Chapter 1147
It was not entirely a coincidence that the expedition army of the Holy Kingdom of Diónia had set up camp in the territory of Elis. Elis, as an outlier in the Peloponnesus Alliance, was already in the consideration of the Devers. Furthermore, the Elis region and Arcadia Region were close to Messenia, and many Messenians had fled to these two regions. The seven or eight Elis citizens who had just sung were all from Messenia. Previously, due to military secrecy, the people of Diónia did not announce it to the public. Now, they needed to let the people of the entire Greek world know that Diónia had sent troops to Peloponnesus not only to fulfill the covenant, but also to help the Messenians restore their country. Elis, which was passing by, could help them do this.
After singing the song, the relationship between Tisia and the people of Elis was quickly drawn closer. The people of Elis also began to discuss some cooperation with him. After all, they were all ready to join forces with the Arcadians to fight against Sparta. Now that the army of Diónia to attack Sparta was right in front of them, this was a better opportunity for cooperation!
… …
On this evening, due to the huge commotion caused by the Dionian army landing on the coast, the citizens of Elise were not the only ones who received the news. The news soon spread to the nearby cities such as Olympia, Pisa, and Triphlia, a small city not far east of Olympia that originally belonged to Elise but was later forcibly taken away by Sparta.
In a village called Scillus under Triphlia, there was a large house. The respected hero of the Persia Expedition, the famous scholar of Athens, Xenophon, lived in the house.
More than 20 years ago, after returning from the Persia Expedition, Xenophon was expelled from Athens and had to lead a mercenary army again. He followed the king of Sparta, Agesilaus, to conquer Asia Minor. Because of this, he was highly regarded by Agesilaus and became a distinguished guest of Sparta. Agesilaus assigned him land here. Xenophon had lived here for nearly 20 years and had regarded it as his second home.
In addition to following the Sparta Army to war, he spent more time in the quiet and peaceful village, concentrating on thinking and writing articles. Sometimes, he would take his children and servants to the nearby forest to hunt and relax, living a very comfortable idyllic life. He also raised his own money to build the Temple of Arthenis near the village of Scillus. He worshiped it every year, hoping that the god would bless this area and keep it peaceful and tranquil.
Tonight, as usual, he sat in his study, lit an oil lamp, and began to think about his new book, "History of Greece." This was a new idea that sprouted in his mind after the completion of "Expedition" a few years ago. He wanted to continue the series of events that happened in Greece after Thucydides' "History of the War of Peloponnesus." Many of these events were personally experienced by him, and he was very familiar with them.
Just as he was thinking and writing, a sudden shout broke the silence of the village, and it did not disappear quickly. Instead, it caused the whole village to boil.
Xenophon had no choice but to put down his pen and walk out of the study. As soon as he walked into the courtyard, he ran into his eldest son. He said in a slightly panicked tone, "Father, I heard from the villagers that the army of Diónia has landed on the coast of Elis and is preparing to attack inland!"
Diónia declared war on Elis?! How is this possible?! Diónia and Elis had never been in contact, and there were no signs beforehand. How could a war suddenly break out?! Xenophon was puzzled and immediately asked, "Is this news you heard true?!"
"I heard from the villagers that a few Olympia priests happened to go to a village in Elis to attend a funeral. They saw with their own eyes that the ships of Diónia were anchored on the beach, and they could not see the end of it …"
Xenophon's expression turned solemn. He thought for a moment, and said to his son, "Go out and tell the villagers that I'm the one who said it. Tell them not to panic. Even if the Dionysian army is really going to attack inland, it's still far from here. We have enough time to make preparations. Let them go home and rest. Don't make a ruckus in the middle of the night. It'll easily cause panic and accidents!"
Not long after his son went out, the noise gradually subsided. Xenophon's prestige in this village was evident.
Xenophon had no desire to write at this time. He paced back and forth in the courtyard irritably, recalling the matter of "Sparta wanting to end the peace agreement with Diónia early". He was very uneasy about it at that time, but unfortunately, his words carried little weight. Even Agesilaus' strong opposition could not stop it. Now, not long after the agreement was suspended, the army of Diónia set foot on the land of Elis. How much impact would this have on the situation in Peloponnesus and the entire Greek mainland?!
