However, although the Persian Empire was seriously weakened again at this time, Darius's obsession with the world empire was still strong, and the newly rising Egyptian resistance was not enough to become a major problem. Then Darius I united with the Phoenicians,

In fact, the Persian Empire was too powerful at this time, so the Phoenician kings had long cooperated with the Persian Empire.

In fact, there is a reason why the Phoenicians cooperated with the Persian Empire. The Persian Empire had the best naval attack when attacking Greece, and the Phoenicians were the most courageous sea warriors, so they chose to cooperate with the Phoenicians. Moreover, the Phoenicians

People have always been too ambitious and wanted to dominate the entire sea area, and following the Persian Empire was the most correct choice. What is even more outrageous is that the king of Phoenicia still allowed their Phoenician Kingdom to become a vassal state of the Persian Empire.

exist.

So far, Darius I has gathered a large navy, all of which are Phoenicians! This time it is even more powerful, with about three hundred warships, and these extremely sophisticated warships are not from the Persian Empire.

It was made by the Phoenicians. But if the Phoenician Kingdom is a tributary of the Persian Empire, then these extremely sophisticated Phoenician warships can also be said to be made by the Persian Empire. Of course, the Phoenician

Niki’s sea warriors can also be said to be Persian warriors!

This time, in addition to the Phoenician sea warriors and more than 300 extremely sophisticated warships, there are also more than 20,000 infantry warriors recruited by the Persian Empire! The equipment of these infantry warriors is also very sophisticated! Because there are many

The equipment was provided by the Phoenicians, such as iron helmets, armor, long swords, even extremely sophisticated catapults and shields, etc. But why did the Phoenicians provide these? In fact, this is not difficult to understand.

, because the Kingdom of Phoenicia is a vassal state of Persia, but not a slave state! The people in the Kingdom of Phoenicia and the people in the Persian Empire enjoyed the same resources and even benefits from Darius I.

Moreover, the Phoenicians also understood that as long as Greece was captured, their Phoenician sailing caravans could pass by, but now they cannot go because the Greeks do not welcome the Phoenicians. At this point we can also say that, in fact,

This time the Phoenicians also mobilized all their capital, because when the Phoenicians were the backbone of the Persian Empire, they owned about a thousand warships, but they had also attacked Greece many times before, so now these three hundred

Many ships are already the last ones.

This time Darius I and the Phoenician sailing warriors launched the most violent attack on Greece! More than 300 very sophisticated warships and all Phoenician maritime warriors, these Phoenicians

The equipment was also very sophisticated, including iron helmets, iron armor, excellent iron swords, very sophisticated bows, etc. Then the 20,000 infantry were also extremely well-equipped. At this point, Darius I believed that this time

Greece will definitely be captured. Even if it cannot be captured, Greece will be completely unable to stand up.

When we talk about this, some people may ask, why do 300 warships, Phoenician warriors, and 20,000 well-equipped infantry make Darius I so confident? How long did it take?

A long time ago, more than 170,000 people died on both sides in the battle on the Danube River on the Black Sea alone. But what is the number of people in this army now?

In fact, this is not difficult to understand, because Persia and Greece have been at war for almost 20 years. This is definitely not a joke. God knows how many battles, large and small, have happened. So regardless of the current situation in Persia,

It is still the current Greece, which actually cannot give the number of fighters, and even if the recruitment of fighters is mandatory, then there must be male fighters of sufficient age to compulsorily recruit them, right?

At this point we will understand why Darius was so confident this time, because not only they in Persia had no soldiers left to fight, but Greece was in the same situation!

The place Darius I wanted to attack this time was Athens! Athens is a major city in Greece! It is also one of the most powerful city-states in military terms. Therefore, Darius's choice to attack Athens is absolutely correct. As long as this place is captured, in fact,

Greece's momentum has basically been lost.

But after Athens learned of this situation at this time, it was first anxious and panicked, because the army led by Darius this time was not joking with them at all, let alone playing a house game. This was fatal, obviously.

To completely destroy their Athens.

Therefore, the top leaders of the Athenian city-state quickly went to the Spartan city-state and asked the Spartans to fight and help the Athenian city-state face the enemy. However, the Spartan city-state lost too much combat effectiveness in the past confrontation with Persia.

, now it has reached the point where it is impossible to recover. We all know this, right? In fact, Spartan warriors have very strict requirements, so the output is very small, which cannot be made up for. So the king of Sparta

Refuse to go to Athens to help Athens fight.

