"This order...... As Patroclus had already emphasized yesterday, there are no Gallic soldiers in our army, and I believe that the soldiers will not easily violate it......" Lizaru said as he said, pretending to remember something: "Oh, I forgot who said that you are from Larissa? ”

Lizaru's words smashed like a stone into Mattonis's heart, stirring up those old memories, and instead of arguing with Lizaru as if jokingly, he turned his head to look northwest, and was stunned for a moment before he said: "You are mistaken, I am not a Larissa, but an Orosun (the city-state of Cesari northwest of Larissa, adjacent to the mountains of Ipilus), and I am a mountain man like you. ”

After saying this, he called his staff officer: "You immediately send someone to Peleus, and inform Lord Shilos that we have captured his hometown." ”

The staff officer was a little surprised, but didn't ask much and turned to look for the herald.

"Please, Lizaru, I'll show you the largest city in northern Thessaly." Matonis makes an inviting gesture.

"The largest city...... Is there a Turii University? ”

"How can it compare to Turii!"

"And what about Crotone?"

"That's no comparison!"

……

Surrounded by soldiers, the two rode horses and entered Larissa City, talking and laughing.

……………………………………………………………………

After the main forces of Dionya had landed successfully and captured the neighboring coastal city-states, the convoy entered the harbor, quickly unloaded the army's auxiliaries and supplies, and then began to return to Sparta and Messenia under the escort of the 1st Fleet detachment.

Not long after, the flotilla in the Gulf of Thesalipagasa received a notice from the clippers and immediately ordered the soldiers who were still paving the way in the Mirdoros tidal flats to return to their ships as soon as possible, as the flotilla would then send the 13th Army Corps to land in the neighboring Gulf of Mariakos.

The Thessalian defenders, seeing that the Dionian soldiers had paved the road to the foot of the hill with straw and planks, were all ready to attack, but suddenly saw the enemy retreat to the sea to board the ships, and soon all the warships and troop transports disappeared from their view.

After squatting on the mountain for most of the day, the delicious food that was about to reach his mouth suddenly ran away, which made Polyflon feel uncomfortable, and he immediately suggested to Polydorus: "We should let the fleet of the port of Philae attack at once, and we must not let the fleet of Dionyas come and go as soon as they want, or bite off a piece of their flesh!" ”

Polydorus said cautiously: "You don't know that the reason why our fleet stayed in the harbor and didn't dare to attack was because the number of Dionian warships in the bay far exceeded ours, and since the Dioonians had already retreated on their own initiative, there was no need to take this risk." ”

"Earlier, I suggested that the soldiers take the initiative to attack the enemy in the mudflats, but you don't agree! Now I propose the fleet to attack, and you don't agree! You only know that you are sitting here stupid and not daring to do anything, what is the use of you as this Thessaly military governor! Porifron roared angrily at his brother, snorted and tore the tent, and strode out of the tent.

The adjutant in the tent complained in a low voice: "General, Polyflon has gone too far and ignored your-"

"Forget it." Polydorus waved his hand helplessly: his younger brother has been brave and ruthless since he was a child, and when he grows up, his temperament is even more tyrannical and disrespectful, and he has long been used to it. Because of this, the eldest brother Yi Asong did not dare to let the youngest brother take on any heavy responsibilities, but kept letting him follow him to do things, originally hoping to make him change, but unfortunately there has been no growth so far......

Polidorus put this annoying matter behind him, he was tasked with defending Thessaly, and did not want to cause more trouble, so he let the Dionian fleet leave, but he still had some doubts in his heart: could it be that Dellia sent such a large fleet, and ended up spending most of the day here in vain, and then left without any gain? Could there be other conspiracies?

While thinking about it, Polydorus did not forget to give the order to the adjutant: "You send soldiers to burn the road laid by the Ionians in the tidal flats. ”

"Yes, sir."

As soon as the adjutant was out of his tent, Larissa's messenger arrived at the camp.

"The Dionian army landed on the coast of Peleus!!" Polydorus was taken aback when he heard the news, and his uneasiness was finally confirmed, and the Dioonians took him by surprise by using the tactics of attacking and attacking.

