ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1209 Landing in Thessaly ([-])

"Calistratus, calm down!" Cablias yelled with a serious expression: "Look at the Dionysian warships there, their number far exceeds ours, and their combat effectiveness is also very strong. , I led the fleet to attack Lagnia Bay before and failed. If I led the fleet to break through the blockade, I would only be surrounded by them, and the few warships would be lost. At that time we will completely lose control of the Aegean Sea!

Even if they really want to land, we have already been prepared. The Marathon Beach, the only place where the Dionians can land, has temporarily built a defensive camp with thousands of soldiers stationed there. Once any abnormality is discovered, the city can still Sending a few thousand more soldiers can completely guarantee the safety of Attica as a whole. "

"Athens is well-defended. Of course I don't need to worry. I am worried about Dionia attacking other allies. If they are attacked by Dionia, the Greek coalition forces are fighting against the Dionia army in the Peloponnese. It will definitely be affected!" Callistratus said anxiously.

Cabrias said calmly: "Don't panic, first we have to determine whether the Dionians really want to land. Although the Dionian fleet has blocked Salon Bay, it is impossible for them to block it again. The north coast of Attica has almost no coastal towns, but we have quite a few fishing villages on the north coast..."

"I immediately sent a messenger to notify the fishermen on the north coast, and asked them to row their fishing boats and carefully explore whether there is anything abnormal in the Aegean Sea!" Callistratus suddenly realized, turned around and hurried away.

Cabrias turned his sights to the sea again, sighed, and felt a little ashamed in his heart: He had led the navy to defeat the Spartan fleet several times, and now he was indeed a little timid in the face of the powerful Dionian navy... …

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Shortly after the First Fleet blocked Salon Bay, the Third Fleet also bypassed Euboea Island on the northeast side of Attica and approached Pagasa Bay.

The mountains on the northern border of Thessaly extend to the sea in the southeast, and then try their best to move closer to the mountains on the southern border of the sea, forming not only a natural breakwater, but also an approximately circular bay with an entrance of only about ten miles.

Perhaps because the mountains forming the breakwater were too high, the Thessalians did not build a water gate and lighthouse at the entrance. Instead, it was conducive to the Third Fleet's blockade here. This caused the merchant ships in the bay to hide in panic. Philae Port, and the Philae fleet even shrank in the port and did not dare to show up.

About 20 minutes later, the Dionia troop transport fleet arrived, and the third fleet immediately sailed into the bay and arrived at Philae, the only port town in the bay, which made the people of Philae even more nervous.

It was Jason's right-hand assistant Asidamas who was in charge of Philae at this time. After he learned the news of the "attack of the Dionian fleet", he did not panic too much and immediately ordered the defenders in the city to rush. Go to the port's breakwater for defense.

Philae's territory ranks among the last among the city-states in Thessaly, and its city area is even smaller. The reason why it is wealthy is that it has the only commercial port in Thessaly. The region is almost entirely surrounded by mountains and land trade with the outside world is extremely inconvenient. Philae has completely taken advantage of the convenience of maritime trade. The Philae people are naturally also very concerned about the security of the port.

After Jason became the tyrant, he made great efforts to defend the port. He not only strengthened the breakwaters, raised the city walls on the ground, narrowed the water gate, but also added a military port in the port and formed a fleet... So despite wearing The Onian fleet arrived so suddenly that Asidamas had no fear that they would threaten the security of Philae's port.

But it didn't take long before he got a report from the scouts: "A Dionysian fleet appeared on the coast of Almyros, and many Dionysian soldiers landed there!"

The coast of Almiros is the only low-lying land on the eastern coast of Thessaly. Why did the Thessalians prefer to build the city of Philae in such a small location in the north instead of building a seaport town in the larger Almiros?

Because several rivers in Thessaly flow into the bay from here, the soil washed down by the rivers accumulates here over the years, forming a large swamp and tidal flat. If you want to completely fill it and drain it, and finally turn it into a suitable The land for human habitation and cultivation requires people's continuous efforts and advanced soil filling and drainage technology. The Thessalians were regarded as barbarians by the Greeks a few decades ago, and there is enough rich and fertile land in their territory. , so they had no urgent need to build a city here, and the original state of the Almiros coast has been preserved to this day.

Asidamas felt a bit panicked after receiving the news. Although he knew that the coast of Almiros was full of mud and difficult for people to travel, some of the situations he learned about the Kingdom of Dionia these days made him feel uneasy.While he sent people to inform Polydorus, he led his guards on horseback and drove out of the city.

