King Stobi was far-sighted that day. He was not simply looking for an excuse. I'm afraid he really wanted to cooperate with Persia to fight the enemy!
Finally regaining his freedom and no longer daring to mention revenge on Greece, Xerxes politely said goodbye and planned to take a boat to Persia.
Before leaving, the two kings had dinner together for the first time and got along quite well.
Xerxes admitted to his face that King Stobius had a farsighted vision. If the Romans could be repelled in the future, Persia would be willing to turn enemies into friends and form a friendly alliance with Greece, ensuring mutual non-aggression and prosperity.
Hearing this, Xia Zhe was also very happy. He solemnly promised that he would soon take strong actions to tie down the Romans' energy and share the pressure on Persia.
In the cordial and friendly atmosphere, Xerxes hurried away.
After returning to the palace, Xia Zhe hurriedly pulled Lillian to the world map sandbox to find out what was going on.
"Look, King! The green light has indeed moved to Botaitia! This shows that the holy stone that the Persians talked about is the green heart of the king!" Lillian said happily after seeing the glowing position on the map.
"I have never doubted this! I have come here every night recently. I know exactly where you have gone with the Blue King's Heart! I brought you here tonight to see the last ball of white light! Didn't you notice any changes in it?" Xia Zhe reminded seriously.
White light?
After hearing Wang's words, Lillian unconsciously looked away, gazing at the end of the continent on the map, at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.
However, something strange happened!
There was no white light there now, only a pitch-black mass, no different from the surroundings.
"Oh my God! The last King's Heart has disappeared!" Lillian cried out in surprise.
"No, it didn't disappear, it just moved closer to us!" Xia Zhe smiled when he heard that.
Somewhere closer?
After hearing this, Lillian scanned the map and immediately found Bai Guangxin's location.
Now, it has shone on the middle of a boot-shaped continent west of the Greek mainland, which seems to be separated from the Greek mainland only by the Adriatic Sea.
"What is that place?" Lillian asked in a lost voice.
Lillian wasn't even familiar with maps of Greece, let alone the world. She had no idea where the white light was.
"Apennine Peninsula, Rome! I have calculated it for many days and I can be sure that this is the location of Rome!" Xia Zhe answered firmly.
"Rome! Is it the capital of Rome that is currently attacking Persia?" Lillian asked in surprise.
Xia Zhe nodded silently without saying anything.
The promise Xia Zhe made when bidding farewell to King Xerxes of Persia today wasn't unfounded. In fact, he had been thinking about how to obtain the last King's Heart these past few days.
The map originally showed that the King's Heart was far away.
But obviously, with Rome's conquest of various parts of Western Europe, the king's heart had been brought back to Rome, perhaps hidden in a Roman temple or treasury.
Since Caesar had already personally taken action and engaged the Persian army in Canaan, Rome's military strength should have been relatively weak at this moment.
Xia Zhe had an idea that instead of sending troops to the East and fighting Caesar in Persia, it would be better to cross the Adriatic Sea, directly land on the Apennine Peninsula, and raid Rome.
Although he was actually trying to win the heart of the king, this direct attack style could objectively relieve a lot of pressure for Persia.
If it succeeds in the end, won’t all the King’s Hearts be collected?
As for what to do next, there will probably be new hints by then.
With this in mind, Xia Zhe summoned his main generals the next morning to discuss the matter of crossing the sea and marching west.
When everyone heard that the king had decided to launch a western expedition, they were somewhat confused.
The Greco-Persian War, which mobilized the armies of most Greek city-states, had only just ended three months ago. In particular, the main force of the Strophic Army, led by Achilles, was still scattered across the Asia Minor Peninsula.
It would be too hasty to launch an attack now.
Everyone thought that it would be best to let Persia and Rome fight for a while, until they were exhausted and both sides suffered losses, and then Greece would send troops to reap the benefits.
Xia Zhe cannot reveal the secret of the King's Heart.
He understood that his generals were psychologically reluctant to send troops in a hurry just to help Persia, with whom he had fought a fierce battle not long ago.
After careful consideration, Xia Zhe changed his mind and proposed that the more than 10 million city-state coalition forces still gathered in the north should be the main force to march south to the Peloponnese to attack Achaia and Leonidas.
This time, all the generals agreed.
During the gruesome Greco-Persian Wars, all Greek city-states fought tooth and nail. Only Sparta and Achaea in the south, still intent on internal strife, sent their armies to Crete to hunt down King Stropheus.
Although King Agamemnon of Achaea is dead, King Leonidas of Sparta is still alive and well.
Now that the Greco-Persian War is over, everyone feels that it is very necessary to send troops to attack Leonidas and make him pay the price!
Of course, Xia Zhe’s real purpose was to go to the south, use the ports there, sail out to sea, and march west to Rome.
As long as the army sets out, the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. If I adjust the orders temporarily, the opposition will naturally be much smaller.
Since the main force of Stobi was still in faraway Asia Minor, the army that marched south this time was mainly composed of troops from various vassal states.
Alexander, who had been in charge of commanding them, also naturally followed Xia Zhe into the battle and became the de facto commander-in-chief.
Achilles and his old partner Odysseus both headed east to Asia Minor to stabilize the newly occupied territories.
After much consideration, Xia Zhe decided to bring Spartacus along and partner with Alexander in command.
Spartacus fled back to Greece from Rome. When the army set out to sea, he was like the best guide.
As for the commander of the navy, Xia Zhe also made the best arrangements and continued to let Themistocles be in charge.
Archimedes, who had many ideas, became his partner.
Xia Zhe understood that a sea-crossing landing operation would place high demands on the navy's tactical arrangements and weaponry.
With the most powerful naval warfare expert and the most incredible weapons expert by my side, I can feel much more at ease.
Three days later, the army officially set out, divided into two parts: land and water.
Themistocles' main navy of more than 6,000 ships, loaded with the coalition's heavy infantry and other heavy equipment, set sail from Botaitia and headed south to Athens.
The rest of the cavalry and light infantry, led by Alexander, traveled overland, heading west through the Olympus Pass and then south to Thermopylae.
For comfort, Xia Zhe, the supreme leader, naturally chose the water route. Lillian, who understood the King's Heart quite well, accompanied them and served them.
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