ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 455 Iphicrates
On a hillside once called Prix in the southwest corner of the city of Athens, the people of Athens built a magnificent conference hall a hundred years ago to celebrate the overthrow of the tyrant Peisistratus. Its size can accommodate 500 people sitting at the same time. It faces the Acropolis of Athens not far to the east, and is next to the once-famous Council of Mars Hill. It is a symbol of the Athenian people's independence and decision-making.After the Persians burned the city and Athens won the victory celebration in the Greco-Persian War, people rebuilt it again. This is the famous 500-member Council!

The Athens City Hall is next to this magnificent building and looks so inconspicuous, but the "Ten Generals" who are elected every year work here.

Today the governing council of generals in Athens held a meeting and invited Isocrates to discuss the battle in Corinth and the war in Magna Graecia.

The chief general Thrasibulos spoke first: "Generals, today Corinth sent an envoy to Athens to request reinforcements from us. The situation in Corinth is not very good now. The Spartans are attacking fiercely and they cannot resist it. This makes The pro-Spartan nobles in the city were so arrogant that they proposed peace with Sparta at the meeting, and gained some popular support. The morale of the Corinthians to fight was weakening..."

"We must support Corinth! Otherwise, once Corinth falls to Sparta, the Spartans can break through the isthmus and force us under the city of Athens. Our long wall has not been repaired yet, and we cannot let the Spartans have dirty hands. Trample our feet on the port of Piraeus, which has just resumed trade, and the territory of Attica, which has not yet regained its vitality! And if we are defeated, Sparta will definitely do more harm to Athens this time than the last time, and Athens will never I can't stand this kind of torture!" Andokides, who was born as a speaker, said angrily.

His words reminded others present of the dark reign of the "Thirty Tyrants" ten years ago, so they all expressed their opinions: "Immediately assist Corinth! Send more soldiers to support Corinth and block Sparta's attack!..."

"It is not enough to stop the Spartans. From the beginning of the war to now, our coalition forces have not defeated the Spartans once in the wild. If this continues, the morale of the coalition forces will only become lower and lower. Those who hate Spartans will , The city-states that are still waiting and watching will also lose the courage to resist. Therefore, we must defeat the Spartans in order to finally win this war!" A younger general said loudly.

"It's not that easy to defeat the Spartans on land, Iphicrates!" The loser of the Battle of the Sheep River and the winner of the Battle of Knidogan returned to Athens and brought back a huge fleet. General Conon sighed: "If we could defeat the Spartans on land, coupled with our invincible navy, how could the Spartans be so rampant today!"

"So I ask the council to authorize me to lead the troops I trained to support Corinth. I will do my best to defeat the Spartans!" Ifikrates said firmly.

Thrasibulos looked at this mountain man from the Kelatea area of ​​Attica (people born in Athens like to call people living in Attica "mountain people or country people"). He knew that because of the During the Loponnesian War, the Spartans ravaged the Attica region for a long time. Iphicrates hated the Spartans extremely and had been studying how to defeat the Spartan heavy infantry: "The troops you trained? You mean the nearly 1000 troops composed of Thracian peltasts and Cretan archers? Can these light infantry alone defeat the Spartans?!"

"We must admit that our citizen soldiers are no match for the Spartans who received brutal training from childhood. But the heavy infantry also has shortcomings. Throwing javelins and arrows at them, the heavy infantry could not catch up with the light infantry and could only be beaten passively." Iphicrates said confidently: "I believe you have all heard that Davos, the consul of Dionia, was The Magna Greeks called him the 'Undefeated General'. He was a man who was good at using light infantry. I learned that he also organized the light infantry into separate large groups. Especially in the second war with Crotone. At that time, he made full use of the light infantry and defeated the flanks of Crotone's heavy infantry, which ultimately led to the failure of the Crotone battle. Therefore, I am confident that I can use this light infantry team to defeat the Spartans!"

After hearing this, Thrasibulos looked at Konon.

Conon nodded and said loudly: "I hope Iphicrates can defeat the Spartans!"

"I agree to send Iphicrates to lead the army to Corinth." Andokides also agreed.

"I have no objection." Other generals also agreed. After all, when everyone in the world was afraid of fighting Sparta on land, one man suddenly stood up and said with confidence, "He can defeat Sparta!" ’, this confidence alone is enough to inspire everyone.

