Klotockataks scratched his head with his hand, showing a rare childish expression: "Say I'm doing well, but pay attention to safety...... Because my father also wrote back to me. ”

Assistes laughed heartily and said, "You came in a hurry just now, I haven't even had time to eat dinner, and it just so happens that today is the first day of the new year, so you can have dinner with me, and then we will discuss how to hold a fishing tournament tomorrow while eating, and I have decided that you will be responsible for organizing this matter." ”

"Me?" Klotocatax was a little surprised.

"No faith?" Ashistes looked at him with a smirk.

"No problem!" Klotocatax responded immediately.

………………………………………

Dionysia's two new terms of negotiation shocked Ocleton, who dared to continue the negotiations, excused himself by saying that the matter needed to be decided by the Senate, and returned to Carthage by boat without stopping for a moment, but did not immediately report the matter to the Senate, but first told Hanno.

That night, several important Hanno patriarchs, including Typanlac, rushed to the Hanno mansion one after another.

When Ocleton repeated his negotiations with the Dioonians in Sicily, the expressions on everyone's faces became solemn.

"Lord Hanno, the Dionians' offer of such harsh conditions for negotiation is a provocation to us, and we must not accede to it! If the Ionians force it, we will stop negotiating! The first to speak was Dravica, Hanno's most vocal supporter of Hanno's "policy of expansion inland", and of course a friendly gift from Hanno, which allowed his family to occupy a large area near Theveste (a town in East Numibia, inland south of Carthage).

"If we do not negotiate, then the Dioonians can continue to destroy the remnants of our forces in Sicily and take all of western Sicily for themselves, and then regroup their forces and land heavily in Africa to attack our Carthage...... It's not that we want to negotiate, but that the enemy is strong and we are weak, and the situation is grim, forcing us to negotiate! Samors sighed darkly, he was the most military savvy of the Hannoites since Monte Adler, and now he was leading thousands of Carthaginian citizen soldiers, who were stationed in East Numibia to suppress rebellions and stabilize order, and this time he was specially called back, which shows the importance that Hanno attaches to him.

"The Ionians want Corsica, Sardinia, Western Sicily! Now they want the south of Iberia and they want us to return the land of Numibia! …… If we all say yes, will we be able to satisfy the Dionians?! No, our weakness will only fuel their greed, and they will not only add new conditions for negotiation, but will even send a large army to land in Africa and threaten our Carthage! Now that the situation is already so bad, why don't we get tougher and make the Dioonians scruple instead! Delevica retorted.

Hanno listened to the debate between the two, did not make a statement, turned his head and asked, "Typanrako, what is your opinion?" ”

"The key question now is that we first have to determine whether the Ionians really want to negotiate with us. If so, then we will try our best to negotiate with them in the hope of finally obtaining a truce that is not bad for us; If not, then we will prepare for war with all our might, and prepare to defend against the invasion of Africa by the Ionian army! ”

After hearing this, Hanno looked at Ocleton again: "You and the Dioonians have been negotiating for a while, in your judgment, what do the Dioonians want to negotiate peacefully?" Or don't want peace talks? ”

The weight of this question was so heavy that Ocliton did not answer it immediately, but pondered for a while before he spoke: "During the time I have been negotiating with the Dionians, I have only met their king once at the beginning, and he has been quite friendly to me, and I have asked to see him again several times, but I have refused, I think it is not because his anger against our Carthage is growing, but precisely because he wants to make peace with Carthage, and fears that he will be begged by me, The rash decision interfered with the plans of the Dionian negotiators.

Secondly, on several occasions I deliberately provoked the negotiators of Dionia, and threatened to 'stop the negotiations, let the Carthaginians prepare for war with all their might, and fight Dionysia to the end!' But when I reappeared in the negotiating room on the second day, the Negotiator from Dionya was still there, and though he said sarcastic words, he let the negotiations continue. As far as I could see, the official was a very arrogant man, but the fact that he was able to endure it in this way shows that they have expectations for negotiations.

Still, it's understandable that the Ionians want more in negotiations, just as we want to pay less in negotiations. So in the negotiations, we were all watching to see how the battle unfolded, but unfortunately Marco lost, and the Dioonians had a bigger advantage, and of course they wanted more.

