ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1194 Thessaly joins the war

Aceidamas thought for a while and said in deep thought: "Since Dionia invaded Messenia, I took the time to investigate the situation in Dionia in detail, and found that this kingdom in the Western Mediterranean has actually controlled It defeated all the coastal forces in the Western Mediterranean and became the well-deserved overlord of the Western Mediterranean! In the last two wars, this kingdom sent 10 troops and six to seven hundred warships to fight, and was able to maintain the offensive for more than half a year. It was very powerful. Amazing!
Moreover, Dionia developed from a small city-state to its current kingdom 20 years ago through constant wars and annexations. It cannot be just to help Thebes and come to Greece to fight Sparta. The ultimate goal must be the entire Greece!

My opinion is...either you send an envoy to Thurii to seek an alliance with Dionia to preserve Thessaly's independence; or you call the Athenian envoy who is staying in the city to join the Greek alliance, In this way, the power of the entire Greece can be gathered to repel the Dionians! "

At this point, Asidamas's expression became solemn: "I prefer the former suggestion, because I don't think a makeshift alliance can defeat a kingdom that has become stronger through constant fighting."

"Asidamas, you are always cautious." Jason stood up suddenly and said loudly: "I choose your latter suggestion! You are right, Dionia wants to conquer the entire world. Greece, it is impossible for us to stay out of the matter and preserve our strength. The war will eventually burn to the land of Thessaly. It is better to take this opportunity to gather the power of all Greece and fight Dionia with all our strength!
I remember that during the Greco-Persian War, only half of the castles in Greece were able to defeat Persia. This time we, Thessaly, joined us, but Dionia is not as powerful as Persia. Can't we still defeat them? !Let’s unite with the city-states in the south first, and after defeating Dionia with all our strength, we can then compete with Athens and Thebes for the hegemony of Greece. What do you think? ! "

Asidamas looked at the somewhat excited Jason, and was not surprised by the choice he made, because based on his understanding of this Tagus, it was almost impossible for Jason, who had always been aggressive, to take forbearance. Concession strategy, but he also had to remind: "If a coalition is formed, it must be prioritized, just like Sparta was the leader in the Hippo War back then—"

"Of course I, Thessaly, must be the leader and command all the coalition forces!" Jason said decisively, without concealing his ambition: "Sparta has declined, Athens' army is not good, although Thebes fights Won the battle with Sparta, but the number of their soldiers was not enough (he did not know that Thebes remained neutral)... Only I, Thessaly, could form an army of more than 4 people, and the combat effectiveness was very strong. Our fleet The number of warships is also over a hundred, surpassing that of Athens. If we don’t become the leader of this alliance with our strong troops and horses, who would dare to do so?!”

Although becoming the leader of the Greek Alliance is only temporary, as long as this battle is won, it will definitely greatly improve Thessaly's status in the Greek city-states and make the people of Thessaly proud. You must know that in the past, Thessalians were The people of Athens and Sparta were called "barbarians", so not only Jason had this intention, but Asidamas was also optimistic about its success.

So, he suggested: "My lord, we can use this as a prerequisite for joining the alliance and negotiate with the Athens envoy, but first invite him to inspect our Thessaly army."

"Asidamas, you and I are thinking of getting together again!" Jason clapped and smiled, with a confident look on his face: "I will gather my army right away, and in the afternoon you will take the Athenian envoy to the military camp outside the city. "

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On the second day of the Battle of Tegea, Crotocathax led the army to repair near the sanctuary of Hercules (formerly the Spartan coalition camp) southeast of Tegea city, and at the same time sent 2 soldiers to escort it. Tens of thousands of captives returned to Messenia, most of whom were people from the city of Tegea. They would be sent back to Thurii, or become slaves of the public, sent to mines, or sold publicly (Greece Native slaves are still relatively popular in the Turiyi slave market. First, they have high cultural quality, are smart, studious, and easy to communicate; second, they can satisfy the colonial mentality of showing off to the mother country like the Greek citizens of Dionia.).

As a result, the city of Tegea almost became an empty city, temporarily garrisoned by 1000 Dionian soldiers.

In addition, at the request of Tagetinos, the [-] soldiers of the Seventh Legion, who had suffered almost no losses, quickly moved south early in the morning to block the border between Tegea and Sparta and intercept the Spartan troops.

In the afternoon, 2000 soldiers and an envoy sent by Mantinia finally arrived at the new military camp of Dionysia and eagerly expressed to Crotocatax that Mantinnia was willing to accept his suggestion and take over Dionysia. Gaya.

