"Really? As expected of your Majesty." "And your record of defeating the Thracians this time surprised me. Originally, I simply thought that you were someone I liked, but I couldn't tell when I would get tired of you. But now... you are too powerful, and you carry many secrets that I don't know. I find that I can't leave you anymore." "Your Majesty, you don't plan to go back?" "Of course I want to go back." Xerxes easily broke free from Hilde's hand. Then she stood up and held Hilde in her arms. Chapter 1, Section 2: Two people using each other Xerxes put his lips close to Hilde's ear. "Do you remember what we said in Persia?" "Which sentence?"
"In Persia, you are my imperial concubine, and in the Byzantine Empire, I am your princess." "……Remember." "So, every year I would take some time out to come to the Byzantine Empire. Anyway, there are a lot of people in the Persian Empire helping me with things. Even if I'm not here, the country can still run smoothly. Of course, on the way here, I can also deal with the rebels or bandits in the west, which can be regarded as doing serious work." "As long as you think it's okay, I'm always welcome." The capital of the Persian Empire was Persepolis, which was actually some distance away from the Anatolian Peninsula. Although in the eyes of the Greeks, Anatolia was Persia, for Persia, Anatolia was a relatively marginal territory, and conquered nations such as the Lydians would often resist Persian rule. And this guy Xerxes. Solve this kind of thing on the way? Hilde felt that this man was too strong. Perhaps this is the power of demigod. "So nice." Xerxes placed a kiss on Hilde's face. "I also brought you a gift." "what gift?" "Ionia, do you want it?" When Xerxes said this, Hilde even thought she had heard it wrong. "what?" "I have long disliked those city-states in Ionia, but I don't want to mobilize a large army to occupy these places. On the one hand, it is difficult to manage. On the other hand, Ionia has a population of hundreds of thousands and has close ties with Athens. Now, our Persian Empire is supporting the Delian League and giving them gold so that they can fight against Sparta's Peloponnesian League. It doesn't seem a good idea to directly mobilize a large army to attack members of the Delian League." "Oh……" Hilde probably understood.
"You want to kill someone with a borrowed knife." “Hahahaha, great metaphor.” "But what good will that do me?" "The advantage is that you are a Greek country, and if you rule Ionia, they won't react too much, and you won't even offend the Delian League. As long as you conquer Ionia and join the Delian League, the Athenians will definitely not object. However, you can get hundreds of thousands of people and hundreds of city-states in the Ionian region. Of course, as a gift, I will also return Miletus to you. What do you think of such a deal?" “…I have a question.” Hilde thought about it. "Why did you want to kill Ionia?" "Because the unrest in Anatolia was all caused by these Greeks. They provided funds to the Lydians and other guys to rebel against the Persian Empire, which caused a lot of trouble. The Athenians took our money but did not shut up Ionia and Ionia. So, the Ionian region will be yours in the future. After losing Ionia, the Ionians will be much more honest. In this way, isn't it a win-win situation for us?" "Oh……" Hilde roughly understood. "But that will have to wait until later." "why?" "The matter of Thrace has not yet been resolved, and... you know about the Scythian betrayal." "So you would rather go north than south?" Xerxes reached out and hooked Hilde's chin. "Yes, Your Majesty." "Then I order you to take Ionia." "Too cunning, isn't it said that my territory belongs to my princess? How can a princess give orders to the king?" "That was on the bed." Xerxes smiled faintly, "But when I give the order, you are my governor and my subject, so put aside your hatred for the Scythians and turn your target to the south. I want you to get rid of those annoying Ionians, no matter what method you use. Don't worry, after taking Ionia, the Persian army will withdraw from the area bordering Ionia, and as for Ionia further south, you can take it if you like." "I can't become fat in one bite." Hilde responded with a wry smile. "The Byzantine Empire currently has a population of only 700,000 people, and the Ionian region is conservatively estimated to have 600,000 to 700,000 people." "Almost. However, they are all scattered." "Sansha..." Hilde said with a wry smile, "Okay, then I can give it a try." "Awesome." In this matter, Hilde had no room for refusal. But Xerxes did not specify a specific time, so Hilde could spend more time to resolve the Thracian issue before leading the army south... As Xerxes said, the Ionian region was a mess. Although there was an Ionian League, this alliance had long been in name only due to the fall of Miletus. Moreover, the Ionians were part of the Greeks. They would join hands against the Persians, but they would not necessarily join hands against the Byzantines, who were also Greeks. They all believed in Greek gods. Strictly speaking, we are all family.
