Chapter 1 The Thebes War Continues

The news that "Dionia defeated Carthage and forced it to sign an armistice" spread throughout the Kingdom of Dionia, and the people everywhere cheered.

Soon after, the news also reached the Greek mainland, which shocked many city-states, especially Sparta.

Once Dionia was in a dangerous situation of being besieged by multiple forces, Sparta secretly manipulated and instigated the fleeing forces in the Apulia region to retake their former territory, but now Dionia has relied on her own power to clean up. He wiped out Rome neatly, subdued Samone, defeated Carthage, and became the most powerful force in the Western Mediterranean without a doubt.

But Sparta is now caught in the quagmire of war, and the situation in Central Greece has been delayed. When Dionysus suddenly turned his face and wanted to seek justice from Sparta, it would undoubtedly make the situation worse.

Therefore, Sparta hurriedly sent messengers to Turii to congratulate Dionysus on winning the war with Carthage in the name of a friend, and at the same time tentatively asked: I hope Dionysius can help the war Sparta in the Middle East offered some assistance.

Davos had seen through the Spartans' intentions long ago. He neither broke his face with the Spartans, accusing them of the dirty things they had done during the war in the Western Mediterranean, nor did he agree to the Spartans' request. It is a euphemism: Dionia won the war, but after the war, rebuilding the homeland, rectifying order, appeasing the people, restoring trade... and a series of difficult affairs still require the concerted efforts of all the kingdoms to gradually recover. Prosperity before the war, so there is no energy and time to care about the affairs of other countries.

Sparta was relieved for a while.

Davos responded to the Athenian messenger who came to ask for help with similar words.

As for the Thebes, they were still under siege by the Spartan army, struggling to cope with various attacks, not very clear about the major events in the Western Mediterranean, and had no energy to understand.

Although Davos gave Sparta a reassurance, the Spartan Council of Elders still felt the urgency of the situation. Progress, and finally decided to once again use the more prudent Agesilaus as the commander of the entire army.

Agesilaus accepted it, and declared: Since the elders and the people think he is the best candidate, he himself will go all out!

He led his army to the border of Sparta to make sacrifices and showed the soldiers a good omen, so the morale of the whole army was high.

Due to the heavy defense of Thebes in the mountains on the southern edge of the Pioxia region adjacent to the Isthmus of Corinth,

In addition, Athens joined hands with Thebes, so it was difficult and dangerous to cross the mountains from the Isthmus of Corinth and enter the Pioxia region by land.

Agsilaus led the army to speed up the march, and after arriving at the port of Sigion, not far west of Corinth, he took a boat across the Gulf of Corinth and landed on the beach of Pioxia. Since he had already sent someone to inform a Spartan army stationed in the area to take the lead in capturing a mountain pass not far from the landing site, the entire army crossed the mountain without hindrance and entered the plains of the Pioxia area. and quickly joined forces with Tespia, the Spartan-supporting city, just 20 miles west of Thebes.

Originally, Agesilaus believed that his quick military action would disrupt the defensive deployment of the Thebes. As a result, he found that Thebes and their allies had built fences and all strategic points around the city of Thebes. Earth fortresses, trenches were built, deer villages were laid out...

If the Spartan army wants to approach the city of Thebes, it must conquer all these important points, and the Thebes army will not allow it to do anything. Wherever Agesilaus leads the army to attack, Thebes will send Heavy troops are stationed there.

Since Thebes fought on the inside, the mobilization of troops was more flexible and fast, and the Thebes army would not just defend, they would also strike at the right time, attacking the Spartan coalition soldiers who had left the main force or were eating and resting... This The defensive strategy of the series was mainly from the hands of Ipaminonda, which gave Agesilaus a headache, and he failed to make a breakthrough in the half-year campaign.

In the autumn, the soldiers of the Spartan allies returned to their hometowns one after another, and Agesilaus also led the Spartans to return home, so he appointed Phoebedas to lead the mercenaries to stay in the Tespia area and wait for an opportunity to attack the bottom. bees.

Phoebe Das, who was extremely hated by the Thebes, adopted a more vicious strategy. He sent a number of small troops to bypass the defenses of the Thebes, killing the people of Thebes who were hiding behind him. destroy its fields...

The Thebes were very angry about this, and they hurriedly dispatched their troops to attack Tespia, despite Epimenonda's dissuasion.

As a result, Phoebe Das was well prepared, he made a targeted formation, and repelled the attack of the Thebes army in the battle. In order to expand the results of the battle and weaken the strength of the Thebes, he personally led the army to chase the defeated soldiers, but the cavalry and some infantry of the Thebes panicked and fled into an impassable canyon.

