Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 899: Withdraw and Advance

Seclian was taken aback and said, “Are you giving up Selinus?!”

“Naturally, we can't abandon Selinus. Doing so would allow the one hundred thousand Carthaginian troops to pass through easily and march eastward. Additionally, you would lose the naval base, depriving you of a foothold in the waters of western Sicily, greatly diminishing your threat to the western coast.” Leotychides explained patiently, “However, it is also unacceptable for our main force to remain within Selinus, as it would encourage the Carthaginians to attack our undefended lands. Thus, I plan to leave a few thousand soldiers to defend Selinus while I lead over ten thousand soldiers, with the Eighth Legion as the main force, to go to Gela by boat. There, we will join forces with the armies of our friendly city-states to defeat the Carthaginian army attacking Agrigento, eliminating their threat to our territory and our allies.”

“By leaving only a few thousand soldiers to defend Selinus, would they be able to defend against the attack of the Carthaginian army?” Seclian became somewhat worried.

“We had spent this time reinforcing the city's defence, so there should be no problem for them to hold the city for a month or so, by which time the tide of the battle may have changed,” Leotychides said calmly.

Seclian pondered for a while upon hearing that and then finally made up his mind, “Since you have decided to carry out this plan, our fleet, as one of the forces protecting the security of our territory in Sicily, can assure you of two things:

Firstly, our fleet will do its best to cooperate with the defenders of Selinus in defending the city. This includes intercepting Carthaginian ships transporting grain, sending the marines to attack the rear of the Carthaginian army, and even providing assistance in defending the city during the most dangerous moments. Secondly, I can guarantee that if the enemy breaches Selinus, our navy will make every effort to evacuate the remaining defenders safely and bring them back to Catania.”

Leotychides felt deeply moved, his voice trembling as he said, “Thank you very much!”

“If you truly wish to thank me, swiftly defeat the Carthaginian army attacking Agrigento,” replied Seclian with his head held high.

After seeing Seclian off, Leotychides stood in the hall doorway, lost in thought, while Muklu smiled and remarked, “They say Lord Seclian is arrogant and hard to talk to, but it appears he's quite understanding.”

Leotychides didn't reply and returned to his seat, picking up the map and checking it carefully.

Muklu chuckled inwardly, noting that compared to the renowned Seclian, the commander before him was even more challenging to deal with

Knowing Leotychides could take half a day staring at the map, Muklu quickly summoned the servants to bring breakfast to the hall.

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Leotychides quickly finished breakfast and then asked Muklu to arrange reinforcements for Agrigento.

But just as Muklu stepped out of the hall, he encountered Seclian, who was walking briskly towards him.

“Lord Seclian, why are-”

With a grave expression, Seclian entered the hall and said, “I've just received a report from the scouting ships that the Carthaginians have occupied Agrigento!”

“Agrigento has fallen?!” Leotychides suddenly stood up.

“The Carthaginians not only captured Agrigento but slaughtered the entire city, with only a small portion of their population escaping to Inycum by sea.” Seclian emphasised, “We could no longer carry out your plan to transport reinforcements.”

Despite the sudden news disrupting Leotychides' plan, it didn't make him panic. After thinking, he said, “We would still continue with the plan to transport the troops, but we would change the destination to Gela.”

After the Carthaginian army captured Agrigento, the city-state to the east of it was Inycum. However, since this small city was completely defenceless, right next to it was Gela, and to the west was Minoa, so why would they only reinforce Gela and not Minoa? Seclian still understood it because when the Carthaginian army besieged Selinus, Leotychides didn't have the Minoans send reinforcements, considering they were also facing a threat from the Carthaginians, and now its city's defences could at least last for a while. (Thermae is a small town between Selinus and Minoa and had no walls and no troops stationed at all)

With this in mind, he earnestly asked, “After we send reinforcements to Gela, would you continue with the next plan?”

Leotychides replied without hesitation, “As long as the Carthaginian army at Agrigento continues with their attack on Inycum or Gela, we must rush to engage them as it is our only chance!”

Seclian gazed at the expressionless Leotychides. He suddenly appreciated his decisiveness in the face of difficulties and felt like he was somewhat similar to him in some aspects. He coughed, stood up and said, “Then, if you are going to lead your army, you must inform our fleet so we can escort you!”

