ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1216
Standing in front of the familiar yet unfamiliar city of Larissa, Helos couldn't help sighing: more than 30 years ago, he lost his land and lived in a difficult life, so in order to survive, he had to accept the employment of the Spartans who came to recruit soldiers and went out to fight.When he left here, his mood was gloomy, because the stories he heard about those Thessaly mercenaries made him feel that he would probably die in battle like most of them, and never return to his hometown... He really never thought that he would return to his hometown as a conqueror.

Hilos was riding a war horse, standing there in a daze. Most of the officials behind him already knew that Larissa was the hometown of this important minister of the kingdom, so no one stepped forward to disturb him.But Hilos quickly broke away from this sad mood, took a deep breath, turned back to the officials and said, "Let's go into the city."

The officer in charge of guarding the city gate saw Hilos and his party coming, immediately went forward, saluted and said, "Master Hilos, I salute you! Commanders Matonis and Lizalu are waiting for your arrival at the Santo's mansion! "

After saying that, he turned around and led the way.

Hilos rode his war horse and slowly walked into the city. He looked around: the streets were clean and tidy, obviously after careful cleaning, but occasionally you could still see blood stains on the ground; there were no pedestrians on the road, only people who were fully armed and Legion soldiers standing upright on the roadside; but through the gaps in the doors and windows of the houses on both sides of the street, one can see pairs of eyes intertwined with anger and fear...

The city lord's residence is near the central square of the city. This building existed when Xilos left. It was the residence of the tyrant at that time. Due to the passage of time, he can no longer remember the name of the tyrant.

"Captain, I've finally waited for you!" Seeing Hilos walking into the yard, Matonis took the initiative to greet him with a smile on his face, and his voice was as loud as a bell: "Yesterday, Lizaru and I led the brothers and we hardly talked. I ran for more than 100 miles with a rest, and then launched an attack on Larissa. By the time the city was captured, the brothers almost all fell down from exhaustion! I kept your instructions in mind and worked strictly with Lizaru. We have enforced military law and haven’t had a single incident of robbery or harm to the people of Larissa since our brothers entered the city. How about that? Are you satisfied?!”

Although Matonis used his former title among the mercenaries to show his closeness to Hilos, Hilos still said without hesitation: "What's the point of satisfying me? The key is to satisfy His Majesty and the Kingdom! Expedition Thessaly is an important decision made by His Majesty and the Ministry of Military Affairs. Whether we can completely conquer Thessaly and further control Greece depends on whether you can strictly implement the strategy formulated by the Ministry of Military Affairs!"

At this point, his eyebrows widened: "Commander Lizaru, Commander Matonis, congratulations! From the landing to now, you have led the army to successfully achieve the originally planned goals, laying the foundation for the next battle. A good start!"

As he spoke, he solemnly made a fist with his right hand, placed it against his left chest, lowered his head forcefully, and gave a military salute to Matonis and Lizaru.

Matonis and Lizaru hurriedly returned the salute respectfully, not only Matonis, but Lizaru had also served under Hilos, and he respected the old officer, otherwise he would not have been with Matonis Wait here for his arrival.

After Xiros performed the military salute, he said seriously: "But I still want to remind you that time is of the essence in the landing raid operation. Although we have gained some advantages, you should not be satisfied and stay here to continue repairs. You should seize the time and lead your troops to continue the attack, without giving the enemy a chance to breathe, occupy the entire territory of Thessaly as soon as possible, and initially achieve the strategic goals set by the Ministry of Military Affairs!"

Matonis explained with some dissatisfaction: "It's not that we don't want to seize the time to continue the attack, but the brothers fought continuously yesterday and their physical strength was extremely exhausted. They need sufficient rest before they can continue fighting. After discussing with Lizaru, we decided , gather the army again tomorrow morning and march towards Philae."

Lizaru then said: "Matonis is right. Many soldiers have not woken up yet. They are indeed quite tired. We have sent the supply battalion to purchase cattle and sheep in Larissa and are preparing to give the soldiers a meal. Take a break and let them regain their strength as soon as possible..."

"Of course, we have solemnly reminded the baggage officials that we must not buy or sell by force. We will follow the seller's wishes and conduct transactions according to the market price." Matonis quickly added.

Hilos nodded, thinking of what he was going to do next, and said: "Matnis, since you are only setting off tomorrow, lend me your armor to wear for half a day."

"Why are you wearing my armor?" Matonis was a little puzzled, he looked at Hilos, and suddenly understood: "Oh...you are going to meet your old friends and want them to know that you are now He is a big shot in the Kingdom of Dionia!"

