The news that spread thrilled the anti-Spartan League while it alarmed Agesilaus. Sensing the situation turning bad, Agesilaus immediately ordered the troops to abandon the previously occupied ports and cities in the Gulf of Corinth to avoid getting surrounded from all sides.
Unfortunately, his order came too late. Under the leadership of Iphicrates, the motivated allied troops separated to attack and try recapturing the port of Lechaion and the port of SicyonâŠas a result, they almost reached deep into Boeotia and cut off the way back of the stationed Spartan allied troops in the many port towns in the Gulf of Corinth.
Agesilaus hurriedly ordered his younger half-brother Teleutias to lead the fleet to bring back their scattered troops and place them in Lechaion and Sicyon. They would focus their defence on these two important town ports in Corinth, which resulted in the Spartan allied troopsâ offensive momentum being severely hindered and had to change into defence.
Consequently, the anti-Spartan League had to stop their offence after their attack on Lechaion was repelled.
Thus the two sides were locked in a stalemate again.
But the daring Iphicrates wasnât content with the status quo. He then led his light infantry troops while carrying their rations to boldly invade the central area of the Peloponnese, the most loyal subordinate of Sparta â Arcadia. They then began raiding the villages, plundering food, destroying the farms and repeatedly ambushing the Arcadian troops that came to attack them, resulting in the Arcadians not daring to fight them. But because they couldnât ignore their frenzied destructions, the Arcadians could only ask Agesilaus for help.
After receiving the Arcadiansâ request for help, Agesilaus was in a dilemma. Currently, the Spartan allied army was facing the offensive pressure and high morale of the enemy while having a shortage of troops. Moreover, Iphicratesâ troops were the most troublesome, and Agesilaus regarded him as a formidable enemy. If he were to send fewer soldiers, Agesilaus feared the cunning Athenian strategos would defeat him. But if he sent more men, he feared the enemy in Corinth would take advantage to counterattack.
But Sparta still had to save Arcadia. As the leader of the Peloponnesian League, they were vastly different from Athens, the former leader of the Delian League.
Athensâ attitude towards its allies could be said to be domineering: Their allies had to pay tribute, dispatch troops, and support the democrats close to Athens. Moreover, the Athenian merchants have privileges in their alliesâ territories, and in case of local disputes, they must settle them in the Athenian court. Whatâs more, after joining the Delian League and later wanting to withdraw, the Athenian army will go and attack themâŠ
The Spartans, on the other hand, treated their allies much better. As long as they did not betray Sparta, the Spartans tended to negotiate with their allies in deciding matters. That is because they do not have Athensâ huge population, nor Athensâ abundant financial resources, nor Athensâ powerful navy. And even among the soldiers of the Spartan alliance, the genuine Spartan soldiers occupy the minority. Sparta relied on the prestige established by the Spartan warriors over the past centuries, but they couldnât do anything without their allies. So even though Sparta defeated Athens, and they had become domineering and had changed their attitude towards their allies, the essential thing remained the same â Sparta still needed their allies.
As a king, Agesilaus knew about this matter extremely well. Thus he finally decided to return to Sparta and explain to the Gerousia the reason for their setback while asking them to send more reinforcements to Arcadia.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The following day, Martius, the captain of the guard, entered the tent as soon as Davos finished his breakfast, âYour majesty, Mithridates wants to see you.â
Davosâ heart thumped, âLet him in.â
Mithridates anxiously entered the tent and immediately knelt on one knee, âYour majesty, I have come to ask for forgiveness! After receiving your order yesterday, I sent more warships to patrol outside the port of Scylletium. And just as you expected, an enemy ship did rush out of the port late at night. But even though our warships tried their best to block it, the enemy still escaped our encirclement with their skilled ship handling and fled to the south. Our two fast-sailing ships had gone in pursuit, but I still havenât received any newsâŠâ
âWhy did the Syracusans willingly take a great risk of sailing late at night to escape the Theonian fleetâs blockade?â Henipolis, who remembered his conversation with Davos yesterday, suddenly exclaimed, âDionysius! It must be Dionysius who had escaped!â
Mithridates shuddered at hearing Henipolisâ words, so he hurriedly looked at Davos only to see the wise young king frowning. Then Davos relaxed his frown and smilingly said, âDonât rashly jump to the conclusion that Dionysius ran away just from this piece of information. Mithridates, the sea outside the port of Scylletium is so wide that even if we gather all our warships, we may still be unable to fill it. Moreover, we can only send four to five fast-sailing ships to patrol at night. So if the enemy wants to escape, our fleet wonât be able to stop them.â
âYour majesty!â Mithridates was deeply grateful for Davosâ understanding.
