The opponent's goal must be to annihilate the Spartan army entrenched in Amphipolis, so siege should be inevitable, but fortunately, the people of Amphipolis hate the authoritarian rule of the Athenians, so they strongly support the Spartan army's stationing here, and the military and civilians are united. Under such circumstances, the Spartan army obviously has the advantage of location and people. It depends on whether the Athenian army is brave but not wise, or whether it is really favored by the gods.
On the other side, there was the army led by Cleon.
We are already halfway there.
The Athenian army was one of the most highly qualified armies in the world, and its scout corps alone was quite large. All the troops were constantly advancing, and the scout corps also quickly fed back various surrounding situations to Cleon.
Similar to the series of intelligence Cleon had previously obtained, the Spartans did not leave too many troops in this area, so there were no outposts or patrol troops left around Amphipolis. When they were only a few dozen kilometers away from Amphipolis, the Spartans might not have noticed that an army of more than 10,000 people was about to force their way into the city.
This situation is obviously a good thing.
However, the closer he got to Amphipolis, the more nervous Cleon became. After all, his ultimate goal in coming here this time was to defeat and kill Brasidas, but Brasidas was the most powerful oracle in the world.
Although he had the bow given to him by Apollo.
But he really had no way to guarantee it.
Will be able to defeat Brasidas.
Chapter 6 of the seventh key: Cleon is worried
However, he was forced here by Apollo, and now he had only this one path to choose. He had to face Brasidas, not only because of Apollo, but also because he was the current ruler of Athens. He needed such a victory to establish his authority in Athens.
If he could really defeat Brasidas of Sparta and then eradicate Sparta's influence in the north of Athens, then for Athens, he would truly be a hero who saved Athens. In the foreseeable future, his authority and status in Athens would be increased exponentially, and he would even be able to surpass Pericles before.
Risk and benefit are the two most important criteria for everyone to weigh when thinking about what to do and what not to do. For Cleon, going north to attack the Spartan army of Brasidas is a high-risk, but also a high-reward thing. This battle can even be said to be a gamble. If successful, Cleon will get rid of all the current difficulties and gain a historical position that no one else has.
If it fails.
He is also doomed to die.
If he didn't go, Apollo would be very unhappy and would probably kill Creon and choose another oracle.
If he failed and was killed by Brasidas, he would also die.
So, Creon had to come.
There was really no choice, and this matter was also full of very high benefits. Although Cleon was a little worried and afraid, he still led an army of more than 10,000 people to the vicinity of Amphipolis for these two reasons.
Cleon was no ordinary man. He had served in the army and led the Athenian army to fight against the enemy. He was definitely not a novice who knew nothing about military theory and leading troops to fight. Cleon's military command ability in Athens was well-known. Otherwise, he would not have become the leader of the Athenian war faction and the one who could challenge Pericles.
Therefore, after careful analysis.
There was only one thing before Creon.
If you want to defeat Brasidas, just seize the opportunity and kill or seriously injure Brasidas.
This Spartan army has only about 3000 to 4000 people, a large part of whom are those who obey Sparta. The troops of Sparta's allied city-states are not to be feared to some extent, and if Brasidas can be killed successfully, Cleon can easily lead his Athenian army to defeat the opponent.
So now we have to find a solution.
A good way to kill Brasidas.
So Creon was thinking.
When Keliang's army arrived at the outskirts of Amphipolis, he carefully observed the situation around Amphipolis.
As a city-state that is not particularly old, Amphipolis is located at the border between the Thracians and the Macedonians. The public security here is chaotic, and the Thracians often go south to plunder. The Macedonians are also eyeing this place covetously. Therefore, the people of Amphipolis took into account the ultimate defense when building this city-state. Although it is a small city-state with a population of only more than 1 people, the city walls are built wide and thick.
