v9 Chapter 238： The arrival of the Allied Forces of Persian Asia Minor

As time entered the new year, the Persian army also gathered in the Phrygia area, and some of the army’s front had already pressed forward to the eastern border of Missia, Leotichides felt some pressure, and he began to gather. Troops scattered around.

In early February, the Allied Forces of Persian Asia Minor convened an important military meeting in the capital of Phrygia. The western commander Fana Bazos served as the chair of the meeting. The participants were all governors of various regions, except for one general. His identity Very special-former Sessaly Tagus Jason.

After the army led by Jason was defeated by the Dionian army five years ago, he fled to Persia alone. Unlike many celebrities who were expelled from Greece, who liked to stay in western Asia Minor, he went directly to Syria to see the King of Persia.

At that time, Artaxerxes was planning to conquer Persia himself, but he did not expect a fire in his backyard and a major rebellion in Asia Minor. He had to return to his division to quell the rebellion.

Jason unified Thessaly, became Targus, and served as the main force in the anti-Dionian Greek coalition forces, and once had the advantage in the war... These deeds have been introduced to this person through the mouth of Datis. In the ears of the Persian king, considering that there were many Greek mercenaries in the rebels, Persia lacked heavy infantry, and Jason was an excellent Greek general, so he not only enthusiastically received Jason, but also made Promise: As long as he is willing to play for Persia and be loyal to him, when Persia and Dionia go to war in the future, he will support him to return to Thessaly and regain the throne of Targus.

Of course Jason couldn't ask for it, and immediately accepted the appointment of Artaxerxes as the commander of the Greek mercenaries belonging to Persia. With sufficient financial support from Persia, Jason quickly recruited nearly 10,000 Greek soldiers from western Asia Minor and even the Ionian Islands. They trained and fought at the same time. During the peace war in Persia, he gained Not a small feat, but also won the trust of Artaxerxes.

At the end of the war, the number of mercenaries in Commander Jason had increased to 15,000. Artaxerxes did not ask him to reduce the number of soldiers, but instead let him lead the mercenaries to garrison in Silesia.

Silesia is located in the central-southern part of Asia, with an unusually fertile plain. There are not many people there, but the people are very rich, and the kingdom was established very early. In the process of the Persian King Darius conquering west, Silesia was surrounded by mountains as a barrier, which was difficult to capture, but the Silesian king took the initiative to submit, so the throne was retained.

When Artaxerxes came to the throne, the Silesian kings and his wife also actively sponsored the little Cyrus to fight for the throne. In the end, little Cyrus was defeated and died. But at that time, Altaxerxes was afraid of causing turmoil in Asia Minor and did not dare to deal with it. Those regional governors and kings who had colluded with the little Cyrus quietly weakened their power, until this time the rebellion in Asia Minor was completely put down, and he finally completely cleared the royal family of Silesia and seized this fertile land. In his own hands, he not only sent his confidant to serve as governor, but also sent Jason, who was able to conquer, to sit in Silesia for fear of causing resistance from the local people.

Of course, Artaxerxes has a deeper consideration: Silesia is rich enough to support the Greek mercenaries, which can alleviate the financial burden of Persia, and Jason led the army in Silesia. Once a rebellion occurs in other parts of Asia Minor, he will still You can go to the rescue in time.

Only a few years later, the rebellion did not appear again, but it was waiting for the invasion of the Greek coalition forces.

When Phanabazos took office as the military commander of Western Asia Minor, he asked the Persian king for orders to send Greek mercenaries to help the war, because Jason’s army was directly under the Persian king and was not under the command of any local governor.

Artaxerxes agreed, and Farabazos quickly sent a call-up order to Jason.

But Jason, who has been living in Persia for several years, no longer needs to prove himself urgently as he did at the beginning. He is worried that he will go to Phrygia prematurely and will be used as cannon fodder by the Persians. First, he will be sent to the front line to fight. Delayed for various reasons, and eventually became one of the latest units to reach Phrygia, which made Fanabazos a little unhappy.

At this military meeting, most of the governor’s opinions were roughly the same: given that the current number of soldiers in the own army is as high as 80,000, which is far more than the number of Greek coalition forces detected by the scouts, we should boldly lead the army westward, and The Greeks launched a decisive battle and completely defeated it. They could not wait any longer, because Greek troops continued to land in Asia Minor, and the number of enemy troops continued to increase.

Jason raised an objection. He believed: Based on his knowledge of Dionia and the native Greek city-states, this time their invasion of Asia Minor must have sent the most elite soldiers of their own city-state, because the Persian infantry was not strong. In the past wars with the Greeks were always at a disadvantage. Now if you take the initiative to engage in a frontal battle with the Greek coalition forces, you are very likely to suffer defeat. By then, the war situation in Asia Minor will become very bad. On the contrary, if you are not in a hurry to engage in a battle with the Greek coalition forces, but let the troops take the initiative to retreat, and at the same time remove or burn all the materials that can be used by the Greeks, lure the Greek coalition forces into the inland, and then use your own familiar terrain and more cavalry. The advantage of the enemy is to continuously harass the enemy and raided the food transportation in the back, thus achieving the purpose of the weakening of the Greek coalition forces. When the Greek coalition forces become weak, and then looking for opportunities to fight against them, the odds of victory will be much larger.

