ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 10 Menon
The next day, at dawn, the army was rushed on their way.

Menon bade farewell to Ariros and rushed back to lead his troops.As he rode towards the tail of the "long dragon" of Greek mercenaries, he cursed Clearchus and the others in his heart.He believed that the reason why his troops served as rear guards was because these mercenary leaders were jealous of his close relationship with the Persians and persecuted him.

At the same time, he noticed that the marching soldiers looked tired and complained.It turned out that because of the march last night, the rest time was too short, and we had to be prepared for sneak attacks by the Persians, so we basically slept on the ground.Early in the morning, it was time to travel again, and the soldiers soon became tired and hungry.However, the various supply camps could not produce more food, which made the morale of the soldiers low.

Menon thought to himself: The food situation in other military camps is so bad, wouldn't it be even more miserable for his subordinates who have been bullied because of his absence in the past two days!He was afraid that the soldiers would cause trouble, so he drove his horse hurriedly. He didn't slow down until he saw many familiar faces.

As a result, he was surprised to find that: unlike what he had imagined, these soldiers were in good spirits, and many of them were chewing a string of black things hanging on their chests while walking.So, out of curiosity, he called a team officer to ask.

"This is called bacon sausage. It can fill your stomach and won't go bad if you keep it for a few days." The team officer pointed to the thing on his chest.

Menon cut off a small piece and tasted it. Although it was a bit dry, the taste was okay.Seeing that soldiers in other military camps were starving, but his own soldiers were well fed, he felt happy: "Is this...smoked...meat sausage made by Melses?"

"No. It's Davos - a 'god's favored one'!"

"God's Favorite?" Menon curiously asked about the situation in detail. After listening to the team officer's words, his face began to turn gloomy, and he immediately noticed that some soldiers did hold two extra javelins.

"Where is this Davos?"

"His company was sent to protect the supply camp." The team officer obviously didn't look at him and asked a little excitedly: "Are you going to see him?"

The look on the team officer's face made Menon give up his mind: He was just a country boy from a small village in Thessaly, was he worth making a fuss about?Rushing to see a soldier is completely inconsistent with his identity, and since he is on the march now, there will be plenty of time for him to come see him in the future.

...........................

From early morning to mid-morning and then into the afternoon, the troops kept marching without rest.

Davos felt like his legs were filled with lead, every step was difficult, his throat was dry, and his shield, spear and javelin became a burden.In the morning, he could still talk and laugh with his companions. Now he felt that opening his mouth was a waste of his little energy, but he gritted his teeth and persisted, because his companions around him were also marching in silence.

Finally, the troops stopped.The news from the front made them nervous again after they had just breathed a sigh of relief: Persian cavalry was discovered!
Soon another news came: it was not the cavalry, but the beasts of burden of the Persian army eating grass.

The procession moves on.

The sky was getting dark, and not long after walking, Davos saw dense smoke rising in the distance.

Hieros told him: "That must be the Persian army's camp."

However, the team was still moving forward without any intention of guarding or avoiding.

It was late and there was no moonlight.The march became more difficult as the soldiers relied on torches to advance.

Finally, an order came from the front: camp and rest on the spot.

The terrain here is flat, there are few trees, and it is impossible to direct the construction of the camp in the dark.At the same time, because there were Persian troops nearby, they were worried about being attacked.The soldiers shouted the names of their friends to each other and gathered together to figure out how to camp.The equally exhausted team officers were unable to control order, and the entire rearguard unit was in chaos, shouting and making a huge noise like a boiling cauldron.Many beasts of burden in the baggage camp were frightened and ran around in panic, injuring many people.The screams made the troops even more frightened and in danger of collapse at any time.

At the critical moment, Clearchus sent the only cavalry squad among the Greek mercenaries, each holding a torch, to rush to the rearguard, loudly announced Clearchus's order, asked the soldiers to keep quiet, and ordered the baggage camp to watch. livestock, and there was a penalty for anyone who let go of a beast of burden.After arresting several soldiers who made trouble out of fear, the troops gradually returned to peace.

