Chapter 1142
Sedorum continued, "I heard that many Greek city-states sympathized with the fall of Messenia and took in many Messenians who escaped from Sparta. If our army can enter Peloponnesus under the banner of 'helping the Messenians regain their independence,' I think the Greek people won't be so disgusted with us. Moreover, if we really rebuild Messenia and let the Helaoths regain their freedom, not only will we severely weaken Sparta's power, but the rebuilt Messenia will also be on our side and become the most supportive force in Greece."
Devers nodded slightly. Clearly, Sedorum's proposal was to his liking. He immediately turned to Alexis and asked, "What does the Ministry of Military Affairs think about this?"
Alexis answered almost without hesitation, "Your Majesty, from a military point of view, attacking Messenia is a very good strategic choice. If our army goes through Corinth Bay and lands in Central Greece or north of Peloponnesus, it will be safer to fight with the Thebes. However, it also means that most of our gains will be taken by the Thebes. This will also raise the vigilance of the nearby neutral city-states, such as Athens and Corinth.
However, if we were to open up a battlefield alone, the Peloponnesus Peninsula is mostly filled with mountains, making it difficult for an army to land and march. Messenia is undoubtedly the best target. Its southern coast is flat, making it suitable for an army to land. It is also very close to Sparta, but there are mountains in between. The reinforcements from Sparta will not be able to arrive quickly, giving the army enough time to completely occupy Messenia.
Moreover, if we attack by land, we only need to pass through the Arcadians' territory to directly attack Sparta. If we attack by sea, it will be even closer. Sparta's southern coast is flat, making it suitable for landing. This way, we can avoid the possibility of direct conflict with the other powerful Greek states … "
Although Alexis was the chief military officer, he would seriously consider the political factors when making military plans. This was what Devers admired the most. "Very good! The Ministry of Military Affairs will make a plan to attack Messenia as soon as possible. "
"Yes, Your Majesty," Alexis immediately replied.
"Your Majesty." Printos raised the battle report in his hand and said, "I noticed that there are many Thessaly Cavalrymen in the Pioscia coalition army. According to the latest intelligence from Greece, the Thessaly region in the north of Greece has basically been unified by Iazon, the tyrant of Philae. If these cavalrymen were not hired by the Thebes, they could only be dispatched by Iazon. This means that Thessaly may have secretly formed an alliance with the Thebes. I'm afraid this will attract our attention!"
"Thessaly …" Devers rubbed his chin and fell into deep thought.
At this time, Martonis smiled and said, "It's good that Thessaly has formed an alliance with the Thebes. This means that before we attack Greece, we don't have to worry too much about the Thebes because of Sparta's crazy revenge. We can also consider forming an alliance with the Thessaly when the time is right."
Martonis showed that he liked the Thessaly people. This was not surprising. After working together for so many years, they all knew that Martonis came from Thessaly, Olivers came from Thessaly, and Hilos came from Thessaly. Now, in the Dionysian Army, some of the former mercenary generals came from Thessaly. Even their king and Devers used to be from Thessaly. Therefore, they wisely did not refute Martonis' words.
However, what they did not know was that Devers had no feelings for Thessaly at all. Instead, it was Printos' words that aroused his vigilance.
Thessaly was located in Northern Greece. In the eyes of Athens, Corinth, Sparta, and other traditional powerful states, it was a barbarian land. There had always been conflicts in the Thessaly region, and it had never affected the political situation in Greece. After 20 years of development, although the Diónia Intelligence Department's funds and manpower had been increasing, there were also more and more areas that needed to be investigated and monitored. Therefore, they did not put much effort into such a remote area. They only relied on Diónia's merchant ships that occasionally traded with Philae to obtain some information.
In the past few years, even though the tyrant of Philae, Iazon, had conquered several neighboring city-states, it did not attract the attention of the Intelligence Department. After all, there were many tyrants in the Mediterranean city-states. It was not uncommon for some of them to have some achievements, but they were usually short-lived. It was not until the news that "Philae quickly united Thessaly and Iazon to become Tarkus" spread to Turií that it attracted the attention of Aristiras.
Although in the following years, Iazon had stopped any wars and seemed to be satisfied with just becoming Thessaly's Tarkus, the Devers were even more vigilant. This caused the Devers to be even more vigilant. This was because Iazon had spent the past few years mainly integrating the city-states of Thessaly, promoting the trade within the region, stepping up the training of the public militia, and even building a navy … These actions of Iazon were somewhat similar to the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius. Due to the geographical environment that Thessaly was located in, its infantry and cavalry were stronger.
