Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 1289

[Chapter 238 The Arrival of the Allied Forces of Persian Asia Minor]

When the time entered the new year, the Persian army also gathered in the Phrygia area, and some of the troops’ fronts had already advanced to the eastern border of Misia, Leoticides felt some pressure, and he began to gather. Troops scattered all over the place.

In early February, the Persian Asia Minor coalition held an important military meeting in the capital of Phrygia. The western commander, Fanabazos, served as the chair of the meeting. The meeting was attended by the governors of various regions, except for one general. His identity Very special – ex-Thessalitagus Jason.

After the army led by Jason was defeated by the Dionysian army five years ago, he fled to Persia alone. Unlike many famous Greeks who were expelled from Greece who liked to stay in western Asia Minor, he went directly to Syria to seek the king of Persia.

At that time, Artaxerxes was planning to conquer Persia himself, but he did not expect a fire in the backyard and a great rebellion in Asia Minor, and he had to return to his division to pacify the rebellion.

Jason unified Thessaly, became Tagus, and served as the main force in the anti-Dionian Greek coalition, once gaining an advantage in the war… These deeds passed through the mouth of Datis and were introduced to this man long ago. In the ears of the Persian king, considering that there were many Greek mercenaries in the rebels, Persia lacked heavy infantry, and Jason was an excellent Greek general, so he not only met Jason enthusiastically, but also made a statement. Promise: As long as he is willing to serve Persia and is loyal to him, when Persia and Dionia go to war in the future, he will help him return to Thessaly and retake the throne of Targus.

Of course Jason could not ask for it, and immediately accepted the appointment of Artaxerxes as the commander-in-chief of the Greek mercenaries belonging to Persia.

With sufficient financial support from Persia, Jason quickly recruited nearly 10,000 Greek soldiers from western Asia Minor and even the Ionian Islands, training and fighting while fighting. Not a small feat, but also won the trust of Artaxerxes.

By the end of the war, the number of mercenaries in command of Jason had increased to 15,000, and Artaxerxes did not ask him to cut his soldiers, but instead let him lead the mercenaries in Silesia.

Silesia is located in the south-central part of Asia Minor. It has an extremely fertile plain. The population there is not much, but the people are very wealthy and have established a kingdom very early.

In the process of Persian King Darius’s westward conquest, Silesia was surrounded by mountains as a barrier, which was originally difficult to capture, but the King of Silesia voluntarily surrendered, so the throne was retained.

At the beginning of Artaxerxes’ accession to the throne, the King and his wife of Silesia also actively sponsored Cyrus Jr. to fight for the throne. In the end, Cyrus Jr. was defeated and died, but Artaxerxes was afraid of causing turmoil in Asia Minor and did not dare to deal with it Those regional governors and kings who colluded with Cyrus the Younger quietly weakened their power until this time the rebellion in Asia Minor was completely quelled. He finally completely eliminated the royal family of Silesia and held this fertile land. In his own hands, he not only sent his confidants to serve as governors, but also sent Jason, who was able to conquer and fight well, to sit in Silesia for fear of causing resistance from the local people.

Of course, Artaxerxes has a deeper consideration: Silesia is rich enough to support the Greek mercenaries, which

can reduce the financial burden of Persia, and Jason leads the army to sit in Silesia. If there is a rebellion in other parts of Asia Minor, he will also You can go to the rescue in time.

Just a few years later, the rebellion did not appear again, but the invasion of the Greek coalition forces came.

When Phanabazos took office as the military commander of western Asia Minor, he once asked the king of Persia to send Greek mercenaries to help the war, because Jason’s army was directly subordinate to the king of Persia and was not under the command of any local governor.

Artaxerxes agreed, and Farabazos soon sent a summons to Jason.

But Jason, who has lived in Persia for several years, is no longer as urgent as he needed to prove himself at first. He was worried that if he went to Phrygia too early, he would be used as cannon fodder by the Persians and sent to the front line to fight first. Delayed for various reasons, it finally became one of the few troops to arrive in Phrygia at the latest, which made Phanabazos a little unhappy.

At this military meeting, most of the governors had roughly the same opinion: since the number of soldiers in our own army is currently as high as 80,000, which is far greater than the number of the Greek coalition forces detected by scouts, we should boldly lead the army westward, and at the same time The Greeks launched a decisive battle and completely defeated them, and could not wait any longer, because the Greek army continued to land in Asia Minor, and the number of enemy troops continued to increase.

Jason raised an objection. He believed that: based on his knowledge of Dionia and the native Greek city-states, this time their invasion of Asia Minor must have sent the most elite soldiers of their city-states, because the Persian infantry was not strong , In the past, the war with the Greeks was always at a disadvantage. Now, if you take the initiative to engage in a frontal battle with the Greek coalition forces, you will most likely suffer defeat, and the war situation in Asia Minor will become very bad by then.

