Chapter 1128
However, the Diónia Ministry of Military Affairs had long studied the tactics of the Gauls, and Leotychides and Patroclus had also specially trained for it. Therefore, the light infantry who rushed out of the formation first attacked the War Horses carrying the carriages from a distance. Then, the heavy infantry quickly turned into a checkerboard formation, widening the gap between the units and leaving a path for the remaining Gallic chariots. Even if the chariots rushed into the formation, they would not be able to cause much damage to the formation and would be quickly destroyed.
On the other hand, the charge of the Gauls was met with the javelins of the heavy infantry of Diónia, resulting in many casualties.
In close combat, although the Gauls attacked fiercely with their greatswords, they were facing the most elite soldiers of Diónia, the First, Second, and Legio III. Moreover, the 14th and 12th Legions were not afraid after several victories against the invading Gauls in Etruria. Therefore, the entire front line stood firm, while more soldiers quickly attacked the flanks of the Gauls, gradually surrounding them …
Supported by the belief of defending their homeland, the Gauls fought bitterly for more than two hours before they were finally defeated …
The Dionysian Army took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, while the two cavalry legions continued to pursue them.
The Gauls fled in disorder, and there were countless casualties, casualties, and captives.
After that, the Diónia army was even more unstoppable, and in just over two months, they occupied the entire territory of Mountain Gaul.
… … …
It was now the twenty-first year of the kingdom (373 BC). The conquest of Gaul by the Holy Kingdom of Diónia had shocked the whole of northern Italy. The Venetians, Umbrians, and even some Ligurians had taken the initiative to send envoys to ask for an alliance or goodwill with Diónia. The allies in central and northern Italy were even more determined to follow the Kingdom of Diónia closely. Many Latin allies saw that the 14th Legion's Roman soldiers had gained a lot of land after the war, and they clamored for the city-states to merge with the Kingdom of Diónia in order to enjoy such benefits.
The conquest of Mountain Gaul by the Holy Kingdom of Diónia caused a great stir in the entire western Mediterranean. But for the Greeks, except for a few who paid attention to the matter, most people were still focused on Sparta, Thebes, and Athens. The war in Greece had lasted for several years, and there was still no sign of an end.
The expedition to Kekira was the first battle commanded by the famous general of Athens, Iphicrates, after returning to Athens after fighting for the King of Persia in Egypt. The battle went very well, and the Sparta army stationed on the island of Kekira was defeated. But soon Iphicrates encountered a shortage of military funds. He had to let his soldiers work in the fields of the Kekira people in order to make ends meet.
At the same time, Iphicrates had to ask for help from his good friend in the army, the chief general of Athens, Callistratus.
Callistratus had realized that it would be difficult to continue the war in this state, so he decided to return to Athens and persuade the citizens: either provide regular military funds for the fleet, or make peace.
However, when he returned to Athens, he found that the citizens of Athens were focused on one thing – the trial of Timotheus.
Because of the previous loss of Kekira, the citizens of Athens blamed Timotheus, and some people even reported him for "corruption and malfeasance" during the expedition. So the citizens were excited and immediately put him on trial, completely forgetting that it was Timotheus who first led the army to recapture the island of Kekira, and made the Kekira people join the Athens Alliance. During this period, Athens only provided a small amount of military funds, and most of it was raised by Timotheus himself.
However, the trial lasted for several months, and there was no definite result. This was mainly because Timotheus was quite famous in Greece, and he received strong support that ordinary people could not hope to obtain. Even the tyrant of Thessaly, Iazon, and King Alcaitas of Epirus personally came to Athens to prove his innocence.
It was because of Timotheus' unremitting efforts that these two kings temporarily joined the Athens Alliance, and it was also through them that Timotheus was able to borrow money to carry out the expedition of Kekira. Because of the previous military funds and the long period of the trial, Timotheus was almost bankrupt. Now, in order to entertain these two distinguished guests, and to make their daily lives match their status, Timotheus had no choice but to ask for help from his wealthy neighbor, the banker Pasion.
At the end of the trial, Timotheus was acquitted, but it was not because of the support of Iazon and Alcaitas. The citizens of Athens actually looked down on these two powerful figures from Northern Greece, and regarded them as barbarians. The main reason was because Callistratus told them that Kekira had been recaptured.
Although Timotheus regained his freedom, the treasurer of the army that he was leading was tried, convicted of corruption and malfeasance, and finally sentenced to death.
The people of Athens no longer trusted Timotheus, and Timotheus was completely disappointed with the people of Athens. This man of Athens, who had excellent leadership skills (especially in naval battles), soon left Athens and turned to serve Persia.
