Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

I thought about it! Dido said without hesitation: So I decided to go to Sicily and negotiate with the Dionysians!

What?! Are you going to Sicily?! Haka was really surprised this time.

The more suitable candidate is you, but you are not in good health, and at this time, you cannot be separated from here. So I can only go! Although I am a woman, I am the only one, Margo, the patriarch of the Margonid family. My daughter, I go to Sicily to negotiate in person, which will better show the sincerity of our Margonides family. And the decisions I made during the negotiations should also be agreed by you, right? Dido is arrogant. Looking straight at her cousin.

Haka didn't respond directly, but instead asked, What decision are you going to make?

I want to let this territory join the kingdom of Dionia, become their sub-state or... that free city, I think this should be able to save my father and Hasdruba!

Haka looked at Dido with a resolute expression, and suddenly envied her vitality and courage, which was what his sick body lacked: Okay, I will take care of everything here, you can go to Sicily with confidence, But you have to prepare for the worst, the king of Dionia is not so talkative!

Although Haka has never met Davos, he has a deep understanding of the Dionysian king, and even some of the administrative systems currently implemented in the Iberian territory are absorbed from the Dionysian polity , adapted from. Because of this, as a Carthaginian aristocrat, he did not object to Dido's rebellious behavior of surrendering to the enemy country, on the contrary there was a trace of envy in his heart.

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Okleton once again came to Sicily as a messenger from Carthage, and started a new round of negotiations with Dionysian court clerk Henipolis at the city lord's mansion in Liliba.

After several negotiating confrontations, in the face of the aggressive Henepolis, Okriton made a compromise, offering to cede new colonies in southern Iberia and to return the lands of the East Numibians, allowing them to independent.

But Henepolis was not satisfied, pointing out that what Dionia needed was the entire southern part of Iberia owned by Carthage, including Cadiz, Huelva, Megaropolis and other coastal towns and the gold and silver mines they control cannot be changed.

Ok Critton argued that Henipolis was determined not to let go, and Davos did not give Ok Critton a chance to meet at all, and the negotiations were deadlocked.

When Okreton relayed the news that negotiations were not going well back to Carthage, the Carthaginian senate also received another bad news: Ruspina had surrendered to the Dionian army.

It turned out that Alexis once hoped that the Carthaginian army could come to rescue Ruspina, so that he could defeat the new army of Carthage in the field, reduce the difficulty of the soldiers to siege the city in the future, and setback Carthage. people's confidence.

However, after the Carthaginian Senate learned that the Numibians had joined the Dionysian army, it was even more worried about the safety of Carthage. While stepping up to mobilize reinforcements from the Phoenician allies in the west to protect the city.

Alexis did not order Ruspina to storm Ruspina, but let a total of 30 ballistas owned by the three legions bombard Ruspina city continuously for several days, not only smashing many houses in the city, making The people in the city were panicking all day, and they also blasted several big gaps in the not thick city wall. There were not many citizens in Ruspina, and the news of the reinforcements from Carthage had not yet been received. In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of Hadrummentum, the terrified Ruspina chose to surrender.

Alexis led his army into the city of Ruspina, and after taking complete control of the city, he immediately notified the Third Army stationed in Hadrummentum to remove the camp and meet at Ruspina.

Given that the Carthaginians could not hold on, he simply prepared to continue to attack Thapsos eastward, thus completely turning this coastal land into the great rear of the Dionian army.

The Carthaginian elders headed by Hanno received a reply from Okriton, and at the same time learned through the scout that the Dionysian army that landed in Africa was attacking the city aggressively in the east, and they all realized that whether it was for Carthage For the safety of the city, or for the armistice agreement to be successfully signed, Carthage must concentrate its efforts to repel the enemy in front of him.

Therefore, after urgent deliberation, the Senate appointed Samuels as the military commander of Carthage, responsible for repelling the Dionysian army.

Samuels led 10,000 Carthaginian citizens and rushed to Addis, bringing the total force in Addis to 15,000. It also made it difficult to see young and middle-aged citizens in the city of Carthage. The Senate had to Both the elderly and the underage men mobilized to defend the city.

Samuels did not lead his army to rescue Tepsos, which was being besieged by Dionian troops, but stepped up the construction of defense facilities at Addis, while waiting for reinforcements from the Phoenician allies on the west coast.

