Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Both Cyclion and the generals of the Athens Navy breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time they also increased their vigilance against the opposing fleet. After all, so many warships in the voyage can quickly stop advancing in a short time after receiving orders. It is not easy. This means that the country’s navy has a complete organization and command system and is well-trained.

After a while, a clipper sailed out of the Athenian fleet and headed straight towards the Dionian fleet. When approaching the Dionian battleship, someone shouted from the ship: "The Messenger of Athens wants to see Dionian. Fleet commander!"

Twenty minutes later, the Messenger of Athens boarded the flagship of the First Fleet of Dionia.

"I'm Sekelian, the commander of the First Fleet of Dionia." Sekelian said loudly, while looking at the person who came: square face, high nose, thick eyebrows, big eyes, beard, wide forehead, medium build, neither fat nor thin Although the hair is a little gray, it seems to be around 50 years old, but he looks very energetic.

"The chief general of Athens, Calistratus!" The messenger stared at Sekelion sharply, his voice was strong and magnetic, but his words were sharp: "The 300,000 people of Athens entrusted me to ask the general, Dai Is Onia going to declare war on Athens?"

Sekerian did not expect the other party to ask so directly, he hurriedly explained: "You misunderstood, Dionia has no malice against Athens! We are only chasing a fleet of food to Sparta, and we have to come. In order to avoid misunderstandings in this bay, our warships have also avoided the waters of Athens."

"No malice?" Callistratus sneered: "If our Athens fleet sails in your Taranto Gulf, would you Dionians think that this fleet came with good intentions and also To enthusiastically open the port of Turii and invite them to enter?"

Sekerian was speechless for a while, and before he could think about how to respond, he listened to the other party to continue to say: "I think you should be a Greek. Then you should know that our Greeks' survival depends mainly on trade. In the past few decades, Greece There are constant wars, and naval battles are not known how many have occurred, but the city-states caught in the war still continue to trade, and few warships actively attacked merchant ships, because every crew member of the city-state knows that attacking merchant ships is digging the roots of the Greeks. Collins is just doing what every sea trade city-state should do, and the ships brewing for Sparta are just abiding by the trade contract. The crew members make some money for the life of the whole family, but now you are ..."

The verbal accusation by Callistratus made Sekelian feel a little bit aggrieved. He quickly coughed and interrupted the other person impatiently: "Please stop talking about these irrelevant things, directly Tell me what you are here!"

A trace of contempt flashed in Kalisstratus' eyes. He looked calm but said in a strong tone: "After the war between Dionia and Sparta, Sparta once asked Athens for help. The relationship between Lei did not agree to the request of the Spartans. I also hope that Dionia can take into account the friendly exchanges with Athens before, not let the war spread to Athens, and promised your war before the end of this war. The ship will no longer appear in the Aegean Sea!"

What Kallistatus said was full of threats, but how could Sekerian be threatened? He raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice: "Our warship will leave soon, but if there is still The fleet transports troops and food to Sparta, and we will come again!"

The two sides broke up unhappy.

After Callistratus left by boat, a vigorous bugle sounded in the Dionian fleet. The front ships of the Dionian fleet turned south, and the warships at the rear turned north one after another. , And then began to move forward... It didn’t take long for the original stacks of ships to form two long columns again, and a large circle was drawn in front of the waiting Athens fleet, and then followed the original entry The route returns.

The Athenian sailors listened to the excitement of rowing horns from the front, watching the flexibly turning of the Dionian warships, so that the hulls were facing the bow of the Athens warship, and then swaggered from behind. They drove in front of them... They were surprised at the boldness of the Dionians, but also a little angry.

"The Dionians are demonstrating to us!" Caprias, the temporarily appointed commander of the Athens fleet, looked at the sea ahead, and said with a solemn expression: "But the Dionians have so many battles. In the case of a ship, the formation can be changed so quickly. If we have a war with Dionia in the future, their navy will pose a huge threat to Athens!"

Having said this, he turned his head to look at Calistratus next to him, with a solemn expression and a deep and powerful voice asking: "Now is a good time to defeat this fleet, do you want to launch an attack?!"

