ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1135 The Battle of Leuctra
"I understand, I will go back to discuss with others to strive for more benefits for the kingdom on the covenant..." Ansitanos responded.

"And..." Davos hesitated and said, "About your resignation as Foreign Secretary, do you want to reconsider it? Seeing that a war may be about to start again, and it is in the complicated Greece. In our country, foreign affairs are a top priority, and we need an experienced veteran like you to take the helm. How can we leave at this critical time?"

Ansitanos stretched out his skinny fingers, touched the gray hair on his head, and said: "Your Majesty, I am old and do not have enough energy to cope with such a heavy task, especially when a war is about to happen. It might as well be Resign from the post of Foreign Minister and seize the remaining time to do something you like to do, such as quickly writing the "History of the Kingdom of Dionia in the First 20 Years"."

"Okay..." Davos did not force any more, thought for a moment, and then said: "I looked at the candidates you listed for Foreign Secretary, thought about it for a long time, and felt that Tapirus is more suitable. He is in the West. He made great contributions in both the Mediterranean War and the Gallic War, and his qualifications and abilities are sufficient, what do you think?"

"I completely agree with your Majesty's decision." Ansitanos replied without hesitation.

"Then after the covenant with Thebes is signed, I will summon the six auxiliary ministers to finalize this matter."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Hernie, give me a gift for your teacher."

"Teacher, how much has been written about your "History of the Kingdom of Dionia in the First 20 Years"? It would be best to publish it at the same time as my "War in the Western Mediterranean", so that readers can compare each other and have detailed information. It will be more conducive for them to understand the history of that period..." Hernepolis kept talking on the way to Ansitanos.

Ansitanos listened quietly and occasionally responded. It was not until he walked out of the palace that he said seriously: "Henipolis, you should pay attention to the tone of your words to His Majesty in the future. It is best not to be so casual again. !”

"This is how I always speak to His Majesty. Is there any problem?" Henipolis was a little confused.

"Your Majesty is no longer the same as before. Not only does he have unprecedented prestige in the kingdom, but he also has greater power!..." Ansitanos whispered with emotion, and the scene just now was still in his mind: he had recommended a total of Three of the four candidates for Foreign Secretary were his students. Their qualifications and achievements were not inferior to Tapirus, but Davos chose Tapirus, who was not so closely related to him.A few years ago, important personnel appointments such as the Kingdom's Minister of Foreign Affairs usually had to be discussed by the ministers and finally submitted to the Senate for approval. But now it only requires His Majesty and the six auxiliary ministers to discuss, and the decision can be roughly made. Basically, it's all decided by Davos.

"Teacher, Your Majesty is the same as before. There is no difference. It is you who think too much." Henipolis had a different view on this, and in turn comforted Ansitanos.

Ancitanos could only say helplessly: "It seems that I am really old, and I always like to think wildly..."

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After the "Contract of Callias" was signed, according to the contract, the contracting parties must recall their troops stationed abroad and dismantle military fortresses in foreign countries.

Therefore, Athens was recalling the army led by Iphicrates stationed in Corcyra, but Sparta did not implement the contract. On the contrary, after learning that "Thebes sent an envoy to Dionia", Sparta The masters had an even greater sense of urgency. They wanted to send the envoy Xenophon to Dionia again to persuade King Davos not to provide support to the Thebans, but the Persian envoy Datis, who had never left, warned The Spartans were not allowed to have close contact with Dionia, and also said: In order to support Sparta in punishing Thebes, a large amount of supplies given to Sparta by Persia are being carried by the Miletus fleet and will soon be arrival.

In such a situation, Sparta decided to launch an attack on Thebes first.This time the Spartans gathered the alliance army more quickly than ever before. Because Agesilaus was unwell, the army was still commanded by Cleombrotus, another Spartan king. Before the contract was signed, he had He was ordered to be stationed in Phokis, and the reinforcements led his troops across the Gulf of Corinth in May to join him.

At this time, the news that "Dionia and Thebes have formed an alliance" has reached Sparta, making the Spartans feel nervous.

Subsequently, Tapirus, the messenger of Dionysia, also came to Sparta, reminding the council of elders: Dionysia has already formed an alliance with Thebes, and hopes that Sparta can cease war with Thebes, restore peace, and avoid Dionia had to be involved in the war because of the alliance, thus destroying the friendship between Dionia and Sparta for more than 10 years.

The elders headed by Agesilaus said: Sparta did not know that Dionysia had formed an alliance with Thebes before, so the army had already set off, and might even have fought Thebes.Under such circumstances, it will be difficult to withdraw the troops in a short time, but they will do their best to restore peace to Greece.

