Pelopidas immediately replied: "If even Epaminonda cannot stop the enemy, then no one will be able to defeat the Spartans!" ”

The people around him did not understand where Peropidas had such confidence in Ipaminonda, as far as they knew, although Epaminonda had participated in many battles before, but only as a soldier and officer, and he had never commanded a single battle. But Peropidas' faith was still infectious, and they had no other way, so they could only suppress their fears and lead the remaining citizen soldiers towards the Acropolis with Peropidas.

Having lived in the city of Thebes for decades, Ipaminonda had already thought about the strategy of the enemy on the way to the south gate, and he was well aware of the surrounding terrain, and he knew that the main city of Thebes was located in the lowlands between the mountains, especially the southern city, and the outer city was surrounded by protruding mountains on both sides, forming a flare-like terrain.

Therefore, after arriving at the south gate, he told the others his plan: 800 men lurked in the mountains on both sides of the south gate, and when the enemy's reinforcements arrived, he would lead the remaining citizen soldiers out of the city to meet them, and once the two sides were fully engaged, the ambushes on both sides would immediately attack the enemy's flank......

Some argued that it was too risky to go out of the city, especially against the Spartan army, and that it would be better to rely on the walls for defense.

Ipaminonda immediately refuted this conservative idea, and he calmly said: "The new government of Thebes has just been established, it is not yet stable, and the acropolis is still occupied by the enemy, if the Spartan garrisons of the surrounding city-states are allowed to gather a strong army outside the city and besiege Thebes, then the battle will become very long, and when the army of Sparta itself arrives, the battle will become even more difficult...... In the long run, the psychology of the people may change, so we must take advantage of the difference in the time when the enemy arrives in Thebes, take the initiative to attack, and defeat them one by one, in order to buy time for the revival of Thebes! ……”

Everyone was persuaded by him, they didn't expect that this usually taciturn person could actually say such touching words.

Of course, there are also questions asked: "What if the Spartans are not fooled and do not attack us?" ”

Ipaminonda calmly replied, "Then we will retreat to the city, and we will not lose anything." Even if they found our army in ambush in the mountains, they would not dare to pursue it, because the terrain here is the most familiar to us. However, I think that the megalomaniacal Spartans will immediately attack us in the hope of retaking Thebes as soon as possible. ”

"Damn the Spartans, we will not let their plot succeed! ......" The crowd loudly expressed their anger and determination towards the Spartans.

Ipaminonda also said in a deep voice: "Everyone, let's work together to make this battle a nightmare for the Spartans!" ”

As a result, the morale-boosting crowd began to deploy according to Ipaminonda's plan.

………………………………………

The general of the Spartan garrison was shocked to learn that "there was a rebellion in Thebes and the overthrow of the pro-Spartan government", and he knew that the loss of Thebes would cause great trouble for Sparta's control of the Piosia region, so he did not hesitate to lead 2,000 garrison soldiers (most of whom were Peloponnesian League soldiers), and immediately marched quickly to Thebes, and rushed to the outside of Thebes at dusk. Then he was amazed to see the Thebans march out of the city and strike their shields with their bayonets to provoke the advancing Spartan army.

How could the Spartan generals allow the defeat of Sparta's men to be so rampant, not to mention that the number of Thebes was only a little more than his own army, so he ignored the fatigue of the soldiers, immediately lined up the army into a formation of the same length as the opponent, and then sounded the trumpet of attack.

At the same time, Ipaminonda also gave the order to attack. And he himself was at the forefront of the battle formation, raising his shield and spear, and he took the lead and charged the enemy.

When the Thebes people were angry, and the Spartan army had gone through the trek all the way, their physical strength was slightly exhausted, and they were at a disadvantage when they first engaged in the battle, and when they recovered their strength and began to rely on their rich combat experience and stronger fighting skills, they turned back the battle little by little, and the Ambush soldiers of Thebes suddenly came out from both wings and stormed the flank and rear of the Spartan army.

The Spartan army was caught off guard and immediately collapsed, and the soldiers scattered and fled.

The battle lasted less than half an hour before the Thebans won the final victory, cheering and looking with admiration at the mastermind of the battle, the hitherto unknown Ipaminonda, who had won their trust in a single battle.

