According to Greek tradition, after a battle, the defeated side could also send someone to clean up the battlefield and take away the dead compatriots in order to give them a decent funeral. In the past, Dionyas rarely fulfilled this tradition, because they were victors most of the time, and in order to prolong their gains, they were good at continuing the pursuit after victory, and the opponent was afraid of fleeing for his life, where was there any mind to do anything else. It was only during this time that the Dionian army defended itself against the attacks of the allied Greek forces that this Greek military tradition was well fulfilled.

Tens of thousands of physically and mentally exhausted Greek soldiers began to slowly retreat towards Leprion's camp.

Less than 20 miles from the northern border of Messenia, this small city in the southern part of the Ellis region was originally attached to Ellis, but was later taken by Sparta, who joined the Greek League and rightfully reclaimed it. Due to the frequent attacks of the Ionian soldiers during the attack on the Lagnian region by the Greek coalition forces while camping, after moving his troops to attack Messenia, Iphiclates learned his lesson and stationed his army at Leprion, which was far from the battlefield, mainly for safety.

On the way back to the camp, the generals of the various city-states came to Iphiclates to complain that "their soldiers have suffered many casualties in today's battle...... and so on, and they all revealed similar meanings, and they were unwilling to engage in such a terrible siege battle.

In fact, after the loss of attacking the northern part of the Lagenian region, the city-state armies were hesitant to attack the Dionian defensive camp, and if it were not for the fact that they had captured a Dionian camp some time earlier, which had reinvigorated their confidence, and that today Iphiclates had led the way by throwing most of the Athenian army into battle first, and had given the order for an all-out attack, the armies of the other city-states would not have fought so hard.

But it turned out that the small victory of the previous days was nothing more than an illusion, and the Dionian defenses were not weakened, but strengthened, and the siege capabilities of the Greek coalition, although somewhat improved (a lot of experience had been gained from the constant assault on the Dionian camps), were still not enough to break through the complex camp defenses of the Dionian army.

To the subtle expressions of these generals, Iphiclates gave the same reply: the coalition forces will no longer storm the Dionian defensive camp!

The generals were surprised by Iphiclateus' affirmative answer, but the allied commander said no more.

Returning to the tent in Leprion's camp, Iphiclates had just taken off his armor when the guards outside the tent came in and reported: "General, General Iazon asks for an audience. ”

"Invite him in."

Iason strode into the tent, and before Iphiclates could speak, he said bluntly: "I heard that you have announced that you will give up attacking the Dionian camp in Messenia, is this true?!" ”

Looking at Yi Ah Song, who looked like a teacher asking for guilt, Iphi Krates said calmly: "General Yi Ah Song, I was about to send someone to find you, but I didn't expect you to come first. Yes, I said that, but—"

"It was a stupid decision!" Yi Azon looked directly at him and said in a resolute tone: "We can't give up the attack just because today's losses are large. We suffered heavy casualties, and the Dioonians were no better, and before you withdrew, my soldiers had already stormed the wooden wall several times, and although they were finally driven down by the enemy, this shows that our attack was effective! As long as we maintain this kind of offensive intensity in the next few days, we will definitely be able to break through the Dionians' defenses! ”

Speaking of this, Yi Ah Song showed a fierce look: "Don't listen to the various excuses of those city-state generals, you should continue to give orders to attack like today!" If you really want to stop attacking the Dionian camp, then I'm sorry, I will no longer be involved in your war with Dionysia, and I will return to Thessaly with the army! ”

Facing the threat of Iason, Iphiclates blinked his eyes and showed a helpless smile: "Dear General Iason, of course I know that as long as I continue to attack, I will definitely break through the Dioonian camp, but the reason why I made such a decision is not because I am worried about excessive casualties, but because-"

Iphiclates paused and said in an accentuated tone: "I just received a message from Athens that four days ago the Dionian navy suddenly blocked the Gulf of Sarong, preventing our warships from leaving the port, but the fishermen on our north coast have discovered an unusual situation, there are a large number of Dionian ships carrying soldiers around the island of Euboea and into the Gulf of Mariakos-"

"The Ionians are going to raid my Thessaly!" Iason's face suddenly changed, and he glared at Iphiclateus: "Such important news, why didn't you say it earlier?!" ”

"In a war of this magnitude, any decision must be made carefully, and after my council in Athens got the news, they tried their best to find out the truth, and lost a number of ships for this, and finally it was determined that the Dionian army had indeed landed in Thessaly, and the General's Executive Committee urgently sent messengers to come here on fast horses, day and night——"

"How many of the Dionian troops landed in Thessaly?!" Iason interrupted him unceremoniously and asked eagerly.

