"Report to my king! The spies have found out. The ruins we saw from afar on the top of the hill just now are the location of the city of Knossos. A great battle took place here several months ago. The victors of the battle were not the Cretans, but the legions from the far south. They called themselves Egyptians, and their leader was called Ptolemy." The personal guard came to report.
Egyptian!
Hearing this, Xia Zhe's heart tightened.
Yes, just south of the Greek world, across the vast Mediterranean Sea, is the ancient civilization of Egypt.
If Egypt wanted to reach the Greek world to the north, the best springboard would of course be Crete, the southernmost part of Greece.
Although in today's Greek world, very few people know about the existence of Egypt.
Egypt and Greece have never had a formal trade route.
But Xia Zhe was a time traveler, and the world map was in his mind. After listening to the introduction of his personal guard, Xia Zhe instantly sensed the approach of danger.
So scary!
This must be hell mode!
The Persian army had just arrived when the Egyptians from the south appeared again!
I thought the peaceful continent of Crete would be an ideal safe haven.
Unexpectedly, a remote place that was not on any trade route suddenly became the front line!
Why is my life so miserable?
Despite his lamentations, Xia Zhe still hurriedly sent people to inquire around and find out the details of the Egyptians' deep penetration into Crete.
After many inquiries, Xia Zhe finally figured out the whole story.
It turned out that a major civil unrest had occurred in the distant world of Egypt!
The old pharaoh died.
Ptolemy and his sister Cleopatra, both members of the royal family, fought a war for the throne.
Originally, Ptolemy had many supporters and had a huge advantage in the early stages of the war.
However, the Romans from the north suddenly moved south and landed in Egypt.
The Roman commander Caesar strongly supported Cleopatra.
As a result, the situation reversed, Ptolemy suffered a series of defeats, and finally had to flee to the north of the sea with two or three million remaining soldiers to avoid Cleopatra's pursuit.
In this way, they ran farther and farther, and finally landed on the Greek island of Crete.
At first, the Cretans treated these visitors from the far south as if they were from mainland Greece and ignored them.
But soon the Cretans discovered that something was wrong.
Since Crete is the birthplace of Greek civilization, it is the legendary home of the god Zeus.
Therefore, since ancient times, foreign forces entering Crete from the Greek mainland have not dared to go too far here.
Since the Cretans refused to cooperate, the outsiders relied on their own people to build their new home.
The Cretans were lazy and unmoved by money, and outsiders would not use force to force them.
However, the Egyptians, who came from another civilization, did not have so many taboos.
You can't buy them with money? Then threaten them with death!
You're not afraid of death threats? Then exterminate your entire race!
Ptolemy was ruthless and, determined to kill them all, he massacred the Cretans.
This is how the once prosperous city of Knossos was destroyed.
Now, most of Crete had fallen under the cruel rule of Ptolemy.
Only the easternmost region of Herrepna and the westernmost region of Keldonia had not yet been touched by the Egyptian army.
What surprised Xia Zhe the most was the force that fought a bloody battle with the Egyptian legion in Knossos.
That was not a native force of Crete, but came from the north, from Antigonus, who was defeated by Achilles.
After Antigonus was defeated by Achilles in the Great North, he led 50,000 remaining soldiers and sailed out to sea.
Hearing that Crete was easy to attack, he chose to go directly south.
It bypassed the Euboean Islands controlled by Eubia and miraculously passed through the islands controlled by the Athenian navy.
Antigonus's fleet finally arrived in Crete successfully.
As soon as he landed, Antigonus's ambition was severely frustrated. He discovered the same problem as Xia Zhe - the people here were so lazy!
But unlike Xia Zhe's harmless move, Antigonus needed the help of Crete's manpower to rise again.
Antigonus was very disappointed when he realized that this place was not suitable as a base for his grand ambitions.
He could only sit and watch the locals lazily relax and bask in the sun every day, and watch his warriors become increasingly lax. He was anxious but had no way to deal with it.
Finally, the invasion of the Egyptians changed everything.
With the arrival of the Egyptians who carried out massacres when they disobeyed, the native residents of Crete learned a lesson from their mistakes.
The so-called hedonism at the time was actually just the title of the birthplace of Greek civilization, which gave Crete a foundation.
The various overlords in the north were afraid of blaspheming the gods and did not dare to go too far.
Only the Cretans could preserve this paradise.
Only by doing nothing can you drive away one strong man after another who has a heart of a tiger.
However, in the eyes of foreign forces with different cultural origins, this place with no combat effectiveness is simply a gift.
They don't care how you enjoy yourself.
If you don't work, you will be beaten and killed, and we don't care about the destruction of your clan or your race!
Only by becoming strong and driving out external forces can we truly survive.
Survival is always more important than life.
Therefore, a group of Cretans finally decided to organize themselves and fight back against the Egyptian invaders.
Their leader was called Minos.
Minos searched the surrounding area, trying to find some similar forces that had entered Crete from the north to fight together.
In the end, he set his sights on Antigonus and those Macedonian elites who had not yet completely degenerated.
When a local force offered an olive branch, Antigonus naturally accepted it.
The two sides hit it off and soon formed a coalition force of about 200,000 people.
They repaired the low walls of Knossos and then waited for the arrival of Ptolemy's Egyptian army.
Knowing that the Cretans were going to resist, Ptolemy showed no mercy.
Soon after, he mobilized a million Egyptian legions and laid siege to Knossos.
This battle allowed the Egyptians to witness the bloodiness of the Greeks.
Antigonus's art of command was fully demonstrated, and his elite Macedonians and the indomitable Cretans also gave their all.
The Egyptians left behind more than 300,000 corpses and failed to capture the city of Knossos.
In a rage, Ptolemy mobilized another million troops, determined to crush the Cretans' idea of ​​resistance.
After another round of bloody battle, Knossos was finally captured.
In desperation, Antigonus and Minos retreated westward with their remaining troops, retreating to Keldonia, the western end of the Cretan mainland.
Because a full 500,000 people were lost here.
Ptolemy was furious and ordered a massacre of the city!
As a result, Knossos, the largest city in Crete, became a ghost town overnight.
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