After Seclian left, Leotychides turned his head to Muklu and said hushedly, “Dispatch a messenger to Catania and tell Siprus to apply to the Ministry of Military for them to transfer the Seventh Legion.”

“Huh?” Muklu became surprised. Through this period of contact, he knew Leotychides was a proud commander and wouldn't ask for help from the Seventh Legion if it wasn't a critical moment, so it seemed they were already in a dire situation.

Leotychides didn't seem to realise that his words had caused waves through his adjutant's mind as he continued to explain in a stoic expression, “The Carthaginian army that had captured Agrigento had another option besides attacking Inycum and Minoa. They can again go directly north into the mountains, join up with the army there, capture Enna, and then go east to break through the defences of Herbita and invade the Catanian plain...”

Muklu became nervous at Leotychides' analysis, and after thinking for a moment, he said, “Wouldn't it be too risky for the Carthaginian army to go directly through the mountains in the centre instead of going to the south coast?”

“Although risky for them, we must also take precautions.” Leotychides then pointed to the map, “Right now, our main forces are in Selinus, and there are only a few thousand soldiers in the Catanian Plains. Moreover, they had to guard against Syracuse to the south, so they had no spare men to support the Sikeloi. To tell you the truth, I think the Sikeloi are far more important than these Greek city-states on the south coast. After all, once the Carthaginians occupied this area, they would threaten a large area from Naxus to our ally, Leontinoi, and make it difficult for us to stop their invasion. Therefore, to ensure the safety of our territory in Sicily and the people harvesting food smoothly during the autumn harvest and to enable our Eight Legion to fight against the Carthaginian army without any hesitation, we can only let the Seventh Legion go south and defend the plains of Catania.”

“I understand. I will arrange it right away!” Muklu replied.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mago frowned in the command tent in the Carthaginian camp as he listened to the messenger's report after returning from Selinus, “We can exchange the sailors but not those soldiers.”

“My Lord, but the Theonians have captured nearly ten thousand sailors, far more than the number of Theonian sailors we have captured. Hence, they are asking us to exchange the Greek soldiers we have captured as well-”

“Are you my envoy or the Theonians?! I am not a fool to put these soldiers back and strengthen the Theonian army again! I don't agree with this one, so you go back and discuss it with them again.”

The envoy could only acquiesce after seeing Mago becoming furious.

While watching the envoy exit the tent unsteadily, Mago sat down in his chair and gasped for breath. Once his mind calmed down, he told the adjutant next to him, “Catch up with him and tell him I agree to this agreement and immediately arrange for the exchange of prisoners.”

“My Lord, didn't you just say-”

“Go and carry it out. It's only two thousand Greek soldiers, so give it to them! I'd like to see how the Theonians will stand up to my army of one hundred thousand!”

“Lord Mago, what made you so angry?” The tent opened, and Bomilcar walked in.

“It is naturally those Phoenicians from our mother city!” Mago glared and said sarcastically, “Despite their advantage, the Theonian fleet still managed to repel them. Those people are really a fool to waste such a great opportunity!”

“The naval battle is indeed regrettable. But despite our mother city's fleet obviously underestimating the Theonians, the Theonian fleet may no longer be able to harass the western waters after this battle, and we, Carthage and our surrounding allies, can finally breathe a sigh of relief! For that, we should already be thankful to our mother city's fleet that had come here to help us!” Bomilcar reminded smilingly, “Not to mention they had brought more than just the fleet, promising to keep funding us with money and supplies to help us be able to defeat the Theonians finally!”

Mago snorted. It was those things that made him change his thoughts. Otherwise, these people would protest at the Carthaginian Senate daily, which would only affect his reputation.

“You told me to come here, so what's the matter?” Bomilcar asked with a smile.

“Oh, that's right.” Mago then remembered and gestured for Bomilcar to sit down first and then solemnly said, “Although the Theonian fleet managed to repulse the Phoenician fleet, we still succeeded in stopping the Theonian's plan to reinforce Agrigento in time... Although I haven't received the news yet, I believe Hasdrubal had successfully led the more than two thousand soldiers to capture the weakly fortified city of Agrigento quickly. Now that the situation is favourable, we shouldn't let our massive army stay here in Selinus. Instead, we should seize this favourable opportunity and continue to expand the results. Therefore, I hope you can lead the troops to attack Minoa!”