Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece
chapter-901

Leotychides smiled, which he seldom does, and asked, “How's the situation at the military camp today?”

Since the occupation of Selinus, Leotychides had temporarily assumed the responsibility of managing the entire city* and thus naturally lacked time and energy to take care of the military. As a result, he usually delegated the management of the military camp to Chaeris, and so far, there haven't been any significant issues. (although they had already escorted most of the people in Selinus to Catania.)

“All is well, and the loss of the navy hasn't affected the morale of our brothers. On the contrary, they hope my lord will allow them to raid the enemy camp again and earn more victories.” Chaeris replied.

Leotychides shook his head lightly, “Having already deceived the Carthaginians once, it will be challenging to make the same ploy work again. However, I plan to conduct a major military action-”

After saying that, he looked at the standing still Chaeris, who showed no sign of eagerness.

Although Leotychides was praising him inwardly, his face continued to show his indifferent expression, “The Carthaginians have now divided their army into four. One is besieging Selinus, another will attack Minoa, another will attack Enna, and the last will attack Gela. Our situation is currently dire. If you were me, what would you do at this moment?”

High-ranking officers like Chaeris generally had access to the information brought back by scouts and scouting ships, so he was well aware of the current battlefield situation and had his own thoughts. After pondering, he said, “Despite the Carthaginian army’s far superior number, we can use our naval advantage to deal with them individually since they are spreading out for their attacks.”

“Defeat them individually...hmm...” Leotychides continued asking, “Where do you think we should strike first?”

“Gela,” Chaeris said without hesitation, “The report indicates that the Carthaginian army in that area isn't too large and is isolated. Furthermore, they are the perfect target for our attack since they are deep within our territory and close to the coast!”

Leotychides nodded, “You and I have the same thought. So, I will lead the Eighth Legion and the Fourth Cavalry Legion to Gela by ship to defeat this Carthaginian army as soon as possible. After I leave, I will entrust this place for you to manage and take charge of the five thousand soldiers from the reserve legion.”

Chaeris didn't respond immediately but showed his hesitation, which surprised Leotychides, who knew him.

After a moment of thought, Chaeris spoke resolutely, “Lord Commander, five thousand soldiers are too many. Three thousand will suffice. This way, you will have more soldiers to defeat the Carthaginian army. I am confident I will hold out until you return victorious at the head of the army!”

Leotychides showed a surprised expression as he sat on his chair. He stared straight at Chaeris for a while, then stood up and walked up to him, reaching out his hand to lightly hold his shoulder, “I am leaving Selinus not only to defeat the Carthaginian army at Gela, so I am afraid I won't be back soon. With Selinus' importance to us, we must defend it as best we can. Hence, I had left you with so many soldiers. You do not need to worry about the enemy outnumbering me because I will have plenty of soldiers once we get to the east.”

Upon hearing him, Chaeris hurriedly said, “Commander, I swear to defend Selinus to the death. So you can rest assured that as long as I am here, the city of Selinus will hold out!”

Leotychides' expression twitched, prompting him to speak gently, “If you find it impossible to hold out, there's no need to sacrifice yourself. With the naval fleet waiting in the port, you and the soldiers can safely evacuate. This war will be lengthy, and we'll have more opportunities to retake Selinus in the future…”

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

When the fleet from Catania arrived at the port of Selinus, Leotychides began to prepare his army's boarding when he coincidentally encountered the messenger sent by Minoa seeking help.

It turns out that after Bomilcar’s Carthaginian army arrived at Minoa’s territory and set up camp, they immediately began attacking the city. In contrast to Muntebaal, Bomilcar personally led the frontline and oversaw the attack. With the firm command of the Iberian army generals, the soldiers not only refrained from slacking but also launched fierce attacks, putting considerable pressure on the defenders of Minoa.

Unfortunately, when he received the news, Leotychides could only console the Minoans to hold on for a while longer. He would then try to lead his army to rescue them as soon as possible.

Under the escort of the Theonian fleet, the ships carrying Leotychides' army entered the port of Gela successfully.

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

At the same, Burim, the legatus of the Seventh Legion at the camp in Locri, received the order from the Ministry of Military for the Seventh Legion to urgently head out to Catania today!

“It's finally our turn!” Burim's lanky body leapt up from his seat and shouted excitedly to his adjutant, “Quickly send someone to inform the praetor of Locri so they can prepare for the expedition. Also...inform the various brigades of this news and ask them to recall their soldiers who were out immediately!”

“Roger, legatus!”

Not long after, continuous cheers rang out in the military camp, which caused Burim to smile.

