Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 83: The Thebes Incident (1)

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Even if it came from two sides, the number and strength of the Carthaginian civic soldiers were completely confident to block or even counterattack their attacks, but some civic soldiers could not suppress the fear in their hearts. They turned and fled. They fled. It completely took away the courage of the entire army, and the soldiers suddenly broke apart, fleeing westward in swarms.

When they escaped across the Platani River and rushed to the camp, they were horrified to find that the camp had been occupied by the enemy. At this time, they had no courage to retake the camp because the camp blocked their passage through the coastal road. The shortest way to escape back to the west of Sicily, they had no choice but to flee straight into the mountains not far away, but they forgot that the Sikelians were not far behind them, and the mountains were the territory where they could move freely.

After occupying the Carthage camp, the Dionian coalition did not stop there. The still vigorous cavalry, light armor and light infantry continued to chase the defeated soldiers westward along the road by the sea, and at dusk Shifen occupied the small town of Helme, and then stopped moving westward.

The messenger sent by Leotizides arrived and ordered the troops to temporarily station in the small town of Herme to monitor the movements of the enemy to the west.

In the evening, the Dionian cavalry, light armor, and light infantry took turns to the Carlo Gero Valley to enjoy the hot spring bath.

In this battle, the soldiers of both sides went to the river to bathe and caused a conflict, which eventually evolved into a decisive battle between the two armies. As a result, the Carthaginians were defeated. The original army of 46,000 men lost more than half. Among them, the Sacred Corps suffered the most. The 10,000-strong army only had more than 2,000 soldiers fled back to Silinus, and most of the soldiers were either seriously injured or killed in battle. The second was the Carthage Citizens’ troops, which did not attack the camp. Paid too much casualties, but while escaping over the mountains, he was constantly attacked by the West Kells. Injuries, disorientation, and surrender became the norm. In the end, less than half of the soldiers fled back to Silinus; again it was the 6000. The Numibian army preparing to reinforce the Holy Corps, the chaos on the Plettani River became their painful memories; the Numibian cavalry who suffered the least losses, and the Numibian troops who attacked the southern camp, they only Suffering some losses while fleeing, most of them fled back to Silinus.

On the side of the Dionian coalition forces, there were less than 3,000 casualties. Among them, the Eighth Army and the reserve forces suffered nearly 1,000 casualties, and most of them were severely injured or killed. Therefore, although the total casualties were not large, Leottizi Des still felt heartache.

But anyway, this is a brilliant victory! Not only did it go beyond the expectations of Leotizides, but also completely beyond the expectations of the Sicilian Allies. So after the news spread, it greatly boosted the confidence of the people in the Dionian Sicilian Territory and also inspired the Dionian Allies. And the confidence of the people of the friendly city-states, at the same time dampened the confidence of the Carthaginians in the war, and even more shocked the surrounding hostile forces.

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When the news of "Carthage and Dionia go to war" reached the mainland of Greece, it was the Spartans who were most pleased with this incident.

At this time, Sparta had firmly controlled the Peloponnese; while in Northern Greece, Macedonia obeyed it. After being taught by Sparta, the city-states of Kalkidia, It has also become submissive; it has gradually begun to increase its control over China and Greece, and even Sparta’s mortal enemies in the past-Athens, Argos, Corinth... are rare to remain quiet.

The Spartans thought that they had once again controlled the mainland of Greece, but there was one thing that left them in trouble, that is, the secret visit of the priests of Delphi to the Kingdom of Dionia was approached by the priests of Delphi. The people of Darya secretly revealed it to Sparta.

Although the priests of Delphi couldn't make any waves, and Dionia rejected the proposal of the priests of Delphi, but they made the Spartans wary of the involvement of the kingdom of Dionia in Greek affairs. , Remembering that under the threat of Dionia, he was forced to sign a friendly agreement with Dionia, and then renewed the resignation again. This is a huge deal for the arrogant Spartans. The Spartans were of course overjoyed when they heard that the Kingdom of Dionia was in war, and even against Carthage, which was not weaker than it. The elders, including King Agsilius, felt that This is a great time to take revenge and shame.