Another Spartan garrison from Thespia, which was about to reach the city of Thebes, was shocked to learn of the "crushing defeat of Platia's army", and its commander, Sverdelias, did not dare to advance because of his lack of troops, but retreated westward to a town halfway between Thespia and Thebes.

When Ipaminonda learned of the enemy's retreat, he immediately led his army back into the city, garrisoned the city, and sent people to report the good news of the victory to the two military consuls.

At this time, Peropidas and Phelidas were leading the citizen soldiers to storm the Acropolis for a day, but they failed to take it. After all, the acropolis was small, but the walls were strong, and it was located on a hill, and there was only one access road, so that the superior forces of Thebes could not be deployed. Moreover, the Spartan army was surrounded on all sides and had no way to retreat, so it fought desperately, resulting in the failure of the Thebans to attack the city many times, and both the generals and the soldiers felt a little discouraged.

At this time, the good news of "the defeat of the Spartan reinforcements by the army of the South Gate" came, which lifted everyone's spirits and morale.

And the generals also talked about Epaminonda with smiles on their faces, and Phelidas praised repeatedly: "Peropidas, you are right, Epaminonda is indeed an excellent general of the army!" ”

……………………………………

The next day, news of the "successful coup d'état in Thebes" spread throughout Central Greece, and countless exiles from Thebes began to rush back to their mother state from all directions to defend the emerging Theban government, and the exiles from Athens were the largest force among them. For the citizens of Athens, this was a welcome sight, and although the council did not say anything about it, there were many Athenian volunteers who went to Thebes with the exiles to fight alongside the Thebans, including two newly elected generals this year, who joined the volunteer team in their private capacities.

The exiles' march excitedly westward, and in the middle of the way they fought several battles with the Spartan allied forces stationed in some of the city-states of Piosia, which had also rushed to Thebes, and won all of them.

Thebes continued to receive aid and its strength increased dramatically, and the Spartan reinforcements of Thespia's had no choice but to retreat.

On this day, the Theban attack on the Acropolis failed again, but the Spartan generals did not feel joy, he stood at the head of the Acropolis and looked down, and could clearly see the increasing number of enemies under the hills, the situation was obvious, Thebes received outside aid, which also showed that the Spartan reinforcements failed to attack Thebes, or they did not come at all, which not only made him, but also made the Spartan soldiers of the Acropolis feel a little desperate.

At this time, Peropidas sent an emissary to negotiate with the Spartan generals of the Acropolis, and put forward the condition that "the Spartans should return the Acropolis and Thebes would let them leave safely", and the two sides finally reached an agreement.

The return of the Acropolis allowed the new government led by Peropidas and Philidas to finally liberate Thebes completely and completely. While the whole city cheered, the leaders led by Peropidas remained solemn, because they knew that the test of Thebes had just begun, and the Spartans would not rest on their laurels.

On the third day, the news finally reached Sparta, shaking the Council of Elders, who no longer had the heart to cause trouble for Dionia, but had to quickly concentrate all their efforts to extinguish the fire that had been ignited by Thebes.

After some deliberation, the Council of Elders decided that Agesipolis, who had been king of Sparta for less than two years, would lead the army.

As a result, Sparta began to recruit soldiers from the allies of the Peloponnese.

……………………………………

At the same time that Leotizides led the Dionian coalition to defeat the Carthaginian army and intercept a large number of baggage, the outer city of Cerrodium on the north coast was broken by the Iberian army.

Why was the city of Cerrodîme, which had been steadily defended for nearly ten days and had caused Hasdruba's troops to fail many times in attack, so why was it suddenly breached?

It turned out that Hasdruba, after several failed sieges, realized that the loss of a frontal assault was too great and it would be difficult to break through, so he used the Iberian infantry.

Hasdruba's Iberian infantry came from the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula, all conscripted from the indigenous tribes conquered by the Magrids, a total of 4,000 men, almost all of them wore ethnic clothing made of white linen with purple mixed edges, no armor on the outside, thick fur hats on their heads, they were armed with large oval shields, throwing spears, and the most common and formidable Facata dagger hanging from their waists, which was similar in style and length to the Dionian daggers, and was also extremely sharp. Slightly different is the slightly curved front of the sword.

These Iberians were not only brave and fierce, but also skilled in the mountains, which were unmatched by the Carthaginians, who had always lived on the flat coasts of northern Africa.