Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Regarding the first proposal, the vast majority of generals agreed, and for the second proposal, everyone also agreed, but there were some different voices.

"We agree with your opinion, General Iphikratus. It is very important to ensure the safety of our back road. Chleusis must be in our hands!" This is a positive response from the generals of the Allied States in the Athenian Sea.

"Thebes are traitors. It was their collusion with Dionia that led to the terrible situation in Greece today. They must be punished! We should not only control Chleusis, but also allow other city-states of the Piosha Alliance to gain Independence!" This is a clamor from Phokiss and Rocris.

"We are crowded and powerful. Thebes should agree to our suggestion. We don’t need to stimulate the Thebes more to avoid them giving up neutrality and falling to Dionia. We should defeat them first. The Dionian army is the most important thing!" This is the opinion of the generals of Corinth, Argos, and Megara.

Only a few generals of the city-state of Piosia who joined the Greek alliance remained silent.

Efetrax’s proposal was quickly approved by the generals, which made Jason realize that just relying on a large number of troops cannot guarantee the command of the entire coalition.

A few days later, the forces of the Greek Alliance began to rush to Corinth.

At this moment, the messenger sent by Cloto Kataks rushed to Mandinia.

"Commander Dionia hopes that we will withdraw all the people stationed in Tagaia and hold Mandinia for a while..." After reading the letter, Lycomides said solemnly to the other people in the council. .

As one of the advocates for the establishment of the Arcadia Alliance, Lukemedes was originally elected by the citizens of Mandinia to serve as the main councilor of the Arcadia Alliance. He shouldered the important task of forming and perfecting the alliance.However, after Mandinia annexed Tagya, there was a conflict of interest with other city-states in the alliance. Although the quarrel was finally settled for the time being, rifts have been created between Mandinia and other city-states. Several Mandinia MPs headed by Sis were obviously alienated and excluded from other city-state MPs.

At this time, the messenger of the Greek alliance came to Megalopolis and threatened the Arcadian alliance "must immediately tear up the alliance with Dionia and join the Greek alliance, otherwise it will be attacked by coalition forces."

After learning about the astonishing number of the Greek coalition forces, and because the main force of the Dionian army has completely retreated to the territory of Sparta, the Arcadian coalition faced the threat of the Greek coalition forces and felt a lot of pressure, so most of the parliamentarians started Hesitated, and a few people made it clear that they could accept the messenger's request. Only Lu Komedes and other Mandinian councillors resolutely opposed it, and their fierce emotions made the Arcadia Alliance not respond to the messenger.

But in the evening, the envoy secretly contacted and discussed with the councillors of many city states, but did not come to Lu Komedes.

Therefore, at the Arcadian Alliance meeting on the second day, while continuing to discuss this issue, he even passed the resolution of "cutting off ties with Dionia and joining the Greek Alliance" with a large number of votes. Lu Komedesko could not accept this. As a result, he angrily criticized the short-sightedness of the alliance, believing that such perfidy behavior will inevitably be punished by the gods.

Subsequently, Lu Komedes led several Mandinian MPs and decisively left Megalopolis and returned to his home country. This actually meant the break between Mandinia and the Arcadia alliance.

At this time, the MPs of Mandinia were all nervous after listening to Lu Komedes’ words. Some people asked urgently: “Now that the Greek Alliance has gathered a large army in Corinth and is about to invade south, we in Mandinia are not like other Akka. The Dia city-state betrayed the covenant with Dionia, and will surely become the first target of this army to attack. Shouldn’t Dionia fulfill the covenant and rescue us?!"

Facing the excited Mandinian MPs, the envoy Carrias calmly said: “From the current situation of the war, the enemy’s strength is obviously greater than that of our Dionysian army in the Peloponnese. At this time, it is not a sensible approach to confront them head-on, so His Royal Highness Cloto Catacs hopes that you can hold on to the city of Mandinia first, and wait for the new reinforcements from Dioria to reach Burrow. Benissa, then decide the outcome with the enemy!

Our Dionia is powerful, and the regular army alone is no less than 200,000 people. As long as there is enough time for them to reach the Peloponnese, they will surely win this war!Of course, the enemy forces are now strong. If you feel that there is not enough manpower, we will send reinforcements to help you defend the city."

