On the second day of the march, Davos rode on his horse, proud of the spring breeze, and his mind was lingering on the joy he had with Cristoia last night: Cristoia was not only beautiful, but her figure was indeed as she looked. Sexy, snow-white and smooth skin, the undulating curves made him addicted, and her extremely flexible body made him indulge in it. If it wasn't for Olivers to cover up for him outside, I'm afraid someone would have broken the good news, so he would have let Olivers' "crime" eavesdropping outside.
When the passion was over, when Cristoia lay in his arms and shyly expressed her willingness to be with him, Davos felt that the gap between himself and the world seemed to be much smaller, and this concern also made him feel good about it. What to do in the future, one more thought: Davos is from a modern society and an adult, and he knows that passion cannot last. Cristoia was born in a noble family, and she was the concubine of Cyrus the Younger, enjoying a luxurious life. And now he is just a mercenary, an ordinary civilian in Greek society, not even a citizen, living in no fixed place, wandering around, it is okay for a short time, and it is difficult to guarantee that Cristoia will not give up for a long time... Of course, This idea was buried in his heart, and now is not the time to ponder, because the first problem at present is to return to Greece safely and alive.
The presence of the Persians spoiled his good mood.
This time, Tisafonis changed his strategy, not attacking, but harassing. The Persians followed the mercenaries closely, keeping a safe distance. From time to time, another group of cavalry archers rushed up, shot a round of arrows, and immediately escaped. It did little damage to the mercenaries, but it kept their nerves in a tense state, affecting the marching speed and morale.
The leaders had nothing to do about it. The only thing they could do was to mix slingers, archers, and hoplites, so that when facing the fast Persian cavalry archers, they could force them not to be too arrogant.
Meanwhile, the Greek mercenaries encountered other difficulties. As the distance from the Duqya Mountains gets closer and closer, the plains gradually turn into hills, and the terrain becomes rugged. The huge square formation of the Greek army cannot be kept intact, especially when crossing rivers and trekking through narrow mountain roads, the entire formation is completely Fragmented. The Persian cavalry took advantage of the situation and used bows and arrows to cause even more confusion to the mercenaries.
After deliberation, the leaders had to take out from the vanguard the small mercenaries who had joined Kerisopes (because the Persians had attacked mainly from the rear and the flanks so far) into four or five companies. , each company of about 200 men, placed in the flanks and the rear of the troops. As soon as the formation developed a large gap, or was compressed due to the narrow terrain, they rushed out, forming a new rearguard, blocking the charge of the Persian cavalry, and providing a barrier for the archers and slingers who followed.
In this way, the mercenaries tried every means to deal with the harassing Persian cavalry while marching. This situation lasted for four or five days. It is impossible to climb the mountain.
Breathless, they trudged up the rugged mountain road, over the first mountain, and came to the foot of the second mountain, and the team stopped to rest because of exhaustion.
Most of the soldiers took off their armors, wiped their sweat, and sat down to rest. The guards of the baggage battalion had to check the injuries and damages of the pack animals and vehicles while they were resting. After resting for a while, after regaining strength, continue marching.
The attack came suddenly, and countless bows and arrows and flying stones roared, and the mercenaries were caught off guard: soldiers screamed, women screamed, pack animals ran around, and the whole team became a mess.
The first to react were Kerethorpes and his 800 Spartans, because these Spartans did not throw away their weapons and armor like other soldiers after going down the mountain, and their physical strength was relatively weak after regular training. Exhausted, when Kerethorps found that the attack came from the second mountain, he immediately ordered: "Sparta, go forward!"
The Spartans immediately followed him, raising their shields and charging towards the top of the mountain.
The rate of fire of the Persian light infantry was very fast, and the arrows slanted down the mountain one after another.
After the initial chaos, the mercenaries reacted very quickly. After all, they were all veteran warriors. They quickly grabbed the round shield beside them and hid themselves under the shield. Only the personnel of the baggage battalion, except for the guards, are mostly slaves or looted women without any combat experience. Driven by fear, most people do not flee, but run around, so in the dense rain of arrows down, a lot of injuries.
At this time, Davos was in a state of anxiety. In order to take into account the influence of the camping, he did not go to Cristoya for the past few days. Now the situation is urgent, and he does not know if she is safe.
"Asisters, tell the officers to form a shield wall and move towards the baggage and medical battalions!" he shouted loudly.
"Yes, chief!"
In fact, without his order, Felixius, Capus, and Antonios have already led the troops to raise the round shield above their heads and form a shield array to move towards the center.
Olivers and Matonis immediately rushed forward with their shields to protect Davos.
Davers yelled, "Maligi! Marigi, are you alright?!"
"I'm fine!" Marigi yelled behind him.
"Protect him quickly, don't let him get hurt!" Davers ordered.
Although Matonis looked down on this Persian, he always followed Davos' orders meticulously.
At this time, he was the acting captain of the escort, and under his order, several people from Giorgris came to protect Marigi.
Marigi stared at Davos's back without saying a word, his eyes full of gratitude.
Davos didn't have time to see Marigi's situation. He was half-kneeling, trying to look towards the baggage camp from under the shield, which was in chaos.
He rushed to the center anxiously, and when he saw that the shield formation was also erected on the other side of the medical camp, he breathed a sigh of relief. To avoid suspicion, he first shouted: "Helps! Helps!"
"I'm here!" Helps' voice came from under the shield array: "We're all right!"
Hearing this, Davos was completely relaxed. At this time, Hiros came over and briefly explained the situation to him: the reason why the doctors and slave girls in the medical camp were safe was also related to Cristoia. When the first wave of arrows rained down, she immediately called them to hide under the pack car, and Hiros then directed the accompanying more than 100 wounded soldiers to form a shield formation to protect the safety of most people.
Hiros praised Cristoia's quick and calm response in the face of danger, which gave Davos a new understanding of this woman. Perhaps this is why among the young Cyrus' concubines, she was the only one from Persia. The reason why people escape from looting.
The baggage camp was much worse. Mersis was not injured under the protection of the guards. Many slaves and women were shot by arrows, and several pack beasts died. Facing the mourning face of Mersis, Davos, who was used to life and death, did not send people to protect these non-combatants who had been running around. Fortunately, the Persian attack didn't last long and stopped, as the troops led by Kerethorpes were almost rushing to the top of the mountain.
Of course the Persians would not fight recklessly with the mercenaries, they retreated quickly.
Kerethorpes left the Spartans on the top of the mountain as a precaution.
After descending the mountain, Kerisopes summoned the leaders to discuss how to deal with it. He said: "The Persians are all light infantry, and we can't catch up with them. The mountain continued to attack us with bows and arrows. Our ranks were too large to avoid."
Saying it was a negotiation, he actually thought of a countermeasure on the way back down the mountain: "I did a careful survey on the top of the mountain just now, these mountains are not high and the area is not large, you can send a team to start with the next one. On the right side of the mountain, go around to the back, and then I lead my soldiers to the front. If the Persians want to occupy the higher ground and continue to attack us, we will cut off our back."
Kerethorpes prodded the sketches on the ground hard with a stick: "Then surround and kill them."