Chapter 42: Advancing down the West Coast
Hannibal looked out at the sea from his palace view. It was a wonderful view due to Carthage's location, as Carthage was a wonderful city to live in. Well, it was starting to degrade due to Fascism and due to bombardment from Roman Ships, but Hannibal still loved the city. Little did he know how little time he would have to keep it under his control.
Farther North, the ruins of Hippo left a mark on the landscape. An ugly mark. Or, they did, as these ruins are now invisible thanks to a new city, Eburacum, being built on top of it's ruins.
And now, time for the bombs. Yay bombs! Better yet, 2 Intercepting fighters were destroyed in the bombings, although so was one bomber. On the ground, an Infantry unit and a radar tower were destroyed.
Hadrian's Army and the recaptured artillery were in an awkward position. If they continued North, they would only keep being bombarded by Carthaginian artillery. But, they could attack Leptis Magna. If they succeeded, the awkward position would be no more. But, it might not be a good idea if Leptis Magna is too heavily defended. So, Agent Green was sent to do an investigative report of the city:
The city is not very heavily defended, so it will be attacked. Better yet, if the attack suceeds, 5 Jet Fighters and a Destroyer will be destroyed. So, the city was bombarded. In the battle, one of the Bombers was shot down, but so was an Intercepting Jet Fighter. Another Jet Fighter ws destroyed before it could take off.
Hadrian's Army attacked the defending Infantry. It managed to defeat one unit, but was so heavily damaged that it cannot attack again. So, Germanicus sent in his army, and a defending TOW unit and a defending Infantry unit were killed. The Fifth Army killed the remaining Infantry to finish the job. Leptis Magna has fallen, and the remaining Jet Fighters, plus the Destroyer, are scrap metal.
Near Oea, a unit of Tanks was present. Now they are spare parts. The unit of Tanks that did that job now attacked a unit of Infantry defending a Radar Tower on a mountain to the Southeast of Leptis Magna. They did some damage, then retreated. The next Tanks to attack were pwned. The third unit finally got rid of the Infantry and destroyed the Radar Tower.
Near Carthage, a unit of Tanks destroyed a Guerilla unit and a Radar Tower. Hannibal is in trouble.
Near Leptis Minor, another Radar Tower, plus the unit of Infantry defending it, were obliterated by Titus' Army.
Another Radar Tower and a Guerilla unit near Utica were destroyed by the 8th Army.
Carthage now counter-attacked, and destroyed 4 Roman Tank units, losing one tank unit themselves.
In the new world, the Maya recaptured Medina and China destroyed Cuello.
Back on Carthage, the city of Sabratha decided it liked Carthage better than Rome:
The citizens of Sabratha have just earned a one-way trip to Razeville.
Unfortunately, Sabratha's destruction could not be caused in 1986, since Carthage cheated and got 4 TOW Infantry units to the defense of the city (It is really, REALLY cheap that the AI's can do that). Only one of those TOWs were destroyed in 1986.
Back Near Leptis Minor, Titus' Army destroyed a Tank unit, and then escaped to Oea. Near Oea, the 8th Army did the same.
Bombing then commenced, and a Jet Fighter was destroyed, as were all of the TOW units in Sabratha. Why didn't they bomb first?
Tanks then attacked Tanks, and 3 Carthaginian Tank units were destroyed, although so was one Roman Tank unit.
Another great discovery was made by Roman scientists in 1987. "We can make Synthetic- that is, non-natural- Fibers that can do anything, depending on how we make them. For instance, we can make Tank Armor stronger than Alluminum!" "I am interested," said Caeser, "Please outfit this armor onto Roman Tanks."
This would be done, but the Tanks must do their job and attack first. Near Sabratha, a Tank unit killed a Carthaginian Tank unit. A second Roman Tank unit repeated this, and also killed a TOW in Sabratha. Germanicus then sent in his army to finish off the Tanks defending Sabratha, and the city was destroyed.
Carthage now came under attack. The new, "Modern Armor" units led the assault (I don't know where these came from. I know the weren't upgraded, as I didn't upgrade Tanks until after the Battle of Carthage, I know they weren't Transported, as I can't get Transports from the mainland to the Carthaginian island in one turn, and I know they weren't airlifted. So, I don't know where these came from, I'm just reading my notes and looking at the screenies.), but not before 3 Cruise Missiles were launched at the city. However, it would seem as if they are no better than Tanks at defeating TOW's and Infantry defending such big cities. So, Carthage was bombarded, and in the process, all of Carthage's defenders were killed. So, all a Tank unit had to do was walk into the now undefended Carthaginian Capital and claim it for Rome. Some Carthaginian Artillery was also Captured.
Hannibal and the Carthaginian goverment have moved East to Utica.
East of Oea, the
RS Dominator II Dominated a Carthaginian destroyer. It's name was unknown.
More bombing was then done, at Utica, and one bomber was destroyed.
Back near Oea, the Carthaginian Battleship
CS Hunter destroyed the
Dominator II. The Dominator has become the Dominated. Progress on the
Dominator III is underway.
Somewhere, a Carthaginian Tank unit destroyed 2 Roman Tank units.
In what was once Babylon, the Maya captured the city of Ellipi. The Maya now control every still-existing (one Babylonian city was destroyed by China a long time ago) city that was built by Babylon, except Nippur, which Carthage controls. Or at least, they will control it, until Rome or China decides to take control of it.
Elections for Secretary-General of the UN continue to be postponed until the Punic and Maya-China Wars end (And likely, will continue to be postponed after that).
However, they might be ending soon. Caeser gave Chine the secrets of Ecology for their entire treasury of 2238 gold, and then Traded the knowledge of making Synthetic Fibers for the knowledge of making Computers (SETI, here I come!), which is useful in almost everything, namely making Mechanized Infantry to defend areas. China and Rome now have both Modern Armor and Mechanized Infantry, and Maya and Carthage have neither. Rome and China have a huge advantage now.
Utica was now bombed, and an intercepting Jet Fighter was blasted out of the sky.
Near Calaris, a TOW Infantry unit attempted to destroy a Carthaginian Tank unit. At this, they failed. A Modern Armor unit finished their work.
Hadrumetum, to the south of Carthage, was next to be attacked by the Roman Army. First, it was Bombarded, and then, Marines attacked a Guerrila unit defending a Radar Tower nearby. The first unit ended up dead, but the second unit succeded in destroying the Guerrilla unit and the Radar Tower.
The city itself was now attacked. Modern Armors proved not very good at killing TOW Infantry, and there were 2 losses and a retreat to start the battle. However, this was followed by 2 wins against the now heavily injured TOW Infantry garrisons, and then 2 more Modern Armor units came in to kill the defending Infantry and finish the job of capturing the city. A Jet Fighter was destroyed, and another Carthaginian Artillery Captured.
Near Nora, a Modern Armor unit was killed by Infantry defending a Radar Tower.
Carthage is falling fast. It is only a matter of time before they are conquered, especially since they concentrate all their cities into building TOW Infantry and Jet Fighters for Defense, Plus Tanks for attack. And their military only gets weaker, as shown by Agent Green's reports. Here is their current military: