Suspicion

"The disaster of the Persians is coming!!" Matonis laughed happily as if the Greeks would do it.

"It seems that the Persians want to send us away!" Hielos said as if he had understood something.

Perhaps Tissaphernes wanted you to think so. Davos thought in his heart, but he didn't say it out loud. He always felt that Tissaphernes was not a simple man. After all, his thoughts were different from the Greeks of this era. According to his deep contact with the Greek soldiers during this period, he found that most of these Greeks grew up listening to the stories of their fathers telling how to attack the Persians. They advocate strength and like to fight face-to-face. Even if they use schemes, they are more open-minded. In dealing with schemes and plots, their brains are indeed fewer than the Persians.

It was because Davos knew that Tissaphernes was a brilliant politician that he had always been uneasy, "Xenophon, do you know our marching route?"

"I'm not sure, it was all decided by Tissaphernes, Clearchus, and Ariaeus. However, it's not the way we came. Because you know—" Xenophon shrugged, "Your leader, Meno, took the lead and collected a lot of good things along the way. The local Persians have hatred for us… don't worry, we will go back!"

Collect? I think it's plunder! I'm afraid that in the eyes of the Persians, we are invaders! Bandits! As soon as he heard this, Davos was always a bit irritated. He secretly exhaled and tried to calm his mood, "Do you know the mountains, rivers, cities, and roads in Persia?"

"Davos, this is also the first time that I went deep into Persia. In addition to knowing a few famous cities in books, such as Babylon, Susa, Persepolis, and so on, I don't know where they are exactly…" Xenophon raised the stack of papyrus in his hand and said excitedly, "However, I have briefly recorded what I see every day. When I go back, I will write them out so that the Greeks can understand the situation in Persia!"

Davos smiled bitterly, 'Well, I know that you will write a book called "Long March" in the future, but it can't solve the urgent problem now.'

Where can I find someone familiar with Persian geography? Davos thought in distress…

…

Over time, although the Greek mercenaries and Persian troops were not close to each other, when they went to the river to fetch water and collect firewood, the soldiers of both sides would always meet each other, and often there would be a fight whenever they disagree, which increased the hatred of both sides.

A few days later, when they arrived at the river Phiscus, they met the army led by another brother of Artaxerxes, the Persian king. He came to help the king, but when he arrived, the war was over and he had to return with his troops.

Afraid of an accident, Clearchus ordered the whole army to be fully armed and protected in the center and to keep the battle column marching westward. This Persian army was not surprised by the Greeks who appeared here and may have been informed by Tissaphernes to continue marching eastward. The distance between the two armies was only tens of meters, and at a glance, even the appearance and expression of the other party could be seen, so one can imagine how nervous they are.

However, it also allowed Davos to see the full appearance of the Persian army for the first time. At the front is a two-man chariot and a four-man chariot, with two horses and four horses pulling each other. One of the soldiers in the chariot is in charge of driving the chariot, while the other one to two soldiers should be in charge of fighting. He can see spears, shields, and bows on the chariot. There are only a dozen chariots, and he didn't see the legendary long sickle chariot (the axle of the chariot extends a long sharp blade), but after thinking about it, he understood that this long sickle can be disassembled, otherwise, it is easy to hurt his people when marching normally.

Behind the chariots is the cavalry. Most of the horses are about 1.4 meters tall, which is shorter than the horses that Davos had seen in the Olympic Games in his previous life. They have a bridle, but they don't have saddles, and of course, they don't have stirrups, and they only have a thick blanket on their horses. Cavalry soldiers on the horses, some of them are wearing helmets, some of them are only wearing soft hats, they don't wear leather armor and heavy shields, and they are all wearing short robes. They have a variety of weapons in their hands, with the most archers, followed by the javelin cavalry, then the spear cavalry, and a few with short hammers…

Hundreds of cavalry galloped past, and a huge infantry unit appeared in front of him. After looking at it for a while, Davos found that the marching troops of the Persian infantry were mixed: A big shieldman with a shield as high as a man's shoulder, and a shield as wide as a man's shoulder, followed by a spearman, followed by six or seven archers, and then repeated.

This is very similar to the battle order of the Persian infantry that Antonios had mentioned: When dealing with the enemy, the shield bearer will be in the first row and will erect a shield wall to protect the formation. The spear bearers will block the enemies that are coming to fight and prevent them from breaking through the shield wall. The archers in the rear will use their bows and arrows to kill the enemy in large numbers. Whether it is the shield bearers, spear bearers, or archers, they all have a common characteristic, light armor or even armorless. In addition to the cavalry from before, in total, Davos can easily make a judgment that a Persian army is a unit with excellent long-range destructive power and high mobility, but weak in close combat. It is no wonder that they were always defeated by the Greeks in battle because, in a face-to-face battle, their infantry is no match for the Greek hoplites. The characteristics of the Persian army are more suitable for long-range killing and harassment, and even greater mobility.

The two armies passed each other, and nothing happened.

After this small interlude, the troops soon entered Media. This land had once nurtured the fierce Medians, and the kingdom they founded was once the nightmare of the people of the two rivers. However, after hundreds of years, the glory was no longer there, and the land under the jurisdiction of Persia became desolate for some reason, and the terrain began to rise and fall unevenly.

Due to the decrease in the supply of the market, when the two armies camped, the fighting for resources began to increase…

"Davos, this… leg binding that you made is useful! Today, I walked for another day. If it was before, my calf would have been swollen to the point of not being able to walk in the afternoon, but now, I don't have to worry about this!" Hielos sat in the tent and praised while untying his leg.

"Of course, our Davos is a 'God's Favored'! With the blessing of Hades, can his ideas not work? Now, many of the companions of the other teams are also learning how to tie their legs!" said Olivos proudly.

Davos didn't speak. Now that he has heard so many good words, he was even a bit numb. He knew very well that some of these small tricks that he knew in his previous life were just to improve the marching condition of the soldiers and enhance his influence in Menon's camp, but it will not change the situation of the whole Greek mercenaries.

"Davos, there has been a rumor in the team these days that the Persians are going to attack us and capture us and then offer us to the Persian king as slaves. Do you think… that this is true?!" The voice of Giorgris came from the corner.

This is the problem that Davos had been thinking about. Although there had been suspicion between the two armies before, such rumors could spread quickly in one or two days, and everyone knew about it. With his experience in his previous life, no one can't push it.

Is it the Persians? Or ourselves? Why are we spreading such rumors? To break the agreement with Hippo? To make the Greeks nervous to the point of collapse? … Davos didn't have a clue for a moment. In the face of everyone's concerned gaze, he smiled bitterly in his heart, but said calmly, "There is no need to be so nervous, we just need to be vigilant, haven't we been safe these days!"

As they were talking, a man entered the tent.

"Matonis, you went out to fight again!" Hielos saw the bruises on Matonis' face and said with slight reproach.

Matonis spat out a mouthful of blood and said excitedly, "Don't think that the Persians are bad at fighting, but they are not weak at fighting. Martius, I, and a dozen others fought more than 20 of them, and it took us a lot of effort to beat them away!"

As he said this, he sat down on his bunk, rubbed his cheeks, and said mysteriously, "I didn't just go to fight, I also heard something."

"What news?" asked Hielos.

Matonis glanced at everyone and said loudly, "Further ahead is the land of Cyrus the Younger and his mother. I heard that there are many villages there, and they are relatively rich!"

"So we can eat something good!" Olivos shouted happily.

The others were also a bit excited. They hadn't been fed enough these days, so they weren't full.