Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

"The roots of the Holy Kingdom of Dionysia are in the Western Mediterranean, in Italy!" Instead of showing his displeasure at his son's opposition to initiating a war against Persia, Davos laughed and looked at his son with relief in his eyes: "Clotokatacus, I hope you remember what you have just said and will let your children and grandchildren remember it in the future, concentrate on ruling the Western Mediterranean so that the Holy Kingdom of Dionysia can have lasting peace! "

"Yes!" Clotokatacus responded respectfully.

"But Dionysia is going to attack Persia, not to lust for its wealth and land, but to turn passive into active, seize the favorable opportunity of its weakened power, and defeat it once and for all. At that time, depending on the situation, we can either support a few puppets within Persia, or split it into multiple countries and reduce the threat to the kingdom... These methods should be more effective and less laborious than directly annexing the land."

Davos said with a calm demeanor, "As for those difficulties you mentioned about attacking Persia, what previous war has Deionia experienced that wasn't difficult and unexpected! It was just a little more difficult against Persia. And why did we in Dionysia manage to win and defeat our opponents every time? The reason is that we have the advantage of paying great attention to each of our opponents, with careful planning and preparation.

At the time of the kingdom's establishment, Persia was the only remaining strong enemy in the Mediterranean Sea. When the rebellion occurred in Asia Minor, I had thought of sending troops to attack Persia, but the Greek war had just ended, our military supplies were greatly depleted, the Greek alliance had just been established and needed to be consolidated, and Thessaly had just been conquered and needed time to be digested... So I had to cancel the idea.

However, the Ministry of Military Affairs has always targeted Persia, and has been conducting military training and weaponry improvements against Persia over the past few years, which is why it has accumulated many advantages over Persia today, so the attack plan against Persia cannot be delayed any longer!

I'm sure - with the blessing of Hades - we'll be victorious in the end!"

After Davos cut off the words, Sedorum's heart fully understood: indeed, the attack on Persia had come from His Majesty Davos's will, only to have the Ministry of Military Affairs bring it up, and he might even have discussed it with both Baguler and Asistus beforehand, acting out a scene with everyone in the palace hall.

Sedolum's gaze swept over Olivus and Printhoros, then over to Baguler and Asistus, then dropped his eyes to silence.

It was then that Davos gave a long sigh and said in a low tone, "Yesterday, I went to visit Amintas, who was completely unable to sit up because of a recurrence of an old wound in his body, and could only speak to me in bed... He talked to me about many past events, especially the adventures he had in Persia.

He said, 'He has gone from being an exile with nothing to being an important minister of the powerful kingdom of the Mediterranean today, and he no longer has many regrets in this life, the only regret is that... he may not be able to see the Dionysian army attack Persia again, recover the bones of his fellow mercenaries who died in a foreign land in the past, and take revenge on the Persians who hunted us like cattle and sheep back then...'"

At this point, Davos sighed deeply once more, "...Amintas' words made me feel a lot ah! ...I remember vividly our painstaking escape from Persia and our recuperation in Byzantium. Boulkos, do you remember? You've come a thousand miles to Byzantium and want to hire us to go to Turii and fight the Lucarians, and I agreed to-"

The Minister of Agriculture, Boulkos, stood up shakily and said, rather excitedly, "Your Majesty, of course I remember! I had heard of a Greek mercenary army that had turned a thousand miles in Persia and successfully returned to the Aegean, and therefore believed that if I could hire this army, I would be able to defeat the Lucanians, but the mercenary chiefs refused my invitations, and just when I was on the verge of despair, it was you, your Majesty, who gave me hope by granting my request without hesitation! But who would have thought that this little invitation would create a powerful kingdom that would change the entire Mediterranean!"

Davos looked back with emotion, "Yes, no one can predict the world decades from now... So at that time the Spartan army and the Byzantines, fearing that we who accepted the invitation of the Turii would take advantage of the situation, made a harsh demand, 'Unless we take off our armor' We were allowed to enter Byzantium naked before we were allowed to leave by boat at the port.''

