Chapter 739
Even if they were attacked from two sides, with the number and strength of the Carthaginian militia, they were confident that they could block or even counterattack. However, some of the citizen soldiers could not suppress the fear in their hearts. They turned around and fled. Their escape completely took away the courage of the entire army. The soldiers immediately scattered and fled west like a swarm of bees.
When they fled across the Pletani River and ran toward the camp, they were horrified to find that the camp had already been occupied by the enemy. At this time, they did not have the courage to retake the camp. As the camp blocked their way through the coastal road to escape back to the west of Sicily, they had no choice but to flee into the mountains not far away. However, they had forgotten that the Sikells were not far behind them, and the mountains were their territory.
After occupying the Carthaginian Main Camp, the Dionian Allied Army did not stop there. The cavalry, light armored soldiers, and light infantry, who were still full of energy, continued to pursue the routed soldiers westward along the road along the coast. They occupied the small town of Hermes at dusk before stopping their westward march.
The messenger sent by Leotychides arrived shortly after. He ordered the troops to temporarily station in Hermes and monitor the enemy's movements in the west.
In the evening, the Diónia cavalry, light armored soldiers, and light infantry took turns to enjoy a hot spring bath in the Calogero Valley.
This battle was triggered by the soldiers of both sides bathing in the river. In the end, it turned into a decisive battle between the two armies. In the end, the Carthage army suffered a crushing defeat. More than half of the 46,000 soldiers were lost. The Sacred Regiment suffered the heaviest losses. Out of the 10,000 soldiers, only about 2,000 managed to escape back to Serinus. Most of the soldiers were either seriously injured or killed in battle. Next was the Carthage militia. They did not suffer too many casualties when they attacked the camp. However, as they fled across the mountains, they were constantly attacked by the Sikells. Injuries, disorientation, and surrender became the norm. In the end, less than half of the soldiers managed to escape back to Serinus. Next was the 6,000 Numibian soldiers who were prepared to reinforce the Sacred Regiment. The chaos on the Pletani River was a painful memory for them. The Numibian cavalry suffered the least losses. The Numibian troops who attacked the South Camp only suffered some losses during their escape. Most of them managed to escape back to Serinus.
The Diónia coalition army suffered less than 3,000 casualties. Among them, the Eighth Legion and the reserve forces suffered nearly 1,000 casualties. Most of them were either seriously injured or dead. Therefore, even though the total number of casualties was not high, Leotychides still felt a heartache.
In any case, this was a glorious victory! Not only did it exceed Leotychides's expectations, but it also exceeded the expectations of the Sicilian allies. Therefore, when the news spread, it greatly boosted the confidence of the people in the Sicilian territory of Diónia. It also boosted the confidence of the people in Diónia's alliance and friendly city-states. At the same time, it dealt a blow to the confidence of the people in Carthage's army in the war and shocked the surrounding hostile forces.
… …
When the news of the war between Carthage and Diónia reached the mainland of Greece, the people who were the happiest about it were the people of Sparta.
At this time, Sparta had a firm grip on the Peloponnesus Peninsula. In Northern Greece, Macedonia obeyed Sparta's orders obediently. After being taught a lesson by Sparta, the city-states of Calgidia also became obedient. Sparta gradually began to increase its control over Central Greece. Even the former enemies of Sparta — Athens, Agos, and Corinth — were quiet, which was rare.
The people of Sparta thought that they had once again controlled the mainland of Greece. However, there was one thing that stuck in their throats. The secret visit of the priests of Delphi to the Kingdom of Diónia had been secretly revealed to Sparta by the priests of Delphi who were close to Sparta.
Although the priests of Delphi could not make any waves, and Diónia had also rejected the proposal of the priests of Delphi, it made the people of Delphi wary of the Kingdom of Diónia's involvement in the affairs of the mainland of Greece. Thinking back to the time when they were threatened by Diónia, they were forced to sign a friendly agreement with Diónia, which was then reluctantly renewed. This was a great humiliation to the arrogant people of Sparta. Therefore, when they heard that the Kingdom of Diónia was at war, and that they had even started a war with Carthage, who was no weaker than them, the people of Sparta were overjoyed. The elders, including King Agesilaus, felt that this was a great opportunity to take revenge.
