Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1286: Chalcides's Suggestion

Chalcides thought for a moment before adding, "Furthermore, I learned something from the Naucratis merchants who trade in Cyprus. The Cypriots recently expelled them, forbidding their merchant vessels from entering Cypriot waters. Not long ago, people also frequently spotted a massive number of Warships appearing in the waters east of Cyprus Island... After analyzing this, we believe the Persians have highly likely concentrated the majority of the Warships in their fleet in the eastern ports of Cyprus."

Davos was still pondering this when Matonis said loudly, "It seems the Persians are assembling their army and navy to counter our attack from Egypt!"

Davos did not respond; instead, he looked at Chalcides again. "We will soon launch our offensive against Persia. Do you have any suggestions regarding this?"

Chalcides's expression grew solemn. He weighed his words for a long moment before saying softly, "Your Majesty, the military plan drafted by the Ministry of Military Affairs for the invasion of Persia from Egypt... I believe it may need to be revised."

"Oh?" Davos looked at the slightly tense Chalcides and tapped the wooden chair lightly. "None of us have experience fighting in Egypt," he said encouragingly. "You are the most qualified to speak on this. Tell us in detail why the plan needs revising."

At Davos's words, the other generals also turned serious. When Davos signaled Henipolis to set up the wooden campaign maps of Egypt and Persia in the center of the hall, everyone gathered around.

"Your Majesty, Lord Legion Commanders!" Facing everyone's gaze, Chalcides took a deep breath. He pointed at the icon for the City of Daphnae on the map. Though his voice trembled slightly, his tone was firm. "The City of Daphnae is a fortress the Egyptians built on the easternmost edge of the Nile Delta, specifically to defend against Persian invasions. From the City of Daphnae heading east to the Egyptian border is a distance of nearly two hundred li. The entire route is desert with no human settlements and no supply points. Given the marching speed of the kingdom's army in such terrain, it will take at least three to four days to pass through..."

As he spoke, Chalcides's words grew more fluent. He traced the marching route on the map with his finger, finally resting it on a circular icon marked with the word 'Gaza': "Less than twenty li from the Egyptian border is a fortress built by the Persians—the City of Gaza. According to reports, the city usually has 1,500 Persian soldiers stationed there, but that number may have now increased to 4,000—"

"Four thousand men is not much. With our great army marching north, taking it should be easy," Second Legion Commander Lizarus interjected.

"Furthermore, the name 'Gaza' comes from the Canaanite language, meaning it is surrounded by sand. It is a fortress built upon gravel. The nearest Canaan oasis is at least twenty to thirty li away, which means we cannot acquire any resources near the City of Gaza to construct large siege weapons like siege towers, mobile towers, or battering rams. Even building siege platforms and causeways will be difficult, as there is only sand and no soil, making it hard to solidify. But none of these are the biggest difficulty—"

Chalcides looked around at the generals and finally turned to Davos, emphasizing his words. "What will affect us the most is the desert! I once led troops in an attempt to march east from Daphnae, and we tasted plenty of suffering for it! Marching in the desert means enduring blistering heat and heavy sandstorms during the day. The ground is soft, making it incredibly exhausting for soldiers to march in armor, and they tire easily. Normally, a legion can march at least fifty li a day, but in the desert, they probably would not even cover half that distance in a day.

"Furthermore, at night, the desert turns freezing cold. The soldiers cannot fall asleep unless they wrap themselves in blankets. The guides said we are lucky it is spring; if it were summer, the entire desert would be like a giant furnace, and very few people would dare to walk across it. And it is only a little over three months until summer arrives here..."

"I have been here with my legion for ten days now, and I can clearly feel that Egypt's climate is much hotter than Magna Graecia. Is the fact that the Egyptian soldiers do not wear armor also partly because the weather is too hot?" asked Melisander, Commander of the fourth legion of Theonia, out of curiosity.

"I haven't asked the Egyptians about that," Chalcides said in a low voice. "Your Majesty and Lord Legion Commanders, please pay attention! If we are to lead an army across the desert to capture the City of Gaza, our greatest threat is water! There are no water sources along this long march of nearly four hundred li. Soldiers in the desert become thirsty very easily and need to drink vast quantities of water. Even if we carry a massive amount of water when setting out, if we fail to successfully capture Gaza in a short time, we will still face the danger of a water shortage!..."

Hearing Chalcides's words, the commanding officers' expressions all grew grave.

Davos drew a sharp breath. He suddenly remembered a piece of history from his past life: during the Middle Ages in Western Europe, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, established by the Crusades, rashly assembled a massive army and marched into the desert to attack the Egyptian monarch Saladin. The result was near-total collapse without a battle, all due to a lack of water...

