And on this day, the Persians were not idle either.
After the successful harassment of Artauzus, he returned to the barracks, proudly showed his achievements to Arreus, and proposed: Let Arreus entrust all the cavalry and archers to his command, and he will surely command the Greeks. People were defeated in one fell swoop.
Arreus first congratulated him, and then began to find reasons to perfunctory Artauzus. After all, the army of Cyrus the Younger was defeated in the battle with the King of Persia before. After he gathered it, there were only more than 7,000 people left. If we did as Artauzus said, Arreus' men would There are only three thousand people left. As the nominal commander-in-chief of this army, the troops under his jurisdiction are actually not as many as his subordinates, which makes him how to order the whole army. Besides, a Persian army would not be a Persian army without archers. Therefore, the cautious and stingy Arreus disapproved of this gambling-style tactics.
Artauzus was furious when he saw Arreus' disapproval. He thought: It was Arreus who was jealous of him and didn't want to see him succeed.
So, in a fit of rage, he ran directly to Tisafonis' camp.
… … … …
"As long as you give you enough cavalry and archers, you can defeat the Greeks?!" Tisafonis asked suspiciously.
"Lord Governor, because of the little Cyrus, I have had many contacts with the Greek mercenaries to understand the situation of their army. Most of their soldiers are heavy infantry and move clumsily. As long as they don't fight at close range, they will They had few archers and were no match for us at all. So I attacked them with only four hundred cavalry and archers, without losing a single soldier, leaving about five hundred Greeks Human casualties (this is obviously an exaggerated result), if not for the exhaustion of bows and arrows, the Greek casualties will be even greater!" Artauzus said respectfully: "Therefore, I want to increase the number of cavalry and archers, Increase the long-range attack on the Greeks, increase their casualties, and hope to defeat them as soon as possible, and solve these Greek barbarians as soon as possible for the adults and the king!"
Then he changed his words: "But Arreus rejected my proposal, I can only come to the Governor!"
Tisafonis did not answer directly, but said with a sad expression: "I am very sad and surprised at the death of Mithradat!"
"At the same time, his death may also give confidence to the Greeks who have lost their leaders!" Tisafonis' expression turned solemn: "I heard that the Spartan inspector Kerisopes became the leader of this army. New leader, isn't it?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. That's what the Greek soldiers who escaped said," said Artauzus.
"We must not let him take over this Greek army smoothly and gain prestige!" Tisafonis said coldly and firmly: "We must keep hitting them, let them keep fleeing, cry for death, and starve And wailing! Artauzus, since your method is very effective, let me continue to fight the Greeks with this method of warfare! I will give you two thousand archers and five hundred cavalry archers, and where Arreus—”
Tisafonis turned his head to Cister, who was standing aside and said, "I have to trouble you to go first. Since Arreus dares not fight against the Greeks, then hand over the soldiers to someone who is capable to lead them! Otherwise! , I don't mind discussing with him what he did during the little Cyrus' rebellion!"
Sister smiled indifferently: "Lord Governor, don't be so angry. I believe Arreus is a sensible person."
"He had better be like this!" A cold light flashed in Tisafonis' eyes.
"Thank you for your trust in the Governor, I will bring you the news of victory!" Artauzus exclaimed excitedly.
"When you win, you will be my adjutant," Tisafonis promised.
Watching Artauzus happily follow Sisto out of the tent, Ojuntas said with some worry: "Can this Artauzus really succeed?"
"Since he has already won a perfect victory, why can't there be a second time? If the Greeks can be eliminated in one go, I am willing to take a gamble!" Tisafonis said firmly.
"I didn't expect that the Spartan inspector was actually in this mercenary army! It seems that the little Cyrus' rebellion must also have the support of the Spartans!" Ojuntas said bitterly, as Artaxer Son-in-law of the King of the Sith, he was of course wary of any accomplices who might be Cyrus the Younger.
"The Greeks hated us, and it has been so for decades. Back then, I was against funding Sparta and against Athens, but it's a pity that His Majesty Darius was blinded by Cyrus the Younger and removed me from my post, reusing the Younger Cyrus and supporting Sparta!" Tisafonis said bitterly: "What is the result! Sparta supported the little Cyrus rebellion, so as to profit from it! Sparta and Athens should continue to be at war, not help It is in our Persian interests that Sparta wins!"
"You're right, Tisafonis! When the matter here is over, I will definitely suggest to the king to reconsider the relationship with Sparta."
"Yes, that's why I have to deal with these Greeks quickly. Artauzus will bring us good news, he will!"
… … … … …
In the evening of this day, the leaders gathered again in the military tent.
"The slinger company already has a sling in hand. After a day of training and skilled use, it can already go into battle and kill the enemy!" Crianno reported to everyone that because his troops were the rear guard, they lost the most in yesterday's battle. . Therefore, at his strong request, this new company was temporarily under his command.
Then, Davos also made a report: "There is no problem with the cavalry team going into battle to kill the enemy." Because most of the cavalry came from his barracks, and he was on the flank, the cavalry was temporarily under his control.
Davers spoke briefly. After watching a day of cavalry training, he also had a general understanding of the cavalry's attack methods in this era: horse ramming, spear jabs, tender spears, and bow and arrow shooting. Since there are no stirrups, I dare not run with all my strength, and I dare not use all my strength to fight, otherwise it is easy to fall off the horse.
The newly created cavalry were armed with only one weapon—the lance, so their best attack—was to chase down rout enemies.
At this time, Clethorpes said: "Everyone, today I took my guide and went out to the camp to explore the road to be marched tomorrow and the surrounding terrain-"
"This is so dangerous! Now the Persian detectives are roaming around our camp, and if they encounter them, it will be troublesome!" Tima Song shouted.
"I was prepared for this, and at the same time, with the blessing of Zeus, I did not encounter the Persians." Kerisopes nodded to Timasone and thanked him for his concern: "Instead, I have made an important discovery."
"What important discovery?!" Crianno asked anxiously.
"I found that there are several mountains about four miles ahead, and there is only one canyon to pass through, otherwise you have to go around a long way." Clethhorpes said, using a wooden stick to gesture on the grass: "This About twenty people can pass through the canyon side by side."
"You mean... afraid of the Persians attacking us as we pass through the canyon!" Zantiparis asked worriedly.
"This is indeed a problem. However, it can be solved completely. The Persians must have never imagined that we would set off through the gorge before dawn." Xenophon said with an idea.
"This is a good way! The Persians are afraid of the night, especially their cavalry can easily fall off their horses when they can't see the way under their feet in the dark. So when the little Cyrus used to march with the Persians, they always We have to wait until it's full daylight before we leave the camp, and Mithradat caught up with us for a long time the day before yesterday, and if it was the same tomorrow, we would have passed the canyon long ago." Crianno agreed, and the others followed suit. They all agreed, then turned their attention to Clethorpes, who had the final say.
Kerisopes glanced at everyone and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, I have a plan. Since the Persians are chasing after us, we can use this canyon to hit them hard!"