"I see, I'll go back and counsel with the others to get more benefits for the kingdom in the covenant......," Ansitanos responded.

"And......" Davers hesitated, and said, "Do you want to reconsider your resignation as Foreign Secretary?" Seeing that a war may start again, and in the intricacies of Greece, foreign affairs are the top priority, and it is precisely the need for an experienced minister like you to take the helm, how can you leave at this critical time? ”

Ansitanos stretched out his thin fingers, touched the gray hair on his head, and said: "Your Majesty, I am old, and I no longer have enough energy to cope with such a heavy task, especially when war is about to break out. It is better to resign as foreign secretary and seize the remaining time to do something you like, such as writing the History of the Kingdom of Dionia in the first 20 years. ”

"Okay......" Davers didn't force it anymore, thought for a while, and then said: "I looked at the candidates you listed for the foreign secretary, and after thinking about it for a long time, I think Tapirus is more suitable, he has made great contributions in the Western Mediterranean War and the Gallic War, both qualifications and abilities are enough, what do you think?" ”

"Your Majesty's decision, I fully agree." Ansitanos replied without hesitation.

"Then after the signing of this covenant with Thebes, I will gather six auxiliary ministers to settle this matter."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Heney, send me one for your teacher."

"Teacher, how much have you written in that "History of the Kingdom of Dionysa in the First 20 Years"? It is best to publish it at the same time as my "Chronicles of the Western Mediterranean", so that readers can compare and understand each other's details, and it is more conducive to their understanding of the history of that period......" Heniporis continued to talk on the way to Ansitanos.

Ansitanos listened quietly, occasionally responding twice, until he walked out of the palace, he said with a serious expression: "Henipolis, you must pay attention to the tone of your voice to Your Majesty in the future, it is better not to be so casual again!" ”

"That's how I've always spoken to Your Majesty, what's the problem?" Hennipolis was puzzled.

"Your Majesty is not what it used to be, not only is it more prestigious in the kingdom, but it is also more powerful! ......" Ansitanos whispered with emotion, and the scene just now still came to mind: he had recommended a total of four candidates for the post of foreign secretary, three of whom were his students, and they were not inferior to Tapyrus in terms of qualifications and merits, but Davers chose Tapilus, who was not so close to him. If it was a few years ago, important personnel appointments such as the Kingdom Foreign Secretary were usually discussed by the ministers and finally submitted to the Senate for deliberation, but now it only needs to be discussed by His Majesty and the six auxiliary ministers, and the decision can be roughly made, basically by Davers's word.

"Teacher, Your Majesty is the same as before, it's no different, it's because you think too much." Henipolis had a different opinion on this, and in turn comforted Ansitanos.

Ansitanos could only say helplessly: "It seems that I am really old, and I love to think cranky......"

……………………………………

After the signing of the "Treaty of Calias", the treaty stipulated that the parties were to recall the troops stationed abroad and dismantle the military fortifications in foreign countries.

Therefore, Athens was recalling the army led by Iphicrates stationed in Corfu, but Sparta did not carry out the contract, on the contrary, after learning the news that "Thebes sent an envoy to Dionia", the Spartans had a sense of urgency, and they wanted to send the envoy Xenophon to Dionya to persuade King Davers not to provide support to the Thebans, but the Persian envoy Datis, who had not left, warned the Spartans not to have too close contact with Dionia, and also said: In order to support Sparta to punish Thebes, A large amount of supplies from Persia to Sparta was being carried by Miletus' fleet and would soon arrive.

In such a situation, Sparta decided to preemptively attack Thebes. This time the Spartans were able to gather the army of the alliance more quickly than ever, and because of the ill health of Agosilaus, the army was still under the command of another Spartan king, Cleombrotus, who had been ordered to be stationed in Phorgis before the contract was signed, and the reinforcements crossed the Gulf of Corinth in May to join him.

By this time, the news of the "alliance between Dionyas and Thebes" had reached Sparta, making the Spartans nervous.

Subsequently, Dionia's emissary Tapirus also came to Sparta to remind the Council of Elders: Dionya has formed an alliance with Thebes, and hopes that Sparta can make a truce with Thebes, restore peace, and avoid Dionyas having to be involved in the war because of the alliance, thus destroying the friendship between Dionya and Sparta for more than 10 years.

