Yina had already received the news.
But the whole experience, told by Hector, an eyewitness, still made Ina feel deeply moved.
She immediately made a decision and mobilized another 300,000 land forces from Botaïtia, led by Ajax, to also board the Trojan fleet.
In this way, the Trojan fleet, carrying Stoica's 500,000 reinforcements, marched west again.
It was three days later when we landed at Port Maganit again.
Hector was greatly relieved to find that the port was still in Achilles' hands.
Seeing that Achilles, Alexander and Odysseus seemed to be in good spirits, they talked and found out the situation of the land war.
During these days, Pericles commanded his three million mercenaries to attack the defense line set up by Achilles in turns.
However, Stoby's military strength is not weak either.
The mercenaries of the Tino Alliance made slow progress as they had already built fortifications and were well-rested.
The battle was intense, with heavy casualties on both sides.
If Pericles had not kept promising to increase the reward, the mercenaries would have given up long ago.
In fact, seeing that more and more of their men were wounded, Achilles, Odysseus, Alexander and others were also very anxious.
The three received reliable information that the Tino Alliance had hired another two million troops and would arrive at the battlefield within a few days.
This is the biggest advantage of the Tino Alliance, its strong financial resources!
Their reinforcements could come in an endless stream, but Stoby could no longer muster many men.
Sometimes, Achilles felt a little regretful.
He regretted that he had made a misjudgment and underestimated the war capabilities of the Tino Alliance.
Seeing that Hector brought 500,000 reinforcements, Achilles finally felt relieved a little.
When he heard that the six-nation coalition had successfully brought the funds stored on Tinos Island back to the Great North under the personal command of the king, Achilles's worries were completely dispelled.
"Opportunity! It's definitely a great opportunity! The king has taken away the funds of the Tino Alliance. This way, our army will surely win." Achilles said excitedly.
"Our army will definitely win? I don't understand, what does the navy's victory have to do with my army's victory?" the Prime Minister asked in confusion.
Indeed, the king defeated the main force of the Athenian navy and broke the undefeated golden body of the god of war Themistocles.
However, this is only from a naval perspective.
Specifically speaking of the current land battle in Thessalian, the situation has not changed much.
It is true that we have 500,000 reinforcements, but the Tino Alliance is about to arrive with 2 million reinforcements!
The gap in strength between the two sides has not narrowed but widened!
It can be expected that the battle to defend Meganite will be even more difficult!
However, there were several excellent strategists among those present.
Awakened by Achilles, they all came to their senses.
"Prime Minister, you only know one side of the story. Most of our enemies are mercenaries. Do you know what mercenaries are?" Alexander said with a smile.
"Yes! Recruiting mercenaries requires a lot of money! Especially in order to break through our army's defense line. I heard that Pericles has increased the bounty three times in a row. Once he can't pay the money, what do you think will happen?" Odysseus also laughed.
what happens?
After a little thought, the Prime Minister already had the answer in his mind.
He nodded secretly and a knowing smile appeared on his face.
At the same time, in Pericles' tent south of Meganit City.
After confirming the bad news again, Pericles' face was gloomy and he said nothing.
"Mr. Archon! Our army is running out of funds. If we continue to stalemate here, danger may occur at any time! For now, we should temporarily abandon the Thessalian area, disband the mercenaries, and retreat south of Thermopylae! After all, the army guarding Thermopylae are all Athenian citizens. Even if they have no money or even no water or food, they can hold on!" Cleisthenes suggested.
"Retreat? Absolutely not! Just say less and don't shake the morale of the army!" Pericles immediately objected.
Pericles was no fool and certainly knew that the current situation was very delicate.
Although our army had the upper hand, it did not have the ability to immediately break through the Stoby army's defense line and occupy Maganite.
However, through the fighting over the past few days, he had already figured out the enemy's strengths and weaknesses.
Pericles had absolute confidence.
As long as the two million mercenaries are coming from behind, they will join the battle tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
The end of the Stoby Expeditionary Force will come.
At this moment, giving up easily is absolutely not an option!
Pericles felt that as the Archon of Athens and the leader of the Teneinian League, he could at least hold the mercenaries steady for a few days.
After taking down Meganit, distribute the Stobi people's supplies to the mercenaries to stabilize the situation.
Didn’t this battle still end with our victory?
"But our army's financial supply has been cut off. Once those mercenaries find out that we have no money to give them..." Hearing this, Cleisthenes wanted to remind them again.
"That's enough! Let's stop here! I am the Archon, not you!"
Pericles spoke rudely, interrupting Cleisthenes.
Then, he patted the table and issued new instructions to the messenger.
"Send the message! Tell the two million mercenaries who have already left Thermopylae to speed up their advance. They must reach the battlefield of Meganite before tomorrow morning. At nine o'clock tomorrow morning, our army will officially launch a new round of offensive!" Pericles said.
"this……"
Hearing such a resolute order, Cleisthenes opened his mouth to speak, but after much hesitation, he finally said nothing.
He could only leave the tent silently and return to his residence in great melancholy, planning the follow-up plan in case of defeat.
After receiving such an order, the mercenaries who had already heard the news of Athens' defeat in the naval battle became restless.
"Does Pericles take us for fools? Such a big thing happened, and he didn't even officially announce it!"
"Yeah! That's too much! Apart from ordering us to fight like crazy, he didn't mention money at all!"
"Are we his subjects? Get it straight, we can be mercenaries! Who would work for him without money?"
…
Amidst the doubts, the army elected two leaders and went to Pericles' tent to demand clarification on when the promised gold coins would be distributed.
Pericles couldn't even pay the military expenses of Athens' own army, so how could he have extra money to pay the mercenaries?
In desperation, he had to try to explain and promised to redeem the currency in the future with the endorsement of Athens' national strength.
Owe it first?
Hearing Pericles' remarks, the two leaders became angry instantly.
What a joke!
Mercenaries live on the edge of a knife. You never know when you might die on the battlefield!
Do you think you can just stay home and wait until the autumn harvest to harvest the crops?
Without any hesitation, the two men ran out of Pericles' tent angrily and started shouting loudly.
"Go back! Let's all go back! This Athenian archon doesn't keep his word!"
"That's too much! They even refuse to pay us mercenaries! How shameless are you?"
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