Chapter 1140
When Iazon arrived at the Leuctra Highlands, the battle had ended seven days ago.
The messenger of the Sparta Coalition Army also arrived in Sparta. The news of the defeat shocked the Sparta people. For years, Sparta had been at war with other countries. The real Sparta warriors had dropped from more than 3,000 at their peak to less than 2,000. Most of them relied on the armies of Piriasi, Helaoth, and their allies to fight. Now that 400 Sparta warriors had died in battle, including a Sparta king, it was undoubtedly a huge loss for Sparta.
Not only were the people grieving, but according to tradition, a grand funeral had to be held for Cleombrotus. However, the situation was critical now. The Sparta Coalition Army trapped in Pioscia was still in urgent need of rescue. The Council of Elders and censors led by Agesilaus had to plead with the people to temporarily suppress the grief in their hearts. They urgently mobilized the young men in the country (including Piriasi and some Helaoth) to form an army under the command of Agesilaus' son, Archdames (because Agesilaus was unwell and unable to lead the army). The neighboring allies had also provided support.
Persia's messenger, Datis, who stayed in Sparta, was also shocked. He did not expect the Sparta army to suffer a defeat. This made him wonder if Persia's support for Sparta was a mistake. However, now that the Thebes had formed an alliance with Diónia, Persia could not change to another Greek city-state in a short period of time. Therefore, he rushed to the Council of Elders to question them.
Many of the elders were angry, but Agesilaus swallowed his anger and promised him, "This is just an accidental defeat. The Sparta army is still strong. Soon, they will defeat the Thebes again and restore Greek hegemony."
Datis did not comment on the answer, but proposed to them, "Not only is Persia willing to provide money and materials to support Sparta, but it is also willing to send troops to support."
Agesilaus quickly expressed his gratitude, but tactfully rejected the request of "Persia to send reinforcements".
Sparta urgently needed money and materials because it could be used to hire mercenaries, expand the size of the army, and continue to fight against the Thebes. However, since the Greco-Persian War, no Persia army had set foot on the mainland of Greece for decades. if Sparta dared to invite Persia's army, it would undoubtedly cause the anger of the Greek city-states and become the target of public criticism. Even its former allies would betray it.
Archidamus quickly led the army north, then boarded a ship through Corinth, and landed in Port Clisis.
However, the speed of Sparta's reinforcements was still a little slow. While they were still on the way north, all of Thessaly's reinforcements had already arrived in Leuctra. The strength of the Pioscia Coalition Army had greatly increased, and it had already surpassed the strength of the Sparta Coalition Army. Therefore, Ipamilonda proposed, "Take this opportunity to launch a fierce attack on the camp of the Sparta Coalition Army, and completely destroy the Sparta Coalition Army in Pioscia!"
At this time, Iazon was not as excited as when he first heard the news of victory. This was because his most important minister, Asidamus, had also rushed to Leuctra. After analyzing the current situation in Greece with him in private, Iazon realized that the failure of the battle in Leuctra had caused a big enough blow to Sparta's prestige. It had indeed weakened Sparta's obstruction to Thessaly's domination of Greece, but at the same time, it also showed him the potential of the Thebes. At this time, if he went all out to help the Thebes completely destroy the Sparta Army, the strength of Sparta would be severely weakened, and the real benefit would undoubtedly be the Thebes. They would quickly take over the inheritance of Sparta in Central Greece, and their strength would be rapidly improved. Instead, they would become the biggest opponent of Thessaly's domination of Greece.
After thinking about this, Iazon did not agree to Ipamilonda's request. Instead, he advised, "It was not easy for the Pioscia Coalition Army to win the battle. There is no need to take further risks. After all, attacking the camp is much more difficult than fighting in the wild. In a situation where the Sparta Coalition Army's reinforcements will arrive at any time, if they fail to attack for a long time, it will put the coalition army in a dangerous situation. It is better to take advantage of the current situation and force the Sparta Coalition Army to sign a truce agreement so that the armies of both sides can safely withdraw. "
It sounded like what Iazon said was reasonable, but deep down, Ipamilonda and Pelopidas still hoped to pursue the victory, so the two sides continued to argue for a while. Seeing that Iazon's attitude remained firm and unwilling to fight, Ipamilonda realized that without the help of Thessaly's reinforcements, the Pioscia Coalition Army would inevitably have to pay a huge price to conquer the Sparta camp. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally agreed to Iazon's suggestion.
Therefore, Iazon acted as the mediator between the two sides and arranged a peace negotiation between the two sides.
No one knew when the reinforcements from the rear would arrive, and after the Thebes Coalition Army received Thessaly's reinforcements, they were obviously strong and strong. Therefore, the low morale of the Sparta Coalition Army quickly signed a truce agreement with the Pioscia Coalition Army.
