Chapter 1289
Calsidis thought for a while and said, "In addition, I heard from the merchants from Naukratis who went to Cyprus for trade. They were recently expelled by the Dalusians, and their merchant ships were forbidden from entering the waters of Cyprus. Some time ago, a large number of warships were seen in the eastern waters of the Dalusians … After our analysis, we believe that most of the warships of the Persia fleet are concentrated in the eastern ports of Cyprus …"
While the Devers were still pondering, Matonis said loudly, "It seems like the Persia are gathering their land and sea forces to deal with our attack from Egypt!"
The Devers did not respond. Instead, he looked at Calsidis again. "We will be attacking Persia next. Do you have any suggestions?"
Calsidis' expression became solemn. He deliberated for a while before saying softly, "Your Majesty, the military plan that the Ministry of Military Affairs made to attack Persia from Egypt … I think we need to make some changes …"
"Oh?" The Devers looked at the slightly nervous Calsidis and tapped on the wooden chair with his hand. He said in an encouraging tone, "We have no experience in fighting in Egypt. You have the most say. Can you tell us in detail why we need to change the plan?"
The other generals became serious after the Devers said this. When the Devers signaled Heniboris to place the wooden maps of Egypt and Persia in the middle of the hall, they all gathered around.
"Your Majesty, all the army commanders!" Calsidis looked at everyone and took a deep breath. He pointed at the icon of Dafinai on the map. Although his voice was trembling slightly, he said firmly, "Dafinai is the fortress that the Egyptians built on the easternmost side of the Nile Delta to defend against the invasion of the Persia. The distance from Dafinai to the east to the Egyptian border is about 200 miles. There are no signs of human habitation or supply points. Based on the marching speed of the kingdom's army in this kind of terrain, it will take at least three to four days to pass through …"
As he spoke, Calsidis became fluent. He used his finger to draw the marching route on the map and finally stopped at a circular icon with the word "Gaza" on it. "Less than 20 miles from the Egyptian border is the fortress built by the Persia — Gaza City. It is said that there are usually 1,500 Persia soldiers stationed in the city. Now, there may be 4,000 —"
"4,000 is not a lot. if our army goes north, it should be easy to take it down, right?" Second Legion Commander Lizaru interrupted.
"I'm afraid that won't be easy." "Originally, Gaza City was only a frontline supply town for the Persia to invade Egypt. However, after we reinforced Egypt and repelled the Persia, the Persia were probably worried that we would attack them through Egypt. Thus, two years ago, they recruited the Jews and Phoenicians to build a fortress in Gaza City. According to the information we received, although the city is not large, its walls are high and thick, and it has sufficient supplies. It will not be easy to take it down.
Moreover, the name 'Gaza' comes from the Canaanite language. It means that it is surrounded by sand. It is a fortress built on top of gravel. The nearest Canaanite oasis is at least 20 to 30 miles away. This means that we cannot obtain any resources from the vicinity of Gaza City to build siege towers, mobile towers, siege vehicles, and other large siege weapons. It is even difficult to build siege platforms and causeways because there is only sand there and no soil. It is not easy to solidify, but these are not the biggest difficulties — "
Calsidis looked around at the generals and finally looked at the Devers. He said in a serious tone, "The biggest impact on us is the desert! I once led the army from Dafinai to the east, and I suffered a lot! Marching in the desert is very hot during the day, and the sand is very strong. The ground is soft, and the soldiers are wearing armor. It is very tiring to walk, and it is very easy for them to get tired. Normally, the army can march at least 50 miles a day, but in the desert, they might not even cover half of the distance.
At night, the desert becomes very cold. If the soldiers do not wrap themselves in blankets, they will not be able to sleep. The guides said that it is spring. If it was summer, the entire desert would be like a big furnace, and very few people would dare to walk on it. There are only three months left before summer arrives … "
"I've led the division here for ten days. I can feel that the weather in Egypt is much hotter than in Greece. Is it because the weather is too hot that the soldiers in Egypt aren't wearing armor?" Melisande, the commander of the fourth division, asked curiously.
"I have never asked the Egyptians this question," Calsidis said in a low voice. "Your Majesty and all the commanders, please pay attention! If we want to lead the army through the desert and take over Gaza City, the biggest threat to us is water! There is no water source during this 400-mile long march, and the soldiers are very thirsty while marching in the desert. They need to drink a lot of water. Even if we brought a lot of water when we set off, if we cannot successfully take over Gaza City in a short period of time, we will still face the danger of water shortage! … "
After hearing Calsidis' words, the expressions of the generals became serious.
