The donkey thinks the same, but the donkey driver thinks the other.

- Fedrus (Roman allegorist)

Unfortunately, such words did not impress Oscar; Oscar still asked with a blank face: "Of course, I believe that your organization is capable of keeping Hannibal's army in Carthage under control, and not allowing a single soldier to go to Sicily to support Hannibal; Only, does this include the iron-walled general Vimina? ”

the ironclad general Vermina, who was also the second most famous general in the Kingdom of Carthage after Hannibal; With Vermyna's ability, as long as he led the army to assist Hannibal alone, then it would be almost impossible for the Augustus family to defeat Hannibal head-on!

Hannibal was an active attacker, but also a cavalry genius, a tactical genius; However, his weakness is also very obvious, that is, he is not good at playing defensive battles. In fact, every battle Hannibal fought was a battle in which he gave up his defense and took the initiative to attack; This also proves from another angle that Hannibal is relatively good at fighting defensive battles.

Vimyna, on the other hand, was a general who was extremely good at defensive operations; Whether it was against the Roman army or the Numidian army, Vimyna's defensive battles were classic. Perhaps, Victoria's offensive battles are not necessarily perfect, but when it comes to defense, who can compare to the Iron Wall General?

In Oscar's view, Hannibal and Victoria's Secret were the twin stars of the Kingdom of Carthage; Hannibal was the sharpest spear of the Carthaginian kingdom, while Vimina was the strongest shield of the Carthaginian kingdom. It is enough for a country to be invincible if these two people become one; Oscar couldn't imagine the consequences.

The only thing to be thankful for is that the Kingdom of Carthage never trusted Hannibal, the sharpest of the Carthaginian spears; And Vimyna, the strongest shield of Carthage, has always been loyal to the Carthaginian Senate, and cannot burst out with a strong fighting force like Hannibal.

However, fate is fair; When the Kingdom of Carthage was facing an unprecedented crisis, Hannibal and Vermyna, two peerless generals, finally became one. Vimyna's fierce defense kept the main Numidian army immobilized, and even inflicted extremely heavy damage on the enemy in the defense.

Hannibal, on the other hand, once again wrote his own glory, quickly crushing and annihilating the enemy's armies on the battlefield with lightning speed; It is precisely because of the cooperation of these two people that this crisis in the Kingdom of Carthage disappeared in a snap of a finger, and a good situation appeared.

In this case, could Oscar not worry about Hannibal uniting with Vermyna? If Hannibal had returned to Sicily with Vimina directly, it would have been a tragedy for the army of the House of Augustus who had rushed to Sicily; Even if Hannibal didn't take Vimina to Sicily, what if Vimina followed up to reinforce Hannibal?

Once Hannibal and Vermina were united, the army of House Augustus would be tragic; If you want to attack Hannibal's army with superior forces, you must not be prepared to be dragged back by the army of Vimyna. The army that attacked Vermina with all its strength had to be prepared for the attack of Hannibal's army at any time; Such a war cannot be fought.

Obviously, Hanno Jr. and others did not expect Oscar to ask such a question; It's just that such a question makes Xiao Hannuo and the others unable to answer directly! What if Hannibal took Victoria's Secret with him when he returned to Sicily? This is something that no one can guarantee, and it is even more unpredictable!

Little Hanno and the other five, who looked at each other, had to look at me and I looked at you, and they didn't know what to say; As a last resort, little Hanno had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Your Excellency Oscar, we cannot guarantee that Hannibal will keep General Verminia in Carthage; However, as long as General Vimini is on home, we can be sure that we will not let him reinforce Hannibal! ”

For little Hanno's promise, Oscar believes; After all, Victoria's foolishness is better known to the world than his abilities. Oscar also knew that the Carthaginian Senate would be able to do this at most, and any more, it would not be within the scope of the Carthaginian Senate, and even if it was promised, it would be meaningless.

Thinking of this, Oscar also nodded, and said to Little Hanno: "Your Excellency Little Hanno, I want to believe in your sincerity, and I also know that your starting point is the same as ours. We will make a formal decision on whether or not to send troops to Sicily after determining whether or not Vimina will go to Sicily; When the time comes, you must ensure that Hannibal will never be reinforced by a single soldier! ”

"Your Excellency, please rest assured, as long as your family is willing to send troops to Sicily, we will guarantee that Hannibal will not be reinforced by a single soldier! In addition, we will try to keep General Vermina on the home soil as much as possible to ensure that your family's army only needs to deal with Hannibal's army. Little Hanno also immediately swore an oath.

