ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1222 The Dilemma of the Greek Coalition

The words of Ipamilonda came true.If it is said that the thousands of soldiers sent by Athens did not go to reinforce the Greek coalition forces in Peloponnese, but went to Phocis, which only made the Thebes feel suspicious, then the Thessaly army broke away a few days later. The Greek coalition forces hurriedly landed in the port of Chleucis, and marched northward desperately, which completely proved that the news they heard from the population of Phokis was true-Dionia sent troops to land in Thessaly!
This was indeed beyond Ipamironda's expectations. In his vision, Dionia might first use the defense to exhaust the Greek coalition forces, and then increase troops to the Peloponnese, thereby regaining the disadvantage.He really did not expect that Dionia would send a huge fleet around the mainland of Greece and land tens of thousands of soldiers in Thessaly, far away from the battlefield. This is an extremely wonderful military operation, and how grand it is The courage!

When Ipamilonda learned the news, he couldn't help but marvel and be fascinated, but he also knew very well: the courage to formulate such an extraordinary military plan and put it into action was backed by strong national and military power. The Boeotian alliance led by Thebes simply could not do it.

However, even if the Dionysian army raided Thessaly, Thebes senior officials did not dare to conclude that Dionysia had an absolute advantage. After all, the Thessaly region has a vast land and a large population and is not so easy to conquer. Jason is leading his army back, and if the Dionia landing army is slightly negligent, it will be in danger of defeat.

The Theban senior officials' worries about the Dionia landing force did not last long. Jason's troops retreated from the north and fled into Athens in embarrassment.

Dionia landed 10 troops and conquered Thessaly in more than half a month. The Thessaly army collapsed without a fight, and Jason was seriously injured... The news from the mercenaries shocked everyone. The brain of a senior executive in Thebes stunned them, including Ipamilonda. He was once again shocked by the courage of the King of Dionia and the strength of Dionia.

At this time, every Thebes senior executive realized that Dionia's landing army would soon move south, and the defeat of the Greek coalition forces was determined. Faced with such a trend, Thebes could no longer remain neutral and must make a decision as soon as possible. , in order to ensure the safety of the Boeotian Alliance and win benefits for Thebes before the end of this war.

Therefore, when the Dionian Cavalry Corps rushed to the city of Thebes, the Theban Council had passed a resolution and agreed to all the requests made by the Dionian army without hesitation: First, allow Dionian The army passed through the Boeotian region safely and smoothly, and could be stationed in any area within the territory; secondly, it urgently lent some military rations to the Dionian army (the army soldiers led by Patroclus only carried 5 days of rations and entered the center After Greece, the rapid southward march made military food transportation temporarily unavailable); third, open the port of Derion to the Dionian fleet (Delion is a city-state on the northeastern coast of the Boeotian region and is a member of the Boeotian Alliance. One of the few port towns, not far from Oropus, which docked in Athens, once it opened to Oria, grain ships from Philae could sail directly across the sea between Euboea and Central Greece. Channel, to enter the port of Delion to unload the goods, the food supply of the Dionian army becomes extremely convenient).

Thebes even proposed that it was willing to immediately take back the Port of Chrysis, which was occupied by the Greek Alliance, and hand it over to Dionia for free.And Thebes is willing to fulfill the military alliance treaty signed with Dionia and send troops to fight side by side with the Dionia army.

After Patroclus learned that the Thebans not only readily agreed to his request, but were also willing to actively cooperate in the battle, although he despised the Thebans' speculative approach, he did not want to waste the benefits brought to his door. , he readily agreed to Thebes' request.

So on the fourth day after entering Central Greece, 4 Dionian troops joined 4 urgently formed Theban soldiers near Thebes.

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When Athens learned that the "Dionia landing army was about to go south", it was not first reported by the Jason mercenaries who fled to Athens.Since learning that the Dionian army had landed in Thessaly, in order to be prepared, Athens had sent some merchant ships to explore the enemy's situation near the Gulf of Mariakos every day.

Why only Mariakos Bay?This is because the Pagasa Bay, which belongs to Thessaly, is too closed and can easily be discovered by the patrolling Dionian warships. There are many ships near the Mariakos Bay, mainly from the city-state of Euboea and Phocia. From the city-state of Si, from the city-state of Locris, and from Lamia (after Lamia surrendered to Dionia, the Dionysian army allowed it to reopen its port), the Athenian merchant ships were mixed in, making it easier to hide.

After Patroclus led the army into the Lamia area, the merchant ships sent by Athens discovered the situation. They quickly reported the news to the general executive committee. After discussion, Callistratos and others believed that although I The Thessalian army led by Asong is still working hard to break through the defense line of Thermopylae, but the Dionysians have sent more troops to the Lamia area. Does this mean that they have conquered Thessally?Although the possibility is unlikely, Athens must also prepare in advance.

