Sedorum continued: "I have heard that many of the Greek city-states were sympathetic to the fall of Messenia, and took the initiative to take in many Messenians who had fled Sparta, if our army could fight it." I don't think the Greek people will be so disgusted with us if we really rebuild Messenia and let the Helots get free, which will not only seriously weaken the power of Sparta, but also make the rebuilt Messenia completely fall to us and become the most supportive force in Greece. ”

Davos nodded slightly, obviously Sedorum's proposal was to his liking, and he immediately turned to Alexis, "What is the opinion of the Ministry of War on this?" ”

Alexis replied almost without hesitation: "Your Majesty, from a military point of view, choosing to attack Messenia is a good strategic choice. It would be safer if our army landed north of Central Greece or the Peloponnese through the Gulf of Corinth and joined forces with the army of Thebes, but it also meant that most of our gains would be captured by the Thebans, and it would also wary the nearby neutral city-states, such as Athens and Corinth.

However, if the battlefield is opened up alone, most of the Peloponnese Peninsula is crisscrossed by mountains, and it is not very convenient for large armies to land and march, and the Messenia region is undoubtedly the best target, its southern coast is flat and suitable for large armies to land, and it is very close to Sparta, but it is separated by impassable mountains, and it is impossible for reinforcements from Sparta to arrive quickly, so that the landing army has enough time to completely occupy Messenia.

Moreover, the next attack by land only needs to pass through the territory of the Arcadians to attack Sparta directly, and the attack from the sea is even closer, and the flat southern coast of Sparta is also conducive to landing, so as to avoid the possibility of direct conflict with other Greek powers......"

Although Alexis is a military commander, he also takes political factors into account when making military plans, which is what Davers admires the most: "Very good! The Ministry of War worked out a plan for an attack on Messenia as soon as possible. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Alexis responded immediately.

"Your Majesty." Printors raised the battle report in his hand and said: "I noticed that this battle report mentions that there are many Thessalian cavalry in the Piosian coalition army, according to the latest intelligence from Greece, the Thessaly region in northern Greece has been basically unified by the tyrant Iason of Philae, if these cavalry are not hired by the Thebans, then they can only be sent by Iazon, which means that Thessaly may quietly ally with Thebes, which may attract our attention!" ”

"Thessaly......" Daversmo rubbed his chin in thought.

At this time, Mattonis smiled and said: "Thessaly is also allied with Thebes, which is a good thing, so that we don't have to worry too much about the Thebans facing another crisis because of Sparta's crazy revenge before attacking Greece, and we can also consider an alliance with the Thessalians at the right time." ”

Matonis showed a good impression of the Thessalians, which some ministers did not expect, because after working together for so many years, they all knew that Matonis was from Thessaly, Oliver was from Thessaly, and Shilos was from Thessaly...... Some of the former mercenary generals in the Ionian army were now from Thessaly, and even their king Davers was once a Thessaly, so it was wise not to refute Matonis's words.

But what they didn't know was that Davers had no affection for Thessaly at all, but it was Printors' words that aroused his vigilance.

Thessaly, located in northern Greece, is a barbarian land in the eyes of traditional powers such as Athens, Corinth, and Sparta. After twenty years of development, although the funds and manpower of the Dionian intelligence service have been increasing, there are more and more areas that need to be investigated and monitored, so they have not invested much energy in such a remote area, and only rely on the Dionian merchant ships that occasionally go to the Philae trade to get some information.

In previous years, even if Philae's tyrant Iason had conquered several neighboring city-states, it had not attracted the attention of the intelligence services, after all, there were so many tyrants in the Mediterranean city-states that it was not uncommon for them to do a little, but they were usually short-lived. It wasn't until the news that "Philae quickly united Thessaly and Iason to become Tagus" reached Turii that Aristias took it seriously.

Although in the years that followed, Iason stopped any war, and seemed content to become only the Tagus of Thessaly. But this made Davers even more alarmed, as Iason spent the years consolidating the city-states of Thessaly, promoting trade in the region, stepping up the training of citizen soldiers, and even forming a navy...... Iason's approach was similar to that of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, and Thessaly's geography made its infantry and cavalry stronger.

