If a person does not know which port his ship is heading to, then it does not matter to him whether it is a good wind or not. > it>___w-w-w=.-y'a-w-e·n·8·.· ｃ-ｏｍ

- Seneca (famous Stoic philosopher of ancient Roman times)

The recent succession of events was no less painful for Hannibal than the loss of an arm; Although tens of thousands of Numidian troops on the Carthaginian Western Front were easily annihilated, the entire province of Numidia and the kingdom of Numidia became Carthaginian spoils. However, the bad news from overseas still left Hannibal exhausted.

After the total annihilation of the Numidian army, Hannibal originally led his army to replenish troops and strengthen training on the Western Front; However, the Senate sent a piece of information that made Hannibal extremely distressed. The overseas provinces of Carthage, which had always been controlled by the Hannibal family, and the Balearic Islands were occupied by the Augustan family of Sardinia; Governor Siodicrius was killed in battle, and General Brialos surrendered with his army.

For the Kingdom of Carthage, the Balearic Islands were nothing more than a dispensable overseas archipelago province; For Hannibal himself, it was just an overseas territory of the Hannibal family, far from being an important place. As long as Hannibal could firmly occupy Sicily, and then expel the House of Augustus from Sardinia; The Mediterranean Sea will be the world of the Kingdom of Carthage!

However, the insignificance of the Balearic Islands does not mean that the Sidiocris stationed in the Balearic Islands is also irrelevant! Hannibal is the eldest son of the family, and he is also the amazing handsome talent and family heir that his father cultivated since childhood; Hannibal alone poured all the heart and soul of the entire Hannibal family, as well as his father's life's work.

This also means that Hannibal's other three younger brothers cannot enjoy Hannibal's treatment and fatherly love; In fact, Hannibal's three younger brothers, although they were also considered dragons and phoenixes since childhood, never received more attention from their father. If such a thing were born in another family, it might cause family infighting, but not the Hannibals.

Because the tradition of the Hannibal family has always been to concentrate the family energy on cultivating the family heir, and the other family members exist to assist the family heir; Coupled with the fact that Hannibal himself took good care of his three younger brothers, the relationship between the four brothers was actually very good. > it>___w-w-w=.-y'a-w-e·n·8·.· C-OM is especially the second brother Marco and the third brother Citdiocles, who are the people who have the deepest feelings for Hannibal. Also Hannibal's most trusted person.

As for Theophanes, the fourth elder, he was still too young after all; Hannibal was a child when he and his two other brothers fought on the battlefield in the Iberian Peninsula. Later, Theophanes came of age, and Hannibal left Betica with a large army; So there weren't many opportunities for the two brothers to meet. But Theophanes remained one of the biggest admirers of Hannibal.

The unity of the Hannibal family not only promoted the harmony and development within the Hannibal family, but also made the feelings of the Hannibal brothers extremely deep; At least it's much deeper than the relationship between the three Oscar brothers. Marco aside, he had been with Hannibal since the day he went to war; He is no longer only Hannibal's younger brother, but also an irreplaceable general of the Hannibal family.

The third elder, Si Audi Chris, is also a general who can take on big responsibilities. But now he is still too young, his temper is too short, and he needs to be sharpened to achieve a career; Therefore, when Hannibal went out on expeditions, he often arranged for Marco to be his deputy, while Siodiclis was placed as governor on the Balearic Islands.

With the complete enclosure of the Balearic Islands, coupled with the 3,000 elites and 100 personal soldiers that Hannibal personally handed over to Siodicris; As long as they did not suffer a large-scale attack by foreign armies, it was impossible for the people of the Balearic Islands to threaten the rule of Siodicris. Hannibal took great pains to create this special venue, in order to exercise Siodicris's personal ability and train him to be a general who can take charge of the Hannibal family; For this, even at the expense of the entire Balearic Islands, Hannibal did not hesitate.

Pity. It backfired; Hannibal's painstaking arrangement not only did not bring a bright future to Ciodicris, but buried his third brother. In fact, Hannibal's heart was bleeding; He not only lamented the heroic death of Siodicris, but also hated Brialos who surrendered on the battlefield. However, what he regrets the most is his original decision.

Siodikris has been an impulsive, stubborn and stubborn person since he was a child, and once he decides something, nine cows can't pull it back, and Hannibal is also clear about this; Before Hannibal returned to Carthage, he had already considered that the Augustans might take the opportunity to attack the Balearic Islands or Sicily. Bar w·w'w·.·

So, after Hannibal arranged the defense of Sicily. Let Margo be ready to support Betica at any time; As soon as the Augustus family made a move on the Balearics, Margo immediately led an army back to Beitika. Hannibal, knowing that Balearic was simply not strong enough to withstand the army of the House of Augustus, also issued an order to Siodisicis to immediately withdraw to Betica.

This time. For the last time, Siodichris chose to stubbornly stick to the Balearic Islands; However, how could the attack of the three legions of the House of Augustus be withstood by a small Balearic Islands? Even if Siodicris's strategic layout succeeded, it would only delay the Augustan family's time; It was simply impossible to prevent the Augustans from occupying the Balearic Islands.

But the fact is that Siodicris's strategic layout failed, and it was a complete failure; In the end, Siodichris defended the glory of the Hannibal family with his blood and life, and he would never take a step back even if he died in battle. This result was a very heavy blow to Hannibal; Hannibal could even feel his own heart ache.

