Chapter 740
For more than a year after that, the exiles laid low. Although the troops continued to grow, they did not train for war. Instead, their fighting spirit was worn down by time. More and more people sighed, but fewer and fewer were determined to take revenge.
Pelopidas, however, had been paying attention to the situation in the west. With the support of the Sparta, the rulers of Thebes were oppressing the city-states. The people were suffering and complaining. The other city-states in Pioscia were also surrendering to Sparta.
The strong sense of responsibility made Pelopidas unable to bear it any longer. He decided to take action immediately. Fearing that the secret would be leaked, he did not discuss it with the other leaders of the exiles. Instead, he found six like-minded friends in private to help him carry out the Plan to Recover Thebes that he had been thinking about for a long time.
They disguised themselves as hunters and set off from the border of Athens early in the morning. They traveled through the mountains without stopping to rest. When they arrived outside Thebes, it was almost night. So they mixed in with the farmers who were returning to the city from their fields and successfully passed through the city gate. Then they hid in the house of their good friend Charon and asked Charon to send a slave to summon another good friend of his, Felidas, the clerk under the military governor.
After some discussion, they decided on the next night's banquet.
Now that they had successfully killed the two pro-Spartan military governors, Pelopidas had just breathed a sigh of relief when Felidas anxiously raised the letter in his hand. "Pelopidas, the situation is not good! Someone found out about our plan and wrote a letter to inform us! "
Pelopidas hurriedly took the letter and read it. The content of the letter was a warning to Archias. "Some exiles have sneaked into the city and are trying to assassinate the pro- Sparta leaders. Remind him to be careful!"
Pelopidas's expression changed. He quickly asked, "Who wrote this?"
Felidas shook his head. "There is no signature on the letter. The messenger left immediately after delivering the letter. It seems that this person is not a good friend of Thebes. Perhaps he is just an ordinary city official who accidentally saw you in the city …" After all, although Pelopidas was young, he still had some reputation among the people of Thebes.
"What should we do now?" The others looked at Pelopidas nervously.
Pelopidas calmed down and said with a firm expression, "Didn't we make a wish to Zeus when we set off? We were ready to sacrifice ourselves! Things had already progressed to this point. Could it be that they were going to retreat midway? We should hurry up and complete our plan before the enemy understands the situation! "
Pelopidas's words gave the others a boost of confidence. They quickly reached a consensus and left the mansion under the cover of the night. They went to the home of the two real leaders of the pro-Patha faction, Leontiadas and Xupatas.
The lecherous Xupatas was spending the night in a high-class brothel in the city. Charon had already bribed the people in the brothel. The exiles easily entered the bedroom and stabbed him to death.
Leontiadas was not as careless as his colleagues. He never went out at night, and there were guards in the mansion, so the security was tight. However, Pelopidas had already planned the assassination. He had not been idle for more than a year at the border of Athens. He asked Charon in Thebes to find an opportunity to contact these guards. In the end, he persuaded some of the guards who hated Sparta to drink their colleagues and quietly opened the door for Pelopidas.
When Pelopidas entered the bedroom, Leontiadas was still asleep. Pelopidas covered his mouth with his hand and stabbed a sharp dagger into his heart. Leontiadas, the cunning pro-Patha leader who caused the fall of Thebes and countless deaths and injuries, died a violent death.
Then, Pelopidas rushed to the prison with some guards. They pretended to be Leontiadas's followers and used his personal token to trick the door open. Then, when they were unprepared, they killed all the jailers and released all the anti-Patha people who were imprisoned.
They thanked Pelopidas, but Pelopidas asked them to go to the city immediately and contact all the people who were dissatisfied with Sparta.
Everyone was happy to accept the order.
So in the middle of the night, the city of Thebes became restless. The pro-Patha people noticed the abnormality, but they could not contact their leaders at all, so they could not respond in time. The Sparta people in Acropolis did not know what was going on in the city because no one had informed them. They did not dare to act rashly in the dark and could only guard the city.
At the break of dawn, the whole city of Thebes was in an uproar.
Most of the people in the city rushed to the square, including Epaminonda. When Pelopidas secretly told him his plan in a letter, Epaminonda, like some of Pelopidas's friends, was against such a risky plan. But now, when he saw Pelopidas standing on the central platform of the square and showing the corpses of Leontiadas and his companions to the people, he could not help but be amazed by Pelopidas's resolute and courageous action. Such a seemingly difficult thing had actually been done by him!
