ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1306
And Davos once had a worry-that is, how to successfully cross the wide Euphrates River with the army under the heavy defense of the Persians, but due to the retreat of the Persian army, this worry no longer existed.

In the past few days, the engineering battalion has built three wooden bridges across the Orontis River in front of the camp. 15 soldiers crossed the Orontis River in Syria in an orderly manner. Heading straight east.

Six days later, the vanguard was approaching Taposacus.

The Euphrates River rushes out from the mountains in eastern Asia Minor, flows from north to south at the westernmost end of the Mesopotamian plain, and joins many rivers in succession, forming a series of wide lakes, reaching Taposaku Near here, it turned eastward, causing the river surface to suddenly narrow, thus becoming the best crossing section of the upper reaches of the Euphrates River. The royal road connecting the Persian royal court to Asia Minor passed through here, which also led to the formation of Taposaku. The prosperity of the city.

When the Dionian vanguard arrived on the west bank of the Euphrates River, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the Persian army did not burn the pontoon bridge on the river during their retreat. Moreover, the pontoon bridge was very spacious and could accommodate 10 soldiers walking side by side at the same time, eliminating the need for an engineering battalion. No more hard work on the pontoon bridge.

The next day, Davers followed the Chinese army and came to the west bank of the Euphrates River.He stopped at the pontoon bridge and stared at the soldiers wearing single clothes and carrying weapons and armor on their backs. With some kind of longing on their faces, they stepped firmly onto the pontoon bridge, crossed the wide Euphrates River, and embarked on the journey. The strange plain of Mesopotamia...

Davos, who was riding on the horse, straightened his upper body regardless of fatigue, placed his right fist on his left chest, and looked solemn.The palace guards who followed him also saluted the soldiers.

The soldiers passing by the bridge were surprised at first and then extremely excited when they saw this scene. However, the long dragon rolling forward did not allow anyone to stop moving forward, and the heavy packages on their shoulders made it impossible for them to free their hands, so most of them were in The young soldiers who were born in Dionia and grew up under the influence of countless victories and glory looked at the founder of the kingdom and the supreme military commander of the kingdom who had created many military miracles with great reverence, and shouted excitedly: " Your Majesty is victorious!"

"Your Majesty is victorious!...Your Majesty is victorious!!...Your Majesty is victorious!!!..." The scattered shouts at the beginning soon converged into the same voice, echoing on the bridge, and quickly rushed to the team The news was spread back and forth, and the soldiers who learned the news seemed to have taken a stimulant, forgetting the fatigue of the long journey, and accelerated the pace of advancement...

Looking at this exciting scene, Epithenes couldn't help but sigh: "We were here 30 years ago. Like these little guys, we stepped on this floating bridge with hope and entered the rich Mesopota ahead. Mia Plain..."

"Don't forget, when Menon led us as the vanguard of the entire army, we were the first to enter the Mesopotamian plains!" Amyntas, who was half lying on the carriage, took over the words and said quite proudly. .

His lower limbs were paralyzed and he could not walk. He was originally carried by slaves in a wooden sedan to march, but the speed was too slow and he could not keep up with the large army, so Davers allowed him to ride in a small open carriage.Since the army landed in Egypt, his physical condition has been poor due to the acclimatization, but when the army re-entered the route that Cyrus the Younger marched to Babylon, his spirit became better.

"Amintas, you have the nerve to say this!" Agarcia, who once belonged to another mercenary team, said disdainfully: "Back then, Menon rushed to be a vanguard, saying he wanted to explore the way for the army, but... Everyone knew that he just wanted to be the first to plunder on the Mesopotamian plains, so Cyrus agreed to his request and then issued an order to the entire army to prohibit plundering on the Mesopotamian plains. , did you feel disappointed at that time?”

"What should I be disappointed about -" Amyntas was about to retort, but suddenly thought of something and deliberately said loudly: "Hieronymus, did you just say 'we'! Don't forget, His Majesty was also one of 'us' back then!" As he spoke, he pointed at Davos, who was standing in front of him.

Hearing this, Agarcia, who had always been a quiet person among this group of veterans, became a little panicked and argued eagerly: "Don't talk nonsense, I...I -"

"Actually, the reason why we joined the mercenaries and served Cyrus the Younger back then was to survive." Hieronymus, who was once the leader of another mercenary group, spoke in time to resolve Agarcia's embarrassment. : "In fact, even Cyrus the Younger allowed us to plunder Asia Minor many times in order to solve the tight military budget. The reason why he did not allow us to plunder Mesopotamia may be that he thought that after he won the throne, Mesopotamia would Potamia will be the core area under his rule, so the people here cannot be resentful towards him."

