ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1211 Landing in Thessaly ([-])
"Your Majesty, our army is fighting a war with Sparta in the Peloponnese. It consumes a huge amount of military rations and materials, and they are mainly transported from the port of Thurii. In order to successfully complete the mission, all the troops in the Turii region must The number of matters that department officials have to deal with will naturally increase. Now... the Kingdom's Administration Office and the Ministry of Military Affairs have notified all regions, requiring all legions to assemble. This requires the preparation of more military supplies and more transport ships for the upcoming arrival. Get ready for the big battle.

Therefore, the affairs that officials in Turiyi have to deal with are even more arduous. As the chief executive of Turiyi District, if I don't lead by example, how can I order my officials to work conscientiously. "

"It seems like you have some resentment! Do you know where we will attack first in the ensuing expansion of the war?"

"Your Majesty, I have been away from the military for many years-"

"It's Thessaly!"

"Thessaly?!"

"We have left Thessaly for more than 30 years. I'm afraid you have forgotten what your hometown is like... When we left Thessaly at that time, the city-states in Thessaly were still fighting against each other. Today's Thessaly However, Sally has a Tagus, and this Jason is not weak. He has asked Thessaly to join the Greek League, and is gathering an army to prepare to go south to fight our army. This may be a great opportunity for our army. It’s quite a trouble.”

"So, Your Majesty, are you planning to take advantage of Jason's march south to send the army to raid Thessaly's territory by ship?"

"You also said that you have been away from the army for many years and are unfamiliar with the military, but your intuition on the battlefield is still very keen!"

"Such a long-distance, large-scale landing operation is not easy!"

"It's not easy, but it will be beyond the enemy's expectations, and we have the advantage at sea. As long as the army is carefully prepared and trained, they can definitely do it!"

"Your Majesty, after the army has landed in Thessaly territory and conquered those city-states, will it deal with the entire Thessaly in the future?"

"You also know that the Greek city-states are capricious. Even if we win the war this time and finally force them to surrender, there may be Greek city-states who will stand up against us in a few years and eventually form an anti-Dionysian alliance. ...So Thessaly is very important to us! To the north is Macedonia and to the south are the Greek states. As long as we have it completely in our hands, we can completely suppress the expansion of the Greek city-states in the south at any time. To punish them, you can also go north to conquer Macedonia, a kingdom that seems ignorant, backward and chaotic, but actually has a vast territory and huge potential..."

"You mean...let the city-states of Thessaly become tributaries of the kingdom?"

"No! I don't intend to turn Thessaly into the second Carthage, nor do I intend to let them become the second Tarantum! I want to completely turn the entire Thessaly into a part of the kingdom's territory. Our former compatriots have become citizens of the kingdom! This is why I called you here today. I want to appoint you as the administrator of the Thessaly region and want to ask for your opinion.

Of course, it is still uncertain whether Thessaly can be successfully captured, and even if Thessaly is captured in the future, integrating Thessaly into the kingdom will still be an arduous task, not to mention that you are now the administrator of the central area of ​​the kingdom. Suddenly you are transferred to an area far away from the kingdom and everything is uncertain... Oh, it is really too difficult for you!It doesn’t matter if you don’t agree, I can choose someone else—”

"Your Majesty, I am willing to go to Thessaly!"

……

Hilos did not regret accepting the appointment of King Davos so readily. On the contrary, the news that "the landing army successfully passed the valley pass" made him excited. Now he is just worried about whether the army can go further and capture it more smoothly. Larissa, it was his hometown after all.

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

Just as the soldiers of the Second Legion landed on the coast of Peleus, the huge fleet led by Patroclus also arrived at the northern end of Euboea. Then each ship quickly furled its sails and began to turn westward. Sailing.

There are many offshore islands in mainland Greece and the coastline is winding. Although most captains of the entire fleet have rich sailing experience in the Aegean Sea, they still drive the ships carefully in order to smoothly pass through this long and narrow channel.

There was a city-state called Artemisium at the northern end of Euboea. The people of this city-state were very panicked when they saw countless ships suddenly appearing in the sea near the port.They closed the city gates and ports, and all young and middle-aged citizens, armed with weapons, went to the city on guard.

Under their horrified gaze, this huge fleet did not approach the coast, but slowly moved away to the west.

Finally, the Dionia fleet entered the Gulf of Maliakos.

A river called Sperchius flows between the mountains on the southern border of Thessaly and the mountains on the northern border of Central Greece. The river has flowed for thousands of years to form a long and narrow plain along the river. The entrance to the sea also has a large range of tidal flats. Only on the northwest side of the bay is a pebbled beach and a port.

