Chapter 1224
It was not because they had much sympathy for Iazon's impending defeat. Although the tyrant of Philae was not too brutal, he had no lack of bloody means in the process of conquering the whole of Thessaly and becoming the ruler of Tarkus. Although, with the help of Asidamas and the others, the unification and governance of the various city-states of Thessaly gradually became gentler, it had only been a few years, and everyone's memory had not faded yet.
These councilors of Thessaly were worried that the upcoming war would cause their own city-state's militia in Iazon's army to suffer a lot of casualties, so they all asked Patroclus to persuade the Iazon's army to surrender.
Patroclus achieved his goal, but he did not let these people immediately set off for Hot Spring Gate. Instead, he held an emergency military meeting. Other than himself, Matonis, and Lizaru, the three military commanders, the Thessaly region's governor, Hilos, also attended the meeting. After some discussion, the four of them finally reached an agreement:
Matonis would lead the Second, Fifth, Ninth, and First Cavalry Legions, which numbered nearly 26,000, to temporarily garrison in Thessaly. He would continue to stabilize the order of this newly conquered area and prevent any instability. At the same time, he would have to be wary of the Epirus people in the mountains to the west, because it was said that one of the kings of Epirus, Alkeitas, had a close relationship with Iazon and was likely to provide help. In addition, Matonis would assist Hilos to protect the upcoming wheat harvest in Thessaly, and provide protection for the supply caravan that would later transport the military rations.
Patroclus and Lizaru would lead the rest of the troops, a total of more than 40,000 soldiers, and immediately head south (What Patroclus said to the people of Thessaly was more exaggerated. At this time, the Dionysian Army in Thessaly did not have 100,000 people, because they had to exclude the nearly 20,000 infantrymen of the Diónia Navy and the 12th Legion defending in Lamia). After dealing with the hidden danger of Iazon, they would march into Central Greece.
For these generals of the kingdom, it was undoubtedly a great honor to be able to lead the army into Central Greece and finally conquer Athens, washing away the humiliation of being degraded as barbarians by the Greeks led by Athens. The reason why Matonis agreed to stay was partly because of Hilos's persuasion. On the other hand, as a Thessaly man, he was willing to do something for his hometown.
After solving the problem of choosing a candidate to stay behind in Thessaly, Patroclus led the army across the southern mountains in high spirits and entered the Lamia area, and then the previous scene appeared.
These councilors of Thessaly were all famous people in their respective cities. The soldiers of Thessaly quickly recognized them and immediately scrambled to ask them about the situation of their respective cities.
When Iazon heard the news and rushed over, the news that "100,000 troops of Diónia have landed in Thessaly and have conquered all the cities. The people of each city are anxious for the citizen soldiers to return home safely" spread quickly among the soldiers, and had a great impact on the morale of the army. The militias of each city gathered around the councilors of their cities and discussed eagerly about returning home. The entire army was beginning to show signs of falling apart.
Flustered and exasperated, Iazon sent mercenaries to arrest these councilors on the grounds that "these councilors have surrendered to Diónia and are traitors of Thessaly". He wanted to separate them from the militias before appeasing the soldiers. However, the arrest of the mercenaries provoked resistance from the militias and even led to small-scale conflicts.
Seeing that the riots were likely to gradually turn into a civil war, Iazon had no choice but to withdraw the mercenaries. Looking at the angry faces, he felt that he had lost control of these citizen soldiers. Unwilling to give up, he walked into the crowd alone and promised them loudly that he had no intention of harming these councilors of Thessaly. He only wanted to know the truth about Thessaly from them.
In the end, a few councilors who had a good relationship with him told him in detail what happened in Thessaly during this period of time in front of the crowd of citizen soldiers. They also answered his questions seriously.
Throughout the entire process, the vigilant gazes of the surrounding militia towards Ison were gradually filled with sympathy. Ison's expression was getting uglier and uglier. In the end, he walked out of the crowd with a gloomy expression and leaped onto his horse. He didn't look at the restless militia or the councilman who caused such a terrible scene. Instead, he turned his horse around and left under the escort of the mercenaries.
On the way back to the rear of the camp, Ison did not utter a single word. However, the moment he entered the camp, he suddenly fell off his horse, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell into a coma. Only under the resuscitation of the military doctor did his condition improve slightly.
