"Then if that's the case..."
Archidamus looked at the merchants.
"Just let them go."
"Yes!"
Under the king's order, the merchants were thrown out, and Archidamus, worried, came to the back of the Spartan palace with Pausanias. The two walked side by side, and Archidamus couldn't help but say, "Cleopatra is a very good person. Although she is a Helot, I don't hate her."
"Me too."
Pausanias sighed helplessly.
"Her death is a great blow to Sparta."
"Fortunately, we still have Brasidas and Lysander. At least things are not going in a bad direction." Archidamus patted Pausanias on the shoulder. "It is not realistic to ask the Byzantine Kingdom, which is far away in the east, to lead its army to support Athens. So since we have lost the strength to compete with Athens at sea, let's keep putting pressure on Athens on land."
"Leave this matter to Brasidas. I believe Brasidas will be able to resolve this matter very safely."
"Yes."
Both of them felt so.
Compared to Cleopatra, an oracle who was not very suitable for showing up in public, Brasidas was simply the template of an oracle. Not only was he extremely capable in combat, Cleopatra and Lysander combined could not defeat him. In addition, he was also a visionary general who could command his troops to be invincible. His only failure was that he did not expect that the oracle Rhodes would appear in the Byzantine Kingdom, which resulted in Rhodes taking action and the army that directly besieged Athens was completely defeated.
Brasidas was a typical Spartan who was full of justice and loyalty. He was quiet and always worked silently. He was also very reliable, so he was trusted by Archidamus. Sometimes Archidamus even thought that if it were not for the Spartan law, he would have wanted Brasidas to inherit his throne.
Of course, this was a complete fantasy in Sparta.
While Athens and Sparta were worried about the events of Eraeus, Hilde had already started her next plan. Through her navy, Hilde sent all three legions to Samos within a month.
This was Hilde's second visit to Samos Island. Since the last time Samos surrendered and was officially incorporated into the Byzantine Kingdom, Hilde had never been here again. Samos was also very obedient and never caused trouble for Hilde. This time, Hilde arrived here and brought nearly 2 troops directly. Such a large scale even made the Samians a little scared.
Fortunately, Samos is one of the largest islands along the coast of Asia Minor, and Hilde's three legions have plenty of room to stay on Samos.
It's winter now.
The climate in Byzantium has become a bit cold, but in Samos, which is much further south, the climate is still quite warm. Hilde is also preparing for the next plan, and Hilde's plan must also start with Xerxes' actions.
So Xerxes' action was launched immediately after he returned to the Persian Empire. The Persian army deployed in the border area of Ionia quickly entered Ionia with lightning speed and headed straight for Ephesus, the second largest city-state in Ionia.
Ephesus is a city-state very close to Miletus. It is one of the largest city-states in Ionia in terms of size and population. After the fall of Miletus, Ephesus has been cautious with Persia. Fortunately, Persia seems to have no interest in Ephesus, so it has never attacked the city-state. But now the Persian attack came without any signs, and the war was directly brought to the city of Ephesus, so that the people of Ephesus had no idea what to do.
The troops of Ephesus began to prepare to resist the Persian attack, because they all knew that after Miletus was captured by the Persians, all the people in Miletus were gone. They did not want such a tragedy to happen to them, and the Persian attack did put a lot of pressure on Ephesus.
The Persians moved so fast that Ephesus had no chance to contact reinforcements and was trapped. So facing the end of Ephesus, almost everyone was desperate. They knew very well that they could not beat the Persians, and waiting for reinforcements from Ionia was almost a fantasy.
Since the fall of Miletus.
The Ionian League was in reality defunct.
So on the third day of the Persian siege.
The citizens' assembly in Ephesus has begun to consider whether to surrender.
If they surrendered, they could at least avoid the loss of life and death in the city. Of course, they would also be treated as slaves by the Persians. But it was better than a resistance with no chance of success. The Ephesians had already sent messengers through the port to try to contact other Ionian city-states and ask for their assistance. However, the Ephesians knew that on the one hand, the possibility of assistance from other Ionian city-states was almost zero, and on the other hand, once the Persians launched an attack, Ephesus would have almost no chance of successfully resisting.
Tune 8, Section 7: Ephesus Liberated
And that's exactly what Hilde wants.
Before Mileva was captured, everyone knew that although the Ionian League was a loose political alliance, it could still exert a certain amount of power in the fight against the Persians. The problem was that once any larger city-state in the Ionian League was captured by the Persians, the Ionian League would exist in name only, because everyone would find that even if all the city-states were united, they would not be able to resist the Persian invasion. So they might as well just do their own thing. Anyway, as long as the Persians didn't attack me, it had nothing to do with me whether they attacked others.
Even if you hit me, I can surrender.
This capitulationist mentality prevailed in Ionia.
It is for this reason.
Their weakness gave Hilde an opportunity to take advantage.