"Just to let them know that I am now valuable, they will be willing to cooperate with us and stabilize the order of Larissa faster!" Hilos said with a serious face.

It’s not that he doesn’t know that he has quit the army, and it seems inappropriate to wear the armor of the legion commander again, but as the regional administrator of the Senate, the pure white Bolton embroidered with black patterns he wears is in the eyes of the people of Dionia. It is a symbol of nobility, but in the eyes of the Larissa people, it may just be of good quality and nothing special. The general's armor directly shows his status, which can save a lot of words. For this reason, he also asked Ma Thonis borrowed a squad of guards.

Matonis didn't say anything and followed the instructions one by one. But when Hilos was about to leave the mansion, he finally couldn't help but asked: "Captain, when your Majesty gave us the order to raid Thessaly, he didn't do anything to Peleus." Give any special instructions...I wonder if he has any instructions for you about Peleus?"

Hieros stopped and answered without hesitation: "Yes!... His Majesty told me that there is no need to take any special care of the city of Peleus. It can be governed like other Thessaly towns."

At this point, he sighed softly: "However, I quietly sent someone to inquire about it yesterday... Back then, the Macedonians raided the village where His Majesty lived, killed all the villagers, and burned it. His parents His body, like other corpses, was burned beyond recognition, and finally buried together in a hurry... Now it is a wasteland, overgrown with weeds, and no one remembers the specific location of the burial place..."

"Damn Macedonians!" Matonis roared angrily.

Wearing the armor of Matonis and leading a heavily armed guard, Xiros headed to the civilian area of ​​Larissa, attracting attention along the way. He quickly found some of his former neighbors and friends.

They were all surprised when they learned that Hilos, who had been away from Larissa for more than 30 years, had become an important minister of the Kingdom of Dionia.

At that time, the young Hilos was helpful and good at fighting injustices, and he had a good reputation in the civilian areas. Therefore, although he returned to his hometown as an invader, he did not arouse the resentment of his former friends. Instead, they believed what he said " Dionia will implement some policies against the occupied Thessaly towns" and is willing to promote it for him.

When Dionia captured Rome more than 10 years ago, in order to win the trust of Roman civilians, Roman slaves were specially selected and entrusted with important tasks, which gradually dispelled the doubts of Roman civilians.But now that Hilos is originally from Larissa and has a good reputation in the area, using similar methods to stabilize and govern Larissa will naturally get twice the result with half the effort.

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Early on the third day, Matonis and Lizaru left 2000 soldiers behind to assist Hilos in stabilizing order in the city of Larissa. They led the main force out of the city and marched eastward, encountering the eagerly approaching Thessalian army halfway.

Polifulon, who just got the news at the beginning, was excited because he didn't have to rush to Larissa to defeat the main force of the Dionysian army first, but then he saw that the enemies with black helmets and black armor in the distance were not in a hurry. The continuous surge made Dionia's army formation continue to extend to the two wings... He suddenly realized that the number of Dionia's soldiers might far exceed 2, and they deployed quickly, obviously due to training. white.

Polyfulon was a little panicked. Although he had always fought bravely, he was always under the command of his elder brother Jason. He had never had the experience of independently commanding such a large-scale battle. At this moment, he could only exclude the messengers. He urged the generals to arrange the military formation as soon as possible according to his deployment. He even rode anxiously behind the military formation, shouting hysterically, "Let the soldiers speed up the formation. If anyone is slow to execute, the battle will be fought." There will be severe punishment in the future!"

Just when this improvised army made up of the city-states of Thessaly was spreading out in disorder, Dionia's army formation changed. It was suddenly disconnected from the center, and the distance became wider and wider, and it even split. It became two parts, each corresponding to the left and right wings of Thessaly's military formation...

The reason why the Dionian army did this is that firstly, Matonis and Lizaru are commanders at the same level. For the convenience of command and to avoid conflicts, they each command their own armies to fight; secondly, In order to disrupt the enemy's deployment, the two troops were deliberately brought together at the beginning.

The sudden change in the Dionian army's formation really confused Polyfulon, who was inexperienced. For a while, he didn't know how to deal with it, and at this moment the Dionian army launched an attack.

Not long after the battle, the two wings of Thessaly's army suffered a rout, which quickly spread to the entire army.

Polyfulon's rapid defeat was not only due to his inexperience and improper command, but also because his perverse actions aroused strong dissatisfaction among the citizens of Thessaly.

(End of this chapter)