"Messenger of Dionia, I don't think you're here to study and study the gods of Carthage." With a hint of a smile, Hanno said meaningfully: "Unfortunately, our answer is the same as last time, Carthage will always keep the agreement with Syracuse, so I'm afraid you will be disappointed." ”

"Lord Hanno, we Dionya will not embarrass Carthage, and we have no intention of forming an alliance with you again." Anchitaros said seriously: "I have come this time to represent the Senate of Ionia, hoping to trade with Carthage. ”

"What kind of trade?" Hanno's heart moved, and he asked.

"Grain!" Ansitanos said bluntly: "We Dionians are struggling to resist the invasion of the Syracuses, due to the destruction of our territory by the Syracuses, the food supply of the entire alliance is now very tight, if we can't buy a large amount of grain from outside, then our army will not last long, and we will not be able to fight because of lack of food!" At that time, the Syracuse people will be able to easily defeat our soldiers and occupy Dionia, thus achieving complete control over Greater Greece. ”

Hanno's right eyelid jumped, and after a moment of silence, he said, "If it's just to buy grain, we can consider it." There is plenty of rain and abundant grain in Africa this year, and Carthage has a lot of surplus grain, but I have heard that the population of Dionya is quite large, and the amount of grain you need is probably not a small amount, and your war with Carthage has lasted so long, can you still afford to buy grain? ”

"I have heard that Carthage has been in dire need of money lately, and it is impossible to give us preferential prices for grain, and our treasury is indeed running out, but the people of Dioonia have enthusiastically donated the silver coins they have treasured in their homes, just to be able to defeat Syracuse and restore peace to Greater Greece, so we can afford to buy grain!" Ansitanos said passionately.

His words shook Hanno, not only because of the determination of the people of Dionya to fight to the death against Syracuse, but also because the phrase "Carthage was also in dire need of money" touched his sensitive nerves.

Why is Carthage, such a wealthy city-state, also short of money?! That's because several wars with Syracuse depleted the Carthaginian treasury, and although the war is over, the depletion of the Carthaginian treasury continues. In order to defend against the mighty Syracuse, the Carthaginian Senate decided to rebuild a defensive ring in western Sicily to ensure the safety of the city, and for this purpose they appointed Marco as the commander of the Sicilian army, giving him some autonomy.

After Marco took office, he not only recruited laborers and purchased a large amount of materials to build defensive fortresses, but also recruited tens of thousands of mercenaries from Celtic, Numibia, Iberia and other regions in order to make up for the heavy casualties of the Carthaginian citizen soldiers in the war. To this end, the Carthaginian mint produced large quantities of gold and silver amber coins with high purchasing power every month, which were used to pay the salaries of mercenaries, and Carthage's monthly trade income, as well as the bulk of the mineral income from Iberia and Sardinia.

But this was not Hanno's main concern, his main concern was that Margo's power in Sicily was growing as the Carthaginians became increasingly nervous as the army of Syracuse ravaged in Greater Greece led to growing tensions, and with the support of the Magonid allies. A few days ago, he had sent a letter asking the Senate to give him the power to mint coins in Sicily, in order to save the trouble of transporting large quantities of gold and silver coins back and forth by ships, as well as potential dangers, such as the shipwreck in the event of a storm...... Because the Senate has been arguing about this for days.

During this time, Hanno was constantly uneasy: Margo's growing power in Sicily threatened his political dominance in the Carthaginian Senate, and he had managed to take Carthage from the Magonides, and would never allow Marco to take it back!

Seeing Hanno's brow furrowed and deep in thought, Ansitanos continued: "Of course, if you allow it, we hope to replace part of the cost of buying grain with the Syracuse captives. ”

"Syracuse's captive?" Hanno was a little puzzled, and although he had received news of the victory of the Dionian navy, the exact situation of the battle was not very clear.

"Our fleet defeated the Syracuse at sea in Turii and captured tens of thousands of Syracuse sailors. These two times I came to Carthage, I felt the hatred of the people of Carthage for the Syracusens, and I thought that if I could let the Syracuse captives be their slaves, maybe I would help them vent their hatred......" Ansitanos said unhurriedly.

Hanno's eyes lit up: exchanging grain for Siracuza slaves might win the favor of the Carthaginian populace.