"I agree." Thrasibulus also voted in favor, and then he reminded: "However, Iphistratus, when you lead the light infantry troops you trained to Corinth, you must also take us with you. Citizen soldiers, let them participate in the frontal defense of Sparta, so as to avoid causing the Corinthians to misunderstand us and say that we are sneaky and do not use our full strength."

"I understand, Thrasibulus, you are still thoughtful." Iphicrates expressed his sincere thanks and requested: "Then I need a deputy general to lead our citizen soldiers."

Thrasibulus thought for a while, looked back at Conon, and said, "How about sending Timotheus?"

Timothy is Conon's eldest son. Although he is only in his twenties, he has been a very experienced general, especially in naval warfare, because he has been wandering with his father in Persia for many years, helping his father with military affairs and participating in combat.Conon knew that such a proposal from Thrasybulos would be very helpful to enhance his son's influence in Athens. After all, he had been in Persia before, and the citizens of Athens were not familiar with him.But at the same time, fighting Sparta also involves great danger to life.

But Konon answered without hesitation: "No problem."

Others mostly agree.

"In this case, I will make a proposal to the council this afternoon, which should be approved, and send reinforcements to Corinth." Thrasibulos made the decision, but his expression was still not relaxed. He looked around the crowd and said in a deep voice: "Just now Iphicrates talked about Dionia. Everyone should know about the war in Magna Graecia. Dionia, which is friendly to us, is in a very bad situation now. Not only did it fail in the battle, it was surrounded by enemies on all sides, and the sea route was blocked, but also There seems to be a rebellion in the country... Isocrates, you have been to Dionia and know it better than we do. Do you think that with the current situation of Dionia, it can still withstand the attack of the Syracuseans? ?”

To be honest, Isocrates was a little embarrassed at this time. He had vowed to Thrasybulos before, 'Dionia is more dangerous to the Greek world than Syracuse.' 'Unexpectedly, Dionysia was about to be destroyed in a blink of an eye.As a scholar and an orator, Isocrates is not a scholar who only knows how to use his brain and mouth, has no power to restrain a chicken, and does not understand military affairs. In fact, every citizen of Athens has participated in the At least one or two fights.

Therefore, he cleared his throat and said slowly in a hoarse voice: "The South Italian coalition failed in the battle, many Magna Greek city-states have been conquered by the Syracuseans, Dionia is also surrounded by enemies, and the domestic political situation is unstable. But please note that Dionia's army has not yet suffered a complete defeat. Their commander Daves is still in Lucania and has not returned. How can we rashly conclude that Dionia will completely fail? What if Davos, who is said to be blessed by Hades and has performed military miracles many times, performed another miracle and reversed the situation of the war!..."

"If a miracle can happen, of course we will all be happy, because it will be beneficial to Athens. We also hope that Dionia can make a miracle happen, at least to hold off the Syracuseans and allow the war in Magna Graecia to continue. !" God Thrasibulos said with a serious expression: "But we must also be prepared for Dionia to be conquered by Syracuse. Once the Great Greek War is over, Diolinthius is likely to agree to Sparta According to the request, the navy and army of Syracuse were sent to assist Sparta!"

"I heard that Syracuse has more than 400 trireme warships alone. Even if 1/3 is sent, it will change the current naval situation of Sparta, which is completely at a disadvantage!" After passing the Spartan Navy, the cautious veteran still did not relax his vigilance.

"And Syracuse also has a huge army of 8 people, which is double the number of soldiers when Athens attacked Sicily! Athena, is Syracuse still a Greek city-state?!" Andokides exclaimed.

Other generals also expressed their uneasiness.

Thrasibulus once again focused his attention on Iphicrates and said with great expectation: "So in today's severe situation, I hope you can defeat the arrogant Spartans and inspire the anti-Spartan alliance. morale!"

Ifecrateston felt a heavy responsibility, but he still said confidently: "Athena will protect me, you just wait for the news of my victory!"

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In the past two days, the Syracuse fleet frequently landed on the coast of Castellon territory, violently attacked the people of Castellon, and destroyed villages and farmland outside the city.

People who had lost their homes and relatives gathered in front of the Council every day, angrily demanding that the Council take immediate action to stop the Syracuse intrusion!
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(End of this chapter)