It was no coincidence that the expeditionary forces of the Holy Kingdom of Dionya camped in the territory of Ellis. As an outlier in the Peloponnesian League, Ellis was already in Davers's consideration, not to mention that the Ellis region and the Arcadia region were close to Messenia, and there were many Messenians who fled to these two regions, and the seven or eight Ellis citizens who sang just now were born in Messenia. The Dioonians had not been publicized because of military secrecy, but now they needed to let the entire Greek world know that Dionysa had sent troops to the Peloponnese not only to fulfill the covenant, but also to help the Messenians regain their country, and Alyss was able to help them do just that.

As soon as the song was sung, the relationship between Tisias and the Ellis was quickly closer, and the Ellis began to discuss some cooperation with him, after all, they were already preparing to join forces with the Arcadians against Sparta, and now that the Dionian army attacking Sparta was just around the corner, wouldn't this be a better opportunity for cooperation!

………………………………………………

At dusk that day, due to the great movement of the Dionian army landing on the coast, the news was not only received by the people of Ellis, but also quickly spread to neighboring city-states, such as Olympia and Pisa, and to the small city of Triphlia, not far east of Olympia, which originally belonged to Ellis and was forcibly taken by Sparta.

In the village of Scillus, a subordinate of Triphilia, there was a large mansion that inhabited Xenophon, a revered hero of the Persian expedition and a famous Athenian scholar.

Xenophon, who had returned from the Persian expedition more than 20 years ago, was expelled from Athens and had to lead mercenaries again to follow the Spartan king Agosilaus in the conquest of Asia Minor, so he became the guest of honor of Sparta and was given land here, Xenophon has lived here for nearly 20 years, and has made this place his second home.

In addition to going out to fight with the Spartan army, he spent more time in quiet and peaceful villages, focusing on thinking and writing articles, and sometimes took his children and slaves to hunt and relax in the nearby forests, living a very comfortable idyllic life.

Tonight, as usual, he sat in his study, lit the oil lamp, and began to conceive of his new book, The History of Greece, which he had conceived a few years earlier, after the completion of the Expedition, to continue the series of events that had taken place in Greece after Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, many of which he had personally experienced and was very familiar with.

Just as he was contemplating and writing, a sudden shout broke the silence of the village, and it did not disappear quickly, but made the whole village boil.

Xenophon had to throw down his pen and walk out of the study, and as soon as he reached the courtyard, he ran into his eldest son head-on, and he said with a little panic: "Father, I heard from the villagers that the army of Dionya has landed on the coast of Ellis and is preparing to attack inland!" ”

Dionya declares war on Alist?! How is this possible?! Dionya had never had contact with Ellis and there was no warning beforehand, so why did war suddenly break out?! …… Xenophon was puzzled and asked, "Are these messages you heard true?!" ”

"I heard from the villagers that several priests of Olympia happened to be on their way to the village of Alice for funerals, and they saw with their own eyes that the Dionian ships were docked on the beach, and there was no end in sight......"

Xenophon's expression became serious, he thought for a while, and said to his son: "You go out and tell the villagers, just say what I said, so that they don't panic, even if the Ionian army really wants to attack the interior, it is still far from us, we have enough time to prepare, let them go home and rest, and don't gather people to make noise in the dark night, which is easy to cause panic and accidents!" ”

Not long after his son went out, the noise grew quieter, and Xenophon's prestige in the village was evident.

Xenophon still had the desire to write, and he paced back and forth in the courtyard irritably, recalling the fact that Sparta was going to end the peace agreement with Dionysa ahead of schedule: he was very disturbed by it at the time, but unfortunately he was so soft-spoken that even Agosilaus could not stop it. Fortunately, not long after the agreement was suspended, the army of Dionya set foot on the land of Alice, how much impact will this have on the situation in the Peloponnese and on the whole of Greece proper?!

Xenophon had just been to Turiy, and he had a deeper understanding of the strength of the kingdom of Dionia, and the thought of this terrible beast finally coming out of its cage and pounced on the Greek mainland, he could not help but shudder, and there was only one thought in his heart: to rush to Sparta at once, tell them about it, and let them quickly negotiate a good way to put the giant beast back in its cage!