Alexis sighed: "Asia Minor is part of the Persian territory, but neither Cyrus the Younger nor Artaxerxes cherished that vast land. Instead, they regarded the people there as aliens and took everything from them. Asia Minor How can people not rebel! How can the people in other parts of Persia be truly loyal to Persia!"

"We should thank the Persians for doing this. It is precisely because they do not regard other races as their own that we have the opportunity to invade this vast land and finally defeat this powerful enemy!" Matonis pointed to the third man who was crossing the river. A legion of soldiers said proudly: "These little guys are luckier than us. We were just tools in the hands of the Persians. We died in this strange land in a meaningless struggle for power and profit for the Persian royal family. Although they repeated Our marching route back then was fighting for themselves and the kingdom, and they will create an unprecedented great victory!"

"That's great, Matonis." Amyntas leaned back on the couch of the carriage and said with a hint of sarcasm: "Although you were not in the team I commanded back then, I heard about it then. You, a recruit who is strong and brave but has a rough temper and gives the team officers a headache... No one would have thought that decades later, you would become a general commanding tens of thousands of soldiers, and you can speak in such an orderly manner... …”

"Lord Amyntas, I heard about you back then." Matonis retorted unceremoniously: "Do you know why I didn't want to join the Centurion under your command? Because everyone called you Menon's subordinate. A mad dog, although he often leads his troops to kill at the front, he has no tactics at all, and every time he suffers heavy casualties... But I am afraid that the mercenaries who followed you and died here will never think of you decades later. He will become an important minister of a powerful kingdom and a famous general praised by the people."

Matonis's harsh words touched Amyntas' heartstrings. He did not refute, but remained silent for a moment with a painful look on his face, and then said in a deep voice: "This time we come to Persia, not only to avenge the King of Persia, but also to wash away the past. Humiliation, but more importantly, finding the bones of our comrades and bringing them home..."

As soon as these words came out, everyone fell into silence, and the atmosphere became a little solemn.

Henepolis, who had been listening to the records and collecting information for the biography to be written in the future, couldn't help but asked in a low voice: "My lords, you have just said so much, can you... briefly talk about your majesty at that time? ?He was supposed to be a young recruit then, right?"

Alexis, Philisius, Thormid and others seemed to have not heard Henepolis speak, and began to talk to each other as if no one else was around.

Even Amyntas and Epithenes, who usually spoke freely, were afraid of being entangled by the annoying Henepolis, so they simply closed their eyes and pretended to sleep.

Matonis, who was in the same team as Davos and was very familiar with him, even pulled Georgris and left the crowd on the grounds that he "wanted to urge the soldiers to march faster."

It’s not because time has passed and they can no longer remember King Davos’ performance here. On the contrary, they clearly remember: when the mercenaries came to the Euphrates River, the young Davos was swept away by this unusually wide river. Shocked, his legs felt weak when he stepped on the pontoon bridge, and he was supported by Matonis almost the whole way to the other side...

If they truthfully told these embarrassing things about Davos back then, how much impact would it have on the people of the kingdom today? !What's more, today, 30 years later, when they revisited the old place and looked back on the past, they felt even more emotional: Compared with their companions who died here, how lucky they were!Not only did he escape from being chased and intercepted by the Persian army, but he was also able to fight back in his lifetime, trample the once invincible enemy under his feet, and wash away his shame!All this is because of the man standing in front of him. It was under his leadership that the impossible became possible and created unprecedented miracles!
At this moment, they were filled with gratitude and respect for Davos.

I don’t know how long it took, but Davos turned around and said energetically: “Brothers, it’s time for us to cross the river!”

Everyone responded loudly with one voice: "Obey, Your Majesty!"

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Davers crossed the Euphrates River and found that the situation was just as the scout said: the originally golden fields were burned to black, and villages that had become ruins could be seen everywhere, the largest of which was the city of Taposakus. , not only the residences in the city were burned down, but also the city walls were completely destroyed, which made the legionnaires who originally wanted to save the hard work of building camps very angry, and they all scolded the Persians for being as timid as rats.

Although the surrounding environment became a bit harsh, Davos still issued an order: the entire army built a camp near the city of Taposakus.

(End of this chapter)