Since the Dionysian warship was cruising along the coast of Africa, for the sake of safety, the reinforcements of the Phoenician allies did not dare to take the boat, and could only travel by land, marching in the mountains, and the time to reach the city of Carthage would naturally be extended.

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Dido is tall and graceful, with a pretty face and bright eyes. She is wearing a purple pleated skirt with flowers embroidered with gold silk, a rare white fox fur coat, and black hair. They are held together and held together with delicate hair accessories made of pure gold... The temperament is graceful but not elegant, delicate and heroic, although the complexion is slightly darker, but it is more lustrous, without flaws, and more exotic. .

When she walked gracefully into the living room of the city lord's mansion in Lilibe, not only the guards looked straight, but even Davos was a little lost.

He subconsciously sat upright, coughed twice, and said, You...are you the messenger from the Carthaginian Iberian colony?

Honorable King Dionia. Dido lightly opened his lips, her voice was not as clear as most girls, but more robust: I am Dido, the only daughter of Marco, the military commander of Carthage, and I am not Not a messenger from Carthage, but a representative of the House of Margonides.

Davos was not surprised. He already knew the identity of the Iberian messenger in advance, and he also knew through intelligence that Margo's daughter was not a simple woman. Not only did she often participate in the political affairs of southern Iberia, she even Being able to influence Marco's decision, that's why I met her out of curiosity. And this sentence that Didot emphasized even more confirmed some of his thoughts. He deliberately joked: Do you have no men in the Margonides family?

Dido heard Davos' sarcasm, his almond eyes widened, but then he lowered his eyes again, and said forcefully: Iberian officials let me come here not because I am a woman, but because I am a woman. Because I was able to negotiate with you on their behalf!

Oh? Davos pretended to be surprised and said, I don't understand why the officials of Carthage in Iberia asked you to come? Don't you know that the Senate of Carthage has prepared to take the entire southern part of Iberia. Has the region been ceded to Dionia?

Dido had expected that the other party would ask this question, she took a breath and said with a serious tone: Dear King Dionia, although we are far away in Iberia, we also know about Dionia and Carthage. The negotiation did not go well, the war is still going on. What's more, Carthage does not represent our southern Iberia. Even if the negotiation is reached in the future, they agree to cede southern Iberia to you Dionia, and this resolution will not be obtained. The recognition of all the people of southern Iberia! Because the southern region of Iberia has decided to break away from Turii and decide our own destiny!

Dido said this last sentence loud and clear, Davos heard it, raised his eyebrows, and his eyes became cold: So even if we reach a peace agreement with Carthage, you in southern Iberia do not plan to Obey?! Don't you know what you're doing will just give me a reason to send troops to southern Iberia, where we've captured tens of thousands of captives from southern Iberia, including your father and friends! I don't mind Let all the men of southern Iberia become slaves and mine till they die!

Although Davos's voice was not loud, the majesty of the king was not to be seen directly, and the thick bloody aura rushed towards her face, which made Dido panic a little. She hurriedly lowered her head and tried her best to calm herself down. After breathing for a while, he gritted his teeth and said, Since... Since Carthage betrayed us, why should we obey Carthage's orders! If Dionysus really wants to send troops to attack us, we would rather all die in battle. , but also to defend the dignity of the Margonid family, and at the same time make you Dionia pay a heavy price!

Want us Dionians to pay a heavy price? Davos sneered and said disdainfully, How many troops do you have in the Iberian territory? Can you still deter the surrounding Lusitania? Humans, Iberians? We Dionia don't even need to send troops, we can quickly see the natives of Iberia wipe out all of you who are alone!

Maybe we will perish, but what good will it do to you Dionia?! At this moment, Dido also gave up, reminding loudly: We have spent more than 10 years conquering the Iberian natives, cutting down Trees, leveling the land, and cultivating it every year have made the territory that we can settle in today. If the southern part of Iberia, which is already stable, is re-occupied by those ignorant and ferocious natives, I don’t know what Dionia has experienced with After the great battle of Carthage, how much gold and silver, how many citizens were sacrificed, and how much time would it take to reincorporate southern Iberia into the kingdom of Dionia!

But now as long as Dionia accepts my negotiation request, the southern part of Iberia you want will immediately belong to Dionia! Then, Your Majesty, you can deal with Carthage with all your might and make other demands from them to gain more benefits!

The cold light in Davos' eyes subsided, and he said calmly, Do you want southern Iberia to be directly merged into Dionia?

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