"Mycale was naval and land based." Thucydides began, the group leaning in to hear more information about what currently seemed like the better option. "After their defeat at Salamis the Persian's Fleet was low on Morale. Whilst General Mardonius had the army at Plataea, the Navy were based at Samos. The Greeks, led by General Leotychidas, one of the current Kings of Sparta, attacked the Persian Navy at Samos. The Navy retreated to the coast of Ionia, beaching their ships under Mount Mycale. The Persians created a Palaside Fort, expecting it to be a defendable position. However, Leotychidas is a Spartan King, it's in his blood to attack the Fort."
"So there wasn't much of a Naval Battle?" Xun You asked, as he and Xun Yu both took down different types of notes.
"Partially, but it was mostly a Land Battle. The Navy that beached was either captured or set aflame. The Greeks assaulted the Fort, with part of the Greek Contingent that were on the Persian side changing sides. After this there was a bloody battle that took place with the elimination of the Persians as the result."
"So a similar situation to Plataea then." Subutai frowned. "If people understand the history, they can reinforce that Fort much quicker and create a drawn out battle. If they know who betrays them, they can eliminate them before any betrayal can happen."
"If we chose this, we would need to guarantee that it would be a Naval Battle. We could look at the route they used to retreat and cut them off in advance." Xun You commented.
"Why would Leotychidas listen to us though?" Dom asked, "It's a similar problem as at Plataea. There are too many unknowns now that others are involved. There will be many ego's trying to control the narrative and the tactics of both of these battlefields. Pausanius is also a Spartan General, why would he listen to someone with two hundred Warriors, and why would Leotychidas listen to one ship."
"We do have one advantage that others will not have." Xun Yu countered, "We have our Spartans, over one hundred of them. If any of them have a relationship with Pausanias or Leotychidas, then we could use this as an advantage in our conversations."
"And our recruitment goals." Shang Yang agreed. "Also, if any of our Hoplite did not battle at Plataea or Mycale, then they either joined us before that or there is another reason. If that other reason is that they died in a previous battle, then it gives us the opportunity to try and recruit their relatives and friends."
"Centurion Alexander would be a good person to take, he would possibly have a full unit that are loyal to him. If he has any relationship with any of the successful Generals or Commanders, we can have some control." Xun Yu agreed.
"I think we need to agree our goals from this battle." Xun You commented, "I think that will be decided based on what the Rewards are. If there are so many people involved, I suspect the rewards will be minimal as it would break the Balance."
"I agree, so then we need to decide what Rewards we want to claim from this." Subutai stated, "If we want to claim ships, then we can claim them from the beaches of Mycale. If we want Warriors, we can try and recruit from both battlefields. We could also capture and convert Persians."
"I suspect others will have the same idea." Dom replied, "What else do we have that can help us, one of my main worries is that we have Hoplite that are mainly from Athens, and Spartans from Sparta. They are all from this time zone, but as Thucydides has explained, there were many other areas that had Hoplite at that time."
"This is true, all Greek States used Hoplites." Thucydides agreed, "Athenians, Spartans, Corinthians, Thebians and Macedonians are probably the best of them though."
"The other issue, is the timing. Our Hoplite are from the Second Persian Invasion. However the history of Greece is thousands of years." Dom explained, "Thucydides was part of the Peloponnese wars between Athens and Sparta, after than there was the rise of Alexander and the Macedonians."
"And his father before him, Phillip." Subutai added with a smile, "I have been learning a lot about the History of the World. I agree with what you are saying, there are also the many wars before the Persians invaded, such as the Wars of Troy. Our units are stronger, but there could be a lot of people with similar knowledge from those that came after the Second Persian Invasion."
"Pausanias dies." Thucydides commented, changing the conversation. "After the Battle of Plataea he dies. He is the Regent in place of King Leonidas who died at Thermopylae, as the original Regent his father died. Sparta had two King's and as Leonidas's son was too young, Pausanias his older cousin was the Regent. The other King being Leotychidas. Leonidas's son had to remove Pausanias so as to not be a stumbling block to his rise and he was accused of many things such as collaborating with the Persians or promising freedom to the Helots of Sparta."
"How did he die?" Dom asked, intrigued by the General that won at Plataea.
"He sought refuge in the Temple of Athena. His Mother, and then other Spartans, closed the entrance with bricks so that he starved to death." Thucydides replied. "He wasn't a well liked Man by the Greeks, he was heavy handed and arrogant, but he was a capable General that saved Greece from the Persians. They built statues of him eventually."
"So if we share some of this information, he may be inclined to join us?" Xun Yu asked, his hand on his chin as he thought.
"Very much so, he would already be aware that he didn't have much future when he was sent to War to command the Spartans and the Greek armies. A Regent should not be taking the glory of the King." Thucydides replied. "My time in Riverside has been interesting, and the Legionaries are exceptional. They could bring a lot of knowledge to Plataea, creating temporary forts on the front lines and potentially supporting in the Supply chain not being cut off."
"So the decision between the Battles is based on what we want to claim from it." Dom asked.
"I would say so." Shang Yang replied, "Plataea gives us the opportunity for more Spartans, Hoplite and potentially Pausanias."
"Where as Mycale gives us the opportunity for Spartans, Hoplite and Ships." Xun You stated.
"There are also other capable commanders on both sides, at each battlefield." Thucydides replied, "It is a hard choice to make, but I hope the information I have given has helped."
"It has been extremely helpful." Dom said sincerely, "I am not sure if Pausanias is worth the loss of potential ships. But both Battlefields give us options to recruit a large number of Warriors."
"Warriors that can Crew Trireme." Subutai added. "Ships and Crews are more important than anything else right now. I would definitely recommend Mycale as the option if only for that."
