ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 737 The Thebes Incident ([-])

Even if they were attacked from two sides, with the number and strength of the Carthaginian citizen soldiers, they were completely confident that they could block or even counterattack their attack. However, some of the citizen soldiers could not suppress the fear in their hearts. They turned around and fled, and their escape was completely taken away. The courage of the entire army was shaken, and the soldiers immediately broke up and fled westward in a swarm.

When they escaped across the Pletany River and rushed to the camp, they were horrified to find that the camp had been occupied by the enemy. At this time, they did not have the courage to recapture the camp, and because the camp blocked their escape through the coastal road, Taking the shortcut to the west of Sicily, they had no choice but to flee directly into the mountains not far away, but they forgot that the Sikel people were not far behind them, and the mountains were their territory where they could move freely.

After occupying the Carthage camp, the Dionysian coalition did not stop there. The cavalry, light armor and light infantry with sufficient physical strength continued to pursue the defeated troops westward along the seaside road, and occupied it at dusk. The small town of Hermey finally stopped moving westwards.

The messenger sent by Leotizides arrived shortly afterwards and ordered the troops to temporarily station in the town of Hermey to monitor the enemy's movements to the west.

In the evening, the Dionysian cavalry, light armored soldiers, and light infantry took turns going to the Calogero Valley to enjoy a hot spring bath.

This battle was triggered by soldiers from both sides bathing in the river. It eventually turned into a decisive battle between the two armies. As a result, the Carthaginians were defeated miserably, and most of the original 7000-strong army was lost.Among them, the Holy Legion suffered the most heavy losses. Only more than 1 soldiers of the 2000-strong army fled back to Selinus, and most of the soldiers were either seriously injured or died in battle; followed by the Carthaginian citizen soldiers, who did not pay any effort in attacking the camp. There were too many casualties, but during the escape over the mountains, they were constantly attacked by the Sikelians. Injury, disorientation, and surrender became the norm. In the end, less than half of the soldiers escaped back to Selinus; again, it was the 6000 soldiers The Numibian army preparing to reinforce the Holy Legion, the chaos on the Pletani River became a painful memory for them; the Numibian cavalry with the least losses, as well as the Numibian troops attacking the southern camp, only They suffered some losses during their escape, but most of them fled back to Selinus.

The Dionian coalition suffered less than 3000 casualties, of which the Eighth Army and the reserve forces suffered nearly a thousand casualties, most of which were seriously injured or dead. Therefore, although the total casualties were not large, Leotizides still felt Heartache.

But regardless, it was a brilliant victory!Not only was it beyond the expectations of Leotizides, it was also completely beyond the expectations of the Sicilian allies. Therefore, after the news spread, it greatly boosted the confidence of the people in the Sicilian territory of Dionia, and also inspired the Dionia allies. And the confidence of the people in friendly city-states, it also affected the Carthaginians' confidence in war, and also frightened the surrounding hostile forces.

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When the news of "the war between Carthage and Dionia" spread to the Greek mainland, the Spartans were the most happy about it.

At this time, Sparta had firmly controlled the Peloponnese Peninsula; and in northern Greece, Macedon was obedient to its orders, and the Chalcidian city-states also became less powerful after being taught a lesson by Sparta. It gradually began to increase its control over Central Greece. Even Sparta's former mortal enemies - Athens, Argos, Corinth... also rarely remained quiet.

The Spartans thought that they had once again controlled the mainland of Greece, but there was one thing that stuck in their throats. That was the secret visit of the Delphi priests to the Kingdom of Dionysia by those who were close to Sparta among the Delphi priests. It was quietly revealed to Sparta.

Although the priests at Delphi could not make any waves, and Dionia also rejected the proposal of the priests at Delphi, it made the Spartans wary of the Kingdom of Dionia's involvement in Greek local affairs. Under the threat of Dionia, he was forced to sign a friendly agreement with Dionia, and then had no choice but to renew it again. This was a huge shame for the always arrogant Spartans. Therefore, when they heard that the Kingdom of Dionia was at war, and even went to war with Carthage, which was not weaker than it, the Spartans were of course overjoyed. The elders, including King Agesilaus, felt that this was a A great time to avenge your humiliation.

