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Chapter 1282

This was because Misia was a relatively wealthy region in the western part of Asia Minor. It had the fertile Alisby Plains and controlled the shipping trade through the Hellespont Strait. It had enough financial resources and materials to form a powerful army to resist the invasion of the Dionysian Army. However, Theopoulos, who had been in office for more than a year, had obviously not unified the entire region. Many towns did not respond to his orders at all. As a result, he only managed to gather less than 6,000 soldiers four days after the Dionysian Army landed.

Even though Theopoulos had received intelligence that the number of Diónia soldiers who landed was more than his own army, as a noble from the central region of Persia, he did not hesitate to lead his army westward in the face of the "Greeks" whom they regarded as barbarians (Persia and Diónia had been officially hostile for more than five years, but many Persia nobles still disdained to understand Diónia, and even regarded it as part of Greece). A few days later, he approached the camp built by the Tenth Legion near the coast.

He was soon surprised to find that the camp built by the Diónia army in just a few days did not seem to be easy to attack. While he was hesitating whether to camp on the spot and make plans later, the Tenth Legion of Diónia, which had long been prepared, suddenly rushed out of the camp.

The two sides launched a small battle, and the outcome of the battle was decided after half an hour.

Because the Light Infantry of the Tenth Legion disrupted the long-range attacks of the Persia archers, they did not cause any casualties to the soldiers of the Legion of Dionysia. And without the heavy infantry, the Persia infantry formation could not withstand the impact of the soldiers of the Legion of Dionysia. The Persia cavalry that attacked from the flanks were attacked by the two heavy infantry battalions that Theopoulos had deliberately placed on the flanks. The casualties were not small, and in the end, the Persia army was defeated.

After Theopoulos fled back to Zherea, the capital of the Misia region, he did not dare to act rashly. While strengthening the defense of the city, he urgently sent messengers to ask for help.

Since Diónia officially declared war on Persia, Diónia's intelligence agents began to proclaim in the Greek city-states of Asia Minor that the great king of the Devers would carry out the oracle of Hades and return to Persia the hundred years of Persia's oppression of the Greeks. He would also rescue his compatriots in Asia Minor from Persia's rule and restore their freedom and independence.

Many of the Greek city-states of Asia Minor were unhappy about the breach of the treaty by the Persia. Although this rumor excited them, it also made them uneasy. Agesilaus's campaign in the western part of Asia Minor had brought several years of turmoil and war to these Greek city-states. Therefore, even though the Dionysian Army had won this battle, these city-states still adopted a wait-and-see attitude and did not take the initiative to approach the Dionysian Army that had already established a foothold in Misia.

Stefos had sent messengers to visit the nearest city-states to the encampment, Ilion and Apidos (both city-states were located on the east side of the Hellespont Strait), but they both closed their doors.

Stefos did not become angry because of this, nor did he send troops to attack the city or destroy the villages and towns outside the city. On the contrary, he followed the instructions of the King of the Devers and held a grand sacrificial ceremony on the beach near the city of Ilion. The sacrificial objects were the heroes of the ancient Trojan War. Not only Agamemnon and Achilles, but also Hector and Paris. After the sacrificial ceremony, there was also a sports competition. The whole sacrificial ceremony was very grand and attracted many nearby Greek people to watch, causing a lot of heated discussion.

The Devers's goal was achieved. He wanted to spread the news of this sacrificial ceremony to the Greek city-states in the western part of Asia Minor through the Greeks of Asia Minor: Diónia treated the Greek city-states on both sides of the Aegean Sea equally.

But why did they choose to hold the sacrificial ceremony near the city of Ilion? Because it was said that the city of Ilion was built on the ruins of Troy.

… …

Messengers from Misia arrived in Babylon. When Artaxerxes learned that the vanguard of the Greek coalition had landed in Asia Minor, he immediately felt nervous.

At the same time, the messengers mentioned that the local forces of Misia did not actively respond to the conscription and were suspected of rebelling. Thus, Terebassus suggested that he appoint Fanabazos, the son-in-law of the King of Persia and the former governor of Phrygia, as the temporary military commander of the western part of Asia Minor. With his former prestige, he might be able to integrate the military forces in the western part of Asia Minor and repel the invading Greek coalition.

The King of Persia hesitated for several days. When he learned that Theopompus had suffered a defeat in the battle, he finally issued a decree: Fanabazos, who was transferred to Babylon by him more than ten years ago, should be sent to the western part of Asia Minor.

When Fanabazos, who was already in his sixties, learned of the crisis in the western part of Asia Minor, he traveled day and night to the western part of Asia Minor. At the same time, he sent messengers in the name of the military commander of the western part of Asia Minor, asking the governors of the western part of Asia Minor to lead their troops to Gedium, the capital of Phrygia as soon as possible.

