In the Battle of Minoa, except for the Carthaginian Holy Legion that caused us some trouble, the other Carthaginian troops were simply vulnerable, especially the army composed of Numibians The morale was very low, and our heavy infantry could cause them to retreat with a single charge, so our army was able to easily attack the west, and forced the Carthaginians to retreat in various cities for a long time, and did not dare to go out of the city to fight. During this time, we did not find an opportunity to engage the Iberian army that had been stationed in Palermos.

After Carthage sent a large army to Sicily for the second time, the situation changed, first of all, Carthage was commanded by the Iberian governor Margo, who had been fighting in Iberia for a long time and had a lot of battlefield experience. Based on all aspects of intelligence, this Marco brought more than 20,000 soldiers from Iberia, plus 20,000 Iberian soldiers in Palermos, there are more than 40,000 Iberian soldiers in Sicily, most of them are Carthaginian mercenaries, who have been fighting in Iberia with Marco for a long time, and their combat effectiveness is very strong.

In Geira, I led the 8th Army, the 4th Cavalry Corps, and the armies of the allies to the same Iberian army, and the two sides were not much different in numbers, the 8th Army attacked the Iberian heavy infantry, and even the 4th Cavalry Corps attacked from the flank, but the opponent always defended stubbornly and never retreated"

"Oh?!" Hearing this, Breru sat up straight, with a look of surprise on his face, although the number of the Eighth Legion was behind the Seventh Legion, but the Eighth Legion pacified the Siker region a few years ago, and before defeating the Holy Legion called "the strongest heavy infantry" by the Carthaginians in Minoa, the actual combat experience is richer than the Seventh Legion that has not fought for many years, although Breru does not admit it on the surface, but deep down he faintly feels that the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Legion may be a little stronger than that of the 7th Legion, And now a heavy infantry army from Iberia was able to remain undefeated in the combined attack of the Eighth Army and the Cavalry Legion, which really surprised him.

"And many of the Carthaginian armies were probably native warriors of the Iberian Peninsula, tall and fierce in attack, and able to obey discipline, most notably with a long shield in one hand and a short sword similar to that of our legionnaires in the other, who crushed the phalanx of Gela and Camanlina heavy infantry from the front, and ultimately led to my defeat at Gela......" Leotizides did not change his expression or tone of voice when he mentioned this, It's as if you're talking about something that happened to someone else.

However, in the conference room, not only Brerou, but also Sekrian and Cipros were surprised.

"In this way, the heavy infantry of the Carthaginian army from Iberia is not inferior to our legionnaires!" Sipros couldn't help but say, like Secrean, he only had a rough idea of the defeat of Leotizides at the Battle of Gera, and he didn't have time to know in detail, and when he suddenly heard the details, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"Not only the heavy infantry, but also the light infantry of the Iberian army of Carthage. At the time of the battle, they had a thousand slingers, probably from the Balearic Islands, who threw lead pellets accurately and ruthlessly, no weaker than the slingers in the light infantry brigade of our First Legion, and caused a lot of casualties to the light infantry brigade of the Eighth Legion, and they also had hundreds of javelinmen composed of indigenous Iberian people, and the javelins they threw were not only heavy, but also had hooks, which were difficult to pull out once hit, and caused a large wound, which would cause a lot of bleeding to death, and the medical battalion did not have a good way to deal with it. At this point, Leotizides' tone was slightly lower.

"It seems that there are only cavalry, and we Dionia can be stronger than " Listening to Leotizides' words, Sekrian couldn't help but sigh, but he didn't want to hear a cough from the side.

He turned his head to look at the embarrassed commander of the Fourth Cavalry Corps, Astmis, and suddenly remembered that Carthage occupied the Numibian region, and there were many Numibian cavalry in the army.