"The City of Gaza is also built in the desert. Do the Persians not lack water?" asked Trotidis, Commander of the third legion of Theonia.

"Gaza should have wells dug within the city. Moreover, the Persians do not have many soldiers. Unlike them, we number up to 200,000 men, not to mention our vast numbers of laborers, horses, and livestock. Digging a few wells simply will not satisfy our needs. Furthermore, trying to dig for groundwater in the desert is extremely difficult and may not succeed."

"Perhaps we could march east along the coast and have the Fleet follow alongside us. They could dock at any time to provide us with water and other supplies..." Matonis said hesitantly.

"I once had that same thought, but after careful consideration, I found this method is not quite sound. Supplying such a massive army would require an equally massive Fleet. Egypt, with its underdeveloped maritime trade, simply cannot meet the demand, so we would have to conscript ships from the Greek Mainland and the kingdom's mainland, which would take considerable time. Moreover, the more ships there are, the more sailors are needed, which in itself would consume even more supplies. On top of that, having the Fleet dock every day to load and unload food and water is a time-consuming process. It would severely delay the army's marching speed and prolong our time passing through the desert..."

As Chalcides said this, he slid the finger resting on the map upward: "You should have noticed that the coastline we would march along is not too far from Cyprus Island and the coast of Phoenicia. These two regions are Persia's primary naval bases and possess a vast number of Warships. As I mentioned earlier, the Persians have likely already assembled their fleet in the Military Ports of Cyprus. They would very likely attack our Fleet.

"And if we have the navy escort them, the long stretch of coastline from Naucratis to Gaza has no ports for docking and resupplying. The fleet would not get proper rest, and the Warships could not be maintained. By the time the Persian Fleet attacks, they would also have to divide their attention to protect our Fleet. The entire battle would become quite disadvantageous for our navy..."

Chalcides had clearly given this serious thought. He patiently listed the difficulties one by one. The Legion Commanders all frowned, sinking into deep thought.

Davos sighed and said, "It seems the Ministry of Military Affairs and I both made the mistake of discussing warfare on paper. We underestimated the difficulties of fighting in the desert. If you hadn't caught this in time, Chalcides, we really might have run into enormous trouble! Since you discovered the problem, you must have thought of a solution. Tell us in detail how you intend to modify the battle plan!"

Facing Davos's encouraging gaze, Chalcides rallied his spirits and said loudly, "I believe our first target to attack should not be Gaza, but here—Cyprus!"

Everyone's gaze immediately focused on the icon his finger was pointing at.

"There are three purposes to attacking it." Chalcides laid out the plan he had meticulously devised: "First, Cyprus Island is a large island with substantial lakes and rivers, as well as large plains in the north. It boasts a sizable population and relatively sufficient reserves of grain and supplies. It even possesses several well-equipped Military Ports, and it is easy to land on and fight there. As long as we capture it, we can use it to anchor our fleet, providing nearby support for our army's operations.

"Second, Cyprus Island is a shield for the Persian coast in the Near East. If we occupy it, we can land to the north to attack the Gulf of Issus, strike east into the Syrian Region and Phoenicia, and threaten Canaan to the southeast... The entire coastline of the Near East will be under our threat, thereby allowing us to seize more initiative in the war—"

"Since Cyprus Island is so important to Persia, the Persians must also value it immensely. You also mentioned just now that Phoenicia and Cyprus are the primary sources of the Persian navy, and they are currently assembling their Warships. Looking at this map, Phoenicia is very close to Cyprus. They could completely dispatch a fleet in time to intercept our transport Fleet!" Lizarus interrupted Chalcides's words, sharply raising the issue.

Chalcides said unhurriedly, "This is the third purpose I was going to mention! We have traveled thousands of li to launch an offensive against Persia, and this long supply line is our army's greatest weakness. But as long as we seize dominance over the Eastern Mediterranean, it will no longer be an issue. Therefore, the military plan drafted by His Majesty and the Ministry of Military Affairs took into consideration the need to annihilate the Persian Fleet first. That is why the Greek expeditionary army landed in Asia Minor first, wanting to lure the Persian Fleet north, but the results were not ideal. In the end, they only wiped out the Persian Asia Minor Fleet, while the main force of the Persian Fleet still remains entrenched in the Near East Waters and will not come out! But if we attack Cyprus, the Persian Fleet will have no choice but to strike out in full force. I believe this should be exactly what we are hoping for!"

Saying this, Chalcides looked toward Davos.

Davos had his arms crossed over his chest and was staring intently at the map, still lost in thought.