Only Sekrian is still complaining: "Just take precautions?!" It's easy to say, the route from Catana to the west of Sicily will be frequently used by our fleet in the future, whether it is our warships patrolling and cruising in the western seas, or our fleet transporting baggage and soldiers to Selinus, they will pass through Syracuse, their fleet is like a lurking poisonous snake, which may attack us at any time, so how can our fleet guard against it?! ”

Siblos's expression became serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Your Sicilian fleet needs the support of materials and personnel, as long as I can do it, I will do my best to do it for you!" But it is the duty of your fleet to control the waters of Sicily and to ensure the security of the coast of your territory, and you have been praised by your majesty as the 'great naval hero of the Kingdom of Dionia', which should be something you should consider, and you ask me this layman! ”

Sekrian was speechless.

Sipros looked at Breru again, and the expression on his face became softened again: "Lord Breru, on behalf of the people of Sicilian territory, I am very grateful to you for leading the Seventh Legion to reinforce us, and I believe that you will be able to unite and cooperate with Lord Prosous to successfully complete the task assigned by Your Majesty!" Brilliant feats! ”

Cipros put this more cleverly, considering Breru's age, seniority, and status in the kingdom (Breru was a senator and one of the representatives of the Brutis, far from being comparable to Leotizides who had no power background), so he did not mention that Breru should be under the command of Leotizides, the Sicilian commander, and he believed that Breru, who had been in the legion for more than ten years, would do it according to military law, even if he was reluctant, because since the establishment of Dionia, There have never been cases of high-ranking generals not following orders.

"Don't worry, our Seventh Legion is here to fight in Katanai, and I will act in strict accordance with military law!" Breru put it bluntly.

Leotizides heard this and nodded.

………………………………………

After Hasdruba occupied Jala, he did not continue to lead his army eastward, because he might encounter the Syracuse people any further, and he vaguely remembered that the Carthaginian Senate had sent envoys to have several secret talks with Syracuse, and he did not know how to deal with the relationship with Syracuse without knowing the details, so he simply stayed in Jera, waited for Margo to lead the army to arrive, and at the same time divided a part of his forces and went north to participate in the siege of Enna.

After the Carthaginian army led by Pomilka captured Minoa, they also stayed where they were.

Marco was very happy when she received the news that "his army had captured Minoa, Agrigento, and Gera" and "Syracuse had recovered Carmanlina and Pacinus", because it meant that the Carthaginian army could pass through the south coast and attack the Sicilian territory of Dioonia directly.

However, he was also depressed, because Selinus had not yet been captured. Because the defenders of Selinus were not only stubborn, but also coped well, repelling the Carthaginian army several times, forcing Marco to rest the army in order to restore the low morale.

Judging from the current battle situation, it is unlikely that Marco will capture Selinus in a short period of time with only the 40,000 complex forces that Marco has. From a safe point of view, Selinus should be captured first, and then march east. But in that case, there would be a lot of delay, not only would the Ionian army gain valuable time to recuperate, but it would also be uncertain over time. More importantly, the promise he made in the Senate to "conquer the whole island of Sicily in one year" must be hurried!

After thinking about it, Margos finally made a decision: to leave 5,000 Phoenu infantry and 1,000 Lumibian cavalry, and let the lord of Lililian, Imisore, organize 5,000 Sicilian allied soldiers, all stationed in the camp, to continue the siege of Selinus, and he himself led nearly 40,000 troops along the south coast to the east.

They were accompanied not only by slaves and freemen, but also by a large number of people from Mazara, Erlux, and Segsta...... The people of the city-states were not only responsible for transporting food and baggage to the entire Carthaginian army, but also to survive, because the Dionian army had harvested and destroyed the farmland of these city-states on a large scale during the period of Selinus (except for Palermos and Solus on the north coast), which put them in danger of famine.

Marco announced to them that, as long as they were carrying baggage for the Carthaginian army, they would be allowed to harvest the farmland of the Greek city-states and villages of Minoa, Agrigento, and Gela along the way, as a reserve for their families for the coming year, so they would participate enthusiastically.

Marco solved the problem of transporting the army's rations and baggage, but it also made the whole marching team too bloated and slow, and it took two days to reach Minoa.

After joining up with Pomilka's army, continue on your way.

