Camillus said, "... Fortunately, the people in the city did not surrender. The elders led them to Capitolin and stood firm in our temple. Many people who fled Rome were sleeping in the wilderness not far ahead. They could endure difficulties and not surrender, but believed that you, the warriors of Rome and allies could drive away the enemy and take back Rome! But if you cannot unite, strictly enforce the discipline of the army, do not obey commands, act randomly, like a piece of sand, we will not be able to defeat the powerful enemy of Dionia! By then, Rome will not be able to retake it, and their relatives will become slaves and will never meet. You either die in battle or become homeless wild dogs, and become slaves captured by aliens at will. Are you willing that?!"

"I don't want to!!" The generals and the squadron leaders shouted first.

The soldiers were also shocked by the tragic prospects described by Camillus and shouted one after another.

When the shouts gradually formed a torrent of sound, Camillus knelt on the top of the city, holding his hands high, and shouting devoutly: "Jupiter, we will definitely defeat the Dionians just like we defeated the Celtics, and we will never let the aliens defile your temple, so please protect us!"

Not long after he finished shouting, he heard a loud "rumbling" sound from the cliff behind the city of Higniya. A huge rock rolled down along the hillside with gravel, and finally a "boom" hit the open space on the side of the city of Higniya.

The generals shouted excitedly: "It's a god! Jubit responded!!"

Then the soldiers also reacted and happily swept away the haze on their faces. They hurriedly lowered their heads and prayed to the god Jupiter.

Jubit's miracle shocked the Roman soldiers present, and they were also confused. At a loss, they quickly unified their understanding and began to shout the slogan "Repel the enemy and take back Rome". So Camillus led them to quickly march towards Prinister in the posture of a mourning soldier.

At dusk, after the army arrived in Prinist, the situation became a little chaotic: the generals were busy setting up camps and arranging soldiers to rest; the Roman people who were wandering here rushed over, and the soldiers rushed over, and both sides were eager to find their relatives in the crowd. Those who saw their relatives were very grateful and thanked Jubit for their blessing; those who did not see their relatives were secretly sad... But the poor situation of the exiled people made the soldiers more eager to retake Rome.

The dictator Camillus first met with the senior executives of Prinister and thanked them for their great help to Rome.

Then he quickly summoned Megius, Quintus, and Frius to learn more about the process of the Dionian army breaking the city.

…………………………………………

When Davers welcomed the arrival of the kingdom administrators, he also received the war reports and proposals about Sicily sent to him by the Senate and the Ministry of Military Affairs.

He never expected that the huge Sicilian fleet would be destroyed by a storm, which made Dionys' maritime advantage in Sicily less powerful, and also made the war between Dionys and Carthage possible to undergo some changes. For this reason, Davers first held an urgent military meeting.

Attend the meeting were Staff Tormid, Printols and the Third Fleet Commander Midolades.

Davers looked at the three of them with a serious expression, and then said, "You all read the battle report, what are your opinions?"

Thormid coughed and said, "Your Majesty, this storm has destroyed more than half of the warships in the kingdom, but it has also destroyed almost all the warships in Carthage. From the results, it is not too bad. We still have a maritime advantage. Moreover, the Ministry of Military Affairs proposed to transfer Brindisi's Fourth Fleet to Sicily. In addition, the Sicily Fleet originally left dozens of warships. In this way, the sea advantage we occupy in Sicily is greater than before. It will become more difficult for Carthage to transport reinforcements and supplies to Sicily, and our victory in Sicily will become more stable!"

Davers tapped the table with his finger and said in a pondering voice: "Will the fourth fleet on the east coast of Greece allow Sparta and the remnants of the former Puchetti and Mesapi who escaped from Greece's mainland feel that there is an opportunity?"

"According to information, after the riots in Thebes and escaped from Sparta's control, another war between China and Greece will surely break out. How many city-states will join this war and how long will it last? We cannot make an accurate judgment now, but Sparta obviously cannot escape from this war in a short time. They have no spare energy to fight the kingdom. As for the enemies who fled to Greece, their number is too small, and the political situation in the Apulia region is stable, so they cannot cause any major chaos." Thormid said confidently.

Davers nodded in contemplation.

Midolades interrupted: "Although Lord Tolmeed is right, transferring away from the Fourth Fleet will still bring hidden dangers to the Apulia region. What's more, Commander Alexis is now leading all Apulia troops to defend against the invasion of the Samones. If there is some chaos in the rear at this time, it will be more troublesome. Why not transfer some warships from our Third Fleet to Sicily?"

