Since the establishment of Dionia, there have only been two such large-scale battles, in the Western Mediterranean War, in which King Davos personally led the main force to fight the Carthaginian army in Sicily, but some of the soldiers in that war were provided by the allies, so the 100,000 soldiers were mixed with a lot of water; Secondly, in the Gallic War, Leoticides led a large army to conquer Shannei Gaul, but in fact, the main force led by him did not have 100,000 people, counting the partial division led by Patroclus, it only exceeded 100,000.

Thus, this time it was a real landing operation with an army of 100,000 men made up of the regular Dionian army (the Balearic Slingers belonged to the special army of Dionya, had a formal establishment in the Ministry of War, and were trained in peacetime by the XVIII Army Corps stationed in the Iberian region, and occasionally participated in the war against the Iberian natives; The Gallic Brigade is also a regular army, the Ministry of Military Affairs is a reference to the previous Roman Reserve Brigade, and wants to pass the run-in of time, and finally transform it into a regular army, it has been trained and commanded by the 14th Army Corps stationed in the Po region, and also participated in the war against the Ligurians together with the Border Legion, and now Liguria is still resisting in addition to sporadic places, and it has basically been pacified, and the Gallic Brigade has contributed a lot), And it is enviable that Patroclus was able to command such a large army in such an important battle at such a young age!

Olivers, Tegatinos and other generals looked at Patroclus who was talking eloquently, and they were very envious and jealous, but they did not have a trace of disdain, after all, Patroclus made a surprise strategy in Etruria and annihilated the invading Roman army in a short period of time The deeds are too amazing, and then he led the army to be stationed in the mountains of Gaul, and in a few years not only stabilized the Po region, but also almost conquered Liguria...... Therefore, he was able to become the commander of the landing operation because of his superior command skills and past exploits, and not because he was the son-in-law of King Davers.

Printors didn't have these complicated thoughts, his mind was focused on the upcoming landing operation, and he continued to ask with a frown: "100,000 soldiers need at least 2,000 ships to transport, and there are still many landing sites, there are many islands on the east coast of Greece, and the coastline is tortuous, how can we reach the landing site as quickly and accurately as possible?" How can the safety of the fleet at sea be guaranteed? ……”

"I'll answer those questions." Sekrian took over the conversation: "The maritime support for this landing operation is the responsibility of me, Midorades and Stefacas, and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd fleets, a total of 1,200 warships, will escort all the convoys transporting soldiers and supplies, and participate in the operation at the appropriate time.

Today there were only two city-states in the Greek alliance that could cause problems for the convoys, Athens and Thessaly. According to intelligence, the Athenian navy had more than 80 warships, including 50 three-layer oars, and more recently more than 100 thanks to the support of its maritime allies. Seven days ago, the main force of our navy assisted the army in conquering the islands on the west coast, and the Athenian fleet quietly approached the Gulf of Ragnia, and also fought with the 1st Detachment of the 1st Fleet that remained behind......

Thessaly's fleet had only begun to be formed a few years earlier, but it is said that Iason had invested a lot in it, and now there are nearly a hundred warships, but there has never been any major battles, and until now our intelligence officers have not seen this fleet go out to sea to patrol, and a fleet that likes to stay in the harbor is not combative.

Therefore, based on the analysis of the enemy's situation, our navy made the following combat arrangements on the day of landing. The 2nd and 3rd fleets left port before the convoys departed, the 2nd Fleet blockaded the Gulf of Salon, the 3rd Fleet blocked the Gulf of Pagassa (the bay on the eastern edge of Thessaly) to prevent the Athenian and Thessaly warships from going to sea to attack the convoys, and the 5 sub-fleets of the 1st Fleet escorted the convoys to the landing site—"

At this point, Sekrian swallowed, moistened his throat, and continued: "Also, I would like to talk a little more about the convoy that landed this time. When the Ministry of War recruited transport ships in the various port towns of the kingdom a month ago, it deliberately selected merchant ships that were familiar with the coastal routes of northern Greece, and the chambers of commerce in various regions provided great help in this regard, so there was no need to worry that the crews would not be familiar with the routes.

Moreover, the Ministry of Military Affairs also took the time to form more than 2,000 transport merchant ships, clarified their respective tasks, and conducted unified training, so there was no need to worry about too much chaos in the fleet when landing.

