Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Agsilius was not surprised. The reason why he led the army at this time was because he had received a report from the messenger sent by Archidamus to Sparta, but now the situation has only become more serious. , He thought for a while, and then asked: "How many days can the food stored in the camp be supplied?"

"If you count the army you brought—"

"Don't count them yet. After I got the news from you, I asked the soldiers to bring rations for 5 days."

"It can be supplied for about seven days, so I have sent people to collect food in Taigeya's territory in the past two days. Unfortunately, the Taigeya people have hid in the city a long time ago, and we have not harvested much."

"Immediately stop the levy of food from the Taigeya Territory, and at the same time prohibit anyone from destroying the Taigeya villages and fields, and prohibit looting the property in their houses!" Agsilius said harshly.

"Father, why do you do this?! We trust the Taigeya so much, but they betrayed us. We must punish them severely, and let these city-states in the Peloponnese know that they betrayed Sparta. What will happen to it!"

Agsilius looked at Archidams with a puzzled look, and sighed secretly: his son is brave in combat and good at making friends. He has considerable prestige among the Spartans, but there is one of the biggest Faults-unwilling to use more brains, not careful enough to do things, not comprehensive enough to look at problemsOf course, this is also a common problem for most Spartan citizens.Sparta can do this when it is strong, but when the people rebel and the enemy invades, doing so will not only serve as a deterrent, on the contrary, it will have a counterproductive effect.

However, Agsilius understood his son's stubborn personality. He didn't intend to convince him with words, but let the facts in the future impress him deeply, so he said in a tone that could not be denied: "This is an order! "

Although Archidamus is almost 40 years old and has led the army many times in independent battles, he still has awe in the face of his old father. He did not express opposition, but reminded: "Those mercenaries may not accept this. command."

"They will accept it!" Agsilius said with a certain tone.

Archidhams is not good to say anything more about this issue, and then turn to another matter: "Father, the elders should have seen Corinth’s messenger? Regarding their suggestions, the Ombudsman and the Council of Elders What's the decision?"

Agassilaus said unhurriedly: "Although the Corinthians have always been cunning and capricious, they have brought disasters to Sparta (referring to the Corinthian War), and they were almost always in the war with Thebes. Keep it neutral, but the Council of Elders is still willing to believe what the Corinthians say, not only because, as the Corinthian envoy said, “The Dionia fleet raided their harbor and gave them a great humiliation, and they want revenge.” Also because of Dai Onia has seriously damaged the interests of the Corinthians, and they have long held a grudge—"

"Wait... Dionia harmed Corinth's interests, what interests?" Archidamus couldn't help but interject.

Seeing his son’s incomprehensible expression, Agsilius covered his forehead with his hand, but he patiently explained: “Our Spartan’s fundamental interests are in the Peloponnese, and the Athenians’ fundamental interests are in the Peloponnese. The Aegean Sea, and the Corinthians developed westward very early. They had many colonies in the Western Mediterranean, including Corfu and Syracuse as we know them. They relied on trade with these colonies. They used to be very Rich, but now...hehe..."

Achimus suddenly realized: Dionia had annexed all the city-states of Great Greece, which made Corinth hate it. No wonder they would so easily agree to open the port on the eastern isthmus, allowing us to transport troops and food...

"The Corinthian messenger said that they would unite all the Greek city-states against Dionia, and we also believe that they can do it. The Corinthians are not good at war, but in this respect they are quite good at..." Agsilius said. When speaking, he was not ridiculed like other Spartans, but rather admired.

He still clearly remembers: When he was still a young man and the Peloponnesian War had been going on for almost 10 years, Sparta encountered a crisis. Not only did the naval and land battles fail terribly, but also the domestic black soldiers. They defected continuously, and the prestige of Spartans was greatly lost. The domestic affairs alone caused them to be overwhelmed, let alone sending troops to fight.To make matters worse, the agreement between Sparta and Argos expired. Argos refused to renew the agreement. Instead, he formed an alliance with Athens. The Peloponnesian alliance was also facing torn apart, especially Mandinia and Ellis. It has its own interests and is in conflict with Sparta.

