"Ahem!" When Adoris said this, Klotocatax was drinking soup, and immediately choked several sips, and he responded a little embarrassed: "Big brother, you also underestimate me too much, I am the commander of the army, if you show favoritism to your relatives, how can you command other soldiers to fight to the death!" Don't worry, I won't do that! ”

Adores looked at him and asked again, "Really?!" ”

"Really!" Klotokatak responded calmly.

"Good!" Adoris picked up the soup bowl in his hand and said proudly: "Take soup as wine, and wish our brothers a brilliant feat in Greece!" ”

………………………………………………………………

Since the new commander of the Dionian army had not arrived, Epamironda stayed in the city of Messeni for several days, and instead of complaining, he was happy, because Thebes was an ally of Dionya, so Epamironda was not blindfolded and restricted from going out like Agosilaus, and he could roam around the territory of Messenia at will, except for some sensitive areas. In order to avoid misunderstandings, with the consent of Leoticides, the staff officer Muqru also assigned him a Dionian officer as a guide.

During this time, Ipamironda not only carefully understood the entire operation of the new government of Messenia, from the village to the town, but also observed the daily life of the Dionian army, from the morning exercises organized by the various brigades every morning, to rushing to the construction site to build cities and houses during the day, and returning to the military tent at dusk under the supervision of the officers......

Not only did he run to the pass of Mount Tegutos and watch the Ionian soldiers build watchtowers to strengthen the defense of the Spartans; He also ran to the coast to watch the ships of the First Fleet patrolling and training in the Gulf of Messenia; He even watched as the baggage battalion used multiple camel teams to transport food and supplies from the improvised port to the camp, cooked and distributed food to the soldiers in the camp, and treated the wounded soldiers in the medical camp...... With the exception of the engineering battalion, which forbade him from entering because it involved the production of some military equipment, he walked around almost the entire camp.

Until this day, he received a notice from the officer's guide that the new Dionian commander wanted to see him.

In fact, he already knew about the arrival of the new commander, for on that day he had rushed to the seashore and witnessed the whole process of another Dionian army of more than 10,000 men landing on the coast in numerous ships and rapidly massing.

Walking into the military tent, Ipamironda nodded with five or six generals in full uniform with a smile on his face, and finally focused his eyes on the young man sitting in the middle, and then solemnly bent down and saluted: "Theban messenger Ipamironda meets Commander Dionia!" ”

"You may be seated, General Ipamironda!" Klotocatax asked the soldier to bring the wooden chairs that had been prepared, and said very politely: "You are the military commander of the Piosian Alliance, and you are also the hero who led the Piosian alliance to defeat the Spartans at the Battle of Leuctra, and our visit makes us doubly honored!" ”

Ipamilonda thanked the guards, sat down, and said humbly: "The victory of Leuktra is indeed a great encouragement to the people of Thebes and Piosia, but like a man who often goes hungry eats a full meal, he will feel very satisfied, but for a person who often eats a full meal, it is nothing, and Dionya is the one who eats a lot of food, am I right?!" ”

Ipamironda's words made Quetissus, Olivers and the others listen comfortably.

"The general is too modest!" "A few years ago, when my father spoke to me about the situation in Greece, he mentioned you, and he said that you and Peropidas were the most important pillars of the rise of Thebes, and he proved to be right! ”

Hearing this, Ipamironda's heart moved, of course he knew who the other party was talking about, and couldn't help but ask: "I want to ask when His Majesty King Davers first mentioned me?" ”

Klotocatax thought for a moment and said, "Hmm...... It seems that after the end of the war with Carthage, there was a letter to me about it...... I was in Rome, a town in the northern part of the kingdom. ”

After the war between Dioonia and Carthage...... Ipamilonda carefully recalled: it was the most difficult period for Thebes, in the face of the Spartan attack, even some members of the Theban government did not have much hope for the future, but the king of Theonia, who was far to the west, firmly believed that Thebes would rise, and also knew that he was unknown at that time, which shows that Dionya had long been concerned about Thebes......

Seeing that Epamironda was silent, Oliver interjected: "His Majesty the great Davos is a descendant of the god Hades and has been favored by the gods, so he can always make accurate judgments, and the forces hostile to Dionya will be punished for defeat in the end!" ”

"That's right!" Ketissus and Tegetinos immediately chimed in.

