Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1214: A Human Tragedy

Polydorus did not know that after he issued the order, Polyphron, riding in the vanguard, had turned livid. He had yanked a handful of mane from his warhorse so viciously that the beast neighed in endless pain.

Late that night, the Thessalian Army returned to their camp outside Pherae. The exhausted soldiers quickly fell asleep.

Troubled by the tense situation, however, Polydorus tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Suddenly, he heard several loud thumps outside his door. Sitting up instinctively, he called out to the guard stationed outside, "Philoxus! What is happening out there?"

No one answered. Instead, heavy footsteps thudded closer, and a tall figure suddenly loomed before him. It was Polyphron. His face was twisted into a savage scowl, and he held a short sword that glinted coldly in the dark.

Startled, Polydorus cried out, "Third Brother, what are you—"

Eyes wide, Polyphron swung his short sword with swift, brutal force, ripping a bloody gash across Polydorus's face. Blinding pain and a spray of blood choked off the older brother's shout, sending him tumbling backward onto his bed.

Without a second of hesitation, Polyphron plunged the blade into his brother's chest over and over. Blood splattered across his face. Only when Polydorus finally stopped struggling did he stand up. Glaring down at his brother's corpse in the pooling blood, he muttered viciously, "Coward. You should have died a long time ago! Now I will show Jason that I am the only one who can save Thessaly!"

...

The Ten Generals of Athens quickly convened an emergency meeting.

"Gentlemen, I just received news from the Oropians," Callistratus said with a grave expression. "Their sailors spotted a massive number of Daonian Warships and troopships entering the Maliac Gulf and the Pagasetic Gulf, where they have lingered for a long time..."

The other eight generals were shocked. One of them exclaimed, "The Theonians are going to land in Thessaly!"

Another voiced his concern: "It is not just Thessaly. If the Theonians successfully land in the Maliac Gulf, they can easily capture Heraclea and Thermopylae. From there, they can push south and attack the city-states of Phocis..."

"Athens has been on guard against a potential landing by the Theonians since the war began, and Thessaly should be prepared as well. The Daionian Army might not succeed," another general said uncertainly.

"The key is how many troops the Theonians have sent," Chabrias said. "Did the Oropians mention roughly how many Daionian troopships there are?"

"I asked," Callistratus replied. "They could not give an exact number, but they were absolutely certain of one thing: the Daonian Warships and troopships they saw definitely numbered over a thousand."

"A thousand ships..." Chabrias calculated. "If we estimate Daionia's entire Fleet at a thousand vessels, even if troopships only make up half of that, it means around 25,000 soldiers. But we all know that in a mixed Fleet of warships and transport ships, warships usually only account for a quarter of the total Fleet, or even less. Factoring out the supply ships, I estimate the landing Daionian Army has at least 30,000 men..."

"Thirty thousand..." The other generals exchanged uneasy glances. Clinging to a sliver of hope, one said, "Reports say the Daionian Army defending against our Greek expeditionary army in the Peloponnese has over 30,000 men. Could they have transported their main forces from the defenses in Messenia and Sparta to the north?"

"Unlikely!" Chabrias said firmly. "If the Theonians pulled their troops out of the Peloponnese, their remaining soldiers would absolutely not be enough to hold off the Greek expeditionary army. Once we retake Messenia and Sparta, it would cut off the retreat for this army that just landed in the north. I doubt the Theonians would make such a massive blunder!

"Furthermore, a few years ago when Daionia went to war with Carthage, they mobilized an army of 100,000. It is highly likely that this landing force in the north is a fresh army deployed straight from their homeland..."

"The news of Daionia deploying 100,000 soldiers against Carthage is just a rumor. We cannot confirm it is true. Who knows if Daionia intentionally exaggerated the numbers to intimidate neighboring factions," the general argued stubbornly. "Even if it were true, that was a war fought on their home soil. Now they are transporting tens of thousands of soldiers to land in Thessaly, hundreds of li away. As a naval commander all these years, you should know exactly how staggering the supplies and costs for that would be. I do not believe Daionia has the strength to mobilize another army from their own territory!"

Chabrias looked at him seriously. "During the Peloponnesian War, Athens sent an expeditionary force of 40,000 to Syracuse. The territory controlled by the Kingdom of Daunia right now is far larger than what we had back then. Of course they can do it."

The general sneered. "The Kingdom of Daunia's territory is indeed larger than Athens, but most of it is barbaric, barren land. How could they possibly compare to the wealth Athens had back then? We controlled the trade of the entire Aegean Sea!"

"Enough arguing!" Callistratus urged with a stern expression. "Whether this Daionian Army landing in Thessaly was diverted from the Peloponnese or shipped fresh from the Kingdom of Daunia, the problem now is that Thessaly's internal defenses must be incredibly hollow. They will struggle to hold off such a massive force. The question is, what should we do about it?"

