Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 721: The Carthaginian armys military offensive on the south coast

Although Mazara, a Phoenician city long under Carthaginian rule, was only about fifteen kilometres from Lilybaeum, the Carthaginian army moved slowly. Not only because of the massive supplies but also because Muntebaal had taken some Carthaginian merchants and even prostitutes with him, leaving the ranks bloated and somewhat loose, which slowed the march.

The following day, the whole army continued to advance, this time reaching the town of Selinus, about twenty kilometres from Mazara, by dusk.

Founded by Greek colonists, Selinus was once known for its prosperous agricultural and fishing industries in Sicily. But during the Peloponnesian War, it clashed with Segesta, not far away to the northwest, which triggered the Athenian army's expedition into Sicily. Then, in the long battle between Carthage and Syracuse, Selinus and Segesta, two Greek colonial city-states in western Sicily, were surrounded and conquered by Phoenician city-states. As a result, most of their Greek inhabitants fled to eastern Sicily and were then replaced by mostly Phoenicians, which is why, at the time of the agreement between Theonia and Carthage, Davos agreed to place Selinus under the Carthaginian rule.

On the third day, the Carthaginian army arrived at another town, Thermae. Although the Carthaginian soldiers were exhausted, excitement filled their faces.

The town's name indicates that it has hot springs, and it was because of the hot springs on Mount San Calogero that the Selinuntines built a village here. Then, after the Carthaginians occupied the place and strengthened their friendship with Theonia, the Carthaginians, who were merchants by blood, were inspired by the great bath of Thurii, so they developed the area and built several baths similar to those of Thurii. Soon the village grew into a town.

After setting up a simple camp, the soldiers bathed in batches, with Muntebaal even calling for several women to wash with him.

The next day, the Carthaginian army, both generals and soldiers, continued to march eastwards with high spirits and brisk strides after bathing in the hot springs.

In the afternoon, the army reached the city of Heraclea-Minoa. Heraclea-Minoa is a Greek city-state situated on the promontory on the east bank of the mouth of the Halycus River, overlooking the fertile plains of the west bank and the port to the east. For more than a decade, this city-state had come and gone in close contact with Theonia and even, because of its name, had established close ties with the city of Heraclea, which was under the kingdom of Theonia's rule. So the people of Minoa didn't hesitate to reject the Carthaginians' offer of surrender.

Muntebaal had already anticipated this, so he ordered the army to camp on the west bank of the Halycus.

Over the next three days, the Carthaginians prepared to attack the city, even sending boats to the east coast to see if the Theonians had sent reinforcements to Heraclea-Minoa.

Having made up his mind, Muntebaal immediately launched a full-scale attack on Minoa the following day.

Unfortunately, he didn't know that the Sikeloi tribes of Enna, a city northwest of Minoa and in the centre of Sicily, had sent a thousand warriors to cross the mountains and wade down the river towards Minoa.

The next day, the Carthaginian army crossed the Halycus and arrived near Minoa, where they went into formation and surrounded the city. Then Muntebaal gave the signal to attack.

The city of Minoa was small, so it didn't have much of a population, and it only had less than four thousand young citizens who could fight in the city. Moreover, the city had no moat, and the promontory on which it stood was less than one hundred and fifty metres high and gently sloping. The Minoans, however, followed the instructions of the officer sent by Theonia and not only set up numerous traps but also cut down all the trees on the hill and even dug up the rocks that could be used for cover, using them to attack the enemy instead.

But because of the presence of the promontory, the Carthaginians' large-scale siege engines not only needed more manpower to advance towards the city but also slowed down considerably. And because the siege engines were too far away, it significantly reduced their accuracy and power. So the main attackers, the Numidian soldiers, could only carry siege ladders and rushed forward only to be caught by the traps.

The Minoans also pushed the round rocks down towards the dense Carthaginian army. As the rocks rolled down the promontory, they crushed many Numidian soldiers and even the siege engines, eventually leading to the collapse of the sieging troops…

After learning the battle situation from the command tent, Muntebaal calmly ordered the troops to reorganise and continue the attack.

Seeing the demoralised Numidians advance towards Minoa slowly, the anxious Milkpilles broke into the command tent to ask Muntebaal to send the Sacred Band he led to serve as the main force but was refused. Instead, Muntebaal earnestly persuaded him, “It is impossible to take such a fortified city in just a day or two, so we must be patient! Be patient! Remember, the lives of our Sacred Band, the Carthaginian soldiers and even the Phoenician soldiers of our allies are too precious to be consumed in a long and arduous siege. The Numidians, on the other hand, are numerous and cheap. If one group dies, we can get another, which will also contribute to the stability of the Numidian region…”

Milkpilles could only remain silent.

