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Chapter 1291

When the new year came, the Persia army gradually gathered in the Phrygia region, and part of the army's vanguard had already pressed forward to the eastern border of Missia. Leotychides felt some pressure, and he began to gather his scattered troops.

At the beginning of February, the Persia's Asia Minor coalition army held an important military conference in the capital of Phrygia. The western commander, Fanabazos, presided over the conference, and all the participants were governors of various regions. There was only one exception, and his identity was very special — the former Thessaly, Tarkus, Iazon.

Five years ago, after the army led by Iazon was defeated by the Dionysian Army, he fled to Persia alone. Unlike many famous exiled Greeks who preferred to stay in the western part of Asia Minor, he went directly to Syria and sought an audience with the king of Persia.

At that time, Artaxerxes was preparing to personally conquer Persia, but unexpectedly, a major rebellion broke out in the Asia Minor region. He had no choice but to return to quell the rebellion.

Iazon unified Thessaly, became Tarkus, and became the main force of the Greek coalition army against Diónia, gaining the upper hand in the war … These deeds had long been passed to the ears of the king of Persia through Datis. Considering that there were many Greek mercenaries in the rebel army, Persia lacked heavy infantry, and that Iazon was an excellent Greek general, not only did he warmly receive Iazon, but he also promised that as long as he was willing to serve Persia and be loyal to him, when Persia and Diónia went to war in the future, he would sponsor him to return to Thessaly and reclaim the throne of Tarkus.

Of course, Iazon could not have asked for more. He immediately accepted Artaxerxes' appointment and became the commander of the Greek mercenaries under Persia. With sufficient financial support from Persia, Iazon quickly recruited nearly ten thousand Greek soldiers from the western part of Asia Minor, and even the Ionian Islands. He trained and fought at the same time, and in the war to quell the rebellion in Persia, he won Artaxerxes' trust.

At the end of the war, the number of mercenaries under Iazon's command had increased to 15,000. Artaxerxes did not ask him to reduce the number of soldiers, but instead asked him to lead the mercenaries to garrison in Silesia.

Silesia was located in the south-central part of Asia Minor, and it had exceptionally fertile plains. The population was not large, but the people were very rich, and a kingdom was established a long time ago. In the process of King Darius of Persia's conquest to the west, Silesia was surrounded by mountains as a barrier. It was originally difficult to conquer, but the king of Silesia took the initiative to surrender, so the throne was preserved.

When Artaxerxes first ascended the throne, the king and his wife of Silesia actively supported Cyrus the Younger to fight for the throne. In the end, Cyrus the Younger was defeated and died. But at that time, Artaxerxes was afraid of causing unrest in Asia Minor, so he did not dare to punish the regional governors and kings who had colluded with Cyrus the Younger. Instead, he quietly weakened their power. Until this time, when the rebellion in Asia Minor was completely quelled, he finally completely wiped out the royal family of Silesia, and this fertile land was in his hands. Not only did he send his trusted subordinate to be the governor, but he was also afraid that the local people would rebel, so he also sent Iazon, who was good at fighting, to guard Silesia.

Of course, Artaxerxes had a deeper consideration: the wealth of Silesia was enough to support the Greek mercenaries, which could reduce the financial burden of Persia. And if Iazon led the army to guard Silesia, once there was a rebellion in other parts of Asia Minor, he could go and rescue them in time.

But after a few years, there were no more rebellions, but the invasion of the Greek allied forces came.

When Fanabazos was appointed as the military commander of the western part of Asia Minor, he once asked the king of Persia to send the Greek mercenaries to help in the war, because Iazon's army was directly under the command of the king of Persia, and was not under the command of any local governor.

Artaxerxes agreed, and Farabazos quickly sent a conscription order to Iazon.

But Iazon, who had lived in Persia for several years, no longer needed to prove himself. He was worried that if he went to Phrygia too early, he would be used as cannon fodder by the Persia and be sent to the frontline first. So he found all kinds of reasons to delay, and finally became one of the last troops to arrive at Phrygia, which made Fanabazos a little unhappy.

In this military conference, most of the governors had the same opinion: since the number of soldiers on their side was as high as 80,000, which was far greater than the number of Greek allied forces found out by the scouts, they should boldly lead the army to the west, fight the Greeks, and completely defeat them. They could not wait any longer, because more and more Greek soldiers were landing in Asia Minor, and the number of the enemy's army was still increasing.

Iazon, on the other hand, raised an objection. He believed that based on his understanding of Diónia and the Greek city-states, this time, they must have sent their best soldiers to invade Asia Minor. Because the infantry of Persia was not strong, they had always been at a disadvantage in previous wars against the Greeks. If they took the initiative to fight the Greek allied forces head-on, there was a great possibility that they would be defeated, and the situation of the entire Asia Minor would become very bad. On the contrary, if they were not in a hurry to fight the Greek allied forces, but let the army take the initiative to retreat, and at the same time move away or burn all the supplies that could be used by the Greeks, luring the Greek allied forces into the interior. Then, they could take advantage of the fact that they were familiar with the terrain and had more cavalry to constantly harass the enemy, and ambush the food supplies from the rear, so as to achieve the goal of exhausting the Greek allied forces. When the Greek allied forces were weakened, they could then find an opportunity to fight them.

