Davers looked at Sekrian who was confident, and after a moment, he smiled: "This is the Sekrian I know, and I'm looking forward to the news of the victory you will bring me!" ”

After Sekrian was gone, Davers pondered for a moment, then sent for Tolmide and Printors.

"What do you think of the transfer of the Third Fleet to Sicily?" Davers asked directly.

Tolmid knew that Davers had called Sekrian before, and although he didn't know what Davers had talked about with him, he had heard that Sekrian was in a good mood when he left, so he asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, why did you think of transferring the Third Fleet?" ”

Davos glanced at him and said, "Our current strategy is to cut off the Carthaginian army's sea transportation lines, so that the Carthaginian army will fall into the predicament of lack of food, and finally be defeated by us. But judging from yesterday's setback of the Sicilian fleet, although our navy has an advantage, it is not an absolute advantage, the Carthaginian navy still has a lot of strength, and it can still pose a great threat to our fleet, and the coastline of the western sea is tortuous and complicated, so that our superior fleet is busy cruising the long sea area every day, very passive, and also suppresses the Sicilian fleet to play its own advantages, but if they take the initiative to attack, they cannot block the sea area, so that the Carthaginians could continue to provide aid to Sicily......"

"The main thing is that the navy in Sicily is not strong enough to take into account both the offensive and the blockade at the same time." Printors said.

"That's right." Davers nodded and said, "The original mission of the Third Fleet was to harass Sardinia and block the shipping route between Carthage and it. But if we bring the Third Fleet to Sicily, we will have enough ships to cut off Carthage's external routes, and the effect will be even better, because our ultimate goal is to defeat Carthage, and as long as we concentrate on destroying this Carthaginian army in Sicily, all problems will be solved......"

Listening to Davers's analysis, Tolmid was convinced, but he reminded: "Your Majesty, after the transfer of the 3rd Fleet to Sicily, who will be in charge of the command of the entire navy?" ”

Davers understood what he meant: if it was before, Sekerian would have no problem as the commander-in-chief of the entire navy, but in this war, Midorades stood out, won victories one after another, and became another star in the navy, and his morale was naturally much higher than before.

Davers pondered for a while and said, "Midorades used to be Sekerian's subordinate, so it is safer to have Seklian as the commander, but Midorades has a more stable personality and should ...... They were arranged in such a way that the Third Fleet was mainly responsible for cruising the Sicilian waters, and the Sicilian Fleet was mainly responsible for attacking...... Of course, this is only a suggestion, and how to implement it still needs Sekrian and them to come over and decide together. ”

"Your Majesty, it is better to have the Third Fleet stationed on the north coast." Printors suggested: "The reason why the Carthaginians were able to successfully transport their baggage to Sicily this time was that on the one hand, the Sicilian fleet was deceived, and on the other hand, the coast north of Erlux was far away from Selinus, where the Sicilian fleet was stationed, and from the port of Selinus, when the fleet reached Erlux, it would take more than three hours at the earliest, and it would take more than five hours to reach Palermos, and the Carthaginians might continue to use this time in the middle to target the coast north of Erlux Transporting military rations for the Great Army of Sicily. And if the Third Fleet is stationed on the north coast, it can better monitor the sea near Palermos, Solus, etc., so that this attempt of the Carthaginians cannot be realized.

"On the north coast, the friendly city-state of Seedium is the closest to Solus and Palerus, but it is a small city, I am afraid that there is no good military port to accommodate our Third Fleet, and the situation is similar to that of other friendly city-states on the north coast, and the only town that can accommodate the Third Fleet on the north coast is Messina, but it is too far from the west, and it is not as good as Selinus." Tolmid raised his own objections.

Davers was so impressed by Printors' proposal that even with Tolmid's reminder, he said, "There is no military port on the north coast, so you can build a simple one first, and we don't do the same here." ”

Seeing that Davers agreed with this suggestion, Tormid did not raise any further objections, but brought up another matter: "Your Majesty, you asked the Ninth Legion to assist the Third Fleet in attacking Sardinia, I am afraid that they have already begun to operate, if the Third Fleet is transferred back at this time, will the Ninth Legion return to Apulia?" ”

"The Ninth Legion ......," Davers thought for a moment and said, "Then let the Ninth Legion act with the Third Fleet...... The Carthaginian army is now concentrated on the south coast and the territory of the Sikans, and the north coast is empty of defenses, and the Ninth Army can go to raid Solus and even Palermos, once successful, not only will the Third Fleet have a better port, but also shorten the fleet's cruising distance, which is more conducive to the blockade of the western seas. Even if it is unsuccessful, it is possible to disperse the forces of the Carthaginians...... Henipolis, write at once to Medolades and Tegetinos in my name, and ask them to lead the army to Seedium as soon as possible. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Henipolis quickly cut a piece of papyrus, then picked up his pen and began to write.

