If you know how to make good use of life, life is long after all.

- Seneca (famous Stoic philosopher of ancient Roman times)

Hannibal's division of forces and garrison arrangements were very clear and closely linked, except for the 5,000 cavalry of the Sakab Order, which was not commanded by anyone, the other generals had clear garrison objectives and mutual support plans. However, Hannibal's arrangement of Vimina puzzled everyone.

In terms of the number of troops, the army of 14,000 men under General Vermina was the largest of all armies; Coupled with the reinforcement of the infantry of the 3,000 Holy Order, the attachment of the 3,000 cavalry, and the command ability of General Vermina himself, this army will be the strongest in terms of overall combat effectiveness of all armies.

Such an army was stationed in the rear-end city of Carthage, and it was barely justifiable, if it was not the best of its ability; After all, the city of Carthage is the capital of the Kingdom of Carthage, and General Vermina is the most trusted general of the Senate, so this arrangement is acceptable to everyone. But why did Hannibal solemnly ask Victoria Secret to be his support?

When the generals heard this, they all couldn't help but look at Hannibal who was standing in the conference room; Hannibal saw that the generals were puzzled, and he also sighed secretly and said: "Before I returned to the mainland, the Roman Augustus family entrenched in Sardinia had already gathered nearly 100,000 troops on Sardinia!"

Although the army of 100,000 was made up of new soldiers, it is not impossible that the story of the ants biting the elephant to death will not happen; In addition, the weapons and equipment of the Romans were already better than those used by our Carthaginian army, so this disparity in numbers still makes me feel deeply disturbed.

Later, after I returned to the mainland with my army. The House of Augustus seized the opportunity to attack our Balearic Islands and the province of Betica; Such asymmetrical warfare has not only cost us two of our overseas provinces. It also allowed the army of the Augustus family to gain quite important combat experience. This is even more difficult for them to deal with.

According to my estimates, before I return to Sicily, the House of Augustus will launch a landing war against Sicily; I'll end up with over 60,000 Roman troops! This time I brought back only 14,000 elite troops, and the rest were new recruits; The army stationed in Sicily was no more than 4,000 elite cavalry under my command.

Of course, it's not just the difference in numbers, it's that I myself always have a sense of foreboding; So, to be on the safe side, I need to add an extra layer of insurance against this war. If I do not fight well in Sicily, then Victoria will immediately lead your army to Sicily to support me; Depart from the port of Carthage. It only takes five **** to get your support. ”

As soon as Hannibal's analysis was finished, Himika stood up and suggested to Hannibal: "General, since you are not sure of victory, why don't you bring more troops?" Judging by the current situation, the countries of North Africa do not threaten our own strength at all; The contradictions between them also make it impossible for them to unite, and we can completely reduce the local garrison!

Personally, I think that we could have saved 10,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry for you to send to Sicily, without affecting the defense of the homeland and the deterrence of the nations; Moreover, we all know that you are the best at cavalry commanding battles, so why don't you take more cavalry with you. But all the infantry on the march? ”

Himika's words also represented the sentiments of the vast majority of the generals present, who also wondered why Hannibal did not lead more troops into battle. I don't understand why Hannibal, who has always been good at using cavalry in battle, did not draw a single cavalry, but went to Sicily with 24,000 infantry.

This time, however, without Hannibal's own answer, Victoria's Secret, who was sitting on the first seat on the right below Hannibal, stood up and looked at the generals and said, "There are two reasons why the general did not take a single cavalry to Sicily; First, cavalry transportation was not easy, and it took too much time, energy, and transport ships to transport a large number of cavalry to Sicily.

And, even if we are willing to give these things; Our limited maritime transport force in Carthage was also unable to transport more than five thousand cavalry to Sicily; This would also greatly delay the delivery of infantry. If the Roman army had struck first, we would not even have time to transport the infantry; When the time comes, the general will not be able to rely on less than 10,000 cavalry in his hands to fight against the Roman army of more than 50,000.

The second reason is that it is not necessary; It is known that the cavalry legions of the Romans were all annihilated by the generals a few years ago. The Romans did not have a cavalry force capable of fighting on their own, and all they could did was to provide each legion with three hundred cavalry for reconnaissance; What's more, the cavalry of the Romans was really well arranged, and 4,000 cavalry was enough to deal with them.

So, instead of wasting the limited volume of transport on cavalry transport, it would be better to send more infantry to Sicily; In this way, not only could the gap between the general's army and the Roman army be narrowed in numbers, but the whole of Sicily could be better defended. Even in the future, when attacking the Roman mainland or counterattacking Sardinia, infantry will be needed instead of cavalry. ”

Vimyna's explanation was exactly what Hannibal had in mind, so Hannibal echoed after Vimyna's words: "Yes, General Vermyna's explanation is what I meant; Rather than sending a limited number of cavalry to Sicily, it would be better to send more infantry to a greater role. ”

At this point, Hannibal looked at the generals who were still looking at him with concern, and said with a rare smile: "Actually, you don't have to worry about my affairs in Sicily; First of all, the House of Augustus did not necessarily have the courage to attack our Sicily, and perhaps I would have taken the initiative to attack Sardinia.

