Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 86: The Battle of Leuktra (continued)

lnmao.org, the fastest update to the latest chapter of the Mediterranean Overlord of Ancient Greece!

"The Spartans will be defeated by us!" Ipamirunda's strong confidence infected the generals around him. They quickly led the troops to follow Ipamirunda's plan and began to deploy in front of the camp. Formation.

Because of the small number of Piosha coalition forces, their entire array is shorter than the Spartan coalition array, and the thickness is also very thin. The only exception is the left wing, because its forefront is the Thebes Saints led by Pelopidas, followed by the Thebes Heavy Infantry led by Ipamirunda, with a column thickness of up to 50 columns.

Moreover, Ipamironda deliberately waited for the right wing and the center to be lined up before arranging the left wing. As soon as the left wing was lined up, he ordered the offense to be sounded, so that even if the Spartans felt something was wrong, there was no time to adjust the formation.

The bugle blew, and the holy team led by Pelopidas led the entire left wing to advance quickly, while the army on the center and right wing deliberately slowed down under Ipamironda’s prior instructions, making the left wing very Almost in the front, the entire infantry formation was like a hammer struggling to swing down, with the hammer head being the left wing.

However, it was the cavalry that started the battle first. Ipamirunda had gathered the cavalry in front of the middle road beforehand. When Spartan King Kleombrotus saw this, he naturally also concentrated his cavalry in the front of the middle road to fight against it.

When the bugle sounded and the infantry on both sides were still advancing, the cavalry on both sides had already fought together. The Piosha coalition cavalry, which is dominated by the Thessaly cavalry, was significantly stronger than the Spartan coalition cavalry, and soon defeated it.

Under the deliberate drive of the Allied Cavalry of Piotsia, the Allied Spartan cavalry had to retreat towards the center and the left wing, which hindered the advancement speed of these two parts of the infantry array. Da Fang gradually separated.

The King of Spartans in the formation can't see that the array is out of touch, but he can see that the cavalry in front of the side has been defeated, but for the Spartans, the cavalry has never been the main force in combat, they In the past few years, the invincibility in the Greek mainland has relied on the Spartans who have received military training since childhood and have experienced countless battles. And at the forefront is the King’s Guard. They are the elite of the elite, and they can become one of them. Can win the admiration of the Spartan people (the Spartan King’s Guard is composed of 300 people, but the war has continued over the years, and the population of Sparta has dropped sharply. This number can no longer be maintained. At this time, there are only 100 people in the array) Therefore, the King of Sparta, like the surrounding Spartans, was not moved by the defeat of the cavalry, and still firmly believed that the victory ultimately belonged to them.

When they saw that the Thebes were not far away from them, the Spartans roared and began to charge.

At the same time, the Thebes Saints also launched a charge under the leadership of Pelopidas. The weapons and equipment of the soldiers of the Saints are no different from the heavy infantry behind them, but in the past few years they have either been training or fighting, and have defeated Spartan soldiers in small-scale battles. Still the spirit of fighting spirit is far superior to other Thebes citizen soldiers, not to mention that they believe that fighting side by side with their lovers is a spiritual sublimation and blending of emotions. Therefore, as the speed of the charge increases, their fighting spirit is also rising sharply. .

So, when the forefront heavy infantry of the two sides collided with each other, the Thebes Saints actually fought against the Spartan King's Guard in a competition of strength and skill.

But when the successor forces of both sides pressed on, the gap gradually appeared. Compared with the column of 50 people, the power gap was obvious. This gap was reflected in the push between the two sides during the battle. At that time, the few Spartans could only retreat under strong pressure, and the originally dense array gradually became looser.

The soldiers of the Thebes squad bravely squeezed into the gap in an attempt to expand the gap and destroy the shield formation. They have no fear of the spears that the Spartans keep coming out, because they want to show their love to their love and defeat Spartans. The Badas are undoubtedly enough to boast of a lifetime, and they believe that even if they attack with all their strength and reduce their defenses, their lover will resist everything for them.

The fierce attack of the Thebes without fear of life and death and the strong squeeze of the ultra-thick columns caused the Spartan soldiers to continue to be injured and fall, and the array began to become fragmented. The worst thing is that their king meets. In trouble.

Cleombrotus, who was in the battlefield, had just pierced the stabbing gun into the chest of the soldier of the Thebes squad who rushed in front of him. Who knew that the soldier vomited blood, but he was holding on to the barrel of the gun. , And shouted a person's name.