At the same time, due to the open area all around, the army had no way to get close through the terrain when attacking Amphipolis. Faced with such a strong city defense, Clion traveled light this time and did not bring any large engineering equipment. If he wanted to attack the city, he would have to use the army, ladders, to climb up the city walls and engage in a bloody battle with the enemy.
That being the case.
To completely destroy this army.
We must lure the enemy out of the city.
Creon thought about it and decided on a solution.
So the Athenian army came to the prime minister of Amphipolis in a swagger. As this area has rare flat terrain, when the tens of thousands of Athenian troops arrived here, the people of Amphipolis only need to climb the city wall to see the dense Athenian army deployed in the south of Amphipolis.
This time, the heavy infantry alone accounted for more than 9000 people. Siege warfare itself does not require too many cavalry and archers, and these heavy infantry are almost all the elite of Athens. When they surrounded Amphipolis with overwhelming force, it gave people the illusion that everything had been reversed.
Think back to the time before.
The Spartans surrounded Athens.
This made the Athenians live in constant fear.
By now it was the Spartans' turn to be surrounded.
However, the Spartans in the city were not afraid. They knew very well that they had Brasidas by their side. With such a powerful legendary general, they were not afraid of the encirclement by the Athenians.
"General Creon!"
An officer walked up to Cleon.
"All troops have completed their deployment!"
"Very good, let's continue to siege Amphipolis."
"Yes!"
After the Athenian army completed its stationing.
Cleon is now also considering how to lure out the troops in Amphipolis.
Now Amphipolis can be said to be truly in a desperate situation. The city is now surrounded by the Athenian army, and the coastline is blocked by the Athenian fleet. It can be said that it is helpless. If the siege continues for such a long time, considering the food stored in Amphipolis, it may only last about two months.
But Creon also knew.
I can't afford to waste time.
Here, if the siege continues, Athens will lose its defense and may be ambushed by the Spartans. If Brasidas can be defeated, that would be the best thing of all. However, if Athens is ambushed, Cleon can just commit suicide to apologize.
Therefore, the safety of Athens is an issue that must be considered.
Creon is surrounded here.
It can only last for 15 days at most.
After 15 days, if the enemy still did not leave the city, the Athenian army could only choose to retreat temporarily. Or leave part of the army to continue the siege and the rest to return to Athens. However, Athens did not have a complete advantage over Sparta. If they still divided their forces, it would be equivalent to giving the enemy a chance to completely defeat them.
but……
The troops must be withdrawn within 15 days.
It's not all bad news.
If Cleon thought so, it also meant that Brasidas, an experienced general, would definitely think so. He probably thought of this when he saw the Athenian army retreating.
Chapter 7: The unclear battle situation
If Cleon was Brasidas himself, when he saw that his Amphipolis was surrounded by the Athenian army, he would definitely try his best to send people to contact and fight back. Once again attack Athens, and Brasidas must have expected that such concerns would definitely exist in the Athenian army.
So when the Athenian army retreated.
Brasidas will most likely take advantage of the situation and pursue.
But that's just one reason.
Creon felt that was not enough.
So he needed to design more things to make Brasidas really believe that the Athenian army was defeated, and after the defeat, he would definitely lead the army to defeat the Athenians completely.
This is what it takes to show your acting skills.
So Cleon and his Athenian army set up camp safely outside the city of Amphipolis.
This scene surprised Brasidas a little.
"What do the Athenians want?"
Brasidas was somewhat confused.
After all, in his mind, the Athenians dared to attack Amphipolis, which meant that they must have the support of Apollo, so since they already had the support of Apollo, why didn't they just attack the city? Instead, they set up camp under the city, and it seemed that they wanted to stay here for a very long time.
"How many days will the food and grass in the city last?"
"It's still three months."
The adjutant beside him said so.
"Three months..."
"Will the Athenian army surround us here for three months?" The adjutant asked with a sneer as he looked at the camp below the city wall. "I really doubt whether these pampered Athenians can live in such a wild environment for too long. It won't be long before they want to leave here."
