"A Siege expert?" Ling Tong replied, the small group around him looking at him expectantly. Ling Tong was only young himself, and whilst he had thought in Siege’s, that wasn’t his speciality. He thought to himself that he wished that Cheng Pu was with him, but the experienced General was still in the Lazarus Kingdom. "I have some experience, but we believe we have some men on the inside who can open the east gate when needed."

"How did you get men on the inside?" Nicomedes asked him, the Spartan Generals brother seemingly not fully trusting.

"Phillip, my officer who has just taken the Cavalry away. We dispatched him in advance to make some arrangements. He is confident the gates will be opened upon our signal." Ling Tong replied, whilst Alpheus and Maron nodded in agreement, knowing the Theban Centurion was true to his word. Pausanias saw their reaction and some relief seemed to wash over him.

"Great, then we will direct the Athenian’s to attack the south and west, whilst this takes the enemies attention, we will go through the east gate and clear them up." Pausanias declared, having worked out their assault as soon as the little bit of information was given. Pausanias was an exceptionally talented General who had won this battle in history, defining the direction of the Greek Peninsula and the Western World for Generations. He then turned to his brother, "Nicomedes, you will then head towards the south gate and open it for the Athenian’s, whilst I will head forwards with the rest of the forces and liberate the town."

"As you wish brother." Nicomedes replied, whilst Ling Tong, Andrew, Aristodemus, Alpheus and Maron listened on to the two most senior Spartan’s in the army. "I will order the Lochos Amompharetus to head north of Plataea discreetly to disrupt any further retreating."

"No, keep him with you. We will take unnecessary losses when they retreat from Plataea. Let’s make sure their commanders are taken and their forces are decimated so that they do not attempt to come here again." Pausanias argued, his brother accepting the command. Pausanias then turned to Ling Tong again. "Now the real question is, do we attack now whilst adrenaline is high but our mens legs tire. Or do we besiege them tomorrow, cause their morale to drop lower and lower, whilst recovering our forces energy before a full clash tomorrow."

"Or the third option?" Ling Tong replied immediately, he agreed with Pausanias that it would be good to recover, but he also wanted to give his own forces the opportunity to finish enacting their own plans. Most of his men were heading towards the meeting points that had been agreed. Iason was heading to Megara to gather the families of the men that had committed to joining him, keeping just a small unit behind for Ling Tong in this final stage. Andrew and the Skiritae had their own agreement and Strabo was going to do the same with them. Phillip was sending the Theban Cavalry away as well, and was already dealing with that side of the situation. He just hoped that Centurion Alexander had been successful as well, as his was the most important aspect in all of this. His only other Commander that was his, was Myron and he was dealing with the large number of horses they had gained, whilst trying to negotiate with some of the Players and Greek Allies to purchase some more.

"What is the third option?" Nicomedes asked, whilst Pausanias just laughed.

"I agree, we should attack tonight. Set a camp, allow them to think we are going to attack tomorrow, but launch an assault in the evening. If you can get your men inside to open the gate quickly, and Aristides makes enough noise to the south, we could have it captured quickly." Pausanias agreed, without Ling Tong even stating what the plan was. "Very well, we will do what you have said, Nicomedes, have the message passed to Aristides."

"Very well brother." Nicomedes replied, shaking his head, before departing at a jog after the Athenian’s that were moving away. Some of the guards nearby noticing his movement and following him. Pausanias then turned to Aristodemus who was still stood there, a look of confusion on his face, especially when Alpheus and Maron removed their masks.

"Stop trying to get yourself killed." Pausanias stated, his tone different to what Aristodemus was used to. Pausanias himself had called him a coward and told him he should reclaim glory on the battlefield through death, but seeing two of his fellow Spartan’s, alive and behind Pausanias, made him question a lot.

"A lot of our brothers are with us, Diecenes is over there somewhere." Alpheus stated, pointing towards the north and where the Spartans were running.

"I have shed a tear at the loss of him, him proclaiming that the mass of enemy arrows would just allow him to fight in the shadow’s is still spoken about." Aristodemus replied, as he looked at the two brothers.

"We have much to discuss after, just make sure you are alive to see it. Stick by General Ling Tong’s side with your men and follow him until the end." Maron said to him, his tone almost threatening as Aristodemus who was actually more senior than Maron nodded in agreement at his old compatriots words. Aristodemus looked at Pausanias, who agreed with Maron, before walking away with the two Spartan Warriors.

"I will see you at the East Gate General." Pausanias stated as he walked away, leaving Ling Tong, Andrew and an even more confused Aristodemus with them. They waited for a few moments before heading in a similar direction, but taking a slight detour towards the north east where Phillip could be seen in the distance.

"Let’s go to Phillip and pull together a small group for tonight, I need to send someone to Myron and update him on the situation, he’ll need to bring some of the Cavalry to the North Gate, that will be our best chance." Ling Tong said to Andrew who understood what he was talking about.

"I’ll get some of the Skiritae who have stayed with us to support Myron, it will be interesting to see if we can pull this off." Andrew laughed, whilst Aristodemus listened in confused. "I’ll need to see how many others horses Phillip has got, as we may need some for his insiders as well."

