ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 43 Archery Battle

"Will Persia do the same?" Asistes asked curiously.

"Where's Greece?" Mariji immediately turned around and glared, asking unwillingly.

Davos glanced at them and said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "If you live long enough, you may be able to see it in 50 years."

"Is this an oracle?" Asistes asked excitedly.

Mariji clearly didn't believe it.

Davos smiled and didn't answer.If his butterfly wings were not weak enough to change the course of history, a few decades later (he could not remember the specific time), Alexander of Macedonia conquered mainland Greece and then destroyed Persia.Because the Greeks did not consider the Macedonians in the north to be their own people, in a sense, he conquered the two most powerful forces in the Mediterranean at the time.

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In the next two days, the Greek mercenaries continued to march briskly.

Until the third day, Tissaphernes' army appeared.

Now, the 50-person light cavalry squad of the Greek mercenaries was basically sent out by Davos to be used as reconnaissance cavalry.After all, the Persian cavalry has strong personal abilities and is no match for the Greek cavalry in a one-on-one fight.Therefore, they formed a group of five and did not dare to stray too far from the main force. They only moved within a radius of two or three miles. When they saw the Persian troops from a distance, they immediately reported back.

"The Persians are coming, prepare to defend!"

"Send the order from Guest Lee Thorpes and prepare to defend!"

The messengers moved quickly around the perimeter of this huge phalanx, conveying orders.

The large hollow phalanx used by the Greek mercenaries guarded the supply camp in the center, so it was impossible to change the formation before engaging the enemy. They just let the supply camp gather in the center. The soldiers held shields and spears, increased their vigilance, and slowed down their marching speed. Keep the formation intact.

Soon, the Persians appeared directly behind the column.From the flying flags, the soldiers knew that Tissaphernes was coming.The Greek mercenaries had easily defeated him in the Battle of Kunasak, so they didn't take him too seriously.

Then, another team appeared on the left wing of Tissaphernes. As the array advanced, the Greeks' hearts tightened. This was another army of no less than ten thousand people!The emblem on the military flag is familiar to everyone. The arrival of Orontas, the governor of Armenia, was originally expected by the leaders.

Then, another large army appeared on Tissaphernes' right wing, also no less than ten thousand people, and the flags they held high made everyone familiar.

"Oh, I remembered! That was the army we met on the road, said to be led by the brothers of the King of Persia!" Asistes shouted.

"This army that was supposed to be marching in the opposite direction to us actually appeared here! I'm afraid it has been following us quietly! Tissaphernes has long been malicious to us!" Felicius said with a solemn expression.

Davos nodded slightly stiffly, holding the rein tightly with both hands.

Tissaphernes' army also included the remnants of Cyrus the Younger led by Arireus. The four armies gathered together in a mighty manner, spread out in the shape of a wild goose, and slowly approached the Greek army...

The seemingly endless and dense crowd was the largest the Greek mercenaries had ever seen after the Battle of Curasak. Last time, they had little Cyrus to rely on, and the mercenaries were only responsible for the right wing, but now they have to face Persia Everyone in the army is inevitably a little nervous.

Despite their nervousness, the Greeks all knew that the only way to survive was a bloody battle.Crisano had been watching the distance the enemy was marching, and seeing that he was about to enter the range of the slingers, he immediately gave the order: "The slingers are ready!"

The slingers in the entire rearguard immediately began to swing the slings. At a distance of more than 300 meters, the accuracy and strength of the flying stones would be less, but the Persians were so numerous and dense that almost every stone fell. They all aroused a cry, the Persian army formation in the middle was in chaos, and the progress almost stopped.

"My lord governor, the enemy's attack is too fierce! Shall we retreat temporarily and let the troops on both wings push forward first?" An adjutant beside him proposed to Tisafornis.

Tissaphernes' face was equally ugly, but he refused without hesitation.Although he was appointed by the king to be in charge of this plan to expel the Greeks, Orontas only assisted, and the king's brother Sityrs only helped in friendship.But one was a governor of the same rank as him and the king's son-in-law; the other was the king's brother.If he didn't try his best, how could he expect them to help with all their strength, not to mention that they had a close relationship with the king, and they went back and told Artaxerxes about their performance in private. was destroyed.

Tissaphernis gave the adjutant a hard look, and immediately ordered: "Speed ​​up and keep approaching!" This time, he concentrated a total force of nearly 5 troops.Man, he has plenty!Since the Greeks want to compete with him in long-range firepower, let's compete to see who can shoot accurately!Let's see who can stand it!Anyway, he was not going to engage in close combat with Greece. After the battle of Kurasak, the scene where the Greek heavy infantry charged and easily defeated the left wing of the Polish army happened right next to him, which had a great impact on him.

The Persians screamed and ran all the way, and Tisafonis even sent his own army to supervise the battle, cut down the deserters one by one, and warned the whole army.Under such circumstances, the two wings of the Polish army also quickly surrounded the mercenaries.Because the Persians had too many troops and the mercenaries were in a square formation, the Persian army stretched its front and almost surrounded the entire mercenaries.

Davos had already dismounted, and the horse was led to the supply camp in the center of the phalanx.Facing the approaching enemy, he was not as nervous as he was at the beginning: "Shield wall!"

Asistes and his two messengers conveyed Davos' orders throughout the left wing.

Four rows of heavy infantry squadrons began to move closer together, with round shields stacked on top of round shields, and soon a long copper wall was erected.The round shield of the Greek heavy infantry was unique among the infantrymen of the Mediterranean countries. The round shield was one meter in diameter, had a wooden core, and was wrapped in copper. Moreover, it was not held by hand, but the entire forearm passed through the two grips on the back of the round shield. Therefore, it saves effort and is not easy to slip off, because it is large and hard enough, it is difficult to be penetrated by bows and arrows.

The archers who were wandering behind the heavy infantry also quickly approached the shield wall to reduce the damage of the opponent's bows and arrows. Since the 6000 people of Artauzus had been wiped out before, the Cretan archers among the mercenaries not only replaced the Persians' counterattack Bows, and even soldiers who were good at using bows and arrows among heavy infantry and light shields were selected to join the ranks of archers, bringing the number of mercenary archers to 500, who were scattered in the rearguard and left and right wings.

When the Persian army approached within a hundred meters, both sides fired arrows almost simultaneously.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!..." A series of bow strings sounded, and countless arrows flew into the air, like a large dark cloud, covering the blue sky and the scorching sun.The arrows were so dense that many arrows collided in the air. When most of the "dark clouds" fell on the mercenary army, there was a crisp sound of "Dang! Dang! Dang!..." and occasionally one or two tragic sounds. scream; when a small part of the "dark cloud" fell on the Persian army, there were screams...

Arrows from both sides.

The Persians even advanced the front line to 50 meters away, and then stopped advancing half a minute.Because the Persians knew very well that further forward, the Greek light shield soldiers should enter the battle.

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The bow and arrow battle continued for some time.

In addition to the mercenaries, the land under this long, square shield wall was relatively clean, and the surroundings were densely packed with arrows. The Greek archers with empty quivers did not have to worry at all, and just pulled out an "arrow grass" on the ground. " and fought back.

Davos has become accustomed to the sound of arrows hitting bucklers. He is more worried about the muffled hum that reaches his ears from time to time, which means that someone has been hit by an arrow again.His left arm was also a little numb, but he remained motionless in the same posture, not daring to withdraw the buckler.Now the two sides are fighting for perseverance to see who can persist to the end.

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(End of this chapter)