The desperate Thebes troopers instead gathered and decided to fight to the death. At this time, because the pursuit speed was too fast, Tespia's heavy infantry fell far behind, only Phoebe Das and several hundred others. The Thracian light shields stood in front of the Thebes cavalry.

It happened too suddenly. Phoebe Das had just arranged the formation of these Thracian mercenaries. The Thebes cavalry recklessly launched a charge from the front, and the momentum generated by the running of hundreds of warhorses was undoubtedly scary.

After a long run, the Thracians, who were already very tired, were afraid, and before the Thebes cavalry rushed to the front, the Thracians began to retreat.

The Thebes army took advantage of the situation to attack, the Thracian mercenaries retreated across the board, and Phoebedas mixed in with the rout in an attempt to escape.

But how could the Thebes cavalry let him escape, they kept their eyes on him, and soon surrounded him and stabbed him to death. Then they drove away the Tespia heavy infantry who came after the rout, and the Spartan coalition was defeated.

The Thebes army pursued until dark before withdrawing their troops and returning to the camp.

In this battle, the Thebes lost first and then won, not only killing their most hated enemy - Phoebe Das, but also weakening the heart of Thebes - Thespia's strength. The people of Beth cheered and cheered the people of the other Spartan-controlled city-states of Pioxia.

Taking this favorable opportunity, Thebes even sent an army again to take the initiative to attack Tespia and its surrounding city-states attached to Sparta, forcing Sparta to send an army in winter to help defend Tespia.

In the early spring of the following year (377 BC, the 17th year of the Kingdom of Dionia), the Spartan Council of Elders and the Overseers once again appointed Agesilaus as the commander of the coalition.

This time, Agesilaus attacked the east and west, and led his army to take the land road. Based on Platia, the land was ravaged, and although some victories were obtained, the resistance of the Thebes was still very tenacious, so that the Spartan army failed to achieve a breakthrough.

In the fall, Agesilaus had to withdraw his troops again and return home.

At this time, there was a serious shortage of food in Thebes. Because of the destruction of the war, their land had not been harvested for two years. In the history of the previous life, the Thebes sent a fleet to the northern town of Thessaly. to buy grain, but this time Peropidas proposed: go to the kingdom of Dionia on the opposite side of the Adriatic Sea to buy grain.

Some people raised objections, arguing that Dionia and Sparta had always signed a friendly agreement and had a close relationship with each other, and it was impossible for Dionia to buy food for Thebes.

Peropidas' answer is: anyway, the distance is short and the road is very convenient, and it is not a big deal to try it. But once it is successful, we will not only open up new channels for purchasing grain, but also find out the attitude of the Dionians towards this war, which is of great significance!

In the end, Peropidas's proposal was approved, and Thebes sent three triple oars, carrying 10 Tarrants, to take advantage of the winter when the Spartans stopped and the sea blockade of the Gulf of Corinth loosened. Sail out of the Gulf of Corinth, cross the Adriatic Sea, and arrive at the port city of Odrum on the east coast of the Kingdom of Dionia.

When the administrator of Oldrum heard that the Thebes had come to buy food, considering the political significance behind it, he dared not make an assertion, and immediately sent a messenger to Turii to ask for instructions.

After Davos knew it, he set the tone for the matter with a seemingly joking remark: "The Spartans can let the fugitives of Aprilia travel to our country, why can't we give the Thebans a little help, let alone this is just an ordinary business act."

Therefore, the city of Oldrum not only sold food to Thebes at a low price, but also sent ships to help transport it.

In fact, the Spartan fleet had received the news that "Thebes sent a fleet to buy food", and they had already made arrangements to capture the Thebes fleet when it returned to the Gulf of Corinth.

As a result, when the crew of the Spartan fleet saw the ships in the Thebes fleet with the flag of the Kingdom of Dionia painted on their sails, they did not dare to act rashly, and watched the Thebes pile of ships land on the north side of the bay. The cargo was unloaded in a hurry.

After the incident, the commander of the Spartan fleet hurriedly reported the incident to Sparta. The Council of Elders and the Ombudsmen were shocked and hurriedly sent messengers to Turii.

Davos didn't show up at all. Antaoris, the rotating chairman of the Senate, received the messenger. Faced with the questioning of the Spartans, he responded lightly with the king's original words: "This is just an ordinary business activity, not worth it. Make a fuss."