ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1139. Resolution to declare war on Sparta ([-])
Sedorum continued: "I heard that many Greek city-states sympathized with the destruction of Messenia and took the initiative to take in many Messenians who fled Sparta. If our army can fight Entering the Peloponnese under the banner of 'helping the Messenians regain their independence', I think the Greek people will not be so disgusted with us, let alone once we really rebuild Messenia, let the Helots The freedom of the soldiers will not only severely weaken the power of Sparta, but also make the reconstructed Messenia completely turn to us and become the most supportive force in Greece."

Davos nodded slightly. It was obvious that Cedorum's proposal was very satisfactory to him. He immediately turned to Alexis and asked: "What is the opinion of the Ministry of Military Affairs on this?"

Alexis replied without hesitation: "Your Majesty, from a military perspective, choosing to attack Messenia is a good strategic choice. If our army lands in Central Greece or Peloponnese through the Gulf of Corinth To the north, it is indeed safer to fight together with the Theban army, but it also means that most of the results we obtain may be obtained by the Thebans, and it will also arouse the vigilance of nearby neutral city-states. Such as Athens, Corinth.

But if you open a separate battlefield, most of the Peloponnese Peninsula is covered with mountains and ridges, making it inconvenient for large armies to land and march. Messenia is undoubtedly the best target. Its southern coast is flat and suitable for large armies. The landing was very close to Sparta, but separated by mountains that were difficult to pass through. Reinforcements from Sparta could not arrive quickly, giving the landing army enough time to completely occupy Messenia.

Moreover, the next attack from the land route only needs to pass through the Arcadian territory to directly attack Sparta, while the attack from the sea route is even closer. The flat southern coast of Sparta is also conducive to landing, thus avoiding The possibility of direct conflict with other powerful states in Greece..."

Although Alexis is the military chief, he will also seriously consider political factors when making military plans. This is what Daves appreciates most: "Very good! The Ministry of Military Affairs will formulate a plan to attack Messenia as soon as possible." plan of."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Alexis responded immediately.

"Your Majesty." Printors raised the battle report in his hand and said: "I noticed that the battle report mentioned that there were many Thessalian cavalry in the Boeotian coalition. According to the latest intelligence from Greece, northern Greece The Thessaly region has been basically unified by Jason, the tyrant of Philae. If these cavalry are not hired by the Thebans, they can only be sent by Jason, which means that Thessaly may quietly The alliance with Thebes must attract our attention!"

"Thessaly..." Davos rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

At this time, Matonis said with a smile: "Thessaly has also formed an alliance with Thebes. This is a good thing. It allows us to not worry too much about the Thebans' crazy revenge from Sparta before attacking Greece." And once again we are faced with a crisis, and we may consider an alliance with the Thessalians in due course.”

Matonis showed a good impression of the Thessalians, which was not what some ministers expected, because after working together for so many years, they all knew that Matonis was from Thessally, Olivers was from Thessali, and Hieros was from Thessali. ...Now some of the former mercenary generals in the Dionian army are from Thessaly, and even their king Davos was once a Thessalian, so everyone wisely did not refute Matonis's words. .

But what they didn't know was that Davos had no feelings for Thessaly at all. Instead, it was Printors' words that aroused his vigilance.

Thessaly is located in northern Greece. It is a barbarian land in the eyes of traditional powerful states such as Athens, Corinth, and Sparta. There have been constant conflicts in Thessaly, and it has never had any impact on the political situation in mainland Greece.After 20 years of development, the Dionia intelligence department has been growing in funds and manpower, but more and more areas need to be investigated and monitored. Therefore, it has not invested much energy in such a remote area and only relied on occasional Go to the Dionian merchant ship traded in Philae to get some information.

Even if Jason, the tyrant of Philae, conquered several neighboring city-states in the past few years, it did not attract the attention of the intelligence agencies. After all, there were so many tyrants in the Mediterranean city-states, and it was not uncommon for some to do something, but they were usually short-lived.It wasn't until the news that "Philae quickly united Thessaly and Jason to become Tagus" reached Thurii that Aristiras paid attention to it.

Although in the years that followed, Jason ceased any warfare and seemed content to simply be Tagus of Thessaly.But this aroused Davos's vigilance, because Jason spent the past few years mainly integrating the city-states of Thessaly, promoting trade within the region, stepping up training of citizen soldiers, and even forming a navy... … Jason’s actions are somewhat similar to those of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, and due to Thessaly’s geographical environment, its infantry and cavalry are stronger.

