Chapter 1306
The Devers were listening attentively and feeling happy. Suddenly, Marigi knelt down and said with a guilty face, "Your Majesty … I'm actually a Babylonian. I just wanted to make myself … look noble, so I always called myself a Persia. Later, I wanted to confess, but I felt that if the people of the kingdom knew that I had lied, it would damage the prestige of the Ministry of Commerce. So … Your Majesty, please forgive me for hiding this for a long time!"
The Devers laughed and pulled him up. He said in a clear voice, "You're not a Persia. That's great! I was worried that if Persia was defeated and Persia lost too badly, it would hurt you. Now, I'm relieved! This means that after the decisive battle with the Persia army, I will appoint you as the messenger of Diónia. You will go and persuade your compatriots to surrender to the kingdom and share the fruits of victory together! "
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Marigi bowed deeply to the Devers with a joyful face.
… …
The next day, the King of the Devers called for a military conference. Not only did he require all the generals to attend, but he also invited Alexis, Felicius, Tormid, Amyntas, Epthenis, and other retired mercenary generals to attend the conference. After listening to Y 'zam's detailed report on the Persia army, they discussed whether to change the current defensive posture and attack the Persia army. …
Almost at the same time, the King of Persia, Artaxerxes, also called for a military conference in the city of Thabosaku. Although his army was larger than Diónia's, there were only a few people attending the conference: Terebassus, the King of Persia's trusted advisor; Halpergus, the Governor of Susa; Mardonios, the General of Persia's Polis (both of them were descendants of the six allies of the great King Darius, who rebuilt Persia, so their status was extremely high); Orontas, the Governor of Armenia, who was also the son-in-law of the King of Persia; and Tyrtaios, the General of the Undead Army, who was also of high status. He was born in the Achaemenid royal family. Although he was a distant branch, he married a daughter of Artaxerxes and had a close relationship with the King of Persia.
The last one was Marktonos, the head of the royal secret service. He was narrating the information about the Dionysian Army aloud, "… From the turmoil in Egypt last September, the Dionysian Army landed in Egypt one after another, to the arrival of the king of Diónia in Egypt in January of this year, then they invaded Canaan, captured Phoenicia, and occupied Syria. During this period of time, the flags of the so-called 'Legion of Dionysia' that we could detect are … the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth (mainly Gauls in the Po region), and twenty-first (mainly Phoenicians and Numibians in the Afylla region) … Based on the fixed combat strength of each legion of Diónia, there are 144,000 soldiers in total.
In addition, there are also flags of five Diónia cavalry legions in the Dionysian Army, with more than 10,000 soldiers … This army, led by the king of Diónia himself, has a total of more than 150,000 soldiers. This is consistent with the judgment of the total number of Dionysian Army made by our spies in Syria … "Marktonos spoke with fervor and assurance. He knew the situation of the Dionysian Army like the back of his hand. He was able to obtain such accurate information thanks to the department he was in charge of — the Royal Secret Service of Persia.
Cyrus founded Persia, but Darius made Persia truly an empire. He perfected the political system of Persia, established a complete administrative and bureaucratic hierarchy, reformed the financial and monetary system of Persia, and established Ahura Mazda as the leader of the people's faith. He also built a huge road system within the country, making the communication between the central and the regions more convenient … Of course, Persia had such a vast territory, and even some regions were still autonomous. In order to rule the subjects more effectively and prevent the great rebellion during the Cambyses period, it was necessary to have a more detailed and accurate understanding of the situation of the officials and people in each region in order to be able to respond in time. Therefore, Darius established the Royal Secret Service to serve the king, which was more than 100 years earlier than the Intelligence Department of the Kingdom of Diónia.
Although more than 100 years had passed, this intelligence department had become bloated and inefficient, it was still the most trusted eyes and ears of the king of Persia. Not only did it monitor the movements of the subjects in the country, but it also paid attention to the situation in neighboring regions like Egypt and Greece. Therefore, when the Dionysian Army appeared in Egypt and Asia Minor, it immediately became the focus of its attention. After such a long time, and in their own country, with the ability of the Royal Secret Service, it was natural that they had a clearer understanding of the situation of the Dionysian Army.
