War seems to mean blood and iron. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

- Quintilian (a famous educator in ancient Rome)

The place where Hannibal led his army to land was naturally the nearest port of Lower Sicily, and at this time Hannibal did not know the fact that Upper Sicilia had been occupied by the Augustan family, let alone that all six legions of the Augustan family had landed in Sicily!

Hannibal's fleet had already been discovered by his fleet after it entered the waters off Sicily; While personally leading the fleet to escort Hannibal, the commander of his fleet sent a warship back to the port at once to inform the generals in the city of Lilibal that they should lead their army to meet Hannibal.

After several hours of escort sailing, Hannibal's fleet made its way to port; Hannibal's ship docked at the harbor mooring platform as the first ship to land, and Hannibal immediately stepped off the transport.

When Hannibal got off the transport, the Huskidupa and Theophanes, as well as Mahabal, who had already arrived, also immediately greeted him; In fact, Hannibal had already discovered the three generals standing in a row when he was on the transport ship. However, when Hannibal saw the three of them coming together, he always felt a bad feeling in his heart.

Therefore, after Hannibal got off the transport, he asked directly to Mahabal, who met him: "Mahabal, has the remaining 10,000 troops arrived in Sicily?" ”

"General, they have all arrived in Sicily, and are now stationed in the barracks outside the city of Lilily with the first batch of 12,000 troops." In the face of Hannibal's question, Mahabal also answered Hannibal without hesitation.

Mahabal's consistent style of doing things is to complete his tasks meticulously, which is what Hannibal admires most about him; Hannibal nodded his head to indicate that he understood, and then continued to command:

"Mahabal, in addition to the two thousand Holy Order infantry, there are eighty more war elephants in my fleet; I will go to Liliba at once, and I will hand over to you the two thousand infantry of the Holy Order and eighty war elephants in this fleet, and you will be responsible for bringing them to the Lilibal camp. ”

After Mahabal was commanded, Hannibal took the Hush Duba and Theophanes directly back to Lilibal; On the way back, Hannibal suddenly turned to the Husky and asked:

"Huskidhuba, didn't you garrison Upper Sicilia with four thousand shielded cavalry? Why are you and these 4,000 cavalry here, is it possible that Upper Sicilia has been captured by the House of Augustus? ”

Hannibal didn't know where the uneasiness in his heart came from until he left the port; But after leaving the harbor and seeing the 4,000 shield cavalry outside the harbor, Hannibal knew where the uneasiness in his heart came from. The Huskidubas and these 4,000 cavalry were obviously stationed in Upper Sicilya, so how could they appear in Lower Sicilya?

It would be forgivable to say that the Husdduba knew that he was about to return after Mahabal returned to Sicily, so he rushed back to Liliba to meet him; However, when the Huskiduba returned, how could he bring these four thousand shield cavalry with him?

You know, his mission was to garrison Upper Sicily, and by the way, to monitor the ancient city of Syracy in Greater Sicily; Once he left Upper Sicily with four thousand cavalry, then not only was Upper Sicilia at risk of being left undefended, but the ancient city of Syrac could also be freed from his own control, how could the Huskiduba make such a low-level mistake?

Needless to say, there is only one explanation left, that is, Upper Sicilia had been captured by the army of the House of Augustus, and the Husduba had no choice but to return to Liliba with these four thousand cavalry; After guessing everything, Hannibal asked the Husky about his doubts.

In the face of Hannibal's inquiry, Husky Douba did not hide it; Little by little, he described to Hannibal how he lost Upper Sicilya. Even the reason why he did not use cavalry to fight the enemy to the death is clearly explained; Hush Douba's honesty made Hannibal sigh helplessly, but he didn't say anything.

Now that this has happened, what can Hannibal say? Blame the Huskidduba for losing Upper Sicilya? With the powerful forces of several legions dispatched by the Augustan family, coupled with so many powerful equipment and assistance, how could the Husdduba hold Messina with only 4,000 cavalry? Do you want these precious 4,000 cavalry to serve as infantry to defend the city?

Of course, the defenders of Upper Sicilia were not only the 4,000 shield cavalry under the command of Huskidulba, but also a considerable militia and new recruits, which were mixed with a number of veterans under the command of Hannibal; However, Hannibal never really regarded these armies as his own, and there was no trust in them.

In addition, Hannibal's army was at an all-time high at this time; The 24,000 troops brought from the Carthaginian land, the 80 war elephants borrowed from the Cyrenaica kingdom Moffitt, the 15,000 mercenaries brought by Theophanes, and the 4,000 elite shield cavalry under the command of Hush Duba, the strength of Hannibal's army is rare.

