Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 85: The first battle of Epameronda

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Pelopidas replied immediately: "If even the Epaminondas can't stop the enemy, then no one can defeat the Spartans!"

People around don’t understand why Peropidas has such great confidence in Epaminondas. As far as they know, although Epaminondas have participated in battles many times before, they are all based on soldiers and teams. As an officer, he has never had the experience of commanding troops. But Pelopidas' confidence still infected them, and besides, they had no better way, so they could only press down on their worries and lead the remaining citizen soldiers together with Pelopidas. The Acropolis is advancing.

On the way to the south gate, Epameronda had already figured out his strategy against the enemy. He has lived in Thebes for decades. He is familiar with the surrounding terrain and knows Debi well. The main city of Sri Lanka is located in the lowlands between the mountains, especially the South City. Both sides outside the city are protruding mountains, forming a flared terrain.

So, after arriving at the South Gate, he told the others about his plan: 800 people lurking in the mountains on both sides of the South Gate, and when the enemy’s reinforcements arrive, he will rate the remaining citizens. Go out of the city to meet, once the two sides fully meet the enemy, the ambushes on both sides will immediately attack the enemy's side...

Some people raised objections that it was too risky to fight outside the city, especially in the face of the Spartan army, it is better to rely on the city wall for defense.

Ipermenonda immediately refuted this conservative idea. He calmly said: "The new government of Thebes has just been established and is not yet stable, and the acropolis is still occupied by the enemy. If the surrounding city-states are allowed to The Bada garrison gathered in the city to form a powerful army and besiege Thebes. Then the battle will become very long. When the army of Sparta arrives again, the battle will become more difficult... …If things continue like this, the people’s psychology may change, so we must take advantage of the different time when the enemy arrives at Thebes, take the initiative to attack and defeat them one by one, in order to gain time for Thebe’s revival!..."

Everyone was persuaded by him. They didn't expect that this taciturn person could say such touching words.

Of course, some people also raised questions: "What if the Spartans are not fooled and do not attack us?"

Ipmenonda calmly replied: "Then we will retreat to the city, which will not cause us any loss. Even if they find our army ambushing in the mountains, they dare not pursue it, because here We are most familiar with the terrain. However, I think the arrogant Spartans will immediately attack us, hoping to retake Thebes as soon as possible."

"Damn Spartans, we will never let their conspiracy succeed!..." Everyone loudly expressed their anger and determination towards the Spartans.

Ipamenonda also said in a deep voice: "Everyone, let us work together to make this battle a nightmare for the Spartans!"

So, the people with high morale began to deploy according to Epmenonda's plan.

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The messenger asking for help first rushed to Platia, the nearest to Thebes. The Spartan garrison general was shocked when he heard the news of "riots in Thebes and the overthrow of the pro-Spartan government". He knew that after the loss of Thebes, Sparta’s control of the Piosha area would be in big trouble, so he did not hesitate to lead two thousand garrison soldiers (most of them were soldiers of the Peloponnesian League). ), immediately marched towards Thebes, and rushed to the outside of Thebes at dusk. Then, he was surprised to see that the Thebans went out of the city to line up, and they also hit the buckler with a stinging gun to provoke the marching Spartan army.

How could the Spartan general allow the defeat of Spartan’s men to be so rampant? What's more, the number of Thebes is only a little more than his own army, so he ignores the fatigue of the soldiers and immediately arranges the army to be equal to the opponent The length of the army formation, and then sounded the offensive bugle.

At the same time, Epaminondah also issued an offensive order. And he himself was at the forefront of the battle formation, holding a high shield and spear, taking the lead, and launched a charge against the enemy.

The Thebes are like a rainbow, and the Spartan army has gone through the trek, and its physical strength is slightly weak. When they first took the battle, they were at a disadvantage. When they slowed down, they began to rely on their rich combat experience and become stronger. When he was able to regain the battle with his unique killing skills, the Ambush of Thebes suddenly shot out from the two wings and stormed the side and rear of the Spartan army.

The Spartan army was unable to defend itself, and it collapsed, and the soldiers fled in all directions.

The entire battle lasted less than half an hour, and the Thebes won the final victory. While cheering, they also turned their admiration to the master of the battle and the previously unknown Ippami. Nongda, this ordinary-looking middle-aged man won their trust in this battle alone.

