ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1308 The eve of the decisive battle
Although Henepolis translated in a gentle tone, Davos still raised his eyebrows after listening to it, snorted heavily, and said angrily: "Go back and tell Artaxerxes that I accepted his letter of challenge—— "

"Your Majesty!" Alexis interrupted him eagerly: "We can't agree! The reason why the Persians dared to declare a war must have been prepared for it. We can't agree rashly, we must consider it carefully to avoid being fooled. Their trick!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Felicius also urged: "Although the 'millions of troops' mentioned in the letter is definitely a boast, the number of Persian troops does greatly exceed ours, and we cannot engage in a battle rashly. , we should first hold the camp securely, and then look for fighters——"

"Nonsense!" Lizaru stood up and retorted: "Although the Persian army is large in number, it is timid and afraid of fighting; although our army is small in number, it is advancing bravely. Therefore, we should take advantage of the high morale of the soldiers to fight with the Persian army. Launch a battle instead of blindly defending, otherwise the pressure on logistics supply will increase..."

"Lizaru is right! We are deep in the enemy's territory, and only by moving forward bravely can we win the final victory! Any hesitation and delay will only put the entire army in trouble!..." Matonis also expressed himself loudly Views.

After a while, the entire big tent became lively, which seemed to be no different from what Trebasus had heard outside the tent before. Dozens of generals were divided into two groups, supporting or opposing the battle. The two sides argued endlessly. Unanimity is difficult to achieve.

Trebasus saw with his own eyes that King Dionia tried to stop him several times, but it didn't work. It wasn't until the guards around him beat a drum hard that everyone stopped making noise.

Davos stood up and said loudly with some embarrassment: "You all should stop fighting, I have already decided! Persians, go back and tell your king that the decisive battle will take place in two days!"

When Trebasus walked out of the Dionysian camp, his steps were brisk and his mood was relaxed, because he not only completed the task assigned by the King of Persia and successfully got the King of Dionysius to accept the letter of war, but also He also learned about the reality of the Dionian army through this mission: they were not as good at fighting as rumored, the soldiers were tired of war, the generals were arrogant and untamable, and the Dionian king was not as good as the rumors. So powerful that he couldn't even completely subdue and drive his generals...

Trebassus felt deeply that the flaws revealed by the Dionysian army would greatly increase the chances of the Persian army's victory. He was very pleased that his risk of sending an envoy to the Dionysian military camp was well worth it.

He eagerly mounted his horse, eager to return to the base immediately and report his findings to the King of Persia, but he was completely unaware of the proud smile on the face of Henepolis who was standing at the gate of the camp.

After the Persian envoy left the big tent, the big tent became lively again.

"How was my performance just now?"

"Matonis, I really didn't realize it. You can definitely be an actor at the Thurii Theater!"

"Haha, being an actor is unnecessary. I only care about whether the Persians will be fooled. After all, we urgently mobilized so many people and spent so much energy to perform this scene. It cannot be in vain!"

"I have been observing the Persian envoy just now. Every time we talk, his expression will change a little. He probably understands Greek, which just shows that he is paying attention to the situation in our camp."

"So no matter how cunning the Persians are, they can't escape His Majesty's plan!"

……

After the generals discussed enthusiastically for a while, Davos coughed lightly, and the whole big tent suddenly fell silent, which was completely different from when the Persian envoy was there before.

Davos looked around at the crowd and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, let us now discuss the strategy for a decisive battle with Persia."

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In the early morning of November 364, 11 BC (the 3th year of the Kingdom of Dionia), the sharp bugle sound suddenly sounded, and the originally peaceful Dionia camp quickly became lively.

"Brothers, don't sleep in, get up quickly!..." Just as the captains were waking up their soldiers, the chefs in the army's supply camps had already begun to prepare breakfast for the soldiers.

When the bugle sounded, Davos immediately woke up from his sleep. When he saw the guards entering the tent, his first question was: "How is the weather outside?"

"Your Majesty, the weather is fine, it's not raining, and there's no wind."

"It's a good weather for fighting!" Davos sighed.

After the Dionian army entered the Mesopotamian plains, the four seasons became somewhat distinct. The temperature in early autumn here was a little low, the air was drier, there were more sunny days and less rainy days, all of which were detrimental to the Daionian army, which was mainly heavy infantry. The battle of the Onian army was favorable. The only disadvantage was that it was often windy.

