Chapter 10: Meno

The next day, just before dawn, the troops was urged to hurry.

Meno bid farewell to Ariaeus and rushed back to lead his troops. He curse the other leaders in his heart, as he rode his horse back to the tail of the “long dragon”. He believed that the reason why they put his troops to serve as the rearguard was because the other mercenary leaders hated his close relationship with the Persians and persecuted him.

At the same time, he noticed that the soldiers were tired and complaining. It turned out that because of the march last night, the rest time was too short, but they also have to guard against the Persian’s sneak attack, basically they just lied on the ground. Early in the morning, they had to hurry and leave, so the soldiers had soon gotten tired and hungry. However, the supply unit could not provide more food, which lowered the morale of the soldiers.

Meno thought to himself, the food situation in the other camps was already bad. His subordinates might be more miserable getting bullied these 2 days due to his absence! He was afraid that his soldiers will make trouble and hurriedly rushed until he saw many familiar faces before slowing down.

As a result, he was surprised to find that, unlike what he had imagined, his soldiers were in a good spirit and many of them were chewing a bunch of dark things hanging on their chest as they walked. Therefore, he curiously called an officer to inquire.

“It’s called smoked sausage, it can fill your stomach and it won’t spoil for a few days.” The officer pointed to the thing on his chest and said.

Meno cut a small piece and tasted it, although it was a bit dry, the taste wasn’t bad. After he saw the soldiers of the other camps starving and his soldiers were able to eat enough, he became delighted: “This…smoke…was the sausage made by Mersis?”

“No. It’s Davos – the ‘God’s Favored’!”

“God’s Favored?” Meno curiously asked about the situation in detail. After hearing the officer’s words, his face turned gloomy and he immediately noticed that some soldiers were carrying 2 more javelins.

“Where is this Davos?”

“The unit he was in was sent to defend the supply unit.” The officer obviously didn’t notice his expression and asked with a little excitement: “Are you going to look for him?”

The officer’s look dissuaded Meno: ‘Is it worth making a fuss about a local kid from a small village in Thessaly?’ It’s totally inconsistent with his identity to hurriedly go looking for a soldier, especially now that the army is currently marching. If there is time, he can make Davos go see himself later.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

From early morning to noon and then to the afternoon, the troops have been marching without rest.

Davos felt that his legs were filled with lead and every steps he takes is difficult and his throat is burning, the shields, spears and javelins were becoming burdensome. In the morning, he could still talk and laugh with his companions, now he felt that every time he opened his mouth wasted his physical strength, but he gritted his teeth and insisted, since his companions are also marching in silence.

Finally, the troops stopped. But the information from the front made them nervous again, they found the Persian cavalry!

Soon another information came again, it wasn’t the cavalry, it was the Persian army’s animals grazing.

The troops continued marching.

It was getting dark and after a short walk, Davos saw smoke rising in the distance.

Hielos told him: “That must be the Persian army camp.”

However, the mercenaries still continued to move forward, without the slightest shred of guarding and evading.

It was late and there is no moonlight. The soldiers relied on the torches to advance and it became more difficult to march.

Finally, an order came from the front, ‘Camp on the spot and rest.’

The terrain is flat and the trees were scarce, and it is impossible to order them to build a camp in the dark. At the same time, because there are Persian troops nearby and they are afraid of getting attacked. The soldiers started shouting at each of their friends’ name and gathered together to find a way to camp. Likewise, the exhausted officers could not control the order and the entire rearguard became a mess due to the shouting, like a boiling pot making a huge noise. Many of the animals in the supply unit became frightened and ran in panic, injuring many people. The screams made the troops became more uneasy and at danger of collapsing any time.

At the critical moment, Clearchus dispatched the only cavalry squad of the Greek mercenaries, each carrying torches and rushed to the rearguard, loudly announcing the order of Clearchus, demanding that the soldiers remain quiet, and at the same time, ordered the supply unit to take care of the animals and to punish anyone that would release them. The troops gradually recovered their composure after they had captured several soldiers who were frightened.

Only then did Meno found the leader of the cavalry, Tormide, known as the “Best Emissary”.

