Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Calcidis thought for a while, and said: "In addition, I learned a piece of news from Naukratis merchants who went to trade in Cyprus. Recently, they were expelled by Cypriots and prohibited their merchant ships from entering the Cyprus waters. And some time ago, people often saw a large number of warships appearing in the eastern waters of the island of Cyprus... After analysis, we believe that it is likely that the Persians concentrated most of the warships in their fleet to the ports in the eastern part of Cyprus..."

Davos was still pondering after hearing this, and Matonis said loudly: "It seems that the Persians are gathering their navy and army to prepare for our attack from Egypt!"

Daves did not respond, but looked at Calcidis again: "Next we will attack Persia. What advice do you have?"

Calcidis's expression became dignified, he considered it for a while, and then said softly: "Your Majesty, the military plan for attacking Persia from Egypt made by the Ministry of Military Affairs...I think it may need to be revised..."

"Oh?" Daves looked at Calcidis who was slightly nervous, tapped the wooden chair with his hand, and said in an encouraging tone: "None of us have experience in fighting in Egypt. You have the most say. , You tell us in detail why the plan needs to be revised?"

When Daves said this, the other generals were also serious. When Daves motioned that Henipolis placed the wooden map of Egypt and Persia with the army in the center of the hall, they all surrounded them.

"Your Majesty, sir corps!" Facing everyone's gaze, Calcidis took a deep breath and pointed to the Dafinai city icon on the map. Although his voice trembled slightly, he said in a strong tone: "Dafinai The city is a fortress built by the Egyptians on the easternmost side of the Nile Delta to defend against the Persian invasion. From the city of Dafinai to the east, reaching the border of Egypt, it is about two hundred miles. The desert has no human population or any supply points. According to the speed of the kingdom’s army marching in this terrain, it will take three to four days at the earliest to pass..."

As he spoke, Calcidis’s words became fluent. He gestured the marching route on the map with his fingers, and finally stopped on a circular icon marked with the word “Gaza”: “Less than the Egyptian border Twenty miles is a fortress built by the Persians—Gaza City. It is reported that there are usually 1,500 Persian soldiers stationed in the city, but it may increase to 4,000 now—"

"There are not many 4,000 people. Our army is going north. It should be easy to capture it." Second Army Commander Lizaru interjected.

"I'm afraid it will not be easy." Karsidis said solemnly: "Gaza City was originally just a frontline supply town for the Persians to invade Egypt, but since the last time we strengthened Egypt and repelled the Persians, the Persians may be worried about us. They will attack them in turn through Egypt, so two years ago, Jews and Phoenicians were recruited to build a fortress in Gaza. According to the information we have, although the city is small in size, it has thick walls and reserves. With sufficient military supplies, it is not easy to capture it.

Moreover, the term'Gaza' comes from the Canaanite language, meaning that it is surrounded by sand. It is a fortress built on gravel. The nearest Canaan Oasis is at least twenty or thirty miles away, which means Because we can’t get any resources from nearby Gaza City to build large-scale siege equipment like siege towers, mobile towers, siege trucks, and even construction of siege platforms and causeways, it’s very difficult because there is only sand and no dirt. It’s not easy to freeze, but these are not the biggest difficulties yet—"

Calcidis looked around at the generals, and finally looked at Daves, and said in a more serious tone: "The desert that has the greatest impact on us! I once led the army from Dafinai and tried to march east, but I have tasted a lot of suffering. ! Marching in the desert, during the day is very hot, windy and sandy, and the ground is soft. The soldiers wear armor and walk very hard and are easy to fatigue. Usually the legion marches normally, at least 50 miles a day, but it may even be half of the journey in the desert. Can't reach it.

And at night, the desert became very cold, and soldiers could not sleep unless they were wrapped in blankets.The guides said that fortunately it was spring. If it was summer, the entire desert would be like a big furnace. Few people dared to walk on it. And before the arrival of summer here, there are only more than three months left..."

"I have been here with the army for 10 days. I obviously feel that the climate in Egypt is much hotter than that in Great Greece. Is there a reason why the weather is too hot for the soldiers in Egypt?" The fourth army commander Melisanda was curious. Asked a question.

"I haven't asked the Egyptians about this question." Karsidis said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty and the commanders of the army, please pay attention! If we are to lead our troops through the desert and capture Gaza City, the biggest threat to us is water. ! During this long march of nearly 400 miles, there is no source of water, and soldiers marching in the desert are very thirsty and need to drink a lot of water, even if we carry a lot of water from the start, but if we can’t do it in a short time China successfully captured Gaza and still faces the danger of water shortage!..."

