Similarly, Rhodes was a little overwhelmed.
She didn't know whether it was her fault that led to this result.
"Rod, my child."
Pericles was waiting for Rhodes' return at the city gate.
"Mr. Archon."
"You did a great job today."
"But... I didn't let all the enemies be wiped out..." Rhodes said helplessly while holding the trident, "and I caused the deaths of so many Athenians."
"No, child, this is not your fault. You have to know that there are some things you cannot change. Hippocrates' command mistakes and the Athenian army's inferior combat effectiveness to the Spartans are the main reasons. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even have the confidence to fight outside the city. Therefore, my child, please don't blame yourself. You are the hero who saved Athens. From now on, Athens is free again."
Pericles knew it too.
This is just a stopgap measure.
Those Spartans who escaped would definitely not go far. They would go north to join the main force of Sparta. Once the Spartans took control of Boeotia and let the Thebans become the Spartans' helpers, the Athenians would face a great crisis. Therefore, Pericles and other generals of Athens had to discuss a solution to the current predicament. Therefore, it is very likely that a large-scale war will break out in the near future.
Now, all Athens had to do was prepare for war.
Expand the army as quickly as possible.
At the same time, you must also go out.
But although Rhodes' performance today was amazing, Pericles felt that there were still big problems.
Rhodes was not a professional soldier, and could not kill countless enemies like the Spartan heroes. She was afraid, timid, and soft-hearted. She obviously showed mercy when dealing with the Spartans, which led to a funny ending in which only five Spartans died. However, Pericles felt that he could not put too much pressure on her. The first time she appeared, she had resolved the crisis of Athens, which was a very remarkable achievement. So Pericles planned to celebrate today's victory.
Chapter 6, Section 2: The Situation of the Thracian King
The victory in the Battle of Athens could not completely resolve Athens' crisis.
But that's enough.
When the war between Athens and Sparta began to intensify, the northeastern region of the Greek world was a different scene. Hilde and the princess of the Kingdom of Scythia, Tomyris, signed a covenant, in which both parties agreed to work together to fight against the Thracians in the subsequent war against the Thracians. After confirming this, Hilde led her people and began to leave the Kingdom of Scythia and return to the Kingdom of Byzantium.
With the help of the Scythians.
Hilde was also able to face the Thracian threat more calmly.
At the same time, Hilde learned about the Thracians from the Scythians.
Today, if the Thracian Kingdom is really a kingdom, it has a total population of 350,000 people and currently has two armies. One army is the main force led by the King of Thrace himself, with a number of about 35,000 people, which is the main force of Thrace. The other army is stationed near Adlisia, apparently to prevent the Byzantine Kingdom from attacking from behind. Tomyris estimated that the number of this army should be 15,000.
A population of 350,000 and a total of 50,000 troops.
These figures show that Thrace is truly a country where everyone is a soldier.
At present, Hilde's army consists of two fully staffed legions. The first "Byzantine" legion is stationed around the city of Byzantium, while the second "Apollonia" legion is helping the people of the Apollonia region to open up the plains here. At the same time, with the addition of new population, the second "Apollonia" legion has been fully replenished from the original size of more than 6,000 people to a size of 11,000 people.
These two fully staffed legions.
It was the main force of the Byzantine Empire.
At the same time, the Third "Samos" Legion in Samos is in the process of being formed, and it is expected to take about four months to complete the training. By that time, the Third Legion will arrive in the Byzantine Kingdom through naval transportation. In this way, the three legions in Hilde's hands will have a scale of 33,000 people. At the same time, including Hilde's guards cavalry and the Immortal Army, Hilde's available troops will be around 36,000.
Compared to the Thracians.
The number of troops was reduced by one third.
However, Hield has the confidence to defeat his opponent.
Just when the Byzantines were getting ready for a real fight.
In Adelicia.
This is the largest town of the Thracians. Since the Thracians are considered barbarians, they are not used to building cities, but mainly primitive villages. There are tens of thousands of Thracians living here, most of whom are the core of the Thracians, that is, the Adreshia, who gave birth to the royal family of the Thracian king.
However, even the Adrichians, who were at the highest level of the Thracian Kingdom, were now trembling and kneeling on the ground, not daring to raise their heads. They looked as scared as lambs. They were usually domineering, but now they were acting like this. If the people who were usually oppressed by them saw them, they would probably laugh at them. But now, no one dared to laugh at them. Even people from other places who came here had to kneel on the ground in fear.
in front of them.
