Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 933: Hanno's Counterattack
Previously on Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece...
Pretasdrubal remained silent for a moment. As a Senator and a newly re-elected Suffet, he could hardly spout blatant lies and make a fool of himself before the assembly.
Before he could formulate a response, Elacra continued loudly, "Just as Lord Adrusbal said, nearly a third of our treasury's income comes from Sardinia and Corsica. We are in the middle of a war, and funds are desperately needed everywhere. As a Suffet of Carthage, Lord Pretasdrubal, you must take a broader view of this massive conflict. Your first priority should be securing our revenue so we can build more warships, purchase grain, and sustain the war effort—not merely satisfying Lord Mago's demands!"
Elacra's words were blunt enough to make Pretasdrubal's expression change.
At that moment, Sifacba, a newly promoted Senator of the Magonid faction, interjected indignantly. "Can you not see it? The key to this war lies in Sicily! It lies in the east, where Lord Mago is leading our forces in a fierce battle against the Theonians! The cost of this war is indeed enormous, which is exactly why we must concentrate our power and fully support the army in Sicily. Only by allowing Lord Mago to completely defeat the Theonians as quickly as possible can we free our hands to reinforce the other battlefields.
"Otherwise, even if we hold Sardinia, the army in Sicily will face defeat once their grain supply lines are cut. That would shift the tide of a war where we currently hold the advantage, dragging out the fighting in Sicily. That would be the true disaster!"
Sifacba's rhetoric was even more extreme than Elacra's, immediately inciting resentment across the hall. A Senator from the Neutral Faction mocked him, "Lord Mago has led an army of a hundred thousand for half a month and still cannot take a small Daionian village. If he were to attack Katane or Naxos City—both with much larger populations and stronger defenses—wouldn't it take him months, or even half a year? With such dismal offensive capabilities, you still expect to end the war in Sicily early?!"
"Exactly. The very reason we must secure Sardinia first is because the war in Sicily will inevitably drag on. We need to guarantee the silver and gold to supply the army in Sicily!" another Senator chimed in, half-serious and half-joking.
"Could it be that Lord Mago is worried he cannot drive the Theonians out of Sicily within a year? I suspect you are all just trying to help him fulfill the promise he made to the Senate as quickly as possible, blatantly ignoring the broader situation to prop him up," yet another Senator muttered in dissatisfaction.
Sifacba angrily shouted back at them, but Pretasdrubal noticed that more and more Senators were voicing their displeasure. It was not just the members of the Hanno faction, but also many from the Neutral Faction. The entire hall was descending into chaos.
Only then did Pretasdrubal realize his mistake. Sardinia and Corsica had been Carthaginian territories for a century, and the various nobles of Carthage had deep vested interests there. For instance, Elacra, who had just fiercely advocated for reinforcing Sardinia, had a family that owned a silver mine in the mountains outside the City of Tharros. Just three days ago, a cargo ship transporting their silver from Sardinia back to Carthage had been captured by a Daonian Warship...By constantly insisting on prioritizing the war in Sicily, he had inadvertently pushed the Magonid faction into direct opposition with the rest of the Senate. This caused the Neutral Faction, who had generally supported them since the war began, to almost universally voice their dissent. Even within their own ranks, rifts seemed to be forming; Santipur and several other Senators of the Magonid faction had remained completely silent since the debate began.
Pretasdrubal suddenly realized that Okriton raising this issue at the very start of today's meeting had likely been premeditated! Recently, the Magonid faction's prestige had surged among the citizens of Carthage, and they enjoyed massive support in the Senate. With many of their proposals easily approved and everything going so smoothly, even he had become somewhat arrogant, completely forgetting how terrifying that man could be.
Just as Pretasdrubal came to this realization and anxiously tried to find a way out of the predicament, Hanno—who had been sitting quietly at the front of the hall, keeping a low profile all this time—finally stood up.
The entire hall quickly quieted down.
"Should the new fleet first reinforce Sardinia or Sicily?" Hanno looked around the hall and spoke slowly. "Whether considering the short-term effects or the long-term interests of Carthage, reinforcing Sardinia must be our primary choice. The difficulties Sardinia faces stem entirely from the Theonians controlling the surrounding waters, forcing us into a passive defense. If we simply dispatch our navy to drive back the Daonian Warships, order will be restored in Sardinia, and the trade routes to Carthage will reopen.
