Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1279: Landing in Asia Minor

Although Mysia was a relatively wealthy region in western Asia Minor—boasting the fertile Great Plain of Arisbe and controlling the maritime trade through the Strait of Hellespont, with ample wealth and resources to raise a powerful army against the invading Daionian Army—Theopompus clearly hadn't unified the region during his year in office. Many towns simply ignored his orders. As a result, four days after the Daionian Army landed, he had managed to gather fewer than six thousand soldiers.

Even though intelligence reports told Theopompus that the landed Daionian forces outnumbered his own, he was a noble from the Persian heartland. Facing the "Greeks" whom his people considered barbarians—Persia and Daionia had officially been enemies for over five years, yet many Persian nobles still disdained to learn about Daionia, merely lumping it in with Greece—he marched his army west without hesitation. A few days later, they approached the Tenth Legion's camp near the coast.

He was quickly surprised to find that the camp the Daionian Army had constructed in just a few days did not look easy to assault. As he hesitated, wondering whether to set up camp first and plan his next move, the fully prepared Tenth Legion poured out of their camp in force.

A minor engagement broke out between the two sides, and the battle was decided in just half an hour.

A forward assault by the Tenth Legion's light infantry battalions disrupted the Persian archers' ranged attacks, preventing them from inflicting any real casualties on the Daionian legionaries. Without heavy infantry, the Persian infantry lines simply could not withstand the Daionian charge. Meanwhile, the Persian cavalry attempting a flanking maneuver on the wings were met with a devastating volley of javelins from two heavy infantry battalions Stiphylos had specifically stationed there. Taking heavy losses, the Persian army completely collapsed in a rout.

After fleeing back to Zeleia, the regional capital of Mysia, Theopompus dared not make another reckless move. He fortified the city's defenses while urgently dispatching messengers to plead for reinforcements.

Ever since Daionia officially declared war on Persia, Daionian intelligence operatives had been spreading a message among the Greek city-states of Asia Minor: the great King Davos would carry out the oracle of Hades, pay Persia back for a century of oppressing the Greeks, liberate their compatriots in Asia Minor from Persian rule, and restore their right to freedom and independence!

Many Greek city-states in Asia Minor were already feeling wronged by the Persians' broken promises. While this rumor excited them, it also brought unease. Years ago, Agesilaus's campaigns in western Asia Minor had plunged these very city-states into years of turmoil and war. Therefore, even after the Daionian Army emerged victorious in this mid-sized battle, these city-states maintained a wait-and-see approach, making no move to reach out to the Daionian forces that had already secured a foothold in Mysia.

Stiphylos had sent envoys to visit Ilion and Abydos, the two city-states closest to his camp on the eastern shore of the Strait of Hellespont, but both cities shut their gates and refused them entry.

Davos's goal had been achieved. He wanted these Asia Minor Greeks to spread the news of this ceremony, broadcasting a message to every Greek city-state in western Asia Minor: Daionia treated the Greek city-states on both the eastern and western shores of the Aegean Sea as equals.

But why hold the sacrifice near Ilion? Because, according to ancient legend, Ilion was built directly upon the ruins of Troy.

...

The messengers from Mysia finally reached Babylon. Upon hearing that the vanguard of the Greek expeditionary army had landed in Asia Minor, Artaxerxes immediately grew tense.

At the same time, the messengers' reports that local Mysian forces were not actively responding to the call to arms—raising suspicions of rebellion—also commanded his attention. Tiribazus offered a suggestion: appoint Pharnabazus, the son-in-law of the King of Persia and former governor of Phrygia, as the temporary military commander of western Asia Minor. With his former prestige, he might be able to integrate the region's military forces and repel the invading Greek expeditionary army.

The King of Persia hesitated for several days. When news arrived that Theopompus had been defeated in battle, he finally issued his decree: ordering Pharnabazus—whom he had gone to great lengths to transfer to a post in Babylon over a decade ago—to head to western Asia Minor.

Upon learning of the crisis facing western Asia Minor, the veteran Pharnabazus, now over sixty, traveled day and night to reach the region. At the same time, acting in his capacity as military commander of western Asia Minor, he dispatched messengers, ordering all regional governors in the west to marshal their troops and converge on Gordium, the capital of Phrygia, as quickly as possible.

