"But this time it's hard for him to win again! Because we are in the war! Hasdruba said unconvinced.

"In the event of a war between Dionya and our Carthage, in case ...... The Carthaginian army won one after another, what should we do? Kisgow asked cautiously again.

"The Carthaginian army that Hanno raised?!" Hasdruba looked contemptuous: "They only know how to bully the weak Numibians, even if the Dioonians encounter a drought, they are likely to be attacked on all sides, but lions are lions after all, and how can wild dogs deal with them, and in the end it depends on us!" ”

Hasdruba held his head high, full of confidence.

If Marco had been in Carthage before, when the enemy had violated Carthage's interests, he would have actively asked to lead the army first, but after staying in the Iberian Peninsula for all these years, his temperament changed greatly, and he nodded without hesitation and said, "Then do it!" ”

Then, he looked around at the three of them and solemnly instructed: "Haka, from now on, you must stock up on more grains, build more weapons and equipment, and carefully prepare everything for the expedition. ”

"Yes, uncle."

"Hasdruba, you have to step up your efforts to recruit more soldiers and train the army!"

"Uncle, don't worry, I'll leave it all to me."

"Kisgow, you hasten to contact the Celtic tribes of northern Iberia, sign a peace agreement with them, and hire their warriors to fight for us...... Also, we need to send emissaries to our allies to the south, the Kingdom of Mauritania, so that they can also send reinforcements to fight with us. ”

"Yes, Lord Governor!"

…………………………………………

When the meeting was over, Margo returned to the backyard, and with the excitement still swirling in her chest, she said to the servant, "Go and pour me a glass of wine." ”

A moment later, it was his daughter, Dido, who was 21 years old and unmarried, and asked softly, "Father, have you made your decision?" ”

Margo knew what she was asking, because of Dido's intelligence, Marco did not avoid her in important government affairs, and sometimes asked her to give advice: "Yes, it has been decided!" I believe that in less than half a year, we will be able to return to Carthage amid the cheers of the people, and then your marriage will be resolved! ”

Since Dido was his only child, Marco gave her a certain amount of autonomy in her marriage, and his daughter was very discerning, plus the Iberian region was indeed relatively backward and there were no outstanding characters, and his daughter's marriage became a heart problem for him.

Dido didn't answer him, but sighed with a frown: "We are very good in Iberia, why do we have to go back to Carthage?!" ”

"Carthage is our root!" Margo said solemnly: "Our ancestors went through a lot of hardships to build that city, how can we easily discard it!" Besides, Carthage is declining, and our days in Iberia will not be easy, so we must keep Carthage prosperous no matter what! ”

"But...... The Kingdom of Dionya is not so easy to deal with! It's much more powerful than the Syracuse of yesteryear, and I'm afraid of provoking it and ending up bringing us ...... Disaster! There was a lot of worry between Dido's eyebrows.

"Dionya is strong, but we are also strong in Carthage, not to mention that now is the best time to attack Dionia, you can rest assured! Besides, fighting a war is a man's business, so you don't have to worry about it anymore. When you have free time, you go and help Haka more, the next time he is the busiest, and someone needs to help him share some affairs, otherwise I'm afraid his body won't be able to support him. Marco said, raising his glass and tasting the wine, apparently not wanting to listen to Dido's persuasion any more.

"All right......" Dido sighed faintly.

……………………………………

Two days later, Ionis and his crew were escorted into the city of Carthage.

The people of Carthage, who had received the news in advance, almost the whole city went out to see the caravans of stolen goods - silver bricks that followed these criminals, and the people of Carthage were outraged.

You must know that about half of the citizens of Carthage are merchants or engaged in business-related occupations, and in the past two years, the Dionians have used "tricks" to break the Carthaginian commercial monopoly on Sardinia, and the expulsion of Carthaginian merchants in Dionya some time ago, which has made them resentful, and now seeing all this, their anger can be imagined.

"Damn thief!! Despicable and shameless Ionians!! How dare you steal the wealth of our Carthage!! They cannot be forgiven easily!! ……”

"Kill them!! Execute these thieves who are trying to steal our wealth!! Let the Ionians know how great we are in Carthage!! ……”

……

Hateful curses resounded throughout the city, and Ionis and his crew trembled like trees in the wind.