On the contrary, if you are not in a hurry to engage in a battle with the Greek coalition forces, but let the army take the initiative to retreat, and at the same time remove or burn all the materials that can be used by the Greeks, lure the Greek coalition forces into the interior, and then use their own familiar terrain and more cavalry. The advantage of the Greek coalition forces, constantly harassing the enemy and raiding the food transportation behind them, so as to achieve the purpose of exhausting the Greek coalition forces. When the Greek coalition forces become weak, and then find an opportunity to fight against them, the odds of winning are much better.

Jason’s suggestion was strongly opposed by the vast majority of Persian governors. These nobles from the core area of Persia had no experience with the Greeks. On the contrary, they still regarded Greece as a barbarian in their hearts, and their pride in their bones was never. Allowing the Persian army to adopt such cowardly tactics against the Greeks they despised, the governors of Misia, Lydia, and Phrygia demanded a quick solution, because they did not want to see the land under their jurisdiction suffer the Greeks. Human devastation.

Some governors even attacked Jason personally, accusing him: the king of Persia was generous, and did not despise him because of his alien identity as a refugee, but only used it. He did not want to repay the trust of the king of Persia, but here At the critical moment, he is bent on delaying the war, what is his mind?

Some people even pointed out that after receiving the call-up order, Jason did not immediately lead his complete Greek mercenary army to Phrygia, but delayed it until the end. I am afraid he had a different opinion. In order to avoid his sudden fall in the battle. The Greeks, it would be best to deprive him of his military power and interrogate him.

Although Jason was a little guilty, he had a big temper, and instead quarreled with those governors.

In the atmosphere of the unanimous demands of the governors to repel the Greek army as soon as possible, Phanabazos finally had to follow their advice and take the initiative to seek a decisive battle with the Greek coalition.

After the meeting, he left Jason alone to appease him, expressing his confidence in him, and promising to report his exploits to the Persian king as long as he excelled in the next battle, and Help will also be provided for his future return to Thessaly.

As a veteran of Persia in Asia Minor, Phanabazos not only experienced the humiliation of besieging the Greek expedition and finally letting the opponent escape, but also experienced the pain of being hammered by the army led by Agesilaus. He knew the power of the Greek army, so he agreed with Jason’s view, but when so many governors unanimously demanded a quick solution, he had to agree against his will, even though he was the new military commander of western Asia Minor, and also a The son-in-law of Tarxerxes, but his status as a nobleman in Asia Minor determined that he received no more trust from the Persian king than some of the Persian governors who were present, and a secret letter from whomever was appointed would aggravate the suspicious Persian. The king doubted him.

Although he was a little apprehensive about the combat effectiveness of the Greek coalition, he believed that the army under his command had gathered the elites of the entire western Asia Minor. It is very likely that he will win the battle, so he confidently led the coalition forces in western Asia Minor, left Phrygia, entered Misia, and pressed toward the coalition forces of Greece.

After hearing the news, Leoticidus sighed in his heart: That old guy is right!

It turned out that after the Greek coalition forces were assembled, the commander of the coalition, Leoticides, convened a military meeting with the generals of the army.

At the meeting, allied generals such as Ipamironda, Lycomedes, and Ifikrates all agreed that: the coalition is strong and should seize the time, lead the army eastward, and seek a decisive battle with the main force of the Persian army. Having won the victory, the entire western part of Asia Minor was powerless to stop the Greek coalition’s offensive.

But there are also people who are worried, because at this time they have discovered that Phanabazos has been appointed as the military commander of Asia Minor by the Persian king. This is a seasoned veteran and is likely to choose to avoid war. Go deep into the unfamiliar inland, UU reading www.

I am afraid that sonicmtl.com will encounter a lot of trouble.

The old Agesilaus confidently told the generals: “You don’t have to worry that the Persians will avoid the war, and you don’t have to take the initiative to find the Persians for a decisive battle, because the Persian army will take the initiative to find the coalition forces for a decisive battle!

Because the people in western Asia Minor originally There is resistance to the officials from Persia, and according to the latest news, the people in western Asia Minor have great distrust of the new Persian governors. If these governors lead the army to retreat instead of fighting, let the coalition forces destroy farmland and farmland. Village, then the people here will be full of resentment for the governor’s failure to save, which is very unfavorable for their future rule, and those arrogant Persians generally do not make such a choice.

As for the Persian military commander, Fanaba Zos… I have a deep understanding of him. He is indeed a capable Persian general, and he also has a lot of fame in western Asia Minor. If he decides to retreat, the soldiers can obey and the people may accept it, but this He is smooth, good at making friends, and generous, so when he served as the governor of western Asia Minor, he got along well with his colleagues, officials under his command, and even the local people, but he lacked decisiveness and was too Emotionalism, this is precisely the taboo of being a commander-in-chief, I think it is difficult for him to refuse the requests of the governors, abandon the people of Misia and Phrygia and retreat!”

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