ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1160 Leotychides’ suggestion

Olivers' expression changed, and he immediately realized that he had almost made a big mistake.If I really do this and let His Majesty Davos know about it, he will definitely think that I am the one who took the lead in embarrassing Clotokatax, and then I will definitely face His Majesty's wrath...

So, he quickly said with a smile: "Haha, drinking is just to scare Ctissus, we are just eating and chatting tonight! You are in luck! The Messenian Gulf has always been closed before, so the seafood is very delicious , there are so many, fat and big oysters that they will eat you till you die!"

"Then I have to give it a try!" Tagtilos quickly answered, realizing at this moment that he had just said the wrong thing.

Printors felt relieved, and now he couldn't help but look at Trotilasco.

......................................................

Clotokatax and his party arrived at the camp, no, it should be said that they came to the city of Messenae (after more than a month of joint efforts by the Dionysian soldiers and the Messenians, this former Spartan camp has It can barely be regarded as a city), entered the military tent, and conducted military affairs handover with Leoticides.

"This is my first time as an army commander, and I don't have much confidence in whether I can complete the important tasks assigned by my father." Clotokatax said frankly: "General Proseus, you are a battle-hardened warrior of the kingdom. He is a famous general and has a deep understanding of the Peloponnese. Can you give me some pointers?"

After the handover of military affairs was completed, Leoticides was ready to pack his bags immediately and leave here early. He did not expect that Clotokatax would make such a request. He looked at the sincere prince in front of him and looked around. Surrounding: In addition to the two of them, there are also Printors and Muklu in the tent, who are whispering something (although Leoticides has been transferred, staff officer Taglu will still stay , as a subordinate of Printors, handling trivial military affairs)...

Leoticides hesitated for a moment and said coldly: "I am the prince of Sparta. Will you believe my suggestion?"

"My father firmly believed that General you would not betray the kingdom, so when he received your first letter, he rejected the proposal of the Ministry of Military Affairs and still allowed you to continue as commander until he received your second letter. You took the initiative to resign from this position, but he hesitated for a long time before agreeing. He told me, 'The reason why people are human is because they have rich emotions. It is completely reasonable that you cannot fight against your hometown people.'… ...And, he also said to me with emotion, 'I didn't expect that Proseus looks like a wooden man, but he is so affectionate and righteous in his heart!'... These are my father's original words. Although I am sorry to you, General. I don’t understand, but my father believes in you, and I have no reason not to believe you!” Clotokatax said still honestly.

After hearing these words, Leoticides felt a little stir in his heart, but his expression remained indifferent, and then asked: "After defeating the Spartan army, what will your Highness do with Sparta?"

Clotokatax solemnly said: "Sparta is the most important city-state in Greece and an important part of the various forces in Greece. If it is completely eliminated, it will not only disgust other Greek people, but also Leading to an imbalance of power in the entire Greece and the entire Peloponnese, this is not what the father wants to see, and it is not in the interests of the kingdom!
So we will treat the defeated Sparta just like we treated Carthage. Sparta will lose its former glory, and its political system may also undergo some changes, but it will continue to survive, even Sparta's Ordinary people may be better off than they are now, because as far as I know, the living conditions of the people in Sparta are worse today..."

After hearing this, Leoticides said nothing. He slowly walked to the main seat, pulled a wooden chair and sat down. He turned around and said, "Muklu, help me get the map of Peloponnese." Come."

The wooden map was placed on the table. Leotychides glanced at Crotocathax, and then said in a deep voice: "Now we occupy Messenia, which is only Mount Taygetos from Sparta. They are separated, but it is not easy to invade their territory.

Two ways!First, the army took ships, landed on the coast of Sparta, and repeated the method we used to capture Messenia.But the reason why we were able to successfully capture Messenia was because the action was sudden and the Spartans had no time to prepare their defenses. Sparta's strength declined significantly after suffering the defeat in the Battle of Leuctra. Asia's military strength was obviously insufficient, which allowed our troops to successfully land.But landing on the Spartan coast was much more difficult.

First of all, although the number of Spartan warriors may be less than 2000, this only refers to young and middle-aged citizens. Elderly people over 50 years old can still fight in armor, and their combat effectiveness will not be too weak. In this way, Sparta can temporarily A force of nearly 4000 people was formed.

