In such a situation, the Athenians did not believe that they and Thebes alone could stand against the powerful Sparta, and after urgent consultations between the General's Executive Council and the Council, Athenians chose to compromise in the face of the aggressive Spartan procurators.

They immediately summoned the two Athenian generals who were fighting in Thebes, and convened a citizens' assembly to try them on the charge that "they held important public positions in Athens, but without the permission of the Athenian government, they rashly entered Thebes, fought against the Spartans, and put Athens in a dangerous situation...... This is dereliction of duty and treason".

Although the vast majority of Athenian citizens supported the two generals in their hearts, they really did not want to go to war with the mighty Sparta at this time, so they voted against their will, and imposed the most severe punishment on them, execution, to appease the anger of the Spartans.

The Spartan procurators were satisfied, and the Council of Elders, having learned of what Athens had done, was relieved that they now had only to concentrate on their only enemy, Thebes.

………………………………………

When the news of the "crushing defeat of the Carthaginian army and the defeat of the Iberian navy" reached Carthage, it caused a shock among the population. The Carthaginian hierarchy was saddened by the heavy losses of the Holy Legion, and while the families wept over the deaths and injuries of their elite children, they were also extremely angry at the incompetence of the commander of the army, Monteadeno, who clamed for the removal of Monteadeno from his post, and the cruel "cross" of the trial of the court of 100 to relieve their hatred (that is, the hands and feet of the criminals were nailed to the wooden crosses with iron nails, and left to the sun to bleed to death).

In the face of public outrage, Hanno did not defend Monteadeno and allowed the Senate to pass the resolution.

After the Carthaginian Senate passed this issue, a heated discussion began on how to deal with the Dionian army, which was marching west on Sicily.

One of the new Sufites, Ocleton, was emboldened and whispered: "Everyone, now it seems ...... Dionya had a strong army and navy, and Carthage was wrong to go to war with Dionya without adequate preparations, and now we can consider it first...... Negotiate a temporary peace with Dionya in order to save the captured citizens of Carthage, and at the same time to prevent the empty western part of Sicily from being completely occupied by the Dionians......"

As soon as Ocleton's words came out, there was an uproar in the Senate, and Pretakuba immediately stood up and retorted loudly: "The war has only been going on for a month, and we Carthage are about to surrender?!" I can't believe this ridiculous proposal came from the mouth of our elected, honorable Sufitel! We are not a small state in Carthage, we are the allies of all the Phoenician city-states in the Western Mediterranean! We control vast territories such as Sardinia, Corsica, Numibia, and southern Iberia, monopolize the precious metals trade throughout the Western Mediterranean, and are the most powerful and wealthy country in the Western Mediterranean!

But if you want us to surrender to Ionia, less than 20 years after the founding of the country, what will the people of the regions under our control, our dependent city-states, and our allies think! They will think that Carthage is no longer strong! They will leave us and even blow the trumpet of war at us, like the Numibians! Therefore, now that the war with Dioonia has begun, we must continue to fight until we finally win! ”

Pretakuba's thought-provoking remarks touched many veterans.

At this time, Tepanrako stood up and said with a solemn expression: "I think Lord Ocleton and every senator here wanted Carthage to defeat Dionia, but the current situation is that Dionya's army is strong, and they can send fewer troops than us, but they can inflict a crushing defeat on our army!" Their navy also has the upper hand! …… We must admit that Dionya is indeed superior to us militarily, and we are not ready to go to war with Dionysa at this time, but because some people are inciting the people for their own gain, Carthage is in the difficult situation it is in today! I think that the first thing to do is to investigate and try these people who caused the war, so as to ensure that the Senate will make bills in the future and not fall into chaos! ……”

As soon as Tepanrako finished speaking, Pretakuba immediately retorted: "My lords, is it true that our Carthaginian soldiers are not brave enough, our army is not strong enough, and our navy is not good?!" No! It's because our generals can't do it! Also fighting in Sicily, why was the Iberian army led by Hasdruba able to capture Cerrodium, while Monte Adno had a heavy army, but was defeated under the city of Minoa! I have heard that after Monte Adenor arrived in Lilili, he enjoyed fine wine every day, searched everywhere for beautiful women, never went to the barracks to get to know his troops and soldiers, and never personally went into battle to supervise the battle when attacking the city of Minoa, and even hid in the big tent to drink and have fun, how could such an incompetent commander inspire the fighting spirit of the soldiers! How could it be possible to come up with the right battle plan to defeat the Dionians! ……”

"So, it is absolutely right to sentence Monte Adno to the cross! Monte Adno damn it! One of the patriarchs shouted angrily.

