In the summer of 315 BCE, Cassander, Lysimachus, and Antigonus formed an alliance against Alexander. Alexander www.biquge.info who heard the news, did not show much surprise, and he was not even angry in the face of such a blatant rebellion, because it was a reasonable thing. The temptation of power kept Lysimachus busy but he also sent 8,000 men to join the rebellion, of which 2,000 were Macedonian cavalrymen, 4,000 were Macedonian pikemen, and another 2,000 were Thracian mercenaries; Cassander even sent his brother Philip to lead 15,000 men to the battle, of which 5,000 were Greek hoplites, 2,000 Greek archers, the rest were Macedonian native troops, 2,000 Macedonian lancers, 5,000 Macedonian pikemen, and 1,000 were Cassander's most elite Macedonian escort cavalry. Together with the 25,000 that were reorganized after Antigonus returned to Phrygia, there were about 48,000 people in total. It was a large force, and although it was still a little far from Antigonus at its peak, Eumenes had only 30,000 men after joining forces with Cretos and Ares, and they had already begun to advance towards Silesia.

With the great Medes under Alexander's rule, the question of the northeast was temporarily over, and Alexander's affairs in Babylon were almost settled, and he felt that it was time to go to Silesia and deal with Antigonus with Eumenes and his soldiers. Although Antigonus's strength was greatly reduced after the Battle of Babylon, with his ability and prestige and the number of the coalition army, Alexander still felt less confident in this battle, so in addition to the more than 3,000 people who stayed in Babylon, Alexander led 2,000 royal spearmen, 2,000 mountain cavalry of Occhates, and 3,000 leather shield spearmen to Silesia. Although Eumenes was extremely intelligent, without his own king, Alexander was really afraid that Eumenes would not be able to suppress his arrogant soldiers. And then a piece of news made him more aware of the seriousness of the matter. Ptolemy's troops were originally ready to be brought back to reinforce the Western Front, but as soon as he returned to Babylon, Antigonus had already led the coalition army to advance towards Silesia. This time it is very likely that it will be a general battle in the field, and the situation of the Battle of Babylon will never occur, and it is difficult to predict the outcome of the battle.

"General, there is the Silesian Gate ahead."

"Does General Antigonus have any plans?"

"Eumenes' army is still sluggish at the foot of Mount Amanus, and it is clear that he is waiting for reinforcements, and we must fight him before their reinforcements arrive, otherwise it will be much more difficult to fight when they meet." Philip affirmed.

"I don't know how many reinforcements he has, and now there is no bottom at all?" Ptolemy (nephew) said.

"No matter what, there will be no more than us, it seems that Alexander's subordinate Kassandro went to hunt down Pesson, he was dragged at least 10,000 people, and he can get together at most about 35,000 people when he is full, but these are basically veterans, so overall, we are evenly matched, and no one can underestimate them. Therefore, Philip and Philaeros, you two generals must fight with the spirit of twelve points, and must go all out, we cannot afford to lose this battle! ”

"Don't worry, before leaving, the governor told me to obey the general's command, the safety of all the diadochi is at stake, and there is absolutely no slackness." Feleteros said solemnly.

"In the same way, my brother has also made a bloody investment this time, he instructed me to fully cooperate with His Excellency General, only by defeating Eumenes, we can sit down and divide the land, if we fail, then we will have nothing, even our lives will be lost, we have no way to retreat. The same was true for Alexander, who failed to put his newly established prestige and domination in jeopardy. Therefore, this battle is a battle that will determine the fate of Macedonia and the pattern of Asia, and in order to win, it must be done by all means, even if it is worth losing one's life. Philip said firmly.

"That's right, we have already risked our lives, as long as the general gives an order, I will move forward and never look back." Ovargoras said firmly, and the others looked at Antigonus expectantly.

"The military heart is available!" Antigonus looked at his loyal soldiers and smiled knowingly.

At the western foot of Mount Amanus, Creitas and Ares came to Alexandreta and brought with them 5,000 soldiers.

"General, they've arrived." A soldier reports to Eumenez.

"Oh, it's finally here, immediately notify the departments to pack their bags and be ready to go at any time." Eumenes' brow finally relaxed.

"General!" Ares and Creitas arched together.

"I've been waiting for you for days! Dias, you're here too! ”

"This is a big battle related to the fate of Your Majesty and the empire, how can you miss the old man, although the battlefield mainly depends on everyone's bloody battles, but if you can avoid losses as much as possible, it is always good, this time I brought a large number of equipment, and I can use it more or less when the time comes."

