Chapter 1165
"Cough, cough!" When Adoris said these words, Cloto Cattacus was drinking his soup. He suddenly choked several mouthfuls and replied in a somewhat embarrassed manner, "Big Brother, you look down on me too much. I am the commander of the army. If I show favoritism to my relatives, how can I command the other soldiers to fight to the death? Don't worry, I won't do that! "
Adoris looked at him and asked again, "Really?!"
"Really!" Cloto Catax replied calmly.
"Good!" Adoris raised the bowl of soup in his hand and said proudly, "With this soup as wine, I wish us brothers to work together and achieve great feats in Greece!"
… …
As the new commander of the Dionysian Army had yet to arrive, Ipamilonda stayed in the city of Messenia for a few days. Not only did he not complain, he was very happy. Because the Thebes were Diónia's allies, Ipamilonda was not blindfolded and restricted from going out like Agesilaus. Other than some sensitive areas, he could roam freely in Messenia. In order to avoid any misunderstandings, with Leotychides's consent, Advisor Mukelu assigned him a Diónia officer as a guide.
During this time, not only did Ipamilonda carefully understand the entire operation of the new Messenian government from the villages to the towns, he also observed the daily activities of the Dionysian Army. From the morning exercises organized by the various brigades, to the construction of the cities and houses during the day, to the return to their tents to rest under the supervision of the officer at dusk …
Not only did he go to the pass of Mount Tegetos to watch the Diónia soldiers build watchtowers to strengthen the defense against Sparta, he also went to the coast to watch the warships of the First Fleet patrolling and training in Messenia Bay. He even saw the supply camp using many camels to transport food and supplies from the simple port to the camp, cooking and distributing food to the soldiers in the camp, and the medical camp treating the injured soldiers … Except for the engineering camp, which he was not allowed to enter because it involved the production of some military equipment, he almost visited the entire camp.
Until one day, he received a notification from the officer guide that the new Diónia commander wanted to see him.
In fact, he already knew about the arrival of the new commander, because on that day, he specially rushed to the coast and witnessed the entire process of the Diónia army disembarking on countless ships and quickly assembling on the coast.
Walking into the military tent, Ipamilonda smiled and nodded at five to six fully armored officers. Finally, he looked at the young man sitting in the middle of the tent and bowed solemnly. "Ipamilonda, envoy of the Thebes, greets the commander of the Diónia!"
"Please take a seat, General Ipamilonda!" Cloto Catax asked the soldiers to bring a wooden chair that had been prepared, and said very politely, "You are the military commander of the Pioscia Alliance, and also the hero who led the Pioscia Alliance to defeat the Sparta in the Battle of Leuctra. Your visit is a great honor to us!"
Ipamilonda thanked the guards, sat down, and said humbly, "The victory of Leuctra is indeed a great encouragement to the Thebes and the people of Pioscia. But it is just like a person who has been starving for a long time eating a full meal. He will feel very satisfied, but for those who always eat a full meal, this is nothing. And Diónia is a person who always eats a full meal, am I right?"
Ipamilonda's words made Ctessus, Olivers, and the others feel very comfortable.
"General, you are too humble!" Cloto Catax immediately said, "A few years ago, when my father talked to me about the situation in Greece, he mentioned you. He said that you and Perópidas are the most important pillars for the rise of the Thebes. Facts have proven that his judgment is correct!"
Upon hearing this, Ipamilonda's heart skipped a beat. Of course, he knew who Cloto Catax was talking about. He could not help but ask, "May I ask when His Majesty the King of Devers first mentioned me?"
Cloto Catax thought for a moment and said, "Well … I think it was after the war with Carthage. He mentioned it in a letter to me … At that time, I was serving in Rome, which is a town in the north of the kingdom."
After the war between Diónia and Carthage … Ipamilonda carefully recalled that it was the most difficult period for the Thebes. In the face of Sparta's attack, they struggled to hold on. Even some members of the Thebes government did not have much hope for the future. However, the King of Diónia, who was far away in the west, firmly believed that the Thebes would rise. He even knew Ipamilonda, who was unknown at that time. It could be seen that Diónia had been paying a lot of attention to the Thebes for a long time …
Seeing that Ipamilonda was silent, Olivers interrupted, "His Majesty the Great Devers is a descendant of the god Hades. He is blessed by the god, so he can always make accurate judgments. The forces that are hostile to Diónia will eventually suffer the punishment of failure!"
"That's right!" Ctessus and Tegtinos immediately echoed.
Worried that the implied threat in Olivers' words would make Ipamilonda unhappy, Cloto Catax hurriedly said, "If I had known that you had come to Mersenia, I would have come earlier. I would not have made you wait here for so many days."
