ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1208 Prelude Before the Great War ([-])

Olivers glanced at Patroclus and raised an objection: "Now the Greek coalition is still attacking fiercely, and the Messenian border defenses are relatively weak. We retreat proactively. If we don't control it well, it may be self-defeating and let the Greek coalition Rushing into the plains of Messenia..."

"Yes, once the Greek coalition forces rush into the Messenia Plain, even if we retreat to the city of Messenia, the land and villages that have just been allocated to the citizens of Messenia will be destroyed. Months of hard work will be in vain!" Tagetinos also reminded.

"The most important thing is that the port of Messenia has no defense. There is a large amount of supplies and many ships parked there. If it falls into the hands of the Greek coalition, it will be a heavy loss for us..."

No matter what their mentality was, most of the generals stationed in Laconia and Messenia did not agree with the opinions of Patroclus and Printoles, which made Patroclus express his dissatisfaction. A happy look.

After listening carefully, Clotokatax pondered for a while, and finally he said seriously: "Generals, defeating the Greek coalition and taking control of Greece is the ultimate goal given by the kingdom to our expeditionary force, and the landing and raid on Thessaly It is the most important military operation to achieve this goal! As part of the expeditionary force, we fighting in the Peloponnese must contain the main force of the Greek coalition as much as possible to ensure the success of the landing operation. Therefore, there is no need to discuss the battle in Messenes. The issue of whether Northern Asia should give in, but should focus on discussing how to make concessions to ensure that our defense does not have major problems! Unity and tacit cooperation are the most important weapons for our army of the Kingdom of Dionia to win repeated battles. Regardless of whether His Majesty personally leads the army or not, we should carry it forward!..."

At this moment, Olivers and others seemed to see the shadow of King Davos in Clotokatax, and they couldn't help but trembled in their hearts, and they did not dare to speak out any more.

Printors smiled happily.

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In the early morning of August 8, the sky dawned very early and was extremely blue, with not a single cloud in sight.A relatively strong southerly wind blows on the sea, pushing the tides one after another, constantly lapping at the coast.

In the two bays of Lagnia and Messenia, thousands of cargo ships and warships rise and fall with the waves, but the soldiers and crew members on each ship stand or sit, all with their upper bodies straight and their heads lowered. Head, hands stretched out, palms upward, eyes closed, silently praying to Poseidon, God of the Sea.

On the flagships of the First Fleet, the Second Fleet, and the Third Fleet, the three captains of the fleet, Sekerian, Midolades, and Stephakas, stood at the bow, holding their wine glasses high, singing An ode to Poseidon, and then wine was spilled into the sea to bless the trip.

"Woo!..." The bugle sounded, and the colorful flag representing navigation was immediately raised on the flagship of the Second Fleet. All the warships of the Second Fleet that were already outside the Gulf of Lagnia began to set sail.

Almost at the same time, bugles also sounded in Meselia Bay, and the warships of the 3rd Fleet also dispatched one after another.

Until the crew in the bay could no longer see the 2nd Fleet warships, "Woo!..." The bugle sounded again in the Lagnia Bay.

"Clotho, it's time for us to set off!" Patroclus on the boat solemnly gave a military salute.

"May Hades bless you! I'm waiting for news of your victory!" Clotokatax on the trestle returned the military salute and also offered his blessing.

Patroclus sat back in his seat, and then calmly watched the ship he was on follow other troop carriers full of soldiers out of Hilles Harbor in an orderly manner. Each formed a formation in the bay, and then merged with the squadrons of the 1st Fleet that had been waiting outside to form three large mixed formations and a separate fleet. Then these fleets set sail in sequence from north to south in order of landing targets. …

This process seems simple, but in fact it is extremely cumbersome and complicated. It takes a lot of effort just to get all the soldiers on board and out of the port. Therefore, there are dozens of fast boats in the Gulf of Laconia with tens of thousands of Shuttle scheduling between ships... Although the whole process is still a little chaotic, it is generally relatively smooth.

An hour later, it was finally the turn of Patroclus's fleet to set sail.

Since we are now sailing against the wind, not only the crew members are rowing hard, but also the soldiers on the ship are joining in, shouting slogans along with the crew members, sliding the oars rhythmically, and the helmsman controls the rudder to let the ship "Zigzag" route, sailing toward the southeast...

