Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1194: Thessaly Joins the War

Acidamas thought for a moment before speaking. "Ever since Daionia invaded Messenia, I have taken the time to investigate their exact situation. I discovered that this kingdom has effectively taken control of every coastal faction in the western Mediterranean. They are its undisputed hegemon! In their last two wars, they deployed armies of a hundred thousand men and fleets of six or seven hundred Warships, sustaining their offensives for over half a year. Their strength is absolutely staggering!"

"Furthermore, Daionia grew from a minor city-state twenty years ago into its current kingdom through continuous war and annexation. There is no way they came to Greece to fight Sparta merely to help Thebes. Their ultimate goal must be the entirety of Greece!"

"My advice is this... either you send envoys to Thurii and try to forge an alliance with Daionia to preserve Thessaly's independence, or you summon the Athenian envoys currently staying in the city and join the Greek League. That way, we can pool the strength of all of Greece to repel the Theonians!"

Acidamas's expression turned grave. "I favor the first option. I do not believe a hastily cobbled-together alliance can defeat a kingdom that has forged its strength through constant warfare."

"Acidamas, you are cautious as always," Jason said loudly, standing up abruptly. "I choose your second option! You are right; Daionia intends to conquer all of Greece. It is impossible for us to stay out of this and preserve our strength. The flames of war will eventually burn Thessaly's lands. We might as well seize this opportunity to rally the full might of Greece and wage an all-out war against Daionia!"

"Think back to the Greco-Persian Wars. Only half of the Greek city-states united, yet they still managed to repel Persia. This time, we have Thessaly joining the fray, and Daionia is not as powerful as Persia. How could we possibly fail to defeat them?! We will unite with the southern city-states first. Once we completely crush Daionia, we can then vie with Athens and Thebes for dominance over Greece. What do you think?!"

Acidamas looked at the visibly excited Jason. He was not surprised by the choice. Given what he knew of the tagus, the ever-ambitious Jason was hardly the type to swallow his pride and retreat. Still, he had to offer a warning. "If we form the Allied Forces, we have to establish a clear hierarchy, just as Sparta served as the leader during the Greco-Persian Wars—"

"Thessaly will be the leader, of course! We will command the Allied Forces!" Jason declared categorically, making no effort to hide his ambition. "Sparta has already fallen from grace. Athens's army is weak. Though Thebes won their pitched battle against Sparta, they lack the manpower..." He still did not know that Thebes had chosen to remain neutral. "...Thessaly alone can field an army of over forty thousand elite men. Our fleet boasts over a hundred Warships, surpassing even Athens. With our formidable military strength, if we are not the leaders of this alliance, who would dare take the mantle?!"

Becoming the leader of the Greek League might only be a temporary position, but winning this war would drastically elevate Thessaly's status among the Greek city-states. It would give the Thessalian people a genuine source of pride. For years, Athenians and Spartans had dismissed them as barbarians. Thus, Jason was not the only one harboring this ambition; Acidamas was more than happy to see it realized.

"Acidamas, you and I are on the exact same page!" Jason clapped his hands and laughed, brimming with absolute confidence. "I will go rally my army right now. This afternoon, take the Athenian envoy to the military camp outside the city."

...

On the second day following the Battle of Tegea, Crotokatax led his army to rest and reorganize near the Sanctuary of Heracles, located southeast of the City of Tegea—the former camp of the Spartan Coalition. At the same time, he dispatched five thousand soldiers to escort over ten thousand prisoners back to Messenia. Most of these captives were residents of the City of Tegea. They would eventually be transported to Thurii to either become state slaves destined for the mines or be sold at public auction. Slaves from the Greek Mainland were highly sought after in the Thurii slave markets. For one, they were generally well-educated, quick to learn, and easy to communicate with. Furthermore, owning them satisfied the vanity of Daionian Greek citizens—allowing the former colonists to flaunt their dominance over their motherland.

As a result, the City of Tegea was practically reduced to a ghost town, temporarily garrisoned by a mere thousand Daionian soldiers.

Additionally, at Tagetinos's request, three thousand men from the nearly unscathed Seventh Legion marched south at the crack of dawn. They moved to blockade the border between Tegea and Sparta to intercept any routed Spartan troops.

By the afternoon, the two thousand soldiers and an envoy delegation sent by Mantineia finally arrived at the Amendolara military camp. They eagerly informed Crotokatax that Mantineia was willing to accept his proposal to take control of Tegea.

Simultaneously, they hoped to establish a secret pact with Daionia to forge an even closer alliance, pledging their full support for any Daionian military operations on the Greek Mainland.

