"Great! We are more than willing to attack the city of Carthage with Dionia! Almost all the Nummibians were delighted, and Davers's words were a complete reassuring of their doubts, and they expressed their willingness to form an alliance with Dellnia.

At this time, a voice suddenly abruptly arose: "Dear King Davers, I am Tinum, the leader of the Masili tribe of Sinumbia, and I have a question. Dionysia is a kingdom, and our Numibia is not only divided into two parts, east and west, and each is composed of many tribes, and the interests of each tribe are not very different, once it forms an alliance with Dionia, in case of war between the tribes, as an alliance, Dionya will choose to help? ”

Davos looked at the slender and vulture-eyed Numibian chieftain, he was no stranger to his name, and immediately said sincerely: "Tinum, chief, I have heard that this time you can bravely rise up against the Carthaginian army, you have played a great role in it, for which I am very grateful, and I will not forget your tribe's efforts!" ”

Davers looked at him directly, and although he didn't say to his face that the promise he made would not change, he believed that he could understand the meaning of the words.

Sure enough, Tinum smiled and bowed slightly in return.

"This is a very good question that you have just asked, and I want to emphasize to you that our alliance with you in East and West Numibia is not an alliance like that of Carthage and the Phoenician city-states, and I think you all know that the alliance is that the other Phoenician city-states must obey the orders of Carthage, and what I want to establish is an equal alliance, and every tribe of you in Numibia, big or small, strong or weak, is equal to Dionia, so you can rest assured that Dionya will be in accordance with the covenant, Respect each and every one of your tribes and will not interfere in your internal affairs.

Of course, if there is a conflict between you and you ask for Dionia's help, we will try our best to mediate for you, but we will never support one side or the other, let alone provide supplies or send troops, so you can rest assured! And as far as I know, you Numibians are a relatively united race, and there have been basically no major conflicts between tribes......"

Davers's compliment on the unity of the Nummibian tribes and the seleventdom of conflict is only a superficial fact, but the root cause is that the tribes of East Lumibia are struggling to cope with the Carthaginian pressing, and where is the energy to pursue the development of the tribe when survival is in question; As for the Sinumbian tribes, Carthage also had a relatively close control over them, and as the leader of the alliance, it vigorously attacked and weakened the ambitious tribes that dared to take the initiative to provoke conflicts, just as the Massilian tribe had to become conformist after several lessons. As a result, for a long time, many tribes in the entire Numibia region huddled together to keep warm, and not only maintained peace, but also good relations.

But the shrewd Davers would never have said whether such peace would remain between the tribes of Numibia when the Carthaginian threat was removed.

However, the vast majority of the Numibians could not have a long-term vision and think deeply, but after listening to Davers's words, they nodded again and again, their faces were full of pride, and now they were very satisfied with Davers's answer, so that their doubts and worries were dispelled, and only one thought remained—that Dionys, unlike Carthage, would become the most determined ally that the Numibians could rely on.

Therefore, they raised their glasses and toasted Davers to express their gratitude, and Davers and the generals also raised their glasses in return, and the atmosphere of the banquet became more enthusiastic.

……………………………………

At the end of the night, the Numibians left drunk and satisfied, and the generals returned excited because the war would not end immediately.

Only Hennepolis did not leave, and followed Davers into the living room.

The servant brought hot water and clean linen, and Davers covered his face with the hot linen, and suddenly felt that under the fumigation of the heat, all the pores on his face were opened, and it seemed to take away all the wine, and his spirit was lifted.

He lay on his back for a while, until the cloth became cold, then he got up and took it off, and when he saw Hennipolis still sitting quietly next to him, he asked in some surprise, "Heni, what else is the matter with you?" ”

"Your Majesty." Hennepolis bowed and asked softly, "We have completely defeated the Carthaginian army, and you said at the banquet tonight that we are going to land in Africa and attack the city of Carthage, so is it necessary to negotiate with the Carthaginians again?" ”

"Of course it is necessary to continue negotiations." Davers patiently explained: "For the remnants of Carthage who have fled into Segsta and Mazara, our army cannot relax and must continue to attack. And also...... Mazara, Segsta, Erux, Sikan...... These remnants of Sicily will need time to subdue and deal with them, so that we can rest assured, so it will take some time for the army to land in Africa.

