Even if it was attacked from both sides, with the number and strength of the Carthaginian citizen soldiers, they were completely confident that they could block or even counterattack their attacks, but some of the citizen soldiers could not suppress the fear in their hearts, and they turned around and fled, their escape completely took away the courage of the entire army, and the soldiers suddenly broke up and fled westward in a swarm.

When they fled across the Pletany River and ran to the camp, they were horrified to find that the camp had been occupied by the enemy, and they did not have the courage to take it back, and because the camp blocked their shortcut to the west of Sicily by the coastal road, they had no choice but to flee straight into the mountains not far away, but they forgot that the Sichaels were not far behind them, and that the mountains were their territory where they could move freely.

After capturing the Carthaginian camp, the Dionian coalition did not stop there, and the cavalry, light armour, and light infantry, still with sufficient strength, continued to pursue the rout westward along the seaside road, and occupied the town of Herme at dusk, which halted its westward advance.

A messenger sent by Leotizides then arrived, ordering the troops to temporarily station in the small town of Herme to monitor the enemy's movements to the west.

In the evening, the Dionian cavalry, light armoured soldiers, and light infantry took turns to go to the valley of the Calogaro to enjoy a bath in the hot springs.

The battle, which began with soldiers bathing in the river, led to a decisive battle between the two armies, resulted in a crushing defeat for the Carthaginians, with the original army of 46,700 men losing most of them. Of these, the Holy Legion suffered the heaviest losses, with only about 2,000 soldiers of the 10,000-strong army fleeing back to Selinus, and most of the soldiers were either seriously wounded or killed in battle; The second was the Carthaginian citizen militia, which attacked the camp without paying much casualties, but on the way to escape over the mountains, they were constantly attacked by the Sikers, wounded, disoriented, and surrendered became the norm, and finally less than half of the soldiers fled back to Selinus; Again, the 6,000 Numibian troops ready to reinforce the Holy Legion, and the chaos on the Pletani River became a painful memory for them; The Numibian cavalry suffered the fewest losses, as well as the Numibian troops who attacked the southern camp, which suffered only a few losses on the way to the flight, and most of them fled back to Selinus.

The Dionian coalition suffered less than 3,000 casualties on its side, of which the Eighth Army and the Reserve Army paid nearly 1,000 casualties, most of them seriously wounded or killed, so that Leotizides was heartbroken, despite the small total casualties.

But either way, it was a brilliant win! Not only did it surprise Leotizides, but it was also completely unexpected by the Sicilian allies, so after the news spread, it greatly boosted the confidence of the people of the Sicilian territory of Dionia, and also boosted the confidence of the people of the Dionian allies and friendly city-states, and at the same time hit the Carthaginians' confidence in the war, and even more shocked the surrounding hostile forces.

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When the news of the "war between Carthage and Dionia" reached Greece proper, it was the Spartans who were most pleased with it.

At this time, Sparta was firmly in control of the Peloponnese; In Northern Greece, Macedonia obeyed it, and the city-states of Calchidia, after being taught a lesson by Sparta, became obedient; It gradually began to increase its control over Central Greece, even the sworn enemies of Sparta - Athens, Argos, Corinth...... It's rare to be quiet.

The Spartans believed that they had once again taken control of Greece, but one thing that stuck in their throats was that the secret visit of the Delphi priests to the kingdom of Dioonia was quietly revealed to Sparta by those close to Sparta among the Delphi priests.

Although the priests of Delphi could not make any waves, and Dionya also rejected the proposal of the priests of Delphi, it made the Spartans wary of the involvement of the Dionian Kingdom in the affairs of Greece itself, and remembered that under the threat of Dionia, they were forced to sign a friendly agreement with Dionia, and then had to renew it again, which was a great shame for the Spartans who had always been arrogant and arrogant, so when they heard that the Dionian Kingdom was at war, and even started a war with Carthage, which was not weaker than it, The Spartans, of course, were overjoyed, and the elders, including King Agesilaus, felt that this was an opportune time to take revenge.

The Council of Elders met for several days to discuss whether to support the restoration of the Mesapi and Puchetti nobles (Sparta had taken in some fugitives from these two races), as Carthage did, to break the agreement with Dionia, send troops to land in the Mesapi region, not far from the Peloponnese, to incite the independence of the Mesapi, Puchetti, and Daoni peoples, and to provoke civil strife in the Kingdom of Dionia......