Under the wave of protests and insults against Dionya throughout the city, Pretakuba and several other senators proposed in the Senate that "these Dionian criminals should be tried publicly", and this time Hanno did not buck the trend to stop it, and the proposal was passed.

Soon, the hundred-person court set up a position in the square,

Ionis emboldened to apply to the court that according to the agreement between Dionya and Carthage, the Dionian officials must be present to hear the case against him, but he refused.

Next, the owner of the mine who sold him became the plaintiff, accusing Ionis of colluding with his miners and slave leaders to resell the silver nuggets.

Another carthaginian slave whom he had never seen before became a witness, regretting how he had been bribed by the Ionians for a great deal of money and betrayed his master, and that such a deal had not happened more than once.

The captain of the Huelva patrol ship and his sailors unanimously identified the nuggets from Ionis's merchant ships and witnessed their trade.

The evidence is so clear that the Dionian merchant deliberately violated the agreement between the two sides and repeatedly stole and sold silver, an important part of Carthage.

In Carthage, the populace shouted in unison, "Kill this Ionian!" Ionis was sentenced to death along with his crew during the entire interrogation without even having a chance to defend himself.

Ionis and his crew turned pale and were pushed to the execution ground by the Carthaginian soldiers.

It is said to be an execution ground, but it is actually Barr, the protector of Carthage. The Temple of Hamon. Barr. Hamon was one of the main gods revered by the Phoenicians, he controlled the flames, and was also called the Lord of the Furnace, so it is no wonder that Carthage, whose mainstay was metalworking and smelting, worshipped him and sacrificed living people (mainly children) to him at certain celebrations or special occasions in order to obtain his protection.

This time it was the idea of Protakuba and other senators to send the Dioonians to Bilsa Hill as sacrifices, and they thought that if the proposal in favor of Rome was passed, in the event of a possible war with Dionys, Bar. Harmon curses his enemies and can give them the greatest protection.

When Ionis they were escorted to the huge statue of Bar. In front of the bronze statue of Hamon, they saw a large pit under the bronze statue that was full of flames. Standing on the edge of the pit, the hot wind in your face seems to burn your hair......

"Push them down!! Push them down!! ......," shouted the Carthaginian, who followed him, with a frenzied expression.

"The Carthaginians want to burn us!! ......" Amid the mournful cries of the crew, Ionis came back to his senses, he was repenting of his greed, and even more hated the shamelessness and cruelty of the Carthaginians, and when death was inevitable, he glared at the Carthaginians around him and roared in a fierce voice: "Despicable and shameless Carthaginians! Hades above, I, Ionis, curse you, that one day your homeland and your city will be burned to ashes by this fire!! ”

After Ionis finished scolding, he chanted Hades' hymn aloud.

When the frightened crew heard this voice, they gradually calmed down, and chanted loudly: "Just and strict Lord of the Underworld, I accept death without fear and come to your temple full of longing......"

The Carthaginians were even more furious, and as soon as the priest had finished praying, they could not wait to push the Dionians into the fire pit, and watched as the "criminals" turned into fire men, dancing and screaming in the fire pit, and the Carthaginians cheered, but Hades' chant, though faint, continued: "Under your twin forks, all sins will be hidden......

………………………………………

Davers was taken aback by the news of the "Third Legion's defeat of the Cautini" back to Turiy, and his initial hope was that the Third Legion would teach the Cautini a lesson and deter the disobedient tribes of the Samonai, but he did not expect to achieve such a big result that he had to reconsider whether to change his strategy against the Samonai.

A day later, he convened a meeting of the heads of departments (including the five rotating presidents of the Senate) at the palace.

"The Kautini violated the covenant and invaded the territory of the Campanian League without authorization, and must be severely punished! We accepted Cautini's negotiation for the release of the captured warriors on the condition that 'in order to prevent Cautini from further invading the territory of the Campanias, the allies of Dionia, must transfer the towns of Capua, Lola, and Sacella to the administration of Dionia; Segovani must be judged by the Campanians, and the Grand Chieftain of Caudini must be re-elected and must be recognized by Dionia......"