Now is not the time to be afraid.
Brasidas was indeed formidable, but he was now seriously injured and would not be able to hold out for much longer.
Because of this, Cleon also mustered up his courage. Now, with tens of thousands of Athenian soldiers watching, Cleon could not choose to escape. Otherwise, Cleon would still choose to flee in panic when facing the seriously injured Brasidas. This act of the fleeing archon would only be ridiculed by the Athenians for the rest of his life.
"Brasidas! You are already like this, why don't you quietly welcome your death?"
"If I'm going to die, I'll take you with me!"
Brasidas shouted.
Heading straight for Cleon.
Cleon never thought that Brasidas, who was seriously injured, could still move so fast. He quickly retreated. The place where he was standing before was cracked by Brasidas' spear. But Brasidas did not stop. He kept waving his spear, trying to get closer to Cleon. Cleon avoided the attack by relying on the terrain. At the same time, when he found an opportunity, he would shoot a fatal arrow with the bow in his hand.
Just a few minutes.
Brasidas' body was already full of arrows.
His divine power was almost exhausted.
The body's reaction and speed inevitably slow down.
When Brasidas' body staggered and then knelt on one knee on the ground, the stone in Creon's heart finally fell to the ground.
"You are a formidable warrior."
"It's a pity that you're a Spartan."
Creon could feel that Brasidas' life was coming to an end.
He took a deep breath.
Now he is ecstatic.
It’s done, it’s finally done!
When Creon truly achieves his goal, the joy in his heart is almost indescribable.
Defeating the Spartan army in Amphipolis and killing Brasidas seemed almost impossible, at least for Athens at the moment. But in the end, Cleon achieved his goal and really defeated the enemy. Brasidas, the nightmare that haunted the Athenians, was now defeated by his own men and was about to die.
Now, Cleon could well imagine that his victory over Brasidas would be written into an exciting drama by dramatists, with the citizens of Athens crowding into the theater to watch the actor who played Cleon display his bravery in an extremely handsome manner.
The Athenians will cheer for Cleon.
The Athenians will cheer for this victory.
Creon's name will inevitably be engraved in the history of Athens.
And Cleon will become a greater archon than Pericles.
Thinking of this, Cleon couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Chapter 9, Section 5: The Possibility of Attacking Persia
However, Creon didn't notice.
Brasidas is almost out of breath.
Now he was struggling to stand up.
His right hand tightly grasped his spear. Although his body began to tremble, the remaining strength was still enough to drive his body. At the same time, Brasidas knew that he could not defeat Cleon in his previous state, so Brasidas was ready. He had the last remaining divine power to seize this last chance.
"what!!!"
Brasidas let out one last roar.
Then, he rushed towards Cleon with his spear.
The sudden burst of divine power filled every step Brasidas took with strength.
The spear in his hand was also pointed at Cleon very steadily.
"What!?"
Creon turned back suddenly.
But it was too late.
His fantasy just now made him miss the best opportunity to dodge.
The spear pierced directly into Creon's body and pierced through him.
"puff--!!!"
Creon spat out a mouthful of blood.
Just when he wanted to retreat.
Brasidas' body also hit Cleon hard, and the two of them rolled into a ball, and then fell directly from the cliff of the mountain.
The Athenian generals were all shocked.
They paused for a moment.
Then he quickly ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down.
After falling from this height, it is unclear whether the two are alive or dead.
After Creon's chest was pierced by the spear, the two of them fell straight down from the cliff hundreds of meters high. Then, with the violent impact, even the oracles of Creon and Brasidas' level had their bodies smashed to pieces. Creon felt as if his whole body was torn apart, and then his consciousness began to dissipate.
"No, it's impossible..."
Those beautiful imaginations just now.
It’s still right in front of me.
But now, there is nothing.
Cleon slowly turned his head. At this time, Brasidas' body was just a few meters away from him. He fell to the side and his head turned 180 degrees. However, Brasidas' eyes were like copper bells, staring at Cleon closely.
He fulfilled what he said.
Even if I die, I will take Creon with me.
Creon looked into those eyes.
He knew that he was doomed.
——————————Dividing line——————————
The deaths of Cleon and Brasidas highlighted the problems facing the Athenian and Spartan armies.
In this battle, the Spartan army was badly defeated, but the final loss was only about 400 people. When Brasidas launched the final charge, the Athenian army's attention was all drawn to him. As a result, the Spartan generals reacted immediately and ordered the troops to retreat immediately. The Spartans were well-trained and maintained a dense formation when retreating. When the Athenians recovered, the Spartans had already retreated to a safe area.
And Creon died too.
The Athenians were leaderless.
Should we pursue or retreat?
No one can be sure.
But now, the Spartan army has retreated. Although the enemy has lost one-tenth of its people and many are injured, the Athenians' fear of the Spartans has lasted for a long time. In addition, Brasidas's desperate fight just now made the Athenians feel deeply afraid. Therefore, in the face of this situation, the Athenians still chose to retreat.