Pelopidas bitterly told the people about the crimes committed by Sparta and pro-Patha Sparta in Thebes, so that the people in the square could empathize with him. Then he made an impassioned appeal to the people of Thebes to take up arms, unite, and bravely fight the traitors and the invaders! Avenge the dead compatriots and let Thebes regain freedom and independence! … …
The people's blood boiled. They chanted Pelopidas' name, excitedly crowning the instigators who participated in the assassination led by Pelopidas. At the same time, they unanimously elected Pelopidas and Felidas as military governors.
The two accepted the appointment without hesitation and announced the establishment of the Council of Hundred of Thebes, whose members would be rotated by the citizens of Thebes every month. The Council of Hundred was established as the highest authority in the city.
The people cheered and celebrated the establishment of a democratic government in Thebes.
Then, Pelopidas immediately issued an order to the people: pick up shields and spears, form an army, capture all pro-Spartan people, and take back the acropolis occupied by the Spartan army. At the same time, they had to defend against the Spartan army that might come to intervene.
The people of Thebes immediately took action. The pro-Patha Sparta members were either killed or imprisoned. Only a few managed to escape from Thebes.
When the heavily armed militia gathered in the square again, Pelopidas did not immediately lead the army. He requested that Ipaminanda be appointed as the commander of the army to fight side by side with him.
Many of the soldiers did not even know who Ipaminanda was, but at this time, Pelopidas's prestige was very high, and most of the people chose to agree out of trust.
When they saw an ordinary-looking middle-aged man with a scholarly air walking on the platform, they could not help but regret the choice they had just made.
But Pelopidas was overjoyed. He knew Ipaminanda's ability, so he excitedly said to him, "Ipaminanda, we can finally fight together again!"
Ipaminanda looked calm on the surface, but he was very excited in his heart. He was a modest and low-key man. Because of his aversion to factional warfare, he did not participate in the series of political adventures undertaken by Pelopidas. He spent most of his time reading books, playing music, and exercising. But when the people shouted victory, the rising revolutionary enthusiasm also infected him. Moreover, his close friend trusted him so much that even though he knew the difficult situation that the new government of Thebes would face, he did not hesitate to say, "I will do my best to defend Thebes with the people!"
Ipaminanda was now forty-one years old, and this was the first time he held a public office in a city-state, but it was an important position related to the rise and fall of the city-state.
At this time, the soldier guarding the south gate hurriedly reported, "A small group of Spartans came out of Acropolis and broke through their blockade, escaping the city."
It turned out that a member of the pro-Spartan faction had run into the Acropolis and secretly reported the shocking news to the Spartan commander that there was a riot in the city. The pro-Spartan government had been overthrown, and the leader had been killed. When the commander heard this, he was shocked. However, he only had 400 soldiers under him, which was too little. Without the cooperation of the Thebans, he didn't dare send them out to quell the rebellion. Even if the soldiers were all very brave and fierce, they couldn't possibly be a match for a few thousand angry Thebans. Thus, he quickly made a decision. Taking advantage of the fact that there had just been a riot in Thebes and the rioters hadn't completely taken control of the city, he quickly sent people to force their way out of the city and ask for help from the Spartan garrison in the neighboring cities of Plataea and Tespiah.
The news brought by the city guard made the rebels nervous.
At this time, Ipaminanda, who had just been appointed commander of the army, volunteered, "Pero, please let me lead a unit to the south gate to stop the incoming Sparta reinforcements, while you go and take back Acropolis!"
Perópidas saw the determination in Ipaminanda's eyes and answered without hesitation, "Okay!"
Then, he immediately assigned 3,500 men to Ipaminonda, leaving only 2,000 soldiers for himself. The generals assigned to Ipaminonda were all his close friends, and they were also familiar with Ipaminonda, so that it would be easier for Ipaminonda to command them.
Ipaminanda did not have time to thank him and hurried to the south gate with the army.
At this time, another military governor, Felidas, asked worriedly, "Can Ipaminanda stop the Sparta reinforcements? Shouldn't we be more prepared?! "
.。 Library of Literature.
Comments