Chapter 253 Persian Strategy (1)

Davos was listening attentively and was happy for it, when he suddenly saw Marigi kneeling down with a "thump", and said with a look of guilt: "Your Majesty... Actually, I am a Babylonian, just to make myself... appear. Noble, so I always called myself a Persian. Later, I wanted to confess, and I felt that if I let the people of the kingdom know that I lied, it would damage the majesty of the Ministry of Commerce and the implementation of the decree, so I... Please forgive me, Your Majesty. The sin I have concealed for so long!"

Davos laughed, stretched out his hand to pull him up, and said aloud: "You're not a Persian, that's great! I'm also worried that defeating Persia and letting Persia lose too badly will cause you some damage. , Now I'm relieved! It means that after the decisive battle with the Persian army, I will appoint you as the messenger of Dionia to persuade your compatriots to surrender to the kingdom and share the fruits of victory together!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Marigi bowed deeply to Davos with a look of joy.

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The next day King Davos convened a military meeting, not only required the generals above the army commander to attend, but also invited Alexis, Philisius, Thormid, Amyntas, and Epithenes. The veterans of the retired former mercenaries attended the meeting, and after listening to Izam's detailed report on the Persian army, they discussed whether to change the current defensive situation and turn to attack the Persian army. ,

At about the same time, the Persian king Artaxerxes also held a military council in the city of Tabosaku. Although his army was larger than Dionia, there were only a few candidates: the heir of the Persian king. Trebassus, the counselor, Halpergus, the governor of Susa, and Mardonius, the commander-in-chief from Persepolis (both of whom were six of the great king Darius, who rebuilt Persia in those days) A descendant of a confederate with a very noble status), as well as the Governor of Armenia, Ojuntas, who is also the son-in-law of the Persian king, and Tyrtaeus, a young general who leads the undead army. The Menid royal family, although a distant branch, married a daughter of Artaxerxes and was close to the Persian king.

The last one is the royal espionage chief Mark Thonos, who is now speaking aloud about the intelligence about the Dionysian army: "...from the turmoil in Egypt in September last year, the landing of the Dionysian army in Egypt, to this year In January, the king of Dionia arrived in Egypt, and then they invaded Canaan, captured Phoenicia, and occupied Syria. During this time, the flags of the so-called 'Dionysian Legion' that we can detect are... …first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, tenth Seventh, eighteenth, nineteenth (Po region, mainly Gauls), twenty-first legion (Aphilia region, mainly Phoenicians and Numibians) ... According to Dio The fixed combat strength of each regiment in Nia was calculated at 8,000 men, for a total of 144,000 men.

In addition, the banners of five Dionysian cavalry regiments appeared in the Dionysian army, with a number of more than 10,000... The total number of this army led by King Dionia himself exceeded 150,000,

This is consistent with the judgment of the total number of the Dionysian army made by our spies who observed the Dionysian army for a long time in Syria..." Marktonos said eloquently, knowing the situation of the Dionysian army. , he was able to obtain such accurate information, thanks to the department he was in charge of - the Royal Persian espionage agency.

Cyrus created Persia, but Darius made Persia truly become an empire. He perfected the political system of Persia, established a complete administrative bureaucratic hierarchy, reformed the financial and monetary system of Persia, and established Ahura As the leader of the people's beliefs, Mazda also established a huge road system within the country, which made the communication between the central and regional areas more convenient... Of course, Persia has such a vast territory, and even some areas are autonomous. In order to rule the subjects more effectively and prevent the recurrence of the great rebellion of the Cambyses period, it is necessary to have a more detailed and accurate grasp of the situation of officials and people in various places, so that they can respond in time. Therefore, Darius established a special The royal espionage agency that served the king, which predated the intelligence of the Dionysian kingdom by more than 100 years.

Although more than 100 years have passed, this intelligence agency has become bloated and inefficient, but it is still the most reliable ear and eye of the Persian king. It not only monitors the movements of domestic subjects, but also pays attention to the situation in neighboring regions such as Egypt and Greece. Therefore, As soon as the Dionian army appeared in Egypt and Asia Minor, it became its immediate focus. After such a long time, and in his own country, the ability of the royal espionage agency can naturally understand the situation of Dionia's army more clearly.

