Sedorum continued: "I heard that many Greek city-states are quite sympathetic to the destruction of Mesenia and took the initiative to take in many Mesenians who fled Sparta. If our army could enter the Peloponnese under the banner of "helping Mesenians restore independence", I think the Greek people's disgust with us would not be so strong. What's more, once we really rebuild Mesenia and allow Black Rox to be free, it will not only seriously weaken the power of Sparta, but also completely turn the rebuilt Mesenia towards us and become the most supportive force in Greece."

Davers nodded slightly. It was obvious that Sedolum's proposal was very suitable for him. He immediately turned to Alexis: "What do the Ministry of Military Affairs have any opinions on this?"

Alexis replied with little hesitation: "My Majesty, from a military perspective, choosing to attack Mesenia is a good strategic choice. It is indeed safer to fight with the army of Thebes in united with the army of Thebes through the Gulf of Corinth, and it also means that most of the results we have obtained may be acquired by the Thebes, and it will also arouse the vigilance of nearby neutral city-states, such as Athens and Corinth.

But if the battlefield is opened alone, most of the Peloponnese Peninsula are crisscrossing mountains, and it is not convenient to land or march. The Mesenia region is undoubtedly the best target. Its southern coast is flat and suitable for large-scale landings. It is very close to Sparta, but it is separated by inaccessible mountains in the middle. Reinforcements from Sparta cannot arrive soon, giving the landing army enough time to completely occupy Mesenia.

Moreover, the next step of attacking from land only requires passing through the Arcadia territory to directly attack Sparta, and the attack from sea is closer. The flat southern coast of Sparta is also conducive to landing, which avoids the possibility of direct conflict with other powerful Greek states…”

Although Alexis is the chief military officer, he will seriously consider political factors when doing military plans. This is what Davers appreciates most: "Very good! The Ministry of Military Affairs formulates a plan to attack Mesenia as soon as possible."

"Yes, your majesty." Alexis responded immediately.

"Your Majesty." Printols raised the battle report in his hand and said, "I noticed that the war report mentioned that there were many Thessalian cavalry in the Piosha coalition. According to the latest information from Greece, the Thessalian region in northern Greece has been basically unified by the tyrant of Philare. If these cavalry were not hired by the Thebes, it could only be sent by Jason, which means that Thessalian may quietly form an alliance with Thebes, which may attract our attention!"

"Thessali..." Davers rubbed his jaw and fell into thought.

At this time, Matonis smiled and said, "Thessali is also an alliance with Thebes. This is a good thing. It allows us to not worry too much about the Debesians facing crisis again due to the crazy revenge of Sparta, and we can also consider alliing with Thessali at the right time."

Martonis showed his favorable impression of the Thessali people, which was not expected by some ministers. Because they worked together for so many years, they all knew that Martonis came from Thesali, Olivers came from Thesali, and Hilos came from Thesali... Now some generals from the mercenary in the Dionian army were from Thesali, and even their king Davers was a Thesali, so everyone wisely did not refute Matonis's words.

But what they didn't know was that Davers had no feelings for Thessalie at all, but Printols's words aroused his vigilance.

Thessali is located in Northern Greece. In the eyes of traditional powerful states such as Athens, Corinth, Sparta, etc., the Thessali region has been constantly in conflict and has never had any impact on the political situation in Greece. After twenty years of development, although the funds and manpower have been growing, there are more and more areas that require investigation and surveillance. Therefore, we have not invested much energy in such a remote area, but only rely on the Dionian merchant ships that occasionally go to Philae to get some information.

In the past few years, even though Philip's tyrant Jason conquered several neighboring city-states, it did not attract the attention of the intelligence agencies. After all, there were so many tyrants in the Mediterranean city-states, and it was not uncommon to do anything, but it was usually like a flash in the pan. It was not until the news that "Philai quickly integrated the Sesari and Jason became Tagus" reached Turiy that Aristillas was attached to it.

