"Lord Governor, did you really let the Greeks go like this?" the adjutant on the side asked unwillingly.
"Let it go?!" Tisafonis glared at him fiercely: "This is the order of the king, and I have followed his will and successfully drove the Greek barbarians into Durkia! Do you think they will be better off in the future? ?!"
Tisafonis pointed to the vast mountains in front of him, and said fiercely: "The steep and narrow mountain road, the mountain forests infested with snakes and insects, and the ferocious Durkiya mountain people will swallow up their courage! Even if they barely pass Durkiya. , and the army of Orontas is waiting for them in front! Even if Orontas can't stop them, they will meet the Calybians, the Cardans, the Macronians... Let these savages Let's fight each other! I think how many Greek barbarians can go back to Greece in the end?!"
He sneered and said, "We don't have to spend all our time and energy here, Asia Minor still has important things to do. Withdraw the army! Go back!" Looking at Arreus' expressionless face, he was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously turned his head to look at the rolling hills again: It turned out that capturing the leader of the Greek mercenary army was already a great achievement. Under the circumstance that everything went well, he had a new idea, which resulted in the death of Mithradat and Artauzus, and the casualties of more than 10,000 soldiers, which greatly reduced his achievements. Next, I hope that the Greeks will be wiped out in the mountains as they think, so that the hatred in their hearts can be relieved!
But, is it really possible
… … … … … …
The mercenaries arrived at the edge of the Duqya Mountains on the second day and began to camp. The next action depends on whether Mariji's mission to the Duqya tribe is successful.
Davos and other leaders sent Marij to the mountain pass, accompanied by dozens of soldiers led by Hiros, who drove several pack trucks, which were loaded with armor, Shields, spears, these are the weapons and equipment that the Dukeya mountain people lack, and there are more than a dozen Dukeya people, mainly slaves that Davos had Mersis intercepted from the Persian village. .
"Marigi, it's all up to you!" Davos gave him a strong hug, then whispered in his ear: "If things go wrong, get out as soon as possible, Hiros will help you escape. Negotiations It doesn't matter if it doesn't work, we can still break in hard, your safety is the most important thing."
Marigi was stunned for a moment, looked at the other leaders behind Davos, and then said loudly: "Don't worry, with these weapons, with those Dukiya people, our negotiation is half successful! I used to talk to this tribe. The leader of Comoros, who has done many transactions, still knows him relatively well. He has always been very ambitious and tried his best to make his tribe strong and monopolize the trade route between Armenia, Duqya and Media. , so he has fought with the surrounding tribes, and I believe our proposal will make him very interested!"
"I hope so." Tima Song stepped forward and urged bluntly: "You better hurry up, don't forget, we can only wait for you here for a day!"
Marigi glanced at him and said nothing.
Davos ignored Timothy and went up to give Hiros a stronger hug. As for Hiros, who strongly urged to go and tried to persuade him to no avail, Davos knew that his choice was the right one. Only this most capable confidant as a follower would make Marigi fully believe: In any situation, Divers will Stuart won't give up on them easily.
Davos put his gratitude in his heart and said to Hiros, "Come back safely, brother!"
Hiros stepped back and solemnly gave a military salute.
Davos watched them walk into the forest until the dense trees completely obscured their figures...
"It feels really strange. We were driven here by the Persians, and we still have to rely on a Persian to help us out of the dangerous situation." Krianno said in a strange tone.
"Don't think too much about it, Krianno. We're all looking forward to the success of this Persian, aren't we?" Zantiparis said lightly.
"Maybe this is the arrangement of the gods, and they are happy with this wonderful collision of fate." Xenophon's eyes were full of anticipation: "And now we can only wait patiently."
"Besides waiting, prepare for battle," Kerethorpes reminded everyone. After speaking, he turned back to the camp.
… … … … …
On this day, the mercenary leaders banned all soldiers from going out to prevent these predatory and idle mercenaries from clashing with the mountain people of Dukeya, thus affecting their plans and raising the alert of the entire army. Defend against attacks from Durkiya or Persians.
But nothing happened that day. Only occasionally there were a few Dukya mountain people in short fur jackets and red stripes painted on their faces, with hatchets in their hands and bows and arrows on their backs, wandering around the camp.
The soldiers watched and commented.
Compared with the ease and ease of the soldiers, the leaders have been nervously worrying about whether the plan will be accepted by the Dukya people, especially Davos, who has not slept well all night.
Until the next morning, Asisters broke into the tent and shook him awake: "Maligi is back!"
Davos was so excited that his sleepiness disappeared.
"Leader, the leader of the Dukeya tribe, Comoro, has followed my advice and is willing to form an alliance with us!" Mariji shouted excitedly from behind Asistes.
"Great!" Davos jumped up, put his hands on Marigi's shoulders, and said happily: "You saved the entire mercenary army, and all the Greek soldiers must thank you!"
There was a smile on Marigi's face, and then he looked embarrassed: "Hiros and the others couldn't come back because Comoro wanted to entertain them well."
Davos was stunned for a moment. He heard the strangeness of Marigi's voice and asked with an ugly face, "Hostage?"
Marighi explained quickly: "Yes, for safety, because Comoro will personally discuss the alliance with the leaders!"
Davos's expression softened slightly, and he asked urgently, "At what time? Where?"
"Originally, he wanted you to go to the cottage to negotiate, but I refused. I tried my best, and was threatened with a knife several times by him. Finally, after repeated arguments, it was decided at the foot of the mountain in front of me, and the time was this afternoon." Mariji stressed the difficulty of his negotiations.
"This afternoon... at the foot of the mountain ahead..." Davos pondered, then raised his eyebrows and said, "It seems that this Comoro is very eager to form an alliance!"
"Yes, Chief!" Mariji's face became bright.
"Then what are you waiting for! Come and find Clethorpes and the others with me!" After speaking, the doctor strode out.
… … … … … …
In the afternoon, Kerethorpes, Crianno, and Davos led fifty Spartans to the foot of the mountain, led by Marigi. In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the leaders of Clearkus who were wiped out in one go, the other leaders of the mercenaries led their troops to line up at the mountain pass a mile away from the foot of the mountain.
"It's right there." Marigi pointed to the front: on the grass not far away, there was a tree stump that was larger than the round shield of a Greek soldier. , next to the stake, there is a winding path that goes up to the depths of the mountain...
"This Dukeya leader is a conscientious person." As the proponent of this plan, Davos had to show his confidence in it, so he was the first to walk over, remove the dust and leaves on the wooden pier, and sit down.
Clethhorpes also sat down calmly.
Crianno looked around, then slowly sat down.
Marigi was standing directly beside Davos.
At this time, it was already late autumn. The weather was mild when we marched in the Tigris Valley. When we arrived in the Duqya Mountains, the weather turned cooler, the grass began to wither and yellow, the mountain wind blew, the leaves fell continuously, and a thick layer was spread on the ground.
Kerisopes looked up at the bare branches, and said worriedly: "We must pass through this mountainous area as soon as possible, otherwise the winter will come and the mountains will be even colder, and the soldiers will not have thick clothes to keep warm..."
Kerethorpes' words reminded Davos that he had never really thought about it.
When the three Kerethorpes began to discuss how to cope with the arrival of winter, the Duqa Mountains came: dozens of sturdy middle-aged men, and an old man dressed in strange clothes.