The MPs of Mandinia were a little surprised when they heard that there were no less than 200,000 soldiers in the Kingdom of Dionia, and gradually calmed down.In their view: The Dionian army is very powerful. Only 30,000 troops can easily conquer the tyrannical Spartans, and there are still so many soldiers in the country. With tens of thousands of people, defeating the so-called Greek coalition army is definitely not difficult.

"Commander Dionia told us to abandon Tagaia. Is this a temporary abandonment? Or a long-term abandonment?" Lukemedes asked, sorrowful, because of the break with the Arcadian alliance. , Leading to his previous efforts in vain, the root cause is Taigeya, he didn't want to wait until the end of the war, Mandynia's basket was empty, nothing was obtained.

"Of course it is a temporary abandonment." Karias understood the minds of the Mandinians, so he said loudly: "Since we Dionia has promised,'Tegya's land belongs to Mandinia. 'Then it will never change this promise! In addition, I also brought another promise made by His Royal Highness Cloto Kataks—"

Carrias said, took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Lycomides.

Lycomides took the letter, and after reading it, he looked at Carrias in surprise.

Carrias said solemnly and loudly: "Our wise and wise King Davos once said, "Only in times of crisis will we know who our true friends are." We came to Peloponnese. Although the time is not long, you have already experienced many betrayals. Only you, Mandinia, have always stood firmly on our side. Even if the enemy's army is pressured, it will not waver!

Your performance won the trust of Dionia, so His Royal Highness Cloto Catax made a promise, "After the victory of the war, we will fully support Mandinia to re-establish the Arcadia Alliance!'"

Carrias’ words made the parliamentarians in the entire venue excited. They all said: Mandynia will defend the city with all its strength in accordance with Dionia’s request, in order to wait for the arrival of Dionia’s reinforcements!

At this moment, Lu Komedes also swept away the previous depression, and began to think in his heart: this new Arcadian alliance must not be the same as before, regardless of priority, but should be like Thebes in the Piotsia alliance. , To take Mandinia as the absolute center!

…………………………………………

A few days later, the Greek coalition forces entered the territory of Arcadia.After persuading the surrender to be invalid, the city of Mandinia was surrounded.

And on the second day, the most active Thessaly army took the lead in attacking the city, but the Mandinian defenders, who had been reinforced by the two groups of Dionia, easily thwarted the coalition offensive.

In the next few days, the coalition's siege failed to make any progress, and it had to temporarily turn into a siege. Its main force continued to go south, seeking a decisive battle with the Dionian army.

Two days later, Thessaly's army as a forward captured the city of Taga.

Although Taigeya was already an empty city at this time and no battle had taken place, the news still shook the rest of the city-states in Peloponnese who did not understand the truth.

Soon, the Arcadian Alliance fulfilled the new covenant and sent 3,000 soldiers.Ellis, who had been hesitant, finally sent an envoy to the coalition forces to "join the alliance."Even the city-states in the Achaean region, which had been neutral before, sent envoys to make the same request.

For a time, the power of the Greek alliance increased greatly, and its prestige was shocked.

After discussion, the coalition generals headed by Ifekrates and Jason decided that the forces of Ellis, the Arcadian Alliance and the Achaean city-states attacked Messiania, and the coalition forces attacked Sparta.

The Greek coalition continued to move south and reached the border of Arcadia, but what they did not expect was that after the Dionian Expeditionary Army occupied the territory of Sparta, in accordance with the instructions of King Davos, the Ministry of Military Affairs issued an order. : Pointing out that the Greek city-states are forming coalition forces in an attempt to defeat the expeditionary force, so Croto Katakus is required to lead the army to secure the territories of Messenia and Laconia, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack.

Klotokatax obeyed the order and accepted the suggestion of several generals including Plintors to build a number of defensive camps on the traffic arteries and mountains on the northern border of Sparta and Messenia. Tens of thousands of soldiers participated, and the Piriasi people and the former black soldiers also responded actively...

Therefore, in a short period of two months, the Dionian army has initially established relatively systematic defense facilities on the two borders.

The Greek coalition forces were quickly blocked by these complex Dionian defensive camps.Especially in the northern part of Sparta, where the mountains are continuous and the terrain available for passage is narrow, the superior forces of the coalition forces cannot be deployed at all, and camping and rest has become a big problem.The Dionian army held the dangerous terrain, not only blocked the enemy's offensive, but also from time to time through night attacks, constantly causing casualties to the Greek coalition soldiers who had to disperse and camp.