As a result, Sparta’s power was severely weakened, and it was forced to sign the "Nicas Contract" with Athens. However, because Sparta did not strictly fulfill the contract, war could break out at any time, and the Argos were also ready to move. Da is facing a huge crisis.At this moment, the Corinthians stepped forward and carried out a magical diplomatic operation, which not only stabilized the Peloponnesian alliance, but also prevented Athens and Argos from cooperating well. Instead, a gap was created. Sparta survived this difficulty and finally won the war...

Agcilius sighed lightly, blown the past away, and said earnestly: "Dionia is a power in the Western Mediterranean. It has been the colonial city-states that annexed our Greece for more than 20 years to rise. For these local city-states, In other words, it is not only a bit unfamiliar, but more or less conflict of interest.

Now this outsider not only sends an army to run rampant on the Peloponnese land, their fleet is also freely cruising in the Aegean Sea, which will inevitably make many city states feel angry and threatened. Therefore, the Council of Elders analyzed that Corinth wanted to form A temporary alliance against Dionia should be possible."

Having said that, Agsilius sighed again and said softly: "But this alliance that the Corinthians said...we can't count on it for the time being."

"Because such an alliance that wants to include most of the city-states in Greece and form a powerful army can not be done in a short time, and what we lack now is time, right, father?" From the experience of fighting against other Greek city-states, Archidamus guessed the reason for doing so.

"The Council of Elders verbally agreed to the suggestion of the Corinthian messenger, but we all know that at this stage we still cannot count on this non-existent alliance, but the army of Dionians has already been forced to our doorstep, and we are because Without food, it is impossible to maintain such a large army for a long time..."

Agcilius beat his stump with his hand lightly, and said solemnly: "There is one thing you probably don’t know. Not only did the Dionian fleet cruise in the Aegean Sea in the past two days, but some of the ships were full of soldiers. We have repeatedly approached our coast and assumed a posture of landing again. This has put a lot of pressure on the Council of Elders. I made a lot of effort to persuade the Council of Elders and the inspectors to risk sending these 7,000 people. soldier.

Today, there are less than a thousand young soldiers left in Sparta. They mainly rely on the elderly, the Piriasis, and some black Laos to defend the territory. The troops are insufficient and there are great dangers, so what we need to do now That's-defeat this onian army as soon as possible, and then return to the Spartan territory!

As long as we win this victory, we can win more support from the Persians, revive Sparta’s prestige in the Peloponnese, and can also buy us more time until the Corinthians say The Greek League is formed, and they fight Dionia together, so we have a greater chance of winning!"

Agcilius said, his emotions gradually became agitated.

"However, the commander of the Dionian army seems to be more cautious." Archidamus reminded again with some worry: "Those Dionian soldiers have been building camps these days. The attempt to wage a decisive battle with us may be to wait until we run out of food before attacking. Are we going to storm the Dionian camp?"

"The Dionians will come out!" Agcilius replied confidently.

……………………………………………………

Pausanias, the former king of Sparta, broke out in the Corinthian War more than 10 years ago. He and Lysander were ordered to lead an army to attack Thebes.

The Spartan Council of Elders and the Ombudsman made a fatal mistake. They chose the commander in consideration of the abilities and positions of the two men, but forgot that the two men had already regarded each other as enemies because of their political conflicts. As a result, Pausanias, who was supposed to rendezvous with Lysander’s army in time during the war, did not lead his troops to arrive, causing Lysander’s lone army to resist the Thebes’ offensive, which eventually led to a crushing defeat, the Spartan hero. Also killed on the battlefield.

The news came back to Sparta, and the people were extremely sad. Instigated by Lysander's supporters, they strongly demanded the trial of Pausanias. In the end, Pausanias was expelled from Sparta and never returned.

For a Spartan king who loved his hometown deeply, this punishment was far more cruel than killing him. In the end, Pausanias chose to settle down in Taigea because it was very close to Sparta. .

Tagaia is an ally of Sparta. Because of its geographical location, Sparta's attitude towards it is much better than that of other allies, so the two sides have been in close contact.Pausanias has been in power for several decades, and he has dealt with the Taigeya many times, and he himself is a rare moderate at the top of Sparta, so most allies respect him.