The senators were nervous, especially the Magonides.

"Let's retreat to the venue first, and quickly send someone to inform General Samors and ask him to bring the army to disperse the crowd." At this time, Hanno was still able to maintain his composure, and whispered his advice to the senators, who were at a loss for a while.

The senators returned to the meeting hall and waited for the arrival of the troops, but also restarted the meeting with fear, this time with much less resistance, and passed a resolution to "resume peace talks as soon as possible on the basis of most of the terms of negotiation for Dionia", and sent envoys to reach an armistice with Dioonia as soon as possible.

When Hanno, under the protection of the arriving army, walked out of the Senate and announced the new resolution of the Senate to the people who were still gathered outside the door and still refused to leave, the crowd cheered.

But Hanno also reminded them that even if peace talks were resumed, they could not let their guard down, and if they could not repel the Dionian army that invaded Africa, then the chances of success in the peace talks would be very small, and Carthage would lose more benefits.

Therefore, he encouraged the people present to actively prepare for war and defend Carthage.

The response from the public was overwhelming.

But it didn't end so smoothly. On the night of that day, several Magonidian elders were beaten by the crowd on their way home, and one of them fell unconscious.

While the whole city was urgently preparing for war, the Senate condemned the violence and sent people to investigate, but it was inconclusive.

At the same time, some of the Magonian patriarchs sensed danger and began to flee Carthage quietly.

By the time the Carthaginian emissaries met Alexis, the Dionian army had already begun to lay siege to Ruspina.

After learning of the Carthaginian envoy's intentions, Alexis made it clear that the order given to him by His Majesty King Davers was to attack Carthage. He will not stop his offensive until he has received an order from His Majesty to call for an armistice.

When the frustrated Carthaginian envoys left Ruspina, they were surprised to find that many Numibians had also appeared and were in harmony with the Dionian soldiers.

The troop carriers had already returned to Hadru Mentum, and Alexis allowed the East Numibians to return to their homeland first, reunite with their families, and then regroup to assist the Dionian army in attacking Carthage.

The reason why Alexis did not let these East Numibians immediately participate in the war was because the East Numibians were basically infantry, and their combat effectiveness was not strong, and they were all like arrows, and they were worried that if they joined the army, they would not only consume a lot of military food supplies, but also drag down the legions during the battle. However, he did his best to retain the Sinumbian cavalry, and about 2,000 Numibian cavalry remained to fight, except for those who were drowned in the sea and insisted on leaving.

After the Carthaginian envoys left, Alexis began to order his army to attack Ruspina. The engineering battalions of several legions had already stepped up to make some siege equipment, and Alexis had a basic understanding of the situation of the entire city.

Ruspina was one of the few large Phoenician city-states in this area, like Hadrumentum, but it was still a small city in Alexis's eyes, and it was not well fortified. Based on what he observed, he carefully adjusted the siege plan, and he was confident that the city-state could be captured within a few days.

There were several reasons why Alexis was in such a hurry to attack Ruspina: first, although he had ordered his soldiers to hurry up the repair of Hadrumentum's port, it could not be built in a short time due to the lack of sufficient labor, the lack of building materials, and the fact that the enemy was facing enemies in an unfamiliar environment. The encounter with the second fleet made him know that in this season of late winter, this sea area is windy, and he needs to provide a safe harbor for the fleet that continues to transport supplies for him as soon as possible, and at the same time, it can also greatly improve the efficiency of unloading, so it is the best choice to capture a coastal city-state as soon as possible.

Secondly, the Ionian army had just arrived, and if it wanted to gain a foothold, it was necessary to establish a solid rear so that it could attack Carthage with confidence and boldness. Therefore, a city-state like Ruspina, which was very close to Hadrumentum, had to be conquered first.

Besides, Alexis had something else in mind. Early in the morning of the second day after the army landed, he received a report from the scouts: the Phoenician city-state of Ardis to the west was heavily garrisoned (the road from Hadru Mentum to Carthage on land was indeed smooth, but the road was specific, between Carthage and Hadru Mentum there was a series of mountains, and extended east to form the Capone Peninsula, and the flat valley floor in the middle was not narrow, but Attis was located to the west of it, and Carthage, after learning that the Dionian army had landed at Hadru Mentum, Alexis hoped that by attacking the Phoenician city-state near Hadru Mentum, he would be able to attract the Carthaginian army to come to the rescue, so as to eliminate the living forces of Carthage through field battles.