"The Dionysian army is only 150,000 people. Our army is twice as large and has such a huge advantage. I don't understand why we didn't take the initiative to attack the Dionysians, but timidly retreated in Tabosacus!" exclaimed Mardonius, his voice clearly displeased with Artaxerxes, but he had no scruples, not least because his ancestor Gobrias was usurping the Persian throne. The closest among the six co-conspirators of Darius, his family has always been trusted by the royal family, and he was the first Persian aristocrat to support Artaxerxes during the young Cyrus's turmoil, He further assisted the Persian king to gain the support of the Persian native nobles, and survived the crisis when he first ascended the throne. It also made him highly trusted by Artaxerxes, and let him hold a heavy army to guard the real capital of Persia. Susa area .

Artaxerxes was a little embarrassed in the face of Mardonius' accusation. Although he has expressed his contempt for the "barbarian country" Dionia in many public places, in fact, the Persian king's military performance has almost become a joke among the Persian aristocrats for so many years. What he can do is that when he first ascended the throne, he quelled the rebellion of the little Cyrus, who was quite prestigious among the Persian nobles, but in fact he knew very well in his heart that in that decisive battle, he led more troops than the other side. However, he was at a disadvantage in the battle. If it wasn't for the little Cyrus who was stupid and led the army to charge himself and died in battle, the outcome would have been completely different.

Therefore, when the Dionysian kingdom, which was very aggressive and almost never suffered defeat in the Western Mediterranean, attacked Persia, he felt a little guilty, so he stayed in Babylon for more than half a year, watching Canaan and Phoenicia one after another. After being captured, he didn't dare to act until the troops from all regions gathered together, giving him enough confidence. But when he was about to face the Dionysian army, he couldn't help but feel a little flustered, and the experience of repeated defeats in the past appeared before him, which made him not dare to make a rash decision.

As the most honorable king of kings, Artaxerxes certainly wouldn't show his timidity in front of his ministers. He glanced at Trebassus next to him.

Trebassus immediately understood and said, "The king actually wanted to attack the Dionysian army for a long time, but I was dissuaded. Lord Mardonios, although our army is large in number, what is the combat effectiveness? You should have learned a lot after staying here for so long. Those natives and barbarians who make up half of the army look ferocious, but they only fight blindly, do not know how to arrange formations, and do not know how to obey orders , and do not know how to cooperate with our Persian army, attacking the Dionysian army in such a state, they will only become a burden to us.

So we need to take some time to train them and get them to be our helper as soon as possible. Lord Mardonios, you have also commanded such training several times, and you should have sensed their progress. I believe that they will be able to cooperate with our army and launch an effective attack on the Dionysian army before long. "

Maldonios snorted, unable to remember how to refute for a moment.

Halpergus sneered and interjected first: "It's said that Lord Trebassus is very wise, but I don't think so! We're wasting time here, it's just to make those barbarians a little more obedient. But Don't forget that the Greek coalition forces in Asia Minor are coming here. Once they join the Dionysian army in Syria, the strength of the Dionysian army will be greatly increased, and it will not be easy to defeat them, so We can't waste any more time, we must defeat this Dionian army as soon as possible!"

"Fanabatos is doing his best to stop the advance of the Greek coalition, and it has achieved good results. According to the information we have now, the Greek coalition has not entered the Silesia area, so we still have enough time to deal with it. Dionian troops in Syria."

Hearing Trebasus mentioning Phanabazos, Artaxerxes frowned unconsciously: In fact, through the intelligence of the spy, he already knew the real situation of the battle in western Asia Minor, Although he was annoyed by Fanabazus' lie about the military situation, he did not punish Fanabazus, and even gave him more support, because he knew very well that in such a bad situation in Asia Minor, only Fanabazu could be the only one Zoth can support the overall situation, and Jason, the scapegoat, just lets both sides have a step down. Of course, he will take good care of Finabazus' guilt of bullying after the war.

At the same time, it was precisely because he knew that Phanabazos' claim that "the Greek mercenaries led by Jason to defect to the enemy" was a lie, so he rejected the proposals of some Persian officials, and did not take anger on the Greek soldiers he hired, but instead Hence the gratitude of these Greek mercenaries.

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