Chapter 83 The Thebes Incident (1)

Even if it was attacked from both sides, with the number and strength of the Carthaginian civic troops, they had full confidence in blocking or even counterattacking their attack, but some civic soldiers could not suppress the fear in their hearts. They turned and fled, and their escape was completely taken away. With the courage of the entire army, the soldiers suddenly scattered and fled westward in a swarm.

When they escaped the Pletani River and ran 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 retake the camp, and because the camp blocked their passage through the coastal road and escaped back The shortcut to the west of Sicily, in desperation, had to flee directly into the mountains not far away, but they forgot that the Sikelians were not far behind them, and the mountains were their freely moving territory.

After occupying the Carthaginian camp, the Dionysian coalition did not stop there. The still strong cavalry, light armour and light infantry continued to pursue the route westward along the seaside road, and occupied it at dusk. In the small town of Helmé, only then did they stop moving westward.

The messenger sent by Leotidides then arrived and ordered the troops to temporarily station in the small town of Helme to monitor the movements of the enemy to the west.

In the evening, the Dionian cavalry, light armour, and light infantry took turns to the Calogero Valley to enjoy a hot spring bath.

In this battle, the soldiers of the two sides took a bath in the river to cause a conflict, and eventually turned into a decisive battle between the two armies. As a result, the Carthaginians were defeated, and the original army of 46,700 people lost most of them. Among them, the Holy Legion suffered the most losses. Only 2,000 soldiers of the 10,000-strong army fled back to Serinus, and most of the soldiers were either seriously injured or killed in battle; the second was the Carthaginian civic army, which did not attack the camp. He paid too many casualties, but on the way to escape across the mountains, he was constantly attacked by the Sikelians. Injury, disorientation, and surrender became the norm. In the end, less than half of the soldiers who escaped back to Serinus; again, the 6000 The Numibian army was preparing to reinforce the Holy Legion, and the chaos on the Pletani River became their painful memory; the Numibian cavalry who suffered the least losses, and the Numibian troops who attacked the southern camp, they only He suffered some losses while fleeing, and most of them escaped back to Serinus.

The Dionian coalition had less than 3,000 casualties, of which the Eighth Army and Reserves suffered nearly 1,000 casualties, and most of them were seriously wounded or killed. Therefore, although the total casualties were not large, Leotides still Heartache.

But either way, it was a brilliant big win! Not only did it exceed the expectations of Leotides, but also completely exceeded the expectations of the Sicilian allies, so after the news spread, it greatly inspired the confidence of the people of Dionysian Sicily, and also inspired the Dionysian allies. and the confidence of the people of friendly city-states, at the same time, it undermined the confidence of the Carthaginians in the war, and also deterred the surrounding hostile forces.

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When the news of "Carthage and Dionia at war" reached the Greek mainland, it was the Spartans who were most happy about it.

At this time, Sparta had firmly controlled the Peloponnese; and in northern Greece, Macedonia was obedient to it, and the city-states of Calcidia, after being taught by Sparta, also became It was obedient; it gradually began to increase its control over Central Greece, and even Sparta's sworn enemies in the past-Athens, Argos, Corinth...are rare to keep quiet.

The Spartans thought they had once again controlled mainland Greece, but there was one thing that kept them in their throats, that is, the priests of Delphi who secretly visited the kingdom of Dionia were close to Sparta by the priests of Delphi Secretly revealed to Sparta.

Although the priests of Delphi did not make any waves, and Dionia also rejected the proposal of the priests of Delphi, it made the Spartans be wary of the involvement of the kingdom of Dionia in the affairs of Greece. Under the threat of Dionia, he was forced to sign a friendly agreement with Dionia, which was then resigned. This was a huge shame for the always arrogant Spartans. Therefore, the Spartans were overjoyed when they heard that the kingdom of Dionia was at war, and even fought against Carthage, which was not weaker than it. The elders, including King Agesilaus, felt that this was a A great time for revenge.

