After a day of rapid march, the Spartan allied forces had already arrived at the area around Megara. The scouts ahead had confirmed that Megara had not been occupied by the Byzantines. This good news really made Archidamus feel relieved. No matter what, at least he could rest assured. So Archidamus ordered the army to stay and rest in the plains of Megara, and then set out for Attica tomorrow.
Arrived at Megara.
Now, Archidamus was relieved.
After all, Megara is very close to Attica.
If we continue to advance tomorrow, we will probably be able to attack the Byzantines' rear directly.
Therefore, Archidamus did not dare to be careless. He ordered the sentinels and part of the troops to go around the north of Megara to prepare for defense in case of a sudden attack by the Byzantines. He himself, with Lysander and others, entered the city of Megara.
The Archons of Megara have been waiting for a long time.
"Welcome, His Majesty Archidamus of Sparta."
"Hello."
Archidamus merely said hello briefly.
"Didn't the Byzantines come here before we did?"
"No, they didn't make any movement at all."
Since the consul said so, Archidamus had no choice but to nod.
It seems to be true.
Chapter 1, Section 6: The beginning of the surprise attack
Perhaps the Byzantine army had no idea that there would be reinforcements from the Spartans in the south. But this was not surprising. The war between the Spartans and the Athenians had only been over for a year. Even a commander as smart as Hilde would not have thought that the old enemy would now lead an army of 60,000 to 70,000 to Megara.
Archidamus was not a man who underestimated the enemy. As an experienced general and leader, he immediately ordered the scouts to make sure they were well prepared for safety precautions. At the same time, he sent scouts composed of light cavalry to Athens in Attica. If the Byzantines came at night, they would be able to defend themselves at the first opportunity.
With such preparation, everything will be safe.
At this time, Lysander asked with some doubt:
"I feel like something is not right?"
"what happened?"
"For some reason, I feel like there's a very powerful force nearby, and it doesn't seem to be from the Oracle."
"Oh?" Archidamus also looked at Lysander curiously, "What do you feel specifically?"
"I don't know, but... there are too many oracles around. I can only sense that there are oracles here, but I can't sense how many there are, or their specific locations. This feeling is hard to describe, but there is a sense of disharmony. It's very strong, but a little strange. But it's very close to us... just like in our military camp."
"That should be our own oracle."
Archidamus confirmed.
After all, if the oracle is in the north, come here.
That must be Hilde's man.
But this oracle is right next to him, so there is no way he could be Hilde's man.
Lysander could only nod doubtfully.
But he still couldn't help but pray, hoping that nothing bad would happen.
By this time, Tomyris had been waiting for a long time.
She and her cavalry were hiding in the forest behind Megara, and they could see the bright lights of the army in the distance. Even the smartest commander could not have imagined that Tomyris and the Scythians had integrated themselves and their horses into the forest. The entire forest was solemn, without the sound of horses neighing or people talking. And this forest happened to be located southwest of Megara, right in the heart of the enemy.
The wait was successful.
At this moment, Tomyris was like a poisonous snake.
Waiting for the opportunity.
Now, the prey is in sight.
The coalition forces were currently installing fences and other things. Although they were stationed temporarily, the Spartans were very strict about field camps. If these camps were ready for installation, it would still be very dangerous for the cavalry to rush down. So Tomyris blew a horn into the air, making a sound similar to that of a night owl.
After hearing this sound, the sound of night owls was heard all around. People who are not familiar with night owls would probably just think that the birds started to make noise. But this is the secret signal between Tomyris and the Scythian army. After the night owls sounded, the Scythians would quietly come out of the mountains and forests and attack the enemy. So, more than 10,000 cavalrymen advanced in an orderly manner in the night. Thanks to the Byzantine high-bridge saddle, the Scythians can now control the horses more accurately. Each horse is very close, but there is no conflict.
The army went down and soon arrived at the foot of the mountain.
Tomyris rode at the head of the army.
The wolf ears on her head turned in the wind, as if she was listening to something.