At the same time, they also hope to enter into a secret agreement with Dionia, form a closer alliance, and fully support any military operations of Dionia in mainland Greece.

The Mandinians are not fools. Although they covet the land of Tegea, they also know that they are weak. Once they make such a move, they will inevitably be squeezed and suppressed by other Greek city-states, and there may even be a war. Throughout the past, Dionia has always had a good reputation with its allies, so if they want to completely annex this land, they must hold on to Dionia's thighs.

Therefore, 2000 of the 500 Mandinian soldiers are prepared to stay in Tegea City, and the remaining 1500 are to obey the command of the Dionian army and participate in subsequent military operations to show the Mandinian people sincerity.

Clotokatax's goal was achieved. He was very happy to discuss with the Mandinian envoys, and soon signed an agreement excluding the Arcadian alliance and limiting it to Dionia and Mandinia. secret military alliance.

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At the same time, King Agesilaus of Sparta led the remaining army to trek through the mountains.

Before the battle, Agesilaus had been mentally prepared to lose the battle. He made two plans:
First, like the Thebans, the Dionysian army retreated after winning the battle. Then he could retreat to the camp first, and after a brief reorganization, he could lead part of the army with Spartan warriors as the main force and quietly go south at night. Withdraw territory;
The second is that the Dionysian army took advantage of the victory and pursued it, forcing Sparta's defeated army into the mountains. Judging from the past battles in Dionysia, this possibility is very high, so he secretly informed Sparta, who was familiar with the terrain. The warriors, once this happens, will meet up in the dense forest of Pelagos and then retreat to their territory.

But he never expected that after the victory of the battle, the Dionian army pushed the defeated troops into the mountains through pursuit, and then separated some troops to continue the pursuit.These Dionian soldiers (actually the mountain reconnaissance brigade) ran in the mountains as if they were on the ground, and were good at hiding and sneak attacks, forcing the Spartan soldiers who were demoralized by the defeat to run away in the mountains, including Agassiz. Rouse himself, if it were not for the desperate rescue by the soldiers of the King's Guard, he almost fell into the hands of the Dionian soldiers.

Not long after, night fell, and it was difficult to find direction in the mountains, and they had to avoid wild beasts, so it was not until noon on the second day that the Spartan troops gradually gathered near the dense forest of Pelagos.

By the afternoon, there were less than a thousand soldiers gathered, and most of them were Pilians. After all, the Spartan soldiers fought on the first line during the battle, and later the entire right wing was attacked by the Dionian reserve force. It is undoubtedly much more difficult for the Spartan warriors in a semi-surrounded state to escape smoothly.

What's more important is that Agesilaus did not see his son Archidamus appear, and he was unspeakably worried in his heart, but he knew that he could not wait any longer, otherwise the soldiers would not be able to return without food. To gain territory, one must first starve to death in the mountains.

So he resolutely gave the order to "go" and refused the guards' help. He hobbled at the front of the team with a cane.

Under his encouragement, the tired and hungry soldiers could only follow closely.

Due to their failure to retreat in time last night, during the day, they did not dare to march close to the Tegea Plain in their current situation. Otherwise, it would be a disaster if they were discovered by the Diorian scouts, so they could only march in the mountains. Trekking means that the time to return home will be greatly extended...

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On the third day, Clotokatax, who couldn't wait, left 2000 soldiers to garrison the camp. More than 2000 wounded soldiers were treated and recuperated in the camp, and 15 Dionian soldiers and 000 Mandinian soldiers were gathered. , marching south.

Not long after leaving the camp, he met the messenger sent by Tagetinos.

What? !The 1st Fleet has captured Sparta? ! ...Klotokatax repeatedly read the battle report signed by Sekerian, his face full of surprise.

It turned out that after Tegetinos led 3000 soldiers to the Spartan border yesterday, he did not capture many routs. Later, after repeated requests from the eager legionnaires, he finally decided to send two companies into Sparta. Reach the territory and explore the reality.

There are continuous mountains between Tegea and the city of Sparta. The best road to take is a long and narrow channel formed by the Eurotas River Valley.Since the Dionian army captured Messenia, Sparta has felt a great threat. At the suggestion of Agesilaus, the Spartans not only concentrated their efforts on building defense facilities on the southern coast, but also Small defensive camps were built in the dangerous terrain of the Eurotas Valley and the other two key passes in the north.

　Thanks to Bookworm for the reward of 666, your support is the motivation for my writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)