ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1248 Strategy against Persia ([-])
Printors continued: "But according to the recent intelligence, the King of Persia did not fulfill his promise very well, so these city-states have great complaints, and the Greek coalition fighting in Asia Minor in the future is very likely to get their support.

More than 20 years ago, Agesilaus led the Spartan Allied Forces, which were mainly mercenaries, to conquer the western part of Asia Minor and had a long-term advantage.But now the situation in the entire Asia Minor is more favorable to the kingdom, and our coalition forces with legions as the main body to attack Asia Minor will be more invincible—"

"Wait a minute, I think there is a problem here." Bagule couldn't help but interjected: "I have seen the map of Persia. The territory of Asia Minor is very vast, and most of it is mountainous. Even if we have the advantage at the beginning, But as the army advances eastward, food supply will become a big problem. The land transportation line is too long, and transportation by sea——

The Persians will never sit idly by. They also have a powerful fleet and will definitely attack our transportation team and cut off the sea transportation lines. In this way, our army will be in trouble..."

"Lord Bagule is right!" Printols replied seriously: "But in fact, attacking Asia Minor is only the first step of our military plan, and the next second step is also the most important one. The first step is to defeat and destroy the Persian fleet!
The kingdom is thousands of miles away from Persia, separated by the vast Eastern Mediterranean. If we want the army to fight on Persian soil without being troubled by logistical supplies, we must control the dominance of the Eastern Mediterranean, especially the Persian waters.

Therefore, we need to assemble the first, second, third, and fourth fleets, and merge the warships of the allies to form a huge fleet, stationed in the port of Piraeus or Philae, once the Persian fleet Go west, enter the Aegean Sea, and come to attack the transport fleet of the Greek coalition forces that landed in Asia Minor. Then our combined fleet can take the opportunity to attack and start a decisive battle with the Persian fleet. Once it is defeated, the combined fleet can take advantage of the situation and move eastward— —”

Haka coughed loudly a few times, interrupted Printors' speech, and then asked slowly: "The Persian fleet is also powerful. I would like to ask Mr. Printors why the Ministry of Military Affairs is so confident that we Can our fleet defeat them?"

Printors said confidently: "Your Majesty! Sirs! After repeated analysis and deduction, our Ministry of Military Affairs believes that compared with the Persian army, the absolute advantage of the Dionysian army is not the army, but the navy! "

This statement surprised some ministers.

Printors answered confidently: "Persia's main ruling area is inland. It has never been a nation that is good at seafaring. Its fleet is mainly from Phoenicia, Cyprus, Syria, Asia Minor and the Greek coast in Persia. The city-state... is a patchwork of warships and crews provided by them. Due to its complex origins and huge differences in language and culture, it is not easy to knead it into a unified fleet that fully obeys command and dares to fight to the death. This is the reason why in the past, the Greek fleet headed by Athens could always win repeatedly despite having far fewer warships than Persia. However, our fleet acted strictly in accordance with military law, insisted on military training for a long time, had flexible tactics, and fought bravely. More powerful than the fleets of Greek city-states.

Secondly, the Persian fleet has hardly participated in major battles for decades and has a serious lack of experience in naval warfare. It is obviously unable to compare with our fleet in this regard.Also, the main force of the Persian fleet is the Phoenicians——"

Printors glanced at Haka who was thinking, and then said: "We had a naval battle with the Phoenician fleet more than 10 years ago. In the end, the Phoenician fleet that rescued Carthage was almost completely destroyed. But According to the intelligence we have obtained, the Persian fleet did not learn the lessons of this failure. Their naval tactics have remained unchanged for more than 10 years, and their warships have not improved much.

On the contrary, several of our fleets have been conducting targeted training with Persia as the imaginary opponent in recent years, and have also cooperated with Dionia Academy and shipyards to improve our warships... After we and Although the number of Persian warships is not much different, the Kingdom's navy, which is well prepared, has an absolute advantage!
The only shortcoming is that the main station of the Persian fleet is too far away from us, so we have to rely on the Greek coalition's attack in western Asia Minor to lure the Persian fleet into the Aegean Sea, and then completely defeat it! "

Printors waved his fist vigorously and his voice became passionate: "The winning kingdom fleet can seize the opportunity of the Persian navy's strength being greatly weakened and continue to move eastward, or use the ally Egypt as a temporary naval base, or With the support of Egypt, we captured the island of Cyprus and completely blocked the coasts of Syria and Carthage. Therefore, Egypt is very important to us. We must maintain its friendship with the kingdom and ensure the stability of its domestic order.