The Devers gasped. He suddenly remembered the Kingdom of Jerusalem that was established by the Crusades in the Middle Ages of Western Europe in his previous life. They rashly gathered their army and entered the desert to attack Saladin, the King of Egypt. In the end, because of the lack of water, they almost collapsed without a fight …
"Gaza City is also built in the desert. Don't the people of Persia lack water?" Legio III commander Trotiras asked.
"There should be wells in Gaza City, and there are not many soldiers in Persia, unlike us, which has as many as 200,000 people. There is also a lot of labor, horses, and livestock. Digging a few wells will not be enough to meet the demand. Moreover, it is very difficult to dig underground water in the desert, and there is no guarantee of success. "
"Maybe we can march eastward along the coast and let the fleet follow us. They can dock at any time and provide us with water and other supplies …" Matonis said hesitantly.
"I once had this idea, but after careful consideration, I realized that this method is not very appropriate. To provide supplies for such a large army, we also need a large fleet. Egypt, which is not very developed in the sea trade, is unable to meet the needs. We can only recruit from the mainland of Greece and the Kingdom of England. This will take a lot of time, and the more ships we have, the more crew members we need. This will consume more resources. In addition, the fleet docks every day to load and unload food and water, which will take a lot of time. This will seriously delay the speed of the army and extend the time we need to pass through the desert …"
At this point, Calsidis moved his finger up on the map. "You should have noticed that the coast where our army is marching is not too far from the coast of Cyprus and Phoenicia. These two areas are the main naval bases of Persia, and they have many warships. As I said before, the Persia fleet is likely to be gathering at the naval port in Cyprus. They are likely to attack our fleet.
If we let the navy escort us, there will be no port to dock and replenish supplies along the long coast from Naukratis to Gaza. The fleet will not be able to rest well, and the warships will not be able to be maintained. When the Persia fleet attacks, we will also have to consider protecting the fleet. The entire battle situation is not very favorable for our navy … "
Calsidis had obviously thought about it seriously. He patiently listed out the difficulties one by one. The commanders frowned and fell into deep thought.
Devers sighed and said, "It seems that the Ministry of Military Affairs and I have made the mistake of talking on paper and underestimating the difficulty of fighting in the desert. If not for your timely discovery, Calsidis, we might have been in big trouble! Since you can discover the problem, you must have thought of a way to solve it. Tell us in detail how you want to modify the battle plan! "
Facing Devers' encouraging gaze, Calsidis pulled himself together and said loudly, "I think that our first target is not Gaza, but here — Cyprus!"
Everyone's eyes immediately focused on the icon on his finger.
"There are three purposes for attacking it." Calsidis revealed the plan he had thought of. "First, Cyprus is a large island with large lakes and rivers. There are also large plains in the north. It has a large population and sufficient food and material reserves. It also has several well-equipped naval ports. It is also easy to land and fight. As long as we capture it, we can use it to anchor our fleet and support our army in battle.
Secondly, Cyprus is the barrier of the Near East coast of Persia. If we capture it, we can land in the north and attack the Gulf of Issus. To the east, we can attack Syria and Phoenicia. To the southeast, we can threaten Canaan … The entire Near East coast is under our threat. This will give us more of the initiative in the war — "
"Since Cyprus is so important to Persia, the Persia must also place great importance on it. You mentioned just now that Phoenicia and Cyprus are the main sources of the Persia navy. They are also gathering their warships. Looking at this map, Phoenicia is very close to Cyprus. They can definitely send their fleet in time to intercept our transport fleet!" Lizaru interrupted Calsidis and asked a question.
Calsidis said unhurriedly, "This is the third purpose I want to mention! We will travel thousands of miles to attack Persia. The long transport line is our biggest weakness. However, as long as we control the Eastern Mediterranean, this will not be a problem. Therefore, the military plan formulated by His Majesty and the Ministry of Military Affairs considered destroying the Persia fleet first. Therefore, the Greek allied forces first landed in Asia Minor and wanted to lure the Persia fleet north. However, the effect was not ideal. In the end, they only destroyed the Persia's Asia Minor fleet. The main force of the Persia fleet is still in the Near East! However, if we attack Cyprus, the Persia fleet will have no choice but to turn out in full force. I think this should be what we are looking forward to! "
Saying this, Calsidis looked at Devers.
Devers crossed his arms and stared at the map, still deep in thought.
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