On the same night, the Sparta Coalition Army quietly retreated.
Being able to successfully mediate the war between the former overlord of Greece, Sparta, and the rising power of Central Greece, the Thebes Coalition Army, made Iazon famous. The power of the Thessaly Coalition Army also appeared on the political stage of the core area of Greece for the first time, attracting the attention of many Greek city-states.
On the way back to Thessaly with his army, Iazon did something that shocked the southern Greeks. He led his army to attack Heraclea (not the city of Heraclea of the Holy Kingdom of Diónia), which was not far from the west of Hot Spring Gate. The city had always been under the control of Sparta, and it was a strong guarantee for the defense of Hot Spring Gate. After all, the terrain of Hot Spring Gate was too narrow for too many soldiers to be stationed for a long time.
Not only did Iazon easily take down the city, but he also completely destroyed it. In today's war-torn Greece, it was relatively common for a city-state to be captured or even destroyed. However, what Iazon did was not simple. In the eyes of the Greek people, this was a rude act of the northern barbarians who wanted to step into the core area of Greece.
After hearing the news, the commander of the Thebes, Ipamilonda, and Pelopidas, who had just returned to the city and were welcomed by the people on both sides of the street, frowned. Previously, when Iazon persuaded them to make a truce with the Sparta, they had felt uneasy. Now, they were even more certain of the ambition of Thessaly Tarkus: Sparta has not been completely defeated yet, but our former ally has become our new enemy?!
The people of Phocis were even more anxious than the Thebes. Because the Thessaly had destroyed Heraclea and occupied Hot Spring Pass, if they led their army south, the first place to be hit would be the Phocis region, followed by the Pioscia region. Therefore, the priests of Delphi were very anxious. Finally, they became proactive and prepared to invite the Greek city-states to hold a meeting of the Holy Alliance to discuss how to deal with the threat of the Thessaly in Northern Greece. It would be best if the war between Sparta and the Thebes could be resolved, so that both sides could maintain a longer peace.
The premonition of the Delphi priests was not wrong. Iazon had indeed formulated a plan to conquer the Phocis region in his mind. As the Pythian Games would be held in Delphi next year, he had already planned to show off his great power in front of the Greek citizens of the other city-states. Therefore, he decided to issue an order when he returned to Philae, asking the city-states of the Thessaly to prepare cattle and sheep for the upcoming Delphi Festival. He also promised to award a golden crown to the strongest bull. At the same time, he also asked the city-states to mobilize their military forces and form a large army. He would lead the army to Delphi to host the celebration.
Iazon had made up his mind to use force to strip the authority of the Holy Alliance's committee and force himself to become the chairman of the Pythian Games …
In the history of his previous life, he had made preparations according to this plan without hiding anything. This caused the people of Delphi to panic. Even rumors about him planning to rob the sacred vault of the Delphi Temple spread like wildfire. This caused the most devout believers of Apollo to be furious. Therefore, one day a few months later, after Iazon had finished inspecting the army, he sat down to listen to the petition of his subjects. Seven young men, whose faces were flushed with anger from arguing, came forward and pretended to report the dispute to him for resolution. When they came close, they suddenly exploded and killed Iazon on his seat. This assassination had completely changed the course of history. Ison had died before he could fulfill his ambitions. Thessaly, which had been forcefully unified by him, was quickly divided. In the end, it had benefited the Thebans, and later, it had also benefited the Macedonians.
However, in this life, just as Iazon's plan started to be implemented, it had to be temporarily stopped. This was because a major event had happened in the south of the Peloponnesus Peninsula.
… …
As the Port of Cleucis, which was originally controlled by the Thebes, had been occupied by the Sparta, the Thebes had no port in the Corinth Bay. Therefore, the messengers sent to Diónia had to rush to the bay north of the Pioscia region to take a ship. As a result, passenger ships had to take a big detour to reach Diónia, and they had to be careful to avoid the patrols of the Sparta fleet. Therefore, when the Thebes and Sparta armies reached a truce, the messengers still could not reach Turií.
However, Diónia had been paying close attention to this war for a long time. The intelligence department had sent spies to hide in the merchant ships that traded with the Greek city-states. Therefore, as soon as the battle of Leuctra ended, the merchant ships of Diónia that were docked in the port of Corinth quickly left the port and sailed westward. The patrolling warships of Sparta did not dare to stop them. Therefore, when Iazon received the news of the battle, the report of the battle had already been sent to the palace of Turií.
Therefore, the Devers summoned the assistant ministers, the main ministers, and the important military generals to hold an important meeting in the palace.
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