Second, even if the Augustans had launched an attack on Sicily, they would not necessarily have been able to land in Upper Sicily; Perhaps a sudden storm at sea wiped out all the Roman troops. Or, my general Hush Doba will be when the Romans land. Use the elite cavalry to drive them all back to the sea.

In a word. You don't need to worry at all that the Roman army of House Augustus can pose a threat to me; What I'm doing now is just preparing for a rainy day. If only it was time for war to break out. Do you think that the defeated men of House Augustus and the Milky Kids will be my opponents? I'll wipe them out myself!" ”

Hannibal's words full of strong confidence also swept away the dull atmosphere in the conference room, and the hearts of the generals were clear. Yes, and who can compare with the god of war Hannibal? Not to mention defeating Hannibal, it's simply unthinkable, okay?

You don't see, the kingdom of Numidia that rose strongly before; Not only did they have an ambitious king like Tulguta and a famous general like Ahmet, but they also had a force several times superior to Carthage. But what about the end result? Didn't it disappear under Hannibal's attack? Thinking of this, all the generals felt amused by their gaffes just now.

Now the atmosphere is warm again. Hannibal, of course, had to go ahead with his own arrangement; Hannibal then looked at the generals who were once again in high morale and said: "Although my operation in Sicily will not be very risky, it will certainly not take a short time; At the very least, it will take more than half a year.

Because if the Roman army of the House of Augustus does not take the initiative to attack Sicily, then I must be fully prepared for war in Sicily before launching an offensive against Sardinia, plus a possible counter-attack on the Balearic Islands and the battle of Betica; In this way, the time consumed may not be more than half a year.

Even if the Roman army of House Augustus were to attack on its own initiative, it would take me a great deal of time to annihilate Sicily's army; Coupled with the necessary post-war counter-offensive on Sardinia and the Balearic Islands and Betica, the time required was not short. So, I need you to stabilize the situation in North Africa during my absence, so that we can win!

Do not think that the burden on your shoulders is light, that the present stability is only an illusion; None of the six kingdoms are truly subservient to us. In particular, Ahmed's Numidian kingdom and Adheba's Mauritanian kingdom. If I am not in my native land, they are all likely to start a rebellion; And. Or maybe it's a rebellion you didn't expect.

Do not think that rebellion is a war against us, and if Ahmet or Adheba were to annex other kingdoms by force, it would be a betrayal of us; You must also intervene, or the reunited kingdom of Numidia will become a great problem for us. If these things do happen, you can just listen to Vimina's arrangement.

In addition, the open guns and arrows from behind are also what you need to watch out for; Although Vimini will mediate for you in Carthage, there is no guarantee that the senators of the Senate will not seek to seize your military power. So, whatever happens, stay ye in your own army all the time; Remember never to leave the army alone!

Generals, say a word without exaggeration; Perhaps our efforts this time will be the last chance for the rise of the Carthaginian kingdom. If our efforts fail, perhaps the Kingdom of Carthage will never have a chance to regain its former glory; So, I implore you to be very cautious about the facts, very careful. The future of Carthage is up to you! ”

Speaking of the latter, Hannibal's tone was already unusually serious; Even after the last sentence, Hannibal bowed deeply to the generals present. All the sitting generals also stood up in unison, holding their waists straight; Then he bowed back to Hannibal with a deep bow.

After all the appointments and commissions were over, Hannibal sent Mahabal with 24,000 infantry to set out for the port of Baisasian; Hannibal himself would set out after the deployment of the army. Of course, this did not delay the march of the great army, for the infantry had to march from the Great Leptis to the port for a full forty days; And Hannibal rode a horse for only fifteen days.

Hannibal, who remained behind, first asked Amikas to return to the military camp in Africa and continue to command his 10,000-strong frontier army; Amikas was accompanied by General Kelimis, who was also in charge of garrisoning the province of Africa, with his 10,000 shield cavalry, and General Himiko. General Himika's purpose was to bring back the other 5,000 elites under Amikas's command and put them under the command of General Himika.

Because the elite infantry in the city of Great Leptis was basically exhausted by Hannibal, in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the 10,000 infantry under Himika's command, Hannibal specially ordered Amikas to transfer the 5,000 elite infantry that originally belonged to him to Himika. In this way, the army under Himika's command will have enough combat strength to take on the responsibility of defending Tripoli and deterring the three countries.

The other generals did not need to bother at all, for General Gisken was the undisputed commander of the only remaining 10,000 shield cavalry; The infantry is also a newly recruited army, and there is no need to argue at all, just assign it directly. After receiving the 3,000 infantry of the Holy Order, General Vermina returned to Carthage with them to receive the large army arranged for him by the Senate.

He was accompanied by General Sakarb and his five thousand Templar cavalry, who were stationed at the site of the Order, not far from the city of Carthage; As for Abydos, he also took 7,000 infantry and went to Tapsus in Baisasion, and when Vimyster received the army, he sent 2,000 cavalry to him, and all the troops were completely adjusted.

After sending off the last wave of troops, Hannibal said goodbye to the Shimika brothers and Gisken in the city of Velek Pletes; Immediately, Hannibal also left in the direction of the port. (To be continued.) )