Selium's effective forces were heavily killed in the ambush battle outside the city. Therefore, the internal defense, even with the support of solid city walls, was greatly reduced in strength.
So they soon surrendered to Alexander. The latter, as usual, dispatched garrison troops and officials to manage the place.
At the same time, because the cost of this battle was too high, he imposed punitive taxes on small Selium.
Some nobles were worried that this would cause a local rebellion, but Alexander insisted on it and did not stay here for long before rushing directly to Aspendu.
He wanted to use the same method to take down that city, so that everyone around him could see what the price would be if he broke the promise with him.
But Aspendu is not an easy city to conquer because its terrain is also very special.
First of all, its main part is located on a huge towering rock, and at the foot of the mountain flows the Orimedon River. Some residents live in villages under the mountains, protected by city walls.
However, when the Macedonian army approached, they abandoned the idle houses in the village. After all, without the protection of the city wall, they could not obtain safety.
This also allowed Alexander to properly position his army. But the attack on Aspen's capital city was far from easy.
However, at this time, things suddenly took a turn for the worse.
The previous glory of the coalition forces in Halicarnassus with five battles and five victories, as well as the shocking impact of the use of gunpowder weapons, have begun to spread crazily in Asia Minor.
Just as in the original history, Alexander's fame and the legend that he might be protected by gods had a huge impact on the people at this time.
Even the defenders of Aspendu began to waver without exception.
What's more, this time there was the blessing of the Song Dynasty army, which further confirmed the credibility of the legend, especially the active weapons, which almost objectively fully proved the truth of the legend.
Because Selium and Aspen were both within easy reach, the news of its fall increased the impact countless times.
Therefore, the defenders chose peace talks by mistake, and agreed to more stringent conditions than before, that is, the supplies and hostages needed to be doubled.
Based on this, Alexander finally walked out of the holy wrath and agreed to the other party's conditions.
After all, there was no need for him to waste time under this solid city when the whole world was waiting for him to conquer.
To make matters worse, his siege troops, those carrying heavy machinery, were following Parmenio to Sardis and Gordium.
Gordium is located southwest of Ankara, the current capital of Turkey, very close to it. It can be said to be an absolutely inland area of Asia Minor.
The main reason why they went there was because they needed to meet near Phrygia to welcome the visiting soldiers and recruits returning from mainland Greece, and at the same time start the war there.
This division of troops into two groups is not unreasonable.
Although he encountered far more troubles than he imagined after entering the mountains, Alexander often relied on the blessing of the goddess of luck to achieve the final victory. However, the Taurus Mountains extending from the southwest to the northeast tightly wrapped Towards the Silesia region, all the armies approaching here were amazed.
Even Li Ning had to admit that this was indeed a dangerous place worthy of their separate investigation and search for a breakthrough.
Marching into the Taurus Mountains should actually replace the name of the previously directed attack on Silesia.
But Li Ning knew better that Macedonia's heavy infantry phalanx and Greece's mountainous culture gave Alexander's soldiers an advantage in fighting in similar areas, so it was not worth worrying about them in this regard.
Alexander's performance also confirmed Li Ning's point of view.
Even if his condition improved after that, he preferred to stay in the carriage and leisurely enjoy Alexander's wonderful performance with his companions.
Since Pang Ji successfully joined them, the number of soldiers around Li Ning also increased from three commanders to 15 commanders.
In the previous battle reports sent to Bianjing, the performance of these three commanders far exceeded the tens of thousands of troops led by Shi Yuansun.
Therefore, many Song Dynasty officials, including Pang Ji, believed that Li Ning's command was effective, so the number of troops he had should be improved.
Therefore, Pang Ji almost handed over all his elite troops to Li Ning's command.
These 15 commanders, totaling about 7,500 troops, were all strictly selected from the army in accordance with Li Ning's standards. Although they were not experienced in hundreds of battles, in fact, they had only participated in a few battles near Phrygia. The suppression of armed bandits and landlords. But they are definitely all good candidates to serve as soldiers.
At the same time, Pang Ji also brought about 40,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry who had just added a large number of horses.
The strong force of 70,000 troops bought up all the surrounding grain in Phrygia, and could even be said to have robbed all the grain stored in the landlord's house.
Nowadays, Asia Minor is at the turn of spring and summer. It can be said that it is the time of leanness. The supply of food has encountered huge challenges. Their arrival has caused a huge problem to the landowners who also face this challenge, especially those Greek mercenaries. faced even more embarrassing competition difficulties.
After Li Ning learned of this situation, he suggested that Pang Ji lead an army of 60,000 to advance into Cappadocia, while he led 9,000 elite troops into Silesia with Alexander.
Alexander made a bolder deployment.
He hoped that Parmenio could follow Pang's 60,000 troops. Walk away from another person, and after crossing the Taurus Mountains, look for a place to rendezvous with him at the place he chooses. Located in the area of Issus, north of the Syrian Gate.
And he went south with Li Ning in accordance with the existing arrangements.
Such thoughts undoubtedly showed his firm idea of fighting side by side with the Song Dynasty army.
This is undoubtedly gratifying for Pang Ji.
It seems that the barbarian country has finally felt the majesty of the Celestial Kingdom, so it is willing to have sincere friendship.
With this idea in mind, Pang Ji immediately led his army to pursue the landlords' armed forces. Parmenio was honored to be the vanguard of the army. After all, they knew Asia Minor better.
At the same time, after asking Parmenio to get his siege queue back, Alexander quickly went south and attacked the largest pass in the Taurus Mountains, the Silesian Gate.
