Chapter 174 Soldiers Approaching the City of Athens

Since there was not enough time to build a complete defensive camp, the Athenian army relied more on its condescending geographical advantage for defense, but whether it was Lucanians, Samonais, or Gauls, they were all fierce mountain races , fighting in the mountains is their strong point, not to mention now that they have Dionia's high-quality armor and weapons as their support, the number of people is still dominant, and they have broken through the line of defense after fighting for a long time.

In particular, the hideous appearance of the Gauls holding big swords and slashing and slaying made the Athenian soldiers terrified. They couldn't help but preach the horror of the enemy when they fled, which led to the people in the town of Phili, not far from Panisa Mountain, were also frightened. Bad, he took his family and his family to flee with the defeated soldiers, so that the army led by Lizaru successfully occupied the town, then continued south, and soon surrounded another town, Megalo Uno.

The people of this town had no time to escape and had to make desperate resistance. Megalo Uno's resistance was not in vain. They bought a little time for the Athenian soldiers and mercenaries who were defending in the south, especially Jason These mercenaries have rich combat experience. Seeing that the Dionysian army is strong, they have no hope of Athens' plan to defend the enemy outside the country. This made Patroclus' plan of "containing the south and attacking the north. Once the defense line is broken, the army will quickly move south and encircle the enemy on the south line". However, more than 1,000 mercenaries who escaped were captured in the end. .

In the case of the great defeat of Athens' border defense line, Ifikrates led more than 10,000 soldiers along the coastline, and finally entered the city of Athens relatively smoothly.

He ran into the Athens City Hall before he had cleaned the dust, and the nine generals in the room who were in urgent discussions saw him coming, and immediately surrounded him like a nectar in a long drought. The first sentence of the question All: "How many soldiers did you bring back, Ifikrates?"

"16,000 soldiers."

"Why do you have so many troops?" Callistratus looked stunned. He thought: Even if Thessaly's army left, Ifikrates would be able to bring back at least 30,000 to 40,000 troops, because as far as he knew, there were When the Greek coalition was at its peak, it used to be as high as 100,000 people (some city-states in Arcadia and Elis used to have a large number of citizens as assistants to participate in the war because they were very close to the battlefield, but they did not actually have much combat effectiveness).

Ifikrates earnestly gave a brief account of the battle in the Peloponnesus.

After listening to this, everyone was depressed, and some even said involuntarily, "It's over... Athens is over..."

"The Elysians, the Arcadians, the Phokis, the Rokris...they are just stupid! They should understand that it's time for them to be busy going home. Only Dionia, a powerful enemy, can ensure the safety of his city-state!" Someone said angrily.

"Alas... when the danger really comes,

These narrow-minded city-state citizens can only see the danger of their home state, how can they be able to share the enemy and fight against the strong enemy! After all, the Greek alliance is nothing but a hastily formed alliance, destined to not last long! "Callistratus sighed helplessly.

Everyone was silent.

At this time, Ifikrates had the opportunity to ask: "By the way, when I entered the city just now, I saw some rout soldiers shouting and screaming, saying that they were defeated and defeated, which made the city panic. So what happened?!"

With a heavy heart, Callistratus told Ifikrates the news of "the Greek army's disastrous defeat at the border defense".

The Greek veteran, who has always been calm and wise on the battlefield, actually roared angrily after listening to it: "You clearly know that the incoming Dionysian army is numerous and powerful, why do you still want to take our few young soldiers? Aged citizens sent out of the city to die! Who?! Who made this stupid suggestion?!"

Ifikrantes widened his eyes and glared at everyone, some people lowered their heads unconsciously.

Karalisstratus stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "It is our common decision, but it is also the request of the people! When Thessaly's remnant army fled into Athens, we know that the Dionysian army in the north It will be attacked soon, and Kabrias has made a suggestion, 'Hurry up and inform the people in the Attica area to avoid the city, rely on the city wall to defend against the attack of the Dionysian army, wait for your army to return, and then counterattack ...'

We all agreed with this decision at the time, but..." A trace of shame flashed in Callistratus' eyes: "But in the citizens' assembly that followed, most of the citizens disagreed, and they refused to abandon themselves without resistance. Let the Dionians ravage and trample... You know, during the Peloponnesian War, the entire Attica region, except Athens, was almost destroyed by the Spartan coalition, and the citizens didn't want to Let this tragedy happen again...

