And at this moment Karias walked into another military tent, where Klotocátáques and Printors were waiting. Karias lied, they did not go to Argos, in fact, Klotokkataks could directly refuse to meet with the Athenian envoys, but the courteous prince thought that this was a humiliation for a city-state like Athens, so he found such a reason, and could also use the matter of "Argos surrender" to provoke Athens.

"Karias, what is the outcome of the negotiations?" Klotocatax asked with interest.

"Your Highness, the chief general of Athens said that he would go back to discuss this matter, but I don't think Athens will agree." Karias spoke truthfully about his judgment.

"Athens is facing such a predicament, they are not going to surrender yet, are they ready to destroy with the city of Athens?!" Crotocatacus was both surprised and a little sorry that although he did not make it to the Dionian Academy, he had always had good grades in the Turian School since he was a child, and because most of the teaching materials came from Athens, especially grammar and rhetoric (after all, the Athenians created the glory of Greek civilization), he always had a good impression of Athens in his heart.

"After all, Athens was once the overlord of Greece, and now it is also one of the most powerful countries in Greece, so it is understandable that it is unwilling to admit defeat." Printors saw what he was thinking and reminded: "But if we want to attack Athens, we must first conquer Corinth." ”

"But the city of Corinth is thick and thick, and it may not be easy to conquer it in a short time." Crotocatátáques said that, but he still set his eyes on Printors.

"Your Highness is right, Corinthian City is not like any ordinary Greek city, its city defenses are obviously carefully built, and it is impossible to take it without a hard battle." Printors said solemnly.

"I think it may have something to do with the fact that the Spartan coalition attacked Corinth City for several years in a row during the Corinthian War, and the Corinthians must have gained more experience in how to defend Corinthian City after that fierce siege war." Karias chimed in.

"That's a bit of a problem......" Crotocatacus looked sad, although he was still a little reluctant when Davers made him the commander of the expeditionary army at first, but after this period of battlefield career training, he not only adapted to the battlefield life, but also began to enjoy the glory of battlefield victory like other generals, so at this time he was indeed a little anxious to go north to join Patroclus and share the glory of conquering the great city of Athens.

Then the guards came in and reported: "Lycomedes asks for an audience." ”

"Invite him in!" After Klotocatax finished speaking, he immediately straightened his clothes and greeted the door of the tent.

Crotokatachus treated Lykomedes with such courtesy, not only because Lykomedes was the head of Mandinia, and Mandidia was now Dionia's staunchest and only ally in the Peloponnese (Messenia and Lagenia were now two regions controlled by Dionys, completely under the command of Dionia, not considered allies, Argos was forced to surrender, and loyalty was still to be tested), but also because Lykomedes personally led his army to join the Dionian army and participated in the battle against Argos's army, After defeating the Argos army, he also took the initiative to propose to Klotocatax, "I am willing to say that Argos is surrendered", and finally succeeded, so Klotocatax will pay special attention to him.

"Your Highness Clotocatac, I would like to ask your permission to go and talk about Corinth."

Lycomedes really had nothing to do but ascend the Three Treasures Palace, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he surprised Crotocatacus, and he hurriedly asked: "Lord Lycomedes, are you sure that the Corinthians will open the city and surrender?" ”

Lukomedes said seriously: "I'm not completely sure, but I can give it a try." I still know a lot about the Corinthians, don't look at Corinth as a strong state, but the Corinthians are not good at fighting, they have no fertile land to cultivate, and the only thing they rely on is to use the isthmus for sea and land trade, so most of the Corinthians are good at business, they have no insistence, what they are best at is to see the wind and steer, and for their own interests, they can even do anything unbelievable.

I heard you talk about the Corinthian War outside the tent just now, in fact, the reason why the Corinthians were able to block the attack of the Spartan coalition army for a long time was more dependent on the continuous support of the Athenian and Theban armies and materials, and at that time, there were still many Corinthian people who quietly united and surrendered to the Spartans.

Now that we have defeated the Greeks, the Peloponnese is more or less under our control, and I hear that another Dionian army that has landed in Thessaly has joined forces with the Thebans and even invaded Attica. In this way, the Corinthians will not only have no support, but will also face a great danger of being flanked from both sides, and I think the wise Corinthians should see the situation clearly at this time, and will not be stupid enough to block us from going north. ”

"Great! Then please go to Corinth yourself, my lord! Klotocatax said happily.

