ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1287 Return to Byzantium

At this time, Melisander asked: "I see on this map that the distance from Egypt to Cyprus seems to be farther than the distance from Crete to Cyrenaica. Such a long distance by sea, and there is no way to reach it on the way." Can the troop transport fleet really arrive smoothly after stopping to rest and replenish food and water? Will our fleet still have the ability to fight after arriving in the waters near Cyprus? "

Chalcedis replied seriously: "I have carefully asked the Greek merchants in Naucratis who often go to Cyprus to trade, and they all told me that there will not be any storms in the Near East waters during this season, as long as they are on board Prepare enough water and sail day and night, and you can reach Cyprus in only three or four days. (One of the important reasons why ship sailing is faster than land march is that as long as you know the route and use the sails, it can sail 24 hours a day. sailing), and we can hire these Naukratis merchants as guides to show us the way.

As for the navy... I still remember that they once attacked Carthage from Sicily, and finally defeated the Carthage fleet. They should have a lot of experience in this area, and of course they need to make their own judgments. "

"How is the defense on the island of Cyprus? How many troops are there?" Matonis was a little moved and his tone became urgent.

"A few decades ago, Cyprus was just a dependency of Persia. The king of Cyprus once united with the Greek city-states in Asia Minor several times to gain independence, but Persia finally suppressed it. Since then, the Persians have learned their lesson and abolished The king of Cyprus split Cyprus into multiple city-states and did not allow them to build tall and thick city walls, otherwise it would be disloyal to Persia.

Although I don’t know exactly how many troops Cyprus can muster to fight us, it is obvious that their defense capabilities are not strong, and their largest city-state, Nicosia, is located in the center of the plain and is easy to capture... Moreover, you all felt just now It is more difficult to attack Cyprus from the sea. We all have this idea, and the Cypriots will never think of this. Our raid will definitely be successful! "

After Chalcedis finished speaking, the eyes of the legion commanders all lit up.

Davos coughed slightly, attracted the attention of the generals, and then said thoughtfully: "It is indeed a good idea to attack Cyprus from the sea, but this is more to gain dominance at sea, not to attack the Persian Near East. The main route to the region, after all, except for the Gulf of Issus, other areas do not have the conditions for large-scale landings...

According to intelligence, the Persians have mobilized a large number of troops in the Mesopotamia. Once we capture Cyprus, the Persians will definitely be vigilant. They will definitely strengthen the defense of the Issus coast. If our main force wants to Landing operations in the Near East will undoubtedly take great risks, so our offensive focus should still be on land.

As long as we occupy Cyprus and destroy the Persian fleet, the transport fleet can safely sail along the coast boldly and supply troops marching on land at any time.Even with maritime transportation support, our army can advance directly to the north without attacking Gaza - "

Davos looked down at the small and narrow seaside area north of Gaza City on the map, with a somewhat complicated expression: "Chalsidis, do you know anything about Jerusalem in Canaan?"

"Your Majesty, I have asked people that the Jews living in Jerusalem are a weak nation. They were massacred by the Assyrians and imprisoned the survivors in Babylon. Although the Persians later released them and let them They returned to their hometown, but decades later, their numbers are still small...

I heard that a few years ago they sent people to plead with the King of Persia, hoping to allocate some money to rebuild their dilapidated temple.The Persian king agreed to their request and even appointed his trusted cupbearer, Nehemiah, who was also a Jew, as governor of Jerusalem to be responsible for this matter.

As a result, after Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he had a conflict with Sanballat, the governor of Samaria to the east, and the conflict continues to this day... Therefore, the weak Jews are unable to stop our army, and we can even occupy this place -" Chalcidius Si pointed at an icon on the map: "Jaffa, a port town in the Jerusalem area, is used for our fleet to dock..."

"Very good!" Davos looked away from the map, looked around everyone, and said solemnly: "Everyone, I think everyone agrees with the suggestion put forward by Chalcedis, so I will recruit Szekeli as soon as possible. Ann, Midorades and Stephachus held another military meeting to discuss the feasibility of attacking Cyprus and annihilating the main force of the Persian fleet...

No matter what the outcome of the next military meeting is, the attack on Persia will be launched in a short time. I just hope that you will use this time to let the soldiers of each legion learn and adapt to marching, camping and fighting in the desert as soon as possible! "

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Everyone responded in unison.