The Mantineians were no fools. While they coveted the lands of Tegea, they knew their own strength was lacking. Seizing the territory would inevitably draw the ire, ostracization, and perhaps even open warfare from other Greek city-states. Daionia, however, had an excellent track record of honoring its alliances. If Mantineia wanted to permanently annex this land, they had to cling tightly to Daionia.

Therefore, out of the two thousand Mantineian soldiers, five hundred were assigned to garrison the City of Tegea. The remaining fifteen hundred would submit to the command of the Daionian Army and participate in subsequent military operations as a show of Mantineia's sincerity.

Crotokatax had achieved his objective. He gladly negotiated with the Mantineian envoys, and the two parties quickly signed a secret military alliance exclusive to Daionia and Mantineia, completely excluding the Arcadian League.

...

Meanwhile, the King of Sparta, Agesilaus, was still leading the remnants of his army on a grueling trek through the mountains.

Before the battle, Agesilaus had mentally prepared for the possibility of defeat and devised two contingency plans.

The first plan assumed that the Daionian Army would act like the Thebans and withdraw their forces upon securing victory. If they did, he could retreat to his camp, briefly regroup, and then lead a detachment—primarily consisting of Spartan Warriors—on a stealthy night march south, back to their territory.

The second plan accounted for the Daionian Army pressing their advantage and driving the routed Spartans into the mountains. Judging from Daionia's past military record, this was highly probable. Thus, he had secretly instructed the Spartan Warriors who were familiar with the terrain to rally at the Pelasgus Forest if this scenario unfolded, before making their way home.

However, he never could have anticipated what actually happened. After winning the pitched battle and driving the routed army into the mountains, the Daionian Army split off a contingent to hunt them relentlessly. These Daionian soldiers—who were actually the Mountain Scout Corps—sprinted through the rugged terrain as if walking on flat ground. They were masters of stealth and ambush, forcing the already demoralized Spartan survivors to scatter across the mountains. Even Agesilaus himself nearly fell into their hands; had the soldiers of the Royal Guard not fought desperately to save him, he would have been captured.

Night fell shortly after. It was almost impossible to navigate the mountains in the dark, and they had to stay vigilant against wild beasts. As a result, it was not until noon of the second day that the routed Spartans finally began trickling into the vicinity of the Pelasgus Forest.

By the afternoon, fewer than a thousand men had rallied, and the majority of them were perioikoi. After all, the Spartan Warriors had fought on the front lines during the battle. When their entire right wing was subsequently caught in a pincer movement by the Daionian reserves, the semi-encircled Spartan Warriors naturally found it far more difficult to break out and escape.

More importantly, Agesilaus had not yet seen his son, Archidamus. Unspeakable worry gnawed at his heart, but he knew they could not afford to wait any longer. If they stayed, his starving soldiers would perish in the mountains long before they ever reached home.

He resolutely issued the order to march out. Refusing the support of his guards, he leaned heavily on his cane and hobbled at the very front of the column.

Spurred on by his example, the exhausted, starving soldiers could only grit their teeth and follow closely behind.

Because they had failed to retreat swiftly the previous night, marching near the Plain of Tegea in broad daylight was completely out of the question in their current state. If Daionian scouting cavalry spotted them, it would be a massacre. Consequently, they had no choice but to trudge through the deep mountains, which meant their journey home would be drastically prolonged...

...

On the third day, an impatient Crotokatax left two thousand soldiers behind to guard the camp, where over two thousand wounded men were also resting and recuperating. Rallying fifteen thousand Daionian soldiers and fifteen hundred Mantineian troops, he marched south.

Not long after leaving the camp, they ran into a messenger sent by Tagetinos.

What?! The 1st Fleet had already occupied Sparta?! ...Crotokatax read the battle report, which bore Secilian's personal signature, over and over again. Shock was plastered all over his face.

As it turned out, when Tagetinos led his three thousand men to the Spartan border the previous day, they had not caught many routed troops. Later, yielding to the repeated pleas of his legionnaires—who were eager to earn military merits—he finally decided to send two companies into Spartan territory to scout out the situation.

The land between Tegea and the City of Sparta was an endless stretch of mountains. The most accessible route was a narrow passage naturally carved by the Eurotas River Valley. Ever since the Daionian Army captured Messenia, Sparta had felt profoundly threatened. On Agesilaus's proposal, the Spartans not only focused all their efforts on constructing coastal defenses to the south, but they had also built small fortified camps at strategic choke points along the northern Eurotas River Valley and two other critical mountain passes.