Soon. Hannibal would have known that his heart had come too soon; Then came the bad news that caught him off guard even more. While Hannibal was basking in the grief of his brother's death, a new round of conspiracy began in the Carthaginian Senate; Their goal was to save Hannibal from Carthage!

For the patriarchs of Carthage, the purpose of summoning Hannibal back to his homeland was to allow Hannibal to block the attack of the Numidian kingdom, and it was better to be able to repel it, and to stabilize the situation if he could not repel it; But Hannibal's strength was beyond the imagination of the patriarchs, and in less than a month, Hannibal easily annihilated all the armies on the western front of the entire Numidian and took the capital province of the Numidian Kingdom.

At this time, Vimina was also still fighting fiercely on the southern front with the main Numidian army led by Zuguta himself; As long as Hannibal has finished resting, he can directly lead his army south to complete the annihilation of the main army of Numidia. At that time. The war between Carthage and Numidia was over; Now, the results are obvious, and there will be no surprises at all.

Then the question arises, once Hannibal has solved the threat to the kingdom of Numidia. Hannibal, who turned the tide, was sure to gain unprecedented popularity; In addition, the military power of the Carthage Kingdom was controlled by Hannibal, so how did the elders of Carthage deal with themselves? The connection with the House of Augustus was endorsed by the whole Senate; However, how to get Hannibal back to Sicily as soon as possible is also a problem.

It is certainly unreliable to rely solely on the initiative of the Augustus family to attack Sicily, not to mention whether the Augustus family can start an attack on Sicily within the scheduled time; What if Hannibal decided to abandon Sicily? That's the crux of the matter! Suppose Hannibal decides to relinquish sovereignty over Sicily. What about the conquest of the kingdom of Numidia, which was determined to remain in North Africa and lead a large army?

It was certainly impossible for the Kingdom of Numidia to stop Hannibal's attack, and Hannibal was even able to rely on his existing forces to complete the occupation of the entire Kingdom of Numidia; Even unifying North Africa was not an impossible task for Hannibal. In this case, will the senators of the Senate still have a place to prominence? Will they be able to escape Hannibal's control?

The patriarchs made a decisive decision not to allow Hannibal to remain in North Africa, and after this battle, the Kingdom of Numidia could no longer covet the hegemony of North Africa, nor could it be an enemy of the Kingdom of Carthage; In other words, the overlord of North Africa must be the Kingdom of Carthage again, as long as there is an obedient general like Vimyna. Based on Carthage's absolute superiority, supremacy and unshakable.

Since whether there is Hannibal or not does not affect the overall situation, the plan of the senators to cross the river and tear down the bridge will naturally be implemented; The first step in this plan was to make Hannibal have a deep hatred for the House of Augustus, so that when the House of Augustus attacked Sicily, Hannibal would not hesitate to lead his army back to Sicily.

If this accumulated hatred was enough for Hannibal to explode, he would not even have to wait for the Augustus family to take the initiative to attack Sicily, and Hannibal himself would personally lead the army to attack the Augustan family after the war in North Africa was over; No matter what the process was, as long as Hannibal led his army out of Carthage, then he would not want to come back, and the patriarchs would not let him come back despite all their means.

While the patriarchs are racking their brains. A fleet of ships from the Kingdom of Spain to Carthage brought back news; The army of House Augustus captured the Balearic Islands, and the Balearic governor, Hannibal's third brother, Siodicris, was killed in battle! The news came at a timely time, and as long as the Carthage was not lost, the Balearic Islands would not be in the eyes of the senators.

But Siodicris's death in battle. But it made the senators see a good way to intensify the hatred between Hannibal and the Augustan family; Immediately, the senators sent messengers to Hannibal with the timely news. Although Hannibal did not react when he received the news, the elders knew that the seeds of hatred had been sown and that it was only a matter of time before the fruits were reaped.

Since the Augustus family has brazenly launched an attack on the Balearic Islands, it should be reasonable to take the opportunity to attack Betica of the Hannibal family; So. The senators of the Senate quickly sent a large number of spies disguised as merchants or bards to the provinces of Betica or Iberia to inquire about the news.

While the senators of the Senate were moving when they heard the news, Hannibal hid the pain in his heart and continued to drill the army every day as before; In fact, Hannibal also knew what the reason for the Senate to send this information to him, and he understood what the senators of the Senate were thinking.

But before the war in North Africa ended, before the kingdom of Numidia was completely defeated by Carthage; It was impossible for Hannibal to do anything that would affect the overall situation of the Carthaginian kingdom. Whether it was against the Senate or against the House of Augustus, that was what should be done after the conquest of the kingdom of Numidia; Now, Hannibal can only choose to suffer in silence.

It's a pity that neither Hannibal nor the Carthaginian Senate would have imagined that the Augustan family's next move would be so swift and intense; So much so that the Senate of Carthage did not have time to react, and Hannibal himself was irritated beyond measure. Even, for the first time, Hannibal regarded the Augustan family as the number one enemy; The degree of hatred is far greater than that of the senators of Carthage.

After another month of intense training and recuperation, Hannibal finally reorganized his army of 30,000; Amikas, who occupied the province of Numidia, also completed the replenishment and recuperation, and firmly controlled the province of Numidia. At this time, Vimini had been holding Tapsus for three months, and Hannibal had finally decided to lead his army south! (To be continued.) )