Callistratus shook his head: "Athens did not declare war on Dionia, and the citizens were not ready, wait."

It wasn't until the entire fleet sailed out of Salong Bay that Sekerian released his clenched fists. He took a sharp breath and said loudly, "Order the fleet to sail east, through Kythnos, and to Delos. After being nearby, go directly south until you see Crete, and then return to the station."

"Yes!"

………………………………………………

While the Dionian army was still building a camp in Megalopolis territory, Archidamus, who received the news, immediately lifted the siege of Mandinia, led his army south, and bypassed the city of Taga. It also began to build camps in its southern border with Sparta, and began to confront the Dionian army to the west.

Knowing that the siege of Mandinia had been lifted, under the suggestion of Plintors, Cloto Kataks was not eager to lead his army east, but patiently continued to let the soldiers consolidate the camp.

Although the main forces on both sides are not moving, there is no peace between the two camps. The fighting between the scouts on both sides takes place every day. There are cavalry and scout infantry. Of course, the more professional and well-trained Dioni The Asian side has the upper hand, especially a small team of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade raid a Spartan mercenary's food search team of about 20 people, creating a killer and wounding six people, four dead, two captives, and no casualties. The impressive record... all these have put a lot of pressure on the Spartan mercenaries.

A few days later, the Spartan king Agsilius led 7,000 soldiers out of northern Sparta, entered the territory of Taga, and joined the Spartan mercenaries.

"Father, you are finally here!" Archidamus went out to greet him personally. The face that had been covered in gloom for the past few days finally stretched out, showing a slight smile.

Although Agsilius looked tired with his cane, his smile was more cheerful: "Thank you, Azidamus! In order to satisfy your request, I brought all the brave fighters of Sparta, Before leaving, I made a special sacrifice to the Temple of Athena, and the oracle I got was a good omen! (Usually, the two kings of Sparta who had the right to sacrifice before the war would send people to Delphi to request the oracle, but now The war took place on the northern border, the danger of going to Delphi was very high, and there was too late in time, so the sacrifices could only be made in the acropolis of Sparta)"

"That's great!" Archidamus was relieved.

Agsilius looked around at the mercenary general standing behind Archidamus, and said confidently: "In fact, even without the oracle, I firmly believe that Sparta will win this time! Because in the past we Sparta. As long as you send a few hundred soldiers and join forces with the coalition forces, you will be able to be in the Greek city! Now, we Sparta not only make the best of the elite, but also the army led by Archidamus is also the most elite soldier from each city-state Formation, the two are merged together. This is the largest and most powerful army I have led over the years. I firmly believe that no one can match it!"

"Yes, King Agsilius is too right!" The mercenary generals shouted excitedly.

Then Archidamus introduced these mercenary generals to his father one by one. Agsilous talked with them cordially. Among them, there were a few people he knew. After all, he had fought in Asia Minor for many years 20 years ago. , Is very familiar with the situation there, so he knows every mercenary general’s home country, and talks about it, making the generals feel cordial.

For such mercenary generals, Agsilius is a living legend. He fought in Persian territories with his own power, which caused the Persians to be in an awkward situation of being passively beaten. Several times he actively sought peace. And his charm has made many Greek city-states in Asia Minor willing to support them all the time, and many of his stories are still circulating in Asia Minor.

Therefore, the mercenary generals rushed to salute Agsilius, proud of being able to talk to him, and the atmosphere was very warm for a while.

After a long time, Agsilius said goodbye to them on the grounds that he was "somewhat tired and needed a rest", and followed Archidamus into the Chinese military account.

Entering the tent, Agsilius threw away the wooden staff, and leaned against a wooden chair with the help of his servant. The smile on his face had disappeared, and his expression became serious: "What is the situation now?"

"Father." Archidamus' expression was equally serious: "The day before yesterday, a small amount of food was transported from the port of Corinth, and yesterday there was no more food from the north! The Persians told me that the Dionian fleet was used every day. When patrolling in the Aegean Sea, any grain-carrying fleet entering the Salong Bay will be intercepted and investigated. They have already captured several fleets, and the Persians had to temporarily stop transporting grain."