Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece
chapter-888

Muklu hesitated and said, “…Lord commander, do you also wish to inform Governor Siprus?”

Leotychides finally spoke, “He is too far, and we don't have enough time. His Majesty should have placed the fleet in Sicily under my command from the start, which would have saved us a lot of trouble. Quickly, carry out my order.”

Soon after, Muklu received Miltiades' response, which didn't meet his expectations. Not only did he reject Leotychides' proposal to patrol the sea, but he also told Muklu to tactfully remind Leotychides that the fleet wasn't under Leotychides' command and shouldn't be concerned about the naval affairs.

Leotychides raged upon hearing that, which he seldom does. Still, there was nothing he could do about it.

In the afternoon, the scouts who had returned to Selinus brought back bad news: they had found many Carthaginian soldiers gathering on several beaches and ships along the coast from Mazara to Lilybaeum.

‘The Carthaginian army is landing!’ Leotychides judged easily.

“Send someone to tell Miltiades to do what needs to be done.” The corners of Leotychides' lips rose slightly as he spoke mockingly. It seemed that Miltiades' earlier message had gotten under his skin.

“Immediately gather the Reserve and Eight Legion to follow me in attacking the coast of Mazara!” Leotychides finally issued the order.

“Yes!”

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

Mago was almost at the forefront of the last batch of troops that had boarded and entered the port of Lilybaeum. He had done that to comprehend and monitor the boarding situation of all the soldiers at the ports of Carthage and Utica.

As soon as he stepped on the dock, officials of various ranks, including the Lord of Lilybaeum and the acting commander of the Carthaginian army, welcomed him warmly. They crowded around him as they made their way to the Lord's mansion.

But just as Mago had taken his seat and hadn't had a chance to speak, news arrived that tens of thousands of Theonian troops had left Selinus and were marching westward.

While most present felt nervous, Mago decisively ordered, “Immediately gather your troops to intercept them!”

Since Lilybaeum is a military fortress, it already has several barracks in the city where the more than ten thousand Numidian soldiers (led by Muntebaal) had stayed previously, and the twenty thousand Iberian soldiers under Hasdrubal had stayed yesterday. So Mago ordered his men to assemble them quickly and, for caution's sake, took with him six thousand Iberian soldiers who had just disembarked.

Leotychides faced difficulty marching as he led his army against the wind and rain, taking nearly three hours to approach Mazara.

Suddenly, he received a report from the cavalry scout that a Carthaginian army, with a force of at least thirty thousand, was approaching them from Lilybaeum.

Since the Battle of Minoa and the capture of Selinus, Leotychides has tried various methods to lure the enemies who had retreated in cities such as Lilybaeum, Segesta and Mazara out of the city to engage them in field battle so that they could achieve better results. Unfortunately, they were never successful.

But now that the Carthaginian army had finally left the city, Leotychides hesitated. Although the Battle of Minoa showed that the demoralised Carthaginian army had low fighting strength, it didn't make Leotychides arrogant. Through intelligence, he knew that he couldn't underestimate the Iberian army that had captured Cephaloedium. In addition, the Carthaginian army coming from Lilybaeum would undoubtedly be its main force, and their number had far exceeded the number of those he was leading.

During the Theonian army's stay in Selinus, several soldiers of their allies had returned to their respective city-states in preparation for the upcoming harvest season since there was no fighting. Then, once the Second Fleet arrived in Sicily, Miltiades protested to Leotychides about his unauthorised conversion of the Theonian navy's excellent sailors into light infantry to act as support to the legions in battle(referring to some of the tens of thousands of sailors of the fleet in Sicily that had survived the storm).

Miltiades brought the matter to the Ministry of Military, compelling Leotychides to release the crews and return them to their naval base on the Catanian plain. As a consequence, Leotychides could only lead just over twenty thousand men, along with more than three thousand Allied soldiers who had stayed in Selinus, which comprised the entirety of the force he now had in western Sicily.

Leotychides had thought the Carthaginian army's landing in such harsh weather would inevitably result in temporary chaos, so he didn't expect the Carthaginians to launch such a rapid attack.

His gaze scanned the heavily armed legionaries beside him and saw that their faces drenched in rain showed signs of exhaustion. After hesitation, Leotychides, who had never blindly and impulsively gone into battle, dispelled the idea of fighting the Carthaginian army and ordered the army to halt and immediately return to Selinus.

As a result, the soldiers complained about it as they had gone on a wasted march and only got soaked in the rain.

Leotychides, however, didn't care, as he cared about whether their fleet could gain a result.