Only then did Menon find the leader of the cavalry, Thormid, known as the "best herald."

"How did Clearchus command the troops to march! There was almost a camp roar! I was gone for just one day, and things turned so bad! He is not worthy of commanding the entire army!..." Menon took the opportunity to belittle Clearchus .

Tormid said nothing knowingly.

"Where is he now?"

Tormid hesitated for a moment: "...in the vanguard."

Menon noticed his hesitation and immediately asked: "Are you like us, without a camp to live in?"

Tormid had to tell the truth: "The vanguard lives in the village...Menon, this is a special period -"

Menon sneered and interrupted him: "Is this the so-called fair and just Clearkus?! He lives in a warm house and lets us sleep on the cold and damp ground!!" Menon also understood that it is not appropriate to stimulate anymore at this moment! Soldier, but he couldn't help roaring.

Fortunately, the surrounding soldiers were already exhausted after the previous toss, and after cursing a few words, they all fell to the ground and fell asleep.

"Menon! Menon!..." At this time, someone shouted.

It's Mercy!Menon hurriedly led him over: "How is your place? Is there any loss?" The supply camp is the place he cares most about, because all his belongings are stored there, and only when he has money can he have soldiers.

"No!" Mercy's chubby face showed a smug smile: "We formed a big circle around the baggage wagon, tied the pack animals to the wagon, and everyone slept in it, so it's safe!"

"Aren't those livestock kicking and screaming?" Tormid asked curiously. Most of the supply camps he had seen before were in chaos.

"Davos asked me to cover the eyes of these animals, and they turned out to be very obedient!" Merses said excitedly.

It's that Davos again!Menon frowned.

"Menon, this little guy is very smart! If you assign him to the supply camp, it will be much easier for me." Melsis asked.

"I'll talk about it later." Menon said lightly.The supply camp was his foundation, and Melsis was related to him, and he was good at financial management and management, and he had no ambitions, so he dared to use it with confidence.Let a stranger into the supply camp, and a clever stranger at that, what if he finds out his secret?
.....................

Early the next morning, the herald woke up Menon and informed him that the king's messenger had arrived and the chiefs invited him to come over for discussion.

Menon rode on his horse and galloped towards the frontmost mercenary barracks, but there was no sign of the Persian barracks in his field of vision anymore.It turned out that the loud noise of the mercenaries frightened the Persians last night, and they withdrew the camp ten miles overnight.

When he was approaching the military meeting tent, Menon saw four heavy infantry brigades fully loaded and lined up in front of the camp.He walked into the big tent doubtfully and saw Clearchus, Proxenus, Achilles, Socrates (not the philosopher in Athens), Sothis and other leaders already waiting in the tent. Everyone is fully armed.

Seeing Clearkus, Menon snorted and said sarcastically: "It seems that you all had a good night last night, but my soldiers are more pitiful, sleeping on the wet ground all night!"

As a Spartan, Clearkus was straightforward and stubborn. He also disliked Menon and did not want to talk to him.

Achilles chuckled: "Hey, when did Menon start caring about soldiers?!"

Proxenus hurriedly came out to smooth things over: "Menon, I heard from Tormid that there were no accidents in your supply camp last night. That's amazing! Give us some experience too."

"It's not just a supply camp! Menon's soldiers also made something... called bacon sausage. As a result, everyone was starving, but his soldiers were fed by this thing!" Socrates told the others said the man.His troops were just in front of Meron's troops in the marching column, so they had a better understanding of the situation.

"Menon, tell us about your experience in the camp." The requests from Sosis and the other leaders made Melon feel a little carried away. He couldn't help but said: "No matter how difficult the environment arranged for me is, I can still figure out how to solve it. So just knowing how to fight is not a good leader!"

"Okay... let the envoy of the King of Persia come in. Let's all listen together. What new proposals does the king have?" Clearkus interrupted Menon's show off.

The leaders began to cheer up, and Menon reluctantly shut up.

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(End of this chapter)