Another Spartan garrison from Tespia, who was about to catch up to the city of Bez, was shocked to hear the news of the "Pratia Army defeat", and its commanding general, Sverdellas, thought to himself Insufficient troops, did not dare to advance, but retreated westward to a small town halfway between Tespia and Thebes and settled down.

After learning that the enemy had retreated, Epameronda immediately led the army back into the city, stationed at the city’s head, and sent people to report the good news of victory to the two military consuls.

At this time, Peropidas and Felidas were leading the civic soldiers to storm the Acropolis for a day, but failed to take it. After all, although the Acropolis is small, the city wall is very strong, and it is located on the hill, with only one passage, so that Thebes' superior forces cannot be deployed. Moreover, the Spartan army was surrounded on all sides and there was no way out. Therefore, fighting desperately, the Thebes failed to attack the city many times. Both the generals and the soldiers felt a little discouraged.

At this time, the good news of "The South Gate Army defeated the Spartan reinforcements" brought everyone's spirits up and morale rebounded.

And the generals also talked about the Epaminonda with smiles, and Felidas even praised it again and again: "Peropidas, you are right, the Epaminonda is indeed one. An excellent commander of the army!"

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The next day, the news of the "successful Thebes coup" spread throughout Central Greece. Numerous exiles of Thebes began to rush back to their home states from all directions to defend the emerging Thebes government and exile from Athens. The person is the biggest force among them. For the citizens of Athens, this is something they are very happy to see. Although they did not express any opinions on this in the meeting, there are many volunteers from Athens who went to Thebes with the exiles to prepare to join the Thebes. Working side by side, this also includes two newly elected generals this year, who joined the team of volunteers as private individuals.

The group of exiles marched westward in excitement. Halfway through, they fought several battles with the Spartan Allied forces stationed in some city-states in the Piosha region that also rushed to Thebes, and they were all victorious.

Thebes continued to receive assistance, and his strength soared, and the Spartan reinforcements of Tespiah could only retreat.

On this day, the Thebes’ attack on the Acropolis failed again, but the Spartan general did not feel happy. Standing on the top of the Acropolis and looking down, he could clearly see the hill below. The situation is obvious with the increasing number of enemies. Thebes has received aid from outside. This also means that the Spartan reinforcements failed to attack Thebes, or they did not come at all. This not only allowed him, but also the city. The Spartan soldiers felt a little desperate.

At this moment, Peropidas sent an emissary to negotiate with the Spartan generals in the Acropolis, and proposed "let the Spartans return to the Acropolis, and Thebes will let them leave safely." The two parties finally reached an agreement.

The return of the Acropolis allowed the new government led by Peropidas and Felidas to finally liberate Thebes completely and comprehensively. While the people in the city cheered, the leaders headed by Peropidas still looked solemn, because they knew that the test of Thebes had just begun, and the Spartans would never give up.

On the third day, the news finally reached Sparta, which shook the council of elders. They no longer had the mind to add chaos to Dionia, but must quickly concentrate all their power to extinguish the fire caused by Thebes. This fire.

After some discussions, the Council of Elders decided that Agcypolis, who had been king of Sparta for less than two years, would lead the army.

So Sparta began to recruit soldiers from the allied states of Peloponnese.

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At the same time that Leotizides led the Dionian coalition forces to defeat the Carthage army and intercept a large amount of baggage, the outer city of Cerro Diham on the north coast was attacked by the Iberian army.

Why did the city of Cerro Diham, which had been defended steadily for nearly ten days and had failed Hasdruba’s forces many times to attack the city, was suddenly breached?

It turned out that after several failed sieges, Hasdruba realized that the loss of a frontal attack was too great and it was difficult to break through, so he used Iberian infantry.

The Iberian infantry under Hasdruba came from the southern part of the Iberian peninsula. They were all conscripted from the indigenous tribes conquered by the Maghred family. There were 4,000 men. Almost all of them wore white linens with purple borders. The ethnic costumes made did not have any more armor on the outside, and they wore a thick leather cap on their heads. They were equipped with an oval shield, throwing guns, and the most common and intimidating Wakata short hanging from their waists. The sword is similar in style and length to the Dionian dagger, and it is also extremely sharp, with a slight difference in that the front of the blade is slightly curved.

These Iberians are not only brave and tough, but also good at fighting in the mountains, which is unmatched by the Carthaginians, who have always lived on the flat coast of northern Africa.