About half an hour later, the fleet rounded the headland. At this time, the crew climbed up the mast, untied the ropes, and lowered the sails. The wind immediately inflated the sails, and they were hobbling like a sick old man on crutches. The fleet immediately turned into powerful young people galloping hard. The strong south wind made the entire fleet sail north as fast as wings.

At this time, the Second Fleet had arrived at Saron Bay, and in order to better blockade the Athenian fleet, Midorades also divided the fleet into two parts, blocking the sea passages at the north and south ends of Aegina Island respectively.

After receiving the news, the Athenian admiral Cabrias quickly rushed to the nearby coast. Standing on a high ground, he could see the deployment of the Dionian fleet in the bay more clearly.

Just as he was thinking about the reason why the Dionian fleet was lingering near Aegina without attacking or leaving, Callistratus, who came after hearing the news, shouted eagerly from afar: " Cabrias, the Dionian fleet that disappeared for a while suddenly appeared again, is it ready to attack us?!"

"I have been observing here for a while. The Dionian fleet is arranged in a loose formation and has been blocking the sea channel on the north side of Aegina Island. Although it is attacking merchant ships that want to enter or exit, it seems that now It seems that there are no plans to continue to advance westward and attack Piraeus..."

Cabrias pointed to the almost stationary Dionian fleet under the coast and said comfortingly: "And now we have prepared, the warships in Piraeus Port and Salamiga Island They are all ready for battle and have stationed a lot of light infantry. If the Dionian fleet really dares to enter the narrow channel and attack our port, it will be a good thing!"

"What do you mean-" Callistratus walked up to him, looked down at the enemy ships on the sea, and asked slightly excitedly: "Let the victory of Salamiga be repeated?!"

"This is just one of my expectations..." Cabrias thought of the naval battle with the Dionia fleet in the Lagnia Gulf some time ago, and couldn't help but shook his head: "But the Dionia fleet If you are well-trained, you will probably not make such a mistake..."

"There are a lot of warships in the Dionysian fleet!" Callistratus looked down at the sea and asked thoughtfully: "They disappeared in the Aegean Sea for a while. Did you analyze that they were going there?" Attack the islands to the west, so you took the initiative to lead the fleet to attack the Gulf of Lagnia... Now they suddenly appear in the Gulf of Saron. Do you think they have any purpose? Or they just attack us to retaliate against us. Merchant ship?”

Before and after the Perosponnesian War, the generals of Athens not only had to speak loudly in meetings and make suggestions for the development of the city-state, but also personally led the citizen soldiers on the battlefield. This is what Kemon and Pericles did. Thracybulus even died on the battlefield.However, the frequency of wars also placed high demands on the quality of the Athenian generals who commanded the army, which began to lead to the differentiation of the Athenian leadership. There were politicians like Callistratus who specialized in politics, and there were politicians like Iphicrates and Calypso. A general like Blias who is specifically responsible for fighting.Therefore, Callistratus had a very good relationship with Iphicrates and Cablias, and often consulted them on military issues.

"It's hard to say now, I think-" Cablias was still pondering, and a cavalry came quickly: "General Cablias, there is news from Aegina Island, the Dionian warship is not only sealed Block the sea channel to the north, and also block the sea channel to the south, and block and attack any merchant ships that want to enter or exit!"

Callistratus's face changed greatly: "Do the Dionians want to completely block our maritime trade?!"

"Looking from here, the Dionian fleet may have deployed about two hundred warships, and if they want to block that end, they may also need to deploy the same number of warships... hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of crew members , Such a large-scale operation... just to blockade our merchant ships would be a bit outweighed by the gains..." Cabrias fell into thinking, and suddenly his face changed: "If... the Dionia fleet is not only In order to block our merchant ships, but also to block our fleet... to prevent our warships from entering the Aegean Sea and threatening their fleet—"

"Fleet? What fleet?!" Callistratus was stunned and asked immediately.

"Either transporting supplies, or transporting soldiers... The size of the fleet should be very large, otherwise their fleet can completely escort..." As his thinking deepened, Cablias's tone became more and more certain.

"You mean they're going to land?!" Callistratus exclaimed.

"We don't rule out this possibility! Aren't we always worried about the Dionian army landing in Messenia again!" Cablias said with a solemn expression.

Callistratus became nervous: "We must determine whether the Dionian army is going to land?! Where to land?! Cablias, you must lead the fleet to break through the Dionian fleet! Blockade, enter the Aegean Sea, find out if there is a fleet in Dionia that wants to land, and obstruct and destroy it!"

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(End of this chapter)