Immediately afterwards, many senators also spoke out to express their resentment towards him, and even Hanno was extremely dissatisfied with Monte Adno in his heart, hating himself for seeing the wrong person, which led to the whole political situation in his favor.

In the midst of the noise, someone asked loudly: "Pretakuba, since you say that Carthage lost to Dionya because of the incompetence of the commander, who do you think will be able to lead the Carthaginian army and defeat the Dionians?!" ”

Hanno immediately turned around and looked back, and found that the person who spoke was none other than a patriarch of the Magonid faction, and couldn't help but curse secretly: Shameless!

Pretakuba immediately said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, I think you have all heard of the Lusitanians in the western part of the Iberian Peninsula and the Celts in the northern mountains—"

Although most of the Carthaginian patriarchs had never been to Iberia, they had learned a lot about the Iberian Peninsula for more than a decade as Marco conquered southern Iberia, and the two races were said to be close to the southern Iberians, but they were more savage and ferocious than them, living by killing and taking pride in their deaths.

Seeing that the attention of many senators was attracted by him, Pretakuba said solemnly: "These two Iberian natives have made several major invasions of the southern Iberian territories under the jurisdiction of the governor Margo, but they have all been repelled by his army. You must know that in the Carthaginian army in Iberia there are not only mercenaries, but also many Carthaginian citizen soldiers and Phoenician allies, such a mixed army can defeat such a fierce enemy and conquer such a large land for Carthage, why did the Carthaginian army, which has a more elite holy legion and more soldiers, be defeated by the Ionian army, which is less numerous than ours?! ”

Pretakuba looked around at the crowd and shouted: "That's because—only a lion-like commander can lead a lion-like and brave army; And a commander who is as weak as a lamb, even if he gives him elite soldiers, he will not be able to show their bravery! Ladies and gentlemen, it is clear that the only person who can lead his army to victory in the war against Ionia like a lion in Carthage can only be the Iberian governor Margot! ”

Although many people knew that Pretacuba would eventually say "Margo" by name, when he said it, no one refuted it for a while, and even his opponents had to admit that no one could compare to Margo in terms of military prowess and military exploits.

For more than ten years, the Carthaginians have not been in a state of peaceful and tranquil life, they have actively conquered the interior of Numibian south of Carthage, and after the conquest, they have to suppress the rebellion of the Numibians from time to time, but the various tribes of Numibian have been under the economic control, cultural infiltration, division and bribery of the Carthaginians for hundreds of years, and they have not been able to organize a unified alliance to fight against the Carthaginian attack, so the intensity of the war has always been small. Far from being able to compare with the difficulties encountered by Margo in leading his army alone to conquer the stranger southern Iberia, it was Monteadeno who had performed well on the battlefield of Numibia when he arrived in Sicily and was defeated by the Dioonians.

"It's a pity that most of Margo's army was not Carthaginian and Phoenician......" Ochliton said quietly, referring to the concerns of many of the senators.

At this time, Pretakuba sneered, "Doesn't Lord Margo want to have more Carthaginian citizen soldiers?!" No! It's because we simply can't provide enough citizens to conquer the natives of Iberia! What's more, now we are facing the kingdom of Dionya that can organize an army of more than 100,000 citizen soldiers at one time, can we Carthage do it?! We can't do it! We would be grieving even the loss of a few thousand Horde soldiers, so what can we do against Dionia? Only mercenaries and alien armies can be relied upon!

Everyone knows that Sparta has few citizens, and for hundreds of years it has relied on allied soldiers and foreign armies to fight and become the overlord of Greece, and they have never feared that their foreign armies will cause chaos! And Persia, which battle did not lead more foreign armies than his own soldiers? But because of this, Persia will build a strong and prosperous kingdom! What's more, more than ten years ago, when Lord Shimirko led an army to attack Syracuse, there were also a large number of Numibians and Celts and other alien races in the army! Why should we worry about these alien armies that help us fight and maintain Carthage's prestige in the Western Mediterranean?! Is it because our hearts have become fragile and unable to match the power of Carthage?!! ”

Hanno was at Pretacuba's final rhetorical question, not because of the fact that the Iberian army was mostly mercenaries and alien armies, but because the salaries of these armies were not provided by the institutions of the Carthaginian Senate, but were paid directly by the Magonides with their wealth earned in the Iberian Peninsula, and in this sense, the Iberian army was the private army of the Magonides, which was what Hanno feared! ()

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