"If they want to besiege the city, let them waste time. Three months of food and grass, if everyone saves, they can hold out for quite a while. However, with tens of thousands of people coming, Athens will be almost like an empty city. I estimate that the number of heavy infantry in the city will not exceed 3000, and the rest are light infantry or cavalry."
Regarding the military strength at the disposal of the Athenians.
Brasidas knew it by heart.
So he knew that Athens must have a weak defense now.
Not to mention that there are more than a hundred Athenian warships on the sea, which may be one-third of Athens' strength for the Athenian navy, but Athens' navy is spread throughout the Aegean Sea, and the local fleet defending Athens may only have more than a hundred ships. So now Athens can be said to have an empty army and an empty navy.
This is truly a rare opportunity.
So, Brasidas was thinking.
Could this be a conspiracy?
But if you think about it carefully, it would be too risky for the Athenians to use their own mother country as bait, and now Amphipolis has been surrounded. Even if Brasidas wanted to pass this message to Sparta, it would be too late.
It would take more than a month to reach Sparta by ship from Amphipolis, not to mention the various fleets and pirates of Athens and its allies that might be encountered on the way. Then Sparta would mobilize its army to attack Athens, and it would take half a year to go back and forth. By that time, Amphipolis would probably have run out of ammunition and food.
What's more, Sparta actually did not agree with Brasidas' occupation of Amphipolis.
"How's everyone's morale now?"
"Lord Brasidas, everyone's morale is pretty good now. The soldiers all hope that you can lead us out of the city and kill those Athenian bastards."
"Hahaha, this opportunity will always come. Don't be anxious. Just be patient."
"Yes!"
"If the Athenians are not in a hurry to attack the city, then we are not in a hurry to defend it either. I tell everyone, just follow your normal lifestyle, conserve your energy, and don't worry too much about those things."
"understood."
Anyway, the other side has no intention of attacking the city.
Brasidas decided to take a look.
What exactly is the Athenian medicine selling in this gourd?
So a few days before the siege began, such an abnormal scene appeared. The Athenians trained every day under the city of Amphipolis, ran to the city wall and cursed each other. The Spartan army in Amphipolis did what they were supposed to do. Cooking, training, resting, without delaying any of them.
Cleon has been looking for Brasidas's trace. What he is most worried about is whether Brasidas will suddenly rush out of the city to find Cleon. If so, all of Cleon's plans will be disrupted, and he will be forced to be involved in a one-on-one duel with Brasidas.
But for Brasidas.
Isn't it the case?
Brasidas did not dare to act rashly.
He could sense the position of Cleon from the Athenian army, because the divine power in Cleon existed objectively, but he could only sense the divine power from Cleon, but could not find any trace of Apollo. Thinking carefully, he felt that Apollo might have concealed his presence and was probably trying to ambush him.
Therefore, Brasidas did not dare to move.
We can only wait for an opportunity to change.
This siege continued.
On Hilde's side, except for Golgopas who was still recuperating, the others were already prepared and were planning to go to Mount Olympus. Since almost all of them were oracles, including the half-baked demigod, Dione, their overall speed could be said to be very fast.
After passing through the border of the Byzantine Empire, the territories of the public Greek city-states and the territories of the Kingdom of Macedonia, they were already close to Mount Olympus.
"Is this the famous Mount Olympus?"
Hilde looked at the mountain.
There was nothing surprising at all.
After all, in modern times, Mount Olympus is not considered a very magnificent and tall mountain, but Mount Olympus in this world is very magical. Looking up, you will find that the top of the mountain is shrouded in clouds and mist, and no one knows what is above the clouds. According to the Greeks, as long as you climb up from Mount Olympus, the clouds you pass through are where the Greek gods live.
When Hilde arrived at the foot of the mountain, when she raised her head and looked at the clouds, she felt an indescribable sense of oppression.
"Don't climb up."
Xerxes couldn't help but say.
"If you go up, you may never come down again."