âBut for an enemy ship breaking in and out as if our fleet doesnât exist is a humiliation to the Theonian fleet! It is a humiliation to every Theonian sailor and captain!!!â Davos turned serious, âOur fleet must no longer be complacent just because they have defeated Syracuse many times! We had forgotten that we are not as good as Syracuse in terms of ship handling, nor the tacit understanding of formation changing and coordination of the entire fleet! It was the corvus and the strength of our legion the reason our fleet had won many times!âŠâ
Mithridates face flushed with shame at Davosâ words, so he hurriedly said, âYour majesty, please rest assured that I will definitely work with Lord Seclian to intensify our fleetâs training after we return! And in one yearâŠno, half a year later, you will see significant improvement of the Theonian fleet!â
Davos nodded happily and said, âVery well, Iâll look forward to seeing a more powerful Theonian fleet in half a year!â
Then he said, âMithridates, get up. If I punish a valuable strategos just because one or two enemy ships escape, Iâm afraid it wonât be long before Theonia run out of good naval commander.â
Davosâ teasing words slightly relaxed the nervous Mithridates. After standing up, Mithridates asked hesitantly, âBut Dionysius-â
But Davos interrupted him, âThat is not your concern. What you need to do now is to strengthen the portâs surveillance to prevent the Syracusan fleet from escaping. Also, dispatch 30 triremes to Rhegium as soon as possible to reinforce Seclianâs fleet, allowing them to gain maritime superiority in Sicily! Can that be done in two days?â
âIt wonât even take two days, your majesty. I can dispatch the needed warships to Rhegium today.â Mithridates immediately gave his assurance.
After seeing him off, Henipolis immediately asked, âYour majesty, what if Dionysius really escaped?!â
At this moment, Davos had already made up his mind and said, âWhatâs there to panic?! The escape of Dionysius means that the Battle in Magna Graecia has ended, which is good for us!â
âBut it might affect your majestyâs plan about the revolt in Sicily and the first legion!â When Davos sent the first legion to Sicily, Henipolis heard Davos talk about his plans. Hence he expressed his concern.
Davos looked at him and softly said, âHeni, you overestimate Dionysius! Even if he is capable, you must not forget that he left the entire army he brought behind in Magna Graecia and fled back to Syracusan by himself. He is simply just a deserter! What would the Syracusans who lost their loved ones think?! What would their allies in Sicily think?! Although I donât know the situation in Sicily in the past two days, Dionysius wonât have an easy time calming the peopleâs anger! He had ruled Syracuse and Sicily with military might, but now that most of his troops are left here-â
He then pointed to the city of Scylletium and said with a sneer, âWithout enough troops, how can he suppress the Syracusans who want to overthrow him?!!â
Henipolisâ eyes brighten up, âSo itâs a good thing that Dionysius escaped!â
Davos was silent for a moment. In fact, his words were to comfort himself, âIf Dionysius dared to flee alone, he must have a way to deal with Syracuseâs predicament. After all, he had managed Sicily for many years, so once he successfully escaped back, my plan to disrupt Sicily might fail and may even allow this tyrant to wipe out the first legion before leading reinforcements to attack Magna GraeciaâŠâ
Thus Davos felt a sense of urgency, so he said, âFirst of all, we must make sure whether Dionysius escaped or not!â
Hence he called over Izam of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade and ordered him to send his men from all directions of the city to monitor the enemyâs movements closely and report back at once.
Throughout the morning, the city of Scylletium remained calm; they neither sent an envoy to Theoniaâs camp to seek a truce nor their cavalry that used to patrol in front of the city every day showed up. Even though the number of soldiers on the city wall remained unchanged, Dionysius, who usually appeared every morning to observe their situation, hadnât appeared todayâŠ
After learning all of these things, Davos concluded thatâŠ
In the afternoon, he again sent the soldiers of the mountain reconnaissance brigade to take turns in front of the city to shout, âSyracusans, you are here guarding the city so seriously, but your tyrant Dionysius had already escaped!â
âSyracusans, surrender! Dionysius abandoned all of you, so why are you still here fighting?!â
âWhy did Dionysius escape?! Our first legion has captured Sikuri and Catania and is now attacking Syracuse! If Dionysius didnât escape, he would no longer have a home to return to!â
âWe arenât deceiving you. When you attacked our camp yesterday, have you seen our first legion?! No, right?! It is because they have already landed in the Gulf of Naxos! But Dionysius blocked the news so that his escape would be easier!â
âDionysius didnât appear in the city wall today, did he?! It is because he has already run away! If you donât believe it, check his tent and see if he is still there!â
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Theonian soldiersâ shouting at the bottom of the city wall was like boulders thrown into a calm pond, producing countless waves.
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.
Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.