ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1170 Demonstration and Confrontation

Both Sekerian and the Athenian admirals breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time they were also more vigilant about the opponent's fleet. After all, so many warships could quickly stop their progress in a short time after receiving orders during navigation. It is not easy, which means that this country's navy has a complete organizational command system and is well-trained.

After a while, a fast ship sailed out from the Athenian ship array and headed straight towards the Dionian fleet. When it was approaching the Dionian warship, someone shouted on the boat: "The Athenian envoy wants to see the Dionian fleet." Fleet Commander!"

Ten minutes later, the Athenian envoy boarded the flagship of the Dionia First Fleet.

"I am Sekerian, the commander of the first fleet of Dionia." Sekerian said loudly, while looking at the visitor: square face, high nose, thick eyebrows, big eyes, beard, wide forehead, medium build, neither fat nor thin , although his hair is a bit gray and he seems to be around 50 years old, he has a dignified appearance and appears to be particularly energetic.

"The chief general of Athens, Callistratus!" The envoy looked at Sekerian sharply, his voice was rich and magnetic, but his words were sharp: "The 30 people in Athens entrusted me to ask the general, Dai Is Onia going to declare war on Athens?”

Sekerian did not expect the other party to ask such a direct question, and hurriedly explained seriously: "You have misunderstood, Dionia has no ill intentions towards Athens! We are just chasing a fleet transporting food to Sparta, and we have no choice but to come here In order to avoid misunderstandings about this bay, our warships also deliberately avoided the waters of Athens."

"No malice?" Callistratus sneered: "If our Athenian fleet sailed in your Taranto Bay, would you Dionians think that this fleet came with good intentions, and still Do you want to open the port of Thurii enthusiastically and invite them in?”

Sekerian was at a loss for words. Before he could think of how to respond, he heard the other party continue: "I think you should be a Greek, then you should know that the survival of us Greeks mainly depends on trade. In the past few decades, Greece Wars continue, and I don’t know how many naval battles have occurred, but the sea trade of city-states caught in the war still continues, and few warships take the initiative to attack merchant ships, because the crew of every city-state knows that attacking merchant ships is digging up the roots of the Greeks. ! Corinth is just doing what every sea trading city-state should do, and those ships brewing for Sparta are just abiding by the trade contract. The crew just make some money for the life of the family, but now they are being used by you. …”

Callistratus's eloquent accusations actually made Sekerian feel a little aggrieved. He coughed quickly and interrupted impatiently: "Please stop talking about these irrelevant things and just talk directly." Tell me why you're here!"

A trace of contempt flashed in Callistratus's eyes. He said calmly but forcefully: "After the war between Dionia and Sparta, Sparta once asked Athens for help. The people of Athens considered the conflict with Diaonia. The relationship between Li and Yi did not agree to the request of the Spartans. I also hope that Dionia can take into account the friendly exchanges with Athens before, not to let the war spread to Athens, and promise that your war will be completed before the end of this war. The ship will never appear again in the Aegean Sea!"

What Callistratus said was full of threats, but how could Sekerian be threatened? He raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice: "Our warships will leave soon, but if there are still The fleet transports troops and food to Sparta, and we will come again!"

The two sides parted unhappily.

After Callistratus left by boat, a majestic bugle sounded in the Dionysian fleet. The warships in the front of the Dionysian fleet turned south one after another, and the warships in the rear turned north one after another. , and then began to move forward... It didn't take long for the originally stacked ship formations to form two long columns again, drawing a large circle in front of the waiting Athenian fleet, and then followed the original route to enter return route.

The Athenian sailors listened to the passionate oar chants coming from the front, and watched the Dionian warships rotate flexibly one by one, so that the hull was facing the bow of the Athenian warship, and then swaggered from Driving in front of them... They were surprised by the boldness of the Dionians, and at the same time a little angry.

"The Dionians are demonstrating against us!" Cabrias, the temporarily appointed commander of the Athenian fleet, looked at the sea ahead and said solemnly: "But the Dionian fleet has so many battles. In the case of a ship, the formation can be changed so quickly. If we have a war with Dionia in the future, their navy will pose a huge threat to Athens!"

Having said this, he turned to look at Callistratus next to him, with a solemn look on his face, and asked in a low and powerful voice: "Now is a great time to defeat this fleet, do you want to launch an attack?!"

