Xerxes, wearing a red robe, also came to Hilde's side. Looking at the city of Athens, Xerxes couldn't help but smile and said, "I can still remember the time I spent with you when I came to Athens with the delegation. Do you still remember it, Sissi?"
"remember."
How could I possibly remember it?
Hilde had almost forgotten it.
But Hilde lied without changing his expression.
"Ah, now, we're back again."
"That will have to wait until we take Athens." Hilde turned around and rode his horse towards the bottom of the high ground. "It's unlikely that those gods will give up Athens. They will definitely try every possible way to prevent us from taking Athens."
"Are you sure?"
"of course."
Hilde smiled and said:
"Now, the fact that the gods bless Athens is known throughout the Greek peninsula. This is a good thing, but also a bad thing. The Athenians will certainly be very confident. With the protection of the gods, they dare to fight us head-on. However, once Athens is really conquered by us, the news will spread throughout Greece, which will be a huge blow to other Greek city-states. It's like a slap in the face of the gods."
"So, people won't believe in gods anymore?"
"Yes, that's it."
Hilde nodded and looked around.
"So, there may be a fierce battle."
"But it is definitely a battle that is destined to be written into epic poetry."
"This is inevitable!"
Hilde is not afraid of war, nor is she afraid of conflicts and contradictions with the gods.
Anyway, we can't escape or hide from the dangers that may come. In this case, we might as well be straightforward and work hard towards the goal of taking Athens.
"Where's Tomyris?"
"Tomyris has already set out with her army."
Hilde pointed to the southwest.
"In order to occupy the advantageous terrain as quickly as possible, Tomyris has led his cavalry to Megara at the fastest speed."
"She has no objection?"
Hearing Xerxes ask this.
Hilde just waved his hand.
"No."
"That's good."
"Don't worry, I know what to do next. Tomyris, I won't let her fall into danger." Hilde smiled and squeezed the horse's belly, accelerating both her and the horse. Xerxes also took the lead, riding a chestnut BMW and following closely behind Hilde. A queen and an empress, the two of them galloped towards the front line, one in front and one behind.
And here is Tomyris.
Already on the road.
She led a full 10,000 cavalrymen, separated from Attica and Hilde, and headed southwest.
Tomyris's destination was a commercial city-state called Megara. It was located in the northeast of Corinth, with a population of tens of thousands. Its scale could not be compared with Corinth and Athens, and even its military strength needed the support of its allies.
Chapter 4 of the 10th Tune: Marching into the Lazy Army
The location of Megara also belongs to Attica.
Therefore, for a period of time before, the defense of Megara was handed over to the Athenians. Megara itself was a harmless commercial city-state, and it was peaceful. As a result, during the Peloponnesian War, Megara joined the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta because of the conflict of commercial interests with Athens, and the Spartan forces directly entered Megara. It was also because Corinth and Megara joined the Peloponnesian League that the Spartan army was able to easily cross the Corinth land bridge and enter Attica.
And now that the two countries have made peace.
Megara became a vacuum zone.
The Spartans withdrew their forces and returned to the area south of Corinth.
Athens was severely damaged and had no time to integrate other city-states in Attica.
Therefore, Megara is a hollow area. Now the Corinthian reinforcements have begun to move north, and the task left to Tomyris is to occupy the advantageous position in Megara before the Corinthians arrive. In this matter, Tomyris has no good choice. Even if the other side has an oracle, she cannot let the reinforcements enter the Attica region so brazenly.
Ten thousand Scythians.
Wearing exquisite armor and wielding sharp weapons.
Running on this foreign land.
And it was not only Tomyris of Hilde who was preparing to send troops to Megara.
The Corinthians in the south have also begun to act.
This commercial city-state with vast colonies now gathered a force of more than 12,000 heavy infantry and began the action.
This army was led by Aristocles, the archon of Corinth and the oracle of Hermes. However, this army had already set out a few days ago. The distance from Corinth to Megara was only a few dozen kilometers, and this army was only halfway through the journey. It was still quite far from the destination. At this speed, it would take Aristocles several days to reach the destination.
But Aristocles was in no hurry.
He was very clear about one thing.
The Corinthians are not the fools who take the risk of charging forward.
According to intelligence, Aristocles already knew that the Byzantine Kingdom had successfully captured Thebes, and now the army had entered Attica, leaving the Athenians completely isolated and helpless. At this time, if the Corinthians entered Attica, they would most likely be greeted by the Byzantines' siege and attack. Aristocles did not want all the precious people in Corinth to be consumed in the battle with the Byzantines.
On the road to the Isthmus of Corinth.
Aristocles rode his horse forward with great pride.
"I heard that Athens is now surrounded by 100,000 people?"
"Yes, my lord."
The adjutant also smiled and said:
"The Athenians are doomed now."
"Hahahaha, you can't say that. We are Athens' allies."
Aristocles smiled and corrected his lieutenant's mistake.
