Although Henipolis's tone was tactful when he translated, Davos still raised his eyebrows after listening to it, snorted heavily, and said angrily: "Go back and tell Artaxerxes, I accept his gauntlet—"
"Your Majesty!" Alexis interrupted him eagerly: "I can't agree! The reason why the Persians dared to enter the gauntlet must have already been prepared. We can't rashly agree, we must consider carefully to avoid getting hit. Their tricks!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Philisius also persuaded immediately: "Although the letter said 'there are millions of troops' is definitely a boast, but the number of Persian troops is indeed much larger than ours, and we cannot rashly engage in battles , you should guard the camp first, and then look for fighters—"
"Nonsense!" Lizaru stood up and retorted: "Although the Persian army is large, it is timid and afraid to fight; although our army is small, it is brave and forward. Therefore, we should take advantage of the opportunity of the soldiers' morale to join forces with the Persian army. Start a battle instead of just defending, otherwise the pressure on logistical supply will increase…”
"Lizaru is right! We go deep into the enemy's territory, and only by moving forward can we win the final victory! Once hesitating and delaying, it will only make the entire army in trouble!..." Matonis also expressed his own voice. Opinion.
After a while, the entire tent became lively, which seemed to be the same as what Trebassus heard outside the tent. Dozens of generals were divided into two factions, supporting or opposing the battle, and the two sides were arguing endlessly. , it is difficult to reach an agreement.
Trebassus saw with his own eyes that King Dionia made a sound to stop it several times, but it didn't work. It was not until the guard beside him banged a drum forcefully that everyone stopped the noise.
Davos stood up and said loudly with some embarrassment: "You all stop fighting, I have decided! Persians, go back and tell your king that the decisive battle will take place in two days!"
When Trebasus walked out of Dionia's camp, his footsteps were brisk and his mood was relaxed, because he not only completed the task given by the king of Persia, and successfully let the king of Dionia take over the gauntlet, but also Through this mission, he also learned the truth of the Dionysian army: they were not as good at fighting as they had been rumored to be, the soldiers were tired and war-weary, the generals were arrogant and unruly, and the Dionysian king was not as good as the rumors said. Tough, he couldn't even completely subdue and drive his generals...
Trebassus felt that these flaws revealed by the Dionian army would greatly increase the Persian army's chances of victory, and he was pleased that his risk of taking the Dionian camp was well worth it.
He eagerly mounted the war horse, wishing to return to the station immediately and report to the King of Persia what he had found here, but he did not notice the smug smile on the face of Henepolis who was standing at the gate of the camp.
But after the Persian messenger left the tent, the tent was lively again.
"How was my performance just now?"
"Matonis, I really didn't see it, you can be an actor at the Turii Coliseum!"
"Haha, it's free to be an actor. I only care if the Persians will be fooled. After all, we have urgently mobilized so many people and spent so much energy to play this scene, so it can't be in vain!"
"I have been observing the Persian messenger just now. Every time we talk, his expression changes a little. He probably understands Greek, which just shows that he is paying attention to the situation in our camp."
"So no matter how cunning the Persians are, they can't escape His Majesty's plan!"
…
After waiting for the generals to discuss enthusiastically for a while, Davos coughed lightly, and the entire tent suddenly became quiet. Compared with the previous time when the Persian messenger was there, it was a world of difference.
Davos looked around the crowd and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, now let's discuss the strategy for a decisive battle with Persia."
… … … … … … … … … …
In the early morning of November 3, 364 BC (the 30th year of the Kingdom of Dionia), the sharp bugle sound of "woo woo woo..." suddenly sounded, and the originally peaceful Dionian camp soon became lively.
"Brothers, don't sleep late, get up!" Just as the captains woke up the soldiers under them, the cooks in the baggage battalions of each legion had already started preparing breakfast for the soldiers.
When the bugle sounded, Davos immediately woke up from his sleep. When he saw the guards entering the tent, he asked the first sentence: "How is the weather outside?"
"Your Majesty, the weather is fine, there is no rain, and there is no wind."
"It's a good weather for combat!" Davos sighed.
After the Dionian army entered the Mesopotamian plain, the four seasons became somewhat distinct. The temperature in early autumn here was a bit low, the air was relatively dry, and there were many sunny days and few rainy days. The battle of the Onian army is good, the only bad thing is that it is often windy.
