ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1288 The arrival of the Persian Asia Minor coalition

When the time entered the new year, the Persian army gradually gathered in the Phrygia region, and some of the army's troops had already moved forward to the eastern border of Mysia, Leotichides felt some pressure, and he began to gather Troops scattered throughout the country.

In early February, the Persian Asia Minor coalition held an important military meeting in the capital of Phrygia. The western commander Pharnabazos served as the host of the meeting. All the governors of the regions were present at the meeting, with the exception of one general. His identity Very special - Jason, the former Thessaly Targus.

After Jason's army was defeated by the Dionian army five years ago, he fled to Persia alone. Unlike many celebrities who were expelled from Greece and liked to stay in western Asia Minor, he went directly to Syria to see the King of Persia.

At that time, Artaxerxes was originally preparing to conquer Persia personally, but unexpectedly a fire broke out in his backyard and a major rebellion broke out in Asia Minor. He had to return to quell the rebellion.

Jason unified Thessaly and became Tagus, and served as the main force in the anti-Dionyian Greek coalition. He once had an advantage in the war... These deeds have long been introduced to this man through the mouth of Datis. The King of Persia heard that considering that there were many Greek mercenaries among the rebels, Persia lacked heavy infantry, and Jason was an excellent Greek general, he not only received Jason enthusiastically, but also made Promise: As long as he is willing to serve Persia and be loyal to him, when Persia goes to war with Dionia in the future, he will help him return to Thessaly and regain the throne of Tagus.

Of course Jason did not want it, and he immediately accepted the appointment of Artaxerxes as the commander-in-chief of the Greek mercenaries belonging to Persia.With sufficient financial support from Persia, Jason quickly recruited nearly [-] Greek soldiers from western Asia Minor and even the Ionian Islands, training and fighting at the same time. In the entire Persian war to quell the chaos, Jason gained His considerable feats also won the trust of Artaxerxes.

At the end of the war, the number of mercenaries under Jason's command had increased to 15. Artaxerxes did not ask him to reduce his soldiers, but instead asked him to lead the mercenaries to garrison in Cilicia.

Silesia is located in the south-central part of Asia Minor, with extremely fertile plains. The population there is not large, but the people are very wealthy and have established a kingdom very early.In the process of the Persian king Darius's westward conquest, Cilicia was surrounded by mountains as a barrier, which was originally difficult to capture. However, the king of Cilicia took the initiative to submit, so the throne was retained.

At the beginning of Artaxerxes' accession to the throne, the king and his wife of Silesia also actively sponsored Cyrus the Younger to fight for the throne. In the end, Cyrus the Younger was defeated and died. However, Artaxerxes was afraid of causing turmoil in Asia Minor and did not dare to deal with it at that time. Those regional governors and kings who had colluded with Cyrus the Younger quietly weakened their power until this time the rebellion in Asia Minor was completely suppressed. He finally completely eliminated the royal family of Cilicia and seized this fertile land. When it came into his own hands, he not only sent his closest men to serve as governors, but for fear of causing resistance from the local people, he also sent Jason, who was good at conquering and fighting, to sit in Cilicia.

Of course, Artaxerxes had further considerations: Cilicia was rich enough to support Greek mercenaries, which could reduce the financial burden on Persia, and Jason led the army to sit in Cilicia. If there was a rebellion in other parts of Asia Minor, he would also You can go to the rescue in time.

Just a few years later, the rebellion never appeared again, but the invasion of the Greek coalition forces came.

When Pharnabazus took office as the military commander in western Asia Minor, he asked the King of Persia to send Greek mercenaries to assist in the battle, because Jason's army was directly under the king of Persia and was not under the command of any local governor.

Artaxerxes agreed, and Pharabazus soon sent a call to Jason.

But Jason, who has lived in Persia for several years, is no longer as urgent as he was at the beginning. He was worried that if he went to Phrygia too early, he would be used as cannon fodder by the Persians and sent to the front line first, so he found After delaying for various reasons, they eventually became one of the last troops to arrive in Phrygia, which made Pharnabazus a little unhappy.

At this military meeting, most of the governors had roughly the same opinion: given that the current number of our own army soldiers is as high as more than 8, which is far greater than the number of Greek coalition forces detected by the reconnaissance cavalry, we should boldly lead the army to march westward, and at the same time The Greeks launched a decisive battle and completely defeated them. They could no longer wait, because Greek troops continued to land in Asia Minor, and the number of enemy troops continued to increase.

Jason raised an objection. He believed that based on his understanding of Dionia and the Greek city-states, they must have sent the most elite soldiers of their own city-states in this invasion of Asia Minor. Since the Persian infantry was not strong, , they were always at a disadvantage in previous wars with the Greeks. Now if they take the initiative to engage in a head-on battle with the Greek coalition, they are very likely to suffer defeat. By then, the war situation in Asia Minor will become very bad.On the contrary, if you are not in a hurry to engage in a battle with the Greek coalition, but let the army retreat on its own initiative, and at the same time move or burn all supplies that can be used by the Greeks, lure the Greek coalition to go deep into the interior, and then use your own familiar terrain and more cavalry By using the advantage of constantly harassing the enemy and raiding their rear food transportation, they achieved the goal of wearing down the Greek coalition forces. When the Greek coalition forces became weak and then looked for opportunities to engage in a decisive battle with them, the chances of victory would be greater.