"Then thank you, old man."

"Look what you're talking about, it's all for the king, and you're too outspoken." Dias said with a displeased face.

"Alas, all the way along the oases and the edge of the desert, all infantry, all in armor, and the weather is so hot, can you go fast. Rao is like this, the soldiers are already very tired. Chretas complained.

"Yes, yes, but I'm afraid you still have to travel a little longer to rest, Antigonus's army is probably already through the Silesian Gate at this time, if we don't hurry up, I'm afraid he will have the upper hand."

"Ahh It's fast, but there's no need to rush! He had just received a letter from His Majesty the King two days before, and he was already on his way, and had drained almost all of the elite of Babylon, bringing with him seven or eight thousand men. So you have to wait until you meet before you have a decisive battle, right? Ares said.

"You're right, I've been notified, but that doesn't stop us from making some arrangements in advance." Eumenes smiled and said, "Follow me." ”

When everyone came to the barracks, Eumenes spread out the map and said: "Antigonus is now marching eastward without stopping, just to attack and break through each while our forces are not yet concentrated, and in order to defeat Antigonus more certainly, we must concentrate our forces." And he is more anxious than us now, in fact, in a sense, it is also a good thing, because in this case, the battlefield can be chosen by us at that time. ”

"That's right, the general is right." Ares said.

"From the Silesian Gate to the east, all the way to the plain, until near Issus, there are mountains, if the battle is fought in the plain, both sides can give full play to the quantitative and qualitative advantages of the army, fighting is courage and quality, with Antigonus leading the army for so many years, the frontal battle is almost invulnerable, whoever can hold out until the end on both sides can achieve victory, this is a war of attrition. He is desperate, because this is his only chance, but if we lose all the troops because of this battle, then even if we win, what will we do to maintain the rule, Cassander and Lysimachus may not be able to fight again, the two sides can barely maintain the peace, but Ptolemy his army is still relatively intact, he is an old fox, he always keeps an eye on us, just wait for us to lose and reap the benefits of the fisherman, how can we let him do what he wants. Therefore, we have to choose a place where the terrain is favorable to us and fight a decisive battle with Antigonus. There are no strong walls around this place for us to garrison, and Antigonus will not have another battle of Babylon if we have learned from the past. I am ready to take up positions in the south-east of Issus, in the narrow strip of mountains and coasts. ”

"Hey! General, I thought you were going to defend in the mountains, why did you do it for a long time and still on flat land, isn't it flat land between the coast and the mountains? What's the difference between that and being in the plains? Ares wondered.

"yes, yes, I have that question." Cretos echoed, and several of the surrounding generals looked at him and Ares with smiles, making them baffled.

"Because of this deployment, we can have one more killer weapon, and that is the navy." Amintas explained: "The Great Admiral had sent someone to inform Polybecon a long time ago that the only advantage in this place was that the fleet could be borrowed to destroy Antigonus's coalition forces. ”

"Fleet?!" Ares was stunned, he really didn't understand how to borrow the fleet to destroy Antigonus, this was a fantasy idea for him.

"Remember the naval battle in Rhode Island the winter before last? You all participated in that battle, and it was the first battle that His Majesty led us to fight, and it was also the first victory, and I think you all remember it vividly. At this point, Amintas said, and everyone understood.

"Of course, who can forget that." Ares and Cretos laughed.

"Then you should know the scene of the battleship battle, how heroic and wonderful it is! In addition to hand-to-hand combat, arrows and stones are flying and flames are everywhere, how shocking......" Amintas said and waved his hand there.

"So you want to use this trick! Hahaha, that's wonderful, who would have thought that the great general would borrow the fleet of Polybocon, thousands of miles away, to win this battle. If this is the case, then our losses can definitely be reduced to a minimum, and only the navy can easily and quickly detour the flank and right rear of the enemy, and attack with impunity without any resistance, and the effect is obvious, this trick is really amazing, Your Majesty said that you are the smartest person in the world, it is really not bad at all! Dias said happily, and the words of praise were overflowing.

"Hahaha, you're really bad, this time Antigonus is going to suffer a big loss again! Hahaha! Ares laughed, ignoring the corner of Kletos' coat.

Eumenes was not at all dissatisfied, and said earnestly: "However, this battle still needs to rely on the bravery and loyalty of the soldiers, and there is no news from there yet, and I don't know if Polybocon's fleet can catch up." So it is good for you to have faith, but it would be a mistake to think that you can be passive because you have the help of Polybucon. Remember, success is only reserved for those who are prepared, do you understand? ”

"Understood!"