Interlude: Battle of Heraklion

Areus, Argid King of Sparta had spent the time since his victory at Kamara wisely. With the Athenian Fleet wiped from the sea, he had brought in fresh supplies of equipment, food, wine, and drachmae for his force, drilling them hard over a few short days to ensure they kept their edge for what he was certain would be the final clash of the War on Crete.

The League of Knossos had also effectively been bent to his will in that time as well. The Synedrion of the League of Knossos effectively realized that without Areus' troops and supplies, their enemies would run roughshod over them, as they had a mere three thousand battle-ready troops to put in the field, while the League of Polyrrhenia still had nine thousand troops able to fight. The League of Knossos may not like it, but without his forces, they would be done for.

To that end, the Synedrion of the League of Knossos had effectively become a rubber stamp for Areus these past weeks, and as November of two-seventy-nine ticked into its third week, Areus judged the Synedrion fully quelled and his forces sufficiently equipped and drilled. It was time to finish the fight. The Enemy was encamped just thirty stadia west of the port of Heraklion, itself some twenty stadia northwest of the League's Capital at Knossos.

Of course, this meant that the enemy camp was only a distance of six and a half miles from the League of Knossos' Capital, however, it was still technically over the border into the territory of the League of Polyrrhenia, though only by some ten stadia or so. Given how deep within the League's territory they had previously been fighting, however, Areus viewed that as a good start, though now it was time to finish the fight.

As they marched for Heraklion, ready to put an end to the League of Polyrrhenia's field army once and for all, Areus sent out cavalry to scout ahead. When his scouts returned, however, the news was alarming. Somehow, the League of Polyrhennia had received word that Areus and his force were on the move. They had begun striking camp and were marching east, attempting to put themselves between the port of Heraklion and Areus' force.

This was likely in an attempt to deny Areus supply and reinforcements that might be able to enter Crete through the port at Heraklion, which indicated that the League of Polyrrhenia, or more accurately, their Strategos, Sosibius of Etea, was attempting to fight a war of maneuver and positioning, something the lighter-equipped Cretans could do well, and which would require a steadfast supply chain to successfully prosecute. Areus felt that was smart, as it would likely be the only chance Sosibius had to stave off the total collapse of the League of Polyrrhenia's War Effort before winter. However, Areus wasn't about to allow Sosibius that capability.

To that end, he pushed his men hard on the march, their weeks of extra drill paying off as it allowed the Spartan-Knossos Army to cross the six and a half miles in an hour and a half of marching, effectively shaving thirty full minutes off their travel time and allowing them to position themselves with the Port of Heraklion at their back instead of having to cut their way through the League of Polyrrhenia's Army to reach the port.

They did so not a moment too soon, either, because the League of Polyrrhenia appeared after another twenty minutes, forming up across the battlefield opposite from Areus' Force. Areus watched it all from his position among the reserves with a smirk on his face.

"Sosibius intends to offer battle, it seems. He likely believes we pushed too hard to shave time off the march and won't be able to stand in battle array for long. We did push hard, but not hard enough for his rabble to overcome. Sound the advance." Commanded Areus.

Trumpets blared out, three, short, sharp, bursts, signaling the advance as Areus' forces began to march forth toward the enemy. With thirteen-thousand men, Areus' line was longer than Sosibius' and so long as the line held, the flanks would be able to press around Sosibius' and envelop the Army of the League of Polyrrhenia. Sosibius must have known that and gambled on the tiredness of Areus' troops allowing him to break parts of Areus' line. Of course, the steel equipment that Areus' forces had helped there, as did the weeks of near-constant drill. The fact that Areus' Army was primarily Spartans also played a large role, Spartan Discipline keeping his forces fighting.

As the Cretan Archers on both sides showered each other's lines with arrows while the lines closed, Areus felt his lips quirk into a knowing grin. Even the Cretans were fighting well if their Archers' performance was anything to go by, the steel-tipped arrows with their peculiar, squared, spike-like, points reaped a massive toll on the enemy, punching through armor, shield, and flesh alike. By contrast, the enemy's archers largely only wounded his forces, and usually not enough to kill unless they hit something vital.

"The Epirote Arrowheads are interesting. It seems that King Pyrrhus' Reputation for Innovation is every bit as formidable as ever. Of course, we aren't to be outdone on that front. The Hollow Phalanx is proving its worth yet again, I see." Grinned Areus from the Reserves.

Indeed, his tactical innovation of a hollow square of Hoplites or Thorakitai with Cretan Archers in the center was once again allowing his formations to effectively double their killing power. As the lines closed and the melee began, his Archers would be able to continue firing on the enemy from within the safety of the formations, while the Enemy's archers had to break off their attack to avoid getting caught by Areus' own melee units. The League of Polyrrhenia's Archers had reformed behind their lines, of course, but they would have to be very careful with their volleys to avoid hitting their own men. Areus' Archers, by contrast, could fire directly at the enemy their formations were engaged in without having to worry about the less discriminate factors of mass volley fire.