So, time soon came to the 10th day, and the Persians were still reluctant to launch an attack, but the Ephesians were extremely afraid. Although the Persians did not attack, they always felt that the Persians would attack tomorrow. It was these torturous days that scared away the last courage of the Ephesians. So, the Citizens' Assembly of Ephesus decided to surrender, and specially sent messengers to deliver a letter to the Persian Empire's army outside the city, asking to negotiate with the Persian Empire.
And Hilde's chance came.
Don't you want to surrender?
Then just surrender.
As long as you surrender, it means that you, the Ephesians, have betrayed the Delian League and the Ionian League. Precisely because of your betrayal, Hilde has an excuse, that is, the current ruler of Ephesus is no longer suitable to continue ruling the city-state, so Hilde has every reason to replace the ruler of the city-state.
For example, replace it with yourself.
So on the second day when Ephesus prepared for negotiations.
Hild's army passed through the strait between Samos and Miletus and quickly landed on the beach of Miletus. The Persian army was "terrified" and "disorganized", and quickly began to retreat from Miletus. Hild's army justifiably and smoothly captured Miletus. When Hild's army entered Miletus, it meant that this city-state, which had been ruled by the Persians for almost two years, officially returned to the hands of the Greeks.
This is truly a win-win situation.
Of course, Hilde, who knew the inside story, also found this kind of thing very interesting.
After Miletus was "controlled" by Hilde's army, Hilde's army did not stay there for too long, but immediately changed direction and began to march towards Ephesus, located north of Miletus.
The Ephesians probably never thought that when they had decided to surrender and started formal negotiations, a terrifying army suddenly appeared from nowhere and drove away the Persian army that had surrounded Ephesus for so long. Ephesus was suddenly liberated again, but the liberation was so fast that no one could react.
"I am Hilde, the Queen of the Byzantine Kingdom!!!"
Hilde, dressed in military uniform and riding a white horse, shouted proudly in front of the gate of Ephesus:
"I just captured Miletus from the Persians, and now I come to support you!!!"
"Millie was recaptured?"
The soldiers and officers on the city gate looked at each other.
Doesn’t this mean that…
The invincible Persian army is not as scary as imagined?
In fact, most of them had never heard of Hilde's name, and it was not their fault. They only knew about the Byzantine Empire, and they also knew that the Byzantine Empire had taken all the Milesians from the Persians, and they also knew that the Byzantine Empire had annexed Samos, which was very close to Ionia.
But they would never have thought that one day when they were facing the oppression of the Persians, the Byzantine Empire would come here with the banner of justice, trying to save them from this suffering. Although what Hilde said was hard to believe, the army Hilde brought was majestic, which was the most convincing point.
So Ephesus quickly made a decision.
That is to open the city gate.
Welcome the arrival of Hilde and others.
Although Ephesus was not very strong in military terms, it had a larger population than Miletus. At the same time, Ephesus had a prosperous culture. Miletus, which was the birthplace of the Milesian School, was later over-prosperous in commerce, which suppressed the cultural atmosphere of Miletus. However, Ephesus retained this cultural atmosphere. Until now, there are still many temples in the city of Ephesus, and the religious atmosphere is very strong.
Hild is well known in modern times for the fame of Ephesus.
So when Hilde entered Ephesus.
Then she saw the huge building.
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
Athenians have always been proud of their Parthenon, and they always boast everywhere that it is the largest temple in the entire Greek world. But in fact, in terms of size, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus is the largest. Construction of this temple began 120 years ago and was only completed in recent years. Not only is the entire Temple of Artemis large, but everything in it was completed by famous artists. Phidias, the most famous sculptor in Athens, also personally participated in the sculpture work of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
So you can see it from here.
What does the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus mean?
“This temple is really magnificent.”
Sophia also looked at the temple in the distance with great surprise.
Hilde smiled and said, "Yes, this is much more magnificent than the Parthenon. The Ephesians are not focusing on how to defend their city-state, but all their energy is on this matter. If Artemis came to see it in person, she would definitely think it is a waste. Artemis is not a goddess who likes such a large temple."
“This is indeed…”
They had all met Artemis.
Know what this goddess likes.
Again, Artemis is not a woman who likes to be trapped in a temple. So... this magnificent temple actually has no meaning, it is just the wishful thinking of the Ephesians. Under such circumstances, Hilde naturally would not expose the wishful thinking of the Ephesians.
Now Hilde's identity.
But the liberator of Ephesus and Miletus.
The most brilliant general and king of the Greeks.
The feeling of having this halo around Xerxes made Hilde feel very comfortable.
Pyrrhus in Danger
Who doesn’t like to be admired? Who doesn’t like the title of Liberator of Ephesus, Liberator of Miletus? But these people must have been wrong. What Hilde wanted to do was not to liberate them from the Persian Empire, but to save them from the weak city-state rule and replace them with the powerful and efficient rule of the Byzantine Kingdom.
For the Ephesians.
