Guards

"Leader, Tolmides was ordered by Cheirisophus to confirm whether the situation is true." Asistes reported.

Tolmides also came forward and bowed.

"Okay." Davos nodded in agreement. He understood that this is a normal procedure. With Cheirisophus' cautiousness, he must confirm that Cheiristoya had volunteered to come to the camp of Davos, and not be coerced.

Tolmides, who is hailed as the first herald of the whole army, is obviously much better than Asistes. He calmly faced the beautiful and charming Cheiristoya and asked about the situation in detail. After getting a positive answer from her, he turned to Davos and said, "Since Cheiristoya has volunteered to come to you, Cheirisophus and several other leaders had said before I came, 'Although Cyrus the Younger is dead, he is still a good friend of the Greeks! We must not forget his help to Greece! To his concubine, Cheiristoya, who is also a Greek, we must take good care of her. This is how we Greeks treat our guests!' I hope that Leader Davos will take good care of Cheiristoya and not let her be bullied!"

' I am afraid that we can't forget the help of Cyrus the Younger to Sparta!' Davos criticized in his heart, and then asked, "How is Timasion's attitude on this matter?"

Tolmides understood what Davos was worried about and answered without hesitation, "Chief Timasion has no objection!"

"That's good!" Davos nodded, "Asistes, take Cheiristoya to Mersis and let him be responsible for settling her down!"

"Yes!" Asistes answered excitedly.

"Thank you, leader Davos." Cheiristoya calmly walked out.

"Cheiristoya! If you have any difficulties, you can tell me directly!" Davos couldn't help but shout again.

"I will." A smile flashed across Cheiristoya's face.

After the two of them went out, Tolmides smiled at him and said, "Leader Davos, you are indeed a 'God's Favored'. Not only did you make a good speech, but you even took the initiative to approach the most beautiful woman in the mercenary camp!"

"The first herald of the whole army not only gave an accurate order, but also said flattery so well!"

The two laughed.

Tolmides looked at the young but experienced leader and asked seriously, "When I came in, I noticed that there were no guards outside your tent."

Davos didn't directly say that it was due to the time being short and he didn't have the time to arrange it. Instead, he humbly asked, "Before today, I was just an ordinary soldier, and the brothers in the whole camp trusted me, so they unanimously elected me to be the new leader. I immediately arranged guards to isolate myself from my brothers, will they think that I have changed?"

Tolmides said seriously, "Military rules are military rules, it is designed to ensure victory in battle! Look at the chaos caused by the death of Clearchus and the others. You should know that your life and safety are very important to your camp! At the same time, you can also prevent the irrelevant personnel from entering and leaving the camp frequently and interfering with your thoughts and rest, which is equally important!"

Davos nodded and said, "Thank you for your teaching, I understand!"

Tolmides looked at Davos' modest appearance and couldn't feel any contempt in his heart. He said with certainty, "It is not easy to be a good leader, but I believe that you can do it well!"

"Thank you for your encouragement!" Tolmides' words dispelled Davos' last concern.

After sending Tolmides away, when Asistes came back, he immediately said to him, "Go find Antonios and ask him to send Hielos as my guard."

"Understood!" Asistes turned around and went out, but was stopped by Davos, "Asi, I have just become the leader and am not familiar with military affairs. If there are any mistakes, you should just point it out to me."

Asistes blinked and said bluntly, "Then I will say it first. You should give me two more heralds, otherwise, when it comes to the battle, it will delay the time to convey the order." Indeed, it will take a lot of time for only one person to convey the order, but in a battle, time is life.

' I was negligent!' Davos hurriedly said, "Sure, you can go to the whole camp to select the personnel."

"And horses."

"To find Mersis."

Asistes went out excitedly.

…

"Hielos, you are finally here, come in!" Davos came forward happily.

"Leader!" Hielos immediately saluted.

"We are all good brothers, just call me by my name in private." Davos gave him a warm hug.

"I have already said that Davos won't forget us even if he becomes the leader! He is not Meno, he is Davos!" Matonis punched Davos in the chest.

Davos laughed, "You won't blame me for giving you more tasks."

"The treatment of the guards is better than that of ordinary soldiers. You are taking care of us. Don't worry, with us here, no one can hurt you!" Matonis patted his chest and made a promise.

"It is your duty to protect me, Matonis. If I get injured, you will be punished! At that time, I will only give you half of the food!" In front of his former comrades, Davos deliberately created a relaxed atmosphere.

"Damn it, you are more terrible than Meno!" Matonis scratched his head and complained.

Everyone laughed.

"Davos, don't worry, I will arrange the guards!" Hielos said seriously.

Davos nodded.

…

Next, Davos called Marigi to be his guide.

Because the death of Clearchus had made Marigi worried, and at the same time, the Greek mercenaries fought with the Persians, so he no longer had to worry about being discovered, and so he readily agreed to Davos'request.

Davos gave him a detailed understanding of the terrain ahead and the situation of the surrounding barbarians, especially the Duchians…

After seeing Marigi off, he found that Matonis was already standing at the entrance of the tent, armed. Seeing that Matonis was staring straight ahead, Davos did not disturb him. When he turned around, he suddenly saw two short javelins crossed on Matonis' back and stopped.

Making the Greek hoplites to equip themselves with javelins was a failed proposal of Davos. At that time, he thought of the Roman hoplites in history, and hoped that the Greek hoplites, who could only fight in close combat, could also have close to medium range firepower and could attack the fast-moving Persian cavalry. However, in the next long period of time, the Hippo army was safe, and the two javelins that they carried became burdens and were unfavorable to the march. Most of the soldiers threw away their javelins, and only the Hielos squad firmly believed in Davos and still carried the javelins, but they cut the javelins into a meter long and inserted it into their back, and made a strap to hold them in place. This way, it was easy to insert and take them out, and it was also convenient to carry them.

Maybe one day in the future, Davos thought.

This night, Davos didn't sleep well. After all, the next day was his first time leading an army, and it might also be his first time leading an army to war. It was impossible for him to not be nervous, so he tossed and turned until late at night.

The next day, he was woken up by Asistes.

"What time is it now?" Davos asked with a bit of guilt.

"The soldiers are currently eating, and it is still early to leave." Asistes said, and served him breakfast: two pieces of bread, a piece of cheese, a sausage, and a glass of water.

"It's very sumptuous. Did the soldiers also eat this?" Davos asked, pointing to the breakfast.

"Almost. Because there might be a battle today, so we need to eat more to gain strength." Asistes answered.

Davos was relieved.

After the meal, a long bronze sound rang out in the camp. Davos began to put on his armor, and the other equipment remained the same, except for the red helmet with feathers on the top.

The soldiers were also dressed and came out one after another, and began to dismantle the tents and send them to the supply camp.

Then, they began to line up.

"First Squadron! First Squadron!…"

"Second Squadron! Second Squadron is here!…"

"Brothers of the fourth squad of the fifth squad, come here!…"

The shouting rose and fell, accompanied by the neighing of horses and the mooing of cows from time to time. It was the supply camp that was loading the animals, and the whole camp was like a noisy market…