"The Dionysian Army only has 150,000 soldiers. Our army has twice the number of soldiers. With such a huge advantage, I don't understand why they don't take the initiative to attack the Diónia. Instead, they cowardly hide in Thabosakus!" Maldonios said loudly. His tone was obviously dissatisfied with Artaxerxes, but he had no scruples. Not only because his ancestor, Gobrias, was the closest of the six conspirators of Darius who usurped the throne of Persia, but his family had always been trusted by the royal family. Moreover, during the rebellion of Cyrus the Younger, he was the first top noble in Persia to support Artaxerxes. Thus, he helped the king of Persia gain the support of the native nobles of Persia and overcome the crisis when he first ascended the throne. Because of this, he was also trusted by Artaxerxes, who allowed him to command a large army and guard the real capital of Persia, the Susa region.
Faced with Maldonios' accusation, Artaxerxes was a little embarrassed. Although he had expressed his contempt for the "barbarian country" of Diónia on many public occasions, in fact, the military performance of the king of Persia had almost become a joke among the nobles of Persia. The only thing he was proud of was the rebellion of Cyrus the Younger, who was quite prestigious among the nobles of Persia, when he first ascended the throne. But in fact, he knew very well that in that decisive battle, he led more troops than his opponent, but he was at a disadvantage in the battle. If Cyrus the Younger had not been stupid and personally led the troops to charge and died in the battle, the result would have been completely different.
Therefore, when the aggressive kingdom of Diónia, which had almost never suffered a defeat in the western Mediterranean, launched an attack on Persia, he felt a little guilty. So for more than half a year, he stayed in Babylon and watched as Canaan and Phoenicia were captured one after another. It was not until the armies of all regions had gathered that he dared to take action. But when he was about to face the Dionysian Army, he could not help but feel a little flustered. His experience of repeated defeats in the past came to mind, and he did not dare to make a rash decision.
As the most noble king of kings, of course, Artaxerxes would not show his timidity in front of his ministers. He glanced at Terebasus next to him.
Terebasus immediately understood and said, "Your Majesty actually wanted to launch an attack on the Dionysian Army for a long time, but I dissuaded you. Lord Maldonios, although our army is large in number, you should have a lot of experience in terms of combat power after staying here for so long. The natives and barbarians, who make up more than half of the army, look fierce, but they only know how to fight. They do not know how to line up, obey orders, or cooperate with our Persia army. If we attack the Dionysian Army in such a state, they will only become a burden to us.
So we need to spend some time training them and make them our help as soon as possible. Lord Maldonios, you have also commanded such training several times, so you should have felt their progress. I believe that it will not be long before they can cooperate with our army and launch an effective attack on the Dionysian Army. "
Maldonios snorted and could not think of how to refute.
Halpergos sneered and interrupted first, "It is said that Lord Terebasus is wise, but I think he is only so-so! It turns out that we are wasting time here just to make those barbarians a little more obedient. But don't forget that the Greek Coalition Army in Asia Minor is coming here. Once they meet with the Dionysian Army in Syria, the strength of the Dionysian Army will increase greatly, and it will not be easy to defeat them. So we cannot waste any more time. We must defeat the Dionysian Army in front of us as soon as possible! "
"Fanabazos is doing his best to stop the advance of the Greek Coalition Army, and he has achieved good results. According to the news we have received, the Greek Coalition Army has not entered Silesia, so we still have enough time to deal with the Dionysian Army in Syria."
Artaxerxes frowned when he heard Terebasus mention Fanabazos. In fact, through the intelligence of the spy, he already knew the real situation of the battle in the western part of Asia Minor. Although he was angry at Fanabazos for lying about the military situation, he did not punish Fanabazos. He even gave him more support because he knew very well that in such a terrible situation in Asia Minor, only Fanabazos could support the overall situation. Iazon, the scapegoat, only gave both sides a way out. Of course, after the war, he would punish Fanabazos for deceiving the emperor.
At the same time, because he knew that Fanabazos' claim that the Greek mercenaries led by Iazon had defected to the enemy was a lie, he rejected the proposal of some Persia officials. He did not vent his anger on the Greek soldiers he hired. Instead, he gained the gratitude of the Greek mercenaries.
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