When they arrived in Agrigento, they received good news: Hasdruba had captured Enna, where most of the Sichael tribes had chosen to submit.

Marco was overjoyed and received another piece of bad news: the Dioonians had attacked his baggage convoy.

It turned out that the Carthaginian army was too large, and Marco was in a hurry to get there, and the whole team meandered more than 20 miles long on the south coast, and the baggage convoy fell at the end of the line, as a result, the Dionian Sicilian fleet landed on the beach between Minoa and Agrigento, and the infantry of the fleet that came ashore attacked the team, killing and wounding many laborers and Phoenician people, and burning a lot of grain and baggage, and if it were not for the arrival of the Numibian cavalry, the losses of the Carthaginian army would have been greater.

This forced Marco to slow down his march and send an army to protect his baggage.

After 10 days, the Carthaginian army finally arrived in Gela.

After a day's rest, Marco led an army of nearly 100,000 men and continued his march eastward, eventually encircling Camanlina.

The people of Syracuse, who heard the news, were alarmed and hurriedly sent an envoy to see Margo, telling him that Syracuse had made an alliance with Carthage, and that Kamanlina was now an ally of Syracuse, that it had no hostility towards Carthage, and that it would allow the Carthaginian army to pass through smoothly, hoping not to attack it.

Marco disagreed with the emissary's request, and proudly stated: "As the military commander of Carthage, I don't know when Syracuse became an ally of Carthage!" If the people of Syracuse really want to do that, please come here and talk to me in person! ”

The envoy of Syracuse brought this back to the council, and the generals and parliamentarians were in an uproar when they heard this, and many people thought that this was the Carthaginians crossing the river and removing the bridge, wanting to break the treaty, and preparing to take this opportunity to take Syracuse by the way.

Others took the opportunity to accuse the chief general, Theagenis, of angering the Carthaginians by believing that he had made a profit for Syracuse, and that he must take full responsibility for the war that had now been approached by the Carthaginian army.

Teagenis argues that Marco had been in Iberia and may not have been aware of the secret diplomatic dealings between Carthage and Syracuse, and that he was willing to go and negotiate with Marco himself to clear up the misunderstanding.

……………………………………

On the second day, Teagenis rushed to Camanlina, and before he had even entered the territory of Camanlina, he had already seen the Carthaginian camp: countless tents were connected, one camp after another, covering an area of unknown distances, and if it were not for the countless sturdy soldiers of different appearances walking in it, he would have thought that he had entered a vast city.

The more he looked at it, the more frightened he became, and under the guidance of the Carthaginian guards, he walked for a full hour before he came to Margo's tent.

As Teagenis expected, after he saluted Marco and said his name, the rugged-looking Carthaginian commander did not show enough politeness and enthusiasm, but said lightly: "It seems that you people of Syracuse take this matter very seriously, and even send the chief general to talk, so that we can save some time, and after the agreement is reached, it can be implemented immediately." ”

"Syracuse and Carthage have already reached an amicable agreement, and General Margo may not know much about it," Teagenis explained.

"No, I know very well, someone in the Senate told me." Margo raised his eyebrows and looked directly at Theagenis: "You have always been very vague in the negotiations, although you will never join Dionya and attack Carthage, but you are not willing to lead the army to attack Dionia, and you are only willing to provide material assistance, allowing us to camp in the territory of Syracuse, and ensure our safe passage through the territory of Syracuse and its allies......"

"That's right, this is what your Carthaginian envoy agreed to and signed" Before Theagenis could finish his sentence, he heard Margo shout: "This is a bullshit agreement!" See the army outside! The supplies don't need Syracuse to provide them, we can grab them! As for allowing us to pass through Syracuse safely, that's a joke, and even if you don't allow it, my huge army will pass safely! ”

"But that would mean war! And the war in Syracuse! Carthage, while fighting Dionia, will also have to guard against attacks from the flanks and rear of our Syracuse army, which will undoubtedly slow down your progress in the capture of Catanay, allowing Dionian reinforcements from Greater Greece to arrive in time. Teagenis replied calmly.

Margo sneered twice: "If this is the case, will you Syracuse become an ally of Dionia?" ”

Theagenis hesitated: "If Carthage sees Syracuse as an enemy, we ...... Absolutely. ”