So it was difficult to concentrate forces to fight against the Byzantines. If Hilde really wanted to deal with Ionia, she could divide and conquer, first win over a part of it, then stir up conflicts among the Ionian alliance, and finally defeat a part of it, and then go back and eat those guys she won over. As for what Xerxes said about the Delian League, Hilde really needed to consider it. After all, the Delian League was here. If Athens discovered the crisis and joined the Delian League to fight against Byzantium, then Byzantium would definitely face greater danger. So, just extend the olive branch. For Athens. Than losing the help of the Ionian League. It might be more advantageous to obtain support from the Byzantine Empire. This incident also reminded Hilde that although Xerxes was her licker on the surface, in fact, Xerxes knew better than anyone who she was. As the emperor of the Persian Empire, Xerxes knew too well that no matter how much he liked Hilde, he had to grasp the degree and satisfy the interests of the Persian Empire. It was obviously the most appropriate choice to let Hilde's Byzantine Kingdom solve the stubborn problems in the east of the Persian Empire. Because the Persian Empire now secretly supports the Athenians. He would also give gold to the Athenians. Therefore, the Persian Empire naturally had no way to take action against the Ionians, who were Athens' allies... Hilde, who is in the neutral position, is now the best candidate. However, this is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Hilde. (I was not in good health yesterday, so I did not update. Today I will resume normal updates. I hope you can support me. Please give me a monthly ticket! Please give me a monthly ticket! Please give me a monthly ticket! The subscription of this article is not high, and the motivation for creation depends on your monthly ticket support! I beg for a monthly ticket!) The first third quarter targets Ionia Become a goddess and start dominating the world Volume Four third chapter Ionia... Ionia... Hilde was thinking about this term in her heart. The next day, Hilde immediately summoned his officials and held a secret meeting in the Temple of Athena. Those who came to attend the meeting were all members that Hilde trusted very much, and this time, Sitalses was also included in the meeting and became one of the members of this secret meeting. Sitalses proved that he could be trusted with his actions, and he was a taciturn person, so he would not tell secrets casually. "I asked you to come here today to tell you our future policy." "Your Majesty, hasn't it been confirmed?" Marcus asked curiously. "Just yesterday." "That's for others to hear, understand?" "Yes, Your Majesty." "I said yesterday that this year's mission is to expand our new territory, control all areas of the Thracian Kingdom, and prepare for the northern expedition against the Scythians. However, I don't want to do this... You all know that the Scythian Kingdom is vast and sparsely populated, with a total population of less than 100,000. However, with everyone being a soldier, it maintains a standing force of at least 30,000. If a war breaks out, it will be a battle far more bloody and cruel than the war with the Thracians."
“I agree with this.” Sitalses lowered his head and said: "I have fought against the Scythians before. Their cavalry is very powerful." "Indeed, our army is mainly composed of infantry phalanxes. Such an army is very advantageous in fighting against the Scythians in the Thracian Mountains. But once our army leaves the Thracian Mountains and enters the Scythian steppes, what should we do? Can our infantry hold out for a long time under the flexible and mobile attacks of the enemy cavalry?" "Your Majesty, our cavalry is also very powerful!" Amyntas stood up proudly: "They use cavalry, so we use cavalry too!" "That's exactly what I thought." Hilde nodded and knocked on the table. "Our cavalry has many advantages, whether it is weapons, armor, or equipment. With the high-bridge saddle and stirrups, our cavalry can crush the horsemanship of the Scythians even if they are inexperienced. However, the problem is that our cavalry is too small. The total number of cavalry in the country is only 3,000. It is unrealistic for you to use these 3,000 cavalry to deal with the enemy's 30,000 cavalry." Hilde had quite a bit of knowledge about the Scythian cavalry. The Scythian cavalry can be said to be the most threatening in the north. These horse riding masters usually wear simple iron armor, and their weapons are axes, spears, animal skin round shields, and simple single bows. They are nomadic people who have been riding horses since childhood, so the Scythians can be said to be natural cavalrymen. Whether they are assaulting or wandering, they are quite threatening. This is why the Thracian king, who is so powerful, cannot defeat the Scythians. The cavalry of nomadic peoples was cheap and all the people were soldiers, but for agricultural peoples like the Greeks, cavalry was a big problem. The breeding, training, and raising of horses was a huge expense, and the training of cavalry was certainly not as good as that of the Scythians, who had been riding horses since childhood. In other words, it was almost impossible to use cavalry to fight the Scythians head-on. However, Hilde is no ordinary person. Since these aspects cannot be achieved. Then use the equipment advantage to make up for it. The Byzantine cavalry wore iron armor, held weapons made of steel, and rode horses equipped with high-bridge saddles and stirrups. Whether it was archery or assault, they would be more deadly than the Scythians. Now, Hilder's cavalry was too small. If the number of people increased, it would not take too many. Ten thousand armored cavalry could deal a blow to the Scythians, and at the same time, they would not be at a disadvantage in tactics. At that time, the infantry would only need to march into the Scythian settlements. The cavalry chased the Scythian army. Force the other party to gather together. Of course, this approach cannot solve the problem fundamentally. Hilde felt that her previous idea was a little too simple. If she wanted to completely wipe out the nomads, the ultimate solution was to assimilate them, so that the nomads had to rely on many things and ultimately had no way to break away from the Byzantine Empire. So, Hilde thought about it for a long time yesterday while Xerxes was asleep, and finally came to this conclusion. That is, the whip and the candy, the soft and the hard. So, turning the target to Ionia now might really be a good choice. After Hilde confirmed this. Just pinned the new plan. That’s what I want to talk about today. "Let's put the matter of the cavalry aside for now." "Yes, Your Majesty." "We will put our target against the Scythians aside for now. The most important thing now is that we need to set our sights on the south, which is the Ionian region." "Ionia?"
Hearing this, everyone else couldn't help but look at Hilde. "Your Majesty, are you planning to attack Ionia?" "Yes, the current Ionian Alliance is just a mess. If we can seize the opportunity, we can take this place into our pocket. Moreover, the Ionian region, which is also Greek, will obviously be accepted by us. When the time comes, with the Ionian region, we will be more confident to turn around and deal with the Scythians." Hilde said this with a smile on her face, looking at the others, "At the same time, when we attack Ionia, we must form an alliance with Athens." "Athens!?" Amyntas was stunned.