The crowd eventually agreed on this issue, but there was a heated debate over "when to send troops".

Some of the elders, led by King Agosipolis, believed that an army should be sent at once to give the Dioonians no respite.

Other senators, led by Agesilaus, believed that the war had just begun, and that Sparta should patiently and carefully observe the development of the situation before making a decision, otherwise premature intervention would become the focus of the Dionian army's attack.

At this moment, a major event occurred in the north that shook Sparta, forcing the Spartan elders to stop arguing and focus their attention on Thebes.

………………………………………

In the evening, in the city of Thebes, the clerk Phellidas prepared a great feast, to which he invited the two military consuls elected this year, Azias and Phillips, to whom he was to be introduced, to whom he would be introduced to some beautiful women of noble birth.

And the two military consuls had been single all along, and they were longing for love, so they gladly went.

Philippias also invited some friends, so the banquet was very lively, and everyone drank heartily.

In the middle of the feast, a messenger broke in, writing a letter to Azias with one of the city's officials in his hand, saying that the matter was very important and that he must open it immediately for viewing.

When Phelidas heard this, he felt uneasy, and he glanced at his friend beside Agias, who understood and immediately said dissatisfiedly: "It's rare to have a moment of indulgence and joy, and you have to discuss official business, aren't you annoyed Azias?!" ”

Others followed suit.

It was not easy for Azias to open the letter at once, and he was still looking forward to meeting the beautiful woman, so he waved the messenger away, and said, "Let's talk about official business tomorrow." He tucked the letter under the pillow, and then asked a little drunkenly, "Phelidas, where is the beauty you are talking about?" ”

Phidas glanced around in embarrassment and whispered, "They stayed in the next room, but there were so many people here that they didn't dare show up until all the guests had left." ”

Phillips smiled ambiguously: "They still know how to be shy!" ”

Phelidas deliberately said with a straight face: "Of course, they are real, cultivated city-state girls!" Not a casual woman from a brothel! ”

When Azias heard this, his heart itched and urged him to end the feast.

The other guests shouted loudly in dissatisfaction.

After a while of drinking, the guests departed, leaving only two drunken military consuls.

Then the girls entered, dressed in white robes, dressed in Himachun, and veils, and approached the two consuls with a restrained motion.

When the two consuls were eager to unmask them, the "girls" drew their daggers hidden at their waists and stabbed them in the chest, killing Azias and Phillips instantly.

One of the "girls" at the head took off her veil, and it turned out to be Pelopidas.

It turned out that after the exiles of Thebes fled to Athens, they did receive the kind support of Athens, stationing them on the border and providing them with food and weapons.

The Theban exiles decided to learn from Thrasibros, the famous leader of the Athenian democrats who overthrew the "Athenian Thirty Tyrants", quickly organized an army in Athens, and then entered the Piosia region and marched towards Thebes, in an attempt to overthrow the oppressive rule of the pro-Spartans and regain the independence of the mother state.

But they forgot that Thebes at this time was not very different from the situation in Athens at the beginning, they were not only facing the reactionary army organized by their opponents, but also the Spartan army that occupied the Acropolis of Thebes, and even several city-states in the Piosia region, such as Pradia and Tespia, were all puppets supported by Sparta, so this army was defeated before it reached Thebes.

After that, the Theban exiles organized two more military campaigns, again with a crushing defeat.

The exiles paid a lot of casualties, and what was even more terrible was that they lost confidence, and after discussion, everyone thought that the current Sparta was too strong, and had already controlled the Piosia region, and their strength was not enough to retake the city of Thebes, so they could only lurk, accumulate strength, and wait for a better opportunity.

Most of them agreed, except for the young Pelopidas, who firmly believed that one should not expect favorable changes in the external situation, because the future is unpredictable, and therefore one should take the initiative to take one's destiny into one's own hands.

Therefore, he also advised: instead of overt military action, use stratagems to retake Thebes, such as sending people to assassinate the leaders of the pro-Spartan factions in the city, so that they lose control of the situation in the city and cause chaos, so that the exiles have an opportunity.

But his proposal was opposed by many because they thought it was too risky and was not adopted.