Chapter 85 The First Formation of Epiminonda

Pelopidas replied immediately: "If even Epiminonda can't stop the enemy, then no one can defeat the Spartans!"

The people around did not understand where Peropidas had such great confidence in Ipaminonda. As far as they knew, although Ipaminonda had participated in battles many times before, he was a soldier and a team officer. , he has never had a single experience of commanding troops in combat. But Peropidas' confidence still infected them, and besides that, they had no better way, so they could only press down their worries and lead the remaining civic troops with Peropidas toward the The Acropolis is rushing in.

On the way to the South Gate, Epiminonda had already thought about the enemy's strategy. Having lived in the city of Thebes for decades, he was familiar with the surrounding terrain, and he knew very well the master of Thebes. The urban area is located in the lowland between the mountains, especially in the southern city. There are prominent mountains on both sides outside the city, forming a bell-shaped terrain.

Therefore, after arriving at the South Gate, he told others his plan: 800 people were lurking in the mountains on both sides outside the South Gate. When the enemy's reinforcements arrived, he would lead the remaining citizens out of the city to fight. Once the two sides are in full contact with the enemy, the ambushes on both sides will immediately attack the enemy's rear...

Some people objected that it was too risky to fight outside the city, especially in the face of the Spartan army, and it was better to rely on the city wall for defense.

Epiminonda immediately refuted this conservative idea, he said calmly: "The new government of Thebes has just been established, it is not stable, and the acropolis is still occupied by the enemy, if the Spartans in the surrounding city-states are allowed to garrison Gather a powerful army outside the city and besiege Thebes, then the battle will become very long, and when the army of Sparta's own city arrives, the battle will become more difficult... Going down, the psychology of the people may change, so we must take advantage of the difference in the time when the enemy arrived in Thebes, take the initiative to attack and defeat them one by one, in order to gain time for the revival of Thebes!  …”

Everyone was persuaded by him. They didn't expect that this taciturn person could actually say such touching words.

Of course, some people have also raised questions: "What if the Spartans are not fooled and don't attack us?"

Epiminonda replied calmly: "Then we will return to the city, which will not cause us any loss. Even if they find our army ambushing in the mountains, they will not dare to pursue it, because the terrain here we Most familiar. However, I think the arrogant Spartans will immediately attack us in the hope of retaking Thebes as soon as possible."

"Damn Spartans, we will never let their conspiracy succeed!..." Everyone loudly expressed their anger and determination towards the Spartans.

Ipaminonda also said in a deep voice: "Everyone, let's work together to make this battle a nightmare for the Spartans!"

then,

The morale-boosted crowd began to deploy according to Ipaminonda's plan.

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The messenger who asked for help first arrived at Platia, which is the closest to Thebes. The Spartan garrison general was shocked when he learned that there was a riot in Thebes and the pro-Spartan government was overthrown. He knew very well. Losing Thebes, Sparta's control of the Pioxia area will be in great trouble, so without hesitation, he led two thousand garrison soldiers, and immediately marched towards Thebes quickly, and arrived at the end at dusk. Outside the city of Bice. Then, he was amazed to see the Thebes go out of the city to form an array, and beat the round shield with a lance to challenge the advancing Spartan army.

How could a Spartan general allow Spartan's defeated generals to be so rampant, not to mention that Thebes was only a little more than his own army, so he ignored the fatigue of the soldiers and immediately arranged the army into an army of the same length as the opponent's. formation, and then sounded the bugle of the attack.

At the same time, Epiminonda also gave the order to attack. And he himself was at the forefront of the battle formation, holding up his shield and spear, taking the lead and charging the enemy.

The Thebes were in high spirits, but the Spartan army was a little weak after traveling all the way. When they first entered the battle, they were at a disadvantage. When they recovered, they began to rely on their rich combat experience and stronger kills. Skillfully and little by little, when the battle was brought back, Thebes' ambush suddenly burst out from both flanks and stormed the rear of the Spartan army.

The Spartan army was overwhelmed, and then collapsed, and the soldiers fled in all directions.

The whole battle lasted less than half an hour, and the Thebes won the final victory. While cheering, they also turned their admiration to the planner of the battle, Ipaminonda, who had been unknown until now. This ordinary-looking middle-aged man won their trust in this battle alone.