"There is one capable General at Mycale that would be worth perusing." Thucydides said suddenly, as if a realisation had just hit him.
"Who?" Dom asked surprised by Thucydides action.
"Xanthippus, he commanded the Athenian Navy and brought in some tactics that allowed the ships to communicate better. However, there is another reason I say Xanthippus. His son is Pericles, my old General and the leader of all free Greeks against the Spartan's in the Peloponnesian War. Pericles would have been a teen boy at the time of Mycale, but if we can bring father and son with us." Thucydides explained.
"A Naval Commander of our Trireme is something that we desperately need. Artemisia is capable, but her role is on the land." Dom replied, "Gan Ning is specialised for Rivers, but not the Sea. That definitely is something to consider, however we need to differentiate ourselves from others first if we want to attract their attention."
"It would be embarrassing if we lost our ship early on. We need to work on training an ultimate crew." Subutai agreed.
"I will speak with Himilco and see if we can make any further adjustments to our Trireme." Xun Yu explained, his mind thinking.
"I did hear of designs for an added layer of rows." Thucydides continued, "Crassus has explained that the Roman's had both a four layered version called the Quadrireme and a five layered ship called the Quinquereme. I believe he said there were even bigger flagships in his friend Pompey's fleet. However I don't know much more about them."
"It is something we can discuss with Himilco, but I doubt twenty days is enough time to amend the build schedule of one of our Trireme and test it." Dom lamented as he began to stand up, "Let's see what the others who have been recalled can add. Thank you for your help Thucydides, it was also good to see you Shang Yang."
"I am always happy to help." Thucydides replied honestly, before looking at Dom's waist. "I hope the sword has been treating you well."
"She has been a welcome addition." Dom smiled, as he left the Library, followed by the two Xun's and Subutai.
The Heroes all left to do their own tasks, with Xun You checking his list of all of the different people that needed recalling to Riverside for either Nakbe or for information on Plataea and Mycale. Xun Yu had a separate list, full of resources that were needed for Nakbe and the southern explorations that he would start preparing as soon as he returned to his office. Subutai however was in deep thought and told Dom to have a relaxing day as the next time they saw each other would be at Nakbe during the battle.
Dom spent most of the rest of the afternoon training at the Legionaries Warriors Hall with his sword and learning how to better counter strikes that were coming towards him. Centurion Pullo had mentioned about setting up a personal training area near the Palace, where different Warriors of Riverside could Spa with Dom and train him. Dom agreed and Pullo said he would get it organised.
After training, he toured around Riverside, meeting up with some of his key Civilians such as Lars, Wang Shu and Helena. They all seemed happy and their families were now succeeding as well as themselves, with some of their individual children now based in Tranquillity and Serenity in supporting getting those Towns up and running fully.
Eventually Dom headed to the Doctors, to check in Itzel and to see if there had been any positive progress since the night before. Unfortunately she was still asleep, her body weak but improving. Phoebe had explained that she had a high fever, most likely caused by an infection to one of her many wounds and the clear lack of nutrients in her body to fight it. However, it was not all bad news and Phoebe explained that there was a definite improvement from the day prior. Dom just hoped that she would wake when he was offline and be able to give Subutai and Xun You the information they needed to improve the chances of winning the Battle of Nakbe.
The day passed quickly and Dom headed back to the Palace to collect his armour and spear, before departing North West towards Mountview Fort. Meritamen was sat in her area, this time with Hatshepsut, Chanda who had become her Deputy and Ban Jieyu who managed the Maids and Servants across Riverside. Dom wasn't sure if he should ask how she was feeling, as he wasn't aware if the others knew she had been unwell in the morning. He also didn't want to not ask and cause her to be upset with him.
"You look tired Lord Lazarus." Ban Jieyu said to him with a polite smile as he appeared by the door, the training with Pullo earlier still being felt.
"Centurion Pullo has been training with me." Dom replied politely, before turning to Meritamen, "How is everyone?"
"Much better." Meritamen replied, understanding and impressed by how Dom had asked her the question, without bringing up the morning. He was also feeling impressed with himself for doing it that way.
"Same here, everything is running smoothly at the moment." Hatshepsut replied, ignoring that the question was actually just for Meritamen, "But you plan to go conquering, so I suspect I will have more work again soon."
"Unfortunately you will." Dom laughed, seeing that Chanda and Ban Jieyu were silently shaking their heads at Hatshepsut, where as Meritamen held in a small laugh. "But it will be worth it."
"It definitely will be." Hatshepsut agreed, "Make sure to grow Riverside soon, Lucius has had enough time at Tranquillity with Elder Qiao, it would be good for him to spend more time in Riverside."
"I will do what I can." Dom promised, before giving Meritamen a look asking for help.
"I am sure that you need to depart now for Mountview?" Meritamen asked him, "I'll come and help you gather your things before you leave."
"I can do that Lady Meritamen." Chanda replied politely as Dom agreed to Meritamen's much needed rescue.
"Thank you Chanda, but I am not sure when he will be back, so it would be nice to do it myself." She replied, leaving the three women alone as she headed upstairs with Dom.
"Are you feeling better now?" Dom asked her, seeing that her complexion was back to normal.
"Much better, I am sure it was just something I ate." Meritamen replied with a strange look on her face. "It has been a busy day, I have had a lot of visitors."
"It must be good to be popular." Dom laughed as he grabbed his armour from the rack and began to fasten it to himself.
"Sometimes it is nice to just have a peaceful day, but now that there are preparations for the next few campaigns, there is a lot to be done." Meritamen smiled as she helped him get ready, "Make sure you keep yourself safe, you are a Lord and don't need to be on the front lines."
"I will." Dom promised, giving her a kiss on her forehead as she helped pull the straps on his armour.