The Dionian fleet approached without stopping for a moment, and Patroclus followed the 12th Legion to land first. He did not let the landing soldiers attack the small port not far away, but ordered the No. 12 Legion Head west quickly.

These soldiers from the plains of Campania and the mountains of Samona had accepted the command of Patroclus a few years ago and created the glory of annihilating the Gallic invading army, so they trusted Patroclus' command without hesitation. They formed a column, their feet in leather sandals stepped on the hard and slippery cobblestones, and stumbled towards the west.

The city of Lamia was about 15 miles away from the landing site. About an hour later, the soldiers of the No.12 Legion rushed to the city out of breath.

When Patroclus saw that the gates of Lamia were closed and the city was full of soldiers, his heart sank: the Lamians were already on guard!

Patroclus was already mentally prepared for this. After all, the slow speed of the fleet in the narrow channel probably gave the Lamians time to be fully alert.

Since the raid failed, Patroclus quickly adjusted his mentality, called the messenger, and asked him to ride a horse to the landing place, and inform the troops behind him: capture the port first, and then come to meet up.

After the messengers left, he ordered the soldiers of the No. 12 Legion to rest where they were and regain their strength. He led his guards to observe the defense deployment and surrounding geography of Lamia City up close.

Lamia is somewhat similar to Peleus. It was also founded by the Thessalian people. Because the city is located outside the traditional territory of Thessaly and the transportation is not convenient, other Thessaly city-states are alienated from it, and even Some believe that Lamia was not a Thessalian city-state.

The Lamians themselves also despised their Thessalian identity and preferred to get closer to the Greeks in the south. Although some Greek people regarded them as barbarians, they did have deeper contacts with the Greek city-states in the south. Of course, it was also because of their close ties with the Greek city-states in the south. City-states have more convenient sea transportation.

After Jason became Tagus of Thessaly, he did not rush to force Lamia to join the Thessaly League because he was afraid of arousing the vigilance of the Greek city-states in the south.It was not until the Battle of Leuctra and the disastrous defeat of the Greek overlord Sparta that he finally did not conceal his ambitions. When he led the army from Thebes back to Thessaly, he destroyed the city of Heraclea (not Dio). The Kingdom of Nea (in the city of Heraclea in Magna Greece) occupied Thermopylae. Lamia succumbed to his force, but was still unwilling to do so. Therefore, when Jason launched military mobilization this time, Lamia Asia did not provide many soldiers.

Now the Lamians feel fortunate that they still have enough strength to protect themselves in the face of the Dionian army's surprise attack.

An hour later, the 11th Army, the [-]th Army, the [-]rd Cavalry Army and the Gallic Brigade all arrived one after another...

The citizen soldiers of Lamia stood on the city wall, almost stopping breathing: countless Dionian soldiers in black helmets and black armor stood all over the river plain south of Lamia city, like the roaring from the Maliakos coast. The black tide can be seen as far as the eye can see.What is particularly eye-catching are the Dionysian soldiers (actually Gaulish soldiers) standing under the city. They are tall and strong, with fierce faces. They wear horn helmets and enamel armor, hold big swords, and roar like thunder. The humanoid beasts are terrifying...

Just when the citizens of Lamia were shocked by the powerful power of the Dionian army, Patroclus did not immediately issue an order to attack the city. He had carefully observed the city of Lamia before: the Lamians should be After learning the city-building habits of the Greeks, the city was not built on a flat plain along the river. Instead, it was built close to the mountains in the north. A low hill was included in the city to serve as its acropolis. The city was located on the north and left sides. It is surrounded by hills with a height of more than 200 meters. Although it provides a barrier for the city, it also limits the expansion of the city. Therefore, the Lamians can only expand the city to the plains to the south, making the entire Lamia city look like A pottery bottle with a long neck and a round bottom. Such a geographical location made the Lamians feel that they had a good defensive advantage. They only needed to focus on defending the southern city wall to ensure the safety of the city of Lamia.

Patroclus ordered the No. 12 Legion and the Gallic Brigade to attack the hills on the south and north sides respectively.

Although the height of the hill is not too low, the slope is gentle. Although the Lamians have a defensive camp on the top of the hill, they do not have many troops. More than half of the No. 12 Legion are Samnite soldiers. They and the Gauls are both He is good at mountain warfare and is very tough. After suffering some casualties, he occupied the top of the mountain.

(End of this chapter)