As soon as Hilos sat down, Davers asked, "What do you think of today's Senate meeting?"

Hilos hesitated for a moment and did not directly answer this question, but said sincerely: "Your Majesty, I think that during his tenure as Minister of Military Affairs, Lord Antonios did a great job and the Ministry of Military Affairs was operating well. It is completely possible for me to temporarily serve him for a while and then continue to serve as Minister of Military Affairs after he recovers from illness. Now it is during the war. In order to ensure that the Ministry of Military Affairs does not cause turmoil, I suggest... it is better not to change the Minister of Military Affairs."

Davers looked at him, and Hilos looked honest.

After a moment, Daves waved his left hand and said in a deep voice: "Antonios took the initiative to dismiss his post. Even if I try to keep him, he will not stay in this position. Look at this-"

Davers turned the "Roll of Promoted Officers" on the table to the page of the Eighth Legion and handed it to him.

Hilos took it in confusion, and when he looked carefully, his face changed slightly. In the past two days, the arrest of Pafergris, the son of Raodisian, had gradually spread in the port of Turiyi (mainly the credit of the merchants of Naxos). Hilos also heard about it, and he couldn't help but complain: Antonios promoted this troublemaker at this time, isn't he giving someone a handle?

He pondered his words and said softly: "Your Majesty, I don't think Lord Antonios will make such a mistake and promote such a disqualified soldier..."

"At least he is dereliction of duty, and it also shows that there are many problems with the Ministry of Military Affairs. This is why I set up a military court and let local inspectors enter the army, because the entire army needs to be rectified! Therefore, you, the Minister of Military Affairs, have a great responsibility after taking office. Not only should you give the military court and inspector help, try to cooperate with their work, but you should also keep the Ministry of Military Affairs stable and make the officers and soldiers of the subordinate army teams feel at ease..." Davers said earnestly: "I believe you can grasp the balance between the two!"

Although Davers had high hopes, Hilos felt a great responsibility. He had not responded yet. Davers said: "You take this list back and check it carefully. How many unqualified team officials and soldiers have been promoted. I will find out all the illegal and malfeased officers in the Military Affairs Department and hand them over to the inspector and the military court for handling. The kingdom's army will never allow any borers! This time, we must deal with it seriously and sound the alarm for the entire army!"

Davers' deafening voice shocked Hilos. He cheered up and said forcefully: "Your Majesty, I will do my best!"

"Very good!" Davers nodded with satisfaction, then pulled out another letter and said in a deep voice: "There is another important thing that you must know as the Secretary of Military Affairs." As he said that, he handed the letter to Hilos.

After reading the letter, Hilos looked solemn: "Your Majesty, what is said in this letter is true?!"

"I'm sending people to investigate. Judging from the current situation, there are probably more than that..." Davers said as he walked to the big map on the wall, and pointed the location of the west of Mount Etna with his hands, and said with a serious expression: "After the Southern Italian War, we had the Catanian Plain, Naxos, Siculi, Tauromenion and Messina, and the assistance of the allied city-states such as Leotini and Taunis. Syracuse was suppressed in Sicily.

The southeast corner of the kingdom has an absolute advantage in the eastern part of Sicily. The Sikels fear our strength and took the initiative to form an alliance with us, becoming a member of the Dionian alliance. The reason why we treat every Sikel town and tribe equally always adopts the policy of helping the weak and weakening the strong when they ask for help is to avoid the dominance of the whole family and prevent them from reuniteing into the Sikel Kingdom, so as to assimilate them in the future and merge them...

However, from now on, there is a problem with the implementation of this policy. The Tanikan tribe of the Sikels is likely to have used the help of Sicily elders to quietly annex and expand! I do not have much detailed information about the current situation of this tribe yet. Although this tribe is far away from Kefaroydion, which is the town closest to the west of the Sikels, far from Katanai and Naxos, the hounds in Sicily (referring to the intelligence department of Alistilas) will not ignore it to this extent. From this, it can be seen that they consciously blocked the news, which cannot but arouse our vigilance!"

Davers' tone of speaking made Hilos feel something. He straightened his body and asked indefinitely: "Your Majesty, do you mean war?!"

