ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1300 Visitors from Persia
At the same time, the Tyrians also found out that King Davos personally led an army of more than 10 people, and there was also a Greek coalition army of 6 to 7 people in Asia Minor. A total of more than 20 powerful troops had defeated the Persian army many times. Swinging, unstoppable.The Persian army may be larger in number, but it does not seem to be an opponent of the majestic and uniform Dionysian army in terms of combat effectiveness. This is the feeling of General Tire who has followed the Persian army in battle many times.

The more important point is that many Tyrians became prisoners of Dionia during the Cyprus naval battle and are still detained in Cyprus.

Tyre's surrender made Davos very happy. He immediately sent a messenger to have the three legions that had landed on Cyprus discuss with the first and second Dionian fleets to formulate a plan to land in the Syrian Gulf and capture Milianrus as soon as possible. city's military plan.

At the same time, Tire's surrender also had a huge impact on other Phoenician city-states. They were not as powerful as Tire, and they had no cities built in the sea to defend themselves, and they did not dare to confront Dionia, so Sidon , Aduras and other city-states also quickly surrendered, and the Dionian army successfully conquered the Phoenician region.

Daves did not immediately lead his army northward. He waited for the Cyprus army to successfully land in the Syrian Gulf before issuing the order to go north.But the marching route is no longer along the coast, because the Libanus Mountains have become a barrier to the northern near east coast from north to south. The further north you go, the more difficult it becomes, especially for a group with the size of Dionia. Huge army.

Davers did not choose to bypass Mount Libanus and walk to the edge of the desert to the east. Firstly, the distance was longer, and secondly, the climate there was hot, sparsely populated along the way, and supply of water was difficult. There were no big towns, except in Its southern end is Damascus, very close to the Phoenician region.

Perhaps in the future historical development, Damascus will become a battleground for military strategists in the Near East, but at this time, Davos really did not take it seriously. Although it is still a large town, it has nothing The Persian garrison did not show hostility to the Dionian army. Instead, it sent an envoy to express its neutrality to Davos.

Therefore, Davos did not spend time to capture Damascus. He just asked the mountain reconnaissance brigade to closely monitor the movements of Damascus. He led the army to leave the Phoenician area and eastward into the Libanus Mountains.

The snowy water of the Amanus Mountains in northern Syria converges into a river, the Orontis River, which flows from north to south through Mount Libanus and finally flows into the northern part of Phoenicia, thus in the center of its mountains. A relatively wide and narrow plain, the Amik Plain, was formed, which was the northward march route of the Dionysian army.

Fearing that the Persians would block heavily in the north, Davest ordered the troops in Cyprus to land in Syria first to ensure the smooth progress of the main force going north.

But in fact, Daves was too worried. Not long ago, part of the garrison in Syria had been transferred to Fanabazus in Asia Minor by the King of Persia, leaving the army empty and unable to intercept the main force of Dionia. It cannot even provide adequate defense for the region.

The Cypriot army easily landed on the Syrian coast, quickly captured the city of Milianthus, and then quickly moved eastward to surround the town of Sochi at the northern entrance to the Amik Plain.

By the time the main force of Dionia arrived near Sochi, the town had been captured.

After Davers led the army through Sochi and entered the Syrian area, he stopped advancing and began to camp to rest.

The camp being built stretches from the foothills of Mount Amanus in the north to the foothills of Mount Libanus in the south. It is close to the Orontis River in the east and backed by the bay in the west. It occupies a good defensive terrain.

Davos also sent a large number of scouts across the Orontis River to the east to detect the movements of the Persian army.

At the same time, he sent some troops to attack the northwest coastal pass, the Syrian Pass. Once it was captured, he continued to attack westward, attacking towns such as Issus, Castabrorum, and Philotas in turn, and opened up the The coastal passage of Asia Minor, to receive the Greek coalition forces as soon as possible, and after the two armies meet, they will attack eastward together. This is Davos' next plan.

But what Daves didn't know was that the Greek coalition forces that had attacked quickly before were now encountering some trouble.

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After the Greek coalition's attack on Haskarnsus was frustrated, in order not to waste time and reduce the loss of troops, Leoticides decided to leave some troops to surround the city, and the main force of the army continued to advance eastward.

However, after passing through Caria and entering the Lycia region, the Greek coalition forces could no longer advance along the coast, because Lycia and the adjacent Pisidia region were mountainous and the roads were difficult to travel, so the army could only circle northward. Passing through Lycia and Pesidia, and then passing through the pass of the Taurus Mountains in the Cappadocia region, entering the fertile Silesia region. Most of the roads to be traveled are the roads built by the Persian royal court to control the empire. The straight road in the west of Asia Minor. Although this road is easier to walk, it goes into the interior of Asia Minor.