That's why we made such a plan to set up a defense line on the western border, to block the Dionysian army for a while, and then find an opportunity to fight back after you return with your army... Who knew that the Dionysian army would come so quickly, The attack was so fierce... alas..."

After Callistratus finished speaking, the other generals couldn't help shaking their heads and sighing.

Ifikrates looked at them who were dodging their eyes, he knew in his heart that what Callistratus said was not completely true, but it was pointless to care about these at this moment. He let out a few breaths to calm his mood. Pingfu, and then asked: "What about now? What are your plans now?!"

Callistratus said in a deep voice: "While the Dionysian army is still far from the city of Athens, we have sent people to notify the various villages and towns in Attica to let the people take refuge in the city immediately! We have decided to rely on the city wall first. Defend Dionia's attack, and wait for you to lead your army back to find an opportunity to counterattack, but I didn't expect...the troops you brought back would be so small..."

Seeing the unconcealed disappointment on Callistratus' face, Ifikrates said with an unprecedented awe: "Judging from the fact that I have fought against the Dionysian army during this period, it is indeed as rumored. As mentioned in the book, the Dionysian army is very strong and has a large number of soldiers. In addition to the Dionysian army that has entered Attica, there are tens of thousands of Dionysian troops under the city of Corinth. In my judgment, Corinth may soon fall, and when the two armies meet... We alone cannot defeat such a powerful Dionysus, unless Persia sends troops to support--"

"Don't have expectations for Persia!" a general shouted angrily: "The Persians deceived us, they would not give us any support at all, the Persian messenger ran away!"

Ifikrates was startled, he hurriedly looked at Callistratus.

The chief general nodded painfully: "The King of Persia has already led the army to attack Egypt, and he has no spare energy to take care of us... We have been fooled..."

Ifikrates slumped down on the wooden chair, he had served as the commander in the last war that Persia launched against Egypt, and he knew very well that when Persia launched a war against Egypt, he would definitely do his best, and it would not be a short time. It will be over in a few months.

At this time, Agulrios of the old Ermician said loudly: "During the Peloponnesian War, the citizens of Athens relied on the defense of the city wall and stood for decades, and they were not broken by the Spartan coalition. We today It can also be done! The number of Dionysian troops is indeed huge, but because of their huge size, they will consume a lot of materials. Can the Dionysian people support such a huge consumption for a long time?!"

His words lifted the spirits of some people, and Kabrias, who had been in charge of the navy, finally couldn't help but reminded: "The reason why we were not afraid of the siege of the Spartan coalition back then was because we controlled the sea and the people urgently needed it. The supplies can be transported in by merchant ships at any time, but the Spartan army has nothing to do with it. But it is different now. Dionia is not only powerful in the army, but also in the navy. Intercepting incoming and outgoing merchant ships has had a great impact on our maritime trade!

Our warships attacked many times, and both sides suffered casualties, but our warships were too few, and we could not build new ships without obtaining ship wood from the outside world (there are few forests in Attica), and we would only fight more and more. The less, until the Dionysian fleet completely blocks our ports, where will we get enough food to meet the needs of the entire Athenian people! "

Agul Rios was at a loss for words, just when he saw someone hurried in, he quickly asked with a straight face, "What's the matter?"

"General Agulrios, all generals, the Dionysian army has landed in Aegina, please send troops to rescue!"

"What?! Aegina was attacked!" The generals were shocked, and Cabrias asked anxiously, "When did this happen?!"

"According to the person who reported the letter from Aegina...about...about two hours ago, the Dionian fleet suddenly blocked the port of Aegina, and there were tens of thousands of Dionian soldiers on the island of Aegina. We landed on the beach in the southwest corner and launched an attack on the city of Aegina... The garrison on the island has never seen our reinforcements, and the situation is very critical, so we had to send the warship stationed in the port to venture out of the port. I broke through the blockade of the Dionysian fleet and came to report the news—"

"Where's our patrol ship? Why didn't we find the report in time?!" Callistratus asked angrily.

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