Dido did not expect that the Ionian official would come up with such an idea, and for a moment he was shy, irritable, worried, and annoyed...... Countless emotions crumpled into a mess in my heart.

Carthage and Greece are somewhat similar in terms of marriage, and the major matters of marriage are basically decided by the elders. But for Dido, the situation is special, her mother died early, her father is now in a coma, and her father dotes on her, and has long agreed to let her choose her own husband, otherwise she would not have been married at such an age of 24, so now it is completely up to her to decide whether to marry or not. But she never imagined that her marriage would be linked to the life and death of her father, the rise and fall of her family, and the future of thousands of people in southern Iberia.

How could she not see that this was a trap designed by the King of Dioonia and his men, but she was so excited at the moment that she did not want to expose it, nor did she dare to make a rash choice.

But when she visits the unconscious Marco again, she finally makes the decision to marry the Dionian prince Klotocatax.

The incorporation of the new colony of southern Iberia in former Carthage into the Kingdom of Dioonia was soon finalized.

Two days later, Henypolis met with Ocriton, who had returned to Liliba, and told him directly that "the people of the southern Iberian colonies had voluntarily joined the kingdom of Dionia", and announced that since the Iberian colony was no longer within the scope of negotiations, the kingdom demanded that a new condition be added to the negotiations, and that Hadrumentum and his territory belong to Dionia.

Ocleton was taken aback by the rebellion of the Magonides, but Carthage was too busy to take care of himself, and where could he still crusade against Iberia, which was hundreds of miles away, he could only protest to Hennipolis: Carthage refused to negotiate with Dionys, unless Dionysa handed over the traitorous Magonides.

The two sides parted unhappily.

With the lessons of Hadru Mentum and Ruspina as an example, Tapsos surrendered Kaejo only on the second day after the siege.

Alexis gave his army a short rest and led his army westward. Two days later, they set up camp ten miles from the city of Addis.

Alexis did not attack immediately, but sent scouts and mountain scouts to scout the enemy and the surrounding geography while letting his soldiers build camps.

Samers, who was in the city of Atdis, was nervous when he heard the news of the approaching Dionian army, and ordered the army not to attack and to strengthen the defenses.

The two sides confronted each other until early February. During this period, the Phoenician allies west of Carthage sent reinforcements one after another, bringing the Carthaginian force defending Ardis to more than 20,000.

But at the same time, Samors also got bad news: a large Numibian army appeared to the south of Adis.

Although the Carthaginian Senate had sent a number of emissaries to the tribes of East Numibia, taking advantage of the relations they had established before, promising various advantages in an attempt to persuade them to remain neutral. But the tribes of East Numibian had already formed an alliance with Dionia, and even more so that anyone with a discerning eye could see that Carthage had sunset, so how could they let go of this great opportunity to beat the water dogs and free the East Numibian people from Carthaginian control once and for all.

As a result, the East Numibian tribes eventually gathered more than 15,000 warriors and intended to rush to Hadru Mentum to join the Dionian army, but Alexis sent messengers to order them to march directly from the south to the city of Carthage.

At the same time, Alexis moved his camp further west, less than 5 miles from the city of Attis.

Samors was caught in a difficult choice. Originally, when he heard that the East Numibian army was approaching, in order to avoid being attacked from both sides, he had already begun to plan: first leave a part of the army to garrison Adis, and quietly lead the main force to quickly rush to the south, first defeat the large but not strong East Numibian people, and then rush back and confront the Dionian army again.

However, the sudden movement of the Dionian army to the city of Ardis meant that the Carthaginian army in the city could hardly be hidden from the eyes of the Dionians, and if the main force of the army went to attack the East Numibians, it was likely to be flanked by the Dionians.

While Samours was hesitating, another Dionian army (in fact, a mixed force of part of the Tenth Dionian Legion and the infantry of the Sicilian fleet, numbering nearly 10,000 men) landed on the western coast of Carthage and surrounded the city of Diarrhytos (a Phoenician city-state about 100 li west of Carthage, adjacent to Utica), and Dairytos hurriedly sent messengers to Carthage asking for reinforcements and asking for the reinstatement of the Civic soldiers he had previously reinforced.

Samours knew that the Phoenician city-states in the west were empty of troops due to the requisition of a large number of citizen soldiers, and they were afraid that they would not be able to defend against the siege of the Dionian army, and if Carthage could not rescue in time, the entire western coast would be as likely to fall as the east, but now that Carthage was approaching on both the east and south sides, how could he dare to lead it to leave.

