Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1021: Decisive Battle of Selinus (1)

Just as Okriton had feared, the relatively harmonious atmosphere of their last meeting was gone. During this encounter, Mago not only rejected the demand to "halt the attack," but he also loudly rebuked him: in this time of national crisis, rather than uniting to defeat a powerful enemy, the Hanno faction was trying to provoke internal strife and sell out the interests of the city-state—this was nothing short of treason!

After a bout of arguing, Okriton stormed off in a rage.

Mago had vented his anger, but his mood was far from pleasant. The Numidian slaves, originally the main force in the siege, had suffered massive casualties recently. Compounded by the suspicion and interrogations directed at them by the generals and officers over the past few days, they were now essentially going through the motions without exerting any real effort, no matter how much the commanders threatened or bribed them.

Time was crucial to Mago. Anxious and impatient, he cast his reservations aside and decided to make his trusted Iberian army the main siege force.

Although the Daionian Army had been stepping up the construction of defenses inside Selinunte during this period, time was short, and these makeshift structures still couldn't compare to the fully stone outer walls. After two days of fierce fighting, good news arrived from the front line at noon on the third day: "Reporting to Lord Mago! General Hasdrubal has led his troops to capture the western inner city walls!"

In truth, he didn't need the messenger's report. Standing atop the outer walls and keeping a close eye on the battle, Mago could clearly see the Iberian soldiers straight ahead continuously scaling the ramparts. Thrilled, he immediately issued an order: "Tell Hasdrubal not to stop at the walls! Keep pushing forward! Capture the port as quickly as possible and take the entire city!"

"Also remind General Hasdrubal to be careful of the Theonians' counterattacks!" Bomilcar interjected from the side.

Mago glanced at him, then waved his hand at the messenger. "Just as he said! Relay that to Hasdrubal. Go quickly!"

"Lord Mago, after capturing Selinus... you won't launch any new offensives, will you?" Bomilcar asked softly, his tone fraught with worry.

Bomilcar sighed, his face etched with concern. "Our grain reserves will last for less than ten days. If Carthage stops shipping us rations, then we will be..."

Mago, however, spoke with unruffled composure. "Our navy has already been utterly defeated. I heard that Daionia's Warships are even prowling the waters around Carthage every single day. It's already impossible for Carthage to transport rations here, so what use are the Senate's threats?

"Besides, even if the Daonian Fleet truly lifts its blockade during the negotiations, would the Senate actually dare to cut off our food supply? You must realize that this army doesn't just consist of Numidian slaves and indigenous Iberians; there are also citizens from Carthage and the Phoenician Allied States. If they starve to death, aren't they afraid of inciting the wrath of the Carthaginian people!"

With military power in his hands, Mago was acting like a rogue, and the Senate truly had no way to deal with him for the time being. Bomilcar was speechless. He sighed and said, "Lord Mago, acting like this will enrage many Senators. Once we return to Carthage, I fear you will be subjected to a Senate interrogation..."

"I'm not afraid of their interrogations!" A layer of anger surfaced on Mago's face as he spoke in a low voice. "What I am worried about is that certain people want to pin the blame for 'forcing Carthage into peace talks' onto my head, tarnishing the honor of the great Magonid family! I will never allow such a thing to happen!

"Think about it. Ever since we landed in Sicily, we have captured Minoa, Agrigento, Ecnomus, and Gela. We won the Battle of Gela, invaded Daionia's territory in Sicily, and even intimidated the main army led by the King of Daonia into refusing to face us in a pitched battle! Conversely, Monteadno's army suffered a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Minoa, and the navy commanded by Annobas has been repeatedly beaten. And who recommended them?!

"Now, we have conquered the heavily guarded Selinunte. If the Senate insists on pinning the blame on you and me, the public will understand that the true sinners are certainly not us, who have consistently won victories for Carthage, but rather certain incompetent and shameless Senators!"

At this point, Mago took a breath. Looking at the soldiers cheering their victory on the walls ahead, he hesitated for a moment before adding, "Since Okriton said that the Theonians are very willing to engage in peace talks, capturing Selinus will only strengthen their desire to negotiate. It will also give Okriton more leverage at the bargaining table, allowing us to pay a smaller price..."

There was one immense fear in Mago's heart that he left unspoken: if the Theonians halted the negotiations and continued fighting, his army would collapse from a lack of food.

But right now, trapped in a dual predicament of politics and military affairs, he didn't have many paths to choose from to defend his honor and that of his family.

Bomilcar had clearly thought of this as well, so he wasn't entirely moved by Mago's words. He sighed softly, "Let us hope things develop just as you say..."

The two of them soon fell into silence. Each resting their hands on the battlements, they gazed mutely ahead.

An unknown amount of time passed before a messenger came sprinting over. "Reporting to Lord Mago! The Theonians have built sturdy walls in front of the port, dug trenches, and set up abatis. Furthermore, the number of enemies on the ramparts has increased, and our offensive has stalled. General Hasdrubal requests your instructions."

