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Chapter 1206

"It can't be helped. Only by uniting the entire western part of Asia Minor will we have enough power to fight against the king!" Ariobazenis said in a deep voice. "Stridus is a cautious man. Since he dared to take the initiative to propose this, it means that he is confident in convincing the other governors and keeping the secret."

… …

After the Dionysian Army occupied the territory of Sparta, the rest of the Greek city-states, led by Athens, were actively organizing an allied army to fight against the Dionysian Army.

At the same time, the Ministry of Military Affairs of Diónia conveyed an order from the King of Devers to Leotychides to gather the Eighth Legion, the Fifteenth Legion (barracks in Syracuse, soldiers from Syracuse), the Sixteenth Legion (barracks in Agrigento, soldiers from the south coast of Sicily), the Seventeenth Legion (barracks in Lili, soldiers from the west coast of Sicily), the Fourth Cavalry Legion, and the Numibian Light Cavalry Legion at Lili. When the transport fleet arrived, they would immediately head for Egypt.

At the same time, another order from the Ministry of Military Affairs was sent to the Midolades, requesting him to lead the 2nd Fleet and prepare for the expedition to Egypt.

In addition, the King of Devers also issued an order to the Phoenician allies led by Carthage along the coast of Africa, requesting them to immediately assemble a large number of transport fleets and be responsible for transporting the Dionysian Army gathered in Lili to Egypt.

At the same time, the Ministry of Military Affairs transferred the former Commander of the Fourteenth Legion, Patroclus, who was still quelling the riots in Liguria, back to Turia and replaced him with Hasdrubal.

At the same time, the Ministry of Military Affairs also issued an order to all the military camps in the region: except for the expedition to Peloponnesus and the army that was about to head for Egypt, all the other troops in the kingdom began to assemble. In addition, it was specifically stated that the Po River region must provide 6000 soldiers and 2000 Gallic cavalry.

In addition, the Ministry of Military Affairs also transferred the 3rd Fleet, which was responsible for the security of the kingdom's west coast, to Brindisi for advance preparations.

Although these orders meant that a large military operation was about to take place, the military camps announced to the public that they would be conducting joint training for the entire army. As such military training would take place at least once every two months, the people of various regions didn't feel anything out of the ordinary.

However, in Turií, the officials of the various departments of the Kingdom of Diónia were busy preparing for the upcoming war.

On the surface, Diónia was still peaceful, but the clouds of war were already brewing in Greece.

In June, Thessaly Tarkus Iazon led nearly 40,000 infantrymen and 4,000 cavalrymen across the Hot Spring Pass and entered Central Greece.

Even though he announced in a high-profile manner that "this time, the army is here to help the Greeks in the south and repel the foreign invaders." However, the people of Central Greece were still feeling nervous. The people of the various cities all hid in the cities, closed the city gates, and strengthened their vigilance.

Iazon was a man of his word. He tried his best to restrain the troops. Although there were still some incidents of soldiers looting the properties of villages outside the city, overall, the military discipline of the army was not bad. This greatly relieved the higher-ups of the cities.

After entering the Pioscia region, Iazon sent an envoy to the city of Thebes and made a request to the council: Thessaly's army wanted to establish a long-term camp in the Thebes.

The higher-ups of Thebes, led by Pelopidas and Ipamilonda, argued tactfully that both Thessaly and Diónia were allies of the Thebes and had provided great help to the Thebes. Because of this, the Thebes had to remain neutral to avoid hurting the friendship of one party. If they agreed to Thessaly's request, they were afraid that Diónia would misunderstand and think that the Thebes had joined the anti- Diónia alliance, so they had to refuse.

Iazon made this request to test the attitude of the Thebes. Therefore, he did not feel angry when he received a refusal. Instead, he patiently asked the messenger who returned. At that time, the attitude and reaction of everyone in the council of Thebes gave him an idea.

A few days later, the Thessaly army arrived at the northwestern border of Attica in Athens and built a camp near the city of Pioscia, Orops, which had a close relationship with Athens. This was discussed with Athens in advance. This was because the port of Orops was not small, and the sea distance between it and Philae was very close, so it was convenient to transport supplies and soldiers.

The higher-ups of Athens, led by Callistratus, warmly welcomed the arrival of the Thessaly army led by Iazon. A day later, a military conference of the Greek alliance was held in Megara on the isthmus of Corinth. The generals of the city-states who had joined the alliance expressed their opinions.

