Lysander of Naupaktos seemed somewhat giddy as he sipped the wine laid out for our meeting. True, we were about to plan a major operation that could end up in large gains for both our people, but this good mood seemed to eclipse even that. I briefly tried to think of what could have possibly happened to provoke such a mood but wound up drawing a complete blank. If I wanted to know, I'd have to ask him about it.
"All right, I'll bite. Why are you in such a good mood?" I asked.
Lysander's single good eye squinted at the question and he answered, "What makes you think the reason for my mood is anything other than the imminent seizure of Macedonian land?"
I shook my head and affirmed, "This is bigger than that. Don't hold out on me."
Lysander shrugged and said, "I suppose you would need to hear about it eventually. You know those Keltoi that have been poking around the Istros River the past few years?" He asked.
I felt the pit of my stomach drop as he mentioned them. I did indeed know about the Gauls in Pannonia. They'd eventually overpopulate the Pannonian Plain and invade Greece in 279. Hesitantly I asked, "What about them?"
"It seems that a band of them recently left Macedonian Employ over a pay dispute. Apparently, they took their case to Demetrios and the man refused to hear them out, sending some flunky to tell them no instead. A scuffle ensued and they were ejected from Pella and told to leave Macedon. The Synedrion sent feelers towards them to ask if they'd be willing to hire on with the League against Macedon and they accepted." Grinned Lysander.
I frowned. The Gauls tended to be somewhat lightly armored and unreliably disciplined save for perhaps their cavalry and some of the more heavily equipped infantry. The average Gallic Warrior though would be lucky to have some leathers to wear into battle and be armed with a spear and shield. They'd also be capable of charging, ambushing, and forming a shield wall, maybe. All in all, I was doubtful they would be of much use to us, but I had to ask.
"How many troops and what kinds?" I asked.
Lysander's grin practically split his face in half as he responded. "That's the best part. Apparently, the leader of these Keltoi is the second son of some Keltoi bigshot up in Pannonia. He's brought 1,000 heavy swordsmen, 1,000 Skirmishers, and 1,000 cavalry." He grinned, excitedly.
I paused, thinking. That wasn't too bad. Honestly, as far as Gallic units went, it was probably the best-case scenario of what we could have gotten. It wouldn't relieve much of the pressure building up in Pannonia, though. Brennus' Army had been 85,000 strong in the original timeline. Even if all these mercenaries died, the invasion would still be coming down from the hills. That was a problem for later, though.
"All right, so 3,000 Gallic mercenaries. What else do you have?" I asked.
"The Synedrion can devote some 20,000 troops to the fight. 10,000 phalangites, 2,000 hypaspists, 5,000 peltasts, and 3,000 companion cavalry. 23,000 troops between our own forces and the Keltoi. What of yourself?" Responded Lysander.
"I will need to keep some troops back to keep an eye on certain issues, but I should be able to devote 11,000 phalangites, 4,000 hypaspists, 7,000 thureophorai, 4,000 peltasts, and 3,000 companion cavalry from my own lands as well as some further 1,000 phalangites, 1,000 thureophorai, 1,000 peltasts, and 1,000 companion cavalry from vassals. A total of 33,000 men, all well drilled and equipped." I replied.
"I had heard you possessed troops well in excess of that. Surely it would be a good idea to send more to Macedon?" Asked Lysander.
"I am leaving 9,200 Hellenic Troops and 24,600 barbarian troops behind to deal with any issues that may crop up. 33,800 troops as a reserve." I replied, not pointing out that 14,400 of those barbarian troops were unreliable and kept back so that my reliable and Hellenic troops could keep an eye on them.
"What issues do you believe might pop up?" Asked Lysander, cocking an eyebrow.
"Carthage has been getting a little aggressive trade-wise. It could start a trade war if someone does something foolish, and there's always the threat of the Veneti coming down the Illyrian coast. Speaking of which, naval vessels. I have heard that Demetrios is building a naval force. What can the Synedrion send for naval forces?" I intoned.
"Well, our navy is primarily for fighting in the Gulf of Corinth, but we can send you some triremes and quadriremes if you truly think it will help. No more than 15 of each, though." Replied Lysander.
"I shall be able to contribute 75 Quadriremes, 15 Dromons, and 110 Triremes to the combined fleet. We will need to delay until the fall campaign season for that, though, as previously agreed on." I affirmed.
"Yes, we shall begin our attacks the week after planting ends. What were you planning?" Asked Lysander.
At this, I had a map brought out of Thessaly and the bordering territories. "Demetrios is building a fleet. That likely means one of 2 things. He is attacking either the Athenian Islands, unlikely as they do not have much use outside of Euboea. Or he is planning to steal Rhodes away from Ptolemy, which is more likely given Ptolemy's war exhaustion from fighting Seleucus over Asia." I began.
"What of it?" Asked Demetrios.
"It means his eyes will be drawn eastward to Rhodes. Of course, it's possible that my conquest of Southern Illyria also put him on edge, so he might be expecting an attack from the west as well. What he won't be expecting, is an attack from the south." I continued.
