Douluo: The Adventures of King Skin

Even if nothing happens, at least I can blunt an enemy's sword.

——Spartan proverb

"Eighteen years ago, Antipater destroyed Pharsalus, and just last night, his successor Cassander destroyed Lamia.

“It was not just the city that was destroyed, but also the countless living people who lived in it.

“Unlike Philae, Pharsalus, and Larissa, which rose up against tyranny, Lamia always remained obedient to Cassander.

"Even though this beautiful city suffered the scourge of war more than ten years ago, it has not yet recovered its strength; even though it has been suffering from unjust plunder for more than ten years, it has been unable to recuperate.

“She regarded her enemies as her masters, swallowed her humiliation, and flattered her, hoping that her peaceful attitude would save her people from the punishment of murderers and from excessive harsh treatment.

"Cocasander still won't let her go.

“The palaces where the gods lived were torn down, the homes where the people lived were burned, and thousands of innocent residents were brutally tortured to death...

“The history of this ancient city-state has been completely severed.

“A great man once told me: ‘If you seek peace through struggle, you will survive in peace; if you seek peace through concessions, you will perish in peace’.

"The misfortune suffered by the city of Lamia has made us realize the ferocity of the enemy. At the same time, it also makes us understand the fact that weakness and concession cannot protect us from evil! Because evil will never give in to those who give in. !

"When we face a powerful enemy, we can only unite to fight against him! Because only unity can we have strength! Because only struggle can we survive!

“Only by fighting to the last moment, and only by completely destroying the enemy, can they no longer be able to harm us!

"We will use our weapons and blood to prevent the Thessalians from becoming slaves and prevent Thessaly from becoming a pasture for slaves!

“Friends, please remember my words——

"If we yield to tyranny, tyranny will always succeed!"

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The urgently printed new issue of "Mingmu Times" only has two pages.Printed in dazzling red on the front page, under the flag of the blazing sun that occupies a large space, is a speech delivered by Pyrrhus in the name of the Provisional Tagus; on the second page on the back is a full-color Sally Provisional Committee. A general mobilization order was issued.

The first article of the mobilization order requires Philais and other offshore city-states to evacuate quickly to prevent Cassander from further retaliation;

Article [-] requires the implementation of a scorched-earth policy in all areas close to war zones, including the evacuation of people and materials and the burning of unharvested wheat fields and pastures;

Article [-]: Set up regional committees to uniformly distribute rations to meet the needs of resettling evacuated residents and war;

Article [-]: Establish a state-owned workshop under the Provisional Committee and issue state bonds using the workshop income as a guarantee;

Article [-]: Organize all adult men and able-bodied women to form a volunteer team...

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The city of Lamia has lost its strategic value, but the Independence Army still has to leave a small number of troops here. On the one hand, it is to organize volunteers in the local rural areas to prevent Cassander from returning from the sea to establish here. Stronghold; on the other hand, the land route to Greece must be kept open.

Demo Charles and others are staying here for the time being, completing the printing of this issue of the newspaper in the temporary workshop established urgently. The propaganda field is now also a very important front; at the same time, they still have to preliminary test the overprinting method here to prepare Printing treasury bonds.

The large army once again crossed Mount Othrys and returned to the plain of Thessaly.

**

Pyrrhus mounted his horse and followed the column, thinking all the while.

As the person in charge now, he must figure out the direction of the entire war as soon as possible.

The war cannot go on indefinitely.

In ancient times, the biggest factor restricting long-term wars was food. Now the Thessaly sea route has been blocked, and the Boeotians and Phocians in the south bordering on land have all turned to Demetrius, and Eto in the southwest The Greeks were also wavering. They would not specifically block food from Thessaly. However, because the Greeks lacked the tradition of road trade, the food obtained by land was of little help.

Therefore, the only food that can be relied on is produced in Thessaly itself.

The good news is that Thessaly itself is not in short supply of land, and food is relatively abundant.Now that the autumn harvest has been completed in most areas, it is the slack season. It is relatively easy to mobilize manpower or collect food, but only national bonds can be paid...

The bad news is that even if Pyrrhus can continue to fight in the winter, Cassander may not take over in the winter. He can completely avoid it. At the same time, large areas of Thessaly are still implementing the scorched earth policy. If the war cannot be carried out by next spring plowing, If it ends, then the remaining grain will definitely be exhausted during the autumn harvest; if the maritime blockade can be broken, it may be possible to rely on the gold and silver exchanged for national bonds to support it for a while longer...

There is only one month left before the winter camp. Will Cassander be willing to fight Pyrrhus now?

What would Cassander think?

Antigonus must have wanted to attack Macedonia, otherwise he would not have sent his son.Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy will not sit idly by and ignore the situation. As expected, the Fourth Diadorist War will break out.

But preparing for war takes time, and Cassander's primary goal now is to drag the other three parties into the war.

If he cannot pacify Thessaly by the end of the winter camp next year, then I will most likely fall to Antigonus. By then, Demetrius will be able to march straight into Perhybia and threaten him across Mount Olympus. Pella, the capital of Macedonia...can Cassander accept this situation?

If it were him, he could have resisted all the way from the several mountain passes under Mount Olympia, or he could simply gather a large number of troops in Pella and lie down, waiting for Antigonus' homeland to be attacked by the other three parties.

The risks are: first, if the anti-Antigonid coalition is defeated, then he is basically waiting for death; second, the Macedonian people, if the Macedonians think that Cassander is too cowardly, then they are likely to defect. To Antigonus.

What would Cassander choose?

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Pyrrhus previously judged the direction in which Cassander's army might launch an attack, and believed that the most likely place was Philae, because it is the largest city in Thessaly closest to the sea. Whether it is to fight decisively, massacre the city, or simply plunder the city, Feeling good and leaving is the best choice.

The results were as expected. According to the information sent by the local representatives, the land and sea forces landed south of Philais almost the next day after leaving Lamia, and the address was the small town of Iol where Pyrrhus originally landed. Kos.

Although Iolkos had not received the order to evacuate at that time, seeing a large number of troops coming from the sea in a menacing manner, the locals spontaneously made the right choice.

When the city of Feilai received the evacuation order and scorched earth order sent by the fast horse, it was already the third day after Lamia was destroyed, but the actions of the Cassander army were too slow - an army of about 2 people finally finally When they arrived at the city of Philai, they were left with an empty city of Philai and pillars of smoke rising into the sky.

All valuable things in the city were taken away, and what could not be taken away was burned on the spot. Even the gold and silver from the statues of gods were scraped off. Not only was there no food in the fields, but all the remaining straw and weeds were burned.