"I hope you can give up your current regime and return the city of Byzantium, Apollonia and other villages to us in Miletus."
"Is it……"
At this time, Hilde couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
"His Majesty?"
"Interesting, really interesting!"
Hilde stopped smiling and slapped the table:
"You are capable of saying that you have the ability to take it back. In the beginning, it was Miletus that was ready to abandon Byzantium. Now you are troubled by the Persians and your life is difficult. You can't even provide aid to Byzantium. Now, with the efforts of me and all the citizens of Byzantium, we have not only resolved the pressure from the Thracians, but also opened up new farmland, expanded urban construction, and opened up new trade routes. And now, you come here and say Miletus is yours."
Hilde said these words with a smile on her face.
However, those who are familiar with Hilde must know.
As the smile on Hilde's face grew more intense.
That's when she's going to kill someone.
"I can tell you my attitude, the attitude of the Byzantine City! The Byzantine Kingdom had nothing to do with Miletus the day it entered the city! Since you did not come to our rescue, then get out of here as far as you can! Remember, if you think that I have taken away your Miletus' things, then come and get them yourself. Bring your naval fleet and troops to fight us. Although our Byzantine Kingdom has just been established, we are not afraid of war."
"You will be punished by God if you do this!"
"so what?"
Hilde opened her arms and looked toward the Temple of Sarpirs Athena which was being built not far away.
"I am the oracle, and what I am doing now is the will of God."
"You will pay the price!"
"Then please go back to Miletus and think about how to kill me."
Hilde waved his hand and turned to leave. At this time, Amyntas came over with twenty heavy infantrymen. He looked serious because he knew that these officials must have offended Hilde, so he said, "Take these people away and send them away!"
"Yes!"
Under the guard of these heavy infantry.
The three officials left with regret.
And Hilde also found it interesting.
Do these Milesians really think they are still the same as before? They actually sent three officials to come to me and start to point fingers. I don’t know what the situation is now. Under the pressure of the Persians, I am almost out of breath, and I still dare to have ideas about the Byzantine Kingdom.
If it weren't for my mother's sake.
And I am half Milesian myself.
Hilde really wanted to throw these three guys into the sea to feed the sharks.
Finally, Hilde calmed down a little and turned back to the barracks. At this time, the surrendered Thracian elite soldiers of Sitalses were receiving training in the barracks. These soldiers were barbarians, not used to the Greek heavy infantry phalanx, and were good at using brute force to attack. But Hilde would not allow this to happen.
On the one hand, the Greek heavy infantry phalanx can improve the combat capability of the troops, which is a relatively excellent combat method in this era. On the other hand, the phalanx is strict in discipline and has relatively high requirements for the discipline of the troops and soldiers. If the barbarians like Sitalses are still allowed to fight in a barbaric way, they will not gradually become disciplined and finally assimilated.
However, Hilde still gave them some opportunities.
After some selection, the surrendered Thracian barbarians were selected, and fifty people who were not injured and in good physical condition were selected. The fighting ability of these fifty people was indeed not bad, so Hilde incorporated them into the infantry phalanx of the Byzantine city. That is, Hilde's personal soldiers, the Byzantine Kingdom's guards, the "Byzantine" camp.
And Sitalces.
This guy is very strong and obeys Hilde's orders.
Therefore, Hilde was quite willing to promote him to an officer.
But, not yet.
So, Hilde gave Sitalses a test in the military camp.
That's the battle.
"drink--!!!"
Sitalses swung the axe fiercely, and Hilde retreated repeatedly, not daring to take it head-on.
The opponent was so strong that the axe directly split the ground after it hit the ground. Even Hilde didn't dare to resist this kind of power. Now, Hilde was in a good mood. It seems that this Sitalses is not a mediocre person.
Chapter 4, Section 6: The Newly Appointed Centurion
Right now, what Hield lacks most is talent.
Amyntas was indeed very powerful, but now that the army had expanded to 2,700 people, there were fewer centurions. Hilde needed more centurions to become the backbone of the army. And now, the combat effectiveness and leadership shown by Sitalses made Hilde feel that he could take on the role of centurion.