Iazon's suggestion was strongly opposed by most of the viceroys of Persia. These nobles who came from the heart of Persia had no experience in fighting the Greeks. On the contrary, deep down in their hearts, they still regarded the Greeks as barbarians. The pride in their bones would never allow the Persia army to adopt such cowardly tactics to deal with the Greeks, whom they despised. The viceroys of Missia, Lydia, and Phrygia also strongly urged for a quick war, because they did not want to see the land under their jurisdiction being ravaged by the Greeks.

Some of the viceroys even personally attacked Iazon, accusing him: The King of Persia was generous, and did not despise him because of his identity as a refugee. Instead, he put him in an important position. But instead of repaying the trust of the King of Persia, he only wanted to delay the war at this critical moment. What was he thinking?

Some even pointed out that after receiving the conscription order, Iazon did not immediately lead his fully organized Greek mercenaries to Phrygia. Instead, he delayed until the last moment. They were afraid that he had other intentions. To prevent him from suddenly turning to the Greeks during the battle, it was best to strip him of his military power and interrogate him.

Although Iazon felt a little guilty, he was hot-tempered and quarreled with the viceroys.

Under the atmosphere of the viceroys unanimously demanding that the Greek army be defeated as soon as possible, Fanabazos had no choice but to accept their suggestion and take the initiative to fight the Greek allied forces.

After the meeting, he asked Iazon to stay alone and appease him. He clearly expressed his trust in him and promised that as long as Iazon performed well in the upcoming battle, he would report his achievements to the King of Persia and provide him with help when he returned to Thessaly in the future.

As a veteran general of Persia in Asia Minor, Fanabazos had not only experienced the humiliation of besieging the Greek expeditionary force, but also the pain of being beaten by Agesilaus and his army. He knew very well how powerful the Greek army was, so he agreed with Iazon. However, when so many viceroys unanimously asked for a quick battle, he had no choice but to agree against his will. Although he was the new military commander of the western part of Asia Minor and the son-in-law of Artaxerxes, his identity as a nobleman in Asia Minor meant that he was not trusted by the King of Persia as much as some of the viceroys of Persia who were present. A secret letter from one of them might increase the suspicion of the King of Persia.

Although he was a little fearful of the Greek allied forces, he believed that his army had gathered the elites of the western part of Asia Minor. Not only did they outnumber the Greek allied forces, they also had the support of the Greek mercenaries who were skilled in battle. They had a high chance of winning the battle. Therefore, he led the allied forces of western Asia Minor out of Phrygia and into Missia with great confidence.

When he heard the news, Leotychides immediately sighed in his heart. That old man was right!

As it turned out, after the Greek allied forces had gathered, the commander of the allied forces, Leotychides, held a military meeting with the generals of the allied forces.

In the meeting, Ipamilonda, Lycomedes, Iphicrates, and the other generals of the allied forces all agreed that the allied forces were strong. They should seize the time and lead the army to the east to seek a decisive battle with the main forces of the Persia army. As long as they won the battle, the entire western part of Asia Minor would no longer be able to stop the Greek allied forces.

However, there were also some who were worried. At this time, they had already found out that Fanabazos had been appointed as the military commander of Asia Minor by the king of Persia. He was an experienced general, and it was very likely that he would choose to avoid the battle. On the other hand, the Greek allied forces had been far away from the coast for a long time.

The old Agesilaus confidently told the generals, "You don't have to worry about the Persia avoiding the battle. You also don't have to take the initiative to seek a decisive battle with the Persia, because the Persia army will take the initiative to seek a decisive battle with the allied forces!

This was because the people in the western part of Asia Minor had always been resistant to the officials from Persia. Based on the recent news, the people in the western part of Asia Minor did not trust the new governors of Persia. If these governors did not fight and instead retreated, allowing the allied forces to destroy the farmlands and villages, then the people here would be filled with resentment for the governors' inaction. This would be very disadvantageous to their future rule. The arrogant people of Persia generally would not make such a choice.

As for the military commander of Persia, Fanabazos … I have a deeper understanding of him. He is indeed a capable general of Persia, and he has quite a reputation in the western part of Asia Minor. If he decides to retreat, the soldiers will be able to obey, and the people may be able to accept it. However, this man is tactful, good at making friends, and generous. Therefore, when he was the governor of Asia Minor, his colleagues, his subordinates, and even the local people got along well with him. However, he lacks decisiveness and is too emotional. This is precisely the biggest taboo for a commander. I think it will be very difficult for him to reject the request of the governors to abandon the people of Misia and Phrygia and retreat! "