Dom soon left Meritamen with Hua Xia, after she insisted that she would be ok. He felt uneasy but he knew that if he stayed it would just make the situation difficult. He tracked down Subutai and Xun You at the Town Centre, where he explained the information he had received about the World Conquest Battle Map.
"It is like a free Golden Token, but with competition." Subutai replied excitedly, "If there is no risk of death, we can try out some new tactics and take risks. I do not expect everyone would ask that question, so it could give us an advantage."
"If we choose the Naval Battle, and lose, we could end up with one less Trireme, which we need." Xun You explained, "However, it is also an opportunity to prove ourselves and try to hire new ships and crews."
"It is also an opportunity to train a large amount of our crews in a live scenario. We won't have many opportunities like this where there is no risk to life. It may be worth loosing a ship if we have better crews." Subutai countered.
"That's a very good point." Dom agreed, "I'd rather stay positive and aim to win, but this is a good training opportunity."
"If we took both Artemisia and Gan Ning, we have two excellent sailors and one who actually knows the region, it is a huge advantage." Subutai agreed. "We should also take Tomoe and Sun Ce if we go for the Naval Battle."
"If we go for the Land battle, we should take most of our Heroes such as Liao Hua, Sun Ce, Gan Ning, the Halberd Twins, Qin Ming, Hua Rong, Tomoe, Tomyris." Dom countered.
"We could, but as the numbers are much smaller, it would be better to take one solid trained unit." Subutai countered. "The Generals are strong individuals, but on a large battlefield; training, tactics and unity are stronger. I also don't think that two hundred Warriors can make much of an impact on a battle of that size. We would need mobility to be able to add something, so I would recommend we went for only Cavalry. Our Horse Archers are much further than they should be in that era, if we take enough Arrows we can cause a lot of chaos."
"I shall get Thucydides." Xun You laughed suddenly, "He's from that era and that place, he should have some knowledge of it whilst we wait for Artemisia."
"Let's just head to the Library?" Dom replied after thinking about what Xun You had said, "We'll take Crassus and Xun Yu with us as well, we could potentially plan some initial strategies."
"I think Crassus may have left this morning with Lucius, to introduce Cicero and Umako to the other Towns. I believe he intended for Umako, himself and Artemisia to head north to the Trading Town, whilst Lucius wanted to show Cicero around the farm land and introduce him to Elder Qiao." Xun You explained, "I'll have a message dispatched to delay the trip north until after the battle of Nakbe and your return, so that you can speak with Artemisia."
"That would be great, thank you." Dom replied, "I'll head to the Library now, please could you get Xun Yu and meet me there. It may be worth bringing Shang Yang if he is free as well."
"It wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't already there." Subutai smiled, "We will be with you in ten minutes."
Dom left the two Heroes at the Town Centre and headed towards the Library, followed by his usual guards. As they walked, Dom asked his Hoplite Guards if they had any knowledge of the Battle of Plataea or Mycale.
"I fought at Marathon." Gregorios replied proudly, "A great battle where we pushed the Persians back in to the sea. Six thousand of us lined up and fought against the despicable invaders, stretching our lines so that they couldn't mount a reasonable charge."
"My brother took an arrow to the shoulder at Marathon." Homer laughed in a reminiscent way, "He recovered thankfully, but he ended up dying at Artemisium. I wasn't off age to fight in those battles at the time. Plataea is a different story though."
"It may be worth speaking with some of the Spartans, I believe Maron and his brother Alpheus fought at Thermopylae." Hector added, "As did some of the Hoplite that are currently with General Sun Ce."
"I thought they all died that went to Thermopylae?" Homer questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Gregorios only fought at Marathon." Hector argued back, "Not everything has to make sense. I fought at Artemisium and Salamis, but I have no recollection of Plataea or Mycale."
"What do you mean only fought at Marathon? I was on the front line!" Gregorios shouted back in frustration.
"Regardless, they were all gruesome battles." Trojan commented. "I also fought at Plataea, if Mardonius hadn't died during our retreat, I am not sure we would have won. The destruction was was on a different scale."
Dom then realised that his Hoplite may have been from this time period, their knowledge could be as important as anything he could get from Thucydides or Artemisia.
"System, please show me the Hoplite Warriors Hall information again!" Dom asked as they walked and he listened to them speak.
[Of Course, the Original description was:
Hoplites were citizens of Ancient Greece, who formed Phalanx formations with overlapping Shields and spears. They work better together as a unit, rather than as individuals. Due to their compact formations and training regiments, they are a successful in small numbers against larger opponents. The spears that they held, also known as Doru, ranged from 8ft to 15ft (2.5 - 4.5m) depending on the area of Greece they were from, they had a leaf shaped metal head, with a metal spike on the rear end. They also held a short sword, and a curved shield called an Apsis.
Riverside Village's Hoplites will be professionally trained units, who would have fought at the peak of the Greco-Persian Wars (500-450BC). They will all be well armoured in bronze and not the Linen of the poorer units.
However they have since been upgraded to have better armour and weapons. You also have Spartans from the same time period.]
Dom realised he had a huge advantage over other Players. Not only did he have Warriors who had experience in this time period, he also had actual Warriors who had fought in the key battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium and Salamis. He also had Warriors that actually fought at Plataea and he was sure if he asked around some may have fought at Mycale as well.