"According to our judgment, it will not be less than 30,000 people."

Without saying a word, Yi Azon strode out of the military tent with an anxious face.

Iphiclates also hurriedly called his adjutant: "Send quickly to inform the generals of the city-states, and say......'Since the Thessaly army has found traces of the Thessalian army, the Thessalian army will rush back to the rescue, so that they should not be nervous, and control their soldiers'......"

The adjutant also felt nervous after hearing this, and hurriedly said, "I'll do it right away." ”

"And—" said Iphiclates with a solemn expression, "you yourself go to the Thessaly barracks, and tell Iason, that I suggest that he lead his army directly north, through the region of Ellis, and cross the Gulf of Corinth by boat from the port of Patras or Cape Ryanna...... Taking this route will save you a lot of time. ”

As he spoke, he took out a few more letters from his bosom: "This is my letter in the name of Athens to Ellis and Patras and Cape Ryan, hoping that they will help the Thessalians. You give them all to Iason. ”

After seeing off the adjutant, Iphiclates also stepped out of the tent and looked in the direction of the Thessaly barracks through the still thin night, where the neighing of the horses had completely exploded.

In fact, Iphiclates lied to Iason, and in the letters sent to him by the Executive Committee of the Athenian Generals, he not only asked him to intensify his attack on Dionia, but also strictly ordered him to conceal the news from the Thessalians, only another letter written to him by Callistratus, who was close to him, tactfully mentioned that he could make the decision that was in the best interests of Athens according to the situation of the battlefield.

During the confrontation and engagement with the Dionian army, Iphiclates had already realized that the Dionian army was very capable of defensive operations, while the armies of the Greek alliance city-states had obviously not experienced such an intense siege and did not dare to suffer too many casualties, so they always worked in all the siege battles, but did not contribute too much, including the Athenian army itself. After receiving the order from Athens, Iphiclates finally gave the order to die today and launched a strong attack, but the results were still disappointing, not only failed to defeat the enemy, but on the contrary, the sharp increase in the number of casualties not only made the allied generals retreat, but also made him feel frightened.

If, as Iason said, he continued to attack, he feared that before the Dionian defenses could be breached, the Greek coalition would be torn apart, and he himself could be impeached by the Athenian Citizens' Assembly. What's more, even if the Greek coalition paid a heavy price and finally defeated the Dioonian army in Messenia, the Dionian kingdom would send a new army to Greece, just as they sent another army to land in Thessaly, and the Greek coalition army, which had already suffered heavy losses, would have nothing to defend against their invasion!

Iphiclates had realized that the war with Dionya could not end with only one or two battles, and that it was necessary to encircle the Thessarites in order to confront the powerful Dionian army for a long time. During their time together, Iphiclates discovered that the Thessalian army not only accounted for half of the Greek coalition, but also had the strongest combat effectiveness among the coalition forces, especially the nearly 10,000 mercenaries who were not only brave in battle, but also disciplined. As the commander of the Thessalian army, although Iason had some contradictions with Iphicrates because he failed to become the commander of the Greek coalition, he was very serious and focused on every battle, and his command ability was also very strong.

If as an enemy, Thessaly's army is undoubtedly terrible, but as an ally against a strong enemy, the Thessalian army is undoubtedly the best arm, so Iphiclates decided to disobey the order of the General's Executive Committee, and after a day's delay, personally told Iasong that "Thessaly was attacked by the Dioonian army", and even if the General's Executive Committee asked about it in the future, he could falsely claim that "Iazon had received the news from the Thessalian messenger", In any case, Athens could not have completely blocked the various roads from Thessaly to the Peloponnese.

However, he was still ready to send his henchmen back to Athens and whisper the matter to his friend Calistratus, believing that with Callistratus' foresight, he would definitely support him, because it was all for Athens!

While Iphiclates was standing outside the tent and thinking, his lieutenant had already rushed back to report to him: "General, I have given the letter to Iazon, and he expresses his gratitude to you, and says that when he has driven out the Dionian army in Thessaly and stabilized the rear, he will come again with the Greek army against the Dionians......"