Jason’s proposal was strongly opposed by most of the Persian governors. These nobles from the core area of ​​Persia had no experience in fighting against the Greeks. On the contrary, they still regarded Greece as barbarians deep in their hearts. Their pride was never Persian troops were allowed to adopt such cowardly tactics to deal with the Greeks they looked down upon. The governors of Mesia, Lydia, and Phrygia strongly demanded a quick fight because they did not want to see the land under their jurisdiction suffer from Greece. The ravages of people.

Some governors even personally attacked Jason, accusing him: the king of Persia was generous and did not despise him as an alien from which he was fleeing, but only used it again, but he did not want to return the trust of the king of Persia, but here instead. At this critical moment, what is your mind about delaying the war?

Someone even pointed out that after receiving the call-up order, Jason did not immediately lead his fully organized Greek mercenaries to Phrygia. Instead, he delayed until the end. I am afraid that he would be dissatisfied. In order to avoid him suddenly falling in the battle. The Greeks, it is better to deprive him of military power and interrogate him.

Although Jason was weak, he had a bad temper and quarreled with the governors instead.

In an atmosphere where the governors unanimously demanded that the Greek army be repelled as soon as possible, Fanabazos finally had to adopt their suggestion and actively seek a decisive battle with the Greek coalition forces.

After the meeting, he left Jason alone to appease him, clearly expressed his trust in him, and promised that as long as he performed outstandingly in the next battle, he would report his achievements to the king of Persia, and It will also help him return to Thessaly in the future.

As the veteran of Persia in Asia Minor, Fanabazos has not only experienced the humiliation of besieging the Greek expeditionary force and eventually letting the enemy escape, but also the pain of being blasted by Agsilius’s army. Knowing the strength of the Greek army, he agreed with Jason’s views, but when so many governors unanimously demanded a quick fight, he had to agree against his will, even though he was the new military commander-in-chief of Western Asia Minor. The son-in-law of Tarxerxes, but his origin as a nobleman in Asia Minor determines that the trust he gained from the Persian king is no better than some of the Persian governors present, and a secret letter from anyone will aggravate the suspicious Persian. Wang doubted him,

Although he was a little afraid of the combat effectiveness of the Greek coalition forces, he believed that the army under his command had gathered the elites of the entire western Asia Minor. Not only did the number surpass the Greek coalition forces, but also the support of the Greek mercenaries who were able to conquer the battle. It is very likely to win the battle. Victory, so he led the Allied Forces of Western Asia Minor with full confidence, left Phrygia, entered Mesiah, and forcefully pressed towards the allied forces of Greece.

After hearing this news, Leotich Deston sighed in his heart: That old guy was right!

It turned out that after the Greek coalition forces gathered, the coalition commander Leotichides convened a military meeting with generals.

At the meeting, allied generals such as Ipamirunda, Lycomides, and Ifekrates all agreed that the coalition forces are strong and should seize the time, lead the troops eastward, and seek a decisive battle with the main force of the Persian army. After the victory, the entire western part of Asia Minor was unable to stop the Greek coalition attack.

But some people were worried, because at this time they had discovered that Phanabazos was appointed by the Persian king as the military commander in Asia Minor. This is an experienced veteran who might choose to avoid the war. The Greek coalition forces have been far away from the coast for a long time. Going deep into the unfamiliar inland, UU reading may encounter a lot of trouble.

The old Agsilius confidently told the generals: "You don't have to worry about the Persians avoiding the battle, and you don't have to take the initiative to find the Persians for a decisive battle, because the Persian army will take the initiative to find the coalition forces for a decisive battle!

This is because the people of western Asia Minor originally resisted the officials from Persia. According to the recent news, the people of western Asia Minor have a greater distrust of the new Persian governor. If these governors led the army to retreat instead of fighting, Let the coalition forces destroy farmland and villages, then the people here will be full of resentment for the Governor's desperation, which is very detrimental to their future rule. Those arrogant Persians generally would not make this choice.

As for the Persian military commander Fana Bazos... I know him well. He is indeed a Persian general with good ability. He also has a lot of fame in Western Asia Minor. If he decides to retreat, the soldiers can obey. , The people may be acceptable, but this person is sleek, good at making friends, and generous, so when he was governor of Western Asia Minor, his colleagues, officials, and even the local people got along with him. But he lacks decision-making in doing things, and is too emotional. This is precisely the taboo of the commander-in-chief. I think it is difficult for him to refuse the requests of the governors and abandon the people of Misia and Phrygia to retreat! "

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