Moreover, I learned from my conversations with the Dionian negotiators that the Dioonians did not pay a great price for defeating Marco's army this time...... I looked closely at the Dionian soldiers I saw, and they were all swaggering, and I didn't see the slightest hint of fatigue in the war......"

The faces of several people in the room changed drastically.

After a while, Tepanrako looked reluctantly relieved, "...... Maybe they're deliberately pretending to be there for you, and then they're putting pressure on you. ”

"Stupid Margo! He was a carthaginian sinner! Delevica scolded indignantly.

Hanno, who was usually at odds with the Magnied family in the Senate, did not reprimand Margo loudly at this time, but sighed with a worried expression: "Delevica, what you said before is right, the greed of the Dionians can be changed, maybe the previous King of Dionya did have the will to negotiate peace, but as the gap in strength between the two sides grows wider and wider, it is inevitable that they will not have other ideas!" From the present situation, we must admit that the Dioonians have absolute superiority in both the navy and the army, and we must first of all do everything possible to strengthen the city of Carthage and dispel the Dionians' desire to destroy us! Samors, what advice do you have for this? ”

Samors hesitated in his heart and did not answer for a moment.

"When is it now, just say what you have to say!" Hanno was getting impatient.

"Mistress Hanno, then I'll say it." Samours simply let it go, and said bluntly: "The Sicilian army has suffered a crushing defeat, and the entire sea area is completely blocked by the Dionian navy, and the remnants of the army on the island have no hope of escaping, and will eventually surrender to the Dionians." Now that the Dioonians have put forward such harsh terms for negotiation, it should be impossible for them to release the captives until an agreement is reached, so once the Dionians, after solving the Sicilian problem, really land in Africa and launch an attack on the city of Carthage, how many soldiers can we organize to defend Carthage? How much food do we have to keep the city of Carthage alive under the siege of the Dionian army? How much foreign aid can we have to help us in times of crisis in Carthage? ……”

Samores's questioning made the faces of several people in the room change suddenly.

As this year's Sofitet, Ocleton coughed dryly and said with reluctance of relief: "The young citizens of Carthage suffered a lot of casualties after following Monte Adno to Sicily for the first time. Marco then forced us to conscript more than 10,000 citizen soldiers, all now trapped in Sicily, while nearly 8,000 citizens are stationed in Numibia under your command.

If the city still wants to forcibly recruit again, I am afraid that it can organize more than 4,000 people at most, including old people and teenagers (Carthage, although the most prosperous city-state in the western Mediterranean, seems to have a large population, but in fact there are not many real citizens, more slaves, especially the Numibians). The Phoenicians were only a small race in the entire Mediterranean, so for hundreds of years, although they were more civilized and technologically capable than the Greeks, they were largely at a disadvantage in the waves of migration in the Western Mediterranean. ）。

But I can guarantee that there will be enough food, for due to the blockade of the Dionian fleet, most of the rations we have collected from Numibia and our allies for the Sicilian army have not been delivered, and it will be enough for the whole city for more than three months, and let us not forget that there is food in the homes of the people. It's absolutely no problem to hold out for half a year under the siege of the Dionians!

As for the foreign aid you mentioned...... The entire Phoenician city-state of Africa is our Carthaginian help, and the Dionian army will not be able to move an inch on this land. ”

Ocleton's relief obviously did not have an effect, and Samores's expression was still solemn, and he said in a deep voice: "Although Carthage City has lagoons and hills as a barrier, 4,000 men are simply not enough to resist the attack of the Dionians, and the eight thousand soldiers stationed in Numibia should be transferred back to strengthen the defense of the city."

In addition, I don't agree with what Lord Ocleton just said that the Phoenician allies are our help, I just think that the Phoenician allies of Africa will be a burden to us, and most of their young and middle-aged citizens have been transferred to Sicily by us, once the Dionian army really lands in Africa, the Phoenician allies who have no strength to protect themselves may ask us for help, should we send reinforcements at that time?

If sent, it will not only weaken our small defenses, but also put reinforcements in danger of being attacked by the Dionian army at any time; If not, will the Phoenician allies still trust us? Maybe they'll fall straight to the Dionians! And-"

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