The Council of Elders held meetings for several days. They discussed whether they should break the agreement with Dionia and send troops to the Mesapi region not far from the Peloponnese, instigate the independence of the nobles of Mesapi, Puchetti, and Dauni, just like Carthage did (Sparta had taken in some fugitives from these two races). Then, they should break the agreement with Dionia and send troops to the Mesapi region not far from the Peloponnese Peninsula to incite the independence of the nobles of Mesapi, Puchetti, and Dauni.
Everyone finally reached an agreement on this issue, but there was a heated debate on the issue of when to send the troops.
Some elders, led by King Agesilaus, believed that they should send the troops immediately, and not give the people of Diónia time to breathe.
Other elders, led by King Agesilaus, believed that the war had just begun, and Sparta should patiently observe the development of the situation before making a decision. Otherwise, if they intervened too early, they would become the focus of the attack of the Dionysian Army.
At this time, something big happened in the north, shocking Sparta, forcing the elders of Sparta to stop arguing and focus their attention on Thebes.
… …
At night, in the city of Thebes, Filidas prepared a grand banquet, inviting the two elected military governors, Azias and Philips, to attend. He also told them that he would introduce them to some beautiful women of noble birth.
The two military governors had always been single and longed for love, so they gladly went.
Filidas also invited some friends, so the banquet was very lively, and everyone drank to their heart's content.
In the middle of the banquet, a messenger barged in, holding a letter written by an official in the city to Azias, saying that it was a matter of great importance, and that he must read it immediately.
Filidas felt uneasy when he heard this. He gave a look to a friend beside Azias, who immediately understood and said with dissatisfaction, "It's rare to have a moment of fun, and you still have to discuss official business. Aren't you annoyed, Azias?!"
The others also joined in.
Azias couldn't open the letter immediately, and he was still looking forward to meeting the beautiful women, so he waved the messenger away and said, "We'll talk about official business tomorrow." He stuffed the letter under his pillow, then asked in a slightly tipsy tone, "Filidas, where are the beautiful women you mentioned?"
Filidas glanced around, pretending to be troubled, and said in a low voice, "They're in the room next door, but there are too many people here. They won't dare to show themselves until all the guests have left."
Philips smiled ambiguously. "So they know how to be shy!"
Filidas deliberately said in a low voice with a straight face, "Of course, they're real, cultured girls of the city! They're not some random woman from a brothel! "
Hearing this, Azias couldn't help but feel itchy and urged the banquet to end.
The other guests jeered in dissatisfaction.
After drinking for a while, the guests left one after another, leaving only the two drunken military archons behind.
At this moment, the girls walked in. They were wearing white robes, Himachun, and veils, and they moved cautiously to the side of the two archons.
When the two archons couldn't wait to remove their veils, these "girls" pulled out daggers hidden at their waists and stabbed them in the chest. Azias and Philips died on the spot.
The "girl" in the lead took off her veil, and it turned out to be Pelopidas.
It turned out that after the exiles of the Thebes fled to Athens, they were indeed kindly supported by Athens, who stationed them at the border and even provided them with food and weapons.
The exiles of the Thebes decided to learn from the famous democratic leader of Athens, Thrasybulus, who had overthrown the "Thirty Tyrants of Athens". They quickly organized an army in Athens, then entered the Pioscia region and marched against the Thebes, attempting to overthrow the oppressive rule of the Sparta faction and regain independence.
However, they forgot that the Thebes at this time were not the same as the situation in Athens. They were not only facing the reactionary army organized by their opponents, but also the Sparta army that occupied the acropolis of the Thebes. Even several city-states in the Pioscia region, such as Pradia and Tespia, were puppets supported by Sparta. Therefore, this army was defeated before it could reach the city of Thebes.
After that, the exiles of the Thebes organized two more military operations, but they still failed miserably.
The exiles paid a lot of casualties, and what was more frightening was that they had lost their confidence. After discussion, everyone agreed that the current Sparta was too strong and had already controlled the Pioscia region. They were not strong enough to recapture the city of Thebes, so they could only lie low, accumulate strength, and wait for a better opportunity.
Most people agreed, except for the young Pelopidas. He firmly believed that they could not expect favorable changes in the external situation, because the future was unpredictable, so they should take the initiative to control their own fate.
Therefore, he also suggested that they should not take open military action, but use a strategy to recapture the Thebes, such as sending someone to assassinate the leader of the Sparta faction in the city, causing them to lose control of the situation in the city, thus causing chaos. This would be the opportunity for the exiles.
However, his proposal was opposed by many because they thought it was too risky, so it was not adopted.
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