"After listening to Lord Lucomedes, I have a small suggestion." Printors interjected: "Just now the Athenian envoy came to the camp to ask for an armistice and peace-"

"The Athenians are about to surrender so soon?!" Lycomedes was a little surprised.

"They just asked for a truce, but we refused, and the Athenian emissary was Callistratus." Karias said.

After hearing this, Lykomedes's heart moved, and his face suddenly became happy: "I understand, I will mention this matter in front of the Corinthians, and I believe that I can persuade them to surrender!" ”

Lycomedes got out of the tent and went straight to the city of Corinth. He was once a little dissatisfied with Dionia's gift of Tigea's territory to Mandnia, which directly led to the isolation of Mandia from the other city-states of Arcadia, but at this point, Lykomedes had to accept the reality and quickly changed his mind, firmly believing that "the only way out for Mandinia is to follow Dionya closely!" ”

Therefore, when the Dionian army withdrew to Lagenia and the Greek coalition surrounded Mandinia, it was he who persuaded the people to always hold on and not surrender, which ushered in today's good situation. Now he only wants to do his best to get Dionya to win the Greek war as soon as possible, thus fulfilling Dionia's promise to Mandinia.

The Corinthians were indeed clever, and although Calistratus falsely claimed that "he went to the Dionian commander in order to be able to retrieve the remains of the Athenian citizens who had died in battle", this could not deceive them, they already knew the news that the Dionian army had invaded Attica, so they suspected that the Athenians wanted an armistice, and if the Athenians surrendered, Corinth would be a fool to continue to hold out!

So when Lycomedes entered the city and explained his intention to the Corinthian higher-ups, they couldn't get it.

Not to mention the fact that Dionys's request was easily acceptable to Corinth: to join the New Greek League, which was dominated by the Divine Kingdom of Dionia.

Lycomedes did not ask Corinth to dissolve his alliance, nor did he make this request when he lobbied Argos before, in fact, Dionya only had a request for Athens, because the Athenian maritime alliance not only included many islands in the Aegean Sea, but also some of its allies in the coastal city-states of Macedonia, Thrace, and the coastal city-states of the Eunexus Sea, which was too broad for Davers, who wanted to unify the Mediterranean, could not allow.

Joining the New Greek League and joining the Peloponnesian League and the Greek League were no different for Corinth, who had been reduced to a general power and had no great ambitions, and even the Corinthians felt that this would be of great benefit to Corinth's future maritime trade, because since the establishment of Dionia, Corinth had the most trade with Dionya in mainland Greece.

Klotocatax led his army into Corinth, and then headed north along the eastern coast of the isthmus, soon approaching the city-state of Megara in the middle of the isthmus.

There are mountains on both sides of the south and north of Megara as a barrier, if it has the heart to defend, it can block the Ionian army for a while, but the north of Megara borders the Attica region, a few days ago the people of the city-state have just seen the Athenian soldiers fleeing in disarray, the Dionian army invaded Attica violently, the timid Megarians did not think that the weak themselves could withstand the powerful Dionian army on both sides, under the persuasion of the Corinthians, Megara obediently joined the new Greek alliance.

Klotocátarchs led his army through the territory of Megara with ease, into the region of Attica, where he joined Patroclus' army in victory.

The citizens of Athens at the head of the city were heartbroken when they saw another mighty Dionian army coming to the Ionian barracks outside the city.

In the days since Calistratus' departure, there has been an urgent military mobilization in the city of Athens, where all citizens and Gentiles who can fight have been organized (Athens has a large number of foreign kidnappers who have settled in Attica for a long time, pay taxes like citizens, and even take on part of the obligation to serve, but never have Athenian citizenship) and prepare for defense. Not only the city of Athens was safe, but also the port of Piraeus and the long wall that connected the port to the city.

Several well-known Athenian orators, led by Isocrates, gave speeches in the city of Athens, such as the Agora Market, the Theater of Dionysus, and the Place de Athena, inspiring citizens and expatriates to defend Athens and bravely fight against the Dionian army.