"it is good!"
Hilde also praised Sitalses generously.
And Sitalses scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Your Majesty...thank you for the compliment!"
"Your fighting skills impress me."
Hilde looked at the soldiers standing nearby and said, "Everyone, you have seen it. The battle just now has fully proved that Sitalses is a trustworthy warrior. His fighting ability and skills are not inferior to other excellent centurions. Therefore, I have decided to appoint Sitalses as centurion."
"His Majesty!"
At this moment, Sitalses fell to his knees with a thud.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Okay, you know what to do next."
"Your Majesty, I will do my best to kill the enemy!"
"Since you know what's going on, I don't need to say more. Remember, I trust you very much and hope you can contribute your strength to defend the kingdom." Having said that, Hilde turned around and looked at other soldiers, "Remember, I hope you can continue to hone your martial arts. In my kingdom, if you have the ability, you can get the corresponding status and rewards. If you have the fighting power of Sitalses, you can also become a centurion!"
"Yes!"
Although, the centurion is just a captain commanding a team of 100 men.
But in fact, in the ancient Greek world, the status of centurions was very high. This type of officer required superb martial arts and extraordinary courage. They needed to lead the team into the enemy camp personally and also have the wisdom to be flexible and adaptable. Therefore, the centurion was regarded as the embodiment of wisdom and strength. Only those who had really experienced many battles could take on this position. And Amyntas was also a centurion at the beginning, which can prove the status of the centurion.
That's why Sitalses was so grateful.
The other soldiers were also eager to try.
After driving out the Milesians and ruling a large area, Hilde is now settling down for the time being.
Newly recruited troops need constant training.
At the same time, Hilde's next plan was to continuously expand her population. So Hilde ordered the Thracians under her command to form a small team and began to go deep into the interior of Thrace. Her purpose was to hope that the Thracians who were oppressed by the Thracian king would come to her side. Hilde would give these Thracians the status of foreigners, and give them land and villages to live in. At the same time, those who have lived for more than three years and have been engaged in taxes and labor during the three years will be given the status of citizens of the kingdom.
Such favorable conditions.
For the Thracians who were in dire straits, this was of great significance.
It turns out that the city of Byzantium was on the edge of world civilization.
Now, it has become a bright and smooth road.
Thanks to the efforts of the Byzantine brick kilns, a large number of red bricks and blue bricks were provided to the Byzantine city for urban expansion. Thracian refugees who heard the news began to cultivate and work on the land outside the city under the arrangement of the municipal officials. At the same time, the city began its second round of expansion. Due to the continuous growth of population, the original buildings within the city walls gradually could not meet the needs of urban development, so many of the original simple houses began to be rebuilt.
If someone came to Byzantium at this moment.
You'll definitely be surprised at one point.
That is the city of Byzantium, which has turned into a red city.
Red bricks and red tiles became the main image of Byzantium, and the blue bricks were used to pave the road. Outside the city were endless wheat fields, and inside the city were a constant stream of traffic. A large number of products were shipped out of the port, and even merchants from many city-states were attracted by the high-quality bricks of Byzantium and came to purchase these square red bricks and transport them back to build new buildings.
In itself, marble mining is extremely expensive, and the price of marble is very high, but the emergence of red bricks has impacted the marble market. Hilde, who found that red bricks are really profitable, ordered the expansion of brick kilns and built a large number of brick kiln factories in the northwest corner of the city. At the same time, with the efforts of craftsmen, molds and production methods that are more convenient for production were used.
Soon, winter turns to spring.
When the cold left, the wheat in the fields turned yellow.
Within half a year, as many as 10,000 Thracians came to seek refuge with Hilder. Hilder settled these Thracians in various villages from Byzantium to Apollonia to engage in agricultural production. He also confiscated all the weapons of these Thracians and asked Thracian officials to educate them on laws and systems.
Chapter 4, Section 7: Perintus' Invitation
At the same time, the Thracians who came to surrender provided Hilde with a thousand capable soldiers. Hilde selected 500 of them as standing troops and transferred them to the military camp in Byzantium to begin training. The other 500 were assigned to the governor of Apollonia Province for the defense and management of the Apollonia region.