Many generals of the Greek city-states suggested that they should use the geographical advantage of the isthmus to hoard a large number of soldiers in the city of Corinth to defend against the attack of the Dionysian Army, just like during the Corinth War more than a decade ago. The invasion of the Diónia army across the sea would consume a lot of resources, which was not conducive to a long-term war. In the end, they would inevitably choose to stop the war and seek peace.

The generals of Peloponnesus, led by Agos and Corinth, expressed their opposition. They believed that now that the Dionysian Army had conquered Messenia and Sparta, and Arcadia had also become its ally, the power of the Diónia in Peloponnesus had become very strong. If the allied forces did not take the initiative to attack but passively defended, the Diónia army would definitely turn to attack other parts of Peloponnesus.

Once it completely conquered the whole of Peloponnesus, not only would it weaken the strength of the Greek alliance, but the Dionysian Army would also be able to attack Corinth with all its might. It was hard to say whether they could defend Corinth in the end. Now, the number of allied forces had reached 80,000, far exceeding the number of soldiers of the Dionysian Army. It was completely possible for them to take the initiative to attack and defeat the Dionysian Army in Sparta.

After both sides expressed their opinions, Iazon spoke, "Everyone, the reason why the Greek alliance was established was to repel the invasion of Diónia, and to ensure the freedom and safety of the Greek city-states. If we only defend Corinth, it would be equivalent to giving up the entire Peloponnesus peninsula. This is not only contrary to the original intention of the alliance, but it will also cause the city-states that joined the alliance to complain about each other and destroy the unity. Therefore, I propose that we should not waste any more time. We should immediately lead the allied forces into Peloponnesus and quickly fight the Dionysian Army. We should defeat them and let the people of Sparta regain their freedom!"

With his hands on his hips, Iazon looked at the generals in the hall and announced loudly, "If you don't agree with me, or if you keep arguing and wasting time, then I will lead the Thessaly Army to the south and fight the Dionysian Army alone!"

Iazon's words were like a stone thrown into a deep pool. While it stirred up waves, it also received a positive response from the generals of Corinth and Agos. "We, the citizens of Corinth (Agos), will follow the Thessaly Army to attack Diónia!"

Although the Thessaly Army accounted for half of the total number of soldiers in the alliance, the Greek city-states did not pay much attention to Thessaly Army, which had been on the fringes of Greece's traditional power for decades. Therefore, Iazon did not have much prestige in this alliance. However, the support of the two powerful city-states had boosted Iazon's reputation.

So far, the number of soldiers that Athens had sent to Corinth was only half of the Thessaly Army. However, with Sparta's decline, most of the Greek city-states were more willing to follow the lead of Athens. Therefore, the generals of the other city-states had turned their attention to another person — the famous general of Athens, Iphicrates.

The veteran general glanced at Iazon, then looked around at the crowd and said in a steady voice, "I agree that the alliance should seize the time and take the initiative to seek a decisive battle with the Dionysian Army. However, at the same time, we have to do two things.

First, we must immediately send messengers to the Arcadia Union and persuade them to join our side against Diónia. Now that the alliance has the upper hand, there is a high possibility that the Arcadia Union will side with us. After all, Diónia is an outsider. If we succeed, it will enhance the strength of the alliance, and at the same time, provide greater convenience for us to fight in Peloponnesus. If we are refused, we can attack the Arcadia Union without fear of repercussions.

Second, the reason why Diónia was able to defeat Sparta has a lot to do with the fact that Diónia has a strong navy. They were able to use their fleets to land in Messenia and quickly occupy the territory of Messenia. Therefore, we must also be careful of Diónia's old tricks. While our army is fighting in Peloponnesus, they will land on our defenseless rear, cut off our retreat, and threaten our motherland. That will be a huge disaster! Therefore, I suggest that we leave some troops behind to guard the beaches in Central Greece that can be landed, especially the port of Callixis in the Pioscia region. It must be firmly controlled by the alliance! "

"But Callixis now belongs to the Thebes!" Someone reminded.

"In a situation where most of the Greek city-states have gathered together to fight against the invading outsiders, the Thebes, as a powerful city-state in Central Greece, have chosen to stay neutral. This is really not right! However, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, we have temporarily tolerated the stubbornness of the Thebes because of the impending war. " Iphicrates said with a stern expression, "However, the inaction of the Thebes will inevitably cause us to distrust them! Therefore, we should send messengers to the Thebes and clearly tell them that we will temporarily take over Callixis and will return it to them after the war. If the Thebes do not agree, then we will see them as enemies and attack them! "