Although Jason stopped any war in the following years, it seemed that it was enough to be satisfied with becoming the Tagus of Thessali. But this aroused Davers' vigilance, because Jason spent the past few years mainly on integrating the city-states of Thessali, promoting trade within the region, intensifying training of civilians, and even forming a navy... Jason's practices were somewhat similar to Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, and because of the geographical environment in which Thessali was, its infantry and cavalry were stronger.

Could it be that the tyrant of Thessali finally couldn't stand the loneliness and wanted to interfere in the affairs of South Greece?!...Davs was wary and immediately said: "The tyrant of Thesaliphile was very ambitious. If he really formed a secret alliance with Thebes this time, he might want to use this war to seize the hegemony of Greece. We must not sit idly by this! Ansitanos, you send an envoy to ask the Thebes whether they also formed an alliance with Thesali and understand the situation clearly. It is best to find out the true attitude of the Thebes towards Thesali, which will determine the measures we need to take when a conflict with Thesali in the future."

"Yes, your Majesty." Ansitanos responded.

"How could this...be?..." Martonis looked stunned.

Printols, who knew a little about the situation, came to him and whispered to him.

Davers didn't care too much and continued: "Perris will never give up when the Spartan army was defeated. Now the Thessals may have been brought in. Since we have decided to interfere in Greek affairs, we must take advantage of the time when the Spartans suffered failure and other forces have not yet fully entered into it, and implement our plan as soon as possible!

Alexis, Printols, you two will make a judgment now. How many troops will we need to seize Mesenia and then attack Sparta?"

Alexis and Printols looked at each other, and called the military training commander Heronimus, the military commander Altoons, the legion commander Matonis, Olivers and other generals, forming a circle in the corner of the hall.

After a quiet discussion, Alexis walked up to Davers and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, based on the situation of Sparta and the geographical conditions of the Peloponnese region that the Ministry of Military Affairs has learned now, we believe that only 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers are needed to complete the expedition. Too many troops, it is not easy to unfold in the Peloponnese Peninsula full of mountains."

"20,000 to 30,000 people..." Davers turned around and asked, "How long can the existing grain storage in China support them in combat?"

The Minister of Agriculture, Burkos, stretched out his hands and thought carefully, then stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the country has continued to harvest in recent years. Although there are some battles in Iberia and the Po River Plain, it is basically local warfare and does not consume much food. According to this year's survey statistics, the granary storage in each region is basically full, and it should... be able to ensure that an army of 30,000 people fights in Greece for more than one year."

"More than a year...well...whether are the weapons and equipment?"

The military chief Alpuns immediately stood up and replied: "Your Majesty, the armory of the military camps in various regions are sufficient for all military supplies, and the supply of 30,000 soldiers is more than enough."

After hearing this, Davers showed a satisfied smile. He thought for a while, glanced at the Chief Secretary of the Governor Hemon, and said, "Considering that this is the first time that our Dionia has sent troops to fight in Greece, in order to reduce the disgust of the people of the neutral city-state towards us, it is best to send soldiers of Greek descent to the expedition as much as possible...

The last time we fought against Gaul, we went to fight the six legions, the first, second, third, ninth, tenth and eleventh. So this time... well, considering that we were going to fight the Spartans, in order to be more secure, let the first, fourth, and sixth third legions go to fight."

"I understand, your majesty." Alexis asked again, "What about the cavalry?"

"There are no need to consider whether the cavalry and auxiliary troops have Greek ancestry. The Greek city-state army often hires aliens to fight, such as Thrace, so you can decide for yourself."

"yes."

Davers looked at Raphayas, the Minister of Household Registration, and asked: "Are the citizens of Dionys, who are descended from Mesenians, still concentrated in Tindaris (the city-state has responded to the strong requests of citizens a few years ago and was incorporated into the Kingdom of Dionys)?"
Chapter completed!