Davers looked at him: through intelligence, he knew that Ionis was a merchant supported by Sostatus, a distributor under the Chamber of Commerce he had formed, so his expression and demeanor were not disguises.

So, he said lightly: "I can no longer protest to the Carthaginians, because they have torn up the friendship agreement with our kingdom. ”

"What?!" Sostatus' eyes widened, and he asked urgently, "Your Majesty, why did the Carthaginians do this?!" ”

"Ostensibly they are protesting against our merchants for harming their monopoly of trade, and for them to keep their covenant and help their allies, the Romans, to forbid us to meddle in the affairs of central Italy." Davos said calmly: "Fundamentally, Carthage wants to take this opportunity to give Dionya a blow to prevent the kingdom's strength from expanding too quickly and affecting the survival of Carthage. ”

Sostatus was stunned for a moment, and asked in a trembling voice, "That is to say...... That is to say, we Dionya and Carthage...... There could be a war?! ”

Davers nodded: "Likely." ”

Sostatus stood up suddenly, rubbing his hands together and muttering something in his mouth, looking very excited.

"Isn't it a pity? Because your caravan will most likely no longer be able to trade with the Carthaginians. Seeing him behaving so strangely, Davers asked with a little curiosity.

"No, Your Majesty!" Sostatus clenched his right fist excitedly and said loudly, "Great! I've been looking forward to this day for a long time! The Carthaginians had a monopoly on trade with other Phoenician city-states, a monopoly on metal smelting and trade in the Western Mediterranean, and also controlled Africa, Sardinia, Corsica, southern Iberia, and did not let us get involved! We should have broken this monopoly by force a long time ago and taken it all away! ”

Davers thought that Sostatus was afraid of war, but he did not expect that he would rejoice that war might come.

Or underestimate the greed of the merchants! Davers touched his chin with his hand and asked, "If there is really a war, the powerful Carthage plus the not weak Rome, Sostatus, aren't you afraid that our Dionya will be defeated?" ”

"Your Majesty!" Sostatus sat down again, and said confidently, "I have been to many places to trade over the years, and I have never seen a country or city-state more powerful than our Dionia!" Not to mention your majesty! With you, Dionia will not fail! ”

"You have a lot of faith in me!" Davers smiled, and then said with a solemn expression: "However, it is not for nothing that the Carthaginians dared to choose to tear up the agreement and support Rome at this time, because the drought has made us short of food!" Without food, we can't send troops to fight, we can only be beaten passively! In such a situation, no matter how powerful the commander is, it is impossible to win the battle! ”

After hearing this, Sostatus fell into thought, and after a while, he made up his mind and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I am willing to send a fleet to Egypt or the Youkexing Sea in the Eastern Mediterranean to buy a large amount of grain, and donate it to the kingdom free of charge to support the army in battle!" I am willing to call on other merchants in the kingdom to do the same as I do! But I hope ......" Sostatus did not finish his sentence, but looked at Davers expectantly.

Davers was overjoyed, and understood what he meant by his words, and he did not think it was greed for a merchant like Sostatus who dared to give it a go before the trend became clear, but appreciated this courage, and he immediately promised: "Dionya will never forget these merchants who dared to give their wealth and lend a helping hand when the kingdom was in danger, and after victory they will all receive the reward they need!" ”

Sostatus smiled with satisfaction.

…………………………………

Two days later.

His wife, Leda, saw Amintas, who was in a hurry to go out, and hurriedly said, "Amyntas, you haven't drunk your porridge yet!" ”。

"It's too late!" Amintas stood on the porch, looked up at the sky that was beginning to lighten, took a big bite of the bread he was clutching in his hand, and turned back to the room and shouted, "Stephorus, hurry up! ”

"Father, don't worry. It's useless for you to go so early, Your Majesty, the senators, and the soldiers of the First Legion may not have arrived yet. Stephoros, who was sitting at the table, persuaded.

"I'm the commander of the expedition, and I have to set an example for the whole army. Hurry up, or I'll beat you! Amintas said impatiently.

Stephoros stood up helplessly, this was his adoptive father's usual style, he was used to it.

"Dad, don't forget to bring me the loot when you come back!" A teenager sitting at the dining table reminded loudly.