Oh to be sure, the enemy fought hard, and they reaped a toll of their own. There was only so much even steel could do against a dory, hasta, or sarissa with enough force behind it, but it wouldn't be enough, not by a long shot. As the battle reached its second hour, it became clear that this battle was won, as the enemy could no longer keep the envelopment at bay. One more grinding hour of combat ensued before the League of Polyrrhenia's Army was completely enveloped.

Fifteen minutes after that, the white flag went up, and the enemy surrendered. It turned out that Sosibius of Etea had taken a Cretan Arrow to the eye and been felled shortly before the surrender went out. All told, Areus only lost some two thousand killed or wounded, while the League of Polyrrhenia lost twice that amount killed or wounded and the rest captured. With that, the League of Polyrrhenia had no more forces left with which to contest the Island.

One day later saw Axos, Elutherna, and Rhithymna submit to Areus. Lyktos and Lippa submitted two days later, and then the rest of the Poleis of the League of Polyrrhenia began to fall like dominoes. Five days later saw Polyrhennia itself agree to give formal submission to Sparta in general, and the Argid Kings of Sparta in particular, in exchange for sparing their city a sack.

The War in Crete had been effectively won by Areus, Argid King of Sparta, in a single month, where it had taken the League of Knossos most of the year to lose badly. This effectively cemented Areus as Areus Kretanos, a term that would be used as a pejorative by Archidamos the Fourth in the coming years to attempt to disparage his Co-King in the ongoing struggle for political power in the Spartan Diarchy. Archidamos' supporters would use it as a reminder that Areus fought in a side theater, while it was Archidamos who fought in Hellas. Areus' supporters would see it as a badge of honor, as Crete had been the one front where their alliance had been losing until Areus' arrival.

Of course, there would be some truth to both sides. After all, it was Archidamos the Fourth who defeated Corinth, one of the most powerful Poleis in Hellas. Corinth was a Poleis of over ninety-thousand souls just from the citizen population of the City Proper alone and had the wealth that such a large population would produce to back it up and then some. Archidamos conquering Corinth would largely be the reason for Sparta's increased wealth in the years to come. Compared to Corinth, capturing Crete was not exactly a worthy achievement. Crete could not provide nearly as much wealth or manpower to Sparta's coffers and armies as Once-Mighty Corinth could, after all.

After all, claimed Archidamos' Supporters, the sudden spike in wealth and prestige that Sparta now possessed was due to their control of Corinth. It was that control, and the wealth and manpower it brought, that allowed Sparta to field larger armies with which to go on further adventures and spread its prestige even further to heights unseen since before Leuctra all those years ago.

However, the fact was that Archidamos did not have to deal with the incompetence and terrible situation that the League of Knossos had been in prior to his arrival. Indeed, having Pyrrhus of Epirus as your primary ally in the theater of war could very well be seen as something to diminish the achievement of taking Corinth instead of promoting it. After all, with an ally like that doing much of the Work against Athens, it was no wonder that Archidamos could take Corinth. Meanwhile, the League of Knossos had been in shambles before Areus had arrived, with its army decimated, its supplies running low, and having been fighting inside its own territory for a while.

Which is better, asked many of Areus' Supporters, to conquer a Wealthy and Populous City when in a position of tactical superiority thanks largely to your allies' efforts, or to turn a losing war into a victorious one and conquer swathes of cities, even though they may not be as rich or populated?

All that was in the future, however, for now, all that mattered was that by the Twentieth of November, two-seventy-nine, Crete was firmly in Argid hands. Areus would use the rest of the war to shore up that hold his dynasty had over Crete, placing Argid Supporters in various key positions in both the League of Knossos and League of Polyrrhenia, which would both be retained as a sort of rubber stamp for Argid Policies on Crete. By the time the war finally, officially, ended, Crete would be a firm Argid Power Base.

And that would be something that would cause headaches for the Eurypontids for years to come. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see Crete effectively be won by Areus of Sparta for the Argid Dynasty. That in and of itself is going to sow the seeds of future discord in the Spartan Diarchy between the Eurypontid Kings, of which Archidamos the Fourth is the current head, and the Argid Kings, of which Areus Kretanos is the Current Head.

Sparta may be on the winning side of the Athenian War, but it's going to be in for some interesting times in the aftermath. It's ironically somewhat similar to what happened at the end of the Peloponnesian War. Sparta won the War but wound up effectively losing the peace, largely due to internal politics. It turns out that having two Kings like they do isn't exactly a very stable form of government, go figure.

At any rate, in the next chapter, we'll be back with Pyrrhus for the endgame with Athens, as the City of Athens itself is under siege.

Stay tuned. . .