ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1275 Civil strife in the Persian royal court
"He insisted on it himself. I'm afraid he wanted to personally protect the few remaining Spartan citizens. Besides, I think that although he is old, his body is still relatively strong. If he is just commanding troops, there should be no problem. Not too big." Davos said seriously: "What's more, he has fought in Asia Minor for many years and is very familiar with the situation there. He can provide valuable reference opinions for you to lead the coalition forces to attack western Asia Minor at any time, so I suggest that you fight in the war. Try to communicate with him as much as possible during this period.”

Hearing this, Leoticides' dull expression changed again. He was silent for a while and then asked: "Your Majesty, what is recorded in this book are the soldiers, food and ships provided by the allies. But it didn't say how many troops the kingdom is planning to send?"

Davos smiled and said considerately: "The Greek allies have sent a total of 11 troops. If you don't have enough kingdom troops around you, it will not be conducive for you to command the battle. Therefore, I discussed with the Ministry of Military Affairs and decided to send the tenth Legion, No. 20 Legion, No. 3 Legion (the Thessalian Legion), and the Sixth Cavalry Legion (composed of Thessalian cavalry), as well as Volsi, Herniki, and Sabine in Central Greece Allied countries such as Italy, Aqui, and others are also willing to send troops. They have been allied with us for a long time, and they are on the Italian peninsula. They have a closer relationship and can be regarded as our own. I will also give the army they formed to your command... In this way Come on, the number of troops provided by the kingdom also exceeds 6, and the total strength of the coalition forces is more than [-]. Are you satisfied with such an army?"

Leoticides did not respond directly, but continued to ask: "Your Majesty, the navy?"

"During the coalition landing in Asia Minor, the Fourth Fleet is temporarily under your command (the Fourth Fleet is mainly adapted from Thessalian warships captured in Dionia, with a total of 100 warships. Annex Thessaly in Dionia After the victory, the Almiros wetland was drained and filled, and the Almiros military port was built and became the station of the 4th Fleet), but it will then be merged with other fleets to perform important tasks... In addition, Athens is the main More than 100 Greek warships provided by our allies will also obey your command." Davos explained roughly.

Leoticides was moved in his heart, and then asked: "In addition to letting me lead the Greek coalition to attack Persia from Asia Minor, the kingdom should have other attack plans, right?"

"Of course, you don't have to ask, I'm just about to tell you, so that you can understand in detail the entire military plan to attack Persia formulated by the Ministry of Military Affairs, and become familiar with the entire upcoming battle situation, which will also help you make the right decision." Diver Stranghenepolis brought a map of the Eastern Mediterranean, then pointed at the map and explained seriously: "The kingdom has received the news. Ever since Egypt's successor Pharaoh Jehao died in a storm on his way to Thurii, the kingdom has received the news. The Egyptian general Nectanibus launched a rebellion. Tanib, who was seriously ill in bed, was so angry that he fell into a coma. The city of Memphis fell into chaos. Maybe Nectanibus has led his army to break through during the time I am talking to you. to the city of Memphis.

In order to fulfill the covenant and punish the rebellion, I have appointed Chalcedis as the commander of the reinforcements, and hastened to assemble several Sicilian legions to rush to Egypt as soon as possible, defeat the rebels, and restore stability to the political situation in Egypt.At the same time, the Ministry of Military Affairs has notified the First and Second Fleets to complete their mobilization as soon as possible, and then rush to station in the southern Gulf of Peloponnese, where they will merge during wartime. Sekerian will serve as the naval commander and look for fighter planes. A decisive naval battle with the Persian fleet.

The Ministry of Military Affairs will also mobilize other main legions in the Kingdom's territory, led by me personally, and then head to the Eastern Mediterranean... The initial plan is to land in Egypt, but whether there will be changes by then depends on the development of the war situation. ...In the end, the three armies met in the Near East of Persia, marched together to the core hinterland of Persia, and fought a decisive battle with the Persian army. "

Davos spoke calmly, but Leoticides had already felt the magnificent war scene from his words, and he couldn't help but feel a little excited in his heart: This is an unprecedented war!

He tried his best to calm down his excitement and asked: "How long will you give these allies to gather their troops?"

"Two months, because they need to finish harvesting the farmland before they can go out to fight." Davos said calmly: "Although it is a bit slow, from another perspective this is also a good thing, at least when the coalition forces land in Asia Minor After that, they can raise food on the spot and reduce their reliance on logistical supplies. Then they will rush to Philae in Thessaly within 15 days to complete the final assembly of the coalition forces... This is my proposal to all the allies participating in the Persian war. They all agreed to the request.