Fanabazos, who was familiar with the situation in Asia Minor, wrote letters to the Greek city-states along the western coast of Asia Minor. In the letters, he argued that the King of Persia was very angry that some of the governors of the western part of Asia Minor did not fulfill the promise he made to the Greek city-states. This time, one of the main tasks of sending him to Asia Minor was to urge these governors to fulfill the promise made to the King of Persia.

At the end of the letter, he also swore in the name of the god Ahura Mazda.

Fanabazos' reputation in the western part of Asia Minor allowed his letter to play an important role. Some city-states that were dissatisfied with the new governor's actions wavered. Some city-states that were originally close to Persia firmly supported Persia against the strange kingdom of Diónia from the western Mediterranean. This eventually led to the formation of the "Persia's Asia Minor Coalition Fleet" advocated by Fanabazos. It had about 400 warships and nearly 60,000 crew members.

… …

After the Tenth Legion of Diónia successfully landed in Asia Minor and defeated the Persia army of Missia, Leotychides was worried that the failure of this small battle would provoke the Persia to step up their reinforcements to Missia. He was afraid that a single legion would not be able to support the landing force for a long period of time. Once they were defeated, the Greek coalition would lose a favorable landing ground. So, he decided to send more troops to Missia.

Therefore, when the harvest ended in September and the Greek city-states began to gather their troops, Leotychides personally led the Eleventh Legion, the Twentieth Legion, and the Thessaly Cavalry Legion to Missia by ship to rendezvous with the Tenth Legion.

At this time, he had already keenly sensed that the nearby city-states of Ilion, Abydos, Tenidos, and other cities were further alienating the Dionysian Army. For example, they refused to allow the ships of the Dionysian Army to use their ports to load and unload supplies, and forbade their merchants from selling supplies to the Dionysian Army.

The hostility shown by the Greek city-states of Asia Minor had raised Leotychides's vigilance. In order to reduce the pressure on his logistical supplies and to allow the Greek coalition forces to land more smoothly, he decided to change the strategy formulated by the kingdom. When the emissary of the Dionysian Army once again requested Ilion to open its ports but was rejected, Leotychides brazenly led his army to surround Ilion and demanded that it submit to Diónia. However, his request was rejected. So, he issued an order: Attack the city!

Legend had it that hundreds of years ago, the walls of Troy were so high and thick that the Greek coalition forces could not break through it even after 10 years of siege. However, Troy was not only a large city, but also one of the hegemons in the western part of Asia Minor. It had the support of many allied states, which was why it could defend for so long. Today, although Ilion was considered a medium-sized town, it was far from being comparable to its predecessor, Troy.

Under Leotychides's command were three infantry legions and one cavalry legion, totaling 26,000 to 27,000 people. He also had the Fourth Fleet under his command for the time being. From the sea to the land, the city of Ilion was tightly surrounded. What's more, the siege technology of the Dionysian Army was far superior to that of the Greek coalition forces hundreds of years ago. Therefore, on the fifth day after the siege, the people of Ilion could no longer withstand the siege and had no choice but to surrender to the Dionysian Army.

Leotychides accepted their surrender and sent part of his army to Ilion, thus controlling this important hub at the Strait of Hellespont.

The news of the capture of Ilion quickly spread to the surrounding areas, causing the nearby Greek city-states to be alarmed. They had no choice but to send messengers to express their goodwill to the Dionysian Army.

Leotychides took the opportunity to propose that they provide a certain amount of military provisions and supplies in exchange for a promise to ensure the safety of their city-states. He was accepted.

At the same time, Leotychides also sent troops to the inland areas of Misia to survey the terrain and understand the enemy's situation. At the same time, they seized the wheat fields and increased their food reserves.

The governor of Misia, Theophanpus, was unable to stop the Dionysian Army. He had to send messengers to Fanabazos for help many times.

At this time, Fanabazos, who was staying in Gerdium, was still waiting for the armies of the various regions of Asia Minor to converge. He could only issue orders to the already formed Asia Minor Coalition Fleet, hoping that they would take action to attack or harass the supporting fleets of the Dionysian Army to relieve the pressure on the land.

Before Leotychides landed in Asia Minor, he specially sent messengers to inform the allied states of the Greek mainland, requesting that they no longer lead their troops to Thessaly. Instead, they should directly take ships to the landing land opened by the Dionysian Army in Misia. Therefore, since the end of September, the armies formed by the Greek mainland city-states had taken ships to Asia Minor. Therefore, every few days, there would be a troop transport fleet crossing the Aegean Sea, not to mention that there were fleets transporting supplies between the two continents every day.