Tapirus saw the perfunctory behavior of the Spartans, but his trip was just to make a notice in accordance with traditional etiquette. King Davos did not ask him to prevent the war from happening, so Tapirus quickly left. On the way out of the city, he encountered the Persian envoy Datis and was threatened and ridiculed by him.

Seeing that most of the Spartans were on the side of the Persian envoy, and the enemy was outnumbered, Tapirus did not fully refute. After a few words, he left in embarrassment, but he kept this humiliation in his heart.

In mid-June, Kleombrotus stationed troops in Colonia, the gateway of Phocis and Pioxia, and marched to Thebes immediately after the arrival of subsequent reinforcements.

Now all the people in Greece believe that the decisive battle between Thebes and Sparta is inevitable, and Sparta's huge military strength makes them believe that Sparta has an absolute advantage, and then they just wait for Thebes to be defeated. It's a good idea to completely destroy or become a puppet controlled by Sparta.

Even many Thebans had no hope of victory, and even suggested with a sad face: surrender to Sparta.

Some city-states, such as Athens, gloated that Thebes was about to suffer disaster; some city-states, such as Argos, felt sorry for Thebes and prayed silently for Thebes; a few city-states extended a helping hand to Thebes at this time. Nothing is better than Tagus Jason of Thessaly, who quietly formed an alliance with Thebes a year ago, and at this critical time, transported [-] Cesars to Thebes by sea. Li cavalry (because the land route of Thermopylae was controlled by Sparta, it was impossible for the Thessalians to go south through it).

In early July, Cleombrotus unexpectedly allowed the army to quickly pass through a narrow path in the mountains, avoiding the ambush of the Theban coalition forces, arrived at Thisbe, and raided the only seaport occupied by Thebes-Cliu. The Sith captured the few warships in Thebes, thus ensuring the safety of their retreat.

After resting for two days, the Spartan coalition, with more than 1 soldiers, then marched directly to Thebes in the north.When they reached the heights of Leuctra, the Spartans found that the road ahead had been blocked by the Theban army.

Originally, when the Spartan Allied Forces entered the territory of Piotia, many Thebes generals believed that the Spartan Allied Forces were coming aggressively this time, and their numbers were much larger than before, so they could not confront them head-on, so they suggested temporarily avoiding them , abandoned the outer military fortresses and retreated to the city of Thebes for defense.

However, Epamilonda firmly opposed it. He firmly believed that the enemy should be proactively attacked and the Spartans should not be allowed to invade the core area of ​​Thebes. Otherwise, letting them try to destroy farmland and villages would shake the citizens' desire to fight. determination.

Because Ipamironda led the Thebes to successfully resist the invasion of the Spartan coalition forces in these years, he has a high reputation among the citizens, and at this time he has been elected as the military chief of the Pioxia League. (The highest position in the Piotia Alliance, elected once a year, two people at a time, and the other is Pelopidas), and Pelopidas, who has returned to Thebes City, fully supports Ipamironda's decision, so the Boeotian alliance headed by Thebes finally decided to fight to the death with the Spartan coalition.

Ipamironda led the Pioxia Allied Forces with about 6000 troops. They rushed to the Leuktra Heights early and waited for the arrival of the enemy.

The Leuctra Highlands is located at the southern end of the plain where Thebes is located. It is full of low hills. Among them, there is a relatively flat rounded top. It is where the Theban commanders and main generals are located, and it is also where the heavy infantry is gathered. land.

When Ipamilonda learned that the Spartan coalition had arrived, he did not immediately start to form a formation and assume a battle posture. Instead, he moved his army to the hill opposite the Spartan coalition settlement and began to build a camp.

At this time, some Thebes generals suggested to Ipamironda that they should attack the Spartans when they had just marched here and the veterans were tired.

Ipamilonda did not adopt it.

On the second day, the Spartans still did not take military action, but Cleombrotus had learned through sentries that the number of Boeotian coalition forces in the opposite camp was significantly smaller than his own, which finally prompted him to attack on the third day. Early in the morning, he led the Spartan coalition forces who had fully rested out of the camp, and began to form formations along the gentle hillside.

After Ipamilonda learned the news, he immediately rushed outside the camp, looked at the opposite hill, and then smiled: because the formation of the Spartan coalition forces did not change much from the battle formations that the Spartans participated in in the past. , the army was still lined up, with the Spartan warriors wearing red cloaks on the right wing and protruding from the entire array.

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(End of this chapter)