Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 967: Changing Commanders

Although Mago's words were a bit extreme—after all, appointing Annobas as naval commander and dispatching the fleet to guard Sardinia was not solely the Hanno faction's decision—he was absolutely right about one thing. The connection between Sicily and Carthage could not be severed. If it was, their over 100,000 soldiers would lose their food supply, and they would truly be finished! Stationed with the army and primarily responsible for logistics, Bomilcar knew exactly how much food the troops consumed. The sheer difficulty of supplying rations had been the primary reason for their withdrawal from the east. The more he considered the situation, the more alarmed he grew. "Lord Mago," he said, "I will write a letter with you to urge the Senate. They must immediately reorganize our fleet and secure the maritime route between Sicily and Carthage at all costs!"

Mago's expression softened slightly, but he spoke with bitter resentment. "Even if the Senate listens to our advice, whether our fleet can actually pull it off is another matter. Our current rations will only last another 10 days or so. After those 10 days, all of our lives will rest in the hands of the navy. It truly galls me!"

Bomilcar felt a wave of bitterness as he listened. "Lord Mago," he reminded him loudly, "the best way to reverse this predicament is to defeat the main force of the Daionian Army and seize the initiative in the Sicilian war!"

"Easier said than done. You've seen it yourself. For three days now, I have arrayed our forces outside their camp, yet the Theonians opposite us have shown absolutely no intention of coming down the mountain to meet us in battle."

Mago felt both helpless and perplexed. "I have thoroughly studied the past battles of the King of Daonia. He is a decisive, bold man who dares to take risks and possesses immense self-confidence. In his earliest days as a mercenary leader, he dared to lead a much smaller force to attack the Lucanian army. When Dionysius invaded Magna Graecia, even though Dionysius held the clear advantage—especially in cavalry—he still boldly engaged the Syracusans in open battle..."

"Not long ago, a war broke out between Daionia and Rome. Even though Rome is so far from Daionia, he actually led a large army to take the offensive. Why would a man who so clearly favors the attack refuse to accept our challenge this time?!"

"Could it be that the Daionian Army simply isn't ready yet?" Bomilcar thought for a moment before continuing. "Or perhaps because the army in Kephaloidion is too close... making the King of Daonia hesitant?"

Mago's eyes lit up. He set down his waist sword and muttered thoughtfully, "Perhaps... we should have Hasdrubal withdraw all his forces into the territory of the Sikanoi. We can lure the Daionian Army in the east to march west and occupy an undefended Kephaloidion. Once the King of Daonia feels his northern flank is secure, he might feel comfortable enough to face us in a decisive battle."

"What if the Theonians continue to hold their ground and refuse to come out?" Bomilcar asked with concern.

"That is a good plan!" Bomilcar's eyes lit up, but he quickly issued a reminder. "However, I am afraid Agonis will not be willing to withdraw from Kephaloidion."

"That Sicel leader who defected to us on his own initiative?" Mago picked up the waist sword from the table and chopped it heavily into the wood. "It is not up to him. He will withdraw whether he wants to or not!"

...

Upon receiving Mago's orders, Hasdrubal ignored Agonis's pleas and issued the command: all soldiers and all Sicels were to withdraw to the west.

Even though their families were held captive by the Carthaginians, some Sicels refused to yield. They flatly refused to enter the territory of their old enemies, the Sikanoi.

In response, Hasdrubal ruthlessly suppressed the dissenters, thereby forcing the majority of the Sicels to obediently comply.

During their retreat, the Carthaginians completely destroyed the city of Kephaloidion.

However, Lizarus, having received his instructions from Davos, did not take the opportunity to lead his army west. Instead, he kept his forces stationed in Henna and continuously reinforced the city's defenses.

The main Daionian force stationed at the City of Minoa completely ignored the Carthaginians arraying their troops at the foot of the mountain day after day. They simply focused on rushing the construction of their camp.

After listening to Davos's instructions, the engineers drew up the camp's design: the entire Davos Camp would start from the coastal City of Minoa and extend northward along the ridge of the hills, approaching the narrow lowland to the north—the very place where Leotychides had previously used the routed soldiers of Agrigento to lure and ultimately crush the Carthaginian Sacred Band. From there, the camp angled northeast, tracing the rolling, relatively low hills until it finally anchored itself against the upper reaches of the Platani River. This formed a semi-circular defensive line that embraced the simple harbor to the east. With ample supplies transported by the Catana Fleet and sufficient water drawn from Lake Gurgo, the Daionian Army was fully prepared for a prolonged defense.

The situation in eastern Sicily was entirely different. There, Leotychides had already marched his troops toward Syracuse. After arriving at Leontini and merging with the allied armies, the combined force split into two. The main force, comprised of the Seventh and Eighth Legions, was led personally by Leotychides. They pushed south, crossed the mountains, and arrived near the Great Harbor west of Syracuse.

