In the southwest corner of the city of Athens, on a hillside once called Prix, a hundred years ago the Athenian people built a magnificent conference hall to celebrate the overthrow of the tyrant Pisistratus, which can accommodate 500 people at the same time, it is opposite the Acropolis not far to the east, next to the once famous Council of the God of War, which is a symbol of the Athenian people's turnover. After the burning of the city by the Persians and the victory of Athens in the Greco-Persian War, it was rebuilt again in the name of the Council of 500!

The city hall of Athens is next to this magnificent building, which is so unremarkable, yet the "Ten Generals" who are elected every year are based here.

Today the Council of Generals of Athens met and invited Isocrates to discuss the situation in Corinth and the war in Greater Greece.

The chief general, Thrasibulos, spoke first: "Generals, today Corinth has sent messengers to Athens to ask us for reinforcements. Now the situation in Corinth is not very good, the Spartans are attacking fiercely, they are somewhat unable to resist, which makes the pro-Spartan nobles in the city very arrogant, they propose peace with Sparta in the council, and they have some popular support, and the morale of the Corinthians to fight is weakening......"

"We must support Corinth! Otherwise, as soon as Corinth falls to Sparta, the Spartans will be able to break through the barrier of the isthmus and force us under the city of Athens, and our long walls have not yet been repaired, and we will not allow the dirty feet of the Spartans to trample on the port of Piraeus, where trade has just resumed, and the territory of Attica, which has not yet recovered its vitality! And if we are defeated, Sparta will definitely hurt Athens even more this time than the last time, and Athens will no longer be able to withstand such torture! Andokides, who was born as a speaker, said with an angry expression.

His words reminded the rest of the audience of the dark reign of the "Thirty Tyrants" ten years ago, and they all said, "Help Corinth now!" Send more soldiers to support Corinth and stop the Spartan attack! ……”

"It's not enough to stop the Spartans, and from the beginning of the war to the present, our coalition has not once defeated the Spartans in the field. In the long run, the morale of the coalition will only get lower and lower, and those city-states that hate Sparta and are still watching will lose the courage to resist. So we had to defeat the Spartans in order to win this war! A younger general said loudly.

"How easy it is to defeat the Spartans on land, Iphiclateus!" The loser of the Battle of the Sheep River, the victor of the Battle of Knidogan, and the general Conone, who returned to Athens with a whole huge fleet, lamented: "If the Spartans could be defeated on land, coupled with our invincible navy, how could the Spartans be rampant to this day!" ”

"So I ask the council to authorize me to lead the troops I have trained to support Corinth. I'll do my best to defeat the Spartans! Iphiclates said in a firm tone.

Thrasibulos looked at the mountain man from the Kerataea region of Attica (the people who were born in Athens liked to call the people who lived in the region of Attica "mountain people or country people"), and he knew that due to the long-term ravages of the Spartans in Attica during the Peloponnesian War, Iphiclates hated the Spartans so much that he had been studying how to defeat the Spartan hoplites: "The troops you trained? Do you mean that force of nearly a thousand men, consisting of Thracean light shieldmen and Cretan archers? These light infantry alone can defeat the Spartans?! ”

"We must admit that our citizen soldiers are no match for the Spartans, who were brutally trained from childhood. But the heavy infantry also had shortcomings, they moved slowly and turned inconveniently. Therefore, the agile light infantry threw javelins and arrows at them at a long distance, and the heavy infantry could not catch up with the light infantry, and could only be beaten passively. Iphiclates said confidently, "I'm sure you've all heard of Davers, the consul of Dionia, known to the Great Greeks as the 'undefeated general', and he was a man who was good at using light infantry. I learned that he also used to form light infantry into separate brigades. Especially in the second war with Crotone, he made full use of the light infantry and routed the flank of the heavy infantry of Crotone, which ultimately led to the defeat of the Battle of the Crotone, so I am confident that I can use this light infantry team to defeat the Spartans! ”

Thrasiblos listened, and looked at Conon.

Conon nodded and said loudly, "I expect Iphiclates to defeat the Spartans!" ”

"I agree to send Iphiclates to lead the army to Corinth." Andokides agreed.