Another Spartan garrison from Tespia, who was about to rush to Thebes, was shocked by the news of the "disastrous defeat of the Platia army". He did not dare to advance, but retreated westward to a small town halfway between Tespia and Thebes and settled down.

When Epiminonda learned that the enemy had retreated, he immediately led his army back into the city, stationed at the head of the city, and sent someone to report the good news of victory to the two military consuls.

At this time, Peropidas and Philidas were leading the civic soldiers to storm the Acropolis for a day, but failed to capture it. After all, the Acropolis is small, but the walls are strong, and it is located on the hills, with only one passage, so that Thebes' superior forces cannot be deployed. Moreover, the Spartan army was surrounded on all sides and had no way to retreat, so they fought desperately, causing the Thebes to fail to siege the city many times. Both the generals and the soldiers felt a little discouraged.

At this time, the good news that "South Gate Army defeated the Spartan reinforcements" came, which lifted everyone's spirits and their morale recovered.

The generals also talked about Ipaminonda with a smile on their faces, and Philidas even praised: "Peropidas, you are right, Ipaminonda is indeed an excellent man. Commander General!"

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The next day, the news of "Thebes coup was successful" spread throughout Central Greece, and countless exiles from Thebes began to rush back to their motherland from all directions to defend the emerging Thebes government. The exiles from Athens were among them. the greatest force. For the citizens of Athens, this was something they were very happy to see. Although the council did not express any opinion on it, there were many Athenian volunteers who went to Thebes with the exiles, preparing to join the Thebes. Fight side by side, which also includes two new generals elected this year, who joined the volunteer ranks in private capacity.

The team of exiles marched westward excitedly, and on the way, they fought several battles with the Spartan allied troops stationed in some city-states in the Pioxia region, which were also rushing to Thebes, and they were all victorious.

Thebes continued to receive assistance and its strength increased sharply, and the Spartan reinforcements of Tespia could only retreat.

On this day, the Thebes' attack on the Acropolis failed again, but the Spartan general did not feel happy. He stood at the head of the Acropolis and looked down, and could clearly see the increasing number of people under the hills. The enemy, the situation is obvious, Thebes received external assistance, which also means that the Spartan reinforcements failed to attack Thebes, or they did not come at all, which not only made him, but also the Acropolis Spartan The soldiers were a little desperate.

At this time, Peropidas sent messengers to negotiate with the Spartan generals of the Acropolis, and proposed the conditions of "let the Spartans return the Acropolis, and Thebes will let them leave safely", The two sides finally reached an agreement.

The return of the Acropolis allowed the new government led by Peropidas and Philidas to finally completely and comprehensively liberate Thebes. While the whole city cheered, the leaders led by Pelopidas still looked solemn, because they knew that the test of Thebes had just begun, and the Spartans would never let it go.

On the third day, the news finally reached Sparta, shaking the council of elders. They no longer had the mind to cause trouble for Dionysus, but had to quickly concentrate all their forces to put out the fire ignited by Thebes .

After some deliberation, the council of elders decided that Agasipolis, who had been king of Sparta for less than two years, would lead the army.

So Sparta began to recruit soldiers from the Peloponnesian allies.

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At the same time that Leotizides led the Dionysian coalition to defeat the Carthaginian army and intercepted a large amount of baggage, the outer city of Cerrodieum on the north coast was smashed by the Iberian army.

Why was the city of Cerrodiham, which had been defending steadily for nearly ten days, and had failed Hasdrubal's troops for many times to attack the city, suddenly be breached?

It turned out that after several failed sieges, Hasdruba realized that the frontal attack was too costly and difficult to break through, so he used the Iberian infantry.

Hasdruba's Iberian infantry came from the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula. They were all recruited from the indigenous tribes conquered by the Magreid family. There were a total of 4,000 people. Almost all of them wore races made of purple and white linen. Clothes, without any additional armor, with thick leather caps on their heads, they were equipped with a large oval shield, spears, and the most common and formidable short sword of fakata hanging around their waists. The style and length are very similar to the Dionysian short sword, and it is also extremely sharp. The slight difference is that the front of the sword is slightly curved.

These Iberians are not only brave and sturdy, but also good at fighting in the mountains, which is unmatched by the Carthaginians who have always lived on the flat coast of northern Africa.