The former leaders of the mercenaries had entered the Persian camp to negotiate with their bare hands and were killed in Persia because they blindly believed the words of the Persian generals, so the mercenaries were very wary of this. The Byzantines were a hundred times more humiliated, and that one road to the port was really hard to navigate! ......."

"Your Majesty, I remember that day very well too!" Olivos, whose eyes were a little moist, gritted his teeth and said, "They called us lowly bastards and told us to get out of Byzantium and not defile their land. Some of them also threatened us that if we didn't run faster, they would chop up our bodies and feed them to the dogs... They didn't just curse us, they threw all kinds of debris at us!

I was standing right next to you, Your Majesty, and I saw with my own eyes that you were hit by some rotten fruit and your face was a little swollen, but you held back... When we got on board, many were so angry that they swore in the name of the gods that one day they would return the humiliation they had suffered to the Byzantines! ......."

Clotokatacus, for the 1st time, heard his father speak of the bitter past of decades ago, and he tugged at his fists with empathy and was about to say something.

But Davos' gaze swiftly swept over the grief-stricken Olivos and Alphenes, and then looked at the others, who were in a sullen mood, and said in a heavy tone: "It was these tormented and despised mercenaries who came to Greater Greece in disgrace, and fought their way to the Holy Kingdom of Dionysia, which is strong today! They are the founders of the kingdom, but we owe them an explanation!

Melchisedec, Tzpit, Zantiparis...they have left this world, and Amintas, Alexis, Felixus...in a few years, I'm afraid they will follow in their footsteps...are we going to let all of these Kingdom's creditors go to Elysia with regret and regret!

What is more, as they are the most familiar of the Dionysian armies with the characteristics of Persian warfare, and also with the geographic customs of Persia, shouldn't we launch an attack on Persia in time, while some of them are still barely able to put on armor, to both solve the kingdom's pitfalls and give them back what they want!

Elites of the Kingdom, agree or disagree, please give your opinion immediately!"

After a brief silence in the palace, Clotokatacus, Asistus, Cipulos, Antaoris, Haka, Bagul, and many other ministers vied for a loud response, "Your Majesty, I agree that the kingdom should declare war on Persia after the Games!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Davos looked at the agitated Olivos, Asistus and the others, stood up abruptly and said loudly, "Since everyone agrees, the attack on Persia is done!"

He paused for a moment and continued, "I have read the report of the organizers of the Games, and the city-states of the Hellenic League that accepted the invitation will send their most important government officials to attend, so I can take this opportunity to convene a high-level meeting of the Hellenic League and agree with them to form an allied army to fight against Persia! Leave this matter to you, Tapirus, to arrange."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After settling on the most important thing, Davos looked at his son again and said in a deep voice, "Clotokatacus, those few problems you just mentioned about the expedition to Persia, 'the distance is too great, the kingdom cannot get the latest news from the front of the battlefield in time, nor can it convey new instructions in time, and the leader of the army in the face of the complex situation 'Not daring to make unauthorized decisions'... Wait, these problems do deserve our attention, but the solution to them is also simple: I will personally lead an expedition!"

The crowd was taken aback.

Sedolum got out, "Your Majesty this is absolutely not okay-"

"What's not to like!" Davos interrupted him in a hard tone and said with a confident face: "Ever since I came to Greater Greece and led the army myself, I have conquered Lucania, Crotone, Syracuse, Mesape, Puchetti, Rome and Carthage, and won victory after victory, which helped the kingdom to pass through the most difficult period and gradually became stronger.... ...

The war that is about to begin with Persia is of undoubted importance to the kingdom, with the life and death of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and the rise and fall of the kingdom at stake, who else but me can undertake such a great mission and be confident of final victory?"

Some of the shrewd ministers had heard what Davos had said: that Dionysia was going to attack Persia with all the kingdom's forces, and there was a certain uneasiness in placing such a large force in the hands of one of the generals. Moreover, the great glory that would be bestowed upon the commander of the army after the victory added to this uneasiness... Therefore, it was safest for the king himself to lead the expedition.

Clotokatacus, of course, was aware of this problem, but he still suggested, worriedly, "The climate in Persia is different from that of the kingdom, and this expedition will be even more tiring, Your Majesty... Father, you are too old for such an arduous expedition. !"