ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 563
When the news spread, the anti-Spartan alliance was excited, but Agesilaus was horrified. He had a premonition that the situation was not good, and immediately ordered the troops to abandon the previously occupied ports and cities in the Gulf of Corinth to avoid being defeated one by one. .

However, this order came too late.Under the leadership of Aifecrates, the allied forces that regained their morale attacked separately and successively recaptured the ports of Pileon and Sidon... In this way, many of the ports occupied by the Spartan Allied Forces stationed in the Gulf of Corinth were The army, which was about to penetrate into the small town and almost penetrate into the Boeotian region, was cut off from its return route.

Agesilaus urgently ordered his brother Teleudias to lead a fleet to retrieve these scattered garrisons from the sea and place them in Lycaion and Sigion, focusing on the defense of these two important towns in the Corinth region. and ports.As a result, the offensive momentum of the Spartan coalition was severely frustrated and had to turn to defense.

The anti-Spartan allies attacked Lycaion several times, but were repulsed and had to stop the attack.

The two sides entered into a stalemate again.

But the adventurous Iphicrates was not reconciled to the status quo. He led his light infantry, carried rations, and did not leave the rear, and boldly invaded the central part of the Peloponnese Peninsula, Sparta's most loyal subsidiary area—— Arcadia, began to raid villages, plundered food, destroyed farmland, and repeatedly ambushed the Arcadian army who came to attack them. For his crazy destructive actions, he could only ask Agesilaus for help.

Agesilaus felt embarrassed after receiving the request from the Arcadians for help. At this time, the Spartan coalition was facing the offensive pressure of the enemy with high morale and was feeling a shortage of troops, and Iphicrates' troops What troubled him the most was that he already regarded this man as a powerful enemy in his mind: if fewer soldiers were sent to rescue, they would probably be defeated by this cunning Athenian general; if more soldiers were sent, they would be worried about the city of Corinth. The enemy took the opportunity to launch a massive counterattack.

But Arcadia must be saved again, because Sparta, the leader of the Peloponnese, is very different from Athens, the former leader of the Delian League.

Athens' attitude towards its allies can be said to be domineering: urging tribute, sending armed colonists, and supporting democrats close to Athens. If the alliance wants to withdraw, it will be attacked by the Athenian army...

The Spartans' attitude towards their allies was much better.As long as it does not betray it, Sparta will often negotiate with its allies to decide on matters. This is because it does not have the huge population of Athens, nor the strong financial resources of Athens, nor the powerful navy of Athens. Even among the soldiers of the Spartan Alliance Real Spartans will always be in the minority. Sparta only relies on the great reputation established by Spartan warriors for hundreds of years, but without its allies, Sparta can do nothing.Therefore, although the Spartans became domineering and their attitude towards their allies changed after defeating Athens, the essential thing remained the same - Sparta needed allies.

As king, Agesilaus knew this very well, so he finally decided to return to Sparta, explain to the Council of Elders the reasons for the frustration of the war during this period, and at the same time ask the Council to send more reinforcements to Arcadia .

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Early the next morning, as soon as Davos finished breakfast, the guard captain Martius entered the tent: "Your Majesty, Midorades wants to see you."

Davos thought: "Let him in."

Midorades walked into the big tent with an anxious expression and immediately knelt down on one knee: "Your Majesty, I am here to apologize to you! After you issued the order yesterday, I sent additional warships to patrol outside the Siliting Port. As you might expect, an enemy ship did rush out of the harbor late at night. Our warships tried their best to block it, but the enemy's ship maneuvering skills were superb and they escaped from our encirclement and fled to the south. Our two ships The Clippers have been pursuing, but no news has been sent back yet..."

"Why did the people of Syracuse risk the great danger of sailing late at night to escape the blockade of the Dionysian fleet?" Clerk Henipolis on the side couldn't help but think of the conversation with Davos yesterday. Shouted: "Dionysius! Dionysius must have escaped!"

Midorades was shocked when he heard this and looked at Davos. The wise young king frowned slightly, then relaxed and said with a smile: "Don't make a rash conclusion based on this piece of information." Onesius ran away. Midorades, the sea outside Silitium Port is so wide that even if we put all our warships on it, it may not be able to fill it. What's more, we can only send four or five fast ships at night. The ship is patrolling, and if the enemy is determined to escape, the fleet cannot stop it."

"Your Majesty!" Midorades was deeply grateful for Davos' understanding.

