When other city-states and countries learned about this, it naturally caused a certain amount of panic.
A population of 170,000 meant that Hildes army could be expanded to more than 15,000 people. All nearby city-states had no way to resist such an army. Even the mother city behind Perintus, Samos, had a population of only 100,000. It had only 8,000 conscripts and 2,000 naval forces. Moreover, Hildes army was almost all full-time permanent troops, while the armies of Perintus and Samos were all conscripts.
The superiority and inferiority can be judged.
Just when Hilde was worried about immigration issues.
What she was waiting for was actually the messenger from Perintus.
Hilde was also surprised. Would the proud Perinthians come to him on their own initiative?
"Let them come."
Hilde put down the work in his hands and said to Aspasia beside him.
"Ok."
Since Aspasia came to Hilde, she has become Hilde's civil servant. After all, Aspasia is familiar with the politics of various countries, and has always been responsible for the political affairs of Athens with Pericles. Therefore, she can handle some things with ease. What's more, she is Hilde's mother. Hilde is very confident in her mother. So, Aspasia quickly came to Hilde with several men.
"See Your Majesty!"
The four men simply saluted.
"What are you doing here?"
"We are here on the orders of the Archon to deliver an official letter to you."
"Oh?"
At this time, Aspasia brought a letter.
It was called a letter, but it was actually a parchment scroll. Hilde opened the scroll and read it from top to bottom. After reading it, Hilde couldn't help but sneer, then threw the scroll aside and said with a smile: "I understand what Archon Aeneas is thinking, and I will give you a reply now. That is, don't even think about it. The Thracians are indeed a danger we all have to face, but my Byzantine Kingdom does not have to provide you with protection."
"Your Majesty, this..."
"Go down."
Hilde simply drove the messenger away.
She thought it was really funny.
After learning that Hilde's power was expanding rapidly, Aeneas actually wanted to use his status as the leader of the alliance to ask the Byzantine Kingdom to send troops to immediately increase troops to protect a series of city-states including Perintus when they were attacked.
Chapter 10 Byzantine Military Reform
This Aeneas probably really took what the alliance said seriously, and said that the Greeks should unite to resist the Thracians. Hilde really sneered. If they united, how many people would the entire Greek colony have? Three hundred thousand people? Among them, 170,000 to 180,000 were on Hilde's side. In the end, Hilde sent troops, money and manpower, while a group of city-states took advantage of the situation?
In the past, Hilde really had to be wary of Perintus and Samos behind him.
But now, Hilde feels that he doesn't need to care about their feelings.
Especially next, Hilde still has a trump card.
After Hilde rejected Aeneas' request, she continued to work on immigration. At the same time, Hilde did not forget to pay attention to the movements of the Thracians. As a result, Hilde brought more than 100,000 people, but the Thracians were still fighting with the Scythians in the north. And it is said that the Thracians launched a massive attack the previous month, led by the King of Thracian. In the end, the King of Thracian and the opponent's hero "Sun Devouring Wolf" fought for a day and a night, and it was hard to tell who was who.
The final result was that the Thracian king withdrew his troops and returned to the border area.
The Scythians took advantage of the victory and pursued the enemy, bringing their troops to the front of the Thracians.
Such news made Hilde very happy.
At least, this gave the Byzantine Empire time to develop.
Soon, it was the autumn of 433 BC. After the first round of autumn harvest, Hild's treasury was greatly expanded. Now, the settled Milesians had their own place to live and could grow their own food. At the same time, the scale of the weapons production workshop was expanded exponentially, producing more weapons and armor. At the same time, due to the increase in steel production, Hild began to try to build a new army.
The first to bear the brunt were the cavalry units.
At this time, Hilde had already made the Takahashi saddle and stirrups.
As a result, people could easily shoot and charge on horseback. With stirrups and saddles, people's stability was greatly improved, so the ability to fight on horseback grew by leaps and bounds. Hilde carefully selected 300 soldiers who were good at horsemanship from the army and named this unit the Guards Cavalry, establishing that this unit was beginning to be distinguished from other cavalry.
Most of them were Byzantines, with a small number of Thracians, who were basically loyal to Hilde and the Byzantine Empire. In terms of weapons, they were equipped with special cavalry spears for stabbing, refined kite shields, and carried Persian knives, flails, and meteor hammers. Their war horses were carefully selected, and they were also specially dressed in special cavalry armor. The soldiers were also uniformly equipped with armor made of steel, but due to the limitations of the manufacturing process, the armor of the cavalry was a combination of the ancient Greek one-piece bronze breastplate, with steel scale armor and chain mail.
The significance of the establishment of this force.
It's not just for actual combat.
It is also part of Hilde's high-profile display of military prowess.