Callistratus shook his head: "Athens did not declare war on Dionia, and the citizens were not prepared, wait."

It wasn't until the entire fleet sailed out of the Saron Gulf that Sekerian loosened his clenched fists. He took a sharp breath and said loudly: "Order the fleet to sail eastward, pass through Kythnos Island, and arrive at Delos Island. After getting nearby, go straight south until you see Crete, and then return to the base.”

"Yes!"

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

While the Dionian army was still building a camp in the territory of Megalopolis, Archidamus, who received the news, immediately lifted the siege of Mandinia and led his army southward, bypassing the city of Tegea. Camps were also built on the border with Sparta in the south, and they began to confront the Dionian army in the west.

After learning that the siege of Mantinia had been lifted, on the advice of Printors, Crotocatacus was not in a hurry to lead his army eastward, but patiently continued to let the soldiers consolidate the camp.

Although the main forces of both sides remained stationary, there was no peace between the two camps. Fighting between the scouts from both sides occurred every day, including cavalry and reconnaissance infantry. Of course, the more professional and well-trained Dione The Asian side had the upper hand, especially when a small team from the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade raided a food search team of about 20 people from the Spartan mercenaries, killing six people, killing four, and capturing two, without any casualties. The impressive record... these put a lot of pressure on the Spartan mercenaries.

A few days later, King Agesilaus of Sparta led 7000 soldiers out of northern Sparta, entered the territory of Tegea, and joined the Spartan mercenaries.

"Father, you are finally here!" Archidamus personally came out of the camp to greet him, and his face that had been covered in gloom for the past few days finally relaxed, revealing a smile.

Although Agesilaus was wearing a cane and looked a little tired, his smile was even brighter: "Thank you, Archidamus! In order to meet your request, I brought all the brave warriors of Sparta, Before leaving, I went to the Temple of Athena to make a sacrifice, and the oracle I got was a good omen! (Usually, the two kings of Sparta who had the right to sacrifice before the war would send people to Delphi to ask for the oracle, but now The war happened on the northern border. It was very dangerous to go to Delphi, and there was no time, so we could only worship in the Acropolis of Sparta)"

"That's great!" Archidamus looked relieved.

Agesilaus looked around at the mercenary general standing behind Archidamus and said with confidence: "In fact, even if there is no oracle, I firmly believe that Sparta will win this time! Because in the past, we Sparta As long as Da sends a few hundred warriors and joins the coalition forces, he can dominate the Greek city! Now, not only do our Spartans have all the elites, but the army led by you, Archidamus, is also the most elite soldier from each city-state. Formed, the two combined together, this is the largest and most powerful army I have led in these years, and I firmly believe that no one can match it!"

"Yes, King Agesilaus is so right!" the mercenary generals shouted excitedly.

Archidamus then introduced these mercenary generals to his father one by one, and Agesilaus talked with them cordially. A few of them were people he knew. After all, he had fought in Asia Minor for many years 20 years ago. , is very familiar with the situation there, so he knows the home state of each mercenary general well, and talks about it in detail, making the generals feel cordial.

For such mercenary generals, Agesilaus is a living legend. He fought alone in the Persian territories, which actually kept the Persians in an embarrassing situation of being passively beaten. He took the initiative to seek peace several times. Moreover, his charm made many Greek city-states in Asia Minor willing to provide continuous support. Many of his stories are still circulated in Asia Minor to this day.

Therefore, the mercenary generals rushed to salute Agesilaus and were proud to talk to him. The atmosphere was very warm for a while.

After a long time, Agesilaus said goodbye to them on the grounds that he was "somewhat tired and needed a rest" and followed Archidamus into the central tent.

Entering the tent, Agesilaus threw away the wooden stick, and with the support of his slaves, he slumped down on a wooden chair. The smile on his face disappeared and his expression became serious: "What is the situation now?"

"Father." Archidamus's expression was equally serious: "A small amount of food was shipped from the port of Corinth the day before yesterday, but yesterday no more food was shipped from the north! The Persians told me that the Dionysian fleet was shipped every day When cruising in the Aegean Sea, any grain-carrying fleet entering the Saron Gulf would be intercepted and interrogated. They had already captured several fleets, and the Persians had to temporarily stop transporting grain."

(End of this chapter)