Chapter 1214
"Your Majesty, our army is fighting a war against Sparta in Peloponnesus. We've consumed a lot of rations and supplies, and most of them are shipped out of Turín's port. In order to complete our mission smoothly, the officials in Turín will have to deal with more work. Now … the Kingdom's Administrative Office and the Ministry of Military Affairs had notified the various regions, requesting for the various armies to assemble. This meant that they needed to prepare more rations and more transport ships to prepare for the upcoming war.
Therefore, the officials in Turín will have to deal with more work. As the chief executive of Turín, if I don't set an example, how can I command my officials to do their jobs? "
"It seems like you're holding a grudge! Do you know what our first target is going to be in the upcoming war? "
"Your Majesty, I've left the army for many years —"
"It's Thessaly!"
"Thessaly?!"
"We've left Thessaly for more than 30 years. I'm afraid you've forgotten what your hometown is like. When we left Thessaly, the cities of Thessaly were still fighting each other. Now, Thessaly has Tarkus. This Iazon isn't weak. He's allowed Thessaly to join the Greek Alliance. He's gathering his army and preparing to fight us in the south. This will be a big problem for our army."
"Your Majesty, are you planning to launch a surprise attack on Thessaly's territory while Iazon leads his army south?"
"You said you've left the army for many years and are unfamiliar with military affairs, but your instincts are still very sharp!"
"It's not easy to land such a long distance and large-scale battle!"
"It's not easy, but it will also surprise the enemy. Besides, we have the advantage of the sea. As long as the army is well-prepared and trained, they will definitely be able to do it!"
"Your Majesty, after the army has landed in Thessaly's territory and conquered those cities, what will we do with the entire Thessaly?"
"You also know that those Greek city-states are capricious. Even if we win the war this time and finally force them to surrender, there may be Greek city-states standing up against us in a few years. In the end, they will form the Anti- Diónia Alliance … Therefore, Thessaly is very important to us! To the north of it is Macedonia, and to the south are the Greek states. As long as we completely control it, we can completely suppress the expansion of the Greek city-states in the south and punish them at any time. We can also subdue Macedonia in the north, which looks ignorant and backward, but is actually a vast kingdom with great potential … "
"You mean … to make Thessaly's city-states become the vassals of the kingdom?"
"No! I don't intend for Thessaly to become the second Carthage, nor do I intend for them to become the second Tarantum! I want to completely turn the entire Thessaly into a part of the kingdom's territory and let our former compatriots become citizens of the kingdom! This is also the reason why I called you here today. I want to appoint you as the regional governor of Thessaly, and I want to ask for your opinion.
Of course, whether Thessaly can be successfully captured is not yet certain. Even if Thessaly is captured in the future, integrating Thessaly into the kingdom is still a difficult task, not to mention that you are now the governor of the central region of the kingdom. Suddenly transferring you to an area far away from the kingdom where everything is uncertain … Alas, it is indeed too difficult for you! It doesn't matter if you don't agree, I can choose someone else — "
"Your Majesty, I am willing to go to Thessaly!"
…
Hilos did not regret accepting the appointment of the king of Devers so readily. On the contrary, the news that the landing army had successfully passed through the valley pass excited him. He was only worried about whether the army could go further and capture Larissa more smoothly. After all, it was his hometown.
… …
Just as the soldiers of the Second Legion landed on the coast of Peleus, the huge fleet led by Patroclus also arrived at the northern end of Euboea Island. Then each ship quickly folded up the sails and began to turn west.
There were many offshore islands in the Greek mainland, and the coastline was winding. Although most of the captains of the entire fleet had relatively rich sailing experience in the Aegean Sea, they still carefully steered the ships to smoothly pass through the long and narrow channel.
At the northern end of Euboea, there was a city-state called Artemisium. The people of the city-state panicked when they saw countless ships suddenly appearing in the sea near the port. They closed the city gates and the port, and all the young and middle-aged citizens were armed and on guard.
Under their horrified gazes, the huge fleet did not approach the coast. Instead, it slowly headed west.
Finally, the fleet of Diónia entered the Gulf of Malakos.
Between the mountains on the southern border of Thessaly and the rolling mountains on the northern border of Central Greece, there was a river called Sperceus. The river had flowed for thousands of years, forming a long and narrow plain along the river. At its mouth, there was also a large area of tidal flats. Only on the northwest side of the gulf, there was a cobblestone beach and a port.