But...... Is there really a good way? …… Xenophon looked up at the dark night sky and remembered the incomprehensible look on his smiling face when he had met Davers earlier......

………………………………………………

Early in the morning of the 2nd day, the Dionian crew pushed the ship away from the beach, the soldiers quickly boarded, and the entire fleet continued south.

The Ellis breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the Dioonians had really left, and they would be eager to wait for the upheaval in the south to happen.

One more person was added to the Dionian fleet, Ionicus, a councillor of Alysian descent who had spoken to Tisias before, and who appeared on the flagship of the First Fleet as a liaison between Ellis and the Dionian army, as well as a guide.

At this time, he pointed to the shore in front of him, and said in a trembling voice: "After this headland, you have entered the sea of Messenia!" ”

"Don't be nervous, we have so many warships, the fleet of Sparta will not dare to attack it." Tisias comforted him.

"I'm not nervous, I'm a little excited." Ionicus let out a long sigh.

Tisias looked at him, nodded sympathetically, and whispered, "Me too." ”

At this moment, the lookout on the top of the flagship's main mast shouted: "The clipper ahead raises a yellow flag!" ”

Standing at the bow of the ship and looking ahead, Sekrian immediately said to the flagship captain: "Tell the First Squadron to keep in formation, keep moving, and ignore it unless the other side attacks." ”

"Yes!"

The reason why Sekrian dared to give such an order was because he had already understood that Sparta had no more than 40 warships, and more than half of them were from allies, which was not enough to pose a threat to the First Fleet. Perhaps only the Athenian fleet in the whole of Greece could lift Secrian's spirits a little.

In fact, there were two Spartan patrol ships in front of the 1st Fleet, they originally just wanted to warn the Dionian fleet to keep it away from the offshore routes, but the 1st Fleet ignored it and went straight forward, hundreds of warships approached in the wind and waves, and the Spartan crews were already frightened, quickly turned around and retreated south.

Compared with the Spartan navy and the army, one on the ground and one in the sky, except for a great victory in the sheep and horses under the leadership of Lysander in the past, the rest did not have a brilliant record, and in recent years it was beaten to the ground by the Athenian navy one after another, and the morale was extremely low, and at this moment it did not dare to compete with the huge Dionian fleet.

Soon no Spartan ships appeared nearby, and the entire Dionian fleet smoothly traveled south along the coast, on the one hand, to ensure the safety of troop carriers and baggage ships more conveniently, and on the other hand, to observe the situation on land.

But the crew saw more of the rolling hills, and only near the coast could they see stone towers every one or two miles.

Ionicus said in a heavy tone: "This is a tower that the Spartans forced the Messenians to build, but its purpose is to spy on the Messenians and prevent them from escaping. There were also a number of such facilities in the northern part of the Messenian territory, where the Spartans made the whole of Messenia into a cage for the Messenians...... I think that my father and nearly 200 of them could not bear the cruel oppression and killing of the Spartans, and desperately fled from Messenia, and finally less than 15 people were able to escape to Ellis alive......"

After hearing this, Tisias was silent for a while, then secretly clenched his fists and said hatefully: "Today, we Dionya are here to break this cage, and such a tragedy will not happen again in the future!" ”

The two vented their resentment towards Sparta to each other, and a voice interjected: "Why don't you see anyone in these towers?" ”

Ionicus turned around and saw that it was Leoticides, the commander of the Dionian army, and hurriedly explained: "In the past, there were people, and each tower was garrisoned by at least 10 or more soldiers, but now...... The Spartans fought every year, and every year there were dead and wounded citizens, so that even the defense of Laconia was undermanned, and where were the surplus warriors stationed in these towers! ”

Ionicus gloated, and Leoticides looked a little strange.

Then Ionicus said, "But there must be Spartan warriors stationed in the city of Pylos ahead, for it is the Spartan town on the west coast of Messenia. ”