But before Ocreton finished speaking, Martius said again: "Your Majesty, I have a few more letters here, which were sent with the war report."

"Why didn't you say it earlier? Come and show it to me!" Davers criticized pretending to be angry, pretending to read the letters, and then said to Ocreton who was looking around: "This is a letter from the city-states such as Taunis, Leotini, Sikuli, etc. to demand an alliance."

Ocreton took the letters with his hands trembling, and after reading the first and second letters, he was no longer in the mood to read them. Of course, he could see that these letters were all true, and they could be expressed by just a little bit: from the signature at the end of the text, many names were written everywhere, and even handprints and graffiti.

He could imagine that among the leaders of a city-state riot, there were both upper-class citizens, whose handwriting was very elegant; there were also ordinary civilians, who were not very literate, and they could write crookedly; there might be free people or slaves, and they could of course be able to doodle easily. These mobs had just driven away Dionysius's power and wrote in such a hurry, probably not only wanted to get the protection of Diony's force, but also wanted to get the support of Diony's support in the subsequent city-state elections and win more benefits for the groups they represented.

If Ocreton, who was upset, took the time to read these letters, he would find that there were no letters from Katanai.

In fact, there was, but Davers did not take it out. Katanai's letter was written by Antrapolis, in which he rewrites: The people and free people of Katanai, and even a small number of slaves, agreed to incorporate Katanai into the Dionian League after his repeated exchanges and persuasion...

This is why Davers did not bring out the letter. In addition, there was a letter from a city-state that also asked to join the league, that is, Naxos. Yes, after regaining their homes, the former exiles decided to rebuild Naxos and dedicate it to Dionia.

Both cities of Catanai and Naxos were once destroyed by Dionysius, so the people here knew more deeply than the people of other Sicily city-states that peace and tranquility were far more important than the seemingly freer but dangerous independence. Therefore, under the guidance of Antrapolis and his men, they would willingly choose to join Diony, a Greek city-confederacy alliance that could defeat the terrible and powerful Syracuse, so that they would no longer be displaced in the future.

Ocreton handed the letter back to Davers in a daze, and at the same time, he persuaded with insufficient confidence: "King Davers, even if Dionys defeated Syracuse and won the final victory, your primary task should be...it should be to restore the prosperity of Great Greece. The relationship between the various city-states of Sicily is complicated, and the conflict between the local indigenous Sikels and the Greeks. Dionys rashly intervenes in this island that is completely unfamiliar to you, and is easily involved in the quagmire of conflicts between various city-state forces, which will drag down the development of Dionys..."

"Thank you Lord Ocreton for your concern and reminder." Davers smiled and asked back: "In the army invading Greece of Syracuse, there were citizens from city-states such as Leotini, Taunis, Katanai, and Sikuli. What do you think if Dionia refuses these city-states to join the alliance?"

Ocreton was stunned. Before he could answer, Henipolis next to him interrupted: "They must suspect that Dionia is still hating their assistance to Syracuse invasion of Great Greece, and are worried that we will retaliate against them. They are out of panic and in order to resist the possible threats, they may reunite with Syracuse."

"Yes, it's an alliance with a brand new Syracuse, without Dionysius's tyrant, is like pouring wine from a pot into another empty can. In fact, the taste has not changed. The result is that Syracuse is still the leader of the Greek city-state of Sicily. Is this what Carthage wants to see?!" Davers asked again.

Ocreton had to admit in his heart that this situation was very likely to happen. He said in a daze: "You...you can tell these city-states that you have no intention of attacking them, and you can also sign a friendly agreement with them..."

Davers chuckled, leaned his body against the back of the chair, and said slowly: "Mr. Ocredon, has Carthage taken the initiative to sign a friendly treaty with the nearby small Phoenician city-state?"

Ocreton was stunned and then understood Davers' intention: the lion never cared about the feeling of cattle and sheep. The big country has its own majesty. The small country has always taken the initiative to please the big gang to ensure its safety. Deonia, who defeated Syracuse, has become a famous strong country, and of course she would not do such a foolish thing that would lose her value.