Now, he was already very close to the enemy's camp, and Tomyris could sense that there were at least five oracles in the enemy's army. This was not a small number, and Tomyris knew very well that he could not fight these five oracles alone, but it was precisely because there were too many oracles that the people here did not notice anything wrong.
The military camp is still in a relaxed state.
This is the time.
"Walk."
Tomyris uttered the sparrowhawk cry again.
This is the sound of launching a general attack.
No one in the Scythians spoke, but they had already divided the army into different numbers and began to move around the camp. According to the Byzantine military system, the Scythian cavalry was divided into a legion, which had a total of 20 battalions, and each battalion had five to six centuries. Now, the Scythians completely broke up the entire legion and divided it into more than 100 centuries. Each century knew what its mission goal was. Therefore, without any shouting, the Scythian cavalry quietly occupied a favorable position.
"Ok?"
The soldiers patrolling the periphery discovered something unusual.
In the darkness, it seemed as if there were dark shadows running around.
But it was late at night and the malnourished soldiers could hardly see anything.
He walked forward holding a torch, but then there was a whistling sound, and a whistling arrow came straight at him, directly chiseling his helmet and pinning him to the ground. This kind of whistling arrow fired by a powerful composite bow is not only powerful, but also makes a sound that is like a warning to the people here that the god of death is about to arrive. And then, whistling arrows came whistling from all directions of the military camp, and the soldiers in the outer military camps also crawled out of the military camps to see what happened.
Only at this point did an officer react.
"Enemy attack——!!!"
"There are enemies!!!"
"How is this possible! How could there be an enemy here?"
The soldiers were very surprised, but now, what they saw had forced them to believe it. From the darkness, cavalrymen wearing scale armor rushed out, holding bows and arrows in their hands, shooting heavy arrows, and the heavy arrows directly pierced the thin bronze armor on the soldiers. Many soldiers had already rested and had already taken off their armor. Now that the cavalry suddenly rushed in, they were almost destined to be slaughtered.
The soldiers were in the light, the archers were in the dark, and the cavalry in the light were seen very clearly. Every arrow was able to hit the running soldiers. Desperate screams and fear began to spread throughout the military camp. These soldiers who had not had time to put on armor, had no weapons, no phalanx, and even had not built the military camp walls, had no choice but to be slaughtered when facing the cavalry.
But now, Tomyris's goal is not this.
She came here, from beginning to end, for the last step.
She abandoned her warhorse, transformed herself into a petite wolf, and rushed quickly towards the center of the military camp.
Tune 1, Section 7: The King Was Captured
With the advance of the Scythians.
The sudden attack caused chaos in the Peloponnesian League’s camp.
Before the soldiers could figure out what was going on, they found that the enemy cavalry had already rushed into the barracks. The Scythians had grown up on horseback and were proficient in horsemanship, so they could move freely even in a narrow barracks. Moreover, the Takahashi saddle greatly improved the stability of the cavalry, and steel weapons were far more suitable for combat than bronze weapons. Facing the enemy soldiers who had no power to fight back, the Scythians were like death knights from the underworld, ruthlessly harvesting the lives of the soldiers.
"Don't panic! Pick up your weapons!"
The centurion roared, trying to stabilize the morale of the troops.
However, the defeat was disastrous.
In the current situation, how is it possible to stabilize the morale of the army?
Soldiers rushed out of their camps and were hit by arrows as soon as they picked up their spears. Or, the Scythian soldiers who had run out of arrows would rush around in the camp waving their sabers, and any soldier who dared to approach would be chopped down. The wailing of the Greek soldiers echoed throughout the entire camp.
The camps that were still being built were lit by the Scythians. The flames devoured the tents and wood in the camp, and also burned the supplies and food stored in the camp. The flames quickly devoured anything that could burn, and the flames that shot up into the sky were particularly obvious in the night. From a distance, it could be seen very clearly.
Archidamus walked out of the tent.