As the oracle of Athena, the king of the Byzantine Empire, and the daughter of Pericles, the head of Athens, Hilde's titles combined were enough to make the Greeks in Ephesus feel strongly about her. When Hilde, dressed in military uniform and riding a white horse, slowly advanced through the city of Ephesus, the Ephesians who were watching were almost boiling with excitement.
"His Majesty!!!"
Ephesus was clearly a democratic city-state.
But it seems to be boiling.
Hilde shouted loudly, "Your Majesty."
Under such circumstances, Hilde smiled and waved to the people around her, while the soldiers responsible for maintaining order were almost overthrown by the excited crowd. If they had such enthusiasm in fighting against the Persians, they would not have wanted to open the city and surrender after being besieged for 10 days.
The Ephesians have always had a favorable impression of people from Athens, mainly because, unlike other city-states, Ephesus was a colony established by Athenian colonists in the 10th century BC. It has been 600 years, but the blood flowing in the Ephesians is consistent with that of the Athenians on the other side of the Aegean Sea. This kinship made the Ephesians have a favorable impression of Athens, and they also willingly joined the Delian League.
And now the liberator is actually an Athenian.
Although she was the queen of the Byzantine Empire.
So what now?
The Ephesians welcomed Hilde very much, which was obviously a good thing. For Hilde's next plan, the support and welcome of the Ephesians were very important. Therefore, Hilde came directly to the citizens' assembly of Ephesus under the guidance of the Ephesians.
At this time, all the members of the Citizens' Assembly were waiting for Hilde's arrival at the door. They were a little nervous, but more welcoming and happy. After all, Hilde helped them drive the Persians away and saved them from being enslaved by the Persians. And like other Ephesians, they also naturally believed that Hilde was the liberator of Ephesus.
"You are from the Citizens' Assembly?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
One of the men came out.
"I am Pyrrhus, the governor of Ephesus."
"Are you the Archon?" Hilde rode on his horse, looking down at the man in front of him. "Did you give the order to prepare to surrender to the Persians?"
"what?"
Hilde asked suddenly.
This surprised Pyrrhus a little.
"This...we passed this matter after a unanimous vote at the Citizens' Assembly, so..."
"How long did the Persians besiege you?"
"10 days..."
This Pyrrhus was honest.
But for Hilde, what she wanted was this honesty. Obviously, Pyrrhus didn't know what Hilde was going to do. Facing Hilde's questioning, he only hesitated and didn't know how to answer. After all, it was still hard to say that he surrendered. Hilde sneered and said to the soldiers behind him and the Ephesians who were watching: "Everyone has seen it, this is the archon you elected, this is the Citizens Assembly you trust! It is precisely because the Persians knew the weakness of the Citizens Assembly and the archon that they surrounded but did not attack. It took only 10 days to force the archon and the Citizens Assembly to surrender. Don't you feel ashamed of this shameful thing?!"
Hilde's words.
This made the members of the Citizens' Assembly, who were originally overjoyed, look around.
"Your Majesty, we have tried to resist and contacted other Ionian allies, but the problem is that the Ionian city-states are now in trouble, so how can they send reinforcements to us? And our city-state of Ephesus is now isolated and helpless. Once the Persians start to attack the city, what will happen to the lives of the men, women and children in the city?"
Pyrrhus knew that Hilde's accusation was indeed due to his own fault, but he had to argue for his own reputation, so he stood in front of Hilde and continued, "We thank Your Majesty for saving our Ephesus, but we are not a powerful country like the Byzantine Empire. We are just a city-state. Even if we let all the men in the city who can take up arms go up to the city to fight, there are only more than 1 people. What's more, Miletus, which has more troops and strength than us, has been defeated by the Persians. Now the Milesians are living in a foreign land in the Byzantine Empire, and their hometown Miletus is now an empty city. Seeing this scene, who wants to confront the Persians head-on?"
"Do you think that after you surrender, there will be a good outcome? The Persians are foreigners. They will only treat you as slaves, just like the Helots in the eyes of the Spartans. Once you open the city and surrender, your fate will not be much better. Moreover, the Persians will obviously provide more benefits to your Citizens' Assembly and you, the Archon, but what about those ordinary Ephesians?"
Hilde's words.
The Ephesians surrounding them couldn't help but look at them sideways.
"What's going on?"
"Your Majesty seems to be saying that..."
Seeing that everyone around her seemed to have been incited, Hilde said loudly to everyone around her: "Ephesians, open your eyes and take a good look! If you surrender, these people in power will definitely not have any problems, because they will definitely be favored by the Persian Empire, because they are the ones who helped the Persian Empire save time, but the ones who will really suffer will be ordinary people like you! You will become slaves of the Persians and be taken to farther places. The men will do hard labor forever, and the women will be raped by the brutal Persian soldiers. When you surrender, it is equivalent to handing your life to the Persians, but do you believe in the Persians? Do you think the Persians will treat your life well? Look at the Milesians, and you will understand. I spent a high price to redeem the Milesians so that they could find a place to live a stable life. Do you still want me to spend money to buy you back?"
