Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

At this time, Melisanda asked: I see on this map that the distance from Egypt to Cyprus seems to be farther than the distance from Crete to Cyrenaica, such a long sea distance, and it is impossible to travel on the road. After stopping to rest and replenish drinking water, can the troop transport fleet really arrive smoothly? After our fleet reaches the waters near Cyprus, will it still have the ability to fight?

Karsidis replied earnestly: I have specifically asked the Greek merchants in Naukrates who often go to Cyprus to trade, and they all told me that there will be no storms in the Near East during this season, as long as the ship is on board. It only takes three or four days to get to Cyprus by preparing enough water and sailing day and night (one of the important reasons why the ship sails faster than the land march is that as long as you look for the route and use the sails, it can be used 24 hours a day. sailing), and we can hire these Naukrates merchants as guides to guide us.

As for the navy... I still remember that they once attacked Carthage from Sicily and finally defeated the Carthaginian fleet. They should be very experienced in this regard, of course, they need to make their own judgments.

How is the defense on Cyprus? How many troops are there? Matonis was a little moved, and his tone became eager.

A few decades ago, Cyprus was only a subsidiary of Persia. The king of Cyprus once united the Greek city-states in Asia Minor several times and wanted to gain independence. Persia finally suppressed it. Since then, the Persians have learned their lessons and abolished them. The king of Cyprus, split Cyprus into several city-states, and did not allow them to build tall and thick walls, otherwise he would be against Persia.

Although I don't know how many troops Cyprus can muster against us, it is clear that their defense capability is not strong, and their largest city-state, Nicosia, is located in the middle of the plain and is easy to be captured... Moreover, just now you all felt that Attacking Cyprus from the sea is difficult, we all think that, and the Cypriots will not think of it, our raid will be a success!

After Karsidis finished speaking, the eyes of the legion commanders lit up.

Davos coughed lightly, attracted the attention of the generals, and then said in a deep voice: It is indeed a good idea to attack Cyprus from the sea, but this is more for gaining dominance of the sea, not for us to attack the Persian Near East. The main route of the region, after all, except for Issus Gulf, other regions do not have the conditions for large-scale landing...

According to the information, the Persians have gathered a large number of troops in the Mesopotamia. Once we capture Cyprus, the Persians will inevitably be vigilant. They will definitely strengthen the defense of the coast of Issus. Landing operations in the Near East will undoubtedly take great risks, so our offensive focus should still be placed on land.

As long as we occupy Cyprus and destroy the Persian fleet, the transport fleet can sail along the coast with confidence and boldness, and can supply troops on land marching at any time.

Even with the transportation guarantee by sea, our army can completely avoid attacking Gaza and advance directly north-

Davos looked down at the small and narrow seaside area north of Gaza City on the map, with a complicated expression: Karsidis, do you know anything about Jerusalem in Canaan?

Your Majesty, I have asked people that the Jews living in Jerusalem are a weak people who were slaughtered by the Assyrians and imprisoned the survivors in Babylon, although the Persians later released them and let them Back to their hometown, but decades later, their numbers are still small...

I heard that a few years ago they also sent people to plead with the Persian king, hoping to allocate some money to rebuild their dilapidated temple. The Persian king complied with their request, and even appointed Nehemiah, who was also a Jew, who he trusted as the cupbearer, as governor of Jerusalem to take charge of the matter.

As a result, after Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he had a conflict with Sanballat, the governor of Samaria in the east, and the conflict continues to this day... Therefore, the weak Jews are unable to stop our army at all, and we can even occupy it here-- Chalcedis Sis pointed to an icon on the map: Jaffa, a port town in the Jerusalem area, for our fleet to moor...

Very good! Davos looked away from the map, looked around at everyone, and said solemnly: Everyone, I think everyone agrees with the suggestion made by Karsidis, so I will recruit Sekley as soon as possible. Ann, Midorades and Stefanakas, hold another military meeting to discuss the feasibility of attacking Cyprus and annihilating the main force of the Persian fleet...

Regardless of the outcome of the next military meeting, the attack on Persia will be launched in a short period of time. I only hope that you will use this time to let the legionaries learn and adapt to marching, camping and fighting in the desert as soon as possible!

Yes, Your Majesty! Everyone responded in unison.