There was a giant standing in front of the throne.
He was three meters tall, and his muscles were as sharp and angular as hard granite. Next to him, there was a huge Thracian sword that looked like a block of iron. If anyone was hit by it, they would probably die immediately.
Faced with such an overwhelming advantage, no one dared to breathe, fearing that they would be discovered by the behemoth in front of them, and then they would be greeted with the most terrible death. The Adlishia people offered their most humble attitude to the man in front of them, even though this man was once connected to them by blood and was the pride of their Adlishia tribe... But now, this is the demon god, an existence that can make all Thracians tremble with fear.
King of Thrace.
Let all Thrace.
Even northeastern Greece exists in fear.
Now, he is located within Adlisia.
Everyone originally thought that the Thracian King should be at the northern border, commanding his troops to prepare for the battle with the Scythians. But unexpectedly, the Thracian King came back and stood in front of everyone. They had originally planned to take advantage of the Thracian King's absence to have some fun. However, when the Thracian King came back, everyone dared not breathe, fearing that something might go wrong.
"..."
At this time, the Thracian king raised his head.
He looked at his people and spoke in a calm voice.
"Does anyone know... the Byzantine Empire?"
"I, I know!"
A man who looked like an officer crawled in front of the Thracian King.
"We have been collecting information about the Byzantine Kingdom!"
"Very good...how's the collection going?"
"Your Majesty, we have already mastered the locations of all the cities in the Byzantine Kingdom and their military deployments, but... but... there is a sudden situation, that is, the Byzantine Kingdom actually has an oracle. This is something we did not expect. According to the information we investigated, this oracle seems to be very powerful, otherwise, he would not have been able to expand the Byzantine Kingdom to such an extent in just one year."
"How is the country's strength?"
The Thracian king paid no attention to the oracle.
"National strength... Currently, the Byzantine Kingdom has a total population of 370,000, which is slightly more than ours. Then, in terms of military strength, there are now 22,000 troops in two directions. In the city of Byzantium, it is said that there are 1,000 elite troops, but they are all cavalry. However, Byzantium is very rich in resources, with a lot of wealth and treasures, as well as countless slaves and beauties. Your Majesty, if we take over the Byzantine Kingdom, then we..."
"enough."
The Thracian king stood up and looked around.
"I...King Thracian, want to talk to everyone this time."
"You must take up your weapons and conquer more territory for me."
"The Scythians have lost their ability to threaten us... Now, a Byzantine Kingdom has appeared in the south. It is very dangerous and powerful... However, with me here, any enemy will be vulnerable. When I roar, the Byzantine Kingdom will never be able to defeat us... So, from now on!"
The Thracian king looked up.
Chapter 6: The Primitive Caste System
His voice seemed to carry a spell.
All the Thracians were shocked.
"Conquer, Byzantium!"
"..."
"Conquer! Byzantium--!!!"
"Conquer! Conquer! Conquer!"
The soldiers around the Thracian king shouted these words loudly to express their inner determination.
At this time, the Thracians ruled by the Thracian King actually had a very depressing life. The strictly hierarchical social class and the system that respected strength made the Thracians live under heavy pressure. At the top of the power was the oracle with divine power, the heroic Thracian King. Below that, those strong men with superb combat effectiveness were the elite troops around the Thracian King, known as "hunters."
These people are the soul and core of the Thracian troops, and at the same time, they are the most notorious. They are equipped with bows and arrows, daggers and Thracian long swords, and wear exquisite armor that is rare among Thracian soldiers. These armors are basically collected from the battlefield as trophies. In addition, they also carry a wooden stick with them. This stick is their iconic weapon as hunters. Of course, the stick is not used against the enemy, but against their own people.
In the hierarchy of the Thracian Kingdom.
The Thracian King - Hunter, constitutes the top link.
The Thracian King is the core, and the hunters are his minions.
Below them are the Thracians, mainly composed of the Adreshia people. The Adreshia tribe has a tough folk character and outstanding combat effectiveness. The male members of the tribe basically do not engage in agricultural activities, and almost all of them join the army. Under the leadership of the Thracian king, the men of the Adreshia tribe all took up arms, and if there are disabled people or elderly people who cannot take up weapons to fight, they will be regarded as defective products by the Thracian king and then handed over to hunters to be dealt with.
In the ideas of the Thracian king.
The Adlishia tribe is a tribe favored by God.
Therefore, it has to be perfect.
Men must all be strong, elite warriors, brave and fearless.
