Looking at Leotizides' expressionless face, Sipros suspected that his last question was deliberate, because the main purpose of his coming here was to ask the people of Catane to repel the Carthaginian cavalry that was raging on the Catanian plain, he coughed dryly, and quickly thought of a new topic: "I haven't received a new battle report for several days, what is the situation south of the Catanian plain now?" ”

As soon as the military was mentioned, Leotizides' interest came, of course, the premise was that Sipros, as a wartime governor, was qualified to understand the entire battle situation, and Leotizides also needed to explain his next strategy to him in order to gain his support, so he stretched out his hand to the side and asked Sipros to sit down.

Then Leotizides pointed to the map and said to him: "In the past two days, the scouts we have sent out have either disappeared or fled back wounded, and have not received any new news at all, the cavalry of the Carthaginians is not only wreaking havoc on the Catanian plain, they are also blocking our communication with the south of the Catanian plain, we do not know what is the situation of the Seventh Army now, nor is the situation of Palagonia, nor what is the situation of Leotinius, The only thing known is that the Taunis was surrounded by the Syracuses, but the Syracuse army did not attack with all its might...... This is the report that the clippers of the Sicilian fleet must do every day, and I believe you know it too, and besides this"

Leotizides pointed out Palagonia, Hena, Leotinius, and the new camp of Catane not far to the north on the wooden map, and then drew a large circle to the west and south of the city of Catanay, which encompassed almost half of the Catanian plain, and said in a solemn tone: "This large area has been completely obscured by the cavalry of Carthage, and we do not know the situation of the Seventh Army and the allies to the south, much less the position and movement of the enemy's army, so in such a situation, Send an army out of the city to attack the Carthaginian cavalry, and maybe not long after leaving the city, they will directly collide with the Carthaginian army. ”

In the end, Leotizides turned his words around the previous question, Sipros didn't care, Leotizides's words had already made him feel the severity of the whole battle situation, and he asked with some concern: "So according to your judgment, what might the Carthaginian army be doing now?" ”

Leotizides stared at the map, both a little remorseful, and said confidently: "Although I ...... before Ignoring the fact that the large Carthaginian cavalry would obscure the entire battlefield and make it impossible for us to easily get in touch everywhere, some of the plans we had made would not be implemented, but I can still guess the movements of the Carthaginians, they were either attacking Palagonian or Leotinius, because they only had these two options.

By capturing Palagonia, the Carthaginians could not only open up a flat road from Camanlina to the Catanian Plain to facilitate the transportation of their military rations and baggage, but also support another Carthaginian army besieging Hena nearby, after all, Hena and Palagonian are not too far apart, as long as Hena is captured, the entire southwest of the Catanian Plain will be completely under the control of the Carthaginians, and their army can safely and boldly reach our city.

And if the Carthaginians attack Leotthenes, as long as they capture it, the Carthaginian army will either continue northward, bypassing Lake Leotini, and attacking our newly built barracks; Either lead their army to the east, join up with the Syracuses, and attack the Taunis with all their might, and once the Taunis falls, their coalition forces will go straight to Qatanai. ”

After listening to Leotizides' words, Sipros looked solemn, fell into thought, and then asked uncertainly: "Listening to what you mean, the Carthaginians are most likely to choose to attack Palagonia?" ”

He is the most capable administrator in Sicily, and even if he does not command the battle, he can find the right answer through his excellent political sense...... Leotizides nodded approvingly in his heart and said: "I think that although the Carthaginians and the Syracuse have now united against us Dionia, they have been fighting each other for decades after all, and the relationship cannot be very close, if Carthage chooses to attack Leotinius and Taunis this route, then most of its military food transportation will depend on the Syracuses, I don't think it's possible for the commander of any army to trust the grain transportation lines that are vital to the life and death of the army to an ally who was a sworn enemy a few years ago.