And the two armies retreated.
The battle ended thereupon.
The Athenians paid the price of about a thousand men and their equipment, in exchange for the deaths of more than four hundred Spartans.
Sparta lost its most powerful hero, Brasidas, and the Athenians lost their only hero, Cleon.
There are no winners or losers in this battle.
The Athenian army quickly retreated south and returned to the city of Athens. Not long after, a force composed of Spartans and the Peloponnesian League arrived in Attica. The Athenians' rapid retreat disintegrated the opponent's plan to attack Athens. In the end, facing the strong walls of Athens, this force was forced to give up and choose to retreat. Similarly, due to the death of Brasidas, the strategic value of Amphipolis was greatly reduced, and the Spartans had no choice but to withdraw from Amphipolis.
Spartans and Athenians.
At this time, we realized that the war could no longer continue.
The leader of the war faction in Athens was Cleon.
The main war faction in Sparta was Brasidas.
After the two war advocates were killed, the peace faction rose in Sparta and Athens at the same time. The Athenians were the first to react and sent special diplomats to try to negotiate with the Spartan king.
And now, the negotiations continue.
But the war has come to an end.
The Peloponnesian War, which had plunged all of Greece into turmoil, was now temporarily declared over.
However, the sky over Greece has always been shrouded in the shadow of war.
In the near future, a Greek monarch from the East will return to Greece with her powerful army.
The news of the ceasefire between Athens and Sparta was quickly passed on to Hilde through the Chamber of Commerce.
Now that Hilde has ended the Scythian War, she has returned to Byzantium. It is already spring, and Hilde has been resting for almost two months. During this time, Hilde has been thinking about how to deal with Greek affairs.
Before leaving, Xerxes said this to Hilde:
"The extent to which you can conquer Greece is up to you. As long as you can conquer enough to defeat Persia, that will be enough."
This is like saying nothing.
Hilde sighed.
You know, the population of Persia is close to 20 million.
Moreover, it has a vast territory and is the world's largest country in this era.
What about Greece? The Byzantine Empire only reached a population of million by annexing the Thracians, Scythians, Ionians, and a series of marginal ethnic groups. The city-states in the Greek mainland, the free people in the city-states, and the slaves together, are estimated to have a population of million, while the population of the Kingdom of Macedonia, including the Thessalians in the south, is estimated to be around 600,000. The Epirus in the west is still in a state of civil war, and even if it is conquered, it is estimated that it will not provide much manpower.
Even if he conquered the Greater Greece region, including the city-states of Syracuse.
The Byzantine Empire unified all of Greece.
The population is estimated to be less than four million.
Only one-fifth of the Persian Empire.
Hit him on the head?
What's more, Hilde couldn't understand why Xerxes wanted Hilde to attack Persia.
Chapter 6 of the Ninth Adjustment: The Next Offensive Plan
This is really something that I just can’t understand no matter how hard I think about it.
The distressed Hilde could only continue to be distressed.
Now, because the war against Scythia did not consume too much national strength of the Byzantine Kingdom, Hilde had the strength to launch the next round of war. In order to deal with the possible conflict with the Macedonians, Hilde asked Tomyris to start training the Scythian cavalry. About 10,000 people were selected from the Scythians as members of this cavalry corps. They were all capable and good fighters in Scythia. Later, this unit was brought to the vicinity of the Greater Byzantine Province by Tomyris.
And to welcome this army.
It comes from the powerful military armed capabilities of the Byzantine Empire.
Hilde was ready.
These Scythians were immediately equipped with a completely new standard of armour. Their heavy fur coats were replaced with delicate scale armour. At the same time, their horse archery bows were replaced with composite bows redesigned by the Byzantine Empire. Their spears were changed from bronze to steel weapons. They were also equipped with weapons to target the enemy's heavy infantry, such as flails and maces.
The Scythians are good at riding horses, and these equipments are undoubtedly the icing on the cake.
The Scythians possessed these cutting-edge equipment.
There is no doubt that he will become a killer that the enemy cannot resist on the battlefield.
So far, Hilde's army has almost reached 100,000 people. Such a large army has actually put pressure on the Byzantine Kingdom. After the territory has expanded, the Byzantine Kingdom has encountered transportation problems for military food supply. The coastal areas are fine, but the expedition to the Scythians deep inland consumes a lot of food and grass. Now, if they really want to attack Greece, the early preparations will also become very much.
This is a place that cannot be ignored.
Hilde also began to worry.
There are so many things to do now.
To seize all Greece.
It’s a long-term plan.
Now, the war between Athens and Sparta has come to a temporary end, and the entire Greek peninsula is now in chaos. In fact, now is the best time to attack. But Hilde thinks that the Byzantine Kingdom, as a country with a relatively weak navy, should take the means of continental conquest, launching an attack from Byzantium, first taking Macedonia, and then going all the way south to take over the entire Greece.
The Macedonians, including their allies the Thessalians, numbered about 600,000.
