"Will Persia do it too?" Asisters asked curiously.
"Where's Greece?" Marighi immediately turned around and glared, asking not to be outdone.
Davos glanced at the two of them and said half-jokingly and half-seriously, "If you live long enough, maybe you can see it in fifty years."
"Is this an oracle?" Asisters asked excitedly.
Marigi was clearly in disbelief.
Davos smiled and didn't answer. If the weak wings of his butterfly weren't enough to change the course of history, decades later (he couldn't remember exactly), Alexander of Macedon conquered mainland Greece and then wiped out Persia. Because the Greeks did not consider the Macedonians in the north to be their own, in a sense, he conquered the two most powerful forces in the Mediterranean at the time.
… … … … …
For the next two days, the Greek mercenaries still marched briskly.
It was not until the third day that the army of Tisafonis appeared.
Now, the 50-member light cavalry squad of the Greek mercenaries is basically scattered by Davos to be used as scout cavalry. After all, the Persian cavalry has a strong personal ability and can fight one-on-one, and the Greek cavalry is not an opponent. Therefore, they were in groups of five, and they did not dare to leave the main force too far. They only moved within a radius of two or three miles. When they saw the Persian troops from a distance, they immediately reported back.
"The Persians are here, prepare to defend!"
"Pass on the orders of Thorpes, prepare for defense!"
The messengers roamed quickly around the perimeter of this huge phalanx, conveying orders.
The large hollow phalanx used by the Greek mercenaries guards the baggage battalion in the center, so it is impossible to change the formation before the enemy is in contact. They just let the baggage battalion gather in the center. The soldiers are armed with shields and spears. Keep the formation intact.
Soon, the Persians appeared right behind the line. From the flags flying high, the soldiers knew that Tisafonis was coming. The Greek mercenaries had easily defeated him in the Battle of Kunasak, so they didn't take it too seriously.
Then, another team appeared on the left flank of Tisafonis. As the array advanced, the Greeks felt tight, and this was another army of no less than 10,000 people! Everyone is familiar with the emblem on the military flag. The Governor of Armenia, Ojuntas, is here, which was originally estimated by the leaders.
Then, another large army appeared on the right flank of Tisafonis, again no less than 10,000 people, and the flag held high made everyone familiar.
"Oh, I remember! That was the army we met on the way, said to be led by the brother of the king of Persia!" cried Asistes.
"This army that was supposed to march in the opposite direction of us turned out to be here! I'm afraid it has been quietly following us! Tisafonis has long harbored malice against us!" Felixius said solemnly.
Davos nodded stiffly, clutching the reins with both hands.
The army of Tisafonis also included the remnants of Cyrus the Younger led by Arreius.
The seemingly endless and dense crowd was the most the Greek mercenaries had ever seen after the Battle of Kurasac. The last time they had Cyrus as their support, the mercenaries were only responsible for the right flank, and now they have to face the Persians. In the whole army, everyone is inevitably a little nervous.
Despite the tension, when the Greeks knew that only bloody battles could survive. Crianno has been watching the distance the enemy has traveled, and looking at the range of the slingers, he immediately issued an order: "Prepare the slingers!"
The slingers in the entire rear guard force immediately began to swing the slings. At a distance of more than 300 meters, the accuracy and strength of the flying stones will be poor, but the Persians are so numerous and dense that almost every stone When it fell, there was a scream, and the Persian army in the middle was in chaos, and the pace of advancement almost stopped.
"Lord Governor, the enemy's attack is too violent! Shall we retreat temporarily and let the troops on both flanks push up first?" An adjutant beside him suggested to Tisafonis.
Tisafonis' face was also not good-looking, but he refused without hesitation. Although he was appointed by the king to be in charge of this plan to expel the Greeks, Orontas only assisted, and the king's brother Citiers only amicably helped. But one is a governor of the same level as him, and is also the king's son-in-law; the other is the king's brother. If he didn't do his best, how could he want them to give their full help, not to mention that they had a close relationship with the king, and when he went back, he told Artaxerxes about his performance in private, and the good impression he finally established in the heart of the Persian king was all destroyed.
Tisafonis glared at the adjutant, and immediately ordered: "Speed up and keep approaching!" This time, he had a total force of nearly 50,000 in his hands. Man, he has it! Since the Greeks want to compete with him in long-range firepower, let's compete and see who can shoot accurately! See who can stand it! Anyway, he was not going to fight with Greece in melee. After the Kurasack battle, the Greeks charged with heavy infantry and easily defeated the left flank of the Polish army. It happened beside him, and the impact on him was too great.
The Persians screamed and ran all the way. Tisafonis even sent his own troops to supervise the battle and cut down the deserters one by one to warn the whole army. Under such circumstances, the two flanks of the Polish army quickly surrounded the mercenaries. Because the Persians had too many troops and the mercenaries formed a square and circular formation, the Persian army stretched its front and surrounded almost the entire mercenary army.
Davos had already dismounted, and the war horse was led to the baggage battalion in the center of the phalanx. Facing the approaching enemy, he was not as nervous as he was at the beginning: "Evert the shield wall!"
Asisters and his two messengers conveyed Davos' orders throughout the left flank.
The four columns of heavy infantry squadrons began to move closer and closer, with round shields stacked on top of each other, and soon a long copper wall was erected. The round shield of the Greek heavy infantry is unique among the infantry of the Mediterranean countries. The round shield has a diameter of one meter, a wooden core, and is wrapped in copper skin. It is not held by hand, but the entire forearm passes through the two grips on the back of the round shield. The handle is thus labor-saving and not easy to slip off, because it is large and hard enough to be penetrated by a bow and arrow.
The archers floating behind the heavy infantry also quickly got close to the shield wall, reducing the damage of the opponent's bow and arrows. Since the 6,000 men of Artauzus were wiped out before, the Cretan archers in the mercenary army not only replaced the Persians' opponents. Qugong even selected soldiers from heavy infantry and light shield soldiers who were good at using bows and arrows, and joined the ranks of archers, making the number of archers in the mercenary army reached 500, and they were scattered in the rear and left and right flanks.
When the Persian army approached within 100 meters, both sides fired arrows almost simultaneously.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!..." A series of bowstrings sounded, and countless arrows leaped into the air like a large cloud, obscuring the blue sky and the scorching sun. The secret of the arrows even caused many arrows to collide in the air. When most of the "dark clouds" fell on the mercenary army, there was a crisp sound of "clang! clang! clang!...", and occasionally there was one or two screams. ; When a small part of the "dark cloud" fell on the side of the Persian army, it was screaming again and again...
Arrows on both sides.
The Persians even pushed the front to fifty meters and stopped advancing half a point. Because the Persians knew very well that the Greek light shields should go into battle.
… … … …
The bow and arrow battle went on for a while.
The mercenary army, except that the land under the long and square shield wall is relatively clean, the surrounding area is densely filled with arrows, and the Greek archers with empty quivers do not have to worry at all, and they simply pull a "arrow grass" on the ground. ", and hit back.
Davos was accustomed to the sound of arrows hitting the round shield. What he was more worried about was the muffled humming in his ears from time to time, which meant that someone was shot by another arrow. His left arm was also a little sore and numb, but he remained motionless in the same posture, not daring to evacuate the round shield. Now both sides are fighting for perseverance to see who can persevere to the end.