Another, younger child shouted, "Daddy, brother, when I grow up, I'm going to fight with you and kill the bad guys!" ”

For them, Amintas's attitude was much better, he grinned and said with a smile: "Crokas, how can you forget what Daddy said! When I get back, I'll bring you a cart of loot! ”

"Filcas, listen to your mother at home, when you grow up, your father will definitely take you into battle to kill the enemy!"

…………………………………

In a mansion on the outskirts of Turiinan City, Patroclus had finished his breakfast and spent some time with Cynthia, and only when it was already bright did he reluctantly stand up and say, "Cynthia, I should go!" ”

Although Cynthia was also extremely reluctant in her heart, she was not an ordinary woman after all, and after stepping forward to give Patroclus an affectionate hug, she said with concern: "Pay attention to safety, go home as soon as possible!" ”

Patroclus smiled confidently: "Don't worry, our First Legion will destroy the enemy as soon as possible and go home as soon as possible!" I also want to see the baby born! ”

Patroclus caressed his wife's already obviously bulging belly, with a gentle expression: "During the time I left, you also have to take care of yourself!" ”

"Hmm." Cynthia nodded slightly.

"I'm leaving!" Patroclus said loudly, more like a reminder to himself.

"Oh! Don't forget to bring that helmet from my brother, you'll be blessed by Hades! Cynthia reminded loudly, "Davers is a descendant of Hades" This is no longer a rumor, but an ironclad fact of the kingdom, which has penetrated into the hearts of every people, even the royal family, Cynthia is also convinced of this, so she believes that the helmet given by Davers's parent, Crotokatax, who also has Hades blood, must have Hades' blessing.

"How could I forget! It was a helmet from a descendant of Hades and a future king! Patroclus laughed, it was a good helmet, but the silver surface was so conspicuous that he painted it black.

Cynthia snuggled up to the courtyard gate, full of nostalgia in her heart, and watched her husband go away with the slaves carrying his armor and weapons with some concern, and at this moment she deeply realized the feelings of Christoya and Agnes, two mothers, every time they watched their father go on an expedition......

……………………………………

Gathering and marching in drizzly weather was not a good weather for the army, as it would affect the march. But the drizzle of rain for several days made the people and soldiers of Dioonia happy, and it meant that the bitter drought had finally passed, so that the faces of the First Legion and the people who had come to see them off outside the city of Turiyi were more relaxed as they let the drizzle wet their cheeks.

Davers didn't say anything more in the face of Amintas, who was dressed in military uniform, and encouraged in his usual words: "Amyntas, I wait for the news of your victory!" ”

"Your Majesty, please rest assured!" Amintas confidently gave Davers a military salute, then turned to face the more than 9,000 soldiers (including the 1st Cavalry Regiment) and waved his right arm vigorously: "Brothers of the 1st Legion and the 1st Cavalry Regiment!" ”

"Wansheng !!"

"Wansheng !!"

"Wansheng !!"

The roar of the soldiers resounded through the plains of Subari.

Davers stood upright, listening to this grand shout with a solemn expression, but his heart was excited: the morale of the First Army is high! …… May this first contest with the Romans be a great victory!

"Let's go!" Amintas gave the order.

The bugle sounded.

Soldiers in their robes and with weapons and armor on their shoulders lined up in a long line and marched towards the port.

Wolsey is to the north, why go to the port? Because the soldiers at the fortress of the mountain pass west of Turi reported that because of the continuous rain in the past few days, not only were the mountain roads slippery, but also the mud and trees falling from the mountains from time to time, blocking the roads.

Therefore, the Ministry of War decided to let the expedition not go through the mountains to the west, but to take a boat to Siriting, then to Trina, and then to Walsey, and perhaps the whole journey would take less time.

Davos watched the soldiers march towards the harbor with great vigour, and the expression on his face gradually turned solemn, and he knew that this might be the beginning of a war on a grand scale......

…………………………………………

Tapilus was very aggrieved. For eight or nine days in a row, they were trapped in hotels, and the people of Rome blocked the door every day to protest and shout, and the Roman soldiers guarded the door, saying that they were protecting their safety, but in fact they were restricting them from going out. And for such a long time, not a single Roman official was seen to tell them about the progress of the discussion on whether the Roman Senate should stop the war with the Worseys.

By this time, Tapyrus had already understood: the Romans were clearly delaying, and they had no intention of stopping the war at all.

He was outraged by this despicable act of teasing the Dionian emissaries and ignoring the dignity of the Dionian kingdom.