There are still Pileasians living in the territory of Sparta. Before I left Sparta, I remember that the number of Pileasians was three times that of Spartans. It may have dropped significantly now, but to form an army A team of 5000 people should not be a big problem, and according to Spartan tradition, as long as there is a war, the Piliasians must provide sufficient soldiers. Sparta has fought frequently in recent years, so the combat effectiveness of the Piliasians should also be Not weak.

There are still a large number of helots living in Sparta. The ancestors of these helots were conquered by Sparta earlier. In addition, Sparta has stricter management of them. Compared with the Messenians, They were more loyal to the Spartans.In my memory, the number of Helots is 7-8 times that of Sparta. Now even if Messenia is lost, the number of remaining Helots will be at least three times that of a temporary team of 2 people. Shouldn't be much of a problem.Calculating this way, the Spartans can temporarily form a reliable army of about [-] people to defend our landing.

Secondly, the Spartan coast was much narrower than the Messenian coast, which made it easier for the Spartans to defend themselves.Also, I received news from the navy that during this period the Spartans used all their strength to build countless wooden stakes on the coast... Under such circumstances, if we want to force a landing, even if we win in the end, we will have to pay a huge price. price.

There is one thing... I'm afraid you don't know. Some time ago, the First Fleet occupied the island of Kythera (an island in the Gulf of Laconia). Sekerian persuaded me to lead the army to land on the coast of Sparta, but I refused. He couldn't help but send out fleet infantry alone to harass the coast of Sparta, but he suffered a failure. I heard that hundreds of people died..."

Clotokatax looked at Printoles with a surprised look on his face.

Principle suddenly looked solemn: "The Ministry of Military Affairs has not received any battle reports in this regard."

Leoticides said lightly: "Maybe the battle report is still on the way...he is now on Kythera Island, you can also ask him directly."

Crotokatax felt a little headache: he thought that getting the generals of the expeditionary army to obey would be the biggest problem for him to become a commander, but he actually forgot about the navy. The illustrious father of the navy and hero of the kingdom is the most difficult to deal with!
Leoticides didn't care what the two people in front of him were thinking, he pointed to the map: "The other way is to go from the north of Messenia, through the south of the Arcadia region, so as to bypass the Taige Mount Toss, into the northern part of Spartan territory... But whether the Arcadians can allow our troops to enter their territory is a key question.

The Arcadian city-states were once allies of Sparta, but changes have recently occurred. They formed the Arcadian League and wanted to be independent from the Peloponnesian League, so they were opposed by Sparta. Threat, if it weren't for our arrival, they might have gone to war with Sparta.

The Arcadians once sent envoys to Thebes to ask for help, and Thebes suggested that they ask for help from us, and also sent envoys to Messenia to intercede for the Arcadians——"

"You mean the Thebans sent a messenger?!" Clotokatax asked.

"It came three days ago, and the messenger was Ipamironda." Leoticides paused intentionally.

Sure enough, Crotocathax asked in surprise: "Is it the Boeotian military governor who led his army to defeat the Spartan army at Leuctra?!"

"That's him." Leoticides said seemingly calmly: "But I didn't talk to him in detail. I told him that a new commander was about to arrive, so he was willing to stay and wait."

"The Arcadians didn't send an envoy?" Printors asked. He and Clotokatax had the same doubts: Since Thebes came to intercede on behalf of the Arcadian Alliance, why? The Theban envoys have arrived, but the Arcadians have not yet come?

"I heard from the Theban envoy that the Arcadian envoy who originally followed him was suddenly called back before they could enter Messenia because Sparta sent an envoy to sue for peace with the Arcadians... …”

Clotokatax was stunned for a moment, then understood, and couldn't help asking: "Sparta wants to have a truce with the Arcadians, and then concentrate all its efforts on us. But the Arcadians who were oppressed by Sparta Will you agree?!"

"Your Highness." Leoticides sat firmly on the wooden chair, pointed at his feet, and said in a deep voice: "In this land of Peloponnese, you must remember one sentence, 'Ten million Don’t believe any agreement of any city-state!’ Most city-states here are still allies today, enemies tomorrow, and peace is restored the day after tomorrow, for the sake of better survival and interests. This is a common thing.

The Arcadians have been Sparta's allies for decades. However, they have been frequently dragged into wars by the Spartans in recent years. They were dissatisfied with the Spartans' tyranny and wanted to invade from the Peloponnese. independent from the alliance.If Sparta takes the initiative to recognize the alliance they established and stops the war against them, it is likely that the relationship between the two parties will return to friendship and even join forces to deal with us..."

(End of this chapter)