Therefore, the General Executive Committee quickly sent a messenger to inform Iphicrates in the Peloponnese to lead his army back to Attica as soon as possible.

This action taken by Athens came two days before the Dionian landing army entered Central Greece.

After the Thessalian army left, the Greek coalition forces stayed in the Leprion camp for the first few days, even though the Dionian army (First Army) rushed into the Arcadia region to relieve Mantinia and even went north Iphicrates was unmoved by the threat to Corinth and had been busy in the camp to appease the generals of the city-states and stabilize the morale of the army.

It wasn't until he felt that the situation had improved that he began to lead his army to approach the Dionia camp on the northern border of Messenia, but he only made some tentative attacks and no longer fought fiercely.

Iphicrates knew very well: the departure of the Thessalian army no longer had the advantage of the Greek coalition, and the Dionysians were focused on defense. It was meaningless for the coalition to fight here, and instead wasted military supplies.But he could not stop fighting or lead his troops to leave, because that would mean admitting defeat, which would probably cause some city-state generals who had complaints to leave with their troops, and the entire Greek coalition would face disintegration. If they wanted to regroup, It is undoubtedly more difficult, not to mention that there is an eager Dionian army nearby.

Through this period of fighting, Iphicrates has realized that Dionia is an extremely difficult opponent, and this powerful opponent who has been defending has not used his full strength so far. He is very uneasy in his heart, but now it is difficult to get off the tiger. , had to try their best to maintain the integrity of the Greek coalition forces.On the one hand, he hopes that Jason will successfully drive away the landing troops in Dionysia and lead his troops back to the Peloponnese as soon as possible to join the coalition forces; on the other hand, he hopes that the strong assistance promised by Persia will arrive as soon as possible to strengthen the Greek coalition forces. Of course, he still has a vague idea in his mind, which is to negotiate peace with Dionia while the Greek coalition still has the upper hand.

However, Athens finally got out of the shadow of the defeat in the Peloponnese, and its national strength gradually recovered. Now that Sparta has declined, many Greek city-states (including the city-states in the Peloponnese) have joined the Greek League led by Athens. Athens welcomes It’s the best time to become the overlord of Greece again. If peace is negotiated with Dionia at this time, with Dionia’s strength, Athens will definitely lose some interests. This will not only cause dissatisfaction with other Greek city-states, but also lead to the Greek Alliance. The disintegration of the government would also trigger public protests, so Iphicrates could only think about it in his heart.

Just when he was trying to keep the Greek coalition intact, he received news from Athens, which immediately amplified the uneasiness in his heart. Unlike Callistratus and the others who were at the rear, he was on the battlefield and had no control over the situation. Have a keener intuition: Although it is unlikely that the Dionian army will conquer Thessaly in such a short period of time, what if they dare to increase their troops to Lamia because they really conquered Thessaly? ? !Then Jason's army is in danger of rapidly collapsing. Without his army to block it in the north, Dionia's landing army will quickly move south, and Athens will be in danger!
Moreover, the Athenian messenger who rushed to the military camp also told the news: when he was passing through the isthmus, he saw the Dionian warship appearing in the Gulf of Corinth.

Iphicrates was shocked again, because no warships had been sent into the Gulf of Corinth since the Dionian army invaded the Peloponnese, so Iphicrates had dared to suggest that Jason take the The ship went north, and now it seems that the Dionians are most likely expecting Jason to lead his army back as soon as possible. This is a conspiracy!
Thinking of this, Iphicrates broke into a cold sweat. He immediately sent his men to convey the order to the Greek coalition forces: assemble the entire army and retreat to Corinth!

As soon as this order came out, it immediately attracted questions from many Greek city-state generals.

No matter who asked, Iphicrates had the same answer: The Thessalian army led by Jason was in an unfavorable situation in Lamia. The landing troops north of Dionia were likely to go south, and the Greek coalition forces needed to return. Defend the isthmus to take into account the security of Central Greece.

What Iphicrates said was reasonable, but many city-state generals did not think so. They tried to persuade him again and again, but seeing that Iphicrates still insisted, the generals from Elis angrily expressed their intention to part ways. Because once the army retreats to Corinth in the northeastern corner of the Peloponnese, it will be far away from Ellis in the northwest corner, separated by rolling mountains, and now the main force of the Dionian army in the south is in the United States. The northern border of Sennia is very close to the Ellis area. If it attacks Ellis, the Greek coalition forces as far away as Corinth will not be able to rescue it.

Not only the generals of Ellis, but also the generals of the city-states of the Arcadia Alliance also expressed similar wishes, but the words were more euphemistic.After all, the Arcadia region is also adjacent to Messenia and Lagnia controlled by Dionia. Once the Greek coalition forces leave and Dionia counterattacks, the city-states of the Arcadia Alliance will be the first to suffer. What's more, the Arcadia Alliance betrayed the covenant before and will definitely suffer revenge from Dionia.

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(End of this chapter)