Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1219: Jason Returns

According to Greek tradition, the defeated party in a battle could send men to sweep the battlefield and recover their fallen comrades for a proper burial. Daionia rarely honored this custom. They were almost always the victors, and to maximize their gains, they excelled at relentless pursuit; their routed enemies were too busy fleeing for their lives to think about anything else. Only recently, while the Daionian Army defended against the Greek expeditionary army's offensive, had this Greek military tradition been properly observed.

Tens of thousands of physically and mentally exhausted soldiers of the Greek expeditionary army began a slow retreat back to Lepreon Camp.

Lepreon sat less than twenty li from Messenia's northern border. Originally a small town in the southern Region of Elis, it had been seized by Sparta, but Elis righteously reclaimed it after joining the Greek League. During the offensive into Laconia, the Greek expeditionary army had suffered frequent raids by Daionian soldiers while encamped. Having learned his lesson, Iphicrates stationed the main army at Lepreon—farther from the battlefield—when they shifted their offensive toward Messenia, primarily for safety.

On the march back to camp, various commanding generals from the other city-states sought out Iphicrates to complain. They griped that their soldiers had suffered heavy casualties in the day's battle, and their underlying message was unanimous: they were unwilling to fight another brutal siege.

In truth, ever since taking a beating in northern Laconia, the city-state armies had been wary of assaulting Daionian defensive camps. Had they not captured a Davos Camp recently to restore their confidence, and had Iphicrates not led by example today by throwing the bulk of the Athenian army into battle first with a general offensive order, the other city-state armies would not have fought so hard.

But reality proved that their minor victory a few days prior was merely an illusion. The Daionian defenses had not weakened; they had grown stronger. Although the Greek expeditionary army's siege capabilities had improved—having absorbed plenty of experience while constantly assaulting the Davos Camps—they still were not enough to breach the Daionian Army's complex camp defense system.

To these generals' veiled complaints, Iphicrates offered the exact same reply: the Allied Forces would no longer launch direct assaults on the Daionian defensive camps!

Iphicrates's definitive answer surprised the generals, but the Allied Forces commander offered not another word.

Returning to his command tent at Lepreon Camp, Iphicrates had barely stripped off his armor when a guard came in to report, "General, General Jason requests an audience."

Jason strode into the tent and cut right to the chase before Iphicrates could even open his mouth. "I hear you've announced we are abandoning the assault on the Davos Camp in Messenia. Is this true?!"

Looking at Jason's accusatory posture, Iphicrates replied calmly, "General Jason, I was just about to send for you. I didn't expect you to arrive first. Yes, I did say that, but—"

"It is a foolish decision!" Jason stared straight at him, his tone unyielding. "We cannot abandon the offensive simply because our losses were heavy today. We suffered heavy casualties, but the Daionians didn't fare much better. Before you withdrew the troops, my soldiers had already scaled the wooden walls several times. Though the enemy ultimately drove us back down, it proves our attacks are effective! As long as we maintain this level of pressure for the next few days, we will definitely shatter the Daionian defensive line!"

At this, Jason's expression flashed with ferocity. "Don't listen to the excuses of those city-state generals. You should keep ordering direct assaults just as you did today! If you truly intend to halt the attacks on the Davos Camp, then my apologies, but I will no longer participate in your war against Daionia. I will lead my army back to Thessaly!"

Faced with Jason's threat, Iphicrates blinked and offered a helpless smile. "Respected General Jason, of course I know that if we continue attacking, we will certainly break the Davos Camp. But my reason for making this decision is not that I fear heavy casualties. It's because—"

Iphicrates paused, then emphasized his words. "I just received news from Athens. Four days ago, the Daunian Navy suddenly blockaded the Saronic Gulf, trapping our Warships in port. However, fishermen on our northern coast still spotted an anomaly: a massive fleet of Daionian ships carrying soldiers bypassed Euboea Island and entered the Maliac Gulf—"

"The Daionians are launching a surprise attack on my Thessaly!" Jason's face instantly changed color. He glared furiously at Iphicrates. "Why didn't you tell me something this important earlier?!"

"In a war of this magnitude, any decision must be made with the utmost caution. After the council in Athens received this news, they did everything possible to verify the truth, even losing several ships in the process. It was only after confirming that the Daionian Army had indeed landed in Thessaly that the Executive Committee of Generals urgently dispatched couriers to ride fast horses here, traveling day and night—"

"How many men are in the Daionian Army that landed in Thessaly?!" Jason demanded urgently, rudely cutting him off.