After washing up, the guard brought breakfast: a bowl of thick oatmeal porridge, a bowl of hot bustard and donkey soup, half a piece of steamed sturgeon meat, two large pieces of bread with cheese...,
When Henepolis entered the tent, he saw Davos staring at the dinner plate in a daze, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, the soldiers' breakfast is almost the same as yours! In order to meet your requirements, the supply camp was here yesterday After a day of fishing on the Euphrates River, the light cavalry ran hundreds of miles north before catching some wild beasts..."

"The outcome of a battle mainly depends on careful preparation before the battle." Davos picked up a piece of bread and said seriously: "Today's battle will probably be very long. The soldiers must eat enough food to survive." He has enough physical strength to support it. Considering that the formation alone may last until noon, Felicius notified the baggage battalion yesterday, asking them to prepare more bread for the soldiers to carry to the battlefield and have extra meals before the battle. ."

"Listening to your Majesty's words, I am even more confident in winning this battle, because it is impossible for the King of Persia to prepare such rich food for his huge army like us." Henipolis flattered, Then he sat on the wooden chair next to him, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "...I heard that people here prohibit catching this kind of fish, saying that it is a sacred object and will anger the gods..."

"The angrier the enemy gods are, the happier the great Hades will be." Davos said calmly, took a big bite of fish, chewed it a few times, and spit out the fish bones: "Have you finished breakfast? "

"I've finished eating early." Henipolis complained: "Your Majesty, I'm not like you. No matter how big the battle is, I can treat it as normal. I was so excited that I didn't fall asleep all night. I got up early today. You Look at me, the circles under my eyes are still dark.”

"You, you..." Davos looked at the funny look on his eyes and smiled.

After he finished breakfast, he chatted with Henepolis for a while, and then the captain of the palace guard came in and reported: "Your Majesty, the legions have begun to line up to leave the camp."

Davos then put on his armor and walked out of the tent. The guards had already brought his horse.

This is a Lusitanian stallion in its prime. It is fat and strong, with smooth, brown fur. It is also extremely tall. It keeps pawing the soil with its front hooves and shakes its head and neck, as if it does not want to be beaten. But when Davos walked up to it, it immediately calmed down, lowered its head, leaned close to Davos, and hummed softly.

Davos patted its face and said with a smile: "Hey, Nicky, you are going to fight with me again."

Nicky seemed to understand, rubbed Davos' hand, then raised his head and neighed happily.

Since coming to this world, this is the fifth war horse that Davos has ridden, and it is most likely the last one.

Davos patted the horse's back with emotion, then got on his horse and left the inner camp under the escort of 1000 fully armed palace guards.

Dozens of people gathered at the exit. Seeing Davos approaching, someone couldn't help shouting: "Your Majesty, we have been waiting for almost half an hour. Why did you come out? The soldiers have already left the camp!"

Although the man lying on the carriage was a little rude, Davos was not angry and said with a smile: "Amintas, your hot temper has not changed even when you are old. Don't worry, we are not here, the battle is not going to happen." It will start."

"Your Majesty!" Hieronymus, Epithenes, Geogris, Martius and others immediately stepped forward to salute.

Davos looked at them and asked, "Brothers, are you ready to fight?"

Thirty years ago, Davos became the leader of the mercenaries and after completely winning the trust of the mercenaries, he would often say such words before battle. At this moment, the veterans had mixed feelings in their ears, and after a moment they shouted excitedly :"Ready!!"

Davos waved his right hand forward vigorously: "Then let's go!"

After meeting up with the veterans, the entire team passed through the spacious camp passage and quickly left the camp.

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The Dionian army did not gather together and set off again, but each legion was led by the legion commander. After leaving their own camp, they went directly to the predetermined battlefield. Therefore, more than 20 teams were almost marching eastward side by side.

Because they had just eaten breakfast and in order not to waste energy, each team moved very slowly. The soldiers were joking and chatting in the team. The team officers did not stop it and even took the initiative to stir up the topic. If someone did not know the inside story, People looked at it and thought they were going on an outing instead of engaging in a life-and-death battle.

More than an hour later, each team gradually walked out of Taposakus and the surrounding areas that had been burned by the Persians, and set foot on the plains intertwined with green and yellow.

After walking for a while, the army commanders sent an order: "Stop advancing and rest where you are!"

"Is this the location of the battle? I don't think there's anything special about it."

"I heard that the Persian army's camp is 25 miles away from our camp. I just calculated it silently. This place is about eleven or two miles away from the camp. It is right in the middle. Isn't it a battlefield?"

(End of this chapter)