Even from a long distance, Archidamos II could feel the danger coming.
"Where did they come from!?"
"Your Majesty! I-We don't know!"
The soldiers' panicked shouts shocked Archidamus.
The camp of their coalition forces is very particular. The periphery is usually the army of the allies, such as the Argolis or the Corinthians. They are more numerous, but their combat capabilities are average. Therefore, facing this sudden night attack, it is normal for these troops to have difficulty reacting. After all, even if such a thing happened to the Spartans, it is estimated that they would not be able to deal with it calmly.
Archidamus looked around and roughly understood the current situation. He made a simple estimate and found that at least thirty camps were attacked. The attacking force of each camp was definitely no less than one hundred. Some larger camps had more than a thousand attacking forces. Therefore, the more Archidamus calculated, the more scared he became. In other words, the attacking force here must be at least tens of thousands.
The issue is……
Tens of thousands of cavalry.
Where on earth did it come from!?
You know, the Megarans also said they didn't see it, but Megara was in their hands, so there was no need for them to deceive themselves. Megara had no reason to be such a life-threatening bait for the Byzantines. Therefore, Archidamus' first reaction was that there was some magical oracle around Hilde who could hide these tens of thousands of cavalry troops.
But at the same time, Archidamus suddenly thought of something. Lysander had just told him that he felt a powerful but unfamiliar divine power around him. At this time, Archidamus suddenly realized that he was stupid and did not take this matter seriously at the time. It was really too much! So, Archidamus slapped his head and hurriedly said to the guards officer: "Hurry up! Let Lysander come to see me!!!"
"His Majesty!"
The voice just fell.
Lysander rushed into the tent.
“Byzantines are everywhere!!!”
"How did they get here!?"
"From my observation, all these Byzantine cavalrymen should be hiding in that forest. But the forest is steep and silent. I don't know how the Byzantines hid their horses there!" Lysander frowned, drew his sword, and said nervously, "I suspect that the strange divine power I felt must have come from here! This means that the enemy must have an oracle here. Your Majesty, you are in danger now. I will protect you!"
"it is good!"
Archidamus did not refuse.
Who would refuse something that could save their life?
But at this moment, suddenly a silver-gray lightning penetrated into the big tent.
It was so fast that Lysander didn't have time to react.
"Don't move!"
Lysander followed the sound and saw a girl with a pair of wolf ears on her head, holding a sharp blade against Archidamus' throat. Lysander felt an unprecedented sense of pressure from her. Lysander was now certain that the strange divine power came 100% from this wolf girl!
"you you!"
"If you dare to move, your King will die here!"
Archidamus' right hand was tightly grasped by the opponent.
There was a knife at his throat.
He tried to break free. After all, the voice he heard was just a woman's. But as soon as he exerted force, he was kicked to the ground by the other party roughly, and his knees fell heavily. At the same time, the sharp blade also cut Archidamus' skin, leaving a red scar. Seeing this, Lysander took a deep breath and said quickly: "Calm down! Calm down! We can talk about anything! Tell me what you need!"
"Get out of here!"
"not good!"
Lysander was stunned.
"She wants to capture Your Majesty!"
"Don't worry about me, stop her!" Archidamus didn't care about anything else.
Tomyris really had no intention of killing Archidamus. If the king of the enemy was killed, the Spartans would not retreat easily, but would be angered. The best way to lower the morale of the enemy was undoubtedly to take Archidamus away. So Tomyris grabbed Archidamus's armor and dragged him out of the tent.
Tomyris's speed is extremely fast, and her strength is unmatched by mortals. Even a seasoned warrior like Archidamus has no way to escape from Tomyris's hands.
"mean!"
Archidamus was dragged on the ground and cried out in pain:
"You guys! Barbarians!"
"Just say a few words less."
Tomyris said coldly: "Don't worry, I won't kill you."
"who are you!!!"
"My name is Tomyris, Tomyris of Scythia, the oracle of Lady Artemis. I think, Your Majesty, you should have heard of my name."