Ocreton felt a fever and heard Davers say: "In addition, Syracuse's strength is far greater than that of other city-states in Sicily, and also includes city-states affiliated to Carthage. No matter what political system Syracuse is and who will rule, as time goes by, it will naturally attract the surrounding city-states to move closer to it. By then, the Syracuse people will still be a threat to Greece and Carthage! So, Katanai, Leotini... these city-states demanded and

The alliance between Dionys can just allow the central area of ​​Sicily, which is closest to Great Greece, to escape from the sphere of influence of Syracuse, known as the security barrier of southern Greece. Once Syracuse wants to invade Great Greece, it must first conquer the area north of it, and the war will unfold there without causing any damage to Great Greece! Therefore, we Dionys will agree to their requests and form a solid alliance with them in any case!"

Listening to Davers' firm words, Ocreton suddenly realized a question: "Does Dionia have no intention of destroying Syracuse?"

"Destroy Syracuse?" Davers said as if he heard a joke, "How could even Carthage do something that cannot be done by the scarred Dionia now? We are just doing something within our ability to weaken Syracuse's power to ensure the security of Great Greece."

After hearing Davers's answer, Ocreton was both moved and regretful. He was a little uneasy about Dionia's insistence on accepting those Sicily city-states: This was the first time in hundreds of years that foreign forces had entered Sicily! The Athenian invasion during the Peloponnese War did not count, after all, it was too far apart, while Greece was different, with only a few miles apart...

"Sir Ocreton, do you know what kind of geometric shape is the most stable?" Davers asked suddenly.

Geometry - This knowledge developed to calculate the land area. It has been highly respected among Greek scholars who like to study natural sciences over the years. Some Athenian scholars once claimed that geometry is the foundation of all knowledge!

"What?" Ocreton, who came to his senses, did not expect Davers to ask an irrelevant question, and was stunned again.

"It's a triangle." Davers said bluntly: "Why did Carthage and Syracuse continue to fight in Sicily? Because you are the only two powerful forces in Sicily."

Davers stretched out two fingers: "As long as they touched each other, there would inevitably be a war due to conflicts of interest, and there would be no room for maneuver. But if Dionia is joined-" Davers raised another finger and supported it into a triangle: "The three parties will restrain each other, but will achieve a long peace! Because one party wants to start a war against the other, it has to take into account the threats of the third party to it."

Ocreton stared at his fingers and said hesitantly after a while: "It is also possible that the two forces unite to attack one."

Davers smiled: "This war has made Dionia and Syracuse an enemy, and it is impossible to unite to attack Carthage. Do you think it is right?"

Ocreton didn't say anything, but was thinking in his heart: Syracuse burned Crotone, slaughtered the Silitun, and destroyed the territory of Dionys, which really made the Greeks hate them! That's why Dionys sold part of the captured Syracuse citizens to us Carthage. If the people of Syracuse knew about this, they would definitely not spare Dionys...

"Will Carthage and Syracuse jointly attack Dionia?"

Ocreton shook his head: Decades of war have made the hatred between the two city-states too deep.

"Dionia wanted to unite with you Carthage to destroy Syracuse, but the situation is impossible to achieve. In a few decades, two forces may be able to unite, but the distribution of interests is always uneven, and a third party will find a flaw to break this union. Therefore, the peace in Sicily can be guaranteed for a longer time, and this guarantee is also in the interests of your Carthage. Are you right, Lord Ocreton?" Davers said in a gentle tone.

From the bottom of his heart, Ocreton felt that what Davers said made some sense, but such a major matter had exceeded his authority on the mission, so he remained silent.

But Davers obviously didn't plan to just forget it: "Henny, go get the map."

Henipolis placed the Sicily map on the wooden table, and Davers picked up his pen and said, "I think Palermos and Selinus are the spheres of influence of your Carthage."

As he said that, he stroked his pen and "cut" down a large western corner of Sicily, and then he said: "Syracuse goes south to north of Kamanlina and belongs to the sphere of influence of Syracuse."

He stretched out his pen and "cut" down a small southeast corner. Finally, he said: "Tauromenian, Naxos, Sikuli, Catanai, Leotini, Taunes attached to Dionia." As he said, he carefully attached to Sicily's east coast and drew a narrow strip.
Chapter completed!