Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1203: Forming the Greek Expeditionary Army

"We have no other choice. Only by uniting the entirety of western Asia Minor will we have the strength to oppose that great king!" Ariobarzanes said in a deep voice. "Stridates is a cautious man. If he dared to propose this on his own initiative, it proves he is confident he can persuade the other satraps and keep the matter secret."

...

After the Daionian Army occupied Spartan territory, the remaining Greek city-states, led by Athens, began actively organizing an allied force to stand against them.

Meanwhile, the Theonian Ministry of Military relayed King Davos's orders to Leotychides, instructing him to expedite the assembly of forces at Lilybaeum. This included four infantry legions: the Eighth Legion, the Fifteenth Legion (stationed in Syracuse, drawing recruits from the Syracuse Region), the Sixteenth Legion (stationed in Agrigento, drawing from the Southern Coastal Region of Sicily), and the Seventeenth Legion (stationed in Lilybaeum, drawing from the Western Sicily Region). Alongside them, he was to gather the Fourth Cavalry Legion and the Numidian Light Cavalry Legion. As soon as the transport fleet arrived, they were to set sail for Egypt immediately.

Simultaneously, a separate order reached Midorades, commanding him to lead the 2nd Fleet and prepare to escort the expeditionary army to Egypt.

Furthermore, King Davos issued a decree to the Phoenician Allied States along the coast of Africa, headed by Carthage. He demanded they immediately assemble a massive transport fleet to ferry the Daionian Army gathering in Lilybaeum to Egypt.

Meanwhile, the Ministry recalled Patroclus—the former Legion Commander of the Fourteenth Legion and current commander of the northern border—back to Thurii from Liguria, where he was still occupied with quelling a rebellion. Hasdrubal was appointed to take over his duties.

The Ministry also issued mobilization orders to military camps across all regions: apart from the legions already deployed on the Peloponnese expedition and those bound for Egypt, every remaining force within the kingdom was to begin assembling. Additionally, a specific demand was made: the Po River Region had to provide 6,000 warriors and 2,000 Gaul cavalrymen.

In addition, the 3rd Fleet, responsible for securing the kingdom's western coast, was redeployed to Brindisi to stand by for further instructions.

However, key officials across the various departments of the Kingdom of Daunia in Thurii were already bustling, preparing for the great war to come.

While Daionia maintained a veneer of peace domestically, the clouds of war had already gathered thickly over the Greek Mainland.

In June, the Thessalian Tagus, Jason, led an imposing force of nearly 40,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry across Thermopylae and marched into Central Greece.

Even though he loudly proclaimed that he had brought his army "to assist the Greeks of the south and drive out the foreign invaders," the people of Central Greece remained tense. Citizens across the various city-states flocked behind their walls, bolted their gates, and heightened their defenses.

Jason stayed true to his word. He did his utmost to keep his troops in check, and though there were isolated incidents of soldiers plundering villages outside the cities, the army's overall discipline remained commendable. This allowed the leadership of the city-states to breathe a massive sigh of relief.

Upon entering the Boeotia Region, Jason dispatched envoys into the city of Thebes to present a request to the Theban Council: the Thessalian Army wished to establish a long-term encampment within Theban territory.

The high-ranking officials of Thebes, led by Pelopidas and Epaminondas, politely deflected the request. They argued that since both Thessaly and Daionia were allies who had provided Thebes with immense aid, the city had no choice but to remain neutral to avoid damaging its friendship with either side. If they agreed to Thessaly's request, they feared Daionia would misunderstand and assume Thebes had joined the Anti-Daonian Alliance. Therefore, they had to refuse.

Jason had only made the request to test the waters with the Thebans, so he felt no anger at their rejection. Instead, he patiently questioned his returning envoys about the specific attitudes and reactions of everyone on the Council, giving him a clear picture of where they stood.

A few days later, the Thessalian Army reached the northwestern border of Attica and constructed a camp near Oropus, a Boeotian city-state closely allied with Athens. This location had been pre-negotiated with the Athenians; the port of Oropus was quite large and lay a short distance across the sea from Pherae, making it convenient for transporting supplies and reinforcements.

The Athenian leadership, headed by Callistratus, warmly welcomed Jason and his Thessalian Army. A day later, they convened a military council of the Greek League in Megara, located on the Isthmus of Corinth, where the generals of the League's member city-states took turns voicing their opinions.

