Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Asidamas thought for a while, and said in deep thought: "Since Dionian invaded Messenia, I spent time investigating the situation in Dionian in detail, and found out that this Western Mediterranean kingdom has actually been controlled. All the coastal forces in the Western Mediterranean have become the well-deserved hegemon of the Western Mediterranean! In the last two wars, this kingdom sent 100,000 troops and 600 or 700 warships to fight, and it was able to maintain an offensive for more than half a year. Amazing!

Moreover, Dionia developed from a small city-state to the present kingdom 20 years ago. It was ushered in through constant wars and annexations. It could not be just to help Thebes and come to Greece to fight against Sparta. The ultimate goal must be the whole of Greece!

My opinion is... Either you send an envoy to Turíy to fight for the alliance with Dionia, thereby preserving the independence of Thessaly; or you call the Athenian envoy who is staying in the city to join the Greek Alliance, In this way, the power of the entire Greece can be assembled and repelled the Dionians!"

Speaking of this, Asidamas looked solemn: "I am inclined to the previous suggestion because I don't think a makeshift alliance can defeat a kingdom that has become stronger in constant battle."

"Asidamas, you have always been cautious." Jason stood up suddenly and said loudly, "I choose your last suggestion! You are right, Dionia wants to conquer the whole In Greece, it is impossible for us to stay aside and preserve our strength. The flames of war will eventually burn to the land of Thessaly. It is better to take this opportunity to gather the power of all Greece and fight Dionia with all your strength!

I think that during the Hippo War, only half of the castles in Greece were united and could repel Persia. This time, Thessaly joined us, and Dionia was not as strong as Persia. Can we still defeat them? !We first unite with the city-states to the south, defeat Dionia with all our strength, and then compete with Athens and Thebes for the hegemony of Greece. What do you think?!"

Asidamas looked at Jason, who was a little excited, and was not surprised by the choice he made, because with his understanding of this Targus, Jason, who has always been determined to make progress, is almost impossible to take forbearance. The strategy of concession, but he also had to remind: "If you form a coalition, you must separate the primary and secondary forces, just like Sparta was the leader of the Hippocratic War."

"Of course, I, Thessaly, will be the leader and command all the coalition forces!" Jason said categorically, without concealing his ambition: "Sparta has declined, and the army of Athens is not good. Although Thebes is fighting Won the battle with Sparta, but the number of their soldiers was not enough (he did not know that Thebes remained neutral)...Only I, Thessaly, was able to form a force of more than 40,000 people, and the combat effectiveness was very strong, our fleet The number of warships is more than a hundred, surpassing Athens. If we do not become the leader of this alliance, who dares to do it?!"

Becoming the leader of the Greek Alliance, although it is only temporary, as long as the battle is won, the status of Thessaly in the Greek city-state will inevitably be greatly improved, and the people of Thessa will be proud. The populations of Athens and Sparta are called "barbarians", so not only Jason has this wish, but Asidamas is also optimistic about its success.

So he suggested: "My lord, we can use this as a prerequisite to join the alliance and negotiate with the Athenian messenger, but first invite him to review our Thessaly's army."

"Asidamas, you and I want to go together again!" Jason clapped and laughed, with a confident expression on his face: "I'm going to gather my army, and in the afternoon you will take the Athenian envoy to the military camp outside the city. "

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On the second day of the Battle of Taga, Croto Kataks led an army to repair near the Sanctuary of Hercules in the southeast of Taga City (formerly the Spartan coalition camp) and sent 5,000 soldiers to escort him Tens of thousands of captives returned to Messenia, most of them were the people of Tagia. They will be sent back to Turri, or become public officials, sent for mining, or sold by public development (Greece Native slaves are still relatively popular in the Turri slave market. First, they have high cultural quality, smart, easy to learn, and easy to communicate. Second, they can satisfy the colonial attitude of the Dionian Greek citizens to show off their motherland.).

In this way, the city of Taga almost became an empty city, temporarily stationed by 1,000 Dionian soldiers.

In addition, at the request of Taginos, the almost undamaged 3,000 soldiers of the Seventh Army moved south early in the morning to block the border between Taga and Sparta and intercept the Spartan defeat.

In the afternoon, 2,000 soldiers and an envoy sent by Mandinia finally arrived at the new army camp of Dionia and eagerly expressed to Cloto Catacs that Mandinia was willing to accept his proposal and take over Thailand. Geya.

