At this time, Cappus whispered to him, "Are you going to march east along the coast next?" ”

"That's right, because this will ensure the safety and convenience of logistics and transportation lines, reduce the threat of the Persians to the flanks of the coalition forces, and also ensure that the army can conquer Asia Minor at a faster pace."

"Uh...... While I was returning from the Po region to Turiyi and waiting for my departure, Princess Christoya summoned me, and she asked me to bring you a message that I would conquer or conquer Miletus as soon as possible. ”

"Miletus?"

"You don't know?" Seeing that Leoticides was a little puzzled, Capus reminded: "Princess Christoya is a native of Miletus, but she has not been able to return to Miletus for decades since following His Majesty. ”

Hearing this, Leoticides stopped and fell into deep thought.

Kapus did not urge him to move forward, but also stopped, and looked at the gate of Sads standing in front of him, Rao had experienced countless winds and waves, and he couldn't help but feel a little agitated at this moment: more than 30 years ago, under the leadership of Menon, he had also been here, but the Sads strictly forbade them to enter the city, and also set aside a small area five miles away, so that the mercenaries could only build camps in this area, and were not allowed to move around, guarding them like thieves...... But today, not only can he enter the city with pride, but he will also become the master of the land and the people!

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With Capus leading the administrative officers in the conquest rear, Leoticides could devote all his energies to military affairs.

At the end of June, as the coalition forces advanced eastward to the shores of Ephesus, a riot had broken out in the city, who overthrew the pro-Persian oligarchy and marched more than 10 miles out of the city to welcome the arrival of the Greek coalition.

In mid-July, when the Greek coalition forces approached Miletus, the oligarchy of Miletus sent an envoy to Leoticides, declaring that Miletus would remain neutral and would not participate in the war between Dionya and Persia.

Leoticides refused without hesitation and insisted that Milley must surrender unconditionally.

While the oligarchy of Miletus was arguing over this, the Greek coalition surrounded the city, and the Dionian Fourth Fleet arrived to blockade the port, causing panic among the people of Miletus.

At the same time, the Dioonian intelligence agents lurking in the city of Miletus began to spread rumors, and the people were surprised to learn that there was a princess Christoya in the sacred kingdom of Dionia, who was favored by the king of Dionia, she was a native of Miletus, and she had been looking forward to returning to her homeland, and the current Miletus oligarchic government actually knew about this, but the reason why they refused to surrender was because most of them were the main culprits in the persecution of the Christians, as long as they were captured and sacrificed to the Dionian army, and surrendered to the Dionian army, and Princess Christoya, out of gratitude to them and nostalgia for her homeland, will surely protect the city from the flames of war......

Some people specially investigated the people and things mentioned in the rumor, and found that it was actually true, which immediately caused a great wave among the people. As a result, those dissatisfied with the Miletus oligarchy began to run in tandem to incite the populace to overthrow them and submit to Dionia.

The Miletus government felt that the situation was not good, and was ready to send troops to suppress it, but who knew that the Dionian army outside the city launched an attack at this time.

Although the walls of Miletus are tall and strong, it is obviously insufficient to defend the entire city by Miletus's forces alone, not to mention that it has been completely surrounded, and it is impossible to have any reinforcements, so under the containment of the Dionian army, the oligarchy cannot draw more troops to suppress the instability in the city, and the patrols they sent to arrest and arrest in the city quickly aroused the anger of the people, and finally the people launched a riot and assisted the Dionian army to easily break through the city of Miletus, which led to small casualties on both sides, Thus achieving the purpose of Leoticides - to have a good account of Princess Christoia, who was highly respected by the people of Dionia.

After the surrender of Miletus, the Greek coalition did not face any more fighting, and the towns they passed through surrendered one after another, until they reached Halicarnassus, the capital of the Carria region.

The coastal city-states of Caria, like most of the coastal city-states of western Asia Minor, were once colonized by the Greeks, and not only maintained close ties with the Greek native city-states, but also gradually inculcated and integrated the indigenous people of the Caria region over the course of several hundred years, not only did most of the towns in the region look the same as those of the native Greek cities, but Greek also became the lingua franca of the region, although Caria was eventually conquered by the Persian Empire and became one of its provinces. But the region remained as independent as the rest of western Asia Minor, and even most of the towns in the region were united around a close confederation centered around the temple of Zeus in Lagina, which was of course a religious group rather than a political entity.