The Council of Elders held meetings for several days to discuss whether to support the restoration of the Messapian and Pucetti nobles as Carthage did (Sparta hosted some fugitives from these two races). ), tore up the agreement with Dionysia, sent troops to land in the Mesapian region not far from the Peloponnese Peninsula, instigated the independence of the Mesape, Pucetti, and Daoni people, and provoked Dionia Civil strife in the kingdom...

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

Some elders, led by King Agesipolis, believed that the army should be sent immediately without giving the Dionians a chance to breathe.

Other senators, led by Agesilaus, believed that the war had just begun, and Sparta should patiently and carefully observe the development of the situation before making a decision, otherwise premature intervention would become a hindrance to the Dionian army's attack. focus.

At this moment, a major event happened in the north, which shocked Sparta, forcing the Spartan elders to stop arguing and focus their attention on Thebes.

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At night, in the city of Thebes, Clerk Phylidas prepared a grand banquet, invited the two military consuls elected this year, Agias and Philips, to attend, and told them that they would introduce them to them. Some beautiful women of noble birth.

The two military consuls were still single and longing for love, so they happily went.

Phylidas also invited some friends, so the party was very lively and everyone drank happily.

In the middle of the banquet, a messenger broke in, holding a letter from an official in the city to Azias, saying that it was of great importance and he must be opened and read immediately.

Philidas felt uneasy when he heard this. He winked at the friend next to Azias. The man understood and immediately said dissatisfiedly: "It is rare to have a moment of indulgence and joy, and we have to discuss official matters. Are you not annoyed, Azias?!"

Others followed suit.

Azias couldn't help but open the letter immediately. In addition, he was still looking forward to meeting the beautiful woman, so he waved the messenger away and said: "Let's talk about official matters tomorrow." He stuffed the letter into the pillow. Next, he asked slightly drunkenly: "Phylidas, where is the beauty you mentioned?"

Phylidas glanced around with difficulty and said in a low voice: "They are staying in the next room, but there are too many people here. They dare not show up until all the guests have left."

Phillips smiled ambiguously and said, "They still know how to be shy!"

Felidas said with a straight face on purpose, "Of course, they are real, cultivated city-state girls! They are not random women from brothels!"

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

The other guests booed loudly in dissatisfaction.

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

At this time, the girls came in. They were wearing white cloth robes, shimmas, and veils. They came to the two consuls in a reserved manner.

When the two consuls couldn't wait to lift their veils, these "girls" pulled out the daggers hidden in their waists and stabbed them in the chest. Acias and Philips died on the spot.

One of the leading "girls" took off her veil and turned out to be Pelopidas.

It turned out that after the Theban exiles fled to Athens, they did receive goodwill support from Athens, which allowed them to station themselves on the border and provided them with food and weapons.

The Theban exiles decided to learn from Thrasibulos, the famous leader of the Athenian democrats who overthrew the "Thirty Tyrants of Athens". They quickly organized an army in Athens, and then entered the Boeotian area and marched toward Thebes. March in an attempt to overthrow the repressive rule of the pro-Spartan faction and allow the mother state to regain its independence.

But they forgot that the situation in Thebes at this time was very different from that of Athens. They faced not only the reactionary army organized by their opponents, but also the Spartan army occupying the Acropolis of Thebes, and even Several city-states in the Boeotian region, such as Pladia, Thespia, etc., were puppets supported by Sparta, so this army was defeated before it reached the city of Thebes.

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

The exiles suffered a lot of casualties, and what was even more frightening was that they lost confidence. After discussion, everyone believed that Sparta was too strong now and had already taken control of the Boeotia area. They were not strong enough to take back The city of Thebes can only lurk, accumulate strength, and wait for a better time.

Most people agreed, and only the young Pelopidas objected. 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 take our destiny into our own hands.

Therefore, he also suggested: Instead of taking overt military action, use tactics to recapture Thebes, such as sending people to assassinate the leaders of the pro-Spartan faction in the city, causing them to lose control of the situation in the city, thus causing chaos. Now comes the opportunity for the exiles.

However, his proposal was opposed by many people because they thought it was too risky and was not adopted.

　Thanks to Lamperucci, XyXy805, and yyajy2304 for the tips!Your support is my motivation to write! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)