Due to the lack of sufficient time to build a complete defensive camp, the Athenian army relied more on the geographical advantage of condescending to defend, but whether it was the Lucanians, the Samonai, or the Gauls were all fierce mountain races, fighting in the mountains was their strength, not to mention that now they had the high-quality armor and weapons of Dionya as a basis, and the number was still superior, and after a fierce battle for most of the day, they broke through the defense line.

In particular, the fierce appearance of the Gauls with large swords and fierce slashing made the Athenian soldiers frightened, and they couldn't help but preach the horror of the enemy army in the rout, causing the people of Fili, a town not far from the Panissa Mountain, to be frightened, and fled with their families and the rout, so that the army led by Lizalu successfully occupied the town, and then continued southward, and soon surrounded another small town, Megarouno.

The people of this town did not have time to flee and had to make desperate resistance, the resistance of Megarouno was not in vain, they bought a little time for the Athenian soldiers and mercenaries who defended in the south, especially these mercenaries of Iasong were experienced in combat, seeing that the Dionian army was strong, and had no hope at all about Athens' plan to keep the enemy out of the country, and had long had the idea of "retreating as soon as there was a disturbance", which made Patroclus formulate "contain in the south, attack in the north, and once the defense line is broken, The army quickly moved south, encircling the enemy forces on the southern defensive line", but eventually captured more than 1,000 escaped mercenaries.

In the case of the rout of the Athenian border defense, Iphiclates led more than 10,000 soldiers along the coastline and finally entered the city of Athens relatively smoothly.

The nine generals in the room, who were urgently deliberating, saw his arrival and immediately gathered around him like nectar in a long drought, and the first thing they asked was: "How many soldiers have you brought back Iphiclateus?" ”

"16,000 soldiers."

"Why are you so strong?" Callistratus was stunned, and he thought that even if the Thessalian army left, Iphiclates would be able to bring back at least thirty or forty thousand troops, because as far as he knew, at the height of the Greek alliance there were 100,000 men (some of the city-states of Arcadia and Ellis used to have a large number of citizens as auxiliaries because of their proximity to the battlefield, but they did not actually have much combat power).

Iphiclates carefully gave a brief account of the events in the Peloponnese.

After listening to this, everyone was depressed, and some people even couldn't help but say, "It's over...... Athens is done ......"

"Ellis, Arcadians, Phokis, Lokris...... They are simply stupid! They should understand that it is all at this time, there is no point in rushing home, only by uniting and defeating the powerful enemy of Dionya can they ensure the safety of their city-state! Someone said angrily.

"Alas...... When the danger really comes, these narrow-minded citizens of the city-state can only see the danger of their home state, where can they still fight against the enemy together! In the final analysis, the Greek alliance was nothing more than a hastily formed alliance that was not destined to last long! Callistratus sighed helplessly.

The crowd was silent.

At this time, Iphiclates had the opportunity to ask: "By the way, when I entered the city just now, I saw some rout soldiers shouting and shouting, saying that they were defeated and defeated, and the city was panicked, what happened?!" ”

With a heavy heart, Calistratus told Iphicrates the news that "the Greek army had suffered a crushing defeat on the border."

After hearing this, the Greek veteran, who had always been calm and wise on the battlefield, actually roared angrily: "You know that the attacking Dionian army is large in number and powerful, why do you send a small number of our young and middle-aged citizens out of the city to die!" Who is it?! Who made this stupid suggestion?! ”

Iphikrantes' eyes widened and glared at the crowd, and some unconsciously lowered their heads.

Calalistratus stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "It is our common decision, but it is also the demand of the people!" When the remnants of Thessaly's army fled into Athens, and we knew that the Ionian army in the north would soon attack, Cabrias advised, 'Tell the people of Attica to take refuge in the city, defend against the Ionian army by the walls, and wait for you to return with your army, and then counterattack......

We all agreed with this decision at the time, but ......" a hint of shame flashed in Callistratus' eyes, "but in the ensuing citizens' assembly, most of the citizens disagreed, and they refused to abandon their homeland without resistance, leaving it to the Dioonians to trample on...... You know, during the Peloponnesian War, the entire region of Attica, except for Athens, was almost destroyed into ruins by the Spartan coalition, and the citizens did not want such a tragedy to happen again......