Could it be that the tyrant of Thessaly finally couldn't stand his loneliness and wanted to interfere in the affairs of Southern Greece? ! ... Davos was wary and immediately said: "The tyrant of Thessaly Philae is very ambitious. If he really secretly formed an alliance with Thebes this time, he may want to use this war to To seize the hegemony of Greece, we must not sit idly by! Ansitanos, you send an envoy to ask the Thebans if they have also formed an alliance with Thessaly to understand the situation clearly. It is best to find out Thebes The true attitude of the Sri Lankan people towards Thessaly will determine the measures we will take in future conflicts with Thessaly.”

"Yes, Your Majesty," Ansitanos responded.

"How...how could this happen?..." Matonis looked stunned.

Printors, who knew a little bit about the situation, came to his side and started talking to him in a low voice.

Davos didn't pay much attention and continued: "Persia will never let go after the Spartan army is defeated. Now the Thessalians may also be involved. Since we have decided to interfere in Greek affairs, we must take advantage of the Spartan army." During this time when the Badar people suffered a defeat and other forces have not fully gotten involved, we must implement our plan as soon as possible!

Alexis and Printors, you two should make a judgment now. How many troops will we need to capture Messenia and then attack Sparta? "

Alexis and Printors looked at each other, and then called the military training commander Hieronymus, the quartermaster Artorns, the legion commander Matonis, Olivers and other generals in the corner of the hall. Form a circle.

After some quiet discussions, Alexis walked up to Daves and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, based on what the Ministry of Military Affairs now knows about the situation in Sparta and the geographical conditions of the Peloponnese, After discussion, we decided that only 2 to 3 soldiers would be needed to complete the expedition. With too many troops, it would be difficult to launch in the mountainous Peloponnese Peninsula."

"2 to 3 people..." Davos turned around and asked, "How long can the existing domestic grain reserves support their operations?"

Minister of Agriculture Burcos stretched out his hands and calculated carefully before standing up and saying: "Your Majesty, the country has continued to have good harvests in recent years. Although there are some battles in Iberia and the Po River Plain, they are basically local battles. , not much food is consumed. According to this year’s survey statistics, the granary storage in each region is basically full, which should... be able to guarantee an army of 3 people to fight in mainland Greece for more than a year."

"More than a year...um...where are the weapons and equipment?"

Quartermaster Alpuins immediately stood up and replied: "Your Majesty, the armories of military camps in each region have sufficient arrows, javelins, tents, blankets, pack cars, and other military supplies, which are more than enough to supply 3 soldiers."

After listening to this, Davos showed a somewhat satisfied smile. He thought for a while, glanced at Assistant Minister Hermon, and said: "Considering that this is the first time that our Dionia has sent troops to fight in the Greek mainland, for To reduce the antipathy of the people of neutral city-states towards us, it is best to send soldiers of Greek descent as much as possible...

The last time we campaigned in Gaul, we sent out six legions: the 11st, [-]nd, [-]rd, [-]th, [-]th, and No. [-], so this time... well, considering that we have to fight the Spartans, in order It would be more prudent to let the first, fourth, and sixth legions go out. "

"Understood, Your Majesty." Alexis asked again: "What about the cavalry?"

"The cavalry and auxiliary troops don't have to consider whether they have Greek blood. Don't the armies of Greek city-states often hire foreigners to fight, such as Thrace, so you can decide for yourself."

"Yes."

Davos looked at Raphaias, the Minister of Household Registration, and asked: "Are the Dionian citizens of Messenian descendants still concentrated in Tyndaris (the city-state has responded to the citizens a few years ago) Strong demand, merged into the Kingdom of Dionia)? "

Rafias, who has been silently in charge of the kingdom's citizen registration for decades, has always had the kingdom's population distribution and migration changes firmly engraved in his mind. He can answer immediately without any need to recall: "Your Majesty, that's it... ...Nearly half of the population still remains in Tyndares, and the other half of the population went to Himera (after the Western Mediterranean War, in order to strengthen its rule over the north coast of Sicily, the Kingdom of Olia rebuilt the central part of the north coast The city of Himera, where the terrain is relatively flat and has a large river passing through it, is suitable for grazing and planting, so it attracts many residents of other towns on the north coast)."

　Thank you 兲の丅 for the reward!Your support is my motivation to write! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)