"Send men immediately to inform the city-states of Phocis and Locris that the Theonians have landed in Thessaly. Tell them to bolster their city defenses and send scouts out as soon as possible to track the Daionian Army's movements within Thessaly," Chabrias said calmly. "At the same time, we must dispatch riders to the Peloponnese to deliver the news to Jason. He will undoubtedly march his army back to Thessaly to crush the Daionian Army and eliminate this northern threat. If necessary, we should also send troops to reinforce him."

"Chabrias, I can only agree with half of your proposal." A slow, measured voice drifted from the corner. The speaker was a white-haired elder who had been resting with his eyes closed, but the moment he spoke, all eyes turned to him.

His name was Agyrrhius, an Athenian aristocrat and former leader of the democratic faction. Elected as an Athenian general multiple times, he had worked alongside Thrasybulus to lead Athens out of the shadow of its defeat by Sparta and begin the restoration of its former strength. Adhering to the principle of "the city-state's interests above all," he had directly facilitated the creation of the theater subsidy system, earning him the great love of the Athenian populace. However, he had stopped participating in the general elections in recent years. His old age was only part of the reason; more importantly, he was Callistratus's father, and he wanted to step aside for his son, who had already gained renown and harbored greater ambitions.

Two months ago, a general from the democratic faction had fallen severely ill and become unable to carry out his duties. He had recommended Agyrrhius to take his place, and the ecclesia had astonishingly passed this somewhat absurd resolution. The likely reason was that Callistratus had successfully signed a treaty with Sparta, elbowing out Thebes and securing immense benefits for Athens, which earned him massive prestige. Furthermore, facing the invasion of the Daionian Army, the decline of Sparta, the rise of Thebes, and the naked ambition of Thessaly—a massive upheaval in the landscape of the Greek Mainland—having Agyrrhius, a veteran of the Peloponnesian War and the Corinthian War, serving among the Ten Generals of Athens was sure to put the Greek citizens at ease. Thus came the unprecedented anecdote of a father and son serving simultaneously as Athenian generals, something that had never happened since Athens adopted its democratic system.

"Currently, the Greek expeditionary army is launching a massive offensive against the Theonian-occupied regions of Messenia and Sparta. We hold absolute superiority. In perhaps a few days or a dozen more, we can break through the Theonians' defenses and drive them entirely out of the Peloponnese... If we inform that tagus right now that Thessaly is under attack by the Daionian Army, he will immediately march his troops back to Thessaly. It would be at least two or three months before they could rejoin the Greek expeditionary army..."

Agyrrhius swept his profound gaze across the room before finally resting it on his son. "He might not even lead his main forces back south at all, just to prevent Thessaly from being attacked again! According to Iphicrates's reports, the Thessalian Army not only accounts for half of the Greek expeditionary army, but they are also incredibly formidable in combat, serving as our main attacking force against the Daionian Army. Once the Thessalian Army leaves, our coalition's fighting strength will plummet. It will shake the confidence of the other Greek city-states' armies. When that happens, the Greek expeditionary army will not only lose its advantage, but might even suffer defeat!"

Callistratus's heart skipped a beat. "Father, do you mean... we should hold this news back from Jason for now? But if we do, Thessaly will be in grave danger. If Daionia conquers Thessaly, they can threaten Central Greece from the north, and perhaps even our sub-state of Amphipolis north of Macedonia... In the long run, the losses would outweigh the gains!"

Agyrrhius did not answer immediately. His cloudy eyes stared ahead, carrying a hint of reminiscence as he spoke at an unhurried pace. "You all know that I am a survivor of the Battle of Amphipolis (a crucial battle during the Peloponnesian War where Athens was defeated, leading to the severing of their grain supply route from the Euxine Sea to Athens). But what you do not know is that before that battle, I spent some time in Thessaly and came to understand the region quite well...

"The land there is flat and vast, and the population is dense. The city-states warred with each other for years, and the surrounding mountains are filled with fierce, combative native tribes who constantly clash with the Thessalians... It actually astounded me that Jason was finally able to unite them. A unified Thessaly is our main force against Daionia, but it is also a threat to Athens. I believe Jason has already fully demonstrated his ambitions!

"I do not believe that Daionia, as a foreign invader, can fully conquer Thessaly and its surrounding territories with a mere 30,000 soldiers. What is far more likely is that they will ignite the fury of the xenophobic Thessalians, much like when Sparta invaded Boeotia, and find themselves hopelessly bogged down in a quagmire of war. And a Thessaly plunged back into chaos will no longer pose a threat to Athens..."