Once we control the Eastern Mediterranean, the kingdom can send its main army consisting of more than a dozen legions to sail eastward without any worries, either docking in Egypt or landing in Canaan, conquering Phoenicia and Syria, and entering the United States. Sopotamia, approaching Babylon...

If the Persian army was still fighting against the Greek coalition in Asia Minor at this time, it would probably be too late to rush back for rescue.Even if the main force of the Egyptian army has not been sent to Asia Minor and can intercept it in time, they still have to worry about whether the Greek coalition forces will circle to its rear from the north and form a pincer attack on it together with the main army of the kingdom.Under such an unfavorable situation, in a decisive battle with our army, which has high morale, the Persian army has basically no possibility of defeat——"

"It is also possible that the Persians will not fight our army and choose to stick to Babylon." Asistes reminded: "I heard that Babylon is a huge city with unusually tall and strong walls and a wide Euphrates River. As a barrier, it cannot be conquered in a short time. Once the siege continues for too long, our military supplies will be tight, and the Persians may also slow down, causing the situation to change unfavorably for us."

"Lord Asistes, you are right. If Persia adopts a defensive strategy, it will indeed cause us more trouble." After responding euphemistically, Printors changed his tone: "But , causing greater trouble to Persia. Because although Persia is a big country with vast land, it is not like a kingdom that can effectively govern various regions. Its rule is not too strong. Many regions rely on local races to take care of themselves. Therefore, before There was the independence of Egypt, there was a rebellion by the Dukians, and then there was a rebellion in Asia Minor... Artaxerxes failed to suppress it, resulting in a low prestige, and the nobles and the people were not convinced.

Once our army enters the core region of Persia - the Mesopotamia plains, the Persian army hides behind the high wall and watches us destroy villages and farmland, it will definitely disappoint the local people with Artaxerxes , which could lead to new rebellions and divisions.Only by gathering a large army to repel us can he regain the trust of the Persian people, so I think a decisive battle is inevitable! "

Printols finished roughly explaining the plan drawn up by the Ministry of Affairs, and the hall fell into silence. The ministers looked at me and I looked at you, silently communicating with their eyes, but no one spoke.

After a moment, Davos spoke: "Klotokas, what do you think of the Ministry of Military Affairs' plan?"

Although a few years ago, in mainland Greece, Printors actively assisted Crotocathax and finally won the war. Since then, the two have established a friendship and have often communicated with each other after returning to Thurii. , but at this time the kingdom's consul glanced at Printors, then faced his father, and said calmly: "Your Majesty, the plan formulated by the Ministry of Military Affairs sounds very reasonable. We have great power against Persia. Advantages, it seems that if you follow this method, you will win easily. However - fighting with troops thousands of miles away itself means huge risks. Whether it is the transportation of military supplies or the transmission of news, it will encounter greater difficulties than before. What's more, they are attacking a large country with a vast territory. It is a completely unfamiliar land for both generals and soldiers. The situation is complicated and accidents may happen at any time.

Just like during the Greek War, we initially hoped not to arouse the same hatred of the Greek city-states as much as possible, starting with Sparta, conquering those powerful states one by one, and finally controlling the whole of Greece.Unexpectedly, the Greek city-states soon united to form a Greek alliance to confront us, forcing us to invest more troops, thus expanding the war rapidly.

The reason why the kingdom was able to change its plan in time and make the right response at that time was because Greece was very close to us.But now Persia is too far away from us. Perhaps when we receive the news and are discussing contingency plans, the army in Persia will encounter new difficulties and even suffer defeat. Once they fail, the entire army will face There is a danger of annihilation, so I think we should be cautious in using troops against Persia!
In addition, although the political situation in the kingdom is relatively stable now, Lord Haka has just said that the Gauls in the north pose a threat to our territory, and the indigenous people in northern Iberia also harass our southern territory from time to time. The mountain natives on the east coast of the Drian Sea are also threatening the security of our Thessaly region and our Greek allies...

There are still so many unsafe factors within the kingdom's sphere of influence. In other words, there are still so many lands near the kingdom that we need to conquer to ensure the peace and tranquility of the people of the Holy Kingdom of Dionia. We should first Concentrate on doing these things well, and do not be tempted by the wealth of Persia to sacrifice the near for the distant. "

Even if we defeat the Persian army, it will be difficult to conquer the people there and integrate them into the kingdom, because they are a powerful race that is completely different from us, with a culture and glory that is not ours at all, and they will not be willing to be ruled by us, Perhaps we need to invest huge manpower and material resources to maintain the rule of Persia, but is it worth it?After all, the foundation of the Holy Kingdom of Dionia is in the Western Mediterranean, in Italy - "

(End of this chapter)