Many generals from the city-states of Central Greece suggested falling back on the same strategy used during the Corinthian War over a decade ago: leveraging the geographic advantage of the Isthmus and amassing heavy forces within the City of Corinth to defend against the Daionian Army's advance. Since the Daionians were attacking across the sea, their supply consumption would be enormous, making a protracted war unfeasible. If they failed to break the defenses, they would eventually be forced to seek a truce.

The generals of the Peloponnesian city-states, spearheaded by Argos and Corinth, voiced strong opposition. They argued that the Daionian Army had already conquered Messenia and Sparta, and with Arcadia becoming their ally, Daionian influence in the Peloponnese had grown formidable. If the allied forces sat back in passive defense instead of taking the initiative, the Daionians would surely pivot to attack the remaining regions of the Peloponnese.

If they allowed Daionia to conquer the entire Peloponnese, it would not only weaken the Greek League, but a Daionian Army freed from rear-guard concerns could throw its full might against Corinth. Whether the city could be held at that point was highly questionable. Currently, the allied forces numbered 80,000 men—far surpassing the Daionian Army. They were more than capable of striking out and defeating the Daionian troops in Sparta.

After both sides had aired their views, Jason spoke up. "Gentlemen, the Greek League was established with a singular purpose: to drive out the invading Daionians and safeguard the freedom and territorial security of the Greek city-states. If we simply hole up and defend Corinth, we are essentially abandoning the entire Peloponnese Peninsula. Not only does this violate the founding principles of our League, but it will also breed resentment among our member states and shatter our unity. Therefore, I propose we stop wasting time. We must immediately march the allied forces into the Peloponnese, swiftly force a pitched battle with the Daionian Army, crush them, and restore freedom to the Spartans!"

Jason placed his hands on his hips and cast a commanding gaze over the assembled generals, his voice booming. "If you disagree with my proposal, or if you intend to endlessly bicker and waste time, then I will lead the Thessalian Army south to face the Daionians in a decisive battle on my own!"

Jason's words were like a boulder hurled into a deep pool. They rippled through the hall, immediately drawing eager responses from the generals of Corinth and Argos. "We citizens of Corinth and Argos will follow the Thessalian Army to attack the Daionians!"

Even though the Thessalian Army made up half of the League's expeditionary forces, Thessaly had lingered on the fringes of traditional Greek power for decades and commanded little respect from the other city-states. Consequently, Jason held little prestige within the League. The backing of these two powerful states, however, instantly sent his reputation soaring.

Thus far, the number of soldiers Athens had dispatched to Corinth was only half that of the Thessalian Army. Yet, with Sparta in decline, the majority of the Greek city-states still preferred to look to Athens for leadership. As a result, the rest of the generals turned their eyes toward someone else: the renowned Athenian general, Iphicrates.

The battle-hardened veteran cast a glance at Jason before sweeping his gaze over the assembly, his tone steady and calm. "I agree that the allied forces should seize the moment, take the initiative, and seek a decisive battle against the Daionian Army. But at the same time, we must set out to accomplish two tasks.

"First, we must immediately send envoys to the Arcadian League to persuade them to join our side and fight Daionia together. Given our current numerical superiority, it is highly likely the Arcadian League will defect to us—after all, the Daionians are outsiders. If we succeed, it will bolster the strength of our allied forces and grant us far greater convenience when operating in the Peloponnese. If they refuse, we can launch a justified assault against them.

"Second, Daionia's ability to defeat Sparta was largely due to their powerful navy, which allowed their fleets to transport troops and land in Messenia right at the start, rapidly occupying the territory. We must be wary of Daionia repeating this trick. If they take advantage of our army fighting in the Peloponnese to launch an amphibious landing in our lightly defended rear—severing our retreat route and threatening our home states—it would be an absolute disaster! Therefore, I recommend that we leave a portion of our troops behind to garrison all the beaches in Central Greece vulnerable to a landing. Port Creusis in the Boeotia Region, in particular, must remain firmly in the hands of the allied forces!"

"But Creusis belongs to the Thebans right now!" someone pointed out.

"When the vast majority of our Greek city-states have banded together to fend off foreign invaders, for a powerful state of Central Greece like Thebes to choose neutrality is simply inexcusable! It is only because this great war is imminent and we wish to avoid unnecessary trouble that we have temporarily tolerated their willful stubbornness." Iphicrates's expression turned stern, his voice hardening. "But their inaction naturally breeds our distrust! Therefore, we must send envoys to Thebes and explicitly tell them that we will be taking temporary control of Creusis, to be returned after the war. If Thebes refuses, then we will treat them as enemies and march against them!"