Therefore, the soldiers wore long scarlet capes on their backs and bronze helmets with exaggerated images of the goddess of victory Nike on their heads, which looked very exaggerated and impractical. At the same time, Hilde also had the cavalry equipped with wings similar to those of the Polish winged cavalry thousands of years later, so that when they galloped on the battlefield, these cavalry would give the enemy a strong psychological shock.
The Cavalry Guards were only part of the reform.
Hilde carefully divided the troops into several parts.
These included phalanx infantry, heavy infantry, light infantry, auxiliary troops and cavalry.
As a traditional Greek, the tradition of the spear phalanx cannot be lost, so Hilde's main force is still the heavy infantry phalanx. However, with the rise of cavalry power, the traditional heavy infantry is no longer up to the task in Hilde's eyes. Therefore, Hilde took the initiative to lengthen the spear to more than four meters to form a super spear phalanx. At the same time, in order to deal with the problem of the spear phalanx being inflexible and heavy, Hilde also established heavy infantry such as shield infantry and barbarians to protect the two wings of the spear phalanx.
The basic unit of the spear phalanx is a company, with 128 people in one company, a battalion with four companies, a total of 512 people, and an infantry regiment with 1536 people. There are a total of 4 spear phalanx regiments in Hilde's army. These soldiers are the core force. They are equipped with small and light leather shields and five-meter-long steel spears, but also equipped with ordinary spears, ready to be put into ordinary battles at any time.
The heavy infantry included barbarians and Greek heavy infantry.
The well-armored Hellenistic infantrymen, armed with round shields and spears, were part of the traditional Greek army, the heavy infantry. The main task of these soldiers had changed from defending the front line to guarding the flanks of the phalanx infantry.
The second part of the first section: a new look of the army
Another focus of the reform is the cavalry unit.
Thanks to the horse-breeding lands near the Byzantine Empire, it was also possible to trade horses with the Scythians.
Therefore, Hilde currently organized more than a thousand companion cavalry in addition to the 300 guards. These soldiers are similar to the guards, and are mainly composed of Byzantines from the city of Byzantium. They ride war horses equipped with high-bridge saddles and stirrups, equipped with spears, Persian swords and other weapons, Athenian linen armor and bronze Thracian helmets. Such cavalry is shock cavalry with medium armor, which can accompany the guards to attack the vulnerable rear and flanks of the enemy.
The light infantry were spearmen composed of Thracians, who had little armor, carried a small leather shield, and a lightweight spear. The role of these troops was to flexibly support the position and, when the enemy was defeated, attack together with the cavalry.
Finally, there are the auxiliary troops.
The Byzantine Empire's trump card, the crossbowmen.
It's from this unit.
After the reform, the crossbowmen have become another type of heavy-armored troops. They are equipped with powerful crossbows and wooden tower shields. At the beginning of the war, they will set up tower shields at the front of the position and then use crossbows to attack the oncoming enemies. At the same time, behind their tower shields are unarmored archers and javelinmen. When the enemy's infantry approaches the front line, the crossbowmen and other long-range troops will retreat. At this time, the crossbowmen will retract their powerful crossbows and take out maces to protect the rear of their own troops.
The reform of the military is only one aspect.
Another aspect is the reform of the military system.
In Hilder's army, the basic unit is the company.
Heavy infantry, phalanx infantry, light infantry and auxiliary soldiers were divided into companies of 128 people, 4 companies totaling 512 people into a battalion, and 3 battalions totaling 1536 people into a regiment. The cavalry was also divided according to the same numbers. The guards cavalry was divided into three companies, totaling 384 people, and its highest commander was the head of the army, that is, Hilde. The companion cavalry was 1536 people, just enough for a cavalry regiment.
Thus, the main force of the Byzantine Empire appeared.
The First "Byzantine" Legion, led by Hilde himself, included three phalanx infantry regiments, one heavy infantry regiment, one light infantry regiment, one auxiliary regiment, one cavalry regiment, and one guard cavalry battalion, totaling 11,136 people. The rest of the troops were sent to Apollonia to form the Second "Apollonia" Legion, including two heavy infantry regiments, one light infantry regiment, and one auxiliary regiment, totaling 6,144 people.
Of course, the Second Legion naturally needs to be expanded slowly.
Hilde's current plan is to maintain two legions in full condition.
But now due to population and financial reasons, Hilde can only maintain one full staff and one half staff for the time being.
The army has been planned and basic training has been completed.
The weapons and equipment were ready, and Persian aid had arrived in Byzantium.
Including the two thousand Immortal Army that Hilde originally wanted.