After washing up, the guards brought breakfast: a bowl of thick oatmeal porridge, a bowl of hot bustard donkey soup, half a piece of steamed sturgeon meat, two pieces of bread with cheese... ,
When Henipolis entered the tent, he saw Davos staring at the dinner plate in a trance, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, the soldiers' breakfast is similar to yours! In order to meet your requirements, yesterday the baggage battalion was in After a day's catching of fish on the Euphrates, the light cavalry ran hundreds of miles north before they caught some wild beasts..."
"The main thing that determines the outcome of a battle is careful preparation before the battle." Davers picked up a piece of bread and said seriously, "I'm afraid today's battle will be very long, and the soldiers must eat enough food to be able to There is sufficient physical strength to support. Considering that the formation alone may last until noon, Philisius informed the baggage battalion yesterday to ask them to prepare more bread for the soldiers to carry to the battlefield, and to carry out additional reinforcement before the battle. meal."
"Listening to your majesty, I am even more confident in winning this battle, because it is impossible for the Persian king to prepare such abundant food for his huge army as we do." Henipolis flattered, Then he sat on the wooden chair next to him, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "... I heard that people here forbid catching this kind of fish, saying that it is a fetish, and it will anger the gods... "
"The more angry the enemy god is, the happier the great Hades will be." Davers said calmly, took a big bite of the fish, chewed it a few times, and spat out the fishbone: "Have you finished breakfast? "
"I finished eating early." Henipolis complained: "Your Majesty, I am not like you. No matter how big the battle is, I can take it as normal. I was so excited that I didn't sleep all night. I woke up early this morning. You Look at me, my eyes are still dark."
"You, you..." Davos smiled at the funny look he pointed to his eyes.
After he finished breakfast, he chatted with Henipolis for a while, and the captain of the palace guard came in to report: "Your Majesty, the legions have begun to line up and leave the camp."
Only then did Davos put on his armor and walked out of the tent. The guards had already brought his warhorse.
This is a prime Lusitania stallion, fat and strong, with smooth fur, brownish-yellow, and unusually tall. It keeps digging the soil with its front hooves, shaking its head and shaking its neck, as if it doesn't want to be caught. He held him, but when Davos walked in front of him, he immediately became quiet, lowered his head, approached Davos, and hummed softly.
Davos patted its face and said with a smile, "Hey, Nicky, you're going to fight with me again."
Nicky seemed to understand, rubbed Davos' hand, then raised his head and neighed happily.
Since he came to this world, this has been the fifth war horse that Davos has ridden, and it is most likely the last.
Davers patted the horse's back with a little emotion, then got on his horse and left the inner camp under the escort of 1,000 fully armed palace guards.
There were dozens of people gathered at the exit. When they saw Davos coming, someone couldn't help shouting: "Your Majesty, we have been waiting for almost half an hour. Why did you come out? The soldiers have already left the camp!"
Although the man lying on the carriage made a rude remark, Davos was not angry and said with a smile: "Amintas, your quick temper has not changed as you get old. Don't worry, we are not there, the battle is not will begin."
"Your Majesty!" Hieronymus, Epithenes, Georgris, Martius and others immediately came forward to greet him.
Davos looked at them and asked, "Brothers, are you ready to fight?"
Thirty years ago, Davos became the leader of the mercenary army, and after fully winning the trust of the mercenaries, he often said this before the battle. At this moment, the veterans heard mixed feelings in their ears, and shouted excitedly after a moment. :"Ready!!"
Davers waved his right hand forward vigorously: "Let's go then!"
After rendezvous with the veterans, the entire team passed through the spacious camp passage and quickly left the main camp.
… … … … … … … … … … …
The Dionysian army did not gather together and set off, but each legion was led by the legion commander. After leaving their own camp, they went directly to the predetermined battlefield. Therefore, more than 20 teams marched eastward almost side by side.
Because they had just eaten breakfast, and in order not to waste their physical strength, the pace of each team was very slow. The soldiers were laughing and chatting in the team. People looked at it and thought they were going on an outing rather than a life-and-death battle.
More than an hour later, the teams walked out of Taposakus and the surrounding area, which had been burned by the Persians, and set foot on the plains intertwined with green and yellow.
After walking for a while, the legion commanders sent an order: "Stop advancing and rest in place!"
"Is this where the battle will take place? I don't think it's anything special."
"I heard that the camp of the Persian army is 25 miles away from our camp. I just calculated silently. It's about eleven or two miles away from the camp. It's right in the middle, isn't it a battlefield?"