Davers glanced at the map again, smashed his fist to Sicily, and said firmly: "As long as the crimes of Sicily elders such as Raodichian were confirmed, we have reason to launch a war against Tanichian, completely destroy its opportunity to rise, and at the same time shock other Sikel forces and strengthen their control over them! Therefore, during this period, the Military Affairs Department must prepare in advance, especially the Eighth Legion, which will be the main force in attacking Tanichian."

Out of his understanding of Davers, Hilos did not immediately object to his decision, but made his own suggestions: "Your Majesty, before declaring war on the Sikels, the Military Affairs Department can only make preparations quietly to avoid preparing for the Sikels after getting the news and causing trouble for our future offensive. And now we are engaged in a war against the Donis. If the war also starts in Sicily, the pressure on the logistics transportation of the army will be relatively high. It is best to start it after the end of the Donis War, which will also help the smooth passage of the war resolution in the Senate.

In addition, since war is to be launched, the army should be better able to maintain stability, and to investigate and deal with previous illegal team officials... I hope that it will not be too widened, and it will be better not to punish too much. After all, they are first offenders. I hope that your Majesty can give them a chance to correct themselves, which will not damage the soldiers' respect for you!"

Davers finished listening carefully and fell into deep thought.

Hilos sat quietly and waited.

Finally, Davers said slowly: "You are responsible for the affairs of the Ministry of Military Affairs. The specific inspection and punishment measures will be discussed and decided by you and the military judges and prosecutors, and then handed over to me for review and signing. As for when the war against Tanikan will be launched, I will depend on the situation."

Although Davers did not clearly agree with Hilos's opinion, Hilos knew that the king had actually made concessions, and he immediately said gratefully: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Davers looked at Hilos. Over the years, as his authority grew, he became more and more distant with his former mercenary friends... Fortunately, there are people like Hilos, Capps, Alexis, etc. who can constantly raise questions and make suggestions for his decisions. This is actually a good thing!

Thinking of this, his tone eased a little more: "Are there any suggestions?"

Seeing Davers' expression calm, Hilos said again: "The commander of the Eighth Legion is Leotizides. He has never had the experience of commanding the Legion. Your Majesty, you just said that the Eighth Legion will be the main force in attacking the Sikels. For the sake of safety, do you need to change a senior general with more legion command experience to take over as the commander of the Eighth Legion?"

Davers' mouth curled slightly and said, "Who else among the generals knows the terrain of Sicily better than Leotizides? Better to understand the customs and customs there? Can Sicily's citizens obey command?"

Davers asked Hilos: Leotizides had been in Sicily for six years! Of course, it was not comparable to other commanders who were unfamiliar with Sicily. According to the "Dionia Military Law", one of the important conditions that senior generals must have for commanding operations is to be familiar with the battlefield environment and understand the customs and customs around the battlefield. Of course, this does not mean that other commanders cannot fight in Sicily, but this will undoubtedly lengthen the time to end the war and increase the consumption of the war...

Hilos thought of Antonios, but once Raodichian and others were proven to be violated by their discipline, Antonios, who was a relative and deeply involved with the Sicilian senators, would inevitably be criticized by the senators. The Senate could not interfere with the commander responsible for attacking the Sikeles, but their accusations would inevitably arouse criticism from the people of the Kingdom, which was simply to put Antonios on the stove! Therefore, Hilos realized at this time that Davers made Antonios resign at home was actually a kind of protection for him.

Seeing that Hilos didn't speak, Davers continued: "Leotizides, many people say that he is taciturn, harsh and serious, and does not like to interact with him, but I think he spends all his time talking and chatting with others thinking about military and training soldiers. This is a natural warrior! I believe he will command this war well!"

Davers' affirmation made Hilos no longer object because he believed in Davers's knowledge of people, and many of his past successes were witnesses.

The two discussed for a while, and Hilos was about to say goodbye and leave, but was stopped by Davers: "It's already noon now. You haven't had lunch yet. I'm hungry. Speaking of which, we haven't sat together for a long time and had a relaxing drink and chatting! Don't leave now. I'll ask the chef to make some good dishes and let's have a few drinks!"

"Yes, your Majesty."

………………………………………

The mountainous road in western Turiyi, built ten years ago, is an important passage for Turiyi to connect the Lucania region and further north. Now it has become one of the busiest major roads in the Kingdom of Dionia. There are hundreds of pedestrians coming and going every day, and it is no longer the desolate scene that was rarely visited by people more than a decade ago.
Chapter completed!