That night, the guards outside the main tent heard Iazon muttering to himself, "Dorus, my good brother! Asidamus, I'm sorry! Borifron, you devil! Damn Diónia, you've ruined everything for me! Dorus, my good brother … "
Throughout the night, Iazon's sorrowful muttering did not stop.
… …
The arrival of the councilors from various cities in Thessaly had completely disintegrated Iazon's army. In just one day, the militias who were eager to go home had followed the request of the Diónia camp. They put down their weapons, lined up, and passed through the camp and Hot Spring Gate in an orderly manner. Then, they saw thousands of Diónia soldiers spread across the entire Lamia Plain. Not only did they completely believe the words of the councilors, but they also completely wiped out the last bit of hope they had in their hearts.
Thessaly's militias left Iazon. Seeing that the situation was not good, the native warriors who were recruited by Iazon in the mountains naturally could not fight for Iazon anymore. However, most of the warriors were unwilling to put down their weapons, so they chose to cross the mountains and trek back to their hometown. Of course, this was a very risky journey.
There were only about 8,000 mercenaries (After becoming Tarkus, Iazon had increased the number of mercenaries to 10,000. This time, for the southern expedition against Peloponnesus, he left 3,000 mercenaries under the command of Polydorus to guard Thessaly). In order to repay Iazon's care and trust over the years, they were still loyal to him. When they saw the army falling apart and the situation was critical, they quickly gathered together to protect Iazon, who was not yet fully awake, and retreated to the south.
The scouts sent by the military camp at Hot Spring Gate quickly reported the news to the commander-in-chief, Patroclus, who had already arrived at Lamia.
The news that Iazon's army had collapsed without a fight made Patroclus very excited. He ordered the 13th Legion to escort more than 20,000 unarmed militias back to Thessaly safely. The rest of the legions seized the time to rest and reorganize. They would march into Central Greece early the next morning.
On this day at the beginning of September, Patroclus led 40,000 troops through Hot Spring Gate. The soldiers lined up neatly, sang the Song of the Legion in high spirits, and went south along the road along the coast. After traveling for more than 10 miles, the troops turned south and began to trek through the low mountains and hills. On the second morning, they successfully entered the plains of Phocis without any hindrance.
The Phocis farmers who were harvesting the wheat fields hid in the towns in panic. However, the Dionysian Army did not attack the towns in Phocis, nor did they destroy the farmlands and villages outside the cities. The whole army continued to march south without stopping. The weak cities of Phocis thanked the gods for their escape, but they did not dare to send troops to stop the advance of the Diónia army.
In the afternoon, as the vanguard, the cavalry legion had entered the Pioscia region and approached the westernmost city of Pioscia, Calonia.
The people of Calonia were very nervous when they saw the dense mass of Diónia cavalry outside the city. However, the envoy of Dioria who entered the city gave them a reassurance: Thebes was an ally of Diónia, and Calonia was an ally of Thebes. As long as Calonia did not take any hostile action against the Dionysian Army, the Dionysian Army would not cause any harm to the Calonia region.
The people of Calonia were relieved. They immediately said that Diónia was an ally of Thebes, and of course, it was an ally of Calonia. Calonia would do its best to help its ally.
After the cavalry legion got a satisfactory answer, they did not stay any longer. They continued to ride south and received similar promises from the cities of Pioscia. The road from Calonia to Thebes was flat. Although the cavalry legion rested as they walked, they still arrived at the city of Thebes at noon on the second day.
… …
In the war between Diónia and the Greek Alliance, the Thebes and their Pioscia Alliance were basically neutral, but they had been paying attention to the battle on the Peloponnesus peninsula. For the senior Thebes, such as Ipamilonda and Pelopidas, what they were most worried about was the victory of the Greek Alliance, because it meant that the prestige of Athens and Thessaly would be greatly increased. Once the two great powers in the east and the north had time to settle old scores with the Thebes, it would be a huge problem. Therefore, although the Thebes had to provide some help at the request of the Greek Alliance, such as providing the port of Cleosis, they still hoped that Diónia would win. However, judging from the current situation, the Dionysian Army was at a disadvantage, which made them a little anxious.
However, Ipamilonda often comforted his colleagues: he firmly believed that the advantage of the Greek Alliance, which was temporarily put together by various city-states, could not last long, and the powerful Kingdom of Diónia would definitely fight back.
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