The other wing, consisting of over 8,000 soldiers from allied armies and friendly city-states, was placed under the command of Xanthiparis. They marched south along the coast, passed through Taunis, and pushed straight toward the eastern city of Syracuse.

The Syracusans had been closely watching the movements of the Theonians to their north. When they learned that yet another Daionian army had departed from Katane and reached Leontini, they realized with sharp alarm that this maneuver was likely aimed straight at Syracuse.

As the news spread, the populace within the Inner City of Syracuse was thrown into a panic.

By the time the news was fully confirmed, the Syracusan Council finally realized they had been played for fools. Over the past few days, the Democratic Faction and the Neutral Faction had been locked in endless squabbles over who was to blame for angering Daionia. They had squandered a massive amount of time, failing to make even basic defensive preparations.

Faced with an existential threat, Theagenes, Phalecus, and the others had no choice but to set aside their differences and focus all their efforts on countering the impending attack from the cunning Theonians. They launched an emergency military mobilization of the citizens within the city, while rapidly dispatching cavalry riders to notify the surrounding villages and towns. The rural populace was ordered to gather their belongings and hurry into the city for refuge immediately.

A day later, the sentries stationed on the East Wall were the first to spot the enemy forces winding their way down the coastline.

...

When the battle report detailing the new fleet's disastrous defeat reached Carthage, the senators were deeply shocked.

In the report, Annobas pushed the blame onto Admika. He made excuses, claiming that it was entirely due to Admika's sluggish movements that their pincer attack failed to materialize, allowing the Daonian Fleet to divide and conquer them instead.

Soon after, the senators received a joint formal complaint from Mago and Bomilcar.

Was the disaster caused by Annobas's poor command, or Admika's sluggish execution?

The senators debated the matter for a time. Even with Hanno defending him, Annobas was the naval commander. He had suffered defeat after consecutive defeat; he could not escape the blame.

Thus, the argument did not last long. The Senate soon passed a resolution: they would strip Annobas of his rank as naval commander and recall him to the city to stand trial.

Carthage was born from the sea and prospered by the sea. Even though they had begun to expand inland, the ocean remained their true foundation. Now, the repeated failures of the Carthaginian navy proved that the Daonian Fleet's victories were no mere accident. It was an undeniable fact that Carthage's naval power was at a severe disadvantage. This reality not only placed the 100,000 soldiers trapped on the Island of Sicily in grave danger, but it also threatened the very survival of Carthage itself.

For the first time, the senators set aside their selfish ambitions and actively, earnestly discussed solutions to resolve Carthage's maritime predicament.

First and foremost, they needed to select a new naval commander as quickly as possible.

Although Annobas had been impeached, no one could deny that he was an exceptionally capable naval general. Therefore, candidate after candidate proposed by the senators was struck down for lacking his level of talent. Finally, Adrusbal mentioned a specific name. It was a candidate whose sheer ability no one dared to question—their only concern was the man's physical health.

Morbal. A Carthaginian noble and former senator. In his youth, he had fought in the naval wars against the Greek city-states along the northern coast of Italy. Later, he served as naval commander several times, spearheading the campaigns against the joint Greek navy of Sicily led by Syracuse, where he won far more battles than he lost. He had even bravely commanded a fleet along the ancient sea routes, sailing west past the Pillars of Hercules and journeying south along the coastline until he reached the central western coast of Africa. He returned bearing exotic beasts and foreigners dressed in bizarre clothing with gleaming dark skin, a feat that made him a hero of Carthage. However, he eventually grew weary of Carthaginian politics. Combining that with his advancing age, he voluntarily resigned from the Senate and retired to live out his days in Utica.

After several senators who knew him personally confirmed that he was still in good health, the chamber reached a unanimous agreement. They dispatched envoys to Utica to seek an audience with the old man—who belonged to no political faction—and ask if he would be willing to serve once more as Carthage's naval commander.

Next, the Senate debated whether they should recall the new fleet currently defending the waters around Sardinia. After all, this fleet had originally been built to protect the Sardinian trade routes, but it had now been crippled and stripped of its tactical value. Keeping it in Sardinia was pointless and only exposed the remaining ships to the risk of total annihilation. Now that the massive Daionian Army had landed on the Island of Sicily, the pressure on the Carthaginian forces had reached a critical high, making their logistical supply issues painfully obvious. They had to secure the maritime supply route between Sicily and Carthage. It was the only way to ensure the 100,000 soldiers on the island could fight at full strength without worrying about starvation. This rapidly became the consensus among the Carthaginian senators. Therefore, they decided not only to recall the remnants of the new fleet and redeploy them toward Sicily, but also to integrate the newly launched Warships into their ranks, all while ordering the shipyards to drastically accelerate the construction of even more Warships.