Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1222: The Plight of the Greek Expeditionary Army

Epaminondas's words had come true. If Athens dispatching several thousand soldiers to Phocis instead of reinforcing the Greek expeditionary army in the Peloponnese had merely sparked suspicion among the Thebans, then the Thessalian Army's actions a few days later completely confirmed it. Abandoning the Greek expeditionary army, they hurriedly landed at Port Creusis and marched north with desperate haste. This proved that the news they had heard from the Phocians was true: Daionia had dispatched an army to land in Thessaly!

This completely caught Epaminondas off guard. He had assumed Daionia would focus on exhausting the Greek expeditionary army through a war of attrition before reinforcing the Peloponnese to turn the tide. He never imagined they would send a massive Fleet all the way around the Greek Mainland, bypassing the main battlefield entirely to land tens of thousands of troops in Thessaly. It was a brilliantly executed military maneuver, driven by breathtaking audacity!

When the news reached him, Epaminondas slammed his hand on the table in sheer admiration, his mind racing. Yet he understood the reality perfectly: devising and executing such an extraordinary military plan required the backing of immense national wealth and military might—a foundation the Boeotian League, under Thebes's leadership, simply did not possess.

Even with the Daionian Army launching a surprise attack on Thessaly, the Theban leadership hesitated to declare that Daionia now held an absolute advantage. The Thessaly Region was vast and heavily populated, making it difficult to conquer outright. Moreover, Jason was already marching his forces back north. A single misstep by the Daionian landing forces could spell their doom.

The Theban leadership's concern for the Daionian landing forces did not last long. Jason's army suffered a crushing defeat in the north, fleeing back into Athens in a miserable retreat.

Daionia had landed an army of one hundred thousand men and conquered Thessaly in just over half a month. The Thessalian Army had collapsed without a fight, and Jason himself had suffered severe injuries. The intelligence gathered from the fleeing mercenaries left every high-ranking official in Thebes utterly stunned. Epaminondas was no exception. Once again, he found himself marveling at the King of Daonia's audacity and the staggering depth of Daionia's power.

By now, the reality of the situation had dawned on every leader in Thebes: the Daionian landing forces would soon march south, sealing the fate of the Greek expeditionary army. Faced with this inevitable outcome, Thebes could no longer remain neutral. They needed to make a decision quickly to ensure the safety of the Boeotian League and win benefits for Thebes before the war ended.

Therefore, by the time the First Cavalry Legion arrived outside the walls of Thebes, the Theban Council had already passed a resolution. They unhesitatingly agreed to every demand made by the Daionian Army. First, they granted the Daionian Army safe passage through the Boeotia Region, allowing them to camp anywhere within its borders. Second, they agreed to an emergency loan of military provisions. (Patroclus had marched his men into Central Greece with only five days' worth of rations, and their rapid southern advance had temporarily outpaced their supply lines.) Third, they opened the port of Delium to the Daionian Fleet. Delium, a city-state on the northeastern coast of the Boeotia Region, was one of the few port towns within the Boeotian League and sat just a short distance from Oropus, which had defected to Athens. Once it opened to Daionia, transport ships sailing from Pherae could cut straight through the maritime route between Euboea and Central Greece to unload their cargo at Delium, making the Daionian Army's food supply incredibly convenient.

Thebes even took it a step further, offering to immediately reclaim Port Creusis from the Greek League and hand it over for Daionia to use completely free of charge. Furthermore, Thebes declared its readiness to honor its military alliance treaty with Daionia, offering to dispatch its own troops to fight alongside the Daionian Army.

And so, on their fourth day in Central Greece, the forty thousand troops of the Daionian Army linked up with five thousand hastily assembled Theban soldiers just outside Thebes.

...

The news that the Daionian landing forces were marching south did not actually reach Athens first through Jason's fleeing mercenaries. Ever since learning of the Daionian Army's landing in Thessaly, Athens had taken precautions, ordering several merchant vessels to sail around the Maliac Gulf every day to scout the enemy's movements.

Why focus solely on the Maliac Gulf? The Pagasetic Gulf, which belonged exclusively to Thessaly, was far too enclosed, making it easy for patrolling Daonian Warships to spot any scouting vessels. The Maliac Gulf, on the other hand, was bustling with numerous ships—mostly from Euboea, the Phocian City-State, Locris, and Lamia. (After Lamia submitted to Daionia, the Daionian Army allowed it to reopen its port.) Athenian merchant vessels could easily blend in among them to remain hidden.

After Patroclus marched his troops into the Lamia territory, the Athenian scout ships quickly discovered the movement and relayed the intelligence back to the Executive Committee of Generals. Callistratus and the other officials convened to analyze the situation. Although Jason and his Thessalian Army were still striving to break through the defensive line at Thermopylae, the Theonians were already pouring reinforcements into the Lamia territory. Did this mean they had already conquered Thessaly? Even though it seemed highly unlikely, Athens had to make preparations just in case.

The Executive Committee of Generals quickly dispatched a messenger to the Peloponnese, preparing to inform Iphicrates to pull his army back to defend Attica as soon as possible.

