Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1014: Massylii Tribe

Ginomus changed his strategy. Instead of continuing to complain, he said, "Chieftain Tinum, now that Lilybaeum has fallen, Carthage's supply route for military rations to Sicily is cut off. Before long, every soldier in the camp will face starvation. What are your thoughts on this?"

Tinum blinked, looking entirely unconcerned. "Lilybaeum may be occupied, but the Carthaginians can still ship military rations to Mazara. Besides, they will conquer Selinus and take Lilybaeum back. There is no need to worry."

"Chieftain Tinum," Ginomus sneered, "the Carthaginians retaking Selinus and Lilybaeum?! You overestimate their abilities. Think of how much time they wasted and how many men died just to capture the small town of Palagonia! You have been in Sicily long enough to know how formidable the Theonians are at defending cities. I can't believe you still harbor such illusions, or think Carthage would dare ship grain to Mazara! Don't you realize the Daunian Navy is much stronger?! Not only did they completely defeat the Carthaginian fleet, but I heard they also seized Corsica and Sardinia Island from Carthaginian rule. They even landed in Africa and torched several of Carthage's allied states—"

"Where did you hear all this?!" Tinum demanded, his expression shifting sharply.

Mago kept strict control over the army. Aside from himself, Bomilcar, and a few other high-ranking generals, battle reports were strictly forbidden from circulating. Furthermore, with the entire army confined to the Island of Sicily, receiving news from the outside world was difficult. Foreign cavalry units like Tinum's were even less likely to have their own sources of information, leaving them entirely in the dark about the overall development of the war.

Ginomus took a breath, his expression turning secretive. He whispered, "I joined this war, but I did not fight under Mago. I followed Monteadno. You might have heard how he led an army to attack Minoa and suffered a crushing defeat. That was when the Theonians took me prisoner..."

Tinum's eyes widened. "You surrendered to the Theonians?!"

Ginomus made a shushing gesture and whispered, "No, the King of Daonia did not want our surrender; he wants to be an ally to us Numidian slaves! He wants to help us shake off Carthaginian oppression, restore our independence, and take back our lands..."

Ginomus grew increasingly excited as he spoke, but Tinum abruptly cut him off. "What does any of this have to do with me?" he asked coldly.

Ginomus sighed softly, speaking with genuine emotion. "It is exactly because we have always had a good relationship that, after slipping in among the routed soldiers, I did not go to persuade my eastern kinsmen first. Instead, I came straight to you. I hope you can clearly see the situation and make a choice that benefits your own tribe!"

Ginomus was actually lying. The real reason he chose to seek out Tinum was because the East Numidians assisting Carthage in combat primarily served as infantry. They were drafted in set numbers from various tribes, and their officers could only be Phoenician or Carthaginians. Furthermore, after the Selinus defenders succeeded in their night raid, Mago assigned elite, loyal soldiers from the Iberian army to serve as their officers. Therefore, attempting to incite a large-scale mutiny among the East Numidian soldiers to abandon the Carthaginian army would carry massive risks, and the success rate would not be very high.

On the other hand, because the lands of Western Numidia were not controlled by the Carthaginians, their relationship with Carthage was more like the dependency between small tribes and a large tribe. Carthage hired them to fight, primarily employing them as cavalry, and did not dispatch outsiders to serve as their officers. They were all commanded by their own tribal chieftains and only needed to follow a commander's orders during combat. Supervision over them was very lax, which created the perfect conditions for Ginomus to slip in among them and persuade them to defect.

Tinum fell into deep thought. Although he was not sure if the dire situation Ginomus described was true, he was no fool. Recently, he had more or less noticed some signs: the Theonians capturing Lilybaeum was a fact he had seen with his own eyes; he had not witnessed the fall of Palermos, but the Numidian Cavalry serving under Hasdrubal had communicated with him, telling him that 4,000 fierce indigenous Iberians had been completely wiped out. Furthermore, if the Carthaginian navy was not at a disadvantage, how could the Theonians land so freely on the western coast, forcing Mago to dispatch them on daily coastal patrols? Moreover, during those patrols over the past few days, he truly had not seen a single grain transport convoy traveling from Mazara to the Carthaginian Camp... Had the situation really reached such a disastrous point?!

As Tinum continued to ponder, his heart sank further and further.