Of course, this was not what Hanno was most interested in, he leaned forward slightly, looked at Ansitanos, and asked in a deep voice, "It is surprising that your fleet can defeat the Syracuses!" But will your army be able to defeat the mighty army of Syracuse?! ”

The Carthaginians had always considered their navy to be the most powerful in the Western Mediterranean, and in the previous wars with Syracuse, the reason for the two crushing naval defeats was not a real duel at sea, but being trapped in ports and bays, either under ballista fire or because of the surprise attacks that resulted in sailors not getting on board at all. The Carthaginians were not convinced, so the victory of the Dioonians in the naval battle, although amazing, did not give Hanno much shock, but the large army of Syracuse did terrify the Carthaginians.

"Lord Hanno, if you know Dionia, you will know that our King Davers has never been defeated in command of battles since the establishment of the Dionian League, and on many occasions he has won more with less. Dionya had suffered some setbacks because His Majesty King Davos was leading his army against the Samonai people to the north, and now he had returned to Turiyi with his army, and the victory in the naval battle was achieved under his plan.

Before I left Turiyi, he had already led his army to Crotone, preparing to defend against the Syracuse army there. Although our soldiers are smaller than the Syracuse army, all the soldiers and generals have full confidence in His Majesty Davers and are willing to obey his orders and fight the Syracuse to the death! As long as we have enough food, I believe we will be able to defeat the army of Syracuse in the end! "It's rare for Ansitanos to speak so excitedly.

Hanno stroked his beard with his hand, his eyes flickered, although he had never commanded an army, but he had also discussed the war in Great Greece many times with his men who were familiar with military affairs and the senators who attached him: if the Dioonians could really defeat the Syracuse army, and the navy of Syracuse had also suffered a crushing defeat, the soldiers of Syracuse who had invaded Great Greece might not be able to return to Sicily, so did Syracuse, which had suffered a great loss of strength, still need Carthage to worry about?! Carthage's security to the north is guaranteed, so there is no need to defend Syracuse on Sicily, let alone spend money to maintain a large number of mercenaries, and Margo's governor of Sicily can be abolished! ……

Hanno thought turned through his mind, and then said with a smile: "Tomorrow morning, when you go to the Senate, I will invite you in and tell the senators what Dionya wants. ”

Ansitanos was overjoyed when he heard this, and there was this sentence from Sophie Hanno, and in fact the purchase of grain would definitely be approved by the Carthaginian Senate.

"Thank you, Lord Hanno!" Ansitanos exclaimed gratefully.

………………………………

The news of the crushing defeat of the Syracuse army reached Trina that night, causing panic among the defenders of the city, who did not dare to withdraw to Siriting in the dark because it was too late and feared of accidents.

Early the next morning, more than 3,000 defenders of Trina began to prepare for retreat.

But soon after leaving the city, an accident occurred: more than a thousand Hibernians did not want to go to the Silitin, but only to go south to their city-state.

After some negotiation and argument, the generals of the Syracuse defenders reluctantly agreed, and by the time they began to retreat eastward again, more than an hour had passed, but they had carried a lot of looted supplies from Trina, resulting in a slow pace of movement. As soon as he crossed the Ramato, he was discovered by the sentinel cavalry of Dionia.

Lydes, who got the news, sent someone to report to Davers in the rear, and at the same time urgently led more than 1,000 cavalry to attack and harass, so as to delay the enemy's escape back to Ciliting.

After receiving the news, the 1st and 2nd Army Corps, which were at the forefront of the marching column, also sent light armored soldiers and light infantry brigades to intercept them.

The more than 2,000 Trina defenders felt bad when they discovered the Dionian scouts, and under the strict orders of their generals, they put on their armor, took up their shields and spears, discarded their excess baggage, and hastened their march.

But the undulating hilly road was not easy to walk, and after about half an hour the defenders of Trina were still ten miles from Siritin, but the cavalry corps of Dionya had arrived.

Before the cavalry corps could throw the javelins, a thousand Corennian soldiers suddenly fell to their knees and surrendered, causing the already panicked Trina defenders to suddenly panic and form an array.

Seeing this, Leders gave a decisive order: the cavalry charged directly at the enemy.

Trina's Syracuse defenders were immediately routed, and they were either killed or captured by the cavalry legions, and only a hundred of the more than a thousand men fled back to Siriting.

The Hebernians, who retreated to the south, were equally unlucky, as they ran head-on into the Lijim army, which had landed on the coast north of Hibernian on the Sekrian fleet.

How could Fei Dun let go of this great opportunity to fight more and less, and immediately led the army to attack.