……………………………………………………

The next day, Davos took the high priests of Asistes and Amonhotep to the temple of Ptah and Osiris to worship. He was warmly welcomed by the priests of the temple. Cow Apis had a close encounter.

The black fat cow with only a little white star spot on its forehead behaved very friendly to him, flapping its tail, and quickly ate the forage he handed over, making the priests of Puta and Orissis shout loudly. Praise (Apis was first considered to be the incarnation of the creation god Pta, and later evolved into the incarnation of Osiris): Pharaoh Davos is worthy of being the son of Amon, and even the comfortable holy cow dare not slack off. !

Then Davos went to the temple of Nate, the goddess of wisdom and war, to worship. He even promised Amonhotep that he would take time to worship at the Temple of Karak in Thebes, but he refused the worship. Another piece of advice from the Egyptian high priest: Go to the Temple of Amun in the Oasis of Siwa to get the oracle.

Siwa Oasis is located in the desert of western Egypt, where the temple of Amon is quite ancient and highly respected. Its oracles are famous far and wide. Not only Egyptians often go to worship, but even Greeks have many admirers, especially It is in Thessaly and Macedonia in northern Greece.

The reason why Davos refused was not because it was very difficult to go to Siwa Oasis, although he remembered that Alexander in his previous life had gone to the Temple of Siwa Oasis to worship after conquering Egypt, and he encountered a lot of hardships along the way. However, Amonhotep has repeatedly stated that although Siwa Oasis is located in the desert, the road is very safe due to frequent pilgrimages.

The problem that Davos considered was that many Greeks who went to the Siwa oasis to worship saw Amon in that temple as the incarnation of Zeus in Egypt. In history, Alexander claimed that he was the child of Zeus, and of course he went to the temple to worship. Bye, but Davos, who is a descendant of Hattis, is obviously not suitable.

……………………………………………………

At the same time that King Davos arrived in Egypt, the central Italian coalition forces headed by Volsi, Heniki, and Sabine also landed in Asia Minor by boat. So far, the Greek coalition forces under the command of Leoticides have all get together.

During the period when the Greek coalition troops arrived one after another, he did not wait quietly, but was always in an active offensive situation. Not only did he continuously force down towns near the Hellespont Strait, but he also used the victory in the naval battle of Samos. He led the main force to leave the coastline and penetrated deep into the interior of Misia, and at the same time sent part of the army southward into the territory of Lydia.

Due to the inability of the Persian army to fight against it, the Greek coalition forces were shocked. Not only the coastal Greek city-states, such as Bosworth, Chios, etc., surrendered one after another, but even some towns in the interior of Misia and Lydia also surrendered to it. .

An interesting incident happened during this period. The commander of the Tenth Legion, Stephoros, made a request to Leoticides: he hoped that he would be able to bring an army to the other side of the strait and force Byzantium to surrender.

Thirty years ago, the predecessor of the Dionian army, the Persian mercenaries, had been humiliated in Byzantium, including King Davos. Leoticides had heard about this, and he knew in his heart: this I am afraid that the request is not the will of Steveros himself, but comes from his father Amyntas, and may even be the collective instigation of many veterans in the army.

Of course, Leoticides would not refuse, and even since there was not much military pressure at the moment, he graciously approved: Stephoros could lead the entire Tenth Legion there.

Stephros led the army to land on the beach near Byzantium, and just after setting up camp, the Byzantine messenger arrived, and humbly said to him: Byzantium is willing to serve the Holy Kingdom of Dionia as the Lord!

For Byzantium, who had changed almost a generation, the incident that happened decades ago has long been forgotten, but the Byzantines knew that Athens and Sparta, which they once attached to, and even the entire Greek mainland were crawling there. At the feet of Dionia, the power of Dionia had not yet spread to the sea of ​​​​Yoke, and the Byzantines could still pretend to be ignorant. .

Of course, Steveros will not take the initiative to bring up the embarrassment of the year, but put forward some harsh requirements, such as providing a large amount of food, tribute, but also providing fleets and labor to provide assistance for the army... Byzantium all accept.

The Byzantines were so knowledgeable, and of course Steveros could not make trouble without reason, so he had to lead 8,000 heavily armed soldiers in an armed parade in the Byzantine city, and finally asked the Byzantine government to build a memorial column in the port, and the top of it must be inlaid with Diver Statue of the King of Sri Lanka wielding a sword on horseback.

txt download address:

phone-reading: