When the Athenians woke up from their sleep, they suddenly found that something was wrong with the atmosphere.
Merchants were about to go to the market in Piraeus Port to do business, but when they all got up, they found that there was an indescribable sense of oppression at the port. When more and more Athenians came to the outskirts of the port, they found that the densely packed warships had surrounded the entire Piraeus Port, and no merchant ships inside or outside could come in.
It was obvious that these warships did not belong to the Athenians.
And look at the quality of the warship.
Most of the warships are huge in scale and look very tough to deal with. Such warship designs are definitely not something the Spartans could produce.
Soon, the merchants recognized the ownership of this fleet from the flag.
"It's a warship from the Byzantine Empire!"
"Byzantine Empire!?"
People were in shock.
Why did the Byzantine Empire, thousands of miles away, suddenly launch such a huge fleet to surround the port? After all, many of the food and high-end goods in Athens were imported by the Byzantine Kingdom. Generally speaking, such a thing should not happen... Having said that, the guards and sentries at the port immediately reported the situation to the city of Athens.
The Athenians in the city were still in the early morning when they were shocked by this sudden news.
The most anxious person was Nicias.
"Damn it! It really happened!"
Nicias was dressed and on his way to the council.
Now, there is no doubt that what the goddess Hera said has come true, and it happened so quickly! Now, Hera is not in Athens, only Nicias is alone. And now Nicias is not the archon of Athens, and does not have much power to govern Athens... Therefore, the attack of the Byzantine army this time is a huge bad news for the city of Athens.
Athens was not prepared at all!
There was only a small fleet in the port of Piraeus.
And Nicias knew the latest.
It was the invading fleet of the Byzantine Empire, with so many warships that they were almost impossible to count.
Some intelligence said that the enemy had more than 500 large galleys, while others said that the total number of the enemy's warships must be more than 1,000. In short, there were many different opinions. Nicias had to ask the army to count them in order to know how many warships the enemy had.
"Lord Nicias!"
When Nicias arrived at his destination.
The people here all stood up.
He looked at Nicias nervously.
"Why did Byzantium invade Athens?!"
"Yes, Byzantium was once just a small vassal of Athens and was subject to the control of us Athenians. But now, it turns around and starts to attack Athens!?"
The men began to quarrel.
However, the content of the quarrel seemed ridiculous to Nicias.
These people must be mentally ill.
Why would you say such meaningless things at a time like this?
Byzantium was indeed a vassal of Athens in the past. After all, many city-states in the Delian League had lost their autonomy, including Byzantium. However, the archon in Byzantium, who was supported by Athens, had been killed by Hilde. These guys were still thinking about this matter. They thought that the Byzantine Kingdom, with a population of over one million and a military force of nearly 100,000, was still the remote small city with 10,000 people?
Although Nicias had never been to Byzantium, he knew what it looked like from the merchants. It was a city that was growing according to the specifications of an imperial capital, with strong walls that Athens did not have, wide streets, magnificent temples and palaces, and red stone bricks that represented the characteristics of the Byzantine Kingdom were paved everywhere in Byzantium. Byzantium was a fiery red city, made of red bricks, the future imperial capital...
This is not something Athens can compare to.
Athens has not changed in many years.
Nicias sighed helplessly when he heard this.
"Lord Nicias."
At this time, a man came over.
"Do you have any solution now?"
"not yet."
Nicias also shook his head helplessly.
However, we cannot continue in this chaos.
"Everyone please be quiet."
Nicias held out his hand and asked everyone to be quiet.
And everyone looked at Nicias and stopped what they were saying.
"Now, I have something to say."
"Now the Byzantine Empire has sent a large fleet to invade Athens. This is a huge crisis for Athens, but you are all arguing here and can't come to a practical and effective conclusion. So, can you all be quiet and think together about how to determine a method!"
The situation in the fourth quarter of the fifth adjustment is getting worse
Nicias' sudden speech caused everyone present to focus their attention on him. After all, the person with the most say in this place was the oracle of Lord Hera.
"First of all, we need to figure out one thing, which is why the Byzantine Kingdom suddenly sent out such a large fleet without declaring war and surrounded our Piraeus Port. Although we once had some friction with the Byzantine Kingdom, it was some misunderstandings caused by the previous archon Cleon. Now we have a very friendly relationship with the Byzantine Kingdom and import a large number of high-quality goods from the Byzantine Kingdom every year. Logically, we are mutually beneficial and this situation should not happen."
"I think it's the Byzantine Empire that's going too far!"
"Do they think that we, Athens, are a weak city-state!?"
Before Nicias expressed his thoughts, the people on the field had already begun to lose control of their emotions. Faced with such a chaotic situation, Nicias remained very calm. He was no longer surprised by this kind of situation.
"Everyone, please be quiet!"
Nicias waved his hand again.
"No matter what you say, this is the situation in the Byzantine Kingdom, and this is also the dilemma we are facing. It is useless to just blame the Byzantine Kingdom here, so we need to send envoys to negotiate with the Byzantine navy that is attacking us, to understand their demands and ideas, as well as the reasons for the war!"
"The Byzantine Empire surrounded our port. Logically, they should have sent envoys!"
An Athenian couldn't wait to express his opinion.
Nicias nodded in agreement.
"That's right, but we don't have any bargaining power right now. The enemy's naval fleet is so large that we can't defeat the Byzantine navy with just the fleet we left at the port. So, we have to take the initiative to send envoys."
"shame!"
In this case, it is indeed a shame.
As the largest city-state in the entire Greek peninsula, Athens is now facing such a situation, which is really a bit sad. When facing the attack of the Spartans, Athens was not so embarrassed and had to take the initiative to send envoys. Some people even felt that if it was Cleon instead of Nicias, it would be absolutely impossible for Cleon, who advocated war, to do such a thing.
But in this situation, there is no other way except to follow Nicias' advice. After all, Nicias is the only oracle in Athens and a person blessed by the goddess Hera. So whether people here agree with him or deny his statement, they can only follow Nicias' ideas.
"Then, we in Athens need to send an envoy to communicate with the other party, right?"
"Indeed."
Nicias nodded.
"Only by knowing why the other side is attacking can we formulate our response plan more rationally."
This cautious attitude is indeed Nicias' style of doing things. Moreover, there is a huge gap in strength between the enemy and us now. This caution will obviously help Athens avoid making some wrong decisions.
When everyone thought that the matter had ended there, suddenly, a guard ran into the meeting room in panic. Everyone focused their attention on the guard, but before anyone could ask him anything, the guard looked up, stunned. He opened his mouth and didn't know what to say for a while, obviously panicking.
"Speak now!"
Nicias could wait no longer.
"what's going on!"
"Just now, just now, the guards from Sunke came over to report a piece of intelligence! A legion belonging to the Byzantine Kingdom landed near the coast of Sunke. The guards of Sunke are no match for the enemy at all, so now the entire area of Sunke has been occupied by the enemy!!!"
"What!?"
As soon as these words came out.
Even Nicias showed a surprised expression and took two steps back.
Soeke is an area located at the corner of Soeke, where there is a very magnificent Temple of Poseidon, and it is also an important military base of Athens. As a result, the enemy actually sent a legion of troops to occupy Soeke, and now Athens will completely lose its military power in the southeast corner.
In other words, the situation Athens is facing now is more severe than the one it faced during the Spartan attack. When the Spartans attacked, they only surrounded the outer city walls but did not pose much threat to the seaport and Socen. But now, the huge fleet of the Byzantine Kingdom has surrounded the entire Athens port of Piraeus. At the same time, Daojun has also occupied Socen, posing a huge threat to the city of Athens from the southeast.
This is no longer just a matter of the port being surrounded.
In the current situation.
I am afraid that Athens is in danger of being destroyed.
After the guard finished speaking, everyone fell silent. Those who had just shouted shame now shut up. Nicias felt the gazes from the people around him. Those who originally disagreed with Nicias now looked at him expectantly. It was as if Nicias would come up with a solution at any time to smoothly resolve the things that might happen now.
"..."
Nicias also fell silent for a moment.
These things in front of us.
Obviously, it was beyond what he could handle at the moment.
He looked around, took a deep breath, and said, "No matter what the other party's purpose is, what we are facing now in Athens will be the biggest crisis we have encountered in recent years, so what we can do now is to close the city gates and deal with any danger that may occur next! Notify all the troops in Athens to defend the city of Athens at all costs!!!"
If only the navy surrounded the port, it would be equivalent to Athens losing a life-saving transportation line, but they could still hold on by gritting their teeth. However, once the enemy's army landed in the area around Athens, it would put tremendous pressure on Athens from both land and sea directions.
This situation is much more complicated than when Sparta surrounded Athens.
Nicias didn't know how to deal with this matter.
The fifth tune, the fifth section, the majestic Rhodes
It's over, it's over.
The city of Athens is now finished.
This is what everyone thinks.
However, just hearing the guards' report was not enough to make everyone realize the seriousness of the matter. Especially Nicias, as the core figure of Athens, Nicias had to do one thing, that is, to understand the specific situation of this time, such as... the specific military strength of the Byzantine Kingdom and the purpose of the other party.
Therefore, Nicias did not care about anything else. He immediately arranged several messengers to contact the Byzantine army from Cape Sounke and the sea. Under such circumstances, the messenger soon arrived at the Byzantine flagship. He was taken to the flagship with trepidation, and soon he saw the familiar man.
Rod.
"Lord, Lord Rhodes!?"
When he saw Rhodes standing in front of him.
The messenger felt as if the sky was falling.
"Why are you..."
"I am now a subject of the Byzantine Kingdom. Isn't this a normal thing here?"
Rhodes glanced at him coldly.
"Since the messenger has come, please speak as soon as possible if you have anything to say."
"Oh, okay, okay..."
The messenger obviously had not yet recovered from the shock of this incident, but as a messenger sent by Niceas, he had to explain the whole matter clearly.
"Today, your army suddenly launched an unfriendly military action against Athens. Now our Piraeus Port is suddenly surrounded and neither merchant ships nor civilian ships can pass. At the same time, your army has landed at Cape Sounke and completely occupied Sounke. Sounke is now under your control. We are not sure what you will do next, but this has seriously violated our Athens. Even if you intend to go to war, you should have a reason to declare war."
"I can give you a casus belli."
Rhodes pointed to the city of Athens in the distance.
Then he said seriously:
"Because we want to rule the city of Athens."
"What……"
The messenger was horrified.
"Rule?"
"Athens is no longer worthy of being called the core city of Greece. Your weakness and greed have been seen by all Greeks. The Byzantine Kingdom is rising like the sun in the east, and now it has become the front line of resistance against the Persians. However, the Greeks are trapped in internal strife and cannot gather all their strength to fight against the threat of the Persians. Therefore, before the Persians took action, His Majesty Hilde decided to integrate the power of the entire Greece as quickly as possible."
"absurd!"
The messenger could not help but retort:
"They keep saying they are fighting against the Persians, but they are turning their butcher knives against their own countrymen!"
