Moreover, the defenders of Dioonia did not stop there, they collected linen from the houses in the city, sewed it into long sections, and then erected wooden poles at the ends of the walkway at the head of the city, and propped up the linen to form a linen roof in sections. In this way, most of the arrows, javelins, and flying stones shot at the head of the city were blocked by it, and they lost their lethality, protecting the defenders of the city head well.

In addition, the defenders of Dioonia also erected a lot of wooden frames at the head of the city, on which copper pots filled with water were hung, and after boiling them with firewood, they poured directly into the city, and the boiling water contained feces and urine, which was poured on the besieging Carthaginian soldiers, causing the skin to ulcerate, unable to heal, and very poisonous.

From time to time, the stone bullets swept through the air, causing a sensation wherever they landed; Arrows and flying stones are constantly crisscrossing the air, like dark clouds hanging over the city. The Dionian soldiers held the city and did not retreat; The Carthaginian soldiers were like a tidal wave, constantly pounding the city......

In fact, the battle was not only fought on the ground, but in the past few days, Marco has asked the miner-turned-soldiers to dig several new tunnels underground, and they have continued to dig towards the city, and they have learned the lesson of the previous time, with heavily armed soldiers behind them, and after the tunnels are detected by the Dionians, the two sides are also engaged in even more fierce battles in the tunnels......

The siege lasted from morning to dusk, and the intensity of the Carthaginian army continued unabated, especially after sending the Phoenus infantry, and several times they attacked the city, but they were eventually repulsed by the Dionian reinforcements.

As night fell, the Carthaginian army finally sounded the trumpet of retreat.

Although Ocliton had participated in battles in his youth, he had never experienced such a large number of battles and such a grand and fierce battle scene, and he stood on the inner wall, looking at the countless fallen corpses and wounded soldiers under the city in front of him, and his mood could not be calm for a long time.

Not long after, when he met Marco in the tent of the Carthaginian camp, the military commander who had just finished commanding the siege was devouring dinner.

Seeing Octriton coming in, Margo's eyes suddenly sharpened, he put down the bread in his hand, and asked bluntly, "Ocriton, how are you going to negotiate?" ”

Ocliton was not surprised that Margo would know about the negotiations, for as the head of the Margonid family, someone would have risked his way to Sicily to report to him everything that had happened in the Senate. He was surprised that Marco did not seem to be angry that the Senate wanted peace talks.

But when he thought about it carefully, he understood: Lilibal had fallen, the sea route had been cut off, the food supply for the 100,000 army had become more and more difficult, and even the always tough Marco had to bow his head in the face of reality?!

For his part, Ocleton is happy to see this happen, which means that something can be discussed.

"One of the conditions that the Dioonians have put forward for a peace agreement is that your army surrender to them, Lord Margo!" Ocliton said word by word.

Brother Ma's eyes suddenly became sharp, but then he retracted his light and said firmly: "The Senate will never agree to such a ridiculous condition!" ”

"Not only this, but the Dionians demanded that Carthage cede Corsica, Sardinia, and all of Sicily!" Ocleton accentuated his tone and continued.

"Dionya, this is trying to destroy my Carthage!" There was a slight fire burning in Margo's eyes, but his expression became solemn: "It seems that the Dionians don't want peace talks at all!" ”

"I don't think so." Ocliton said slowly: "Just like the conditions given by the Senate for peace talks, the Dioonians gave such harsh conditions in the beginning of the talks, which is just asking for a sky-high price, of course we can continue to bargain with them, but now our record is too poor, so I can't get a good bargaining chip......"

Margo looked up and looked directly at Ocriton.

Ocleton calmly met Margo's sharp gaze like a blade, his face was like frost, and he said in a cold tone: "Is there a problem with what I said?!" If it weren't for the defeat of your army from the east, Lord Margot, and the loss of Palermos and Liliba one after another, causing the whole battle situation to become so bad and bad, the Senate would not have chosen peace talks so humiliatingly! ——”

"When am I going to suffer a big defeat in the East?!" Margo slapped his angry palm on the table, the bowls and cans on the table clanged and the food was scattered all over the ground: "I led the army to retreat from the east, that is because the supply of military food is not enough, and the fundamental reason is not because our navy is not good, we have lost control of the Sicilian seas, and the army's sea transportation lines have been seriously threatened, which is all a good thing that Anobus recommended by you!" The fleet he led was defeated again and again, almost exhausting our Carthaginian ships, while the army under my command has not suffered major losses so far, but has fallen into passivity because it is trapped in military rations! Marco couldn't help but say the last sentence that expressed his helplessness and sadness.