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The next day, Davos took Asistes and the high priest Amenhotep to the temples of Ptah and Osiris to offer sacrifices. They were warmly welcomed by the temple priests. He also interacted with the saints raised in the temples. Cow Apis had a close encounter.

The fat cow, which was all black with only a white star spot on its forehead, was very friendly to him. It flicked its tail and quickly finished the fodder he handed over, making the priests of Ptah and Orisis shout loudly. Praise (Apis was first considered to be the incarnation of Ptah, the creation god, and later evolved into the incarnation of Osiris): "Pharaoh Davos is worthy of being the son of Amon, and even the comfortable sacred cow dare not slack off. !”

Then Davos went to the temple of Knight, the goddess of wisdom and war, to worship. He even promised Amenhotep that he would take time to worship at the Karak Temple in Thebes, but he refused. Another piece of advice from the Egyptian High Priest: Go to the Temple of Amun in the Siwa Oasis to get an oracle.

Siwa Oasis is located in the desert of western Egypt. The Temple of Amun there is quite ancient and highly respected. Its oracle is famous far and wide. Not only the Egyptians often go to worship, but also the Greeks have many admirers, especially It was Thessaly and Macedonia in Northern Greece.

The reason why Davos refused was not because it was very difficult to go to the Siwa Oasis. Although he remembered that Alexander in his previous life went to the Siwa Oasis Temple to worship after conquering Egypt, and encountered many obstacles on the way. It is dangerous, but Amenhotep repeatedly stated: Although Siwa Oasis is located in the desert, its route is very safe because people often go there to worship.

The problem that Davos considered was that many Greeks who went to worship in the Siwa Oasis regarded Amon in that temple as the incarnation of Zeus in Egypt. Historically, Alexander claimed that he was the child of Zeus, so of course he had to go to worship. Yes, but as a descendant of Hades, Davos is obviously not suitable.

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At the same time that King Davos arrived in Egypt, the central Italian coalition forces headed by Volsi, Herniki, and Sabine also landed in Asia Minor by ship. By now, all the Greek coalition forces commanded by Leoticides had gather together.

During the period when the Greek coalition forces arrived one after another, he did not wait quietly, but was always in an active offensive posture. Not only did he successively force the surrender of towns near the Hellespont, but he also took advantage of the victory in the Battle of Samos Under the influence of the emperor, he led the main force away from the coastline and penetrated deep into the interior of Mysia. At the same time, he also sent some troops southward and entered Lydia.

Because the Persian army was unable to resist, the Greek coalition forces became powerful for a while. Not only the Greek city-states along the coast, such as Bosworth and Chios, surrendered, but even some towns in the interior of Mysia and Lydia also surrendered to it. .

An interesting thing happened during this period. The commander of the Tenth Legion, Stepros, made a request to Leoticides: He hoped that he could lead a force to the other side of the strait and force Byzantium to surrender.

Thirty years ago, the Persian mercenaries, the predecessor of the Dionysian army, were humiliated in Byzantium, including King Davos. Leoticides had heard about this, and he knew in his heart: This requirement I'm afraid it was not Stepforos's own will, but the collective instruction from his father Amyntas, or even many veterans in the army.

Of course Leoticides would not refuse, and even since there was not much military pressure at the moment, he generously approved: Styphros could lead the entire Tenth Legion there.

Stepforos led his army to land on the beach near Byzantium. As soon as he set up camp, the Byzantine envoy arrived and humbly expressed to him: Byzantium is willing to serve as the master of the Holy Kingdom of Dionia!

The incident that happened decades ago has long been forgotten by Byzantium, which has almost changed a generation. However, the Byzantines know that Athens, Sparta, and even the entire mainland of Greece, which they once attached to, are crawling. At the feet of Dionia, Dionia's power had not spread to the Youke Star Sea before, and the Byzantines could still pretend not to know. Now that the opponent's army is close at hand, they who have always known how to adapt to the wind immediately surrendered. .

Of course, Stepforos would not take the initiative to repeat the embarrassing events of the year, but put forward some harsh requirements, such as providing a large amount of food, tribute, and providing fleets and labor to provide assistance to the army... All of Byzantium accept.

The Byzantines were so aware that Stepforos could not make unreasonable troubles, so he had to lead 8000 fully armed soldiers in an armed parade in the Byzantine city. Finally, he asked the Byzantine government to build a monumental column in the port, and the top of it must be inlaid with Diver. Statue of the king of Sri Lanka riding a horse and wielding a sword.

(End of this chapter)