At this time, Martius walked into the big tent: "Your Majesty, the battle report from Syracuse. ”

Davers took the papyrus scroll tied with black string, and after reading it quickly, he glanced at the others in the tent with a smile on his face, and said excitedly, "Good! Well done Prosious! Ladies and gentlemen, I have good news for you, the main city of Syracuse has been taken by us! ”

…………………………………………

On the same day that Seclian went to Minoa to receive Davers's criticism, in the middle of the west coast of the island of Sardinia, just after dawn, five Carthaginian cargo ships arrived outside the port of St. Ibinia, and this was a common situation during this period, because the attack of the Dionian fleet in Sardinia forced many Carthaginian merchant ships to take advantage of the fact that the Dionian fleet had not yet come to the waters of Sardinia to rush to the ports of the Phoenician towns on the island to transport the backlog of goods in the port.

Due to the Phoenician-looking crew at the helm of the cargo ship, and the time constraints, the patrol ship was allowed to enter the harbor without careful inspection.

In the early hours of the morning, in the north-central part of the west coast of the island of Sardinia, the Third Fleet, which had been heading south along the coast, suddenly approached the sea.

There are many rocky reefs near the coast, and there are many cliffs on the shore, and there is no suitable place for boats to dock, but there is a Mannu River that flows into the sea from here, and on both sides of the estuary there is a relatively large area of tidal flats, especially at low tide, and the tidal flats are covered with slippery black silt, and it is easy to fall into it when people step on it, and it is very difficult to get through.

But the Third Fleet was well prepared, and the Raven warships sailed into the tidal flats of the mouth of the river to the north bank one after another, and the infantry of the fleet carefully disembarked with the bundles of wheat straw prepared in advance, placed them on the tidal flats, and then laid planks on them, and soon built a boardwalk leading to the riverbank.

At the forefront were the Ninth Legion's Mountain Reconnaissance Squad soldiers, who staggered and stepped on the planks, and finally reached the riverbank, using the climbing tools they carried with them, easily climbed the not too steep riverbank, and then hung down a dozen rope ladders that had already been prepared, and then the fleet infantry who followed quickly climbed up.

After more than half an hour, 4,000 infantry of the fleet landed on the north bank of the Manor River, and then quickly marched inland, preparing to raid Sant-Imbenia, not far from the coast.

St. Ibiña was a center of the Phoenician metalworking industry on the island of Sardinia, which was originally a town of the indigenous Nuragi people of Sardinia hundreds of years ago, and because of the iron and silver deposits in the nearby mountains, they used these precious metals to trade with the Etruscans on the Italian peninsula in central Italy across the Tyrrelian Sea.

After the Phoenicians colonized this island, through trade, marriage, assimilation, warfare and other means, a hundred years later, the original indigenous Nuragi people of Sardinia basically retreated into the northern mountains, and the south completely became the territory of the Phoenicians. With the exception of the northeastern city of Olbia, St. Ibinia was the northernmost town of the Phoenicians, who developed it into an important metalworking center on the island of Sardinia.

St. Ibenia sits in a low hill not far from the coast, bordered to the north by a river called Temo, and because of the relatively flat terrain around it, the Phoenician mines in the north and the Nuragi easily trade the ore from the mountains. The St. Ibenians then processed the ore, smelted it into ingots, loaded it on ships through the ports of the Temo River, and transported it to Carthage or elsewhere. St. Ibnia accounts for almost half of the annual production of precious metals on the entire island of Sardinia. Because of this, St. Ibenia was of great importance to the Phoenicians of Sardinia and to Carthage.

In the past, when the Carthaginian navy dominated the western Mediterranean, Sardinia was safe, and the Phoenicians on the island could fish, farm, and develop metalworking without fear of foreign invasion. However, since the war between Carthage and Dionia, the navy has been at a disadvantage, and the security of the island of Sardinia has been threatened, but fortunately, the geographical position of St. Ibenia is not conducive to the landing of the Dionians by sea, and the Dionian attacks on Sardinia have never occurred near St. Ibinia.

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