You can first assemble the 11th and [-]th legions, arrive at Larissa in Thessaly earlier, and prepare in advance for the attack on Asia Minor. "

Having said that, Davos stood up, looked at this outstanding commander with full expectation, and said solemnly: "Persia has a vast territory, and Asia Minor has a complex terrain. The Ministry of Military Affairs and I will not give specific instructions. Yes, after all, you led some officers and staff officers to Asia Minor three years ago to support and observe the operations of the Persian rebel army. You are more familiar with the situation there. All military actions are decided by you. I believe you will Do it better than Agesilaus did back then!”

Leoticides perked up and immediately replied: "Your Majesty, please rest assured that I will definitely complete the conquest of western Asia Minor as soon as possible and join the main force of the army led by you as soon as possible!"

After sending Leoticides away, Davos said to Henepolis: "Go and call Chalcides (the commander of the Eighth Legion) in."

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After Persia spent several years quelling the rebellion in Asia Minor, its national power was too exhausted and it was unable to conquer Egypt again, so it had to retreat. This caused Artaxerxes' second military operation to attack Egypt to fail, causing his prestige to decline further. .

In order to frighten his subjects, he followed the advice of Trebasus and vigorously liquidated the rebellion in Asia Minor. Many officials and local nobles in Asia Minor were implicated. They were punished in mild cases and beheaded in severe cases. A large amount of wealth and land were confiscated. They were then transferred to the nobles of eastern and central Persia who supported Artaxerxes, and many Persian noble officials centered on Susa were transferred to western Asia Minor and assigned important positions.

Artaxerxes's successive actions won praise from the Persian nobles. They no longer urged the Persian king to continue preparing for the war with Egypt, but spent all their energy fighting for this fat piece of meat in western Asia Minor.

Artaxerxes, who suffered setbacks in several personal expeditions, completely gave up his thoughts of obtaining military honors and decided to stay in Babylon with peace of mind and enjoy the rest of his life. Unexpectedly, the house leaked and it rained all night, and it didn't take long for the harem to come out again. question.

Artaxerxes was already old. He had begun looking for a successor for this huge empire a few years ago. He had many heirs, but he decided without hesitation to pass the throne to his eldest son Darius, just like his father. The throne was passed to him, and Darius was allowed to wear the crown symbolizing the king of Persia in public.

According to Persian traditions and customs, heirs can ask parents to grant a favor in public. As long as it is within the scope of the parents' authority, they must agree and cannot refuse arbitrarily.And Darius made a request to "give Aspasia".

Aspasia was once one of the most beloved concubines of Cyrus the Younger, and was later brought into the palace by Artaxerxes. Of course, he was reluctant to part with it, but due to customs, he perfunctorily declared that Aspasia was already a free woman. She could not be forced to go against her will, and if she was willing to obey Darius, he would be happy to accomplish it.

To his surprise, Aspasia chose Darius as his lifelong support in public. Artaxerxes could only follow the provisions of Persian law and hand her over to his son, but his heart was full of anger. .Not long after, he took Aspasia away from Darius and sent her to the temple of the goddess Anatis in Icbatana, where she was dedicated to the gods and became a priestess. She had to observe strict laws for the rest of her life. of chastity.

Artaxerxes was very proud that he punished the woman who betrayed him in such a gentle way, and also taught his son a lesson. However, he did not know that the heir to the kingdom was so angry that he began to plot a rebellion. Soon many people participated. During Darius's rebellion, just when he was about to put it into action, a eunuch who participated in the conspiracy reported it to Artaxerxes out of fear. The Persian king was furious and not only killed Darius with his own hands, but also And many Persian officials who were implicated were executed, and Babylon was filled with blood for a while.

A spy reported to the King of Persia: Darius seemed to have also sent people to lobby Tribasus, and he may also have participated in the rebellion.

However, the intelligence department could not provide any conclusive evidence. The only reason that could be cited was that Trebasus and Darius were in the same situation.

It turned out that Artaxerxes had promised to marry his daughter Amestris to Tribasus many years ago in order to win over his close advisors, just as he had married his other two daughters to Aurontas and Trebassus respectively. The son of Pharnabazus was the same, but the Persian king soon went back on his word because he himself married Amestris.So he changed his promise and wanted to marry his youngest daughter Atosha to Tribasus.But later he became obsessed with Atosha and couldn't help himself, and he never fulfilled his promise.This incident made Trebassus a joke in the Persian royal court, but he himself had always behaved calmly and never complained. However, the intelligence department believed that he might still be dissatisfied, so Darius could not help but Go contact him.

(End of this chapter)