After listening to Calcidis, the generals' faces became serious.

Daves even took a deep breath. He suddenly remembered the Kingdom of Jerusalem established by the Crusades in the Middle Ages in Western Europe in the history of the past. The kingdom of Jerusalem, established by the Crusades, rashly gathered its troops into the desert and launched an attack on the Egyptian monarch Saladin. But because of the lack of water, he almost collapsed without a fight...

"Gaza City is also built in the desert, don't the Persians lack water?" Third Army Commander Trotiras asked.

"There should be wells dug in Gaza City, and there are not many soldiers in Persia. Unlike us, there are as many as 200,000 people. There are also a lot of labor, horses and livestock. Just digging a few wells cannot meet the demand. Not to mention. It is very difficult to dig out groundwater in the desert, and it may not be successful."

"We may be able to march east along the coast, let the fleet go with us, and be able to 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 found that this method is not appropriate, because to supply such a large army, it also requires a huge fleet, and the maritime trade is not developed. Egypt cannot provide to meet its needs. It can only recruit from the mainland of Greece and the kingdom. This takes a lot of time, and the more ships, the more crews are needed, which in itself will consume more materials, plus The fleet docks every day to load and unload fresh water, and the process takes a lot of time. This will seriously delay the army’s marching speed and prolong our time through the desert..."

When Calsidis said this, he moved his finger on the map upwards: "You should have noticed that our marching coast is not too far away from the coast of Cyprus and Phoenician. These two regions are the main Persian navies. The base has a large number of warships. As I said before, the Persians may have assembled a fleet in the naval port of Cyprus, and they are likely to attack our fleet.

And if we let the navy escort, but there is no port on the long coast from Naukratis to Gaza to dock and replenish, the fleet will not be well rested and the warships will not be maintained. When the Persian fleet comes, We must also consider protecting the fleet. The entire battle will not be beneficial to our navy..."

Calcidis obviously after serious thinking, he patiently listed the difficulties one by one, the legion commanders frowned and fell into thought.

Daves sighed and said, "It seems that both the Military Affairs Department and I have made the mistake of talking about soldiers on paper. We have underestimated the difficulty of fighting in the desert. If it weren't for Calcidis, you found out in time, we might really suffer. Very troublesome! Since you can find the problem, you must have figured out a way to solve the problem. Tell us in detail how you want to modify the battle plan!"

Facing Davers's encouraging gaze, Calcidis cheered up and said loudly: "I think the first target of our attack is not Gaza, but here-Cyprus!"

Everyone's eyes immediately focused on the icon of his finger.

"There are three purposes for attacking it." Calsidis explained his well-thought-out plan and presented: "First of all, the island of Cyprus is a large island with large lakes and rivers, and a large plain in the north, with a large population and food supplies. The reserve is also relatively sufficient, and it has several well-equipped military ports. It is also easy to land and fight. As long as we capture it, it can be used to anchor our fleet and support our army operations nearby.

Secondly, the island of Cyprus is a barrier to the coast of the Near East of Persia. We occupy it. We can land northward, attack the Gulf of Issus, attack Syria and Phoenicia to the east, and threaten Canaan to the southeast... the entire coast of the Near East. They are all under our threat, so that we have more control over the war—"

"Since the island of Cyprus is so important to Persia, the Persians must also attach great importance to it. As you mentioned earlier, Phoenician and Cyprus are the main sources of the Persian navy. They are also gathering their warships. Look at this map. Phoenician is very close to Cyprus, and they can dispatch a fleet in time to intercept our transport fleet!" Lizaru interrupted Calcidis and asked questions sharply.

Calcidis said calmly: "This is the third purpose I want to mention! We have traveled thousands of miles to launch an offensive against Persia. The long transportation line is the greatest weakness of our army, but as long as we master the east The dominance of the Mediterranean Sea is not a problem. Therefore, the military plan formulated by His Majesty and the Ministry of Military Affairs considered the elimination of the Persian fleet first. Therefore, the Greek coalition first landed in Asia Minor and wanted to lure the Persian fleet northward, but the effect was not Ideally, only the Persian Asia Minor fleet will be annihilated in the end, and the main force of the Persian fleet will remain in the Near East seas! But if we attack Cyprus, the Persian fleet will have to come out. I think this should be what we expect!"

Having said that, Calcidis looked at Daves.

Davers folded his arms and stared at the map, still thinking.