"Once we get to the Library, please can you send a messenger to Centurion Alexander that I wish to speak with him." Dom ordered them, "I will have further orders once I have spoken to Thucydides."
"I will get the message sent." Gregorios replied proudly, "Seeing as I only fought at Marathon, I'm obviously the best person to get a message sent."
The other guards rolled their eyes as they finally arrived at the large symbolic Library that lay beside the Calm River. Dom headed inside for the first time, his guards staying outside as he walked in. Inside was a marble reception desk that the Elite Villager Zenodotus the Librarian sat behind. Further behind him were rows upon rows of parchments and books that filled a large amount of the shelves, unfortunately a lot of the shelves were still empty.
In the centre behind Zenodotus were several tables, and at one of them sat Shang Yang, Thucydides the Historian, Herpatya the Scholar, Aristarchus the Astronomer and Gu Kaizhi the Artist and Hero. They noticed Dom's entry and all stood up in respect to welcome him.
"I wasn't expecting to see you this morning." Shang Yang welcomed, surprised but pleased to see Dom.
"It's been an eventful morning!" Dom replied with a smile, "I need to speak with Thucydides, but you are all welcome to stay."
"Is there a problem Lord Lazarus?" Thucydides asked in surprise, they had spoken on some occasion but he hadn't expected Dom to need him as an individual.
"No problems, I need your advice and your knowledge if possible." Dom replied politely.
"We have finished our meeting anyway." Gu Kaizhi explained with a smile, "We were making some amendments to the curriculum for the School. Sostratus has created the relevant schematic and we intend to build one at Serenity when the capacity becomes available."
"That is exciting to hear." Dom agreed, "I appreciate all of the hard work you are all putting in."
"It is Kento and Minato that are doing most of the work." Herpatya laughed, "We are just supporting the two teachers."
"We do need to train many more." Aristarchus smiled, "But it is nice to feel young again when I am surrounded by all those young intellectuals who are challenging what is known with new ideas and approaches."
As they spoke, Subutai, Xun You and Xun Yu arrived. Zenodotus looked surprised at how many people were in the Library, most likely one of the busiest times since it was created over a month ago.
"It looks like this could be an important meeting, so we shall leave." Gu Kaizhi accepted politely as he ushered the other Elite Villagers to leave.
"Your opinions could be helpful." Dom explained honestly as they began to leave.
"It is always key to keep the group small at first, before sharing the results with a larger group afterwards." Herpatya laughed, "Otherwise we could be discussing solutions for days and nothing would get done."
Dom couldn't disagree with this comment as all of the Elite Villagers, including Zenodotus, left the Library. Leaving Dom with Thucydides, Shang Yang, Subutai, Xun You and Xun Yu. They all sat around the table that Shang Yang and Thucydides were sat at, with those that were unaware waiting in anticipation.
Dom explained the World Conquest Battle Map to them, as well as explaining the conversation he had with the Hoplite on his journey to the Library. Subutai then explained the conversation they had earlier about the possibilities with both options.
"I wasn't born until around eighteen years after the battles." Thucydides began, "My experience was fighting against the Spartans, not alongside them. However, I have a lot of knowledge about both battles. Maybe not as good as those that fought in them, but I was a leader in my own time and I can describe how the Hoplites fought with hindsight of how they could have done better."
"Please, tell me more about both battles!" Dom asked, as the group all leant forwards to listen in.
"The Persians set up a fort near Plataea, wanting to fight a field battle against the Greek Alliance. For eleven days, neither side fought, both wanting the other side to come to the battlefield that they chose." Thucydides began, "On the eleventh day, the Persians had disrupted the Greek Supply Lines, causing them to need to retreat as no Army can fight well with no food. The Persians seeing this, launched a full attack, however their army was split so the lighter troops arrived much sooner than their heavy infantry."
"That doesn't sound like a smart tactic." Subutai replied seriously, "I understand attacking a retreating enemy force, but when no blood has been spilt, it seems that morale wouldn't have been low enough for them to be running in fear. He should have brought his whole force."
"Their General Mardonius didn't, and he was killed in the initial clashes between the Spartans, Athenians and Tegaens who held the line." Thucydides explained, "Once he fell, the Persians were in disarray and the Greeks reformed and surrounded them. It was a slaughter."
"I have a few questions before we continue." Xun You asked. "I know of the Spartans and the Athenians, we have enough of them here. Who are the Tegaens?"
"They are another City State, formally of Arcadia." Thucydides replied openly.
"Arcadia?" Xun You asked again, wanting to know who all of the different parties were on both sides.
"Yes, there were many City States involved in both sides of the Battle. I will write you a list of all of the ones that I can remember. Each has their own Political point of view and the alliance was thin. Before the Persians and after the Persians, the Greek Cities had been fighting for hundreds of years between themselves." Thucydides explained. "The Thebians that we have here in Riverside are an example of that."
"How many fought?" Xun Yu asked, taking over from his cousin.
"Around eighty thousand Greeks, mainly Spartans and Athenians, and at least one hundred, but possibly two hundred thousand Persians and their allies." Thucydides replied openly.
"What happened at Plataea in the past, will be very different this time." Dom explained. "If we are aware of how the Persians were defeated, then so will their new allies that join them. This will end up being a much larger and open battle. The Persians will not so easily be defeated again."
"What of Mycale?" Shang Yang asked, wondering about the other battlefield.