Immediately after that, another soldier of the Thebes squad next to the soldier rushed up with tears in his eyes, ignoring the lancet stabbed by the king's guard on the side, and rushed forward, catching Klee who was caught off guard. Ombrotus fell to the ground.

The King of Sparta, with his helmet rolled to the side, watched as the soldier bit his throat hideously even though his back was pierced by several stabbing guns...

The king is dead! The Spartans established their country by military force. Except for the battle at the hot spring gate where the military strength is too wide, there has never been a king who died in other battles. But today this tragedy happened. It is unimaginable how much the fighting spirit of the Spartans will be hit. . What's more, now they are facing the terrifying Thebes who are as mad as the madman. In addition, the number of head-on confrontations is less than that of the opponent. The Greek Spartans who are known for their bravery are timid. The soldiers began to rout, followed by the Piriasi, and finally the real Spartans also threw away the shield spear and turned and fled...

The Spartan phalanx on the right was defeated, and the soldiers desperately fled back to the camp on the hill.

At this time, the middle road and the left wing have been in contact with the enemy and have the upper hand in the battle, but the Spartans have always been the core of the Spartans. Now the Spartans are defeated, where are the Allied troops? Still thinking about fighting, also hurriedly retreated.

Although the Theban army defeated the Spartans, the soldiers tried their best and were very exhausted. The Spartan allied army was almost unharmed, and the number of troops was still more than that of the Thebes. So Ipa Mirunda did not dare to continue to attack the Spartan coalition camp, but also returned to the camp.

The Battle of Leuktra ended. In this battle, about 1,000 Rassidi Dreamers died, including 400 Spartans. Soldiers of the Thebes also killed and wounded 200 people. Two-thirds of its organization, although the number of people who died in the battle was not many, the battle was actually a competition between the two city-states of Thebes and Sparta, and Thebes won.

Even many Thebes who came to the battlefield could not believe that they had won. After returning to the camp, they cheered and forcibly carried Ipamirunda under the leadership of Pelopidas. They marched in the camp for a week to express their joy and gratitude.

The Spartan coalition camp was shrouded in the haze of defeat. Although their numbers were still more than the Thebes coalition forces, the Spartan king died in battle and the army had no leader. Although some Spartans were unwilling, but They had to send envoys to the camp of Thebes in accordance with traditional practices, requesting a temporary truce in order to bury the dead, which in fact admitted defeat.

After burying the dead, both parties sent messengers in unison.

The messengers of the Spartan coalition forces should rush back to Sparta as soon as possible, report the defeat to the Council of Elders, and ask them to confess their orders to the new commander and send reinforcements in order to rescue them from Piotsia. Although the war-dead king Cleombrotus left them a safe place to retreat-Port Chleusis, the demoralized army was afraid of being attacked by the Thebes, and did not dare. Retreat alone, still staying in the camp on the hill.

The Thebes sent three messengers, one to Athens, one to Sesali, and one to Dionia.

The first messenger arrived in Athens, because it was the closest to Thebes. When the messenger wearing a crown declared to the Athens council loudly: "The Thebes defeated the Spartan army and killed King Cleombrotus of Sparta!......"

This shocking news caused the entire venue to be silent. For these elites in Athens, the victory of Thebes made them even more afraid of Thebes.

Callistratus had no idea that the Bez could defeat Sparta, so he and Iphikratus asked the messenger in detail, although the messenger's answer was relatively brief, it made them feel : Although Thebes won, but the results were not great, and according to the character of the Spartans, they will inevitably retaliate wildly, and the intensity of the war will increase.

Although this made Calistratus secretly happy, he was also worried that Athens would be re-entered into the quagmire of war.

The second place where the Thebes messenger arrived was Philae. After all, the port in the north of the Piotja area can reach Philae by boat, and the distance is not too far.

After receiving the news, Jason danced. He immediately summoned cavalry and infantry, and declared that he would help his ally Thebes.

Two days later, with 8,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, he marched southward by land and headed straight for Wenquan Pass.

Originally, he thought there would be a fierce battle at the hot spring pass, but when the Spartan coalition led by Cleombrotus aggressively attacked the Piotia area, he once called on the troops stationed in Central Greece to come and meet. The Spartan garrison at Wenquan Pass sent most of them, and after learning of the defeat of the battle, the remaining soldiers felt alone and in a dangerous situation, and took the initiative to retreat.

Jason easily occupied this very important strategic location, leaving 500 soldiers garrisoned, and then leading the guard cavalry, and without waiting for the advancement of the large forces, quickly passed through the inconsistent Phokes. Man's territory.