Seleucus' main purpose in this northern expedition was to take revenge on Stobi!
Hearing that the other party came to seek a fight, it was exactly what Seleucus wanted!
"Your Majesty! This must be the army of Stobi, but I don't know whether it is their main force or a group of rabble with little formal training! This Stobi likes to use a mob and human wave tactics! But in front of my Piosia's elite soldiers, they will surely collapse at the first touch!" Seleucus took over the conversation.
"Is it Stoby? They are so stupid that they don't negotiate peace or defend themselves, but come here to die! Great! Then just destroy their army!" Pagnadas was quite happy when he heard this.
Pagnadas dispatched an army of three million to conquer the Great North, and also brought out all one million Theban heavy cavalry. Of course, he was not just fighting for Macedonia!
His goal is to gain control of the entire Great North!
Macedonia was at a disadvantage in the battle with Stobi, and Pagnadas knew this information before he set out.
However, he also knew that Stobi was able to overwhelm Macedonia, just as Seleucus said, by relying on the human wave tactic!
Stoby's regular army was small, only a few tens of thousands of people.
It just has strong diplomatic capabilities and can win over a large number of small city-states to form the so-called Great Northern Alliance.
Only then can they bully the minority with their large numbers and suppress Macedonia, a country with limited national strength.
If it were the Tino Alliance, or even just the power of Boeotia, Pagnadas felt that it would be enough to defeat this mob!
Seeing that Macedonia, which still had some elite soldiers and generals, was besieged, this group of rabble did not choose to surrender, but dared to provoke?
beat!
They must be severely punished!
Only then can those country bumpkins see clearly how powerful the largest Greek alliance is!
"You're looking for death! How dare you ask our army to withdraw from the Great North? You won't cry until you see the coffin! Pass my order, immediately mobilize 200,000 Theban heavy cavalry, and destroy those 100,000 inferior cavalry for me!" Thinking of this, Pagnadas finally spoke.
In the battle for Pella, our side already had an absolute advantage. Half our troops were enough to destroy Alexander and his elite troops!
In this case, it is necessary to play the game of siege and attack reinforcements, crush the small city-state armies led by Stoby, and establish our authority!
"Understood!"
Upon hearing this, the messenger answered loudly and left.
Soon, 200,000 Theban heavy cavalry set out and marched towards the north with high morale.
This unusual movement gave Alexander and Odysseus, who were commanding the battle on the city wall, a boost of excitement.
There must be a serious reason why the Tino Alliance split up their forces!
There is a high possibility that reinforcements are coming from the north!
However, Botaitia is clearly in the southeast, so why are the reinforcements coming from the north?
Alexander and Odysseus were both puzzled. They could only temporarily hide this question in their hearts and continue to command the bloody battle before them!
Two hours later, new news came.
The Theban heavy cavalry missed, and the rustic light cavalry, upon seeing the knights of the Tinian League, turned and fled.
Because of their heavy armor, the Theban heavy cavalry could not catch up with them and had to stop halfway through their charge.
"Forget it! These rabbits don't have much meat, and it's so hard to chase them. It's better to eat Macedonia first, and it won't be too late to deal with them later." Pagnadas said.
The city of Pella had not yet been captured, and Pagnadas felt it was inappropriate to divide the troops too far at this moment.
These troops are timid and are probably just here for show.
It’s not worth getting entangled with them!
"That's not the case. To annihilate the enemy forces in Pella, more than one million men are enough! If we can chase and kill the main force of the Stobi, we will be able to speed up the pacification of the Great North! Otherwise, once they are scattered everywhere, it will be even more troublesome to solve them all at once!" Seleucus objected.
The arrival of the Stoic army was the perfect opportunity for revenge. He didn't even fight them, just letting them escape. Seleucus felt very upset.
"You have to eat one bite at a time. It's not a bad thing to be a little safe." Hearing this, Pagnadas shook his head.
There was no such suspense for Pagnadas. As a renowned tactician, he certainly knew his priorities.
Although Seleucus was a little mentally disturbed, the first command of the army was still in the hands of Pagnadas.
He felt that it was inappropriate to divide the troops too early, and preferred to destroy Alexander in Pella first.
Hearing that Pagnadas was unmoved, Seleucus groaned inwardly and wanted to try again.
Suddenly, another scout entered the tent and reported loudly.
"Report to my king! The 100,000 light cavalry are back again. They also attacked one of our camps and killed more than a thousand of our soldiers!" said the scout.
What?
Those country bumpkins, seeing my heavenly soldiers coming out, actually dared to come back and act wildly! And even dared to kill my people?
This is outrageous!
Do you really think that I, Pagnadas, am easy to bully?
Hearing this, Pagnadas became furious and punched the camp table hard.
"These Stobi guys have never seen the world! If we don't teach them a lesson, they will think that our alliance with Tino is easy to bully!" Seleucus on the side spoke at the right time.
Hearing this, Pagnadas finally couldn't help himself.
He gritted his teeth, pointed at the large map on the table, and spoke angrily.
"I heard that the old capital of Stoica is just north of Pella! Pass on my order, gather 1.6 million troops and follow me to attack, and fight northward resolutely! Fight all the way to the old capital of Stoica and destroy it first! This place is temporarily handed over to the Athenian commander Seleucus!" said Pagnadas.
"yes!"
Hearing this, the messenger did not dare to delay and hurried out of the tent to inform the various legions.
"What should we do here? Should we continue with the old tactics?" Seleucus asked.
Although Pagnadas was persuaded to send troops to Stobi, after several days of bloody fighting, the army of the Tino Alliance outside the city of Pella was now less than 2.7 million.
If Pagnadas took away 1.6 million, there would only be 1 million left here.
Although he still had the advantage when dealing with Alexander in Pella.
But if you want to break the city within the expected time, I'm afraid the difficulty will increase greatly!
"It's up to you! If you can't win, you can also lay siege for a long time! Anyway, all of my Boeotian heavy cavalry must follow me! Your Athenian army, together with the armies of other allied countries, might as well stay here!" Pagnadas replied.
Athens and other allied troops stayed behind?
Hearing this, Seleucus suddenly understood.
Pagnadas seemed to be confused by anger, but he actually had a clear mind!
The reason why he designated to take away 1.6 million people was precisely because there were still 1.6 million people left in the Boeoxia Legion of the Allied Forces!
Pagnadas clearly wanted to swallow up the entire Great Northern Alliance, but left the most difficult Macedonia to Athens and other allies.
In this way, if the territory is divided according to the respective occupied areas in the future, the one who gains the most from the Northern Expedition will not be Athens, but Boeotia!
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