Could it be that the tyrant of Thessaly finally could not bear the loneliness and wanted to intervene in the affairs of Southern Greece?! The Devers were vigilant and immediately said, "The tyrant of Thessaly Philae is very ambitious. This time, if he has really secretly formed an alliance with the Thebes, I'm afraid he wants to use this war to seize the hegemony of Greece. We can't just sit back and do nothing! Ancitanos, send a messenger to ask the Thebes if they are also forming an alliance with Thessaly. It would be best to find out the true attitude of the Thebes towards Thessaly. This will determine the measures we have to take when there is a conflict with Thessaly in the future. "
"Yes, Your Majesty," Ancitanos responded.
"This … How could this be?" Matonis was stunned.
Printos, who had a little understanding of the situation, came up to him and whispered to him.
The Devers did not pay much attention to it and continued, "The Sparta army was defeated, and Persia will not let it go. Now that Thessaly may be involved, since we have decided to intervene in the affairs of Greece, we have to take advantage of the time when the Sparta army is defeated and the other forces have not yet fully involved, and implement our plan as soon as possible!
Alexis, Printos, the two of you make a judgment now. How many soldiers do we need to take over Messenia and then attack Sparta? "
Alexis and Printos looked at each other, then called the military training chief Hieronymus, the military supply chief Altons, the military chief Matonis, Olivers, and other generals to form a circle in the corner of the hall.
After a quiet discussion, Alexis walked up to the Devers and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, according to the current situation of Sparta and the geographical conditions of the Peloponnesus region, after our discussion, we think that we only need to send 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers to complete the expedition. If we send too many soldiers, it will be difficult to spread out on the mountainous Peloponnesus peninsula. "
"20,000 to 30,000 people …" The Devers turned around and asked, "How long can the existing food reserves in the country support them?"
The Minister of Agriculture, Burcos, stretched out his hands and carefully calculated, then stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the country has been having a good harvest for the past few years. Although there have been some battles in the Iberian and Wave River Plains, they are basically local battles, and the consumption of food is not much. According to this year's survey, the food reserves in the various regions are basically full, and should be able to support an army of 30,000 soldiers to fight in Greece for more than a year."
"More than a year … Hmm … What about weapons and equipment?"
The military supply chief Altons immediately stood up and answered, "Your Majesty, there are arrows, javelins, tents, blankets, carts, and other military supplies in the various military camps in the various regions. It is more than enough to supply 30,000 soldiers."
After hearing this, the Devers revealed a somewhat satisfied smile. He thought for a moment, then glanced at the Minister of State Assistance, Hemont, and said, "Considering that this is the first time we, the Diónia, are sending troops to fight in Greece, in order to reduce the resentment of the citizens of the neutral city-states towards us, it is best to send as many soldiers with Greek blood as possible …
The last time we went to Gaul, we sent the First, Second, Third, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Legions, so this time … Hmm, considering that we will be fighting with the people of Sparta, in order to be more secure, let's send the First, Fourth, and Sixth Legions. "
"Understood, Your Majesty." Alexis asked again, "What about the cavalry?"
"There is no need to consider whether the cavalry and auxiliary troops have Greek blood. Don't the armies of the Greek city-states often hire foreigners to fight, such as Thrace? So you can decide for yourselves."
"Yes."
The Devers then looked at the Minister of Household Registration, Raphael, and asked, "Are the citizens of Diónia of Messenian descent still concentrated in Tyndaris (the city-state had already responded to the strong demands of the citizens and joined the Kingdom of Diónia a few years ago)?"
Raphael, who had been quietly in charge of the Kingdom's citizens' household registration for decades, had the distribution and migration of the kingdom's population firmly imprinted in his mind. He did not need to recall at all to immediately answer, "Your Majesty, it is like this … Nearly half of the population is still in Tyndaris, and the other half has gone to Himera (after the Western Mediterranean War, in order to strengthen its rule over the north coast of Sicily, the Kingdom of Oria rebuilt the city of Himera in the middle of the north coast. The terrain there is relatively flat, and there is a relatively large river flowing through it, suitable for grazing and farming, so it attracted many residents from other towns and cities on the north coast)."
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