That's why we made a plan to set up a defensive line on the western border, hold back the Dionian army for a while, and then find an opportunity to counterattack after you return with your army...... Who knew that the Dionian army would come so quickly and attack so fiercely...... Alas......"

After Callistratus finished speaking, the other generals couldn't help but shake their heads and sigh.

Iphiclates looked at them as they looked away, knowing in his heart that what Callistratus said was not entirely true, but there was no point in thinking about it at the moment, he took a few breaths to calm his mood a little, and then asked, "What about now?" What are your plans now?! ”

Callistratus said in a deep voice: "While the Dionian army is still far away from the city of Athens, we have sent people to inform the villages and towns of Attica, so that the people can take refuge in the city immediately!" We've decided to rely on the walls to defend against Dionia's attack first, and then look for an opportunity to counterattack when you return with your army, but we didn't expect it...... You're going to bring back so few troops......"

Seeing the disappointment on Callistratus' face that could not be concealed, Iphiclates said with an unprecedented solemn expression: "Judging from the situation of my battles with the Dionian army during this time, it is true that the Dionian army is very strong in combat and has a large number of soldiers, in addition to the Dionian army that has entered Attica, there are tens of thousands of Dionian troops under the city of Corinth. In my judgment, it may not be long before Corinth falls, when the two armies converge...... It is impossible for us alone to defeat such a mighty Dionia, unless Persia sends an army to support it-"

"Don't expect anything from Persia!" One of the generals shouted angrily: "The Persians have deceived us, they will not give us any support at all, and the Persian messenger has run away!" ”

Iphiclates was startled and hurriedly looked at Callistratus.

The chief general nodded bitterly: "The king of Persia has already led his army to attack Egypt, and he has no strength to take care of us at all...... We were fooled......"

Iphiclates to the wooden chair in a gloomy manner, having served as a commander in the last Persian war against Egypt, and knows very well that the Persian war against Egypt will be launched with all its might, and it will not be over in just a few months.

At this time, the old Ermijian Agulrios said loudly: "During the Peloponnesian War, the citizens of Athens relied on the defense of the city walls and held out for decades, and they were not broken by the Spartan coalition, and we can certainly do it today!" The number of Dionian troops is indeed huge, but because of the huge number, they will consume a lot of supplies, can the Dioonians support such a huge amount of consumption for a long time?! ”

His words lifted the spirits of some people, and Cabrias, who had been in charge of the navy, finally couldn't help but remind: "The reason why we were not afraid of the siege of the Spartan coalition back then was because we controlled the sea, and the supplies urgently needed by the people could be transported in by merchant ships at any time, and the Spartan army could not do anything about it. But now it is different, the Dionyas are not only strong in army, but also in navy, and during this time their fleet has been cruising around the Gulf of Saron every day, intercepting incoming and outgoing merchant ships, which has had a great impact on our maritime trade!

Our ships have ventured many times, with casualties on both sides, but we have too few ships to make new ships without being able to obtain wood from outside the world (there are very few forests in Attica), so we will only fight fewer and less, and when the Dionian fleet completely blockades our ports, where will we get enough food to meet the needs of the entire Athenian population! ”

Agulrios was speechless for a moment, just when he saw someone hurrying in, he quickly asked with a straight face, "What's the matter?" ”

"General Agulrios, generals, the Dionian army has landed in Aegina, and I beg you to send troops to the rescue!"

"What?! Aegina is under attack! The generals were taken aback, and Cabrias asked even more anxiously, "When did this happen?!" ”

According to the person who came to report from Aegina...... Probably...... About two hours earlier, the Dionian fleet had suddenly blockaded the port of Aegina, and tens of thousands of Dionian soldiers had landed on the beach in the southwest corner of Aegina and launched an attack on the city...... The garrison on the island had not seen our reinforcements, and the situation was so critical that they had to send warships stationed in the harbor to venture out of the harbor, and with great difficulty they broke through the blockade of the Dionian fleet and rushed to report the news—"

"What about our patrol warships? Why didn't you find out and report in time?! Calistratus asked angrily.