Burim was once the Bruttian chieftain of Besidiae, which later merged into Theonia. He then became a statesman but instead chose to join the Theonian legion rather than engage in politics like Baripiri. During the South Italian War, he served as the senior centurion of the Fourth Legion and was eventually captured by Dionysius along with his legatus, Drakos, who was killed. However, due to his previous position as the chieftain of Bruttii, he was imprisoned but ultimately rescued. As the only high-ranking officer of the Theonian legion captured by the Syracusans in the South Italian War and survived, he regarded this as his greatest shame and so fought valiantly throughout the subsequent wars and thus rose to the rank of legatus of the Seventh Legion due to his achievements.

With all the other legions having already participated in the current war, and only the Seventh Legion remained idle so far, Burim persistently wrote to the Ministry of Military complaining about the injustice. But not long ago, the Ministry of Military sent a message that the Carthaginian army had once again landed in Sicily, reminding him to make preparations in advance.

Thus, Burim began issuing summoning orders for the Seventh Legion to the surrounding towns and cities. Now, he had finished fully equipping the Seventh Legion in the camp, with the soldiers having high morale and just waiting to take action to kill the enemy and make achievements.

But soon, the response from the city hall of Locri poured a jar of cold water on Burim. Since there were not enough transport ships to ferry the troops to the port of Locri, they had to wait another day or two to make preparations, which caused Burim's frustration.

Suddenly, his adjutant reminded, “If Locri doesn't have enough ship, don't we still have Rhegium?!”

Burim's eyes brightened up. In the past, the Seventh Legion sourced its soldiers from Locri, Hipponion, and Caulonia. However, with Rhegium and its subordinate city, Taurania, fully merging into Theonia last year, these two cities also became recruitment grounds for the Seventh Legion, approved by the Ministry of Military. Unfortunately, they hadn't sorted out the relationship when the war broke out, so the Seventh Legion did not yet have the time to send out notices for the training officers of Rhegium and Taurania to arrange for their citizens to participate in the rotational training in the military camp of Locri. Still, even though there is currently no Rhegian in the Seventh Legion, Rhegium, as a port city that guards the straight of Messina, has no shortage of ships and is perfectly capable of helping to transport troops.

Burim immediately said, “Send a messenger to Rhegium as soon as possible and request their support!”

The next day, Rhegium responded to the Seventh Legion's request, and nearly two hundred transport ships sailed into the port of Locri at dusk.

Early on the third day, Burim led over eight thousand men of the Seventh Legion out of the military camp and into the city of Locri. Meanwhile, the people of Locri gathered on both sides of the street to bid farewell to their loved ones. Unlike the other people in other cities in the kingdom, the Locrians barely cheered and were not overly exuberant when sending off their troops. And instead of rushing into the streets to impede the soldiers' march, they just stood orderly alongside the streets, waving their hands.

Despite Locri no longer applying the cruel laws made by Zaleucus after joining the Kingdom of Theonia in the past decade, the citizens of this city had already had restraint and obedience integrated into their blood. However, that also resulted in Locri, a former enemy of Theonia, hardly causing any trouble for King Davos and the Senate after joining the kingdom. Naturally, the Locrian citizens' belief in Persephone and the rule of law allowed them to easily identify with the Kingdom of Theonia.

The army had also passed through Locri's shipbuilding workshops before entering the port. There, seven to eight massive dry docks stood side by side along the beach, with many shipwrights currently building triremes inside. In addition, they piled stacks of thick, cut tree trunks on the open sand around the perimeter, and occasionally, a team of horse-drawn wagons would enter the workshops with trees on their wagons. In the several makeshift sheds, carpenters constantly process the rough tree trunks into pieces of straight and smooth ship boards...throughout the workshop, the people were so focused on the work in their own hands that only a few became distracted to watch the passing Seventh Legion.

This lively and organised spectacle of shipbuilding wasn't only happening in Locri but also simultaneously in other coastal towns in Theonia that are capable of building ships, such as Thurii, Crotone, Terina, Scylletium, Rhegium, Tarentium, Catania, and Naxos. The whole kingdom of Theonia was pouring out every effort to build more ships as quickly as possible so that they could continue to maintain their naval superiority in their war with Carthage.

In the morning, the fleet ferried the soldiers from the Seventh Legion out of the port of Locri and headed towards Catania on the eastern coast of Sicily.

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

Though excited after receiving King Davos' order, Mithridates didn't immediately lead his fleet to invade Corsica because his first target was Aleria. In contrast to the small strongholds scattered by the Phoenicians in Corsica, Aleria became his target as it was the only Phoenician town with small and fertile farms, a rich mining industry, and large ports.