"But enemy ships broke in and out, as if our fleet did not exist. This is a humiliation to the Dionysian fleet! It is a humiliation to every Dionysian sailor and captain!" Diver Si's expression became serious: "Our fleet cannot be complacent just because we have defeated Syracuse many times, forgetting that our single warship maneuvering skills and the tacit understanding of the entire fleet's formation transformation and coordination are not as good as those of Syracuse. , the guarantee that our fleet can win many times is only the 'Crow', it depends on the strength of the legion!..."

What Davos said made Midorades blush, and he said with shame: "Your Majesty, please don't worry! After I go back, I will definitely intensify the training of the fleet with Lord Sekerian. One year later... No, In half a year, you will see a significant improvement in the level of the Dionia fleet!"

Davos nodded happily and said: "Very good, I look forward to seeing a more powerful Dionia fleet in half a year!"

Then he said: "Get up, Midorades. If I punish my valued generals just because one or two enemy ships escaped, I'm afraid it won't be long before Dionia will have no outstanding naval commanders."

Davos's joke made Midorades relax a little. He stood up and asked hesitantly: "But Dionysius——"

Davos interrupted him: "This is not your concern. What you have to do now is to strengthen the security of the port to prevent the Syracuse fleet from escaping. At the same time, 30 triremes will be sent to Li as soon as possible. Jim, Cyklian’s fleet needs to be strengthened to gain maritime superiority over Sicily, can it be done in two days?”

"It won't take two days, Your Majesty. I can send the required warships to Lijim today." Midorades immediately promised.

After seeing off the admiral, Henepolis hurriedly asked: "Your Majesty, what if Dionysius really escapes?!"

Davos had already made up his mind on this issue. He said calmly: "Why panic! Dionysius's escape means that the battle in Magna Graecia is over. This is a good thing for us!"

"But the First Army in Sicily and your majesty's rebellion plan there may be affected!" When Davos sent the First Army to Sicily, Henipolis heard what Davos said. He now expressed concern over his plans in Sicily.

Davos looked at him and said softly: "Herni, you overestimate Dionysius. No matter how powerful he is, don't forget that the entire army he will bring will stay in Magna Graecia. A man fled back to Syracuse, but he became a deserter! What will the people in Syracuse who lost their loved ones think?! What will the people of the allies in Sicily think?! Although I don’t know what the situation in Sicily is like these two days. , but it was definitely not an easy task for Dionysius to calm down the anger of the people! He relied on strong force to rule Syracuse and Sicily, and now most of his troops remain here— —”

Davos pointed to the Xiliting City ahead and sneered: "Without enough troops, can he still be able to suppress the people of Syracuse who want to overthrow him?!"

Henipolis's eyes lit up: "So it's a good thing that Dionysius escaped!"

Davos was silent for a moment. In fact, his words were to comfort himself: if Dionysius dared to escape alone, he must have a way to deal with the predicament of Syracuse. After all, he had been operating in Sicily for many years. Once he was let go, If he successfully escapes back, Davos's plan to disrupt Sicily may fail, and it may even allow the tyrant to lead reinforcements to attack Magna Graecia after annihilating the First Army...

Therefore, Davos had a sense of urgency in his heart, and he said: "First of all, we must determine whether Dionysius has escaped!"

To this end, he called Yizam from the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade and asked him to send soldiers from all directions in Xiliting City to pay close attention to the movements in the city and report back at any time.

Throughout the morning, the city of Xiliting remained calm. No envoys were sent to the Dionia camp to seek peace. Even the Syracuse reconnaissance cavalry that had been cruising in front of the city every day was gone. The number of soldiers has not changed, but Dionysius, who usually appears at the city gate every morning to observe the enemy's situation, did not show up today...

After understanding these situations, Davos felt confident.

In the afternoon, he once again sent soldiers from the mountain reconnaissance brigade to take turns shouting in front of the city of Xiliting: "People of Syracuse, you are here to defend the city seriously, but your tyrant Dionysius has escaped!"

"People of Syracuse, surrender! Dionysius has abandoned you, why are you still fighting here!"

"Why is Dionysius running away?! Because our Dionysian First Army has captured Sikuli and Catanai, and is now attacking Syracuse! If Dionysius doesn't run away, he will return No home left!”

"We didn't lie to you. When you attacked our camp yesterday, did you see our First Legion?! No, right! They had already landed in the Gulf of Naxos! Dionysius blocked the news , just to make it easier for you to escape!"

"Dionysius didn't show up in the city today, did he? He has run away! If you don't believe it, you can go to his tent and see if he is still there!"

……

The shouts of the Dionian soldiers outside the city were like throwing huge rocks into a calm pond, causing countless waves to splash.

　Thanks to the heroes Zhan Billy, Yijian 68, Xingxuan Zeyu, and Elfasil for their rewards!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)