Moreover, this is the second time Darius has attacked Athens, and this time it is different from before. In fact, when Darius was still preparing his army, he sent many envoys to various Greek city-states to ask for water.

And the land, this actually means that they want to surrender. If they don't give it, their city-state will be razed to the ground.

In fact, most of the Greek city-states at this time were frightened by the Persian Empire and hurriedly donated water and soil. At this time, the Athenian city-states and Sparta did not take Persia seriously at all. The Athenians regarded Persia as

The Spartans threw the Persian envoy from the mountains into the sea. The Spartans took the Persian envoy to the well, pointed to the well and said: There is water and soil in the well. Go get it yourself. After saying this, they threw the Persian envoy away.

Entered the well.

At this time, Darius heard about this approach of Athens and Sparta, so the current situation emerged and he launched his second expedition to Greece!

At this time, Persia was actually a large empire spanning Asia, Africa and Europe, while Athens and Sparta were just two small city-states in Greece. Their strength was really very different. And as we said before, Sparta

The King of Sparta refused to send out Spartan warriors to help Athens, which showed that there was still great disunity between the two city-states of Sparta and Athens.

However, in order to jointly resist the Persians, Athens once again sent out long-distance runners, and Philipides went to Sparta for help. The distance between Athens and Sparta was 240 kilometers, and Philipides only took two days.

We arrived in Sparta at night, but the king of Sparta rejected Athens' proposal. The king of Sparta said: According to our Spartan customs, we can only wait until the moon is full before sending out troops to fight, otherwise it will

The attack was not successful. Felipedes was moved by emotion and reason. Finally, he begged the King of Sparta, but the King of Sparta refused to send troops. Feripides had no choice but to rush back overnight.

Athens.

When the Athenians learned that Sparta refused to send troops for rescue, they were not discouraged. The top leaders of Athens issued a mobilization order for all the people. Even their Athenian slaves were incorporated into the army and actively prepared for war.

By this time, the Persian army had crossed the Aegean Sea and landed at Marathon outside Athens. At this time, Athens' military service system was formulated based on the laws of the reformer Solon in 600 BC.

The Athenians were still divided into four classes as before. The first class were the richest people and served as generals in the army. The second class were the rural nobles, who formed the cavalry. The third class were the commanders.

Shop owners and rich peasants also prepared their own weapons and armor to form heavy armor in the army. Their weapons were two-meter long javelins, Greek short swords and shields. The fourth class of people were craftsmen and women in the city.

Ordinary farmers form light armored soldiers in the army, whose weapons are javelins and bows, or serve as oarsmen on naval warships.

At this time, the Athenian troops were all organized, with about ten thousand people. They were determined to defend their homeland and were willing to fight to the death against the Persian invaders, so their morale was high and their combat effectiveness was very strong.

But Persia is different. At this time, the Persian army is marching here and has recruited more troops along the way. There will already be an army of 100,000! Is this a joke? So in terms of number alone, this is ten times the Athenian army.

However, the Persian army of 100,000 was mainly composed of slaves and many Greeks who were conquered by them! It can also be said that this 100,000 army was originally formed in a hurry, and its morale was not very high. In terms of overall equipment,

If so, it is definitely not very good, and the discipline is not very good. The only ones who can truly be called elite are about 20,000 Persians brought from Persia.

So at this time, after the Athenians learned about the situation, under the leadership of their general, they rushed to Marathon to fight the Persians again. Marathon is a plain, surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on one side. But the Persians

Camped on the plain. After seeing this, the Athenian general understood the terrain problem and ordered the Athenians to climb the mountains and occupy the commanding heights.

On the eve of the decisive battle, the general of Athens said to the Athenians: It is up to you whether Athens will be free forever or wear the yoke of slavery. And the soldiers of Athens shouted: I will never be a slave to the death!

The Athenians rushed down the hillside and attacked the Persian military camp. The Persians were caught off guard and were in chaos. The Athenian general took the opportunity to arrange his troops. He placed the main Athenian army on the two wings, with a strong fighting force in the middle.

Strong heavy armored soldiers. After a while, the Persians came over and attacked the Athenian heavy armored soldiers with cavalry. The Athenians kept retreating, and the Persians pressed forward step by step, and the battle line continued to lengthen.
Chapter completed!