Standing on the mountains south of the city of Philae, Asidamas could clearly see the vast Almiros Depression: there were many ships docked on the coast, and even some Dionian warships. There were constant Dionian soldiers (mainly fleet infantry) disembarking from various ships and standing on the dark beach. If you didn't look carefully, you couldn't tell.But there is a conspicuous yellow mark on the tidal flat that continues to extend and expand...

Asidamas looked carefully for a while, and his heartbeat suddenly accelerated: The Dionians were building roads on the tidal flats!

Just as he was feeling very uneasy, Jason's brother Polydorus arrived, accompanied by another brother Polyphoron.

After carefully observing the situation in the Almiros depression, Polydorus, who was granted temporary military power in Thessaly by Jason, comforted Arcidamas: "Don't worry, our remaining army has entered Almirus." In the defensive camps in the mountains around Milos, all battle preparations were made. And with the speed of road construction by the Dionysians, by the time they walked out of the tidal flats, the urgently mobilized citizen soldiers from various city-states in Thessaly had already arrived. , it is impossible for the Dionian army to break through our heavily guarded camp and enter the hinterland of Thessaly!"

Having said this, he looked up at the sky, and then said with confidence: "If they don't retreat at dusk, they will be bitten by countless mosquitoes at night. When we attack again tomorrow, maybe they will surrender." !”

Compared with Jason, Polydorus was more steady, so his words eliminated Asidamas' uneasiness. He immediately said goodbye to the two of them and rushed back to Philae to calm the panicked people and stabilize order in the city.

"Polydorus, why don't you let me lead the light shield soldiers to attack the Dionians and give them a powerful taste first!" Polyfulon asked loudly.

Polydorus waved his hand and refused: "There's no need! Attacking now will only scare them away. We don't want to move anything. It will give the Dionians the illusion that Thessaly is indeed empty behind, and make them tired for a long time. After that, we’ll think about the raid.”

Polyfulon was rejected and felt a little angry. Looking at his second brother's leaving figure, he couldn't help but spit and cursed in a low voice: "Coward!"

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What the Polydorus brothers didn't know was that the Dionian No. 13 legion and fleet infantry that landed on the coast of Mildorus were just a feint attack to contain Thessaly's remaining troops. The real landing place was not here.

Half an hour later, the people of Peleus were horrified to see a huge Dionian fleet approaching the coast near the city.

The northeastern border of Thessaly is separated by a series of mountains connected by Olympus, Ossa, Pelion and other mountains. Among these unreachable mountains, there is a place that can be compared. Pass easily and smoothly enter the northern Macedonian territory. This is the valley pass formed by the Pinos River running through the mountains. The mud carried by the river over the years accumulates at the estuary north of the mountains, forming a small In the depression, the Thessalians built a small city called Peleus.

Since Peleus is outside the traditional territory of Thessaly and close to the territory of Macedonia, many Thessalian people actually do not regard it as a member of the Thessaly city-state. For its own safety, Peleus It also often leans towards Macedonia, so the city-states of Thessaly to the south of it are often alienated from it and are unwilling to interact with it. However, its own products are not rich, and port trade has never developed.

It wasn't until Jason became Tagus that he was officially included in the Thessalian League. In order to promote the prosperity of Thessalian trade, Archidamas also dismantled the checkpoints south of the valley pass. Not only did Peleus Maritime trade has improved, and land trade has also developed. Therefore, the people of Peleus are full of gratitude to Jason and always respond positively to his call. Although Peleus is not a big city, Jason mobilized to form a fortress before. When Sally marched south, Peleus provided nearly 3000 soldiers, which was almost all the young and middle-aged citizens of the entire city-state. Now seeing the Dionian soldiers rushing to the coast like a tide, they were frightened and regretted it. .

"Hurry! Hurry! Brothers, hurry up!..." Matonis, commander of the 50nd Army, who is over 2 years old, is still as heroic as he was back then. He was the first to land on the beach. He stood on a rock and roared like thunder, constantly urging his men. soldiers.

Encouraged by the old officer, the soldiers of the Second Legion jumped off the ship and didn't care about resting at all. Under the leadership of their respective sub-captains, holding shields and spears, they stepped on the soft soil with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and swarmed quickly. Rush south.

　Thanks to Yeyu Linling for the tip!Your support is my motivation to write!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)