"I see, so what is your plan, exactly? If you expect us to do the fighting while you play defensive, we will not do it." Frowned Lysander.
"No, just the opposite. I propose we let him see what he was expecting. I will invade Thessaly from the west and draw his army toward me, like so." I explained, moving small wooden tokens around on the map. The wooden token with the Molossian hound carved into it was pushed east into Thessaly and chased around by another token with the Vergina Sun of Macedon carved into it.
"So you'll lead them on a chase? Then what?" Asked Lysander.
"Then, your army moves up from the south and traps the Macedonians between our two forces like so." I continued, moving the third token with the boar of the Aetolian League carved onto it north into Thessaly, trapping the Macedonian token between the Epirote and Aetolian ones outside the city of Pharsalos in Central Thessaly.
"I see. Pharsalos, centrally located, though I worry about the city garrison sortieing." Frowned Lysander.
"That is why we secure the surrender of the city before the battle." I explained.
"How do you propose to do that when you've got Macedonians breathing down your neck?' Asked Lysander.
"Easy, we give them a distraction they can't afford to ignore. If Demetrios is building ships on the shores of the Pelasgikos Gulf, we simply need to burn the ships in a night raid. And with his army chasing mine, his ships will be lightly guarded. I was going to use some of my own men for this, but you've given us Gauls to work with." I grinned.
"They'd be perfect for that! The shipbuilding project Demetrios started was apparently the cause of their pay cut in the first place!" Laughed Lysander.
"That should be just enough of a distraction to divert Demetrios' attention for a week or so while we work on Pharsalus' surrender. If they agree in that time, all the better, if they refuse, it at least gives us time to throw up siegeworks to stop a potential sally." I said.
"What about at Sea? I know you were concerned about the fleet Demetrios already has." Asked Lysander.
"You leave that to me. Rest assured, Admiral Porphyrios will keep the Macedonian Fleet at bay." I evaded.
"The Synedrion will want to know the plan." Argued Lysander.
"Fine, tell them that it involves our fleet sailing around Hellas and up to the shores of Macedon." I began, as I laid out the Naval Strategy. It was a bold plan, with the potential to fail badly, but if it worked it might just force Macedon to sue for peace even if their army wasn't destroyed at Pharsalos.
By the end of the meeting, Lysander was confident in our chances of victory and headed out to take the plans and contributions to the Synedrion of the Aetolian League for approval. In the meantime, I had paperwork to do overseeing the latest reports from the treasury. It seemed that Carthage was about to cut us out of the wine trade in Magna Graecia entirely. I frowned at that thinking of what I could potentially do, before grabbing some papyrus and a reed and beginning to sketch out a rough blueprint of a copper still. Labeling the parts and writing down the process to make grappa from grape pomace as best I could with my amateur sketching technique. I'd need to consult with a few people to get a workable version, but if I could get it done, Grappa would let us claw back into the wine market in Magna Graecia by marketing it as Strong wine.
Soon enough, however, I was interrupted by Olympias. Pyrrhus' daughter was now 5 years old, going on 6 and she had taken up the hobby of art. Of course, being a 5-year-old, said art mostly consisted of the classical equivalent of kids' doodles. She may be remarkably bright for her age, but she was still a kid. She entered my office and handed me a picture she'd drawn on papyrus of me, her, and Ptolemy riding horses.
If we'd had a fridge, I would have put it on there in a heartbeat. As it stood, I just hugged Olympias and said, "Thank you for the picture, I'll keep it right here at my desk."
She hugged me back and said, "Remember to not work so much, daddy. It's not supposed to be good for you." My heart melted at that and I sent her off to the kitchens for some honey bread.
Unfortunately, my work was just beginning. Macedon was just the first bigger power I was going to have to take on to build an empire worthy of the name. If Olympias thought I was working hard now, wait until I had to go up against Rome or Carthage. I'd be working so hard I'd be sweating spinal fluid then. Heavy lies the head that wears the crown and all that. I turned back to my sketches and notes on stills and grappa and continued sketching and writing. I didn't stop till I had something I could bring to some experts to check viability. Then I had to go over reports about ironwork shipments to Sparta.
"Miles to go before I sleep." I muttered to myself. It was an apt metaphor. . .
XXXX
AN: Moving closer to the attack on Macedon. He's in the planning a preparation stage right now with around 5 months before launching the campaign. You've seen the land war plans, but I'm keeping the naval ones closer to the vest for now.
And yes, Olympias is adorable and is going to wind up being bigger on culture stuff than the SI when she grows up. She already likes comedic plays and has gotten into drawing. What's next? Poetry maybe? Who knows?
I already mentioned the plan for the Copper Still, but it bears repeating that it's currently the only way the SI sees to claw back the wine market in Magna Graecia from the Carthaginians. Beer is a drink for slaves and barbarians, after all, and Epirote wine has nothing on the stuff made in Carthage. So he's making a still for Grappa.