In the afternoon, the Carthaginian army attacked the city again, marking the beginning of a tragic siege.

As the battle intensified, a horn sounded at the rear of the battlefield to the north of Minoa. Suddenly, thousands of Sicilian warriors rushed down from the mountains to the north and attacked the Carthaginian army, which was engaged in a fierce battle.

Influenced by the information reported by the scout ship, the negligent Muntebaal neither sent scouts and mountain scouts to scout the enemy situation around the battlefield nor did he place a reserve force to guard the siege unit’s rear, especially to the north of Minoa.

Wearing only poor equipment and armed with spears and javelins, the Sikeloi warriors were swift, so they climbed down the mountains and ran towards the city in the blink of an eye. They then attacked the Numidian soldiers besieging the city, and with the Numidians’ already low morale, the Sikeloi warriors quickly routed them.

The rout of the Numidians in the north began affecting the troops in the other directions, causing the soldiers to shout in panic, “Enemy reinforcements have arrived! The enemy reinforcements have arrived!…” Then the soldiers rushed down to the foot of the promontory, even faster than the Sikeloi warriors who were chasing them. Then at the dumbfounded expression of the mountain people, they watch as thousands of Numidian soldiers flee like a flood across the Halycus, even pushing the Carthaginian soldiers, who had come to stop them, into the camp with them.

Milkpilles led his cavalry and infantry around the fleeing soldiers to stop the enemy reinforcements. As a result, he found the few poorly equipped enemies did not enter Minoa but had instead fled into the mountains quickly.

‘Carthage's army of tens of thousands of soldiers was beaten back by a race of Sikeloi who numbered only a thousand!’ Milkpilles felt extremely ashamed and angry.

Muntebaal, however, remained calm. To him, although the Sikeloi's attack had resulted in a rout, they only suffered meagre casualties(less than a thousand) in a siege of this magnitude. On the contrary, the Sikeloi's attack had revealed the Theonians' plan, so as long as they increased their vigilance, the Sikeloi would not be able to inflict further losses on them.

After hearing Muntebaal's reassurances, Milkpilles returned to his camp. But with a sense of grievance and because he vaguely felt that Muntebaal was incapable of commanding such a large army, he immediately wrote to his father-in-law Hanno to express his concern.

Two days later, a fast ship from Carthage brought Hanno's personal letter, in which Hanno warned Muntebaal to do his utmost with the war and produce a result as soon as possible, so they could let the Senate know that he had made the right decision in appointing him as the commander of the army!

At the same time, he warned Muntebaal not to be careless and must ensure the army doesn’t suffer more losses! Otherwise, even if the Senate doesn't impeach him, he'll have to face the people's wrath!

After reading the letter, Muntebaal began to feel the pressure. So he finally stopped lying drunk in the command tent, reorganised the army in person, and led the soldiers in attacking Minoa.

The Minoans had used the two-day break to rebuild the defences that the Carthaginians had damaged. As a result, it caused the Carthaginian army another set of troubles.

During the Carthaginian siege, the Sikeloi wandered around the edge of the battlefield, harassing the Carthaginians from time to time and, on one occasion, almost setting fire to the Carthaginian camp. Though Muntebaal's preparations were in place and the casualties weren't great, they were still a considerable hindrance to the Carthaginians. Since the cavalry and infantry of the Carthaginian army came from the plains and deserts of Africa, they had never encountered troops like the Sikeloi, who could walk on mountains as if they were flat ground.

After much thought, Muntebaal remembered the Sicani living in the western Sicily mountains allied to the Carthaginians. Thus he sent someone to order Sakarzidon of Lilybaeum to quickly organise a Sicani army and send them to Minoa to fight.

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

And the news that a thousand Sikeloi warriors had defeated forty thousand Carthaginian troops had also reached and surprised Leotychides, Theonia's commander in Sicily, who was closely following the war situation in Catania.

After inquiring about the battle detailedly, he looked at the map and began to think.

After a long time, he took out the information on the Carthaginian army given to him by the Intelligence Department and read it repeatedly until he finally decided.

Soon after, the wartime governor of Sicily, Siprus, rushed in, “Lord Prosous, is there a change in the war situation that made you seek me out in such a hurry?!”