The council of elders held several days in a row, discussing whether to support the restoration of the nobles of Mesapi and Puchetti like Carthage (Sparta accommodated some people from these two races). Fugitives), tore up the agreement with Dionia, and sent troops to the Mesapi area not far from the Peloponnese, instigated the independence of Mesapi, Puchetti, and Dauni, and provoked Dai Civil strife in the Kingdom of Onia...

Everyone finally reached an agreement on this issue, but there was a fierce debate on the issue of "when to send the army".

Some elders, headed by King Agcypolis, believe that troops should be sent immediately and the Dionians should not be given a chance to breathe.

Other elders headed by Agsilaus believe that the war has just begun, and Sparta should patiently observe the development of the situation before making a decision, otherwise premature intervention will become Dionia. The focus of the army's offensive.

At this moment, a major event in the north shook Sparta, forcing the elders of Sparta to stop arguing and focus their attention on Thebes.

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At night, in the city of Thebes, the clerk Felidas prepared a grand banquet, inviting the two military consuls elected this year, Azias and Phillips, to attend and tell them that they will Introduce some beautiful women from noble births.

The two military consuls have always been single, longing for love, so they happily go.

Filidas also invited some friends, so the banquet was very lively and everyone had a drink.

In the middle of the banquet, a messenger broke in, holding an official in the city in his hand, and wrote a letter to Azias, saying that it was a matter of great importance, so please ask him to open it and watch it immediately.

Filidas felt uneasy when he heard this. He winked at the friend beside Azias. The man knew, and immediately said with dissatisfaction: "There are rare moments of indulgence and joy. Are you annoying Azias when discussing business affairs?!"

Other people followed suit.

Azias couldn't open the letter immediately, and he was still looking forward to meeting the beautiful woman, so he waved to let the messenger leave, and said, "I'll talk about official business tomorrow." Tucked it under the pillow, and then asked a little drunkly: "Filidas, where is the beauty you mentioned?"

Filidas glanced around in a dilemma, and whispered: "They just stay in the next room, but there are too many people here. They dare not wait until all the guests have left. Show up."

Phillips smiled ambiguously: "They still know shy people!"

Filidas deliberately sullenly said in a low voice, "Of course, they are real, well-educated city-state girls! They are not the women who were just brought in from the brothel!"

After hearing this, Azias felt itchy and urged to end the banquet.

The other guests booed loudly with dissatisfaction.

After a while of drinking, the guests left one after another, leaving only two drunk military consuls.

At this moment, the girls came in. They wore white cloth robes, Himachine, and veils, and came to the two consuls in a cautious manner.

When the two consuls couldn't wait to lift their veils, these "girls" took out the dagger hidden at their waist and pierced them into the chest. Azias and Phillips were killed on the spot.

A "girl" headed by taking off her veil turned out to be Pelopidas.

It turns out that after the exiles of Thebes fled to Athens, they did receive goodwill support from Athens, allowing them to be stationed on the border and providing them with food and weapons.

The exiles of Thebes decided to learn from the famous leader of the Athenian Democrats, Serassibulus, who overthrew the "Thirty Tyrants of Athens", and quickly organized a troop in Athens, and then entered the Piosia area, towards Thebes marched in an attempt to overthrow the pro-Spartan repressive rule and regain the independence of the mother state.

But they forgot that the situation in Thebes at this time was different from the original situation in Athens. They faced not only the reactionary army organized by their opponents, but also Sparta who occupied the Acropolis of Thebes. The army, even several city-states in the Piotja area, such as Pradia, Tespiah, etc., were puppets fostered by Sparta, so this army was defeated before it reached Thebes.

After that, the Theban exiles organized two more military operations, and they failed miserably.

The exiles have paid a lot of casualties, and what’s more terrifying is that they lost their confidence. After discussion, everyone thought: The current Spartans are too strong and they have taken control of the Piotia area. Their strength It is not enough to recapture the city of Thebes, but can only lurch down, accumulate strength, and wait for a better time.

Most people agreed, only the young Pelopidas opposed. He firmly believed that: We cannot expect favorable changes in the external situation, because the future is unpredictable, so we should take the initiative to control our destiny. In their own hands.

Therefore, he also suggested: Do not take open military actions, but use tactics to retake Thebes, such as sending people to assassinate the pro-Spartan leaders in the city, so that they will lose control of the situation in the city, thus causing Chaos, so the opportunity for the exiles comes.

But his proposal was opposed by many people because they thought it was too risky to be adopted.