Hannibal was not a Sicilian and actually only lived in Sicily for three months a year. It was a stroke of luck that Archimedes was able to find him upon his arrival.
"Hannibal? I seem to have heard this name somewhere before!"
After hearing this person's self-introduction, Xia Zhe looked puzzled. But after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't remember why this name seemed familiar to him.
Hannibal, on the other hand, immediately started talking after hearing Archimedes briefly talk about the strategic concept of landing in the Apennines and launching a surprise attack on Rome.
"Not appropriate! This strategy only looks good, but it is impossible to implement. If it were fifty years ago, Rome had not yet looked at the world. Even if we attacked at the gates of Rome, they might not be able to detect it immediately! But now, more than half of the northern coast of the Mediterranean is controlled by Rome. I dare to assert that the Romans have known the location of your fleet for a long time!" Hannibal said.
The Romans knew this a long time ago!
Then why the sneak attack?
"What makes you say that? What do you know about Rome?"
Hearing such an assertion, Xia Zhe was shocked and subconsciously asked a few questions.
"I once commanded the Carthaginian army, crossed the Alps, and fought bloody battles with them several times in the heart of the Roman Empire! If it weren't for the effective strength of Carthage, and the delay in sending reinforcements, I'm afraid you wouldn't have the chance to destroy the city of Rome! I know the Romans best in the world! I know them better than they know themselves!" Hannibal answered confidently.
Crossing the Alps!
Fight them head-on in the heart of Rome!
Hearing this, Xia Zhe suddenly remembered.
Hannibal! No wonder this name always seemed so familiar. Wasn't he the Carthaginian tactician who led the army from the north south, inflicting untold suffering on the Romans?
Legend has it that during the Battle of Cannae, Hannibal deployed a unique V-shaped formation and, with a much smaller army than the Romans, he defeated the Romans in a head-on attack.
After a bloody battle, Rome lost ten times as many troops as Carthage, and lost countless generals.
After the war, when the Roman Senate met, more than half of the seats were empty because they had all died outside Cannae!
Xia Zhe wasn't sure if this world's Hannibal had fought the Battle of Cannae, but he felt it was 100% believable that no one knew the Romans better than Hannibal.
Without hesitation, Xia Zhe immediately asked Lillian to call the main generals. In his study, everyone listened to Hannibal's specific suggestions together.
Hannibal never expected that King Stobi would be so willing to accept his advice and affirm him so much with just a few words. He was flattered.
He sighed secretly. If the King of Carthage had believed in himself half as much as the King of Strobilites, the Romans would never have had the chance to become so powerful!
On the contrary, the generals who were forcibly summoned by the king's order did not approve of Hannibal.
Everyone thought that this was probably a scammer who was trying to take advantage of the king's eagerness to recruit talented people.
Every general was holding his breath, wanting to expose Hannibal's false mask on the spot!
"You said that our army was coming from the west and the Romans were already on high alert. What evidence do you have? You are talking nonsense without any basis, but you will be held responsible!" Enomai from Achaia was the first to question.
"How could there be no evidence? I can hear that your accent seems to have some Naples accent. I guess you have lived there for quite a long time! It is the largest port west of Rome. There are trade fleets traveling back and forth to Syracuse on weekdays, right? But you have been here for two days, have you seen a Neapolitan merchant ship? Don't tell me that this is not the peak season for trade!" Hannibal replied with a smile.
Neapolitan accent!
Upon hearing this, not only did Enomayi's face change drastically, but even Spartacus and Gannicos beside him were moved!
So accurate!
Hannibal was so right!
When he was a slave in Rome, Enomai did work in Naples for many years.
However, after the uprising failed and he fled overseas, Enomai's Neapolitan accent was almost completely lost.
More importantly, after fleeing to the Greek mainland, the three never mentioned to anyone else what they had done in Rome.
Even if Hannibal wanted to find someone to find out in advance, no one would know!
The three of them never expected this.
Hannibal recognized Enomayi's background after she spoke only a few words.
There is no doubt that Hannibal, the Roman expert, is the real deal!
Of course, unlike the three people who were sensitive to accents, Themistocles on the side was paying attention to another piece of information.
While sailing westward these days, Themistocles actually had the same doubts in his mind.
As a veteran naval commander, he could see that his fleet was taking a commercial route.
Ask Archimedes, and Themistocles will know this already. Archimedes took this route to the Greek mainland.
According to Archimedes, this waterway was very busy in those days.
Even though commercial activities have decreased due to the rise of Rome and constant wars, there shouldn't be no merchant ships left!
Especially after arriving at the port of Syracuse, Themistocles' uneasiness became more and more intense.
The Port of Syracuse is clearly a first-class port with a large throughput.
However, there were very few merchant ships here, not even a single one sailing to Rome.
If the fleet wants to obtain some land supplies, it needs to go dozens of kilometers deep into the heart of Sicily to find them!
You know, beyond the Northern Strait lies Roman territory.
This big port shouldn't be in such a commercial depression.
Moreover, how could Sicily and the Apennines, so close to each other and not at war, become so isolated from each other? Not even a single merchant from Rome could be found!
Now, after hearing Hannibal's reminder, Themistocles suddenly came to his senses.
Sea ban!
This was a deliberate maritime ban by the Romans in an attempt to drain the Greek fleet's supplies.
By the time the Greek fleet arrives at the gates of Rome, there won’t be much supplies left!
As long as the Romans hold out for half a month without even needing reinforcements, the Greek army will have to retreat because their supplies are about to run out!
"If what you said is true. In your opinion, what should our army do?" Seeing that everyone else was thoughtful, Alexander asked again.
Naval warfare was not Alexander's strong point, but he was quite confident in land warfare and strategic thinking.
When Alexander heard Hannibal say that the strategy of the Greek expeditionary force was inappropriate, he was moved and wanted to hear Hannibal's thoughts to see if they were similar to his own.
Hearing Alexander's question, Hannibal smiled again and gave his own suggestion.
"I think the best tactic at the moment is to keep the army in Sicily and try to build it into our base camp! Then, we can attack or defend, and we can also surround and attack reinforcements. No matter how Caesar responds, he will feel very uncomfortable!" Hannibal said.
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