After the capture of Palagonia, the rear of the Carthaginians was completely controlled by their own people, and they could not only attack our Catanay with confidence, but also attack Hena, Agilion, and Hebita, and occupy the entire Sikel Mountains, and then they would threaten not only Catanay, but also Naxos and Sikuli, and the Carthaginians would have more options. ”

Sipros was even more worried, and he asked urgently, "Can Palagoña hold on?!" ”

Leotizides hesitated for a moment, and then said affirmatively: "Lord Sipros, you should know that when the Carthaginians did not really enter the war a few months ago, we had already used Palagonia as a fortress to defend against the Carthaginians' attacks, and we had been continuously strengthening its city defenses and building a large number of defenses, so Palagonian had blocked the Carthaginian attack for several days, and the Carthaginians had not even broken through the perimeter of Palagonia.

Originally, there were 2,000 soldiers in the reserve of the Legion in the town of Palagonia, and the Seventh Army had sent another 2,000 soldiers to it a few days ago, which was enough for a small defensive fortress. Even if the Carthaginians attack from the north now, even if they send all their forces, they will not be able to take it in a short time, and the most important thing we need now is to delay time. ”

Sipros understood that Leoticides was referring to the reinforcements of the coming kingdom, but he still seemed a little worried: "I don't know much about military affairs, and I don't know much about the current situation of war, but if we are just passively beaten and hope that the Carthaginians will do exactly what we want, I am afraid that there will be some surprises!" ”

Leotizides raised his head, looked at Shipulos, and said in an accentuated tone: "Does Lord Cypsy really think that I have just been sitting at home and doing nothing for the past few days?!" ”

Sipros could hear the displeasure in Leotizides' words, but his expression remained unchanged and he did not respond.

Leotizides looked at him coldly for a while, and then continued: "This time the Carthaginian army greatly surpassed us in number, and the combat effectiveness is not weak, and the troops are also very complete, we really can't confront them head-on, but this does not mean that the Carthaginian army has no shortcomings, their biggest shortcoming is the transportation of military rations!"

Even if the autumn harvest is now over, and the Carthaginians have received food from the city-states on the south coast, and there may be assistance from the Syracuses, it is still far from enough for such an army of 100,000 soldiers, and according to my inference, the food supply in Sicily may only last the Carthaginian army for a month or two, and they need Carthaginian soil to send them more food, but you see"

Leotizides' finger pointed to the Carthaginian city icon on the map, and then paddled across the western seas, to western Sicily, and then along the southern coastline all the way to Palagonia, his tone was still cold, but his eyes were clearly brighter: "With such a long grain transportation line, it is difficult for the Carthaginians to ensure its safety. After the Carthaginian army was frustrated in its attack on Palagonia from the south, I decided that they were going to cross the mountains, so I contacted the Sichaels and asked them to organize warriors and sneak into the mountains on the southern edge of the Catanian plain, waiting for an opportunity to attack the Carthaginian food convoys, but alas...... The Carthaginian army included a large number of Iberian natives, and they were very good at fighting in the mountains, so the Sichaelians have not been able to achieve much success, but as long as the Sikelian warriors have been active in that area, the Carthaginians have never dared to let their guard down, which will involve a lot of their energy.

Moreover, Secrean led the Sicilian fleet to patrol the south coast at all times, and as long as he found Carthage's grain convoy, he could land at any time and send the fleet's infantry to attack. I also consulted with Secrean that I could at any time assign a few thousand men to his command and take the Sicilian fleet to retake any of the city-states on the south coast, and even to capture the Phoenician towns in western Sicily, if he thought it was feasible...... The larger the Carthaginian army, the faster the collapse of its army would be once the grain transportation lines were cut off. ”

Speaking of this, Leotizides' eyes were like lightning, he looked directly at Cipros, and said in a firm tone: "So we need not be afraid of the fierce attack of the Carthaginians, the village has been burned and can be rebuilt, the farmland has been destroyed, the land is still there, as long as we hold on to Catane and wait for the opportunity, the Carthaginian army will expose their Aglius heel, and then Leotizides' right hand slashed down hard.

After a moment, Sipros smiled: "I am relieved to hear what you say, Lord Prosious. Don't worry, I'll find a way to appease the people. ”

After Sipros left, Leotizides was still looking at the map, his eyes focused on the icon of Palagonia, and he had a worry in his heart that he didn't say just now: how long can Paragonia hold out?!

At this moment, the adjutant Tagru walked in and said, "My lord, Assemis wants to see you. ”

Leotizides's face sank: "I've already told him a few times, now is not the time for the cavalry to attack, why can't he listen." ”