During this period of time, Pharnabazus, the Persian military commander in Asia Minor, reorganized part of the defeated army and received some reinforcements from the royal court (Pharnabazus' battle report was sent to Artaxerxes After that, the King of Persia believed the letter that said "the battle failed because of the sudden rebellion of the Persian mercenaries." Therefore, he did not remove him from his post. Instead, he sent more reinforcements and ordered him to do his best to stop the Greek coalition forces in (in Asia Minor), the strength was partially restored, but the irony is that Pharnabazus did not dare to face the Greek coalition this time. Instead, he decided to implement the suggestion of Jason who was killed by him: strengthen the wall and clear the country, and at the same time send Small groups of troops took advantage of the terrain to continuously disrupt the transportation lines of the Greek coalition forces.

The governors of Asia Minor, who had already tasted the powerful fighting power of the Greek coalition, did not firmly oppose this time, allowing this strategy to be implemented.

Since the Greek coalition failed to capture Halicarnassus, an important town with a large port, more of the Greek coalition's grain transport fleets could only land at the port of Miletus. The supply line was stretched, and Pharnabazos The defensive tactics also posed a huge threat to this long supply line. The Greek coalition forces entering the inner route were unable to collect food and grass on the spot, and had to send heavy troops to protect the supply line, seriously slowing down the eastward advance.

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In September, the supporting troops sent by Davos captured Issus, captured Castabrorum, and even advanced westward to Maras, which was only separated from the rich Silesia by the Alain Plain.

But the Greek allied forces had not even passed through Pisidia and reached the Cappadocia region, and the two sides were far apart.

During this period, the scouts sent to the east to explore reported back: they discovered a huge Persian military camp near the city of Taposakus (the city is located on the banks of the Euphrates River, more than 200 miles away from the Eurontis River). , and Persian troops continued to come from the east...

The Persian army is finally coming! ... Whether it was Davos or the generals under him, they immediately cheered up, not only ordered the soldiers under him to reinforce the camp and strengthen the defense, but at the same time, Davos also sent messengers to the Plains of Allen, informing them to prepare The troops responding to the Greek coalition returned immediately.

Not long after, many Persian cavalry appeared on the east bank of the Orontis River, trying to cross the river to spy on the Dionian military camp.

The Dionian cavalry drove them away, and small-scale fights broke out many times. However, one of the main forces of both sides stayed in Syria and the other was stationed near Taposakus. Both sides stood still and faced off for more than a month.

At dusk that day, a guest was welcomed into Davos's tent.

"Izam, you are finally back! I haven't received a message from you for so long. I thought you were nostalgic for your hometown and didn't want to go back to Dionia anymore, hahaha..." Although Davos was joking, his mood But very excited, he strode forward and gave Izam a strong hug.

"Your Majesty, to be honest, when I return to Dukya and see my brothers speaking familiar words, wearing familiar clothes, eating familiar food... I always feel inexplicably scared -" Iza Mu said with a relieved look: "I'm afraid that my decades of experience in Dionia are just a dream! Now that I see His Majesty, I am completely relieved!"

Then he said with a little guilt: "I found that I can no longer live without the prosperous life of Dionysia, and I can't adapt to the poverty of Dukya at all..."

Davos comforted him and said: "Under conditions, people are willing to enjoy happiness and will not take the initiative to suffer pain. But the poverty of Dukya is mainly caused by the cruel oppression of the Persians. As long as we defeat the Persians, , I believe that this bad situation of the Ducyan people will gradually improve! Oh, by the way, you came all the way back and haven’t eaten yet, right?”

"Your Majesty, before I came to see you, I went to see Master Mariji and had some food at his place. If Master Mariji hadn't found a Persian caravan to provide cover for my actions this time, I wouldn't have been able to do this. Safe arrival in Dukya!"

Davos looked at Mariji, who had a calm face next to Izam, and said with a smile: "I'm afraid you don't know, but Mariji used to be Prince Cyrus's royal merchant, and there were many merchants in western Persia. With small connections, after defeating Carthage more than ten years ago, considering that Persia would become the kingdom's biggest enemy, he quietly supported several trustworthy friends in Persia with the assistance of the Intelligence Department. A friend of the kingdom also secretly sold weapons and food prohibited by Persia to Dukya several times..."

(End of this chapter)