Chapter 1208
Since it was difficult to break through from the front, the allied generals decided to take another route after some discussion. They left the main force to continue attacking from the north to confuse and restrain the Diónia army, while more than 10,000 soldiers went around to Agos.
This army was mainly drawn from the armies of Thessaly and Athens, and was mainly made up of Illyrian and Thracian light shieldbearers. Iphicrates personally led the army. They were prepared to cross the mountains from the northeastern border of Sparta and launch a surprise attack on Tethia (not Tegea). After capturing it, it would become a relay base for the allied army. From there, they could continue to attack south. Without a doubt, the situation would be much better.
However, the secret movements of the Greek allied army did not escape the eyes of the scouts in the mountains. Printos, who received the news, immediately guessed the intentions of the Greeks. He advised Cloto Catax to quickly adjust the military deployment.
When Iphicrates led the light shieldsmen over the mountains and arrived at Tetia, panting, he was shocked to find that the Dionysian Army was already waiting there.
Iphicrates decisively ordered a retreat, but the Dionysian Army quickly gave chase. Although the Illyrian and Thracian mountain people were good at running in the mountains, they were already exhausted, and many of them were caught up by the well-rested light armoured soldiers of Diónia. As a result, before the battle had even begun, nearly 1,000 of the Greek allied army had been captured. Even Iphicrates himself was depressed.
The Greek allied generals had to discuss again, and finally decided to change the direction of attack and concentrate on attacking Messenia, because the terrain in the north was flatter and wider than the northern border of Sparta.
… …
After the conquest of Sparta, the 1st Flotilla of Diónia soon received an order from the Ministry of Military Affairs to stop the routine patrols in the Aegean Sea. Except for some warships to defend the southern waters of Peloponnesus, its main force was to cooperate with the 3rd Fleet, the 9th Legion, and the 10th Legion to attack the four islands on the west coast of the Greek mainland. From north to south, they were Kekira, Leucas, Keraronia, and Zakynthos.
Not long after Kekira became an ally of Athens, Leucas, Keraronia, and Zakynthos all belonged to the Peloponnesus Alliance. Previously, after the Dionysian Army raided Messenia, in order not to arouse the hatred of the Greek city-states, they did not take any military action against them, even though fleets carrying supplies passed by these three islands every day. They only sent the 3rd Fleet to patrol the area from time to time to deter them.
When the people of these four islands learned that the Dionysian Army had captured Messenia and declared war on Sparta, they were frightened every day and did not dare to take any hostile action against Diónia. But they did not expect that the thing they were most worried about still happened.
Kekira had suffered many wars in the past two or three years, and like a grass on the fence, it would side with Sparta one moment, and then with Athens the next. In the face of the more powerful Dionysian Army, the Kekira people directly chose to surrender. Diónia's landing troops immediately seized the few remaining warships and strictly controlled the entry and exit of several ports on the island.
Following that, the weaker Leucas and Keraronia also chose to surrender. Only the people of Zakynthos put up a resistance. But for Diónia to attack a small island with two legions and nearly 10,000 infantrymen, it was like killing a chicken with a butcher's knife. In less than four days, they completely conquered Zakynthos.
The surrender of the four islands of Kekira, Leucas, Keraronia, and Zakynthos meant that the west coast of the Greek mainland could be completely blocked by the Dionysian Fleet.
During this period, the people of Elis opposite Zakynthos were very nervous. They hurriedly transferred the troops that were attacking Messenia back and deployed them on the coast to defend against the possible landing of the Dionysian Army. This could be considered as relieving the defensive pressure on Messenia.
At the same time, Leotidus led his army and boarded the fleet provided by the Phoenician alliance, led by Carthage. Under the escort of the second fleet, they sailed eastward along the coast of Afrika. Along the way, they encountered two storms. Fortunately, the Phoenicians traveled this route all year round and were very familiar with the sea conditions. They went ashore in time to take shelter, so the entire fleet and the fleet did not suffer any major losses.
After seven or eight days, the huge fleet entered the waters near Egypt. To prevent any accidents, Leotychides quickly led the army to the beach near the western part of the Nile Delta.
In fact, there was no need for him to be so nervous. The King of Persia, Artaxerxes, had just arrived in Phoenicia with the Undead Army. At this time, although there were already thousands of Persia warships gathered in Tyre, they came from different regions (including the Phrygian fleet led by Timotheus) and lacked a unified command. The appointment of the commander of the navy would be decided by Artaxerxes after he personally met with the various admirals.