Worried that the threat implicit in Olivers' words would displease Ipamironda, Klotocatax hurriedly took over and said, "If I had known that you had come to Messenia, General, I would have come here sooner, so that you would not have waited here for any more days." ”

"It doesn't matter, staying here for a few more days has given me a deeper understanding of the Ionian army, and it has also made me deeply feel why the Ionian army is strong, if your army is an adult, the armies of the Greek city-states, including our Thebes, are still children!" Ipamironda said with a serious face.

Klotocatax was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "General Ipamironda, you are too modest!" ”

He did not continue to talk deeply on this issue, but instead asked, "Is there something important about the general's visit this time?" ”

"On behalf of the people of Thebes and Piosia, I am thanking my allies for Ionia!" Ipamironda's face was solemn, and he said earnestly: "Thebes and Dionya have just become allies, we have not had much contact with each other in the past, this time the enemy of Thebes is the most powerful city-state in Greece, we originally only expected that Dionya would be able to assist us in food and materials during the most difficult time of the war, but to our surprise...... You really fulfilled your covenant and took the initiative to go to war against Sparta, and soon launched an attack on Sparta, and sure enough, as the rumors say, 'Dionysia is a country that keeps its promises', and Thebes is very glad that it was able to form an alliance with Dionia! ”

Hearing these words, Crotokatuques was very proud, and he tried not to let this emotion be revealed, but said modestly: "Keeping promises is the principle of the founding of Dionia, and it is our duty to send troops to help our allies when they are in danger!" It's just that Thebes was able to get out of the predicament mainly by your own efforts, and it was precisely because the general led his army to defeat Sparta at Leuktra that our attack on Sparta was easy. ”

Klotocatax's words were also frank, but Ipamironda smiled gratefully and helplessly: "The victory of Leuktra is indeed very important for Thebes, but it only temporarily frees Thebes, but it puts Thebes in even greater trouble. ”

Klotocatax glanced at Printors, then looked puzzled.

Ipamilonda explained earnestly: "Athens and our Thebes have been enemies for decades, because of Sparta, they have formed an alliance with Thebes over the years, and it should be said that it has given Thebes a great help. But as the strength of our Thebes gradually recovered, the attitude of Athens towards us changed, and when the contract of Kalias was signed, I clearly felt that Athens and Sparta had reached an agreement to jointly exclude our Thebes. After the Battle of Leuctra, Athens sent troops to the western border, clearly showing hostility towards us.

Another of our allies, Iason of Thessaly, had also been of great help to us in the previous war against Sparta, but after the Battle of Leuctra, he suddenly sent troops to occupy Thermopylae, and also carried out a large-scale military mobilization in Thessaly, and threatened to send troops south, and refused to receive the envoys we sent, and the city-states of western Central Greece, including our Thebes, were very nervous, Piosia, who was the main part of Thebes, and Phokis, who was the main one who was Delphi, And Lokris is already deliberating to unite against the invasion of the incoming men—"

"Are the Thessalians militarily strong?" Oliver couldn't help but ask, he was a Thessaly like Davers, but he had been away from Thessaly for decades, and he didn't know much about the current situation in his hometown, and his impression of Thessaly was still stuck in the situation of decades ago when the city-states were fighting each other and were weak, and they were frequently bullied by the natives of the surrounding mountains.

"Since the tyrant of Philae, Iason, became the Tagus of the Thessalians, all the city-states of Thessaly are under his control, and he can raise an army of at least 30,000 people, and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers is not weak, which is a great threat to us in Greece!" Ipamironda reminded in a heavy tone.

"Thessaly has Tagus! ......" Oliver was a little surprised, and the phrase "an army of more than 30,000 men" also attracted the attention of the rest of the corps commanders.

Crotocatacs had been repeatedly instructed by Davers before leaving, and Chief of Staff Printors was able to obtain more information at the Ministry of War, so the two of them looked calm.

"After the Battle of Leuctra, we in Thebes are suddenly facing threats from three sides: North (Thessaly), East (Athens), and South (Sparta), and the situation is quite dangerous! We are grateful for the generous reinforcements of you, Dionia, for restoring Messenia, for keeping the attention of the Spartans and Persians, and for temporarily relieving Thebes of the greatest danger! Of course, I would also ask your forgiveness for the fact that Thebes was so preoccupied with the threat from the north that he did not dare to send an army to join you against the Spartans! I'm so sorry about that! With that, Ipamironda bowed his head and bowed respectfully to Klotocatax.