Ideally, two diplomats should have been scouting the area, while the third waited in the boat for the troops... If going by sea... And someone was probably clearing out the dragons before joining the Gorgons, right Dim? :D
Or am I wrong? :)
No, I sailed by sea.
If you have Crystal Dragons, clearing them doesn't really give you much advantage – you end up facing Rust Dragons. So, I joined the Wyverns and Gorgons and went straight through.
Here's the save file with the joining...