"That’s a good point, we also don’t know what other opportunities we may get. Have him see if he can get some carts collected as well, I am sure the Persians will leave a lot of good rewards behind in their camp." Ling Tong agreed, before thinking for a few more seconds, "It may also be worthwhile you speaking with DragonKnight and making him aware that we are planning something and paying him to support discreetly." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"An additional screen of forces would be a good option, I am sure he’ll go for it, but those others may not. I’ll see how much input he has on the group." Andrew stated, before looking at the sky and seeing that the sun was making its decent. "It’s been a long day, and there is still a lot to be done."

"It has been, we are almost there now. Part of me thinks he might come willingly. He’s not exactly what I expected." Ling Tong replied in thought, before looking to the north of them and the fortified town of Plataea. "Have Myron ready for the morning, let’s see how the siege goes first."

"I’ll go with them." Andrew grinned, "I’m looking forward to getting involved."

"Are either of you going to tell me what is going on?" Aristodemus asked, listening in to the vague conversation.

"Capture some Persians, and who knows what else." Andrew laughed, before waving towards Phillip who noticed them and trotted over, their own horses with him. Ling Tong grinned at Andrew’s response, what he said was partially true, but they did have other plans at play.

...

"Pericles will go with you tomorrow." Xanthippus explained to Dom, as he sat with the two Leaders of the Greek Alliance. The rest of the Captains and Commanders were either dispatching messages or discussing particular pieces of strategy amongst themselves. Artemisia had already disappeared with her son, whilst her uncle was in deep conversation with Zhou Yu, GiantWrangler and one of the Spartan Captains. "I think he can learn a lot from the way you and your men intend to fight."

"Ah, if only I could send my own son." Leotychides lamented, a tone of sadness in his voice that gave Dom a second of pause. Xanthippus saw the confusion and decided to explain gently.

"Your son Cyniscos would have been a great King one day." Xanthippus replied to Leotychides, as Dom began to understand the situation.

"Taken too soon from us, a powerful Warrior who would have united the Peloponnese and shown those Agiads a true king that could rival even the fearsome Leonidas." Leotychides stated, taking a sip of wine. Spartans always had two kings, who kept each other in check, one from the Agiad line such as Pausanias, and another from the Eurypontids line such as Leotychides. According to myth, the two lines were named after the eldest grandchildren of two twins who were originally the children of the founders of Sparta. The Agiad line was the descending line from the eldest Twin and therefore was seen as the slightly more superior line. "I am also sorry to hear of the loss of your own son Xanthippus."

"Ariphron died to the Persian’s, but every bit of blood spilt is in his memory. My son Pericles fights with his brothers arms, to honour him in the same way. You may also have more son’s in the future." Xanthippus explained calmly, the two were not friends, but Dom could see that there was at least some Warrior and Fatherly respect between the two.

"Who knows, I have been trying! My Grandson Archidamus is growing in to a fine man though and will rule well in the future if I bare no more. My second wife Eurydame believes I should marry our daughter to my grandson, to keep the family line strong. Lampito is a beautiful and strong woman and will carry many strong Warriors in the future if I do so, but I haven’t decided yet." Leotychides explained, opening up a lot for a man who seemed to keep his thoughts in his mind. "I will send Archidamus to follow you as well, he is fighting and learning alongside one of my Captains, but I believe sending him with a small Lochos of men will be helpful for you tomorrow."

"I am feeling a lot of pressure that you are both sending your son or grandson with me tomorrow." Dom laughed bitterly, Pericles was on his recruitment agenda so part of him was happy he was with him, but he also didn’t want to turn in to a babysitter. He knew that Gan Ning and Sun Ce were preparing their battle tactics and would let him know in the morning the full plan, but now he had to include some safety measures in their tactics.

"I expect you will give them a lot of honour." Leotychides smiled, "If you wasn’t a stranger, there is temptation to marry my daughter to you and pull you to our side."

"I thought you Spartans liked your daughters to marry when they were older, for stronger children. I didn’t think that Lampito was that old yet?" Xanthippus asked, trying to save Dom some unfortunateness, whilst also stopping Dom from joining the Spartan’s side.

"No she is not, alas I can only prepare her for Marriage but not agree to it yet. My wives opinion is also important, but it’s an option." Leotychides replied, looking to Dom who looked uncomfortable as he had been in a similar situation twice before.

"That is a very kind offer, however my two wives would not be keen for a third." Dom replied politely, whilst both Leotychides and Xanthippus laughed in response.

"Two wives? Do you have no self control. I only married Eurydame as my first one unfortunately passed away, and Xanthippus here will be outlived by his wife I assume." Leotychides laughed bitterly.

"Agariste would be glad to out live me, I think I cause her nothing but a headache." Xanthippus laughed in response, the two Greek Leaders being their own selves for once, with none of their subordinates around.

"Come, let’s share another cup before we sleep. Tomorrow we will claim a victory that will free our people from the Persian’s influence." Leotychides smiled, raising a cup that was matched by Dom and Xanthippus.