Xenophon had just been to Turií, and he had a deeper understanding of the strength of the Kingdom of Diónia. At the thought of this terrible beast finally breaking out of its cage and pouncing on the Greek mainland, he could not help but tremble all over. There was only one thought in his mind: immediately rush to Sparta and tell them about this matter. Let them quickly discuss a good way to put this beast back in its cage!
But … was there really a good way? Xenophon looked up at the dark night sky and remembered the smile on his face when he met the Devers, but his eyes were unreadable …
… …
The next morning, the crew of Diónia pushed the ships away from the beach. The soldiers quickly boarded the ships, and the entire fleet continued to sail south.
Seeing that the people of Diónia had really left, the people of Elis breathed a sigh of relief. Next, they could not wait for the upheaval in the south to happen.
There was one more person in this Diónia fleet. It was the descendant of Messenia, the Elis councilor, Ionicus, who had spoken to Tisias previously. He had taken the initiative to apply to follow the army as a liaison between Elis and the Dionysian Army. At the same time, he was also a guide. Therefore, he was approved by Commander Leotychides to appear on the flagship of the First Fleet.
At this time, he pointed to the coast in front of the left and said in a trembling voice, "After this promontory, we will enter the waters of Messenia!"
"Don't be nervous. We have so many warships. The fleet of Sparta will not dare to attack us at all," Tisias comforted him.
"I'm not nervous. I'm just a little excited." Ionicus let out a long sigh.
Tisias looked at him and nodded sympathetically. He said softly, "Me too."
At this time, the lookout on top of the flagship's mainmast shouted, "Raise a yellow flag on the clippers in front!"
Sekerian, who was standing at the bow of the ship and looking ahead, immediately said to the flagship's captain, "Tell the First B Squadron to maintain their formation and continue forward. Ignore them unless they attack."
"Yes, sir!"
The reason Sekerian dared to give such an order was because he knew that Sparta's current warships did not exceed 40, and more than half of them were from their allies. They were not enough to pose a threat to the First Fleet at all. In the entire Greek mainland, perhaps only the fleet of Athens could slightly raise Sekerian's spirits.
In reality, it was two Sparta patrol ships that appeared in front of the 1st Flotilla. Originally, they only wanted to warn the Dionysian fleet to stay away from the coastal route, but the 1st Flotilla ignored them and went straight ahead. Hundreds of warships approached them riding the wind and waves. The sailors of Sparta had long been terrified, so they quickly turned around and retreated to the south.
The difference between the Sparta navy and the army was like the difference between heaven and earth. Other than a great victory at the Sheep Horse River under Lysander's leadership, they did not have any other glorious achievements. In the past few years, they had been beaten by the navy of Athens repeatedly. Their morale was extremely low, and right now, they did not dare to challenge the enormous Dionysian fleet.
Soon, no more Sparta warships appeared in the vicinity. The entire Diónia fleet sailed south along the coast smoothly. On one hand, it was more convenient to ensure the safety of the troop transports and supply ships, and on the other hand, it was convenient to observe the situation on land.
However, what the crew saw were mostly continuous mountain ridges. Only near the coast could they see a stone tower every one or two miles.
"These are the towers that the Sparta forced the Mersenians to build, but their purpose is to monitor the Mersenians and prevent them from escaping," Ionicus said in a heavy tone. "There are many similar facilities in the north of the Mersenian territory. The Sparta made the whole of Messenia into a cage to imprison the Mersenians … Back then, my father and nearly 200 people could not bear the cruel oppression and killing of the Sparta, so they desperately tried to escape Messenia. In the end, less than 15 people managed to escape to Ellis alive …"
After listening to this, Tisias was silent for a long time. He secretly clenched his fists and said with hatred, "Today, we, the Diónia, are here to break this cage. Such a tragedy will not happen again in the future!"
As the two vented their anger towards Sparta, a voice interrupted, "Why don't I see anyone in these towers?"
Ionicus turned around and saw that it was the commander of the Diónia army, Leotychides. He quickly explained, "In the past, there were at least 10 soldiers stationed in each tower. But now … The Sparta people go to war every year, and every year, there are casualties among their citizens. As a result, they don't even have enough people to defend Laconia. How can there be extra soldiers stationed in these towers?"
Ionicus showed a look of schadenfreude, while Leotychides's expression was a little strange.
Then Ionicus said, "But there must be Sparta soldiers stationed in the city of Pilos up ahead, because it is an important town for the Sparta on the west coast of Messenia."
Comments