For Hannibal, he really had never commanded an army of this size, except that he had commanded so many armies in Carthage before; This is not to say that Hannibal did not have the ability to command so many armies, but that such numerical battles were rarely fought by Hannibal.

Hannibal's marching battles were almost always fought with weak forces and the enemy's superior forces, and then the weak defeated the strong, fighting classic battles that shocked the world; This time, Hannibal was able to command superior forces and engage the weaker forces of the Roman forces, which was the first time that Hannibal fought against the Roman forces with superior forces.

On the basis of such an advantage, why did Hannibal punish the Huskid for losing Upper Sicilya? In Hannibal's opinion, the loss of Upper Sicilia is nothing, and it is better to just fight it again, so why bother? Moreover, in Hannibal's heart, the four thousand elite long-shield cavalry were already more precious than Upper Sicilya!

Therefore, after Hush Douba finished speaking, Hannibal not only did not blame Hush Doba, but was relieved: "Hush Doba, you don't have to blame yourself too much; In such a battle, it would be nice if you could retreat with 4,000 cavalry. Prepare yourself, and your cavalry will be the vanguard in the next decisive battle against the House of Augustus in Rome! ”

Hannibal's trust in the Huskid was not shaken in the slightest, not only did he not punish the Huskiduba, but continued to entrust the Huskidduba with important responsibilities, which undoubtedly made the Huskiduba heart's loyalty to Hannibal reach a new level again.

After the conversation with the Huskidhuba had ended, the three of them, escorted by four thousand horsemen, continued to gallop in the direction of Lilibal; Only two hours later, Hannibal and the others arrived outside the city of Lilibal. Huskidupas returned to the camp with 4,000 cavalry, while Hannibal led Theophanes straight to the Doge's Palace.

After returning to the Doge's Palace, Hannibal was not in a hurry to do anything else, but asked Theophanes to report to him all the current forces under his command; Later, Hannibal also inquired specifically about the situation of the Roman Augustus family, who occupied Upper Sicilia at this time, and the state of the Augustan army's army in Sicily.

Hannibal's conversation with Theophanes lasted for several hours, and it was not until Husky Dubba and Mahabal arrived at the Doge's palace that Hannibal ended his conversation with Theophanes. These hours of detailed conversation gave Hannibal a fairly full understanding of the situation in Sicily, and also a general idea of the future layout of the war.

So, when both Hush and Mahabal had returned, Hannibal took both of them and Theophanes to a small meeting room in the Doge's Palace; After all three were seated, Hannibal habitually arranged:

"Now our main army in Sicily consists of twenty-four thousand newly landed infantry and eighty war elephants, and fifteen thousand mercenaries from the province of Betica, and four thousand elite shield cavalry under the command of the Huskidulba; Of course, in the entire province of Lower Sicilia, we still have some very good fighting recruits, and that will also be part of our combat strength.

My tentative arrangement for these armies is as follows: Theophanes, you continue to lead the fifteen thousand Gallic and Spanish mercenaries; Huskiduba, you also continue to lead your four thousand elite shield cavalry; Mahabal, your mission is to lead 10,000 Iberian infantry and command the 6,000 recruits in Lower Sicilia who are well armed and well-armed.

Of course, our own army needs to be better prepared for the huge army that came from the landing of the House of Augustus in Rome; In addition to the necessary training, my intention is to pull the ancient city of Syracuse in Greater Sicily once and for all on our chariot!

Although the ancient city-state of Syra is nothing, its existing Greek legion armament and staffing can barely fight a battle; Rather than let these Greeks sit and watch the tiger fight, it is better to pull them completely into our chariot and let their armies be of our own use. An army of 6,000 men is not too much, but it is not too much to say less; It can be regarded as an increase in our own combat power.

In this case, our final total strength will be fifty-five thousand, not counting eighty war elephants; But the Roman army of the House of Augustus also had about 40,000 troops, and their army was far superior to ours in weaponry. Therefore, I will also ask General Vermina stationed in Carthage for help and ask him to come with his army to ensure our victory in this battle!" ”

Hannibal's arrangement of the battle situation naturally won the unanimous approval of the three generals; Next, Hannibal's subordinates had only three tasks: first, to reorganize and train the army; second, to pull the ancient city of Syracuse into your chariot; Third, ask for help from General Vermina in the Carthaginian lands! (To be continued.) )