Sure enough, Leotizides continued: "It may be that this Carthaginian army had to cross the mountains and raid the rear, so it did not let the cavalry accompany it, but the intelligence shows that the Carthaginian army that landed in Sicily had 6 or 7 thousand cavalry, most of them Numibian cavalry, and some Carthaginian cavalry, Mauritanian cavalry, and Iberian cavalry, which exceeded the number of our four cavalry corps combined. ”

"The Carthaginian army from Iberia, whose heavy infantry and light infantry are not weaker than our legionnaires, and whose cavalry is slightly stronger than ours, it seems that this is our fierce enemy!" Breru's face was solemn, in his previous legionary career, he had fought against the army of Syracuse, against the armies of Mesapi and Puchetti, the armies of these city-states and races had always had one flaw or another, which made him always proud of the strength of the Dionian Legion, and it was the first time he had heard of an army that was not inferior to the Dionian Legion in every way, and he felt uneasy and excited at the same time.

He cautiously asked, "Except for the army from Iberia, how are the other Carthaginian armies fighting?" ”

"According to intelligence, in addition to the more than 40,000 soldiers from Iberia, about 60,000 soldiers from the enemy army that landed in Sicily were from Carthage, the Phoenician allies in Africa, and the Numibians, with the Numibians being the most numerous. After the Carthaginian army besieged the city of Selinus, I made a night attack on the Carthaginian army, and it was successful. According to the soldiers who returned, many of the enemies they slashed were Numibian soldiers, and these Numibians were unable to organize an effective defense after being attacked, and most of them only knew how to escape......"

When Leotizides said this, he saw that the expressions on the faces of the other people became much more relaxed, and then he continued: "Then this army was sent to attack Minoa. As we all know, the Carthaginian army had attacked the city of Minoa before, but had never been able to make progress, which led me to lead my army to the rescue. This time, however, the Minoans clearly felt the pressure, and they sent messengers frequently to ask for help from me, and eventually had to evacuate from Minoa City......

I asked the Minoan refugees, and they said that the dark-skinned Numibians attacked the walls as if they were dying, repulsed a wave, and soon rushed up again, constantly depleting their small number of defenders, and finally the defense failed...... It can be seen from this that the combat effectiveness of this army is not weak. From the rout of the night raid to the capture of Minoa, it was exactly like two armies. My guess is that Margo must have done something during this time to boost their morale......" Leotizides calmly analyzed.

"100,000 people! 100,000 soldiers whose combat effectiveness is not weak! Breru couldn't help but sigh softly.

"This time Carthage had more than 100,000 troops." Seklian interjected: "When I was in the port of Lilipa, I inquired privately that there were more than 10,000 soldiers in the city of Lilipo, and how could the Phoenician city-states such as Mazara, Erlux, and Palermos have thousands of citizen soldiers, and if they were all combined, the number of Carthaginian troops would be far more than 100,000. ”

Cipros gasped, touched his chin, pondered for a while, and said, "With such a large army, the supply of military rations must be very large. ”

"Sipros-sama, your words hit the nail on the head!" Secrean complimented, then pointed to the map of Sicily placed in the center of the wooden table where everyone was sitting, and said loudly: "So we must defend Selinus, as long as we have it, our fleet can frequently attack the western seas, attack their merchant ships and cargo ships, cut off the Carthaginian route to the west of Sicily, make it difficult for the Carthaginian army to supply food, and even I can send the fleet infantry to land and attack the rear of the Carthaginian army...... After all, judging from the current situation, our navy and army have a great advantage in the face of Carthage. ”

Seclian looked at Leotizides and said confidently: "Although the Carthaginian navy is comparable to us in terms of courage and ship maneuvering, and is more familiar with the sea conditions in the western seas than us, they still use traditional naval tactics, which cannot be changed in a short time. As long as the ships of the Sicilian fleet return to their previous numbers, I can even blockade the port of Carthage! ”

Sipros reluctantly reminded: "The Senate has passed a resolution on this matter, and all the port cities in the kingdom are building warships, but the time is too hasty, and it is not possible to build hundreds of warships to meet your requirements." ”

"But there's one thing you can help with." Sekrian said seriously: "Now the naval base in Catania is docked before...... The twenty warships that Flarios captured off the coast of Cerrodium, and the thirty warships I captured on the south coast this time, could be incorporated into our fleet and go to sea with a little repair and modification. In this way, the Sicilian fleet could reach sixty or seventy ships in a short time, and it was possible to maintain its superiority over the Carthaginian navy. So, I need Sipros to gather all the shipwrights from several cities in Sicily to the naval base for the time being, and help us refit these Phoenician ships as soon as possible! This time, Sekrian spoke earnestly.