Two dozen strong men rushed out from both sides, pinning Clearkus and the four leaders to the ground, and immediately tied them with ropes.
The officers and soldiers waiting outside were also surrounded by heavily armed Persians, who armed with sharp blades, spears and large shields cut down the unarmed Greeks one by one.
"Congratulations, Lord Governor, your plan is successful!" There was a wanton laughter in the tent.
Candles are lit and the light is restored.
Clearkus saw Tisafonis, Otarongs, and Cister who were in the center of the tent were laughing smugly, and their eyes were splitting with anger: "Tisafonis, you despicable and shameless villain. You deceived us with lies, slaughtered my soldiers, and violated the promise made by Ahura Mazda, the supreme god who faced you when signing the contract! You are not afraid of the wrath of the gods?! Are you afraid that your king will be scolded by thousands of people?! Aren’t you afraid of disasters befalling your family?!!…”
"Hehehe..." Tisafonis smiled, took a glass of wine from the attendant, took a sip, walked to the mercenary leaders, and said slowly: "Clearcus, let me tell you. Well. Our great king returned to Persepolis the day after the little Cyrus died. Of course, he never gave any instructions 'to talk to you about peace'. It was all made up by me to deceive you. As for whether the gods will punish me, you don't have to worry about that, I don't think so!" He said in a serious tone: "Mazda above, I saw me arrest a group of barbarians who invaded Persian territory and massacred the Persian people. Live and kill, but it will reward me!... Oh, and I tell you one more thing, those rumors were sent out by me!"
Seeing the shocked expression on Clearkus' face, he drank the wine in the glass happily.
Proxinus spat sharply at him, but he shrewdly avoided it.
"Liar! Coward..." Proxinus yelled.
Tisafonis was not angry, but said proudly: "Liar?! Liar?! No no no! I would rather call it wisdom! Unlike you Greek barbarians who only know how to fight and fight, we Persians are more I like to use my brain to figure out a way to get a bigger victory at a lower price! Just like when I first negotiated with you, I paralyzed you. Of course I know you will still be vigilant, but once you get used to this peaceful and stable state, I don’t want to go back to the previous tension and hostility, you want to work hard to maintain the peace. So, I deliberately sent soldiers to clash with the mercenaries, abuse, fight... Then spread rumors, you will not doubt me, who will you suspect Woolen cloth?"
Tisafonis glanced at the captured leaders and said sarcastically: "I guess, it's Menon, right?! Look, I know everything about the dirty things inside you! And I also know that you are a very responsible leader, Clearkus. The more severe the conflict between the two armies, the more worried you will become. Instead, you will take the initiative to come to me to negotiate! Look, you not only took the initiative to come to the door, but also sent me a gift. A great gift!…”
"Kill if you want, don't talk nonsense!" Clearkus blushed and roared.
"Lord Tisafonis, please forgive me! Please spare my life!!..." Menon next to him struggled and begged: "Even if you make me your slave, as long as you forgive me! I will persuade me for you. Those stupid mercenaries, make them surrender to you! I can conquer Asia Minor for you! I will do anything for you, but please spare my life!!…”
"Anything?" Tisafonis narrowed his eyes, as if interested: "You learn to bark a few times first."
"Wang wang wang!..." Menon exclaimed earnestly.
"Look, this is the barbaric Greek!" The Persians in the tent were overjoyed.
"Menon, shut up!" Clearkus and the others cursed Menon in shame.
Menon turned a deaf ear and simply fell to his knees, looking at Tisafonis ingratiatingly.
"Very good! Very good!!..." Tisafonis smiled, clapped his hands, and walked towards Meron.
Menon cut his hands upside down, squatted on the ground, stuck his tongue out, and cried even more happily.
Tisafonis walked up to him, gave him a cryptic smile, quickly drew his sword, and slashed down Menon's neck.
In the screams of everyone, blood spurted out, and the head of Menon rolled to the ground with an unbelievable expression.
"Idiot! Do you think I didn't know that you were desperately attacking me in front of little Cyrus, and you took the initiative to lead troops to attack my mansion!" Tisafonis stepped on Menon's head with his left foot, his face was splattered With blood stains, he was as cold as a killing god.
The four leaders stared blankly at the headless corpse on the ground. Even Clearkus, who had always had a grudge against Menon, had grief on his face, and a kind of sadness of the death of a rabbit and a fox enveloped them.
"Prepare this head and escort the four criminals to Persepolis immediately, and let His Majesty try it in person!" Tisafonis ordered.
After the four leaders were escorted out, Socrates lamented regretfully: "If only I had listened to the young man on the road! …"
Clearkus was expressionless and said nothing.
… … … …
"My lord, Arius asks to see you!"
"Let him in."
Arreus walked into the tent and saw a shocking pool of blood on the ground. He slowed down and heard Tisafonis say, "That's Menon's blood. I just chopped off his head with a sword!"
"Lashnu is above (the god who judges good and evil in Persian mythology), this is the punishment he deserves!" Arreus said hurriedly, seeing Tisafonis's playful smile, he hurriedly said: "The Governor My lord, according to your order, I have sent cavalry to kill all the Greeks wandering outside the barracks."
"Very good, I will report your exploits to Your Majesty!" Tisafonis understood that he wanted to both deter Cyrus the Younger's troops and win over them. After all, they were nearly 10,000 troops. In Asia Minor, he had to rely on these local Persian nobles.
"Now, the main leaders of the Greek mercenaries have been taken down. I am afraid the stupid Greeks are panicking and don't know what to do. You and Cister go to the Greek military camp and try to get these Greeks to surrender..."
… … … … … …
Antonios wanted the soldiers to escort Davos to Menon's barracks, because no one dared to move Davos there.
Davos refused. He complied with the soldier's request and went to the Clearkus barracks. Because it was an avant-garde army, the barracks was also located in the far north, close to the Persians, so that he could get the news as soon as possible. He asked Hiros to call Xenophon, and at the same time told Antonios to go back to Menon's camp to be prepared. Then he thought of something, pulled Matonis and whispered to him, and Matonis looked at him in amazement. Looking at him, he finally nodded.
Watching Hiros and the others leave, Davos suppressed his nervousness and walked to the Clearkus barracks. The soldiers who escorted him couldn't help but ask, "Is Clearkus really in danger?"
Davos asked back: "Who will be in charge of your military camp when Clearkus is away?"
"Tima Song, captain of the first squadron."
"Then you'd better tell him and let him prepare for defense." Davos was talking, and the guard of the barracks shouted in surprise: "Look, Persian cavalry!!"
Davos and the soldiers looked back collectively, and saw countless Persian cavalry galloping back and forth 100 meters in front of the barracks, stirring up the sky, and screaming from time to time in the diffuse dust.
"This is..." The soldiers looked at Davos nervously.
Although the guess has been fulfilled, Davos is not at all happy: the war is finally coming! He also felt nervous in his heart.
"Quick! Come back to the camp!" He greeted the accompanying soldiers and quickly entered the camp and closed the camp door.
At this moment, a soldier emerged from the dust mist in front of him. He stumbled over with one hand covering his bleeding abdomen.
The guard and Davos rushed forward to greet him and greedy him back to the camp.
"I... We were on our way to the market... Persian cavalry... suddenly charged at us... Many brothers died... Achilles... Go and inform Achilles... There is danger..." the wounded soldier said weakly.