Could it be that this Thessalian tyrant finally can't bear the loneliness and wants to meddle in the affairs of southern Greece?! …… Davers was vigilant, and immediately said: "That tyrant of Thesaliphile is very ambitious, if he really quietly allies with Thebes this time, I am afraid that he wants to use this war to seize the hegemony of Greece, and we must not sit idly by and watch this!" Ansitanos, send messengers to inquire whether the Thebans have also made an alliance with Thessaly, and to find out the situation. It would be useful to find out the true attitude of the Thebans towards Thessaly, which would determine what we should do in the event of a future conflict with Thessaly. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Ansitanos responded.

"This ...... How so? ......" Mattonis looked stunned.

Printors, who knew a little about the situation, approached him and whispered to him.

Davers didn't pay much attention to it, and continued: "The Spartan army is defeated, Persia will never give up, and now the Thessalians may also be involved, since we have decided to interfere in the affairs of Greece, then we must take advantage of the defeat of the Spartans and the other forces have not yet fully set foot in it, and implement our plan as soon as possible!"

Alexis, Printors, you two should make a judgment now, how many troops will we need to capture Messenia and then attack Sparta? ”

Alexis and Printors glanced at each other, and called the commander of military training, Hieronimus, the quartermaster, Altones, the commander of the army, and the commanders of the army, Matonis, Oliver, and other generals, and formed a circle in the corner of the hall.

After some whispered deliberation, Alexis walked up to Davers and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, according to what the War Department has now learned about the situation in Sparta and the geographical conditions of the Peloponnese, after discussion, we believe that only 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers need to be sent to complete the mission of the expedition. There are too many troops, and it is not easy to deploy in the Peloponnese, which is full of mountains. ”

"2-30,000 ......," Davers asked, looking back, "how long can the existing grain reserves in the country support them to fight?" ”

Minister of Agriculture Burkos stretched out his hands and carefully calculated for a while, then stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the country has continued to have a bumper harvest in recent years, although there are some battles in Iberia and the Po River Plain, they are basically local battles, and the grain consumed is not much...... It can guarantee an army of 30,000 men to fight in Greece for more than a year. ”

"More than one year...... Well...... What about armament? ”

Quartermaster Alpon immediately stood up and replied: "Your Majesty, the armoury of the barracks in the districts is full of arrows, javelins, tents, blankets, and pack carts...... and other military supplies are sufficient, and the supply of 30,000 soldiers is more than enough. ”

After hearing this, Davers showed a somewhat satisfied smile, he thought about it, glanced at the auxiliary minister Hermon, and said: "Considering that this is the first time that we have sent troops to fight in Greece itself, in order to reduce the antipathy of the people of the neutral city-states towards us, it is best to send soldiers of Greek descent to the battle as much as possible......

The last time we fought in Gaul, it was the first, second, third, ninth, tenth, and eleventh legions, so this time it was ...... Well, considering that there will be a war with the Spartans, in order to be more secure, let the first, fourth, and sixth legions go on the expedition. ”

"Understood, Your Majesty." Alexis asked again, "What about the cavalry?" ”

"Cavalry and auxiliaries don't have to think about whether they have Greek ancestry or not, and the armies of the Greek city-states often hire foreigners to fight, such as Thrace, so you can decide for yourself."

"Yes."

Davers looked at Raphias, the Minister of Registrar, and asked, "Are the Ionian citizens of Messenian descent still concentrated in Tyndares (the city-state was incorporated into the Dionian kingdom a few years ago in response to the citizens' strong demand)?" ”

Rafias, who has been quietly in charge of the household registration of the citizens of the kingdom for decades, has always been firmly engraved in his mind by the population map and migration changes of the kingdom, and he can immediately answer without recalling: "Your Majesty, is it so...... Nearly half of the population remained in Tyndares and another half went to Himera (after the Western Mediterranean War, in order to strengthen its rule over the north coast of Sicily, the kingdom of Auria rebuilt the city of Himera in the middle of the north coast, where the terrain was relatively flat and had large rivers flowing through it, suitable for grazing and planting, so it attracted many other towns on the north coast). ”