……………………………………

While the Carthaginian emissary Ocriton was again sailing to Sicily to renegotiate with Henipolis, several of the Magonidian senators had fled to Sexi in southern Iberia, where they were angry and fearful to make a big deal about what had happened in Carthage, to the shock of the members of the Magonides and local officials in the city.

In the governor's palace, Dido urgently summoned Haka, and as soon as they met, he asked him anxiously: "I heard that our army in Sicily has either been wiped out or captured, and now my father and brother do not know whether they are alive or dead, and so many people do not know what is going on!" At this time, the cursed Hanno dealt a cruel blow to our forces in Carthage, sending men to assassinate Uncle Pretakuba and driving the others out of Carthage...... What do we do now?! ”

While Dido spoke, Hakka was already lying down on a wooden chair with the help of his servants. Since Marco led the army to land in Sicily, all the affairs of Iberia were mainly in charge of Jaca alone, plus he was also responsible for the logistics and transportation of the Iberian army, always paying attention to the dynamics of the natives inside and outside the territory, and the physical condition of the long-term day and night work for half a year made his physical condition deteriorate, his body was sharply emaciated, and it was difficult to walk.

"Not only what you said, but I also got a piece of news......" Haka touched his forehead with his hand and whispered, "The important leader of the Hannonites, Typanrako, has proposed to the Senate that my uncle and my brother be tried in absentia, saying that they should be severely punished for causing such a major defeat and putting Carthage in danger, and at the same time as a way to appease the Carthaginian people—"

"Pacify the people of Carthage?! Then who will appease us?! For the sake of Carthage, the vast majority of our adult men of the Magonides family went on an expedition to Sicily, and there has been no news so far! Dido had tears in his eyes, but anger distorted her beautiful face, making her look a little hideous: "Also, how much effort we have spent in this backward and barbaric place, and how many families have died, to obtain these lands for the benefit of Carthage?!" Otherwise, after Carthage declared war on Dionia, Iberia would have been able to send so many soldiers! But the Carthaginian Senate ignored our conquest and wanted to give our hard-earned land to the Ionians without our consent! My father and brother fought bravely for Carthage, and now their lives and deaths are unknown, not only will they not be able to get the respect and sympathy of Carthage, but they will also be judged, and their honor will be dishonored. ”

Dido gritted his teeth and said sharply: "Haka, since the Carthaginian Senate wants to ruthlessly poison us, then why should we be manipulated by them, why should we simply leave Carthage and no longer obey the orders of the Carthaginian Senate!" ”

Hakka listened quietly, not surprised by what Dido said, in fact she had vented similar anger to him many times in the past two days, but this time the reason why she was so decisive was because she heard the results of the Carthaginian Senate to carry out a harsh trial of Marco and Hasdruba, according to the previous Carthaginian military tradition, the generals of the unified army who had lost major wars were severely judged by the Senate, and they were basically crucified, and the only one who escaped punishment was Margo's brother Shimilko, Although he eventually committed suicide, the citizens of the time complained to the Senate that they were too indulgent to him. And now Margo has suffered a greater military defeat than Shimirko back then, and the Magonides family has little power left in the Senate, with Hanno and others in the way, Margo and Hasdruba are probably in danger of being executed, and it is no wonder that Dido will be emotionally outraged.

"You're not serious, are you?" Haka asked softly.

"Of course I'm serious!" Dido walked over, looked down at Haka, and said sharply with a resolute gaze: "Carthage regards us as enemies, then we are no longer Carthaginians!" Haka, gather all the officials in your realm and declare to them that the Iberian colony is independent and has nothing to do with Carthage! ”

Haka rubbed his forehead and sighed lightly: "Now the main officials in the territory are all our Magonid clansmen, and if they declare independence, they may not have much dissent, but it will inevitably cause panic among those Carthaginian and Phoenician people in the territory."

And you should know that the greatest danger to us is the Iberian natives inside and outside our territory, who have been quiet for the time being because we have blocked the news of the defeat, but in time they will always know that by then they will be able to. Demand reparations' as an excuse to attack our territory, and we do not have enough troops in our territory, and once we leave Carthage, we will not receive reinforcements, and then we will not be able to resist the attack of these fierce natives, and the land will be occupied by them, and the people will be tortured and killed by them!

What's more, we have declared our independence, and Carthage may not be able to do anything about us for the time being, but Dionyas has already taken our territory as a bag, but it has failed, will they be angry? Will I kill my uncle and my brother because of this? And then send an army to seize this land? …… Have you thought about all of this? ”