ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1276: Quickly Conquer Egypt
Considering the huge threat from Dionia to Persia today, Artaxerxes relied heavily on Trebassus, who was good at fighting, so he thought about it for a long time and finally ordered the intelligence department not to pursue the matter anymore. However, Surveillance on Trebasus needs to be tightened.

On this day, while Artaxerxes was still worried about the unstable political situation in Babylon, the minister Trebassus hurried into the palace to ask for an audience with the information just returned from Egypt by the messenger.

"Jie Hao died in a storm on his way to Dionia. Nectanipos launched a rebellion and was marching towards Memphis -" Artaxerxes saw this, swept away the gloom in his heart, and shouted excitedly: "Egypt There is a civil strife, and this is a rare opportunity! We should take the opportunity to send troops to regain Egypt in the name of helping Nectanipos!"

Trebasus reminded us tactfully: "Your Majesty, your Majesty is wise, this is indeed a great opportunity to retake Egypt! It's just that Nectanipos suddenly raised his troops without notifying us. He obviously had other thoughts and was probably against us. Be on guard against.”

"With the civil strife in Egypt, he will be of no use to us." Artaxerxes curled his lips disdainfully, and then said solemnly: "What we need to worry about is the reinforcements of Dionysia, and we must rush to them. Send a large army before arriving in Egypt. As long as the army crosses the Nile and captures Memphis, Egypt will become our palm——"

Artaxerxes paused, and then said with emphasis: "So I decided to appoint you as the military commander to attack Egypt. I hope you can successfully complete the regret that the kingdom has lasted for many years!"

Faced with the expectant eyes of the King of Persia, Trebassus immediately bent down to salute and said loudly: "Thank you for your trust, your Majesty! I will do my best to complete my mission and dedicate Egypt to your Majesty!"

"I'm waiting for your good news!" Artaxerxes thought for a while and suddenly said: "If you succeed in retaking Egypt, I will marry Atosha to you."

Trebasus was stunned, and after a while, he thanked and left with a complicated mood.

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Artaxerxes wanted to take advantage of the civil strife in Egypt to quickly send troops to capture Egypt. The quickest way was to dispatch the immortal army stationed at the Babylonian court.But in order to maintain his own security, it was impossible for him to send out this elite force loyal to him. Instead, he mobilized the army near Babylon.

In this way, it would take a lot of time just to assemble the army, not to mention the long distance from Babylon to Egypt, which would also take a lot of time.

Trebassus felt that he had done his best to supervise the assembly of the army, but he did not know that the Holy Kingdom of Dionysia had already made plans before the civil strife broke out in Egypt, and when the King of Persia gave him the order At that time, King Dionia had officially appointed the commander of the Eighth Army, Chalcedis, as the wartime commander of the Egyptian reinforcements.

Just two days later, the four Sicilian legions and the light cavalry legion, which had already been assembled and on standby, boarded ships at the ports of Lillibe and Hadrumentum respectively, heading for Egypt.

Perhaps due to the blessing of Hades, the Dionian army did not encounter any storms during the voyage and successfully entered the mouth of the Nile five days later.

At this time, Nectanibus had just captured Memphis and publicly announced that Pharaoh Tanib had died of illness, and issued a call for himself to take over as Pharaoh before his death.

However, while he appointed himself Pharaoh and forcibly married the queen, he also sent people to massacre royal family members and close associates of the former Pharaoh. People in Memphis were panicked, and the entire Nile Delta was also in turmoil.

Some city lords announced their support for Nectanipos, the "new pharaoh", some city lords raised troops to eradicate the rebellion, and some city lords waited and watched the situation develop...

Naukratis at the western mouth of the Nile Delta is the Egyptian town with the largest number of Greek descendants, and it is also the town that has benefited the most from the alliance between Egypt and Dionia in the past 20 years. Not only do the residents have a good impression of Dionia, but they also have many Few Dionians have settled here for a long time, and among them are members of the Intelligence Department of the Kingdom of Dionia. They have already convinced the officials of Naukratis City in advance, so when a fleet full of Dionian soldiers approaches, At the checkpoint at the mouth of the river, Naukratis city officials and people, instigated by Dionysian intelligence officers, opened the city gates and lined up to welcome them.

When they saw the neatly dressed and majestic Dionian soldiers entering the city of Naukratis, the people not only did not feel worried, but were greatly reassured, because only a strong army can ensure safety in this turbulent period. With the protection of the Dionian army, Naukratis can naturally stay away from the war.

After only resting for one night in the city of Naucrates, Chalcedis led his army and quickly moved south along the river on the second day. The route was exactly the same as that of the Dionysian army that came to rescue due to the Persian invasion a few years ago. , but the purpose is completely different.