The Diónia fleet approached without a moment's pause. Patroclus was the first to land with the 12th Legion. He did not let the soldiers who landed attack the small port not far away. Instead, he ordered the 12th Legion to quickly move west.
These soldiers from the Campanian Plain and the Samonese Mountains had received Patroclus's command a few years ago and created a glorious annihilation of the Gallic invading army. Therefore, they trusted Patroclus's command. Without hesitation, they lined up in a column, stepped on the hard and slippery cobblestones with their feet in leather sandals, and staggered westward.
The city of Lamia was about 15 miles from the landing site. About an hour later, the soldiers of the 12th Legion arrived at the city, panting.
Patroclus saw that the gates of Lamia were closed and the city was full of soldiers. His heart sank: the Lamians were already on guard!
Patroclus was already mentally prepared for this. After all, the fleet sailed slowly in the narrow channel, which was likely to give the Lamians sufficient time to be on guard.
Since the surprise attack had failed, Patroclus quickly adjusted his mentality. He called for the messenger to ride to the land and inform the troops behind: Take the port first and then come back to rendezvous.
After the messenger left, he ordered the soldiers of the 12th Legion to rest and recover their strength first. He took the guards and went to observe the defense deployment and surrounding geography of Lamia.
Lamia was somewhat similar to Peleus. It was also established by the Thessaly people. As the city was located outside the traditional territory of the Thessaly, coupled with the inconvenient transportation, the other city-states of Thessaly alienated it. Some even thought that Lamia was not a city-state of Thessaly.
The Lamians themselves despised their Thessaly identity and were more willing to get close to the Greeks in the south. Although some Greek people regarded them as barbarians, they did have deeper contacts with the Greek city-states in the south. Of course, it was also because of the more convenient sea transportation with the Greek city-states in the south.
After Iazon became Thessaly Tarkus, he did not rush to force Lamia to join the Thessaly Alliance because he was afraid of arousing the vigilance of the Greek city-states in the south. It was not until the Battle of Leuctra, where the Greek overlord Sparta suffered a crushing defeat that he finally did not hide his ambitions. When Thebes led the army north to return to Thessaly, he destroyed the city of Heraclea (not the city of Heraclea in Greece of the Kingdom of Diónia) and occupied the Hot Spring Pass. Lamia surrendered under his military deterrence, but it was still somewhat unwilling. Therefore, when Iazon carried out the military mobilization this time, Lamia did not provide too many soldiers.
Now the Lamians felt fortunate that they still had enough power to protect themselves in the face of the Dionysian Army's surprise attack.
An hour later, the Tenth Legion, the Eleventh Legion, the Third Cavalry Legion, and the Gallic Brigade arrived one after another …
The militia of the Lamia Principality stood on the city wall, and they almost stopped breathing. Countless Dionic soldiers in black helmets and black armor stood on the plain south of Lamia along the river. They were like the Black Tide roaring from the coast of Malakos, and they stretched as far as the eye could see. What was particularly eye-catching were the Diónia soldiers (actually, the Gallic soldiers) standing under the city wall. They were tall and strong, with fierce faces, wearing horned helmets and armor, holding big swords in their hands, and roaring like thunder. They were like ferocious beasts in human form, making people's hearts palpitate …
Just when the Lamian citizen soldiers were shocked by the Dionysian Army's valiant power, Patroclus did not immediately give the order to attack the city. Previously, he had carefully observed the city of Lamia: the Lamians should have learned from the Greeks' habit of building a city. They did not build the city on the flat riverside plains, but close to the mountains in the north, enclosing a low hill in the city area, becoming its acropolis. The north and left and right sides were surrounded by hills more than 200 meters high. Although it provided a barrier for the city, it also limited the expansion of the city area. Therefore, the Lamians could only expand the city area to the south of the plains, making the shape of the whole city of Lamia like a long-necked, round-bottomed pottery bottle. Such a geographical location made the Lamians feel that they had a good defensive advantage. They only needed to focus on defending the south wall to ensure the safety of Lamia.
Patroclus ordered the Twelfth Legion and the Gallic Brigade to attack the hills on the south and north sides respectively.
Although the height of the hill was not too low, the slope was gentle. Although the Lamians had set up a defensive camp on the top of the hill, there were not many troops. More than half of the Twelfth Legion were Samoyed soldiers. They and the Gauls were good at fighting in the mountains, and they were very tough. After paying some casualties, they occupied the top of the hill.
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