Published at 11th of March 2024 3:26 am

Chapter 887: Landfall: Sicily (II)

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More than ten years ago, the port of Lilybaeum would have had more Greek freemen with few Numidian slaves. Unfortunately, the occupation of eastern Sicily by the kingdom of Theonia had taken a large number of Greek freemen from them, and the Carthaginian conquest of Numidia had further altered the situation.

The labourers braved the drizzle and cold as they arrived at the port, shivering and shaking. In the early hours, no ships were coming despite the port open. Thus, the labourers seize the chance to squat under the storage's eaves on the shore to rest.

It wasn't long before they heard noisy footsteps as hundreds of Carthaginian soldiers poured into the port and began removing the idlers and intensifying their patrols of the docks.

The labourers watch in bewilderment as the port suddenly becomes heavily guarded.

“Look! The Lord of Lilybaeum is also here!” Someone shouted in surprise, making the atmosphere become even more tense.

At that moment, the official in charge of the port came running over and cursed as he panted, “Get up, lazy bastards! Immediately clean up all the obstacles and garbage at the port before Lord Mago arrives with his army. You must ensure the road must be unobstructed and clean! Also, remove those broken ships from the dock immediately! Quickly! Quickly! Anyone who slacks off will know how cruel I can be!…”

Accompanied by the roar of the official was the overseer whipping their whips with a loud snap, causing the frightened labourers to immediately dash to the dock under the leadership of their foremen.

Among them was a hunched middle-aged labourer whose initially dull and lifeless eyes lit up: ‘The Carthaginian army actually chose to cross the sea and land on Lilybaeum in such a climate? They are really bold! I wonder if Fulalios has sent scouting ships and was able to detect the enemy's action?!’

.............

About an hour later, the first transport ship carrying troops entered the port of Lilybaeum. The sailors on board had furled their sails and, blowing the horn, paddled to steer towards the nearest dock.

Then came the second and third ships… Not long after, transport ships covered the sea surface of the port.

Upon spotting a ship approaching the dock, the foreman swiftly led a dozen or so labourers to use iron hooks to secure the ship's side, pulling it tightly against the dock. Then, they fastened the ship's rope to a mooring post and laid a wooden board to allow the soldiers' disembarkation.

The labourers skilled in helping ships dock had encountered more difficulty due to the cold wind and drizzle. It was because the dock became slippery, requiring them to exert more force to pull the ship amid the turbulent waves. It was common for the labourers to slide on the dock and fall into the sea, and ships occasionally collided in the docks, so it wasn't uncommon for soldiers to end up in the water…

Although the Lord of Lilybaeum made some preparations for the army's landing, the chaos at the port was still inevitable and continued…

But no matter how chaotic the Port of Lilybaeum may be, shiploads of soldiers still disembark in the docks uninterruptedly and converge densely on the port's shore. Then, amidst the noise and clamour, they arrange themselves in columns and leave the port one after the other to enter Lilybaeum…

From the eye of the hunched, middle-aged labourer: The first to disembark were likely Carthaginian soldiers(They were, in fact, mostly Phoenicians); these rumoured pampered Carthaginians, however, appeared calm and composed. Throughout the entire time they disembarked, there was very little noise or confusion, and they closely followed the commands of their officers. Then came the dark-skinned, slender Numidian soldiers(who have some Mauritanians mixed among them), rumoured to be free-spirited nomads and could follow the instructions and disembark relatively quickly. Naturally, there were also undisciplined soldiers. These natives with naked upper bodies, embroidered with strange tattoos, and frightening appearances were said to be Celts from the Iberian Peninsula. Despite their constant vomiting due to the rough waves as they were unaccustomed to riding ships and all unsteady and pale when they landed, their tall and burly bodies still made the hunched, middle-aged man feel nervous. But what caught his attention the most was the murderous aura emitted by the soldiers, which only veterans of the battlefield could possess.

‘It seems dealing with the Carthaginian army wouldn't be easy this time!’ He looked at the constantly moving transport ship at the port while hiding his worries in his heart…

.............

In this landing, Mago arranged for his Iberian main force, which had been with him for many years, to land near the port of Lilybaeum. Meanwhile, the entire Carthaginian army of over eighty thousand strong had to land scatteringly throughout the whole coast of Mazara to Eryx, not only the ports of various towns but also the beaches where ships could dock because Mago wished to be able to get the soldiers, provisions, horses and so on to Sicily in as short time as possible to avoid the threat of getting found out by the Theonians and then get attacked by their fleet.