"I have no objection." The other generals agreed, after all, when the world was afraid of fighting Sparta on land, one man suddenly stood up and said with confidence, 'He can defeat Sparta!' This self-confidence alone is enough to inspire everyone.

"I agree." Thrasiblos also voted in favor, and then he reminded: "However, Iphitratus, while you lead the light infantry units you have trained to Corinth, take our citizen soldiers with you, and let them fight against Sparta head-on, lest the Corinthians mislead us into stealing and scheming and not doing our best." ”

"I see, Thrasiblos, or you're thoughtful." Iphiclates to his heartfelt gratitude, and pleads, "Then I need a lieutenant to lead our citizen soldiers." ”

Thrasiblos thought for a moment, looked back at Conon, and said, "How about sending Timosius there?" ”

Timosius was the eldest son of Konon, and although he was only in his twenties, he was already a very experienced general because he had been adrift in Persia with his father for many years, helping his father with military affairs and participating in battles. Conon knew that Thracibulus's proposal would be very helpful in increasing his son's influence in Athens, after all, he had been in Persia before, and the citizens of Athens were unfamiliar with him. But at the same time, fighting Sparta also had a great danger to his life.

But Conone replied without hesitation: "No problem." ”

Others mostly agree.

"In that case, I will make a proposal to the Council this afternoon, which should be approved, to send reinforcements to Corinth." Thrasibros made a decision, his expression was still not relaxed, he looked around at everyone, and said in a deep voice: "Iphiclates just now talked about Dionia, everyone should know about the war in Great Greece, and the situation of Dionia, which is friendly with us, is not good, not only has the battle failed, the enemy is on all sides, the sea route is blocked, and there seems to be a rebellion in the country...... Isocrates, you've been to Dionia, you know it better than we do, do you think that in the current state of Dionia, it can withstand the attacks of the Syracuses? ”

To tell the truth, Isocrates was a little embarrassed at this time, and he had sworn to Thrasibros that 'Dionyas is more dangerous to the Greek world than Siracusa. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, Dionia was about to be destroyed. As a scholar and an orator, Isocrates was not a scholar who knew only the use of his brain, his mouth, his hands, and military affairs, but in fact every Athenian citizen fought at least one or two battles in his life.

Therefore, he cleared his throat and said slowly in a hoarse voice: "The battle of the South and Italy coalition has failed, many large Greek city-states have been conquered by the Syracuses, Dionya is also surrounded by enemies, and the internal political situation is unstable. But please note that Dionia's army has not yet suffered a complete defeat, and their commander Davers has not yet returned to Lucania, so how can we assume that Dionya will be completely defeated! What if Davers, who was said to have been blessed by Hades and performed many military miracles, turned the tide of the battle by performing miracles again! ……”

"If there is a miracle, of course we are all happy because it is good for Athens. We also hope that Dionya will be able to make a miracle happen, or at least to be able to hold back the people of Syracuse and keep the war going on in Greater Greece! The god Thrasibros said with a serious expression, "But we must also prepare for the conquest of Dionya by Syracuse. Once the Great Greek War was over, Diolinsius would most likely accede to Sparta's request and send the navy and land of Syracuse to aid Sparta! ”

"I heard that there are more than 400 three-layer oared warships in Syracuse alone, and even if 1/3 is dispatched, it will change the situation of the navy that Sparta is now completely at a disadvantage!" Although Conon had a heavy army and defeated the Spartan navy, the veteran did not let his guard down.

"And Syracuse also had a huge army of 80,000 men, which was double the number of soldiers we had when Athens attacked Sicily! Athena is on top, is Syracuse still a Greek city-state?! Andokides exclaimed.

Other generals also expressed their uneasiness.

Thrasiblos once again turned his attention to Iphiclates and said expectantly: "So in such a grim situation, I hope you can give the arrogant Spartans a frustration and boost the morale of the anti-Spartan alliance!" ”

Ify Cartelston felt a great responsibility, but he still confidently said, "Athena will protect me, and you will wait for the news of my victory!" ”

………………………………

In the past two days, the Syracuse fleet frequently landed on the coast of Castron's territory, attacked the people of Castron, and destroyed villages and farmland outside the city.

People who have lost their homes and loved ones gather in front of the council every day, angrily demanding that the council take immediate action to stop the infestation of the people of Syracuse!