ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 46 Mountain War

On the second day of the march, Davos rode on his horse, feeling proud of the spring breeze. His mind was full of the fun he had with Kristoya last night: Kristoya was not only beautiful, but her figure was exactly what she looked like. Her sexy, snow-white smooth skin and undulating curves made him unable to put it down. Coupled with her extremely flexible body, he indulged in it and tried his best to vent the desires accumulated in this young and strong body for 19 years. He lingered until late at night, if If it weren't for Olivers to cover up for him outside, he might have been exposed by others, so he let Olivers' "crime" of eavesdropping outside go.

After the passion passed, when Crystal lay in his arms and shyly expressed her willingness to be with him, Davos felt that the distance between himself and the world seemed to be much smaller. This concern also made him There is one more thing to think about where to go in the future: Davos comes from a modern society and is an adult. He knows that passion cannot last.Christoya was born into a noble family and worked as a concubine to Cyrus the Younger, enjoying a luxurious life.And now I am just a mercenary, an ordinary civilian in Greek society, not even a citizen. I have no fixed abode and wander around. It is okay for a short time, but there is no guarantee that Christoya will not be disgusted with it in the long term... Of course , this thought was buried in his heart. Now is not the time to think deeply, because the primary issue at the moment is to return to Greece safely and alive.

The appearance of the Persians ruined his good mood.

This time, Tissaphernes changed his strategy and no longer attacked, but harassed.The Persians followed closely behind the mercenaries, keeping a safe distance. From time to time, another group of horse archers rushed up, shot a round of arrows, and immediately fled away.It did little harm to the mercenaries, but it kept their nerves in a tense state, affecting their marching speed and morale.

The leaders had nothing to do about this. The only thing they could do was to mix slingers, archers and heavy infantry so that they could not be too arrogant when facing the fast Persian horse archers.

Meanwhile, the Greek mercenaries encountered other difficulties.As the distance from the Doucia Mountains grew farther and farther, the plains gradually turned into hills and the terrain became rugged. The huge square formation of the Greek army could not remain intact, especially when crossing rivers and trekking narrow mountain passes. Completely fragmented.The Persian cavalry took advantage of the situation and used bows and arrows to cause greater chaos to the mercenaries.

After discussion, the leaders had to withdraw the small mercenaries who had joined Chrysops from the vanguard (because so far, the Persian attacks had mainly come from the rear and flanks) and formed four or five companies. , each company has about 200 men, positioned on the flanks and inside the rearguard.Once there was a big gap in the formation, or when it was compressed due to the narrow terrain, they rushed out to form a new rearguard, blocking the charge of the Persian cavalry, and providing a barrier for the archers and slingers who arrived later.

In this way, the mercenaries were marching while thinking of various ways to deal with the attacking Persian cavalry. This situation lasted for four or five days. When the continuous mountains appeared in front of them, the whole army breathed a sigh of relief, because they all knew that the cavalry It is impossible to go up the mountain.

Panting, they trudged along the rugged mountain road, climbed over the first mountain ridge, and arrived at the foot of the second mountain ridge. The team stopped to rest because of exhaustion.

Most of the soldiers took off their armor, wiped their sweat, and sat down to rest. After resting, the guards in the baggage camp also checked the injuries and damage of the pack animals and vehicles. The entire army gathered in the narrow area between the two mountains, preparing to attack first. Rest for a while, regain your strength, and continue marching.

The attack came suddenly, with countless bows and arrows and flying stones whizzing in, catching the mercenaries off guard: the soldiers screamed, the women screamed, the beasts of burden ran around, and the entire team turned into a mess.

The first to react was Chrysops and his eight hundred Spartan warriors, because these Spartan warriors did not throw away their weapons and armor like other soldiers after coming down the mountain, and they had relatively strong physical strength after being trained rigorously. When Chrysops discovered that the attack was coming from the second mountain ridge, he immediately and decisively ordered: "Sparta, advance!"

The Spartans immediately followed him, raising their shields and rushing towards the top of the mountain.

The Persian light infantry fired at a very fast rate, and waves of arrows tilted down the mountain.

After experiencing the initial chaos, the mercenaries reacted quickly. After all, they were all veteran warriors who had experienced many wars. They quickly grabbed the round shields beside them and hid themselves under the shields.There were only personnel in the baggage camp. Apart from the guards, most of them were either slaves or plundered women. They had no combat experience. Driven by fear, most of them did not escape but ran around screaming. Therefore, under the dense rain of arrows, Down, there were a lot of injuries.

At this time, Davos was very anxious. In order to consider the impact of camping in the past few days, he did not go to Kristoya. The situation is urgent now and he doesn't know if she is safe.

"Asistes, tell the officers to form a shield wall and move closer to the baggage camp and medical camp!" he shouted loudly.

"Yes, chief!"

In fact, without his order, Felicius, Capus, and Antonios had already led their troops to hold the round shields above their heads, forming a shield array and moving toward the center.

Olivers and Matonis also immediately rushed forward with their shields raised to protect Davos.

But Davos shouted: "Mariji! Mariji, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine!" Marij shouted after him.

"Protect him quickly, don't let him get hurt!" Davos ordered.

Although Matonis looked down on the Persian, he always carried out Davos's orders meticulously.

At this time, he was already the acting captain of the escort team. Under his order, several people from Geogris rushed over to protect Marij.

Marij stared at Davos's back without saying a word, his eyes full of gratitude.

Davos had no time to look at Marij's situation. He was half-kneeling, trying hard to look in the direction of the supply camp from under his shield. There was chaos there.

He anxiously rushed to the center. When he saw that the medical camp had also set up a shield formation, he was slightly relieved. In order to avoid suspicion, he first shouted: "Helps! Helps!"

"I'm here!" Helps' voice came from under the shield formation: "We are all fine!"

After hearing this, Davos completely relaxed.At this time, Hilos came over and briefly explained the situation to him: the reason why the doctors and female slaves in the medical camp were safe was also related to Christoya.When the first wave of arrows rained down, she immediately called them to hide under the cart, and Hilos then directed the accompanying more than 100 wounded soldiers to form a shield formation to protect the safety of most people.

Hieros greatly appreciated Kristoya's quick and calm response in the face of danger, which gave Davos another layer of understanding of this woman. Perhaps this is why among the concubines of Cyrus the Younger, she was the only one from Persia. The reason why people escaped from robbery.

The situation in the baggage camp was much worse. Melses was not injured under the protection of the guards. Many slaves and women were hit by arrows, and several beasts of burden were also killed.Facing Mersith's mournful face, Davos, who was used to life and death, did not send anyone to protect these non-combatants who had scattered around.Fortunately, the Persian attack did not last long and was stopped, because the troops led by Chrysops had almost reached the top of the mountain.

Of course, the Persians would not fight head-on with the mercenaries, and they retreated quickly.

Chrysops left the Spartans on the top of the mountain as a precaution.

After descending from the mountain, Chrysops convened the leaders to discuss how to deal with it. He said: "The Persians are all light infantry. We can't catch up with them. Although they have retreated, they are likely to be in the third and fourth towers." The mountain continued to attack us with bows and arrows. Our group was too large and difficult to avoid."

He said it was a discussion, but he had already thought of a countermeasure on the way back down the mountain: "I just conducted a careful survey on the top of the mountain. These mountains are not high and the area is not large. We can send a troop to start with the next one. The right side of the mountain ridge goes around to the back, and then I lead my soldiers in the vanguard from the front. If the Persians want to occupy the high ground again and continue to attack us, we will cut off their retreat."

Cleethorpes poked the sketch on the ground with a branch: "Then surround and kill them."

(End of this chapter)