Jason's suggestion was strongly opposed by the vast majority of the Persian governors. These nobles from the core area of ​​Persia had no experience in fighting with the Greeks. On the contrary, they still regarded Greece as barbarians deep in their hearts. They were not proud in their bones. The Persian army was allowed to adopt such cowardly tactics to deal with the Greeks whom they despised. The governors of Mysia, Lydia, and Phrygia strongly demanded a quick victory because they did not want to see the lands under their jurisdiction suffered by the Greeks. Human ravages.

Some governors even attacked Jason personally and accused him: The Persian king was generous and did not despise him because of his refugee status as a foreigner. Instead, he only used him in important ways. However, he did not want to repay the Persian king's trust. Instead, he At the critical moment, he wanted to delay the war. What was An thinking?
Some people even pointed out that after Jason received the call-up order, he did not immediately lead his fully-organized Greek mercenaries to Phrygia. Instead, he delayed it until the end. I am afraid he had different intentions. In order to avoid him suddenly turning to Phrygia during the battle. Greeks, it would be best to deprive him of his military power and put him on trial.

Although Jason was a little guilty, he had a bad temper and started quarreling with the governors.

In the atmosphere of the governors' unanimous request to repel the Greek army as soon as possible, Pharnabazos finally had to adopt their suggestions and actively sought a decisive battle with the Greek coalition forces.

After the meeting, he left Jason alone, comforted him, expressed his confidence in him clearly, and promised that if he performed well in the subsequent battle, he would report his achievements to the king of Persia, and Assistance will also be provided for his future return to Thessaly.

As a veteran Persian general in Asia Minor, Pharnabazus not only experienced the humiliation of besieging the Greek expeditionary force and finally letting the opponent escape from the siege, but also experienced the pain of being blasted by the army led by Agesilaus. He was well aware of the power of the Greek army, so he agreed with Jason's view. However, when so many governors unanimously demanded a quick victory, he had to agree against his will, even though he was the new military commander of western Asia Minor and also the leader of Argus. The son-in-law of Taxerxes, but his status as a nobleman from Asia Minor determined that he did not gain more trust from the Persian king than some of the Persian governors present. Whose secret letter might aggravate the suspicious Persian The king doubted him,
Although he was a little wary of the combat effectiveness of the Greek coalition, he believed that his army had gathered elites from all of western Asia Minor. Not only did it exceed the number of the Greek coalition, but it was also assisted by Greek mercenaries who were good at fighting. It had a high chance of winning the battle. Victory, so he confidently led the western coalition of Asia Minor, left Phrygia, entered Mysia, and pressed towards the location of the Greek coalition.

After hearing the news, Leoticchides suddenly sighed in his heart: That old guy was right!

It turned out that after all the Greek coalition forces gathered together, the coalition commander Leotychides convened a military meeting with the generals of the various armies.

At the meeting, Ipamirondas, Lycomedes, Iphicrates and other allied generals all agreed that the coalition was strong and should seize the time to lead the army eastward and seek a decisive battle with the main force of the Persian army. After winning the victory, the entire western Asia Minor was no longer able to stop the Greek coalition's offensive.

But some people are worried, because at this time they have found out that Pharnabazus was appointed by the King of Persia as the military commander of Asia Minor. This is an experienced veteran who is likely to choose to avoid fighting, and the Greek coalition forces have been away from the coast for a long time. If you go deep into the interior where the environment is unfamiliar, you may encounter a lot of trouble.

The old Agesilaus confidently told the generals: "You don't have to worry about the Persians avoiding the battle, and you don't have to take the initiative to find the Persians for a decisive battle, because the Persian army will take the initiative to find the coalition forces for a decisive battle!
Because the people in western Asia Minor were originally resistant to officials from Persia, and judging from the recent news, the people in western Asia Minor have great distrust of the new Persian governors. If these governors lead their troops to retreat instead of fighting, If the coalition forces are allowed to destroy farmland and villages, the people here will be full of resentment for the governor's indifference, which will be very detrimental to their future rule. Those proud Persians generally will not make this choice.

As for the Persian military commander Pharnabazos... I have a deeper understanding of him. He is indeed a capable Persian general and has a good reputation in western Asia Minor. If he decides to retreat, the soldiers can obey , the people may be able to accept it, but this man is smooth, good at making friends, and generous. Therefore, when he served as governor in western Asia Minor, both his colleagues around him, his officials, and even the local people got along well with him. But he lacks decision-making and is too emotional, which is exactly a taboo for a commander. I think it will be difficult for him to refuse the requests of the governors and abandon the people of Mysia and Phrygia to retreat! "

(End of this chapter)