Familiar with the situation in Asia Minor, Pharnabazus also wrote separate letters to the coastal Greek city-states in the west. In them, he claimed that the King of Persia was furious with certain regional governors for failing to honor the promises he had previously made to the Greek city-states. He stated that his primary mission in coming to Asia Minor was to urge these governors to uphold the King of Persia's promises.

At the end of the letter, he even swore an oath on the divine name of Ahura Mazda.

Pharnabazus's prestige in western Asia Minor allowed this letter to take effect. Some city-states that were dissatisfied with the new governors' practices began to waver, while those with deep historical ties to Persia became even firmer in their support for Persia against Daionia, this unfamiliar kingdom from the western Mediterranean. This ultimately led to the formation of the Persian Asia Minor Coalition Fleet advocated by Pharnabazus, which boasted over 400 warships and nearly 60,000 crewmen.

...

After the Tenth Legion successfully landed in Asia Minor and defeated the Persian forces in Mysia, Leotychides worried that this minor battle's defeat would spur the Persians to accelerate their reinforcements to Mysia. A single legion would struggle to hold its ground independently for long, and if they suffered a defeat, the Greek expeditionary army would lose a favorable landing site. Consequently, he decided to send his army to land in Mysia in successive waves.

Therefore, once the September harvest concluded and the city-states of the Greek Mainland began gathering their armies, Leotychides personally led the Eleventh Legion, the Twentieth Legion, and the Thessalian Cavalry Legion on ships to Mysia, converging with the Tenth Legion.

By this point, he keenly felt that neighboring city-states like Ilion, Abydos, and Tenedos were increasingly distancing themselves from the Daionian Army. They refused to let Daionian ships use their ports to unload supplies, and they barred their own merchants from selling provisions to the Daionian forces.

The hostility shown by the Asia Minor Greek city-states put Leotychides on high alert. To alleviate logistical pressure and ensure a smoother landing for the incoming Greek expeditionary army, he decided to change the kingdom's previously established strategy. When Daionian envoys were once again rejected after asking Ilion to open its ports, Leotychides boldly led his army to surround Ilion, demanding they submit to Daionia. When his demand was refused, he issued the order: Attack!

In legend, the walls of Troy from hundreds of years ago had stood so tall and thick that the Greek coalition besieged it for ten years without breaking through. But back then, Troy was not only a massive metropolis but one of the hegemons of western Asia Minor, bolstered by the support of many allies; that was how it defended itself for so long. Today's Ilion, though considered a mid-sized town, could not remotely compare to its predecessor, Troy.

Leotychides had three infantry legions and one cavalry legion under his command—roughly twenty-six to twenty-seven thousand men—with the Fourth Fleet temporarily at his disposal. From sea to land, they sealed Ilion in an airtight blockade. Furthermore, the Daionian Army's siege technology was far beyond what the Greek coalition had possessed hundreds of years ago. Consequently, on just the fifth day of the siege, the people of Ilion could no longer hold out and had to surrender to the Daionian Army.

Leotychides accepted their surrender and dispatched a portion of his troops to garrison Ilion, thereby taking control of this vital hub along the Strait of Hellespont.

News of Ilion's capture quickly spread through the surrounding region, terrifying the neighboring Greek city-states. They were forced to dispatch envoys one after another to express their goodwill to the Daionian Army.

Leotychides took the opportunity to propose a condition: they must provide a set quota of military rations and supplies in exchange for a promise to guarantee the safety of their city-states. They readily agreed.

At the same time, Leotychides sent troops deep into the Mysian interior to survey the terrain and scout enemy movements, while also rapidly harvesting the local wheat fields to increase their food reserves.

Powerless to stop the Daionian Army, Mysia's governor, Theopompus, had no choice but to repeatedly dispatch messengers to beg Pharnabazus for reinforcements.

Meanwhile, still in Gordium, Pharnabazus was waiting for the armies of the various regions of Asia Minor to assemble. He could only issue orders to the newly formed Asia Minor Joint Fleet, hoping they would take action to attack or harass the Daionian Army's support fleets and alleviate the pressure on land.

Before landing in Asia Minor, Leotychides had specifically sent messengers to notify their allies on the Greek Mainland, instructing them to abandon the original plan of marshaling their armies in Thessaly. Instead, they were to sail directly to the beachhead the Daionian Army had secured in Mysia. Consequently, starting in late September, the armies raised by the city-states of the Greek Mainland began sailing to Asia Minor one after another. Every few days, another troopship fleet would cross the Aegean Sea, to say nothing of the daily supply convoys traveling back and forth between the two continents.