No one on the Greek coalition side noticed what Seleucus was thinking.

Whether it was Antigonus or Hector, even Xiazhe himself, they all focused their defense on the city of Troy.

This is not surprising.

After all, Troy is the capital of the Trojan Kingdom!

Only Archimedes, because his initial experiments with trebuchets in field warfare were inspired by the Byzantine walls.

Archimedes was impressed by the towering city walls and believed that they were the best defensive positions in the area.

Therefore, after receiving an additional 100,000 laborers and timber from Xia Zhe, Archimedes once again carried forward the spirit of continuous fighting.

He led his men to the Byzantine city walls overnight and began to make a lot of arrangements.

The next morning.

After reorganizing all the troops, Seleucus decisively issued an order for the entire army to attack.

Only the two million elite troops who decided to raid the Byzantine city were not sent out by Seleucus immediately.

After the previous two days of fighting, although the Persian army suffered two consecutive defeats and its morale plummeted, the actual loss of manpower was not great.

This time they launched a decisive charge, with nearly five million troops rushing forward, and the momentum was still very terrifying.

Antigonus and Hector both looked solemn and hurriedly ordered their archers to shoot and retreat.

When the Persian army broke through two lines of defense and approached the third line of defense, the two sides sent out Spartan heavy infantry, Achaean spearmen and Dardanelles swordsmen to form a battle array and launch a hand-to-hand fight.

As for Xia Zhe, he did not appear on the battlefield at all.

Xia Zhe was very nervous yesterday morning and felt a little tired after traveling for a long time.

Therefore, he had no plans to get up early today and was still sleeping soundly in bed, completely unaware that the Persians had already launched a decisive battle.

"It's time! Two million elite troops, launch an assault on Byzantium! We must capture this city before nightfall!"

Seeing that the Greek coalition forces reduced their long-range attack strength and sent in melee troops, Seleucus hurriedly issued an assault order.

Immediately afterwards, Seleucus himself joined the two million raiding army and rushed towards the Byzantine city.

Discovering early in the morning that the Persian army was ready to fight to the death, Antigonus and Hector immediately implemented the plan they had already prepared.

Abandon the first two lines of defense, first use bows and arrows to consume the Persian army, and then concentrate the main infantry to resist.

The archers retreated in a planned manner, and Antigonus and Hector were surprised to see that a large number of Persian infantry had fallen before they even engaged in battle.

When they retreated to the third line of defense, the three main infantry forces of the Greek coalition bravely fought their way out.

As expected, they completely withstood the Persian offensive.

At this point, Antigonus and Hector both breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they were sure to win the battle.

Both of them couldn't help but smile as they chatted leisurely on the city wall, discussing what kind of praise they would receive when King Stobi arrived after they won the battle!

However, this relief only lasted ten minutes.

With the sudden deployment of a large number of Persian reserves in the north, the pressure on the defense line towards the Byzantine city suddenly increased.

That area was far from Troy, near the edge of the defense line. Neither Antigonus nor Hector paid any attention to it at first.

Realizing something was wrong, they looked at each other and came to their senses all of a sudden.

not good!

The commander of the Persian army is so cruel!

He is using the extreme tactic of sacrificing the car to save the king!

Abandoning a full five million troops of average combat effectiveness to attract the attention of the Greek coalition. Then, using two million elite troops, they suddenly attacked and captured the Byzantine city!

If the Persian commander's idea were to be realized, the consequences would be disastrous!

In that case, although the Greek coalition defeated the five million Persian troops, it seemed to have won a great victory.

But the most crucial city of Byzantium was lost!

The Byzantine city that truly cut off the Persian supply line!

If the Persian army gets enough supplies again, the strategic advantage gained by King Stobi from the raid on the strait will be gone!

This Greco-Persian War will turn into a protracted positional war like before!

It’s just that the battle line retreated from the Great North back to the territory of Troy!

In a protracted positional war, the competition is not only about tactics and command art, but also about the national strength of both sides!

Compared with the vast Persian Empire, the entire Greece combined is not enough!

When the battle line was in the north, the Greek coalition actually had the upper hand.

Because the Greek coalition's supply lines were close and they were fighting on home turf, the Persian Empire, on the other hand, had to transport food over long distances. Furthermore, they couldn't use water routes, so they had to rely on rugged land routes!

In a sense, Achilles and Alexander were able to fight Xerxes' main force on equal terms. Their logistical advantages made a huge contribution.

But if the battle line retreats back into Troy, the supply lines of both sides will be completely reversed.

The Greek coalition forces needed to transport supplies over long distances, but the Persian army could get direct support from its inherent territory across the strait.

At that time, no one could say whether the Greek coalition forces could still hold on.

It is not impossible that Xerxes turned a disaster into a blessing!

However, although Antigonus and Hector thought quickly, they were still helpless in the face of the Persian commander's sudden change of tactics.

Because the Greek coalition's reserve forces were all deployed near the city of Troy.

From the beginning to the end, the two men never thought that the main attack direction of the Persian army was not the capital of Troy!

This place is 20 to 30 kilometers away from the enemy's assault point. We don't even have any cavalry!

By the time the heavy infantrymen arrived, dragging their heavy shields, spears and armor, the opportunity was already gone!

The only solution now seemed to be to switch from defense to offense in the direction of Troy. Using a one-for-one exchange strategy, they could capture the Persian headquarters and the Persian commander in one fell swoop. Only then could they possibly turn the tide!

With this in mind, Antigonus and Hector decisively ordered the reserve troops waiting near Troy to move towards the Persian army in front.

Unable to withstand the counterattack of so many Greek troops, the Persian army in front of Troy quickly collapsed and began to flee for their lives.

Not daring to waste time, Antigonus and Hector immediately ordered a pursuit and attacked the Persian headquarters.

Then, Antigonus and Hector went down the city wall together and followed the advancing soldiers to the west to the Persian headquarters.

As they got closer to the Persian base camp, their hearts began to pound, hoping to hear the good news that the Persian commander had been captured.

However, deep down, they were both very uneasy.

Both of them understood that since the Persian commander dared to deploy the tactic of sacrificing the chariot to save the king, he himself was most likely not in the base camp.

If that is true.

Even if they captured the Persian headquarters and wiped out the five million enemies, they still failed strategically because they failed to interrupt the Persian army's attack on Byzantium.