After the repeated failures of Kekira, the disappointment of the people of Sparta increased day by day. On the other hand, the attacks on the Thebes on land still did not make any progress. In addition, there were a few earthquakes in the coastal areas of Peloponnesus that year. The panicked people of Sparta hurriedly sent people to Delphi to ask for an oracle.
The priests of Delphi had long been tired of the endless war, because the flames of war had spread to the territory of Phocis (Delphi was located in the Phocis region), so they asked the Pythia to give an oracle: This was Poseidon's anger towards Sparta's continuous warlike behavior.
Therefore, Sparta finally decided to seek true peace.
They still hoped to bring peace to Greece through the mediation of the king of Persia, just like in the previous Corinth War. Although the Kingdom of Diónia, which was not far from Sparta, also had the ability to be a mediator, for some reason, the people of Sparta did not have this idea at all, so they sent messengers to the court of Persia.
Coincidentally, the people of Athens also had this plan. Because the war had continued until now, military expenses had become a huge burden for the people of Athens, and it was even possible that the citizens' viewing allowance would be reduced because of this.
Another important reason was that not only did the Thebes not weaken in this war, but they also became stronger with the help of Athens. Not only did they unify more than half of the city-states of Pioscia, but they gradually began to gain the upper hand in the confrontation with the allied forces of Sparta. The strength they displayed also made the people of Athens feel afraid. After all, before the Corinth War, Athens and the Thebes had been mortal enemies for decades.
This year, especially, the Thebes raided Plataea in the southeast of Pioscia.
Plataea, a small mountain state that had suffered many disasters, was once besieged by the allied forces of Sparta because it had resolutely supported Athens in the War of Peloponnesus, and was eventually destroyed. At the beginning of this war, in order to contain the Thebes, Sparta allowed the exiles of Plataea to return to their homeland and rebuild their homes. Because of its extremely important strategic position, it was the only place that the Sparta allied forces had to pass through from land through the isthmus of Corinth, over the mountains, and into the Pioscia area. The Thebes had long intended to include it in the Pioscia Alliance. Taking advantage of the fact that the attacks of the Sparta army were weakening and their own strength was increasing, they repeatedly sent messengers to persuade Plataea.
While the people of Plataea perfunctorily said that they would consider it carefully, they quietly sent people to Athens, hoping to rejoin the Athens Alliance.
This matter was noticed by the Thebes. Under the suggestion of Perópidas, the Thebes army raided Plataea and quickly occupied the city. They expelled the people of Plataea from their territory, and many people were forced to flee to Athens.
When Isocrates learned of this, he immediately wrote a speech called "On Plataea" to express sympathy for their tragic fate, and at the same time, he condemned the evil acts of the Thebes.
Although this incident did not make the two powerful city-states of Greece officially turn against each other, it undoubtedly further alienated the relationship between the two sides.
Callistratus made good use of these reasons to persuade the people at the Citizens' Assembly to decide to make peace with Sparta and stop the war.
The people of Athens also did not consider inviting Diónia as a mediator. First of all, they thought that inviting a former city-state to preside over the meeting was somewhat shameful for Athens. Moreover, the incessant propaganda of Isocrates in the past few years had also made Athens wary of Diónia. Secondly, as a mediator of this war, they needed to have enough strength and influence in Greece. Diónia had never set foot in Greece before, and it had signed a long-term peace agreement with Sparta. On the contrary, although Persia was thousands of miles away, it had been waving its sleeves in the city-states of Greece, constantly using money to win over this and attack that. The successful signing of the "Great King's Contract" a few years ago had already demonstrated its influence in Greece.
Therefore, Athens also sent messengers to Persia.
After the Thebes learned that both Sparta and Athens had sent messengers to Persia to seek support, they became a little anxious. During the discussion, Perópidas proposed for the first time to seek support from Diónia.
As the Thebes had become stronger in the past two years, the Sparta coalition could no longer blockade the Thebes. Therefore, the leaders of the Thebes learned more about the outside world. What surprised them the most was that Diónia had defeated Carthage and become the overlord of Greece and Sicily. (In the impression of the native Greeks, only these two places and Carthage were civilized places in the western Mediterranean. The other places were barbarian and not worth their attention.) This showed that the Kingdom of Diónia was very powerful and close to the Thebes. It had even sold food to the Thebes when they were in the most difficult times, expressing goodwill. Therefore, if they could get its support, the Thebes would not be afraid of Persia, which was thousands of miles away.
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