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

After receiving a reminder from adjutant Muklu, Miltiades still didn't believe his words due to his terrible relationship with Leotychides. Hence, he didn't immediately lead the fleet to sea and instead sent a scouting ship to patrol the western waters.

It was only after he received confirmation that he had hastily led the fleet out of the port. After that wasted time, coupled with the fleet sailing against the wind, it was already dusk when they arrived at the waters near Mazara. The sea, which was initially filled with ships and bustling activity, had become calm, the Carthaginian army had finished their landing, and the transportation of supplies and horses was also almost completed.

The Carthaginian ships, observing the movements of the Theonian fleet, quickly notified the ships that were still on their way, causing some to immediately return to Carthage while others stepped up their efforts to rush into the beaches and ports in Sicily. Thus, despite the Theonian fleet's effort in searching the waters, they only managed to ram, sink, and capture a dozen transport ships. Although they also saw the numerous Carthaginian ships anchored on the beaches, they didn't dare to approach and attack because of the countless Carthaginian soldiers on the shore, as it was a stupid approach to give up their advantages just to fight the enemy on land. Moreover, due to the darkness of the day and the turbulent winds and waves, two of their ships inadvertently hit the reef and sank.

With all of that, Miltiades ordered their return. But throughout the journey back, he remained depressed, as he had the great responsibility of allowing the successful landing of the Carthaginian army in Sicily, so neither His Majesty Davos nor the Ministry of Military would turn a blind eye to it…

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

In the following days, the situation in western Sicily took on an eerie calm.

On the Carthaginian side, Mago was busy restructuring the disorganised army that had landed and transporting supplies scattered along the coast back to Lilybaeum. At the same time, he took some time off to receive officials from Carthage's subordinate city-state and envoys from their allies to learn about the situation in Sicily. He even summoned the chieftain of Sikeloi, Archonis, who had suffered from Muntebaal's ostracism.

Meanwhile, on Theonia's side, Leotychides no longer sent troops to attack their enemies' fields and villages. Instead, he ordered his soldiers to reinforce the city's defences.

Naturally, he had already started doing that since their occupation of Selinus because he knew well that the Battle of Minoa wasn't enough to harm Carthage and would instead lead to a more violent counterattack. With the south coast of Sicily serving as the main offensive route for the Carthaginian army, Selinus had a crucial role as it was situated at the starting point of this route. Thus, as long as they could hold onto it, it would create a great obstacle for the Carthaginian army's further attack on the territories of Theonia and their allies on the south coast. Furthermore, it would help fulfil the strategic purpose given to them by King Davos.

At the same time, Leotychides also sent a messenger back to Catania to inform Siprus of the new war situation. He also sought reinforcements from their allied city-states, such as Minoa, Agrigento and Gela, to strengthen Selinus' defence.

While Leotychides hoped to delay the battle as long as possible, Mago could no longer wait. After all, he had given his promise in the Senate that he would expel the Theonians from Sicily within a year, which is why the vast Carthaginian army surrounded Selinus three days later.

Mago ordered the army to start building their camp while allowing engineers and craftsmen to build siege equipment.

Once the campsite started taking shape, Mago began dispatching thousands of light infantry formed by their allies in Sicily to gradually clear the traps and obstacles around the outskirts of Selinus.

Leotychides, naturally, would not allow the enemy to approach the trench so easily. Therefore, not only did he order the defenders atop the city wall to carry out fierce long-range attacks on any enemy who came within firing distance, but he also organised hundreds or thousands of light-armoured soldiers from time to time to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to leave the city and attack those who were busy clearing the traps and obstacles.

Leotychides' proactive defensive tactics greatly harmed the Carthaginian soldiers, who were clearing the obstacles. Still, the Carthaginian encirclement of Selinus continued to shrink over several days.

For Mago, who had an army of about one hundred twenty thousand, a slight casualty was like a tickle between his boots without causing any impact on him. With this strong military strength as backing, the Carthaginians no longer got interrupted in their cleaning work outside Selinus.

With the orderly advance of the Carthaginian army towards the city and the strengthening of their defence against surprise attacks, the Theonian army also reduced the number of times they went out to attack after suffering one to two minor losses.

Quickly, the Carthaginians placed dozens of ballistae and began bombarding Selinus' walls with stone projectiles continuously.

Since the Theonian legion had military training about attacking and defending a city wall, they certainly had their own method to defend against ballista, the most powerful weapon for attacking a city. In addition to placing ballistae on the walls and inside the city to launch accurate attacks against the enemy's ballistae, Leotychides also had his soldiers collect fishing nets from the fishermen in the port in large quantities to drape them down from the top of the city walls to cushion the impact of the stone projectiles.