For the massive influx of Thracians.
The Byzantines were somewhat worried.
They were afraid that the Thracians would raise their butcher knives.
However, it turned out that Hilde's idea was correct. With a stable source of income and a clear space for advancement, these Thracians no longer had to live in fear all day long. Seeing that their wives and children had a stable life, the Thracian men who were good at fighting were also convinced by Hilde. So, with the addition of these Thracian elite troops, Hilde's military strength has now reached a full 3,200 people.
Such a huge army size.
This is already the maximum amount among these new city-states.
Whether it was Selimbria and Chalcedon founded by the Megarians, or Perintus founded by the Samians.
Their military strength is far inferior to that of the current Byzantine Empire.
Moreover, the Byzantine Kingdom's growing national power and military strength naturally attracted the attention of some people. In addition to Miletus, other city-states also knew about this Greek kingdom on the edge of the world through trade. Different spheres of influence expressed different attitudes towards this. Of course, no matter what the attitude was, it didn't matter to Hilde. Now she only had to do one thing, that is, to constantly develop herself in order to face the Thracian King.
However, things soon took a new turn.
The plan that Hilde had already abandoned was picked up by someone else.
That's the alliance.
In order to jointly deal with the Thracian king, Aeneas from Perintus began to rush to all the city-states on the Thracian coast.
He planned to establish an alliance similar to the Ionians to deal with the threat from the north, so all the major city-states were sent envoys, including the Byzantine Kingdom. When Hilde received the request from Aeneas, she immediately knew that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Originally, Hilde was still hesitant about how to bring other city-states into her own hands, but now it seems that the opportunity has been delivered to her.
So, it was May.
When the weather starts to get hot, it's time for the first wheat harvest.
Hilde led 200 heavy infantrymen from the city of Byzantium and headed for Perintus by sea.
After three days of sailing, the ship passed through the long strait and arrived at the Aegean Sea again. After that, it entered the bay of Perintos. At this moment, the port of Perintos was already crowded with hundreds of ships from various city-states. Hilde's ten three-oared sailboats looked a bit shabby. However, the people of Perintos were not stupid. They recognized that this was a ship from the Byzantine Kingdom by the red eagle flag on the ship.
The Byzantine Empire controlled an army of 3,000.
Obviously one of the most powerful countries here.
However, Hilde, who was standing on the flagship, was somewhat disapproving.
In fact, Perintus's mother city, Samos, has also sent out its fleet. Samos has a total population of 100,000 and is one of the largest city-states in the Aegean Islands. And now, Samos has more than 40 warships, basically all large three-oared sailing ships. Such naval power is also top-notch in the entire Aegean Sea. Seeing such naval strength, Hilde was naturally a little worried.
Perinthos is not strong.
However, his mother country will definitely come to help Perintus.
The current Byzantine Empire certainly cannot compete with Samos.
Such a direct gap also made Hilde realize how far her country was from the traditional Greek city-states. So Hilde decided not to consider the city-state of Perintus for the time being. She should first actively absorb the Thracians and expand her kingdom, and then make plans for Perintus and Samos.
With this idea.
Naturally, Hilde did not dare to act rashly.
Soon, Byzantine ships entered the port of Perinthos.
"Is this Perinthos?"
At this time, Sophia gently held Hilde's hand and said happily: "It is indeed bigger than Byzantium."
"It is too close to its mother city, Samos, so the conditions in all aspects must be better than those in other city-states. However, I am really envious. If Byzantium had the condition of Perintus from the beginning, it would not have to worry about the situation of the Thracians." Hilde said with some emotion, and she was not exaggerating because it was indeed the case.
Perintus's population, economic situation, and strong support from its mother country are also needed.
Even if the King of Thracian leads the army in person, it will probably take some time to conquer it.
Chapter 4, Section 8: The heavily guarded city-state
At this time, two men in clean and tidy blue robes came in front of Hilde.
"Excuse me, you are the representatives from the city of Byzantium."
"Please show some respect. We are the Byzantine Empire."
