Chapter 1251
Printos continued, "But according to the latest intelligence, the king of Persia did not fulfill his promise. Therefore, these city-states have a lot of complaints. The Greek Coalition Army in Asia Minor will most likely receive their support.
More than 20 years ago, Agesilaus led the Sparta Coalition Army, which consisted mainly of mercenaries, to conquer the western part of Asia Minor. Now, the situation in Asia Minor is more favorable to the Kingdom. Our Coalition Army will be more invincible when we attack Asia Minor — "
"Wait a minute, I think there's a problem here." Bagoule could not help but interrupt, "I've seen the map of Persia. The territory of Asia Minor is very vast, and most of it is mountainous. Even if we have the upper hand in the beginning, as the army advances eastward, the food supply will be a big problem. The land transportation line is too long, and the sea transportation —
The Persia will not sit idly by. They also have a powerful fleet. They will definitely attack our transport team and cut off the sea transportation line. If that happens, our army will be in trouble … "
"Lord Bagoule is right!" Printos replied with a serious expression, "But in fact, attacking Asia Minor is only the first step of our military plan. The second step is also the most important step, which is to defeat and destroy the fleet of Persia!
The Kingdom and Persia are thousands of miles apart. In between them is the vast eastern Mediterranean Sea. If we want our army to fight in Persia's territory and not be troubled by logistics, we must control the eastern Mediterranean Sea, especially Persia's sea.
Therefore, we need to gather the first, second, third, and fourth fleets, as well as the allied warships to form a large fleet stationed at the ports of Piraeus or Philae. Once the Persia fleet advances westward into the Aegean Sea, they will attack the Greek Coalition Army's transport fleet that landed in Asia Minor. Then, our Coalition Army can take the opportunity to launch a decisive battle with the Persia fleet. Once we defeat them, our Coalition Army can take advantage of the situation and advance eastward — "
Hakkar coughed loudly and interrupted Printos. He then asked slowly, "The Persia fleet is also powerful. May I ask, Lord Printos, why is the Ministry of Military Affairs so confident that our fleet can defeat them?"
Printos said confidently, "Your Majesty! My lords! After repeated analysis and deduction, the Ministry of Military Affairs believes that the Dionysian Army has the absolute advantage over Persia, not the Dionysian Army! "
Hakkar's words surprised some of the ministers.
Printos answered confidently, "Persia's main territory is inland. It has never been a nation that is good at sailing. Its fleet is mainly made up of warships and crews provided by Phoenicia, Cyprus, Syria, Asia Minor, and the Greek coastal city-states in Persia. Due to their complicated origins and great differences in language and culture, it is not easy to combine them into a unified fleet that is completely obedient and dares to fight to the death. This is why the Greek fleet led by the Athens Fleet has always been able to win, even though it has far fewer warships than Persia's fleet. Our fleet, on the other hand, acts strictly according to military law. We have persisted in military training for a long time. Our tactics are flexible, and we fight bravely.
Secondly, the Persia fleet has not participated in any major battles for decades. They are seriously lacking in naval warfare. In this aspect, they obviously cannot be compared to our fleet. Also, the main force of the Persia fleet is the Phoenicians. "
Printos glanced at Hakkar, who was deep in thought, and continued, "We had a naval battle with the Phoenician fleet more than ten years ago. In the end, the Phoenician fleet that came to rescue Carthage was almost completely destroyed. But according to the information we received, the Persia fleet did not learn from this failure. For the past ten years, their naval tactics have not changed much, and their warships have not improved much.
On the other hand, several of our fleets had been using the Persians as an imaginary enemy for the past few years and had been conducting targeted training. Not only that, we had also worked together with the Dionysia Academy and the shipyards to improve our warships … Since we had about the same number of warships as the Persians, the well-prepared royal navy had the absolute advantage!
The only shortcoming is that the main base of the Persia fleet is too far away from us. So, we have to rely on the Greek allied forces to attack in the west of Asia Minor to lure the Persia fleet into the Aegean Sea, and then completely defeat them! "
Printos waved his fist, and his voice became excited. "The victorious Kingdom Navy can seize the opportunity when the strength of the Persia navy is greatly weakened. They can continue to advance eastward, or use Egypt as a temporary naval base, or capture Cyprus with the support of Egypt. They can completely seal off the coast of Syria and Carthage. Egypt is very important to us. We must maintain its friendship with the Kingdom and ensure the stability of its domestic order.
