ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 25 Negotiations Broke Down
When he was approaching the Persian cavalry, Felicius told Davos: The Persians leading the front were Alireus, Artauzus and Mithridates. The three of them were the most trusted subordinates of Cyrus during his lifetime. .The other Persian in the middle, whom Davos knew, was the former Persian envoy Theaster.

When the team officers reached about 20 meters away from the Persian cavalry, they stopped.

"Please come closer!" Alireus pointed to the front of his horse.

The team officers didn't move.

Theaster couldn't help but sarcastically asked: "Are all Greeks so timid?"

"Because the Persians have broken their promises time and time again, we no longer dare to trust the Persians!" Xenophon retorted.

"Yes, the Persians are all shameless villains. They can even deceive gods!" Crisano cursed angrily. His words resonated with other team officers, and the curses spread.

"Please stay quiet! Listen carefully to the king's orders!!" Alireus shouted loudly.

"That's your king, not ours. If you want to say it, say it. If you don't say it, we will go back!" Davos also shouted.

"We Greeks are free, unlike the Persians who are all slaves of your king!" Timazon shouted half proudly and half mockingly.

Alireus was so angry that his nose was crooked. He turned his head to look at Cister, who nodded at him. Then he helplessly unfolded the papyrus in his hand and read aloud: "Greeks, I, Artaxerxes Os, lord of the Persians, king of all races, declared that Clearcus had violated his oath and broken the truce, and that the gods had punished him. Proxinus, Menon, Achilles, Socrates, four The leader is being honored by my governor, Tisafonis, for reporting on his conspiracy! In order to prevent such a terrible betrayal from happening again on the way, and also for safety—” Alireus raised his voice and said solemnly: “ Demand all Greek soldiers to hand over your weapons, because the money for these weapons came from the rebellious Cyrus the Younger, and his money came from the treasury of Persia, which should belong to me! Hand over the weapons, I to the Supreme God Mazda I swear to ensure that you reach Ionia smoothly!"

"Hahaha!!..." Davos laughed loudly: "The wolf tricked the deer into being friends, and then ate them. The wolf who tasted the benefits also wanted to trick all the deer into breaking their horns, so that the wolf could rest assured and bold. Enjoy their meat! Hahaha... How stupid do you have to be to be fooled like this again, or is your king's head broken?!!"

"Bold!!" Alireus pointed at Davos angrily: "If you insult the king, you will be burned by fire!"

"That's enough, Arireus, you shameless villain! There are several of you little Cyrus's closest comrades, don't you feel ashamed in front of the gods!" Crisiano pointed at Arireus, Artauzus and Mithridates angrily shouted: "You once swore to the gods to be allies with us and resisted the king of Persia, but now you have betrayed us and cooperated with the inhumane villain Tissaphernes. Not only did he deceive Clearchus and the others, he also tried to betray the rest of us! Even if little Cyrus is in hell, he will definitely curse you if he knows what you have done!"

Ariros shrank his neck unnaturally and subconsciously glanced at Thester next to him. Thester looked like he had nothing to do with me, so he had to say: "The king sincerely wants to send you back safely." Home, because the traitor - Cyrus the Younger has been punished most justly, you have only been deceived by him! Your Majesty is merciful and does not want the land of Persia to suffer any more unnecessary wars! However, after Proxenus According to their report, Clearchus began to plot against Lord Tissaphernes and the Persian army more than ten days ago, and spread rumors everywhere in an attempt to drive a wedge between the Greeks and the Persians. We have to take action against him!"

"Since you said that Proxenus and the others exposed Clearchus and received your reward, please let them come here. This will naturally resolve the suspicion between us, and as leaders, they can also help both of us. Make better proposals for reconciliation!" Xenophon was still working to free Proxenus.

"You're right, let our leader come here and we will believe you!!" The team officers shouted loudly.

"Uh... Proxenus and the others were already drunk when they accepted the banquet hosted by Lord Tissaphernes... so..." Alireus said indifferently. Thester was already a little impatient and he said loudly : "The king has an order to hand over your weapons immediately to ensure that you return home safely, otherwise we will no longer provide you with any help!"

"By Ares, a Greek warrior will never abandon his weapons and let others slaughter him!!" Timazon hit the bronze shield with his spear and shouted.

"Whoever wants to take away our weapons, we will fight him hard!" Crisiano shouted angrily.

"Proxenus and the others can't come, not because they are drunk, but because they have been killed by you, right?!" Xenophon also said sadly and angrily. He made the result so serious because he wanted to force Alireus They told the truth, but unexpectedly aroused the anger of the team officers.

"The Persians want to kill us all!"

"Avenge the leaders!"

……

The enraged team officers gathered around Alireus and the others. Seeing that the situation was not good, Thester turned his horse and ran away. Alireus and the others followed suit and ran back.After running for a while, Theaster turned around and saw that he had distanced himself from the Greeks. He remembered that he was a noble Persian noble and a relative of the emperor, but he was scared away by a group of Greek barbarians. He was ashamed and angry, so he shouted sharply: " Greeks, you missed your best opportunity and you will regret it soon!!”

"I don't know who will regret it then!" Xenophon replied forcefully.

Watching the Persian cavalry leave, everyone was worried. It was certain that the fate of the several mercenary leaders would not be good, and the Persians were already at odds. What should they do now?
Surrender to the Persians?Even Cyrus the Younger, the brother of the King of Persia, had his head and hands cut off cruelly. Most of the team officers did not think that their fate would be any better after they surrendered!Either killed or possibly enslaved.The team officials cannot accept this choice, and it is impossible to accept it.

Otherwise, they can only choose to start another war with the Persians in this strange land!Now, under the leadership of the Persians, they are walking on a march route that they have never walked before, thousands of miles away from their hometown. Without the help of the Persians, they can only fumble forward, not knowing how much hostility they will face. The ethnic groups and villages must also be prepared for attacks by the Persian army.The most distressing thing is that the Persians cannot defeat them in frontal combat, but they cannot catch up with the Persians, and if they fail, the entire army may be destroyed.Just because of these difficulties, everyone is very depressed and doesn't know what to do.When they left the camp, the soldiers still had some energy, but when they returned to the camp, they all sighed and looked sad.

Back at the military camp, when the officers in charge of each battalion gathered again, Davos naturally followed Felicius and participated in the discussion.Of course, as a newcomer, he rarely spoke and was more observing these team officers. In fierce arguments, it was easier for them to reveal their personalities: the grumpy Timasong, the shrewd Crisano, the cautious-speaking Zantiparis, and Agarcia, who has a good relationship with other team officials...

Xenophon was much more active. He not only argued fiercely with others many times, but also loudly said excitedly: "Everyone, Clearcus and the others have been captured by the Persians. We must immediately elect new leaders of each battalion to replace them." They then convened a general meeting of the whole army to re-establish the determination of the soldiers to fight the Persians and the confidence that we must rely on ourselves to go home, otherwise let this chaos continue, and before the Persians attack, we will be all over !”

Davers thought Xenophon was right. Although he was still new to the military, he had been a village official and the leader of a high-tech development zone in his previous life. He had managed more than 1 soldiers. , so he knows the importance of unifying ideas and inspiring confidence for a group.

Timasong seemed to be a little disgusted with Xenophon's excessive publicity. He didn't look at Xenophon at all. He turned to the others and said, "Don't worry, Cleethorpes will be back soon!"

　A quick question: Who is Chrysops?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)