Women are capable of doing logistical work, giving birth to children, and even serving as soldiers when necessary.
Of course, the Adlisia tribe was actually considered good in the Thracian Kingdom. Further down, it was further divided into several classes. In short, the Adlisia tribe was the elite, and some tribes with strong military power and who surrendered to the Thracian king at the beginning were soldiers. The tribes with weak military power but who also surrendered smoothly were farmers. The last class was the tribes that had once rebelled against the Thracian king and were finally defeated. They were the pariah class.
Such an environment of oppression.
It constituted the unique political and social environment of the Thracian Kingdom.
Of course, the final result was that the Thracian Kingdom was filled with incredible oppression.
The lower-class tribes lived in dire straits every day. When facing the higher-class tribes, they had to kneel on the ground and bow their heads, as if they were looking at gods, and they must not overstep their authority. Hunters could hunt any Thracians at will, and the Adreshias could do anything to the lower classes at will. The lowest-class untouchables were not only oppressed by the Thracian king, hunters, and Adreshias, but also by the soldiers and peasants. This is why a large number of Thracians could not survive in the end and fled to the Byzantine Empire and became a member of the Byzantine Empire.
The reason why the King of Thrace launched the conquest of the Byzantine Empire.
The reason lies in the loss of untouchables.
The four major classes of the Thracian Kingdom, hunters, royal family, soldiers, and peasants, all ultimately needed to rely on exploiting the lowest class of untouchables for a living. Once the untouchables were gone, the peasants would become the lowest class, but the peasants were responsible for food production. If the peasant class was also hit, the Thracian Kingdom would collapse. Therefore, the Thracian Kingdom needed a new target for exploitation. Originally, they had their eyes on the Scythians and Getes in the north, but the Scythians in the grasslands were indeed difficult to deal with.
Now, it was confirmed that the King of Thrace was the Byzantine Kingdom in the south.
The Byzantine Empire had a population of over 360,000.
If they could all be conquered.
This means that the Thracian Kingdom had a class of untouchables consisting of 360,000 people.
For the Thracian Kingdom, whose total population was only 350,000, this meant that there was a huge class that could be oppressed, and the social system of the Thracian Kingdom would continue. This extremely morbid social system also gave rise to very morbid ideas. Therefore, the decision of the Thracian king to attack the Byzantine Kingdom was supported by the vast majority of people. After all, it would be more satisfying to target foreigners than to exploit one's own people layer by layer.
after the order is given.
The Thracians began their own actions.
But Hilde in Byzantium City didn't know any of this yet.
In ancient times, information was blocked, and Hilde knew almost nothing about what happened in the Thracian Kingdom. But this was also normal. After all, Hilde tried to find out about the Thracian Kingdom, but no Thracian dared to go back as a spy. After all, the Thracians who escaped would be beheaded directly after returning. So Hilde had to give up this plan.
Now Hilde was even more interested.
It was news from Athens.
"I didn't expect that Athens also had an oracle."
Hilde exhaled, frowned and said:
"If that's the case, there are more and more oracles."
"That's true..." Sophia stood nearby, smiling and nodding.
"It seems that what Lady Artemis said is right. The gods are too bored, so they have begun to train their own spokespersons, intending to recreate the contents of the epics hundreds of years ago. Tsk... This is not good news. Athens and Sparta already have them. I don't believe that other Greek city-states don't have them. Thebes, Syracuse, Corinth, even Carthage in the south, Rome in the west, and the Ionian city-states in the east. If there are too many oracles, the world will be in chaos."
"Sissi, it's okay."
Sophia encouraged him.
"You will definitely be able to defeat the other Oracles!"
"Ha... If possible, I still don't want to have direct contact with them."
Hilde always kept Artemis' words in mind. In fact, in this world, there were almost no people who could recognize Athena, but the oracles were different. They might pass the information of seeing Athena Oracle to their own gods, and then describe Hilde's facial features.
The sixth section of the fourth quarter offensive plan
Therefore, if other gods knew what she said, there might be some trouble in the future. Therefore, Hilde felt that she had to adopt Artemis's advice, which was to have less dealings with other oracles. Unless she was sure that everything was safe. Therefore, Hilde had to be cautious next, even when facing the Thracian king, and would take the initiative to attack when she could guarantee that she would kill the Thracian king.
Just as Hilde was thinking this.
Amyntas walked quickly to the door and knocked.
"Your Majesty, I am Amyntas."