But Ocleton obviously didn't sympathize with him, but said coldly: "Lord Margo, in order to fulfill your original request to send troops, the Senate has worked hard to evacuate almost all the young and middle-aged citizens of the Carthage and Phoenician allies, and gathered 100,000 troops for you, which has caused a gap in the defense of Africa and cannot resist the attack of the Dionian fleet!"

The Senate, in order to ensure the food supply of this army under your command, has also collected almost all the surplus food in the homes of the people of Africa, and for this reason the treasury has been empty! Jia Taiji has made such great sacrifices and efforts, not that you are just satisfied that the army has not suffered major losses, but just blame the navy for the reason why you can't succeed, even if you get a few more victories and make the Dionians feel the pressure, Dionya will not dare to send a navy to harass the land of Africa, and even now when the peace talks are made, they will not put forward such harsh conditions! ”

Margo was speechless for a moment, and after a moment he regained his proud demeanor: "In a few days, you will receive news of victory!" ”

Ocliton was stunned for a moment, then understood, and said uncertainly: "You are talking about Selinus?" I've seen today's siege, how many soldiers did we die in battle? 3000 people? Or 5000 people? ”

Margo said confidently: "We have lost a lot of people, but the casualties of the Dionians will not be low, the most important thing is that we have built the earthen wall to the edge of the trench, and then attack Selinus, our soldiers can directly pass through the city wall and fight the Dionians head-on."

If the Dioonians do not increase their forces, we can take the city of Selinus by virtue of the absolute superiority of our forces; And if they increase their troops, then this will become a bleeding wound for Dionia! At that point, the terms of negotiation they proposed would have to be significantly revised! ”

Although the two were political enemies, in the current situation of Carthage facing a major crisis, Ocleton wanted to see what Marco said for the first time to become true, so he said solemnly: "The Senate is eagerly waiting for the news of your victory, and I hope we will not wait too long!" ”

…………………………………………

In the middle of the night, Selinus's clipper entered the port of Minoa, and Davos was woken up by Maltius in his deep sleep, and after reading the battle report written by Amintas, he was completely sleepy, and said to Tormid and Printors who came later: "The Carthaginian army has been attacking the city of Selinus for several days, and the defenders of Selinus have suffered many casualties, and even Amintas is a little overwhelmed, so he wrote to ask for help. ”

Tormide took the battle report with some surprise, and after reading it, he handed it to Printors, then thought about it, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, now the Carthaginian military commander Margo has concentrated his troops outside the city of Selinus and concentrated his strength to attack the city, Amintas's soldiers are not more than 10,000, even if he tries his best to resist the attack of the Carthaginian army for a long time, his casualties will inevitably be heavy." You know, the vast majority of the soldiers of the First Legion are from Turii, and it has been replenished twice in this war, and the people of Turii have already paid great sacrifices......"

Hearing this, Davers was moved and silent.

Tormide carefully observed the expression on Davers's face and suggested softly: "I remember that when Your Majesty was in Latium, in view of the Roman army's onslaught on the city of Ostia and caused our army a lot of casualties, he decisively ordered the city of Ostia to be abandoned and burned down, resulting in the Roman army paying a huge number of casualties and gaining nothing, thus demoralizing them. Now that we have occupied Lilibal, we can completely replace the role played by the port of Selinus, can we consider it when necessary...... Take the same approach and abandon Selinus? ”

When Davers heard this suggestion, his heart moved, his fingers tapped on the table, and he fell into thought, and after a while, he raised his head and looked at the other staff officer: "Printors, what is your opinion?" ”

Seeing that the eyes of the other people were focused, Printors pondered for a moment and said: "I agree with Lord Tolmide's suggestion, but it is best not to abandon the city of Selinus prematurely, because Your Majesty's strategy now is to take a defensive posture on land and lure the Carthaginian army to take the initiative to attack, so as to continuously kill and injure the Carthaginian soldiers and wear down their morale...... Allowing the Carthaginians to capture Selinus too early, even in ruins, would boost their morale. At the same time, it also freed up more time for the Carthaginians to attack Lilipe......"

After hearing this, Davos pondered for a while, and suddenly showed a helpless smile: "I now regret sending Amintas to defend Selinus, and when I was in Latium, I ordered him to abandon Ostia and go to Sicily...... I'm going to ask him to give up Selinus again, even if he finally obeys the order, and I'm afraid that he will always be haunted by his always courageous and never backward fighting style. ”

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