"However, the main issue with the war in Sicily is not merely the loss of naval superiority. The core problem is that our army's land offensive has been stalled for a long time. Even if we send the fleet, the sailors cannot go ashore to fight, and the situation will not be immediately resolved. Do you agree?"
"Exactly! Lord Hanno is absolutely right!"
"Lord Hanno sees it clearly!"
"There is no need to argue further. We support sending the new fleet to Sardinia!"
...
The hall instantly erupted into a clamor.
Growing frantic, Pretasdrubal shouted, "Lord Hanno, you are mistaken! The key to our war with Daionia still lies in Sicily. Once we achieve victory in Sicily, all other problems will easily be solved. Therefore, reinforcing Sicily—"
"Pretasdrubal!" Hanno bellowed. It was like a slumbering lion of the savanna suddenly baring its fangs, and the entire hall fell dead silent. Staring straight at the head of the Magonid family in the Senate, he said sternly, "To ensure Carthage wins this war, I have done my utmost to cooperate with you recently. But your performance has left me deeply disappointed. For the sake of the Magonid family's interests, you do not hesitate to neglect the interests of all of Carthage. This debate over sending the new fleet to Sicily makes that perfectly clear.
"Mago's recent so-called reorganization of the Carthaginian army reflects this as well. Why is such a massive army unable to take a single Daionian village for so long? Is it not because Mago dismissed all the Carthaginian generals in the army and replaced them with the numidian slaves who followed him from Iberia? Can these numidian slaves be loyal to Carthage?! Can they order their own people to disregard their lives and fight to the death against the Theonians?!
"Mago led the army from a smooth initial offensive into a complete stalemate. Was his arbitrary dismissal of the Carthaginian generals not the primary cause of this?! What truly bewilders me is why, right at the start of the war, Lord Mago was in such a rush to dismiss the commanders loyal to Carthage. Why did he insist on replacing them with numidian slaves who have always followed him but have no attachment to Carthage, placing them in command of an army also composed of numidian slaves?!"
Under Hanno's relentless questioning, Pretasdrubal found himself momentarily speechless, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Sifacba hastily fired back, "That was because the Carthaginian generals were ineffective in battle. Only by replacing them could the army's combat effectiveness be improved! That is why our army was later able to smoothly conquer those greek city-states on the Southern Coast."
As soon as these words were spoken, an uproar swept through the hall.
The Senators rose to their feet one after another in rebuttal. "If removing the Carthaginian generals improved our combat effectiveness, why can an army of a hundred thousand not capture a single small Daionian village?! You call that improving combat effectiveness?!"
"I propose that the Carthaginian army, built at the cost of a massive portion of the treasury's revenue, must be led exclusively by Carthaginian citizens. Otherwise, how can the safety of our state be guaranteed?!"
"Lord Mago now commands an army composed mostly of foreigners and led by foreign officers. Can this even still be considered the Carthaginian army?! The original Carthaginian generals who were dismissed must be reinstated, or else we will no longer provide any support to this army!"
...
Faced with the furious crowd of Senators, Pretasdrubal's expression turned completely pale.
Watching the scene, Hanno intentionally glanced at the solemn-faced leader of the Neutral Faction, Adrusbal, while sneering inwardly. He had laid low for so long exactly for this day. Mago had made a grave mistake by replacing the Carthaginian generals earlier, as most of them were Carthaginian nobles, yet Hanno had not allowed his allied Senators to impeach Mago at the time. He had waited until today. The now-arrogant Magonid faction had indeed made another misstep regarding the deployment of the new fleet, and only then did he strike decisively, forcing the Neutral Faction's Senators to see the true face of the Magonid faction. As their support waned, control over the Senate would inevitably return to his hands.
With these thoughts in mind, Hanno raised his voice again. "My lords, please hear me out."
The clamoring hall quickly fell silent once more, a shift that struck fear into Pretasdrubal's heart.
"As our discussion has reached this point, the conclusion is already quite clear," Hanno said. "Sending the new fleet to reinforce Sardinia first and finding an opportunity to recapture Alalia is not merely to secure our treasury's revenue and ensure we have the capacity to continue fighting Daionia. It is also our duty as the leader of all Phoenician City-States in the western Mediterranean. Right now, it is not just the Phoenician populace watching this war. Do not forget that the people from our mother city are also in the City of Hadrumetum inquiring for news (referring to the remnant fleet dispatched from Eastern Phoenicia). If we fail to act, our prestige will be utterly destroyed. How could we ever command the other Phoenician Allied States again?!"
Hanno's careful political considerations made many Senators nod in agreement.