A dead silence filled the tent. The faint light of the oil lamp flickered across his face, which was gradually clouding over with gloom.

After a long silence, Tinum looked at Ginomus and hesitantly asked, "What benefits... can the Theonians give me?"

Overjoyed, Ginomus quickly replied, "Whatever Carthage can give your Western Numidian Tribes, the Theonians can give as well, and it will only be better. For instance, the Theonians will sell you the high-quality ironware and armor that Carthage strictly forbids you from buying. Furthermore, as long as you can successfully lead the majority of the Numidian Cavalry to defect to Daionia, the King of Daonia has also promised: 'In the future, when the Massylii Tribe comes into conflict with other Western Numidian Tribes, Daionia will stand by your side!'"

Tinum's heart jolted at those words. The Massylii Tribe was a large tribe, stronger than most of the other Western Numidian Tribes. For several generations, their chieftains had held a single dream: to unify the scattered Western Numidian Tribes into a Western Numidian Alliance led by the Massylii Tribe. They thought this way, and they acted on it. But obviously, the Carthaginians would not allow their ambition to be realized. Not only did they support his rivals, but they also repeatedly suppressed the Massylii Tribe, frequently weakening its strength and causing it to lose several grazing pastures. In truth, Tinum had secretly harbored dissatisfaction with Carthage for a long time.

This was exactly why Ginomus had chosen to persuade the Massylii Tribe first.

Even though Tinum was somewhat tempted, he did his best to maintain his composure. "Ginomus, these promises from Daionia sound very nice, but they will be difficult to fulfill. Daionia's center is on that large island to the north"—referring to Italy—"while the lands of Africa where we live are dictated by the Carthaginians."

"Tinum, you do not understand just how great the King of Daonia is. In only a little over a decade, he has turned the newly established Kingdom of Daunia into a powerful force that even the Carthaginians fear. He has already promised me that once Mago's army is wiped out, he will have the Daionian Army land in Africa to help us East Numidians. When that time comes, it will be a question whether Carthage will even continue to exist. If they think they can still meddle in the affairs of us Numidian slaves, they are dreaming!"

Tinum remained somewhat unconvinced. Naturally, he did not hold the same great expectations for Daionia as Ginomus did. After all, Carthage's hegemony in Africa had lasted for a century. Even if they suffered defeat in this war, he did not believe things would change so quickly. However, the promises made by the Theonians truly tempted him. He deliberated for a long while and decided not to agree for the time being, but he did not reject Ginomus's request either. Instead, he would carefully observe the development of the situation before making a decision.

To that end, he forcibly kept Ginomus in his own camp to prevent him from coming into contact with others.

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

The next day, the Carthaginian army launched another attack on Selinunte.

This time, Amyntas did not station too many soldiers on the wall. Instead, he used the city wall to resist for a period of time. After repelling one attack by the Carthaginians, he took advantage of the brief gap before the next wave of attacks arrived and decisively issued the order to retreat.

The Carthaginian army captured the city wall relatively smoothly, and their morale was boosted. They then blindly attacked deeper into the city, attempting to take the whole city in one vigorous push.

Very soon, they suffered the bitter consequences of the various traps the Daionian soldiers had planted inside the city. Ultimately, they were blocked in front of a wide trench, and behind the trench stood yet another towering city wall.

Countless Daionian soldiers suddenly appeared atop the seemingly empty wall, launching a fierce attack on the enemies below.

The Carthaginian soldiers had become disorganized during their rapid advance into the city and lacked commanding generals. Clustered tightly in front of the trench and having brought no siege weapons whatsoever, they were suddenly struck by a fierce rain of arrows and javelins, instantly plunging them into chaos.

Amyntas decisively ordered a counterattack. The heavy legionaries, who had been lying in ambush for a long time, charged out from several reserved passages.

The Carthaginian army below the wall completely collapsed, scrambling to flee backward for their lives.

After the Daionian soldiers pursued them for a short while, they immediately withdrew back behind the second wall at the reminders of their officers, leaving the arriving Carthaginian reinforcements to catch nothing but empty air.

In the rear, upon hearing that there was another wall behind the first, Mago immediately recalled their experience at Palagonia. Panicking, he ordered all forces inside the city to pull back at once and dispatched scouts into the district between the two walls to carefully investigate whether a large amount of combustible material was hidden there.