Davers looked at him and said seriously after a moment: "In this military plan to attack Rome and Latinum, your third fleet is very important. You must cooperate with the army to fight and must not be easily broken up! Although the third fleet is still only serving as an escort, it may play a greater role in the future! Midorades, don't be distracted! However, if you personally want to go to the Sicilian fleet, I can approve it at your discretion."

Davers's words made Midorard sweat in a cold sweat and hurriedly expressed: "Your Majesty, I will lead the Third Fleet to do my best to ensure the maritime security of the army. Please rest assured!"

Davers looked slightly clear and turned his head to Thormid and said, "Agree with the Ministry of Military Affairs, just transfer the Fourth Fleet to Sicily. However, we must remind Alexis to strengthen its defense against the east coast of the Apulia region to prevent other enemies from taking advantage of the straits."

Speaking of this, he said with a heavy expression: "In addition... inform Prosous to increase his search for Seclian and Flarios, to see people alive and corpses! Even if they are really dead in battle, they must not let the bodies of the two senior generals and heroes of the kingdom be thrown into the wild. Their destination can only be the Valhalla and the Temple of Death! As for the newly integrated Sicily Fleet commander candidates... First of all, Seclian. If he... is gone, then it is Flarios. If Flarios is not there, let Mirthias of the Fourth Fleet be served."

"Yes, your majesty." Thormid replied, recording it with a pen on the board he carried with him.

Davers sighed long: "What makes me sad most about this maritime disaster is not the warship, but the dead crew... How many people died in this naval battle?"

Thormid immediately replied: "Now preliminary statistics are preliminary, the number of crew members dead has exceeded 10,000."

After hearing this, Davers looked even heavier: "More than 10,000 people! They are all sailors who are familiar with the tactics of the Dionian Navy and have rich experience in naval combat. All the storms are gone, and tens of thousands of families have no relatives... The Ministry of Military Affairs will send people to Tarantum Military Port, Castron Military Port and Catania Military Port to condolence the relatives of these dead sailors, soothe their sadness, and discuss their post-war pensions now!"

"I understand, Your Majesty. I will write a letter to the Military Affairs Department immediately and then sign it with you." Thormid replied.

Davers remembered something and asked again: "What is the name of the navy general who led the warship in time to break into the port of Selinus and finally helped Prosous to seize the city?"

"Stefakas."

"Stefacas..." Davers muttered this name and said with praise: "Being able to protect the fleet at such a critical moment and obtain military achievements is a decisive and flexible general!"

When the few people here heard this, they immediately envied Stefakas: they could be named by Davers, and remember that their future will definitely be great!

Davers turned his eyes to Printols, who had not spoken yet, and asked, "What do you think of the war in Sicily?"

"Your Majesty." Printols reminded: "Although our navy now has an advantage in the Sicilian waters, Carthage has been a maritime power in the Western Mediterranean for a hundred years, and their shipbuilding capabilities are stronger than those of the kingdom. According to information, there are four large shipyards in the port of Carthage, and the dozens of Phoenician coastal city-states attached to it also have strong shipbuilding capabilities. Once they are allowed to build warships with all their strength, they may have a warship in a few months, which is no less than our fleet!"

"You are right!" Davers nodded and said seriously: "This is indeed a question we should pay attention to! We must also speed up the progress, vigorously build new warships, restore and strengthen our naval fleet, so as to cope with the continued maritime challenges in Carthage and completely gain maritime hegemony in the Western Mediterranean! I will immediately write to the Senate to organize and mobilize various coastal cities in Southern Italy and start building warships!

But don't worry too much. Perhaps Carthage has accumulated more shipbuilding technology than us in terms of the number of shipmakers, but it has two fatal shortcomings that doom it to be unable to defeat the navy of the kingdom!"

Davers's words attracted the attention of the three people. He stretched out two fingers and said slowly: "The first is wood. There are no tall trees on the land of Afilica. The source of shipbuilding wood they can obtain is the Iberian Peninsula, but its developed shipbuilding industry is concentrated in Carthage and the surrounding Phoenician city-states. This determines that they must first transport the wood from Iberia to Carthage before they can start shipbuilding. This is time-consuming and easy to be cut off and in trouble.
Chapter completed!