Now that the two sides have reached a consensus on this, the two sides will continue to discuss some other aspects of the agreement. In addition to dealing with Hannibal, the biggest consensus between the two sides was to sign a new armistice after the war, which would put an end to the war between the House of Augustus and the Kingdom of Carthage.

In fact, in this respect, the aspirations of the House of Augustus and the Kingdom of Carthage were the same; Because of the presence of the House of Hannibal, the Kingdom of Carthage had been engaged in a protracted war with the Roman powers, and both sides were exhausted. Even the entire seafaring trade in the Western Mediterranean was destroyed by the war, and piracy became extremely rampant.

Therefore, after the end of the war between the House of Augustus and Hannibal, it was only natural that peace should be restored between the House of Augustus and the Kingdom of Carthage. For the House of Augustus, if they could successfully defeat Hannibal, then the House of Augustus could own all of Sicily; By then, the House of Augustus would have a territory of six entire provinces!

From one Sardinia, to the vast land of six provinces, the Augustan family took only one year; Then, in the next time, the House of Augustus must recuperate and fully bring the newly occupied territory under the rule of the House of Augustus.

Moreover, these lands of the House of Augustus were scattered throughout the Western Mediterranean, and the six provinces were divided into four parts; As a direct result, the Augustans had to have a stable and good sea route to ensure the connection between the provinces.

Carthage's navy, though decayed, was still of some strength; Without an end to the state of war with the Kingdom of Carthage, it would be impossible for the House of Augustus to smoothly build routes between their various provinces.

Once the war with the Kingdom of Carthage was over, the House of Augustus would have enough time to consolidate their provinces and build their fleet stronger. When war breaks out in the future, the Augustan fleet will be strong enough for the enemy's fleet to sail out of port!

Although the Carthaginian kingdom may lose all of its overseas territories at the end of the war, this is not something difficult for the Carthaginian kingdom to accept. After all, the province of Betica and the Balearic Islands were territories that the Carthaginian kingdom never actually controlled, and they belonged to the Hannibal family themselves.

As for Sardinia and Lower Sicilia in Sicily, it was just the land occupied by the Carthaginian kingdom in recent decades, and if it was sacrificed, it would not affect the normal life of the Carthaginian magnates. This is the difference between the Carthaginian Senate and Hannibal, one is an ambitious patriot and the other is a selfish man with a frog at the bottom of the well.

After many agreements were agreed, Oscar held an internal banquet for the emissaries from the kingdom of Carthage; In addition to the generals of the House of Augustus, there were also the main members of the mission. The day after the feast, Hanno the Younger and his party were ready to board the ship and return to Carthage.

At this time, little Hanno was not the little Hanno when he came, and his heart was no longer interested in all kinds of empty things in front of him; His ambitions had already begun to shift completely on the night of his meeting with Oscar. If Hanno the Younger's highest dream was to become the most powerful senator of Carthage, now he has become the king of the Kingdom of Carthage!

When the goal changes, the motivation is naturally different; Little Hanno's whole mental state seemed to be extremely excited, and he became extremely vigorous in everything he did, which made all the other envoys feel inexplicable.

After Hanno and the others left, Oscar also began to prepare for the next military operation of the Augustan family; In fact, no matter what kind of commitment the mission from the Kingdom of Carthage made this time, the Augustians were going to launch an attack on Sicily.

From the moment the Augustan army set foot on the Balearic Islands, there was an endless war between the Augustians and Hannibal; If Hannibal can't be eliminated, then sooner or later the Augustan family will face Hannibal's attack, and it is better to take the initiative now than to rush to the battle!

If the Carthaginian Senate could really hold back Vermina, or not give Hannibal reinforcements; That would naturally be beneficial to the Augustan family. Even if the Carthaginian Senate could not do all this, the Augustans could only do their best to wage a decisive battle against Hannibal!

Otherwise, once Hannibal was allowed to gain a foothold in Carthage and Sicily; With the power of Hannibal and Vermina, the Carthaginian land and the resource population of Sicily, the Augustan family could not have consumed Hannibal at all. After all, the House of Augustus had now lost the support of Rome proper, and could no longer gain a strong population base. (To be continued.) )