"The people of Thebes resolutely resisted the attack of the Byzantine Empire, but in the end, they only resisted for one day. Now, the city of Thebes is gone! Alas, Thebes is not a weak city-state. It couldn't even hold out for one day. This shows that the gods probably didn't show up at all and just abandoned the city of Thebes. The gods should not abandon Athens, but they didn't tell me what they would do next..."
"Then we can't die."
The lieutenant's attitude was the same as that of Aristocles.
"If we want to fight, we have to wait until the Spartans arrive."
"Heh, if we join the Spartans, I'm afraid we will be completely exhausted."
Aristocles shook his head.
"But it's not a good idea for us to keep wasting time here. The gods can probably tell that we are deliberately moving slowly, and I don't want to be punished by the gods... Let's send out cavalry today to investigate Megara and see what their attitude is. No matter what, let's take Megara down first." Aristocles turned around and said to the herald, "You guys, take the cavalry and investigate immediately!"
"Yes!"
After hearing this, the herald led more than a hundred riders and left the main group and moved forward.
After the cavalry went away.
Aristocles raised his hand, smiled and said:
"All troops, stop advancing, we are going to conduct reconnaissance, please take a good rest here."
"Yes!"
The Corinthian soldiers were already accustomed to this order issued by Aristocles.
Anyway, they walked for a while, then found a place to set up camp and rest. This was not a big expedition, it was just a picnic here. However, Commander Aristocles was not in a hurry, and the soldiers were naturally not in a hurry either. Who would be in a hurry to go to the battlefield and participate in a battle to support their mortal enemy? In their hearts, the Corinthians wished that the Athenians would die sooner.
So that the Athenians would not always steal Corinth's business and colonies.
After the troops stopped.
Aristocles and other generals found a flat place and set up a large tent.
The fine wine and meat brought from Corinth were also moved here.
"Come on! Everyone! Have a good rest today and wait for our reconnaissance team to come back!"
"Yes!"
The officers and soldiers are happily enjoying their leisure life.
As for what happens next.
No one cares.
After the Corinthian army stopped, the speed of the supporting army also stopped. After all, the Corinthians were closest to the destination, and their role was to serve as the vanguard and seize Megara first. However, at this speed, Megara would only be handed over to the Byzantines.
And the Corinthians had not rested for a few hours.
A group of light cavalry approached from behind the Corinthians.
"Notice!"
The leading centurion stretched out his hand and stopped the cavalry under his command.
"The Corinthian army?"
"Yes, my lord."
The centurion glanced around.
With his experience, he roughly estimated the size of the army in front of him, with a number of more than 10,000 people. Based on the flags around him, he could also confirm that they were Corinthians. However, he didn't know why the Corinthians, who should have set out a few days ago, were still dozens of kilometers away from Corinth. Could it be that they encountered the enemy ahead? However, looking around, this place didn't look like a place where they would be attacked.
"Report this to His Majesty."
"Yes."
The centurion shook his head and led his troops back.
Chapter 10, Section 5: The Peloponnesian Army
The centurion has a shield with the letter "λ" painted on it, which represents Laconia. This warrior is from the southern Laconia region, and the city-state of Laconia is the famous Sparta.
After encountering the main force of the Corinthians, this advance scout cavalry did not choose to continue advancing, but turned around and rushed to where the main force was at the fastest speed.
Less than thirty kilometers away from the Corinthian army.
A large army was passing through the city of Corinth, advancing steadily towards its destination.
This was a huge army of more than 40,000 people.
The warriors wearing plain armor and holding the "λ" flag were all elite troops from Sparta. These troops did not suffer much loss in the war with Athens. Now, they led the whole country to march towards Athens. These troops from Sparta included 6,000 Spartan citizen heavy infantry and about 1,000 cavalry.
Sparta was a country with a small population, or more precisely, a city-state with a very small number of citizens. The Laconia and Messenia regions ruled by Sparta had a combined population of over 400,000, but within the Spartan city-state, there were only over 10,000 male citizens. The 7,000-man army that was now dispatched was almost all the troops available to the Spartans.
Except for the seven thousand men from Sparta.
It also included a 4,000-man Helot escort force.
The army from the Messenian region numbered about 5,000 people.
The Periaci had an army of seven thousand men.
The Argolis allied force consisted of 5,000 men, all heavy infantry.
The Arcadian coalition forces from the Arcadia region, mainly composed of the city-state of Tigia, totaled 6,000 people.
Allied forces in the Elis region, five thousand men.
The allied forces in Achaia, eight thousand men.
There were even troops coming from Kephallonia, numbering about a thousand men.
The total number of troops from the entire Peloponnesian League was as high as 47,000.
After receiving the order, the Spartans immediately mobilized all their troops and set out from Laconia, constantly joining forces with reinforcements from all over the country along the way. Under the call of the gods and the Spartans, the city-states of the Peloponnese once again united, gathered almost all of their available troops, and set out for Corinth. After joining forces with the last reinforcement, the Argolis army, near the Isthmus of Corinth, the only ones left for the Spartans were the Corinthians.
According to the plan.
The Corinthian army plus the Spartan army.
The number is as high as 60,000.