These immortal soldiers had different appearances from the Greeks, and Hilde did not intend to let them fight against the Greeks. After all, if other city-states knew that they had a Persian army, it would probably cause public outrage and directly make Hilde the target of public criticism. So Hilde transferred these two thousand immortal soldiers to the direction of Apollonia. After Hilde himself prepared food and other things, he planned to launch a westward expedition.
Now, the world is filled with the autumn wind.
A solemn and murderous atmosphere permeated the entire Greek world.
Hilde stood in front of the already built Temple of Sarpiles Athena, kneeling on the ground devoutly, and in front of her, slaughtered cattle and sheep were placed on the altar. Now, she was praying that Athena would bless the Byzantine Kingdom and achieve a crucial victory in the next war. Now, Hilde's target was Selimbria and Perintus, and Hilde also wanted to completely crush the army of Samos directly on land.
"His Majesty."
Behind Hilde.
Amyntas led all the officers of the army and knelt before the altar.
"Lady Athena, did you say anything?"
“…She said we will definitely win.”
At this time, Hilde slowly stood up.
She turned around and faced the officers and soldiers behind her.
In front of the Temple of Sarpiles Athena is a huge square. At this moment, standing in the front are the commanders of seven regiments, and behind them are the commanders of twenty-one battalions, including the commanders of eighty-seven companies, and eleven thousand fully armed soldiers ready to go into battle at any time. These are the hope of the Byzantine Kingdom and the most powerful army of the Byzantine Kingdom. They are equipped with steel weapons, in good condition, and full of fighting spirit.
"Dear officers and soldiers!"
At this time, Hilde shouted:
"Lady Athena's oracle has been issued!!!"
Second Chapter Second Section Countermeasures against Attack
When Hilde said this.
The soldiers and officers on the field couldn't help but look at each other.
This is undoubtedly the best news!
"Listen carefully to your own breathing. Every breath you take now is the air of the Byzantine Kingdom, which was established amidst many disasters under the blessing of Lady Athena. Your blood and sweat will be shed for this great country. Everyone, please believe in yourselves, believe in our great kingdom, and believe in me, Hilde. Victory will eventually belong to us. We will put on our weapons and show those self-righteous Samians how powerful we are!"
"Roar!"
The soldiers raised their weapons and shouted in unison.
And Hilde also raised the spear in his hand high.
"Western Expedition——!"
"March west! March west! March west!"
Just like that, amid the astonished and admiring gazes of the surrounding citizens.
Hilde rode out of the city on horseback with his army.
This time, the Byzantine Kingdom was serious. The addition of the Milesians greatly improved the strength of the Byzantine Kingdom. A total of 11,000 troops will now set out from the city of Byzantium, heading west to attack Selimbria directly. After taking Selimbria, the next target will be Perintus. The mother state behind Perintus is the most threatening to the existence of the Byzantine Kingdom, the city-state of Samos, and Hilde will also completely clip its wings.
Such a large army was dispatched.
The sensation it caused was naturally huge.
In Selimbria, Archon Tilika threw the wine glass in his hand directly to the ground!
"Malaca! This Hilder, not satisfied with occupying Chalcedon, actually mobilized the army and planned to eat us all up in one go! This guy, relying on himself as a hero, has become unscrupulous!" Tilika said here, turned around and looked at the men behind him, "According to the scout's report, Hilder's army will arrive at the city of Selimbria in five days. What do you think? Are you going to just watch and watch?"
"Don't worry, Hilde is courting his own destruction."
At this time, an old man smiled and said:
"Now, inside and outside the city of Selimbria, there are 1,500 Selimbrian troops, 3,000 Perintus troops, 10,000 Samos troops, and 6,000 Megara reinforcements, totaling 20,500 people. We also have 1,000 mercenaries from Thrace, which is twice as many as Hilde! If you don't have confidence in this, Archon Tirica, are you too weak?"
"You are going a little too far."
Tilika said angrily:
"Although Selimbria is a small city, if we lose this battle, we will be the ones to be destroyed."
"I understand your concerns."
The old man stood up and patted Tilika on the shoulder.
"Lord Dolops."
"Don't be nervous, don't be scared."
Dolops was a general from Samos. Although he was already in his 50s or 60s, he was one of the few veterans in Samos who had been through many battles. Although Tilika was a little nervous, he could relax a little when he thought about the 10,000 troops that Samos had sent. After all, he had more than 10,000 more troops than Hilder. Even if he had to pile up his lives, he could still kill the other side. So Tilika breathed a sigh of relief.
"Speaking of which..."
At this time, Aeneas suddenly thought of something.
"Hilde, is the entire army dispatched this time?"
"It should be. All the available soldiers of the Byzantine Kingdom should have arrived."
"In that case, doesn't that mean that Byzantium City is currently undefended?"