Once we control the Eastern Mediterranean, the Kingdom can send its main force of more than ten legions eastward without any worries. They can dock in Egypt or land in Canaan. They can conquer Phoenicia and Syria, enter Mesopotamia, and go straight to Babylon.
If the Persia army is still fighting with the Greek allied forces in Asia Minor, it will not be able to make it back in time. Even if the main force of the Egyptian army is not sent to Asia Minor and can intercept it in time, we still have to worry about whether the Greek allied forces will circle to its rear from the north and form a pincer attack with the main force of the Kingdom. Under such a disadvantageous situation, the Persia army basically has no chance of winning against our army in a decisive battle with the morale of our army — "
"The Persia may also choose not to fight with our army and choose to defend Babylon." Asistes reminded, "I heard that Babylon is a huge city with unusually tall and strong walls, and the wide Euphrates River as a barrier. It is not a city that can be conquered in a short period of time. If the siege continues for too long, our food supplies will be tight, and the Persia may also recover, which will lead to a change in the situation that is not in our favor. "
"Lord Asistes, you are right. If the Persia adopts a defensive strategy, it will indeed cause more trouble for us." After responding tactfully, Printos changed the topic, "However, it will cause more trouble for the Persia. Although Persia is a large country with a vast land, it is not like a kingdom that can effectively govern various regions. Its rule is not too firm, and many regions rely on the local races to take care of themselves. Therefore, there was the independence of Egypt, the riots of the Dukea people, and then the rebellion of Asia Minor … Artaxerxes did not do a good job in suppressing them, so his prestige is not high, and the nobles and the people are not very convinced.
Once our army enters the heart of Persia, the Mesopotamian plain, the Persia army will hide behind the high walls and watch us destroy villages and farmlands. This will definitely make the local people disappointed in Artaxerxes, which may lead to a new rebellion and division. Only by gathering his army and defeating us can he regain the trust of the Persia people. Therefore, I think a decisive battle is inevitable! "
Printos roughly explained the plan drawn up by the Ministry of Military Affairs. The hall was silent. The ministers looked at each other, silently communicating with their eyes, but no one spoke.
After a while, the Devers spoke, "Cloto Catax, what do you think of the plan of the Ministry of Military Affairs?"
A few years ago, in Greece, Printos actively assisted Cloto Catax and finally won the war. Since then, the two had established a friendship, and they often met after returning to Turín. But at this time, the Consul of the Kingdom glanced at Printos, then faced his father and said calmly, "Your Majesty, the plan made by the Ministry of Military Affairs sounds very reasonable. We have a great advantage over Persia, and if we carry out this plan, it will be very easy for us to win. However, fighting a war thousands of miles away means a great risk in itself. Whether it is the transportation of military supplies or the transmission of information, it will be more difficult than before. Moreover, we are attacking a large country with a vast territory. Whether it is the generals or the soldiers, it is a completely unfamiliar land. The situation there is complicated, and accidents may happen at any time.
Just like during the war in Greece, we initially hoped to minimize the hatred of the Greek city-states. Starting from Sparta, we will conquer the powerful city-states one by one, and finally control the whole of Greece. Unexpectedly, the Greek city-states quickly united and formed the Greek Alliance to fight against us, forcing us to invest more troops, thus rapidly expanding the war.
At that time, the Kingdom was able to change the plan in time and make the right response because Greece was very close to us. But now, Persia is too far away from us. Perhaps by the time we receive the news and discuss the contingency plan, the army in Persia will encounter new difficulties, or even fail. And once they fail, they will face the danger of annihilation. Therefore, I think we should be cautious when using troops against Persia!
In addition, although the political situation in the Kingdom is relatively stable, Master Hakkar has just said that the Gauls in the north are a threat to our territory, and the natives in the north of Iberia also occasionally attack our territory in the south. The natives in the mountains on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea are also threatening the safety of our Thessaly region and the Greek allies …
There are still so many unsafe factors within the Kingdom's sphere of influence. In other words, there are still so many lands near the Kingdom that we need to conquer in order to ensure the peace and security of the people of the Holy Kingdom of Diónia. We should first focus on doing this, and not be tempted by the wealth of Persia. "
Even if we defeat the army of Persia, it will be difficult to conquer the people there and integrate them into the Kingdom, because they are a powerful race that is completely different from us. They have a culture and glory that does not belong to us. They will not be willing to be ruled by us. Perhaps we need to invest a lot of manpower and material resources to maintain our rule in Persia, but is it worth it? After all, the foundation of the Holy Kingdom of Diónia is in the Western Mediterranean, in Italy- "
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