For this reason, not only did Carthage and Utica send out large numbers of ships, but other Phoenician city-states on the coast of Africa, such as Hadrumetum, Ruspini, Igilgili…also provided ships to help transport the soldiers.

Thus, from western Sicily to Africa, one could see a strange sight: Countless ships covered the sea as if they had spread out a massive pontoon bridge connecting the two places. Then, all along the western coast of Sicily, one can see exhausted soldiers converging on the beach, frightened horses running around neighing, from Mazara all the way to Eryx…

.............

In the residence of the city lord of Selinus, the adjutant Muklu gently pushed open the door of the study. Inside the room sat Leotychides, the commander of the kingdom of Theonia in charge of the war in Sicily. Sitting on a wooden chair like a puppet, he motionlessly gazed at the map of Sicily hanging on the wall with great focus.

Muklu had followed Leotychides for some time now and had become aware of some of his strange habits. Hence, he didn't speak and just stood quietly behind Leotychides.

He didn't know how much time had passed as he felt his eyelids closing. Suddenly, Muklu heard Leotychides ask, “Yesterday, the Iberian army, consisting of about twenty thousand men and staying in Palermo, suddenly marched southwards towards Lilybaeum. What do you think was the reason for this?”

“Uh…maybe it has something to do with Carthage's Iberian governor, Mago, assuming the position of the supreme commander and dissipating the conflict between the Iberian army and the Carthaginian army…” When suddenly asked about this, Muklu said the reason he thought of and found reasonable without thinking too deeply.

The still-seated Leotychides continued asking questions without turning his head, “Some time had already passed since Mago assumed the position of Carthage's supreme commander, so why did the Iberian army at Palermo only head towards Lilybaeum yesterday?”

Muklu could sense the hint of dissatisfaction in Leotychides' words, and this made him ponder for several moments before answering cautiously, “It might be because we've constantly been sending out our soldiers to harvest the half-ripe wheat fields outside of Mazara, Segesta, Lilybaeum and even Eryx during this time, so the Iberian army from the north coast might have come to bolster the Carthaginians' military presence here and to obstruct us from harvesting…”

Seeing Leotychides not responding after he finished his remark, Muklu thought for a moment and continued uncertainly, “It's also possible that…they are cooperating with the Carthaginians' military operations… ”

Half a moment later, Leotychides replied faintly, “The Carthaginian's military operation?… Apart from landing in Sicily, what else can they do?” Hearing that caused Muklu's heart to be shaken.

Suddenly, Leotychides stood up and looked at Muklu, saying deeply, “Go and notify the cavalry legion to send the best-mounted scouts to carefully probe Lilybaeum, Eryx…and other city-states of the enemy movement. Once they find any anomaly, immediately return to report!”

“Roger!” Muklu responded in a low voice because he knew: From the looks of it, the only weakness of the Theonian army compared to the Carthaginian army was the cavalry, and this order from the commander would result in the Fourth Cavalry Legion inevitably having to pay some casualties.

“…In addition, send five reserve brigades to follow these scouts and protect them from the Numidian cavalry.” Leotychides' following words relieved Muklu. After all, with five thousand heavy infantry from the reserve legion as backup, the safety of the Theonian scouts is guaranteed.

“Also, tell Miltiades to send more scouting ships to delve deeper into the western waters of Sicily, further west, to investigate the movements of the Carthaginian army across the sea.”

After Leotychides' words, Muklu said, feeling embarrassed, “Lord commander, I had come here to tell you that our fleet has still not sent a single ship to cruise the western wasters like yesterday. From the information I gathered, the navarch of the fleet in Sicily, Miltiades, had told his men that they couldn't go out to sea in such bad weather as they would likely encounter the same misfortune as before since they were unfamiliar with the sea conditions here. He had said that he was responsible for the lives of the crews of each of the ships, so he wouldn't allow them to die for nought without gaining a little bit of achievement. Furthermore, he said that the Carthaginians would also be frightened and wouldn't take any major action…”

Hearing Muklu's words, Leotychides' expression turned grim as he grunted, “This new navarch has less guts than Seclian and became frightened by the storm! Still, you must make a trip to the port and tell Miltiades yourself that this is my order, and he must send out scouting ships in the next two days to patrol the western waters of Sicily!”

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