"According to our estimates, no fewer than thirty thousand."

Without another word, Jason strode out of the military tent with an anxious face.

Iphicrates hastily summoned his Adjutant. "Hurry, send men to notify the generals of the city-states. Tell them... 'Since traces of the Daionian Army have been discovered within Thessaly, the Thessalian Army must rush back to the rescue. Tell them not to panic, and to keep their soldiers under control'..."

The Adjutant also grew anxious upon hearing this and quickly replied, "I'll see to it at once."

"And one more thing—" Iphicrates added, his expression grave. "Go to the Thessalian camp yourself. Tell Jason that I suggest he lead his army straight north through the Region of Elis, and cross the Gulf of Corinth by ship from the ports of Patras or Cape Rhion... Taking this route will save him a considerable amount of time."

With that, he pulled several letters from his robes. "These are letters I wrote in the name of Athens to Elis, Patras, and Cape Rhion, asking them to assist the Thessalians. Give all of these to Jason."

After sending the Adjutant off, Iphicrates also stepped out of his tent. Through the still-thin gloom of the early night, he gazed toward the Thessalian camp. Horses were neighing and men were shouting; the place had completely exploded into an uproar.

In truth, Iphicrates had lied to Jason. The letter from the Ten Generals of Athens had not only ordered him to intensify his attacks against Daionia, but had strictly commanded him to conceal this news from the Thessalians. It was only a separate letter from his close friend Callistratus that tactfully suggested a caveat: he could make the decision that best served the interests of Athens based on the battlefield situation.

During their prolonged standoff and skirmishes with the Daionian Army, Iphicrates had fully realized the Daionian Army's formidable capabilities in defensive warfare. The city-state armies of the Greek League clearly had no experience with such high-intensity siege warfare and dared not sustain heavy casualties. Thus, in all the previous camp assaults, they had shown up but put in little real effort, the Athenian forces included. Upon receiving the orders from Athens, Iphicrates had finally issued a do-or-die command today, launching an all-out assault. But the results were still disappointing. Not only had they failed to break the enemy, but the sharply increased casualties caused the allied generals to back out and left Iphicrates himself horrified.

If they continued launching all-out assaults as Jason suggested, the Greek expeditionary army would probably fracture long before they broke the Daionian defense line, and Iphicrates himself might face impeachment by the Athenian Assembly. Furthermore, even if the Greek expeditionary army paid a heavy price and ultimately defeated the Daionian Army in Messenia, the Kingdom of Daunia would simply dispatch a new army to Greece, just as they had sent another army to land in Thessaly. By then, what would a heavily depleted Greek expeditionary army use to resist their invasion?

Iphicrates had already realized that the war against Daionia could not be ended by the victory of a mere battle or two. To maintain a protracted stand against the powerful Daionian Army, they had to keep the Thessalians on their side. While fighting alongside them, Iphicrates found that the Thessalian Army not only made up half of the Greek expeditionary army's numbers, but its combat effectiveness was also the strongest among the Allied Forces. Their nearly ten thousand mercenaries, in particular, were not only brave in battle but strictly disciplined. And while Jason, the commander of the Thessalian Army, had some friction with Iphicrates over failing to become the commander of the Greek expeditionary army, he treated every battle with intense focus, and his commanding abilities were formidable.

As enemies, the Thessalian Army was undoubtedly terrifying, but as allies against a formidable foe, the Thessalian Army was undoubtedly their greatest asset. This was why Iphicrates decided to defy the orders of the Executive Committee of Generals. After delaying for a day, he personally informed Jason the news that "Thessaly had suffered a sneak attack by the Daionian Army." Even if the Executive Committee of Generals investigated the matter later, he could falsely claim that "Jason received the news from a Thessalian messenger." After all, Athens could not possibly blockade every road leading from Thessaly to the Peloponnese.

However, he still prepared to send a trusted servant hurrying back to Athens to quietly reveal this matter to his good friend Callistratus. He believed that with Callistratus's foresight, he would certainly support him, because all of this was for the sake of Athens!

Just as Iphicrates stood outside his tent lost in thought, his Adjutant rushed back to report: "General, I have handed the letters to Jason. He expresses his gratitude and says that once he drives the Daionian Army out of Thessaly and stabilizes his rear, he will certainly lead his army back to fight alongside the Greek expeditionary army against the Daionians..."