And in the meantime I don't want the Carthaginians to see through our true intentions and to make every effort to make adequate defenses, which will cause great difficulties for our landing army, so we must continue to play with them, relax their vigilance, and buy us time. ”

"Your Majesty, this victory will probably make the Carthaginians more anxious to negotiate with us, and if we still negotiate according to the previous terms, it is very likely that the Carthaginians will agree."

Henipolis's reminder made Davers fall into thought, and after a moment, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Heney, you are right, since we have won a new major victory, it is natural to ask for more benefits, who told the Carthaginian envoy not to agree to our conditions earlier." ”

"Yes, I also reminded the envoy named Ocleton in the last negotiation." Henipolis also had a wicked smile on his face.

"This new condition...... What do you think of the Carthaginians ceding southern Iberia to us? Davers asked.

“…… The gold and silver mines in southern Iberia are an important source of precious metals for the country, and if Carthage agrees, their precious metal trade will be completely destroyed, and their treasury revenues will be drastically reduced, I don't think they will easily agree. What's more, the inland area of southern Iberia was carved out by the Magonides family for more than 10 years, and it is their foundation, and they will never agree to this condition! In this way, we can bargain with the Carthaginians and achieve the goal of stalling for time......" Henipolis analyzed seriously.

"Yes! In Carthage, the Magonides and Hannonites were deeply hostile and contradictory, and it was precisely because they fought each other in the war that they created many conditions for our victory. Davers sighed, and there were some things he didn't say, but hid them in his heart.

Davos remembers that in his previous history, after the First Punic War, Carthage ceded Sicily to Rome (which Sardinia was later forced to cede), but the Hannibals caused great disaster to Rome in the Second Punic War, mainly relying on the financial and human resources accumulated by the expansion of southern Iberia...... Therefore, he put forward this condition not just to delay time, but made up his mind to completely occupy this treasure land, so that Carthage has no chance to turn over.

"Your Majesty, we really want to take the city of Carthage...... Will Carthage be wiped out completely? Henipolis' voice brought Davers back from his thoughts.

Looking at the court clerk's face suffering from gains and losses, Davers smiled: "What, reluctantly? ”

"I'm ...... Fearing that the attack on the city of Carthage would cause great casualties to our army...... "Henipolis did not tell the truth completely, not to mention his bad attitude towards the Carthaginian envoys in the negotiations, but as a highly educated citizen of Ionia, in the study of Carthaginian intelligence over the years, he gradually became interested in the culture created by the Carthaginians, and did not want such an ancient and glorious city-state to perish completely.

Davers didn't break his mind, and said in a light tone: "In ancient times, there was a giant serpent, it was fierce and powerful, and no one dared to provoke it. But it has a drawback, it is very greedy, it eats from morning to night, and in the end it eats itself to death......"

Henipolis blinked and said, "Your Majesty, are you worried that the kingdom will expand too quickly...... Will it cause danger? ”

Davers stretched out his hand and counted down one finger at a time: "Campania, the Samonai mountains, the Latin region, Corsica, Sardinia, all of Sicily and, if possible, the new towns of southern Iberia and in Africa...... In this war, we Dioonia have gained more land than we originally owned...... Just to digest and absorb these lands and integrate the people of these lands into the Kingdom of Dionia, it will take us a long time, a lot of manpower and materials, which is not easy to do.

Across the sea, Africa is a much larger continent that we are completely unfamiliar with, and the Carthaginians have lived there for hundreds of years and have a great influence, and it would be very costly to wipe it out completely! And with the destruction of Carthage, will we be able to take Carthage's place in Africa? ”

Davers looked at Hennepolis with a solemn expression.