“How did Clearchus commanded the troops’ marching! There is almost an uproar that happened in the camp! I’ve just been away for a day and things got worst! He isn’t fit to command the whole army at all!…” Meno took this opportunity to discredit Clearchus.

Tormide didn’t utter a word.

“Where is he now?”

Tormide hesitated a bit: “…at the vanguard.”

When Meno noticed his hesitation, he immediately asked: “Is it the same as us, without a camp?”

Tormide had to tell the truth: “The vanguard stayed in the village… Meno, this is now a special time-“

Meno interrupted him with a sneer: “This is the so-called fair and just Clearchus?! He stayed in a warm house, while letting us sleep on the cold and wet ground!!” Meno couldn’t help but shout even though he also knew that it was not appropriate to stimulate the soldiers at the moment.

Fortunately, the soldiers around him were already exhausted after the previous uproar. After a swearing, they fell asleep.

“Meno! Meno!…” At that moment, someone shouted.

It is Mersis! Meno hurriedly brought him over: “How is the supply unit? Is there any loss?” The supply unit is the place he is concerned the most, because all his belongings were there, and only when he has money can he have soldiers.

“No!” Mersis’ fatty face showed a proud smile: “We formed a big circle with the supply cart and tied the animals to it, everyone slept inside and it’s very safe!”

“Those animals aren’t kicking a fuss and noisy?” Tormide asked curiously, since most of the supply unit he had seen before were in chaos.

“It was Davos who told me to blindfold these animals, and they really became obedient!” Mersis said excitedly.

That Davos again! Meno frowned.

“Meno, this kid is very smart! If you just assign him to the supply unit, then I’ll have a much easier time.” Mersis asked.

“We will discuss it later.” Meno said a few words. The supply unit is his foundation, Mersis has a close relationship with him, and he is good at supervising and financial management, and has no ambition, so he is assured in using him. Letting a stranger enter the supply unit and not just a stranger but a smart one, what if he finds out his secret?

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The next morning, a messenger woke up Meno and informed him that the king’s envoy had come and the other mercenary leaders asked him to come over and discuss about it.

Meno mounted his horse and galloped to the main camp of the mercenary at the front. There wasn’t a shadow of the Persian camp within his sight, it turned out that last night the Persians got frightened by the huge noise of the mercenaries, and they withdrew their camp 5 km overnight.

As soon as he arrived at the main camp of the mercenary, Meno saw a full 4 Hoplite units in front of the camp, waiting in formation. He doubtfully went inside and saw several leaders, such as Clearchus, Proxenus, Agias, Socrates¹ (not the philosopher in Athens), and Sossis were waiting and all of them are fully armed.

When he saw Clearchus, Meno snorted and sarcastically said: “It seems that you had a good sleep last night, while my pitiful soldiers slept on the wet ground for the whole night!”

As a Spartan, Clearchus is straightforward and obstinate, he likewise dislike Meno and did not want to talk to him much.

Agias laughed and said: “Yo, when did Meno start to care about his soldiers?!”

Proxenus came to mediate: “Meno, listening to what Tormide said, that there was no trouble that happened in your camp last night. Amazing! You must impart us some of your experience.”

“Not only that! Meno’s soldiers also made a kind of…something called smoked sausage. As a result, everyone was hungry and only his soldiers were able to fill their stomachs with this stuff!” Socrates sad to the others. His troops were in front of Meno’s troops in the marching formation, so he had a better understanding of the situation.

“Meno, tell us all about your experienced.” Meno was a little complacent by the requests of Sossis and several other mercenary leaders, and he couldn’t help but say: “Even if the environment I was given was any more difficult, I could still figure out a way to solve it. So only knowing how to fight won’t make you a good leader!”

“Well…let the envoy of the Persian king come in. Let’s listen on what new proposal does the king have?” Clearchus interrupted Meno’s bragging.

The leaders began to rouse their spirits and Meno shut his mouth helplessly.

1. Socrates of Achaea was a Greek mercenary general from Achaea who traveled to Persia to fight at the Battle of Cunaxa.