But it is not a good idea to sit idly by, because the news can only be blocked for a long time, and after a long time, these Phoenician allied soldiers in the army will not hesitate to leave the army and rush back to the mother state when they know that their home state has been or may be attacked by Dionia, and then the army will lose 1/3 or more of its strength, and the war to defend Carthage will be even more difficult to fight.

Samors finally made up his mind. He hurried back to Carthage, explained to the Senate the danger to the army, and proposed that the best way to solve the present predicament was to take advantage of the fact that the citizen soldiers of the Phoenician allies were still there, and risk a decisive battle with the Dionian army east of the city of Atdis, and then lead the victorious army to defeat the approaching East Numibians, and most of the crisis facing Carthage would be resolved, and finally the Phoenician allies would be reinforced.

After some debate, the senators finally agreed to his proposal, as Hanno said: "...... Although this is a great adventure, at least there is a chance of survival, and it is better than doing nothing and allowing the Dioonians to besiege Carthaginian army step by step until the final destruction......"

In order to increase the odds of victory, the Senate carried out an emergency mobilization.

When Samours returned to the city of Atdis, he brought back three thousand soldiers, either old men or young men, and Carthage did everything in his power for the decisive battle that was about to begin.

Although Ardis was not far from Carthage, the unusual number of 3,000 soldiers was not a small number, and it would soon be detected by the Dionian scouts and reported back to Alexis.

Early in the morning of the second day, Alexis, who had just gotten up, received a report from the scouts: the Carthaginian army was constantly marching out of the city of Ardis and marching in the direction of the camp.

The Carthaginian army, which had been holding out in Ardis all along, suddenly left the city! …… Alexis was not surprised, and continued to wash up carefully according to the previous rhythm, finish breakfast slowly, and put on his armor...... When everything was ready, Printors was called in, and the escort and 300 Sinumbian cavalry galloped out of the camp.

After advancing only three miles to the west, I heard a cacophony in front of me and saw thousands of Carthaginian soldiers forming up in formation on the flat grass......

Alexis held the reins in both hands, with a smile on his face, turned to Printors and said, "It seems that as we expected, the Carthaginians can't wait to come to us for a decisive battle. ”

"It's obvious, after all, they can only choose this path, and maybe there is a little hope." Printors stared solemnly at the front and said, "But because of this, the Carthaginians, who are already in a desperate situation, will definitely do their best to win this battle, even if we surpass them in strength, we must not underestimate them, and I believe that even if we win in the end, we will pay a lot of price...... I suggest that it is best to avoid a decisive battle with the Carthaginians at this time, my lord, and that in a few days, when the army of Captain Melisanda and his army have conquered the Phoenician city-states in the west, the strength of this Carthaginian army will inevitably be weakened and its morale will be low, and then we will march again, and victory will come more easily. ”

Alexis fell into deep thought, and after a long moment, he shook his head and said, "Printors, maybe your advice is right, but I can't take it. We refused to fight, and wanted to wait for the Phoenician allies of Carthage to flee before attacking, but by then the Carthaginian army would face a joint attack with the East Numibians, and it was very likely that the Carthaginian army would abandon Ardis and retreat directly to the city of Carthage. Carthage is a city of high walls, a large population, and a favorable position, and we may not be able to take Carthage even if we besiege Carthage for several months, even if we include all the infantry of the Fourth Legion, as well as the Numibians. ”

Speaking of this, Alexis sighed: "Didn't the head of the fleet who came to transport the military rations the day before yesterday say that since the Tenth Army also landed in Africa, the demand for baggage supply has increased greatly, and the military food reserves hoarded in Liliba and Selinus have been exhausted, and His Majesty has sent someone to inform Katanay and Turii to urgently prepare a huge amount of military rations...... In addition, the sea between Sicily and Africa was rough this season, and the fleet had already encountered many winds and waves during transportation, losing more than 10 ships......

As the war continues, so do the losses we have to endure in Dionia. Now that there is a chance to crush the main army of Carthage in one fell swoop and end the war at an early date, why should we give up! Again...... We've been here for so long, Amintas and they already have a lot of opinions, if we avoid this battle again, and instead wait for the results of the 10th Legion to the west, I'm afraid the arrogant soldiers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd legions will have to come out and protest, so we must fight this battle! ”

After hearing this, Printors felt that it made sense, and immediately said: "Your Excellency, I am your staff officer, and it is my duty to give you different suggestions for your reference, since you have made a choice, let's start preparing for this battle." ”