"It doesn't matter. After staying here for a few more days, I have a deeper understanding of the Dionysian Army. I have also deeply felt why the Dionysian Army is so powerful. If your army is an adult, then the armies of the Greek city-states, including us, the Thebes, are still children!" Ipamilonda said with a serious face.
Cloto Catax was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "General Ipamilonda, you are too modest!"
He did not continue on this topic. Instead, he asked, "Is there anything important this time, General?"
"This time, on behalf of the Thebes and the people of Pioscia, I am here to express my gratitude to Diónia!" Ipamilonda said with a solemn expression, "Thebes and Diónia have just become allies. In the past, we did not have much contact with each other. This time, the enemy of Thebes is the most powerful city-state in Greece. We originally only hoped that Diónia would be able to support us in terms of food and supplies during the most difficult time of the war. But unexpectedly … you have truly fulfilled the alliance and initiated the war against Sparta, and soon launched an attack against Sparta. As the rumors say, 'Diónia is a country that keeps its promises'. The Thebes are very fortunate to be able to form an alliance with Diónia!"
After listening to these words, Cloto Catax felt very proud. He tried his best not to let this emotion show. Instead, he said humbly, "Keeping our promises is the principle of Diónia. It is our duty to send troops to help our allies when they are in danger! However, the Thebes were able to get out of the difficult situation mainly because of your own efforts. It is precisely because General led the army to defeat Sparta in Leuctra that our attack on Sparta became easier. "
Cloto Catax's words were also very frank, but Ipamilonda showed a grateful but helpless smile. "The victory of Leuctra is indeed very important to the Thebes, but it only temporarily freed the Thebes from the difficult situation. In the end, it plunged the Thebes into greater trouble."
Cloto Catax glanced at Printos and then showed a puzzled expression.
Ipamilonda explained seriously, "Athens and the Thebes have been enemies for decades. Because of Sparta, they formed an alliance with the Thebes in recent years. It should be said that they have given the Thebes a lot of help. However, as the Thebes gradually recovered their strength, Athens' attitude towards us changed. When we signed the Kalias Contract, I clearly felt that Athens and Sparta had reached an agreement to jointly exclude us, the Thebes. And after the battle of Leuctra, Athens sent troops to the western border to station, obviously showing hostility towards us.
Our other ally, Iazon of Thessaly, also gave us a lot of help in the previous war against Sparta. However, after the battle of Leuctra, he suddenly sent troops to occupy Hot Spring Pass and carried out a large-scale military mobilization in Thessaly. He also threatened to send troops south and refused to meet the emissaries we sent. All the city-states in the entire western part of Central Greece, including us, the Thebes, are very nervous. Pioscia, with us as the main Thebes, Phocis, with Delphi as the main Phocis, and Locris have already discussed to unite to resist the invasion of the Upper Greeks. "
"Is the military strength of the people of Thessaly very strong?" Olivers couldn't help but ask. Like the Devers, he was also a person of Thessaly. However, he had left Thessaly for decades, so he didn't know much about the current situation of his hometown. His impression of Thessaly was still stuck in the situation where the city-states fought with each other decades ago, which resulted in the weakening of their strength and the frequent bullying of the indigenous people in the surrounding mountains.
"Since the usurper of Philae, Iazon, became the Thessaly's Tarkus, all the city-states in Thessaly are under his control. He can at least form an army of more than 30,000 people, and the soldiers are not weak at all. This is a huge threat to Central Greece!" Ipamilonda reminded in a heavy tone.
"Thessaly actually has Tarkus!" Olivers was a little surprised. The words "an army of more than 30,000 people" had also attracted the attention of the other commanders.
Before Cloto Catax left, he had been repeatedly reminded by the Devers that the Chief of Staff, Printos, would be able to obtain more information from the Ministry of Military Affairs. Therefore, both of them were relatively calm.
"After the battle of Leuctra, we, the Thebes, were suddenly faced with three threats from the north (Thessaly), the east (Athens), and the south (Sparta). The situation is quite dangerous! It is precisely because Diónia generously sent reinforcements to restore Messenia, which distracted the attention of the people of Sparta and Persia, temporarily relieving the greatest danger for the Thebes. We are grateful for this! Of course, I also have to ask for your forgiveness. The Thebes had to focus on dealing with the threat from the north, so they dared not send their troops to meet with you to deal with the people of Sparta together! I am very sorry for this! " At this point, Ipamilonda lowered his head and bowed respectfully to express his apology to Cloto Catax.
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