The slogan "The Dionian Allies will eliminate the rebellion and help the Egyptian people regain peace and tranquility" quickly spread throughout the Nile Delta with the help of intelligence personnel.

You must know that the Dionian army has left an excellent impression in the hearts of the Egyptian people: they have strict military discipline, bravery in combat, and have no offense with the people... In addition, the nearly 4 troops led by Chalsidis are huge. , so the Egyptian towns he passed through hardly offered any resistance and opened their doors to welcome him.

The Dionian army went smoothly and soon approached the city of Memphis.

Nectanipos originally colluded with Persia just to strengthen his own power in order to usurp the throne in the future, but he knew very well: Compared with Persia, which wanted to annex Egypt, it had been an alliance with Egypt for more than ten years and saved Egypt several times. Dionia in distress is a better partner.

So he originally made up his mind: after he usurped the throne and the situation became slightly stable, he would immediately send an envoy to Dionia to express his friendship, continue to form an alliance with it, and use its power to defend against the Persians.

It's just that he never expected that the Dionia reinforcements would come so quickly, but he didn't panic too much. He believed that he was the only Egyptian royal bloodline today, and that it was a fact to succeed the Pharaoh. In the case where he showed goodwill Next, Dionia can only admit that he is the next pharaoh and form an alliance with him, which is the best result.

So, he sent an envoy to the Dionian army that was marching towards Memphis.

Unexpectedly, Chalcedis, who had already received instructions from King Davos, did not see the envoy he sent and directly detained him.

At first, when Nectanipos received no reply, he thought that the envoy had an accident on the way, but many of the envoys he sent never returned, and he began to feel uneasy.

In the previous Persian invasion of Egypt, he had fought side by side with the Dionians and had a deep understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Dionians. He had no idea whether his army could defeat the Dionians. Too much confidence, not to mention that he had just occupied Memphis, and the officials appointed by the former Pharaoh did not completely surrender to him. Once he went to war with the Dionysian army, he would probably be in big trouble; but on the other hand, he was deliberately planning After waiting for so many years, he finally took advantage of this great opportunity and sat on the throne of Pharaoh.But once he abandons Memphis and leads his army back to his home base, it is equivalent to admitting that he is a traitor without asking for it. Not only will his prestige be greatly lost, but the position of Pharaoh will also be usurped by others...

Just as Nectanipos was hesitant, the Dionysian army was quickly approaching the city of Memphis. He wanted to make a last-ditch effort to stand on the top of the city and face the Dionysian army he knew below the city. Commander Kalsidis shouted loudly and sincerely expressed his willingness to form an alliance with Dionia.

Only then did Chalcedis give a clear response: "Pharaoh Tanib is a hero of the Egyptians (referring to the fact that he overthrew the Persian rule in Egypt) and the best friend of the Kingdom of Dionia. , His Majesty Davos issued an order, 'The rebels must be punished severely and the murderer of Pharaoh Tanib must be executed, so that the Egyptian people can feel at ease and peace can be restored in Egypt!'"

At this time, Nectanipos finally understood that the war between himself and Dionia was inevitable.

At this time, an Egyptian river fleet originally stationed in Naukratis and a dozen small warships from the Dionian First Fleet also arrived in the river near Memphis.

In this way, the Dionian army basically completed the siege of the city of Memphis. It was no longer possible for Nectanipos to lead his army to evacuate Memphis. He could only strengthen the city's defenses in a hurry, and at the same time sent messengers to risk rushing into the city. After breaking out of the siege, he rushed to the city of Per-Rameses (built by Pharaoh Rameses II and now the residence of Nectanipos) for help, and sought support from the Persians.

Chalcedis did not give Nectanipos any time to buffer, and launched an attack on the city of Memphis on the second day. Although the siege for several consecutive days caused a lot of casualties to the Dionian army, it also made preparations even more difficult. The outnumbered Egyptian rebels felt overwhelmed.

The former pharaoh Tanib had been in power for 20 years, and the officials and people of Memphis were deeply affected by him. They were already dissatisfied with the usurpation of Nectanibos, and he killed the royal family members and was cruel to the officials whom Tanib reused. The persecution made everyone even more resentful. When he fully commanded the army to defend against the siege of the Dionian army and had to weaken his control over the city, some Memphis officials strengthened private contacts, and they also persuaded the city's Saint Ptah Domain monks.

In the early morning of the sixth day of the siege, while the tired rebel soldiers were still sleeping, these officials led an army of several hundred people made up of their own guards and slaves to raid the west gate of the main city of Memphis. , because some monks from the Ptah Sanctuary were mixed in the team, the rebel soldiers guarding the city gate were at a loss for a while, and the city gate was quickly captured.

(End of this chapter)