"Report to the commander, the cavalry on the left flank of Persia has been completely routed!"

After receiving the good news from the heralds, Leoticides still looked serious: pass on my order, and the cavalry on the right flank and the light shields of Epirus immediately attack the Persian flank! ”

He knew very well in his heart: according to what he had known before, although the cavalry on the left flank of the Persian army had lost the opportunity, they had behaved very valiantly in a difficult situation, and although their own cavalry and light shield soldiers had combined forces to defeat them, they had also paid a great price. But this is not the time to rest, because judging from the whole situation, although the coalition forces have the upper hand, they will not be able to defeat the Persians for a while, and the arrows that the Persian archers continue to shoot from the rear of their army continue to consume a lot of the energy of the soldiers at the rear of their own army, affecting their strong support for the soldiers at the front of the array.

What's more troublesome is the thousands of cavalry on the right flank of Persia, although the Dionian light armor and light infantry have been mixed together, with their backs to the main force of the Greek coalition, lined up in a relatively loose formation, paying close attention to the movements of the Persian cavalry, ready to defend against its surprise attack on the flank of the main force of the coalition army, but the speed of the Persian cavalry is fast after all, and if it really has to move quickly on a large scale, the light armor and light infantry can only be out of reach, and at the critical moment, their desperate all-out surprise attack may bring big trouble to the entire battle situation, So he wants to be able to secure a chance of victory as soon as possible.

Leoticides was contemplating the whole battle situation and paying attention to the battle ahead, when the captain of his guard suddenly shouted: "Commander, the Persian cavalry is rushing towards us!" ”

Leoticides hurriedly turned around to see that countless Persian cavalry that had been cruising in the distance were galloping in his direction. The light infantry fired arrows and javelins at them, and the Persian cavalry continued to fall from their horses, but instead of retreating again, as before, they increased their advance.

Leoticides' face changed slightly: his fears were fulfilled, but the target of the surprise attack was himself, the commander of the Greek coalition.

As a former Spartan soldier, he is not lacking in courage, but as the commander of the coalition forces, he must not have accidents at the most important moment of the battle, and he cannot let the coalition flag held high next to him be taken away, which will greatly affect the morale of the soldiers, so he did not hesitate to lead the escort team to the place where the light armor and light infantry are most concentrated. And the officers of this mixed unit also felt the crisis and shouted to the soldiers to gather.

This Persian cavalry unit, which was dominated by light cavalry, faced the enemy in front of it, and no longer chose to dodge as before, but hugged the horse's neck, increased the speed of the horse, and rushed straight towards the opponent.

This indomitable momentum caused many of the Dionian soldiers to feel palpitations, and the officers shouted "Hades' name" to stabilize the morale of the troops, while directing the light infantry to immediately launch a long-range attack to hinder the enemy's charge.

The horses that had been shot by the arrows rolled to the ground with the cavalry on their backs in a scream, and were trampled into pulp by the Persian cavalry who followed closely behind......

The long-range attacks of the Dionian light infantry failed to repel the Persian cavalry, but they slowed down their charge and gave the light armor time to form in a hurry.

In the face of the Persian cavalry, who rushed to the front with an astonishing momentum, the Dionian light armoured soldiers, despite their pale faces, still held leather shields and lined up in a dense array, blocking them.

"Pong! Disheveled! Disheveled! ...... "Ionian soldiers were constantly knocked into the air, taking down their comrades around them, but there were also soldiers who rushed to join the interception array. Amid constant screams and exclamations, the Dionian array was shattered, but it never collapsed, while the charge of the Persian cavalry was finally contained......

Leoticides had been keeping an eye on the battle behind him, and at this time he was not only relieved, but also happy, he knew very well that once the Persian cavalry, known for their speed, lost their speed, and if they did not retreat in time, only destruction awaited them, and he could finally devote all his attention to the battle ahead.

……………………………………………………………………

On the right flank of the Greek coalition formation, the two elite forces next to each other, the Spartan warriors and the Theban holy army, were competing with each other in order to prove that they were stronger than each other, but their enemies were under great pressure.

At this time, the attack of the allied cavalry and light shield men from the flank became the last straw that broke the camel's back, and the Persian soldiers began to retreat......

Although it will take some time for a small local rout to affect the army formation that is seven or eight miles long, and perhaps there may be other turnarounds in the Persian army during this time.

However, Fanabazos, who learned of this news, obviously did not have this kind of luck, and when the left, center, and right were at a disadvantage, and there were no reinforcements available, it was obvious that the defeat was decided, and he immediately gave the order to "retreat".