After Agosilaus led an army to destabilize western Asia Minor, and Tissafrius was executed by the Persian queen mother for his crimes, the Carian nobleman Hecatomnus took advantage of the turmoil to establish his rule in the region of Caria. At this time, because the king of Persia not only negotiated peace with Sparta, but also supported Sparta's hegemony in Greece proper, which caused great dissatisfaction among the nobles and people in western Asia Minor, in order to appease them, Artaxerxes temporarily appointed Lakhkatomnus as the governor of Caria while marrying a daughter to the son of Phanabazos.

Hecatomnus was a shrewd man, as was his son Mausolus, who paid tribute to the Persian treasury on time and submitted to the Persian king. Five years earlier, when almost all the governors of western Asia Minor had rebelled, Mausolus, who had succeeded his father as governor of Karia, had also wavered, first remaining neutral, then turning to the king of Persia when the rebels were at a disadvantage, and assisting the Persian army to completely suppress the rebellion, so that his governorship was retained after the war. During this turbulent period, his power in Karia was further strengthened, and he was not only the official governor of Karia appointed by Persia, but also a co-tyrant of many cities in the region of Carria.

And Mossolus also moved the governor's residence from Miraza to Halicarnassus, not only spent a lot of money to rebuild the city of Halicarnassus, but also expanded the port, built a fortified castle and two military ports on the small island outside the city, Zephilion, and spent a lot of money to form a fleet, and he was obviously ambitious to develop Carria into a maritime power.

Fearing that the landing of the Greek coalition would interrupt his ongoing plans, this time he actively supported Fanabazos, not only providing a large number of troops, but also becoming one of the main advocates of the formation of the Asia Minor fleet, which was generously provided by him for 1/4 of the number of ships, and of course he was also planning how to take the command of the Asia Minor fleet into his own hands after the war was over.

Unfortunately, the Asiatic fleet was annihilated by the Dionian fleet at Samos, which dealt him a heavy blow, and then the Greek coalition defeated the Persian army, which made him extremely uneasy, and he immediately mobilized in the Caria region to strengthen the defense of Halicarnassus.

He was not wrong in his prediction, and then the Greek coalition army marched eastward along the coast, and had already entered the Karia region.

Mausolus immediately repeated his old trick and sent an emissary to Leoticides and told him that Caria was willing to remain neutral in this war, and even to provide some goods and goods for the Greek coalition to facilitate the passage of the Greek coalition through the Caria region, as long as the Greek coalition no longer regarded Caria as an enemy.

Mossolus's idea was very good, but Leoticides had learned some information about Carria in detail, and he was not at ease with the cunning and changeable Mossolas, and the strength of the Carria region was not weak, and he was not at ease with such a hidden danger and placed it in the rear of the army without dealing with it, so he did not accept Mossolas's request, but proposed: The Carria region must surrender to Dionia!

This, of course, was unacceptable to the ambitious Mossolus, so the negotiations failed and the war began.

Knowing that the Greek coalition was high in morale and strength, and that a field battle with them could only lead to a crushing defeat, Mausolus reduced his forces to the city and defended it with all his might, in order to delay time and wait for the tide of battle to change.

Hekatomnus and Mausolus, father and son, have been running the Caria region for more than 20 years, and the opposition has been suppressed for a long time, with little influence, and the people basically agree with the rule of this family, so it is impossible for it to have turmoil and riots when the great army is overwhelmed like Ephesus and Miletus, so the Greek coalition has no other means than a hard attack.

However, under the thick-walled and well-defended city of Halicarnassus, several strong attacks by the Greek coalition army were defeated, and the Greek generals were swept away by the contempt of the previous smooth offensive posture, and had to patiently engage in a fierce battle with Mausolus.

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At the end of April, Davers led a large army eastward from Dafinay, a large fleet of heavy ships running parallel along the coast, and after a six-day long journey, through the desert, and around Gaza City, into the Canaan region. The port of Jaffa was then easily captured, making it a valuable supply port for the army.