At the same time, they also hope to enter into a secret agreement with Dionia to form a closer alliance and fully support any military operations of Dionia on the mainland of Greece.

The Mandinians are not fools. Although they covet the land of Tagaia, they also know that they are weak. Once they do such a move, they will inevitably be squeezed out and suppressed by other Greek city-states, and may even be war. Throughout the past, Dionia has always had a good reputation with allies, so if they want to completely annex this land, they must hold Dionia's thighs tightly.

Therefore, 500 of the 2,000 Mandinian soldiers are prepared to stay in Tagya City, and the remaining 1,500 are to obey the command of the Dionian army and participate in subsequent military operations to show the Mandinian. Sincerity.

Cloto Catax’s goal was achieved. He was very willing to negotiate with the envoy of Mandinia, and soon signed an alliance that excludes Arcadia, limited to the one between Dionia and Mandinia. Secret military covenant between.

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At the same time, Spartan king Agsilius led the remnant army to trek through the mountains.

Before the battle, Teacher Agxi had been mentally prepared for defeat. He made two plans:

One is that the Dionian army is like the Thebes. After winning the battle, he will retreat. Then he can retreat to the camp first, after a little rectification, then lead a part of the army with Spartan fighters as the main force, and quietly go south at night. Withdraw the territory;

The second is that the Dionian army took advantage of the victory to push Spartans into the mountains. Judging from the previous battles of Dionian, this possibility is very high, so he secretly notified Spartans who were familiar with the terrain. Warriors, once this happens, they will meet in the Pelagos jungle and then withdraw to the territory.

But he never imagined that after the victory of the battle, the Dionian army, after pushing the routs into the mountains through pursuit, would separate some troops to continue the pursuit.These Dionian soldiers (actually the Mountain Reconnaissance Team) ran in the mountains as if they were flat on the ground, and were good at hiding and sneak attacks, forcing the defeated Spartan soldiers to run away in the mountains, including Agassi. Routh himself, if it were not for the soldiers of the King's Guard desperately to rescue him, he would almost fall into the hands of the Dionian soldiers.

It didn't take long for night to fall, and it was difficult to distinguish the direction in the mountains, and also to avoid the beasts, so it was not until noon on the second day that the Spartan soldiers gathered in the vicinity of the Pelagos jungle one after another.

In the afternoon, there were less than a thousand soldiers assembled, and most of them were Piriasi. After all, the Spartan fighters fought on the first line in the battle. Later, the entire right wing was attacked by the Dionian reserve forces. It was undoubtedly much more difficult for a Spartan fighter in a semi-encircled state to escape smoothly.

More importantly, Agsilius did not see his son Archidamus appear, and he was worried in his heart, but he knew that he could not wait any longer, otherwise the soldiers who had no food to eat had not returned. Territory, you must starve to death in the mountains.

So he resolutely gave the order to "go out", and refused the help of the guards. He staggered to the forefront of the team with his cane.

Under his encouragement, the tired and hungry soldiers could only follow closely.

Because they failed to retreat in time last night, in the daytime, they dare not approach the Taigeya Plain at all in their current situation, otherwise it will be a disaster if discovered by the Diorian scouts, so they can only be in the mountains. Trek, which means that the time to return home will be greatly extended...

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On the third day, Croto Kataks, who couldn’t wait, left 2,000 soldiers to garrison the camp, more than 2,000 wounded soldiers were treated and recuperated in the camp, and 15,000 Dionian soldiers and 1,500 Mandinian soldiers were assembled. , Marching south.

Not long after he left the camp, he encountered a messenger sent by Taginos.

what?!Has the 1st Fleet captured Sparta?!…Klotokatax repeatedly read this battle report, autographed by Sekerlian, with amazement on his face.

It turned out that after Taigetinus led 3,000 soldiers to the Spartan border yesterday, he did not catch many soldiers. Later, after repeated requests from the eager Legionnaires, he finally decided to send two companies into Sparta. Go to the territory, explore the real and the truth.

There are rolling mountains from Tagia to Sparta, and the best way to walk is a long narrow passage formed by the Urotas Valley.Since the Dionian army captured Messenia, Spartans have felt a great threat. Under Agsilius’ proposal, the Spartans not only concentrated on building defensive facilities on the southern coast, but also A small defensive camp was built in the difficult terrain of the Urotas River Valley and the other two main roads to the north.