the lives of the crew of each warship, and they must not let them die in vain without a single victory.' And in such weather, the Carthaginians are likewise afraid that there will be no great ......action.'"

Listening to what Muqru said, Leotizides' face was gloomy and terrifying, and he snorted lightly: "This new commander of the Sicilian fleet has been frightened by that storm, and his courage is much worse than that of Seklian!" You still have to go to the port, tell Myrtias in person, and say that it is my order that he must send a clipper to patrol the waters of western Sicily in the next two days! ”