Athens set this plan into motion two days before the Daionian landing forces even entered Central Greece.

Following the departure of the Thessalian Army, the Greek expeditionary army stayed in the Lepreon Camp for the first few days. Even when the Daionian Army—specifically the First Legion—stormed into the Arcadia Region to break the siege on Mantineia, and then pushed north to threaten Corinth, Iphicrates remained unmoved. He spent his time entirely within the camp, busy pacifying the generals of the various city-states and stabilizing the army's morale.

It was only when he felt the situation had somewhat improved that he finally led his troops to approach the Davos Camp along the northern border of Messenia. However, he restricted his forces to mere probing attacks, avoiding any more bloody clashes.

Iphicrates understood clearly: without the Thessalian Army, the Greek expeditionary army no longer held the advantage. Since the Theonians were entirely focused on defense, continuing to fight here had little meaning and only wasted military rations. Yet he could neither stop fighting nor lead the army away. Doing so would mean admitting defeat, which would likely prompt disgruntled generals from other city-states to lead their troops away. The entire Greek expeditionary army would face dissolution. Once disbanded, reassembling them would undoubtedly be much more difficult—especially with the Daionian Army glaring at them like a tiger watching its prey.

Through the battles during this period, Iphicrates had realized that Daionia was an incredibly formidable adversary. Worse yet, this powerful foe had been constantly on the defensive and had not yet unleashed its full strength. He felt deeply unsettled, but now he was riding a tiger and found it hard to dismount; he had to do his best to maintain the unity of the Greek expeditionary army. On one hand, he hoped Jason would successfully drive out the Daionian landing forces and quickly rush back to the Peloponnese to rendezvous with the allied forces. On the other hand, he hoped the massive aid promised by Persia would arrive as soon as possible to bolster the Greek expeditionary army's strength. Of course, a vague thought also lingered in his mind: to negotiate peace with Daionia while the Greek expeditionary army still held the advantage.

However, Athens had finally walked out of the shadow of its defeat in the Peloponnese, and its national strength was gradually recovering. With Sparta in decline, numerous Greek city-states—including those in the Peloponnese—had joined the Greek League led by Athens. Athens had ushered in the perfect time to reclaim its position as the hegemon of Greece. If they negotiated peace with Daionia now, given Daionia's dominance, Athens would inevitably sacrifice some of its interests. This would not only provoke the dissatisfaction of other Greek city-states and cause the Greek League to fracture, but also trigger protests from the citizens. Therefore, Iphicrates could only keep this thought to himself.

Just as he was striving to keep the Greek expeditionary army intact, the news from Athens arrived, instantly magnifying his unease. Unlike Callistratus and those in the rear, Iphicrates, being on the battlefield, possessed a far sharper intuition regarding the war: although it was unlikely that the Daionian Army had conquered Thessaly in such a short time, what if they dared to funnel reinforcements into Lamia precisely because they had? Then Jason's army would be in danger of a swift collapse! Without his forces blocking the north, the Daionian landing army would rapidly march south, placing Athens in mortal peril!

Furthermore, the Athenian messenger who arrived at the camp delivered another piece of news: while crossing the Isthmus, he had spotted Daonian Warships appearing in the Gulf of Corinth.

Iphicrates felt another jolt of shock. Ever since the Daionian Army had invaded the Peloponnese, they had not sent a single warship into the Gulf of Corinth. That was exactly why Iphicrates had dared to advise Jason to take a naval route back north. Now it seemed the Theonians were highly likely hoping Jason would hurry his forces back. This was a conspiracy!

A cold sweat broke out over Iphicrates at the thought. He immediately dispatched his subordinates to relay an order to the Greek expeditionary army: assemble the entire army and retreat to Corinth!

The moment this command was issued, it immediately drew questions from numerous generals of the Greek city-states.

Regardless of who asked, Iphicrates gave the exact same answer: Jason's Thessalian Army was facing a disadvantageous battle in Lamia, and Daionia's northern landing force was very likely to march south. The Greek expeditionary army needed to fall back to defend the Isthmus to ensure the safety of Central Greece.

Iphicrates's reasoning was perfectly sound, but many city-state generals did not see it that way. They repeatedly tried to persuade him otherwise. When Iphicrates remained resolute, the commanding general from Elis furiously declared that they would part ways. After all, if the main army retreated to Corinth in the Northeastern Peloponnese, they would be far away from Elis in the northwest, separated by rolling mountain ranges. Right now, the main force of the Daionian Army in the south was massed along the northern border of Messenia, very close to the Region of Elis. If Daionia decided to attack Elis, the Greek expeditionary army all the way in Corinth would be unable to rescue them in time.

It was not just the general from Elis; the generals from the various city-states of the Arcadian League expressed a similar intent, albeit in more tactful language. After all, the Arcadia Region also bordered Messenia and Laconia, which were controlled by Daionia. If the Greek expeditionary army left and Daionia launched a counterattack, the city-states of the Arcadian League would be the first to suffer. Furthermore, the Arcadian League had previously broken their alliance treaty; Daionia would undoubtedly seek retaliation.