When the Persian soldiers heard the trumpet, they immediately turned and fled, and the allied soldiers took advantage of the situation to cover up and kill.

The whole battlefield was like a dam bursting, and the river was rushing in all directions.

The tens of thousands of Greek mercenaries in the middle of the road were not only slow to react, but also slow to react due to the thick armor affecting their hearing, and fell behind at the rear, becoming the best target for the allied soldiers to pursue.

Unable to care about the mercenaries he had spent years cultivating, he threw away his striking helmet and heavy cuirass, rode his own warhorse, and fled the battlefield as quickly as he had fled Greece a few years earlier......

At dusk, the Coalition soldiers, who had long since ceased their pursuit, were cleaning up the battlefield, tearing off the armor and weapons from the corpses, or searching for valuable items from the captives, and always laughing......

The generals of the coalition army gathered in twos and threes, looking happily at the battlefield strewn with corpses, while excitedly discussing the previous battle.

Leoticides, sitting alone on the hillside with his eyes closed, heard footsteps beside him and remembered, he asked directly without opening his eyes: "What about the loss?" ”

Mukru, the staff officer of the Greek coalition army and Leoticides' old partner, said in a deep voice: "According to preliminary statistics, we have more than 6,400 casualties, of which the number of cavalry casualties has reached 1,300, and the mortality rate is as high as 6 percent, more than 3,000 light infantry, and the mortality rate is only 30 percent, and the light armor soldiers have more than 1,000 people, and the mortality rate is only 30 percent...... The rest of the heavy infantry suffered the majority of allied soldiers, and the largest number of casualties were among the Spartan soldiers who were in a single formation. ”

Leoticides snapped his eyes open and turned to look at Mukru.

Mukru seemed to expect him to react, and continued with an unchanged face: "According to the herald's report, the Spartan warriors did show great courage in this battle, and they were the first to defeat the enemy in front of them, and of course they paid the price of nearly a hundred casualties......

Leoticides didn't speak, but his right hand silently tore off a piece of grass beside him.

"One more thing...... I think you should know......" Mukru whispered hesitantly, "Agesilaus is dead......

Leoticides' eyes widened suddenly.

Mukru's voice was lowered: "After hearing that the Persians were defeated, Agosilaus, who was originally sitting behind the Spartan army and commanding, was so excited that he wanted to follow the soldiers in pursuit, but he fell and never got up again......"

The old guy is finally dead...... The bulk that had been pressing on Leoticides' heart for many years suddenly disappeared, but at this moment he did not feel relaxed, but felt a little empty in his heart, and he looked around the battlefield in amazement, and finally fixed his gaze on a corner on the left side of the battlefield: there were hundreds of strong men with long pigtails and shirtless bodies, bowing their heads solemnly and praying for something, and in front of them was a row of corpses, among which must have the remains of Agosilaus......

Leoticides thought this, but did not go over to pay his respects with them, but sat quietly, echoing in his ears what Agosilaus had said when he had left the previous night......

As he was stunned, Muqru's report continued: "The Persians left nearly 6,000 corpses and wounded soldiers on the battlefield, most of them cavalry. We also captured more than 6,000 routs, mostly Greek mercenaries......"

………………………………………………………………

Aritaka, a well-known Tyre nobleman, twice served as the leader of the Tyre fleet in Egypt with the Persian army, and was rewarded by the Persian king for his role in quelling rebellions in western Asia Minor.

Therefore, after the turmoil in Egypt, the king of Persia, who wanted to take the opportunity to recapture Egypt, obviously did not forget him, and sent messengers to Phoenicia, asking the Phoenician city-states to assemble all the warships, commanded by Aritaka, and prepare to cooperate with the Persian army to attack Egypt.

But it wasn't long before the Holy Kingdom of Dionya declared war on Persia, followed by the landing of the Dionian army in Egypt, the pacification of the unrest, the prolonged stay, and the presence of its army in Pe-Ramses, threatening Gaza's security...... A series of other news came one after another for more than two months, making the whole Near East tense.

During this period, Persia, which was in the midst of a full-scale military mobilization, demanded that the coastal areas of Cyprus, Syria, and Issus must concentrate all the warships they possessed in their regions to the military ports of Tyre and Sidon to form a unified Persian fleet, and appointed Aritaka as the commander of the Persian fleet, requiring him to lead the fleet to protect the Near East Sea and prevent the invasion of the Dionian fleet.

Aritaka, who was the sole one to be assigned for the first time, was naturally very diligent, and he repeatedly sent envoys to urge Cyprus and Syria and other regions to provide warships as soon as possible, and at the same time seized the time to reorganize and train the warships under his command.

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