Mago's heart tightened. He immediately asked, "What is Hasdrubal's own opinion?"

"The general believes that the soldiers are already exhausted from fighting up to this point. Moreover, since we are unfamiliar with the enemy's defensive setup, he hopes to withdraw the troops to rest and reorganize, and then attack tomorrow once we are fully prepared."

"Those damn Theonians! Just how many walls did they build?!" Mago, desperately hoping for a swift victory, cursed, entirely losing his composure.

"This should be the Theonians' final line of defense in Selinus," Bomilcar comforted him.

'Time... time...' Mago muttered in his heart. He had intended to end this battle as quickly as possible, then halt the war against Daionia and let the peace talks proceed, thereby winning a sliver of hope for his army. Unfortunately, things were not progressing as smoothly as he had envisioned.

"Have Hasdrubal temporarily withdraw the troops..." Mago said resentfully, slamming a palm against the battlement.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed what seemed to be black smoke rising in the distance to his rear right. He immediately spun around. To the northwest of the Carthaginian Camp outside Selinunte, not only were flames flickering and black smoke billowing, but upon listening closely, the sounds of slaughter could be heard drifting over.

"What happened over there?!" Bomilcar's alarmed cry rang out beside him. "Hurry and send someone to investigate!"

At this moment, the intuition forged over ten years on the Iberian battlefields told Mago that the situation was dire. He decisively issued orders to his Adjutant: "Immediately send someone to notify Sticamo"—the commander of ten thousand Carthaginian Citizen Soldiers, who was responsible for guarding the camp—"that there is a mutiny in the northwest camp. Tell him to lead his troops there to quell the rebellion! ...Then send another man to inform Gisco"—who was currently on standby inside Selinunte, leading over six thousand soldiers from the Phoenician Allied States as a reserve force for the siege—"to immediately lead his troops back to camp and assist Sticamo!"

"Yes, my lord!" The Adjutant immediately went to arrange the messengers.

"Could it be a rebellion by the Numidian Cavalry?" Bomilcar said worriedly, pointing at the rising smoke. Because the Carthaginian army had previously built walls on the north and south sides of the camp in order to conquer Selinunte, these structures now blocked Mago and Bomilcar's line of sight, preventing them from seeing clearly into the camp. However, that direction was primarily where the Numidian Cavalry was stationed, which led to Bomilcar's speculation.

"...It's hard to say," Mago pondered, not daring to make a rash judgment. After all, it wasn't just the Numidian Cavalry stationed in that sector; there was also the Lusitanian cavalry and a small number of Numidian Infantry. Moreover, because the Daionian Army had succeeded in their successive surprise attacks on Palermos and Lilybaeum, a shadow of doubt remained in Mago's heart. At this moment, a far more terrifying thought suddenly sprang to his mind: 'Could the Daionian Army have sneaked in and assaulted the camp?!'

He couldn't help but shudder several times, and once again he shouted to his Adjutant, "Hurry and inform Hasdrubal! Tell him to leave ten thousand men to defend the newly captured inner city, and lead the rest of his troops back to camp immediately!"

Just as Mago finished issuing the order, he saw several scout riders galloping from the camp to the base of the wall, yelling loudly, "Lord Mago! Lord Mago!!"

"What is it?!" Mago hurriedly leaned over the battlement.

"Lord Mago, the Numidian Cavalry that went out on patrol this morning suddenly attacked the guards stationed at the western gate upon their return and seized it! A mutiny broke out in their camp at the same time. Those Numidian Cavalry have gathered together and are not only burning their own encampment but have also launched an attack on the nearby Carthaginian cavalry camp... Upon receiving the news, General Sticamo mustered his troops to go suppress the rebellion. But before he could even reach the western camp, he received word that the eastern Numidian camp has also grown unstable. Some Numidian soldiers are attacking their officers and conspiring to mutiny. General Sticamo believes he lacks the manpower to quell the unrest across the entire camp in a timely manner and requests that you send reinforcements."

"The Theonians must be behind this! We failed to root out all the spies in the Numidian Army! And those rebelling Numidian Cavalry must have been incited by the Theonians as well!" Bomilcar said, finally waking up to the reality, his expression tinged with regret.

During the previous purge across the Carthaginian army, they had already ferreted out several Numidian spies who had been released and sent back by the Theonians. If Mago hadn't been in such a rush to attack Selinus, Bomilcar believed that just a few more days of reorganization would have fully guaranteed the stability of the Numidian Army. However, both of them had been negligent when it came to the Numidian Cavalry. The previous purges and interrogations directed at them had not been strict. Because while rumors ran rampant through the rest of the Numidian Army, the Numidian Cavalry camp had remained quite peaceful. In addition, since the East and West Numidians were relatively independent and had little interaction with one another, both Mago and Bomilcar had fallen under the illusion that the Numidian Cavalry was trustworthy.

Upon hearing the plea for help from the cavalrymen below the wall, Mago actually breathed a sigh of relief first: the commotion in the camp wasn't caused by a surprise attack from the Daionian Army!