The elders, led by Agosilaus, said that Sparta did not know that Dionyas had made an alliance with Thebes, so the army had set out, and may have even been at war with Thebes. In such a situation, it will be difficult to withdraw the army again in a short time, but they will do everything in their power to restore peace to Greece.

Tapyrus saw the perfunctory Spartans, but he only made a notice of his trip according to traditional etiquette, and King Davers did not ask him to prevent the war, so Tapilus quickly took his leave, and on the way out of the city, he was met by the Persian envoy Dattis, who threatened and ridiculed him.

Seeing that most of the Spartans were on the side of the Persian envoys, and the enemy was outnumbered, Tapyrus did not refute with all his strength, and after a few words, he left in embarrassment, but kept this humiliation in his heart.

In mid-June, Cleombrotus marched to Colonia, the gateway to Phorgis and Piosia, and immediately marched on Thebes after waiting for the arrival of subsequent reinforcements.

Now all the people of Greece believed that the decisive battle between Thebes and Sparta was inevitable, and the huge military strength of Sparta convinced them that Sparta had absolute superiority, and the next thing was just to wait for Thebes to be completely destroyed or become a puppet controlled by Sparta.

Even many Thebans did not have hope of victory, and even suggested with a sad face: surrender to Sparta.

Some city-states, such as Athens, gloated over the imminent demise of Thebes; Some city-states, such as Argos, were concerned and silently prayed for Thebes; A handful of city-states came to Thebes' aid at this time, most notably Tagus Iason of Thessaly, who had quietly allied with Thebes a year earlier, and had sent 300 Thessalian cavalry by sea to Thebes at this critical time (since the overland Thermopylae were controlled by Sparta, it was impossible for the Thessalians to go south).

At the beginning of July, Cleombrotus unexpectedly allowed his army to pass quickly through a small road in the mountains, avoiding the ambush of the Theban coalition, reaching Tishby, raiding the only seaport occupied by Thebes, Cleusis, and capturing the few ships of Thebes, thus ensuring the safety of the back route.

After two days of rest, the Spartan coalition, with more than 10,000 soldiers, marched straight north to Thebes. Upon reaching the heights of Leuktra, the Spartans found that the road ahead had been blocked by the Theban army.

Originally, when the Spartan coalition army entered the territory of Piosia, many Theban generals thought that the Spartan coalition army was menacing this time, and the number of people was much greater than before, so they could not face it head-on, so they suggested temporarily avoiding its edge, abandoning the peripheral military fortresses, and retreating to the city of Thebes for defense.

However, Ipamilonda was adamantly opposed, believing that the Spartans should not be allowed to invade the core of Thebes, otherwise they would try to destroy the farmland and villages, and would shake the citizens' determination to fight.

Because Ipamilunda led the Thebans to successfully resist the invasion of the Spartan coalition over the years, making it highly prestigious among the citizens, and he had been elected as the military governor of the Piosian alliance at this time (the highest position of the Piosian alliance, elected once a year, two at a time, the other being Pelopidas), and Pelopidas, who had returned to the city of Thebes, fully supported Ipamilonda's decision, so the Piosian alliance led by Thebes finally decided to fight to the death with the Spartan coalition.

Ipamironda led the Piosian coalition with all the strength of about 6,000 men, and rushed to the high heights of Leuktra early, waiting for the arrival of the enemy army.

Located at the southern end of the plain where Thebes is located, the Leuktra Heights are full of low hills, including a round hill with a relatively flat top, where the Theban commanders and main generals were located, and where the hoplites were stationed.

When Ipamironda learned of the arrival of the Spartan coalition, he did not immediately begin to line up and put on a posture of battle, but moved to the hill opposite the Spartan settlement and began to build a camp.

At this time, some Theban generals suggested that Epamironda should attack the Spartans while they were tired of the division's veterans.

Ipamironda did not adopt.

By the second day, the Spartans had still not taken military action, but Cleombrotus had already learned through the sentry that the Piosian coalition in the opposite camp was significantly less numerous than himself, which finally prompted him to lead the well-rested Spartan army out of the camp early on the third day, and began to line up along the gentle slopes of the hill.

When Ipamironda heard the news, he immediately rushed to the outside of the camp, looked at the opposite hill, and immediately smiled: because the layout of the Spartan coalition was the same as the battle formation in which the Spartans participated in the past, the army was still lined up, and the Spartan warriors in red coats were on the right flank, and they protruded from the entire array.