The council of elders held meetings for several days to discuss: whether to support the restoration of the Messapi and Pucherti nobles as Carthage did (Sparta accommodated some fugitives from these two races) ), tore up the agreement with Dionia, sent troops to land in the Mesapi area not far from the Peloponnesian Peninsula, incited the independence of the Mesapi, Puchetti, and Dauni, and provoked Dionia The civil unrest in the kingdom...

The crowd eventually agreed on the issue, but there was a heated debate over "when to send the troops."

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

Other elders headed by Agesilaus believed that the war had just begun, and Sparta should carefully observe the development of the situation before making a decision, otherwise premature intervention would become the attack of the Dionysian army. focus.

At this moment, a major event in the north shook Sparta, forcing the elders of Sparta to stop arguing and focus their attention on Thebes.

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At night, in the city of Thebes, the clerk Philidas prepared a grand banquet and invited the two military consuls, Azias and Phillips, who were elected this year, to attend, and told them that they would be introduced to them. Some beautiful women of noble birth.

And the two military consuls have always been single, eager for love, so they happily go.

Philidas also invited some friends, so the banquet was very lively, and everyone was happy to drink.

In the middle of the banquet, a messenger broke in and wrote a letter to Azias with an official in the city in his hand, saying that it was a big deal, and he must be opened and watched immediately.

Philidas felt uneasy when he heard this, he gave a wink to the friend beside Azias, the man understood, and immediately said dissatisfied: "It's rare to have a moment of indulgence and joy, but also to discuss official business, Are you not bothered, Azias?!"

Others followed suit.

It was not easy for Azias to 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 the official business tomorrow." He put the letter on the pillow. Next, he asked slightly drunkenly, "Phyridas, where is the beauty you mentioned?"

Philidas glanced around awkwardly, and said in a low voice, "They stayed in the next room, but there are too many people here. They won't dare to show up unless all the guests have left."

Phillips smiled ambiguous: "They still know how to be shy!"

Philidas deliberately said in a low voice with a stern face: "Of course, they are real, cultivated girls from the city state! They are not women who are casually found from a brothel!"

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

The other guests roared loudly in dissatisfaction.

After another drink, the guests left one after another, leaving only two drunken military consuls.

At this moment, the girls walked in. They were wearing white cloth robes, Himachon, and veils, and came to the two consuls with restrained movements.

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

The "girl" at the head took off her veil, and it turned out to be Pelopidas.

It turned out that after the exiles of Thebes fled to Athens, they were indeed supported by Athens' goodwill, allowing them to be stationed on the border and providing them with food and weapons.

The exiles of Thebes decided to learn from the famous Athenian democrat Thalassibos, who overthrew the "Thirty Tyrants of Athens", and quickly organized a force in Athens, and then entered the Piosia area and headed for Thebes. Marched in an attempt to overthrow the repressive rule of the pro-Spartans and regain the independence of the mother state.

But they forgot that Thebes at this time was not the same as Athens at the time. They were not only facing the reactionary army organized by their opponents, but also the Spartan army occupying the Acropolis of Thebes. Several city-states in the Pioxia region, such as Pradia, Tespia, etc., were all puppets supported by Sparta, so the army was defeated before it reached the city of Thebes.

Afterwards, the Thebes exiles organized two more military operations, but failed miserably.

The exiles paid a lot of casualties, and what was even more terrifying was that they lost their confidence. After discussion, everyone thought: Sparta is now too powerful, and has already controlled the Pioxia region, and their strength is not enough to retake it. The city of Thebes can only lurk, accumulate strength, and wait for a better time.

Most people agreed, and only the young Pelopidas opposed it. He firmly believed that favorable changes in the external situation cannot be expected, because the future is unpredictable, so you should take the initiative to take your destiny in your own hands.

Therefore, he also suggested: instead of taking open military action, use tactics to retake Thebes, such as sending people to assassinate the leaders of the pro-Spartans in the city, so that they lose control of the situation in the city, thereby causing chaos, so that Here comes the opportunity for the exiles.

But his proposal was opposed by many as too risky to be adopted.