At this moment, he knew very well in his heart: due to the landing of the Dionian army on the coast of Mirdoros with great fanfare, he had drawn the citizen soldiers of the surrounding city-states to come to support, and now the defense in the west was very empty, once the Dionian army was allowed to pass through the pass and rush into the northern plains, the consequences would be unimaginable, Pelius could be captured, but the valley pass must be blocked!

Polydorus made up his mind and immediately gave the order: two thousand Philae citizen soldiers were stationed at the coastal camp of Mirdoros, and the rest of the troops immediately rushed to the camp at the river valley pass.

Considering that Larissa City is more than 100 miles from the coast of Mirdoros, and the river valley pass is even farther away, it has been a long time for Larissa's messengers to arrive here, and the situation on Peleus's side may have changed a lot...... Just in case, Polydorus gave a special order: let the only 500 cavalry under his command reinforce the valley pass as quickly as possible.

After all the orders were given, Polydorus was at ease, and he led the main army of more than 10,000 people to march at a faster pace to the valley pass.

By nightfall, Thessaly's army had marched less than 40 miles, but Polydorus, fearing the battle ahead, did not dare to let the soldiers stop and rest, but told them to light torches and continue on their way.

It didn't take long for Polydorus to finally get the exact news from the front, which had been brought back by the cavalry force he had sent earlier.

When they arrived at the camp near the valley pass, they found that the camp was full of Dionian soldiers in black armor and black armor.

"Are you sure the Dionian army has taken Larissa?!" Polydorus grimaced, and eagerly asked the cavalry general.

"General, I'm not sure, because the Dioonians had already discovered us at that time, and sent a cavalry to attack us, and since they were far outnumbered by us, we did not respond, but we also took them around in a circle for a while before choosing to retreat." The cavalry general tried to express the bravery of his troops: "In the process we heard the cheers of the Dionian soldiers, and the cheers were loud, and I think the Dionians had captured Larissa. ”

"Should it be?" Polyflon listened to it and said dissatisfiedly: "Since you didn't see it with your own eyes, don't speculate, Larissa is a big city, and it can't be easily captured by a newly landed Dionian army so quickly!" ”

The cavalry general was a little aggrieved, and just as he wanted to open his mouth to defend himself, he heard Polydorus ask: "How many men are in the Dionian army?" ”

"Because it was getting dark, it was not easy to see clearly, and the Dionian cavalry rushed up quickly, and there was no more time to observe...... But according to my judgment, it should be more than 20,000 people. ”

"Again, 'it should be'—" Poliflon again expressed his displeasure.

"It's hard work, you go down first, let the soldiers have a good rest." Polydorus interrupted Porifron just in time.

After the cavalry commander left, Polyflon shouted again: "That guy must be talking nonsense, you should let the army speed up to Larissa!" ”

"Shut up! I am the commander in chief of this army, and I don't need you to dictate what to do! The bad news that followed made Polydorus feel bad, and he could not bear the noise of his brother at last, and shouted: "Return to your own team at once, and don't disturb my thoughts here!" ”

Polydorus was stunned for the first time by his undisguised anger at his brother, and then his face turned red, and he suddenly let out a heart-rending roar that startled everyone around him, and then he turned away in a huff.

Polydorus knew that Polyphron had been annoyed by him, but now he was in no mood to apologize or comfort him, he had to hurry up and find a way to solve the current predicament, and after some thought, he finally made a decision: the whole army stopped advancing and immediately returned to the camp outside the city of Philae!

At the same time, he sent several sentinels to Larissa to find out the enemy situation as soon as possible.

As the temporary military governor of Thessaly, Polydorus was well aware that Larissa and its environs had been drained, and that if the oncoming Dionian army exceeded 20,000 men, it would be difficult for the Larissa to resist their attack, so the cavalry general's judgment was likely correct. It made no sense for the army to rush to reinforce Larissa late at night, and was vulnerable to a surprise attack by the Dionians. It took only one day for the Dionian army to land on the coast of Peleus, break through the valley passes, and capture Larissa, and the fighting force was so terrible that the Thessalian forces under his command could not have been their opponents.

It was precisely because of this that he decided not to act rashly, but to concentrate his forces to defend Philae, and then send people to inform Iason and ask for reinforcements, while observing the enemy's movements and looking for fighters.