"Greece is so barren." Yang Congrong, director of the Eastern European Division of the Song Dynasty, said immediately. At this time, the Eastern European Division of the Song Dynasty, had arrived outside the city of Athens with the troops. His horse was parked on a small slope, and most of the places that caught his eye were ups and downs, and there were many stones in the land. As a Han Chinese, Yang Congrong instinctively felt that this kind of place was not suitable for farming and naturally belonged to a barren area.

As for the Greek city itself, Yang Congrong didn't care at all. Even if he could vaguely see the Greek temple at the top of the distant hills, Yang Congrong did not have the feeling of pilgrimage to Greek civilization in the 21st century.

At least in the 332nd year of the Song Dynasty, that is, in the 1292nd year of the Western calendar, there was nothing special about Greece. In the training course of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yang Congrong studied European history, and his evaluation of Greece was relatively simple.

In the Homer era in BC, the "Homera Epic", which was compiled by the bard Homer, was the early history of Greece. Later, Thucydides' "The Peloponnese War" was the middle history of Greece.

Then it was probably the Ptolemaic period.

The expedition of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great, which began in 334 BC, was essentially the invasion of the vast areas of Asia and North Africa by the Greek army, which was dominated by the Macedonians. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Greek history entered the "Hellenistic Age". After decades of war, a number of "Hellenistic countries" mainly composed of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, the Seleucid Kingdom, and the Macedonian Kingdom appeared in the vast areas of Europe, Asia and Africa.

In 299 BC, Roman forces began to invade the Balkans. As the Hellenized Kingdoms gradually perished, the Romans gradually became the master of the fate of the Greeks. In 30 BC, Rome destroyed the last Hellenized country, the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt, and the history of ancient Greece ended.

Therefore, the city of Athens is neither the starting point of the Greek city nor the end point of Greece. I felt very disappointed when the Song Dynasty's ruling center in Europa would be in this Athens city for a long time. It is very likely that Yang Congrong, who had jumped from the Director of the Eastern European Division of the Song Dynasty to the Minister of the Europa Province of the Song Dynasty, became the Minister of the Song Dynasty.

At this time, the city of Athens was already making a loud noise, and the Song army was besieging this small city. At this time, the outer city had been easily broken and the war had begun inside the city. After a while, the correspondent ran back to Yang Congrong, "Report to Commander Yang that our army has captured the Duke's Mansion. Is the commander going to enter the city or bring the Duke out."

"Take it out." Yang Congrong said desperately. Seeing the correspondent leave quickly, Yang Congrong wanted to see what kind of guy his captive was.

The Principal of Athens was one of the crusades established by the feudal lords of Western Europe on the ruins of the Eastern Roman Empire after the Fourth Crusade. It was established in Athens in 1205 by the Burgundian knight Otto de la Roche. The Principality was the Attica Peninsula centered on Athens, which had successively belonged to the Kingdom of Thessaloniki (1224 years ago) and the Principal of Achaean (1224 years later). The Duke himself was stationed in the Acropolis of Athens. The Principal of Athens gradually established a complete Western European feudal system in central Greece, replacing the original centralized administrative system of the Byzantine Empire.

Before sending troops this time, the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire asked Yang Congrong to arrest the Duke of Athens, he would definitely ask Yang Congrong to secretly send the Duke to the Eastern Roman Emperor.

Not long after, the duke tied with ropes and the Orthodox bishop in the city who was the inner-command appeared in front of Yang Congrong. The Orthodox priest who came with Yang Congrong hurriedly came forward to pay homage to the bishop. After their certification, the guy who was caught was indeed the Duke of the Principal of Athens.

Looking down at the trembling man, Yang Congrong couldn't see what was unique to him. Thinking back to the uncontrollable malice that the Emperor of the Eastern Romans talked about the Duke of Athens, Yang Congrong even felt some sympathy for his captives.

Eastern Rome was a centralized country, so there were many punishments that shocked the law, such as cutting the dick, cutting the nose, cutting the ear, digging the eyes, and peeling the skin. Anyway, there were many tricks. With the emotions of the Eastern Roman emperor at that time, the Duke of the Duchy of Athens had a great opportunity to carefully savor the various imposed by the Eastern Roman emperor on the duke.

"Take it away." Yang Congrong's calm destiny. It is also a good thing to make the Eastern Roman emperor happy.

The Song army successfully conquered Athens. The city had internal support, so the screening work was much easier. The Song army captured all the nobles, officials and Catholic forces in the city and sent them to Rhode Island. The other troops continued to go north, and their target was Hot Spring Pass.

Greece is a mountainous country, or the entire country is on a hillside. The Song Dynasty was not prepared to occupy the entire Greece, so it required too much troops to defend. Greece's natural danger was the Hot Spring Pass. When the Persians attacked Greece, it was said that hundreds of thousands of troops were blocked by thousands of Greeks under the Hot Spring Pass, and they could not attack Greece. If they defended the Hot Spring Pass, they could control the Attica Peninsula centered on Athens. To the south of the Attica Peninsula was the Peloponnese Peninsula. If they wanted to attack these two peninsulas and fail to break the natural danger, they had to rely on the navy.

Although far away from the Song Dynasty, the Song navy in the Mediterranean still had strong confidence and could crush any enemy from the sea. No matter if the enemy had one hundred ships or ten thousand ships, the Song navy could achieve a complete victory.

As the commander, Yang Congrong arrived at Hot Spring Pass with his troops. Looking at this important battlefield specially recorded in history books, Yang Congrong felt that the natural dangers in history make sense. The narrow passage between Mount Kaliz Romon and the Bay of Maryakos on the eastern coast of central Greece. This place is backed by mountains and seas, and the terrain is extremely dangerous.

As long as it is a mountain, there are various mountain paths. However, such mountain paths can allow a few people to pass through, but there is no way for large troops to pass through. The large troops need a lot of logistics and supplies, and the roads that many people can pass through cannot pass through, vehicles or mules and horses that transport supplies. Therefore, there is no strategic significance.

The strategic significance of the Hot Spring Pass lies in the fact that after passing here, it enters a relatively less steep mountainous land, and the army can move freely. When the Hot Spring Pass is stuck, the Attica Peninsula centered at Athens is as solid as a solid foundation. The Attica Peninsula is fine, and the Peloponnese Peninsula, as a farther hinterland, will not be affected at all.
Chapter completed!