Therefore, during this period, some of the Persia admirals were busy in Tyre and did not have much energy to manage the fleet. Hundreds of thousands of sailors from different regions crowded the various ports of Tyre with nothing to do. It was inevitable that there would be conflicts and conflicts. The people of Tyre and the admirals of the various fleets were already having a headache just to maintain order. How could they have the mood to actively carry out combat missions?
Only Timotheus insisted on leading the Phrygian fleet to patrol the waters near Egypt once every four days. It was not only to scout the enemy's situation, but also to familiarize themselves with the sea. Even though this task was relatively easy, the Phrygian crew still had a lot of resentment.
Coincidentally, on this day, the Phrygian fleet did not go on patrol. In fact, even if it went on patrol, it would be impossible for the Phrygian fleet to fight against the Second Fleet of Diónia, which was tasked with the task of guarding the fleet.
Hundreds of thousands of Persia's army gathered in Phoenicia. It was a huge scene. Egypt was only separated from it by the small Canaan Kingdom, and the sea route was even closer. Therefore, the news that the Persia army was about to invade had already spread throughout Egypt. At this time, the arrival of nearly 40,000 Dionysian Army undoubtedly gave the panicking Egyptians a shot in the arm.
The reinforcements of Diónia were first warmly welcomed by the people of Naukratis, who had the tradition of Greek colonization. The Persia officials of the city did their best to satisfy any request made by Leotychides.
When Pharaoh Tanis received the news, he was overjoyed and personally went to welcome the reinforcements. This was an unprecedented honor for the reinforcements of Diónia.
Because of this, Leotychides agreed to the Pharaoh's request. All the soldiers were fully armed, lined up in neat columns, and walked along the banks of the Nile River to Memphis. This was equivalent to an armed parade.
When the Egyptians heard the news, they lined the streets to welcome them. The mighty image of the Dionysian Army greatly increased their confidence in fighting against the Persia.
After completing the transport mission, the Second Fleet and the Phoenician fleet began to return west. However, when they reached the waters of Cyrenaica, the Second Fleet did not continue west. Instead, they turned north, passed through Crete, and entered Lagonia Bay, where they met up with the First Fleet.
At the end of July, when the Greek Coalition Army was unable to break through the defense line set up by the Dionysian Army on the northern border of Messenia and Sparta, all the port towns of the Holy Kingdom of Diónia on the east and south coasts of the Italian Peninsula suddenly became lively. Hundreds of cargo ships gathered at the various ports, and the people of the towns also gathered at the ports with the young and old. They welcomed the troops of their loved ones to board the cargo ships while praying for Hades to bless them with glory.
On this day, from the northernmost Riminium, to the east-central Sipentum, to Brindisi and Odrum, and then to the southernmost Locri, Siletina, Crotone, Turií, and Tarantum … ships full of soldiers sailed out of these port towns one after another, gradually forming a long line on the sea. They crossed the Adriatic Sea, passing through Kekira, Leucas, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, and so on.
These islands were now under the complete control of Diónia. The fleet could stop at any of the islands to rest and replenish food and water. Moreover, several fleets of Diónia made full use of these islands to conduct a relatively tight blockade of the west coast of the Greek mainland, so the Greeks, especially the Elysians, had no idea that thousands of ships full of Aurelian soldiers were continuously passing through the waters near them.
These transport ships then converged at Messenia Bay and Lagonia Bay, entered the ports one after another, and docked.
… …
Due to the approach of the Greek allied forces, the Sparta people were once again restricted. Their adult men were temporarily restricted to live in the port of Sillus, while their women and children were forced to return to the warrior training camp, and were guarded by thousands of fully armed Black Rogues who had already been allocated land.
Agesilaus was very angry about this and once protested to Cloto Catax, but the prince gave a good reason: one of the main reasons for the Greek allied forces to declare war on Diónia was to save Sparta. For the safety of the Dionysian Army, and to prevent some Sparta people from doing something wrong and causing the entire Sparta people to fall into an extremely bad situation, such measures had to be taken.
Now that he was on the chopping block, Agesilaus could not do anything even though he was angry, and had to retreat resentfully.
Once they became the master, the Black Rogues were very serious and strict with their former master. This made the Sparta warriors feel very aggrieved, and a fire burned in their hearts.
However, today, they were surprised to see that Lagonia Bay was filled with densely packed ships, and fully armed Diónia soldiers continuously disembarked from the ships. The entire coast of Sparta was filled with people. How many soldiers were there?!
Comments