There are more southerly winds in the Aegean Sea this season, and we will choose the day when the south is stronger as the landing day, and according to my judgment, it may only take half a day for the fleet to reach its destination. ”

Printors listened attentively, his brow furrowed not quite stretched: "Our vast fleet may face more than just the Athenian and Thessaly navies as it sails north—"

"I know Mistress Printors is talking about the Persian navy." This time it was Midorades who interjected, he and Sekerian looked at each other, and said with a smile: "We are not taking the Persian navy lightly, since the First Fleet was stationed in the waters south of the Peloponnese, we have been sending clippers to monitor the movements of the fleets in various regions of Persia in Asia Minor, and so far we have not found anything abnormal.

After the return of our 2nd Fleet from Egypt, we sent additional clippers to the waters near Crete to strengthen the observation of the Phoenician seas, and from the information now received, it seems that the Persians have begun to attack Egypt, and a large number of warships are concentrating on Tyre and Sidon in Phoenicia, and there is no sign of a major westward march to the aid of Greece. ”

After hearing this, Printors still asked with some concern: "100,000 soldiers, the daily consumption of military rations is huge, how can you solve it after you land?" ”

Without hesitation, Patroclus replied: "The Ministry of War requires each soldier to carry five days' rations, and after a successful landing, to occupy the nearby port towns such as Lamia and Peleus as soon as possible, so as to ensure that our ships carrying materials can enter the harbor and unload their cargo."

Of course, this is only temporary, and the base that can really provide logistical supplies for the entire army in a very convenient way should be Philae. According to the information we have received, there is a large amount of food in the city of Philae, which is prepared for the army of Iason, so our landing army must break into the hinterland of Thessaly as soon as possible and capture Philae as soon as possible. ”

A smile appeared on the corner of Patroclus's mouth, and he said confidently: "Your Majesty also attaches great importance to Philae, and has already made some arrangements in advance, I believe it will be of great help to the smooth capture of Philae." It is now the end of July, and by the time we attack it will be August, and the wheat is almost ripe, and Thessaly has plenty of fertile fields to supply our army for the next few months......"

It was only at this time that Printors' face was slightly pale, looking at the generals who had just arrived in Sparta, and said seriously: "It seems that Your Majesty attaches great importance to this landing operation, and has made a lot of preparations for the Ministry of Military Affairs, and I believe that you have also led the legion to conduct many landing operations exercises, and I have no doubts, I just hope that you will continue to pay close attention to the movements in the Aegean Sea in the next few days, and then improve your landing plan according to the actual situation." ”

Printors apparently uttered these words in his capacity as chief of staff, and Patroclos and the other generals nodded earnestly in agreement.

Then Patroclus looked at Klotocatax and asked with concern, "Whether the landing in Thessaly is successful or not, whether it can be held here is the key." I heard that you suffered a lot of losses in the battle with Sparta, and now you are facing a major attack by the Greek coalition army, are you a little tight in terms of troops? Do you need some troops to support you? ”

After more than two months of fighting in the Peloponnese, Crotokatas was no longer as self-confident as he had at the beginning, and had to consult Printors first to make any decision, and he replied confidently: "In fact, our losses in the battle with Sparta are not large, the four legions and one cavalry corps are still very complete, and we can also organize about 15,000 soldiers of the young and middle-aged Helots and Periasians in Messenia and Laconia, and the total strength can reach 45,000 men, which is not too different from the Greek coalition army."

What's more, they are attacking, we are defensive, and the troops are completely sufficient. And judging from the previous battle situation, the Greek coalition forces are not good at siege cities, their siege equipment is simple, the methods are very simple, and even the combat is not brave enough, which does not pose a great threat to our defensive camps, in fact, even without your landing operation, we are confident that we will hold on until the Greek coalition forces are demoralized and eventually have to retreat. ”

When Patroclus heard this, he suddenly frowned, and reminded directly: "I suggest that you don't defend too strongly, and you should also make some concessions appropriately, so that the Greek coalition forces can taste the sweetness and not want to retreat, we need to contain the Greek coalition forces in the Peloponnese so that they can't rescue Thessaly in time!" ”

Klotockataks was stunned.

Printors, who was reminded, quickly reacted and immediately persuaded: "What Commander Patroclus said is very reasonable, in the past, our stubborn defense was to hold Messenia and Laconia, but now to ensure the smooth implementation of the landing plan, we can consider making a slight concession, such as taking the initiative to abandon a defensive camp......