Chapter 28: Initial Authority

“In order for us and our brothers in the camp to unite, we must first understand the camp’s current situation. Therefore, please introduce the personnel and goods under your management.” Davos looked around and said.

The tent was slightly silent, Antonios was the first to open his mouth, then Kapus, then Alexis… The situation of the supply unit was the most complex, and Mersis was the most talkative, Davos had to remind him to be as brief as possible.

Davos listened and took note. After carefully listening to the introduction of everyone, he had a general understanding of the overall situation of Menon’s camp. After he organize it a bit, he said, “According to your report, we have ten hoplite units in our camp, with a total of 1,094 soldiers. Four peltast units, with a total of 487 soldiers. A total of 1,581 soldiers that have weapons and armor, in good health and no injuries.

There are 3 physicians, 6 female slaves and 2 camels in the medical camp, but apart from Herpus who is proficient in treating the injured, the other two physicians were unable to treat the wounded soldiers independently.

In the supply unit, there are 50 guards and 273 slaves, including 198 female slaves and 75 male slaves. Then 29 horses, 18 bulls, 56 sheep, 37 chickens and ducks, and 580 bags of wheat flour and the remaining money we have for purchasing supplies is a Taranto silver, 30 minas, and 5 drachmas, that is all we have.” Davos put down the roll of paper he had used to take note and said to everyone, “Do you see anything that was left out?”

The officers were slightly surprised. It is important to know that mercenaries, including the officers were mostly uneducated, not to mention doing numeric calculations and summarizing by themselves.

Mersis “Pa! Pa! Pa!” clapped his hands, “Davos, you are too great! Your ability to calculate is much better than me!”

Antonios who was next to him remembered that Davos was illiterate, he quietly glanced at the roll of paper and was shocked to find that it was full of strange symbols.

The officers glanced at each other and added a little bit of recognition of Davos’ ability.

“Since there is no objection. Then wait while I go attend the war council of the mercenary leader with Philesius. The captains will go back and inform the soldiers to check their weapons and prepare for battle. In the afternoon, the 10th hoplite unit will be stationed in the camp, while the other units will line up in order to enter the venue for the General Assembly. Because there would be too many people, you must maintain order and prevent riots.” Davos finished talking, then look at Herpus and asked, “What’s the situation in the medical camp? You need to have a plan since the war is about to start and there will be more wounded soldiers. The clean linen bandages requires more preparation and at least twice as many assistants more than now…”

From time to time, Herpus consulted Davos about some medical problems, such as ‘Why use fire to heat up the knives use for debridement? Why do you place a piece of cloth dipped in cold water on the forehead of a patient with a fever?’ ….Davos’ answers were always peculiar and thought-provoking, so Herpus regards Davos as a teacher and he always has a respectful attitude, “Please rest assured that I will do my best to prepare for it when I return. If there are any difficulties, I will definitely come to you for help.”

“You are our Asclepius (A god in ancient Greek mythology, the son of Apollo), of course we must do our best to help! If there are any medical problems, I can discuss it with you. If you are lacking labor, then the captains can provide some. If there is a lack of things, then you can go find Mersis.” Davos laughed.

Everyone has also expressed their willingness to help the medical camp.

Mersis took the initiative to report to Davos: “Leader, this morning I had the slaves slaughter some sheep to make a lot of smoked sausages. After a while, I will slaughter the remaining sheep, chickens and ducks, as well as the extra cattle to make smoked sausge for our march later. What do you think?”

“Mersis, you are our caretaker! We are all at ease because you are the one responsible for the food, am I wrong?!” Davos said it half-jokingly.

“Yes! Mersis is very good at managing the supply unit!” Antonios said it amiably.

“Yeah, he charge more expensively!” Epiphanes shouted jokingly.

“Even if I gave it to you for free, you won’t be able to enjoy it! You are only interested in boys!” Mersis immediately retaliated.

“Ha ha ha…” The crowd laughed and the atmosphere in the tent eased a lot.

“Philesius, do you have anything to add?” Davos finally asked his adjutant.

Philesius who was facing a leader much younger than himself was somewhat strained, so he coughed twice and said, “I have two questions that I hope will make you leader to pay attention. First, since we are about to fight the Persians, will our next marching route change? If so, where should we go? The second…er…previously, our troops had been serving as the rearguard of the whole mercenary troops, now that we are going to start a war, if we serve as the rearguard once more, our troops will suffer too much.”

“Philesius is right, we can’t be the rearguard anymore!”

“Rest assured that I will raise this questions at the war council and will strive for it! As for the marching route, I think it will be decided at the war council, because this is the most important issue!” Davos’ confident words made the officers half-doubtingly.

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

At the end of the meeting, the captain of the first peltast unit, Epiphanes, could not help but wonder, “I can’t believe that this young man is our new leader!”

“Despite his young age, his arrangement isn’t only meticulous, but it is also very organize and with majesty, none of us experienced veterans, stood up against him and refute him!” Another peltast captain, Cid, said with admiration.

“I think this young man is great! At least the atmosphere of the meeting is very good, unlike Menon, who was like a venomous snake, which meeting did he not throw a fit and teach you a lesson!” The hoplite captain Lysimachus said with a grin.

“If on the battlefield, this little guy will also show a wonderful perfomance, then he will be a qualified leader!” Another hoplite captain, Amintas, reminded them.

“Rest assured that although this new leader is young, but he is wise and with Philesius assisting him then there will be no huge problem.” Hoplite captain, Alexis, reassured them.

“We are in war, what do we fear! Davos only needs to play his role as the god’s favored, so we can reduce our casualties and go home safely!” Cid said loudly, and everyone repeatedly agreed.

Kapus who was following Antonios, said with ease, “It seems that Davos has taken his first step in winning the approval of everyone.”

Antonios was still immersed at what he saw in the meeting, and muttered, “He still needs to prove himself in battle, but I have confidence in him! He will become a great mercenary leader!”

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

Davos stood at the entrance and calmly watched everyone leave. At this time, he wasn’t thinking about the effect of his debut as a leader, but was considering the issue of military management.

The military system of the Greek mercenaries is roughly the same as that of the Greek city-states. The lowest-ranking officers are the Squad Leader, with 10 men under them. Next would be the Captain, with 100 – 120 men under them. Sometimes there will a platoon leader that are established, with 50 men under them. Then the Taxiarchos(brigadier), who has about a thousand men under them. Lastly, at the top are the Strategos, whose number of soldiers depends on the number of troops that their city-states can send. Davos was supposed to be a Taxiarchos at this time, but a mercenary can have thousands of soldiers and even a larger mercenary unit, so that they can undertake combat missions independently, therefore they are barely considered as a strategos.

Davos graduated from the University of Political Science and Law in his previous life, but he studied management. Therefore, he knew that the most effective number of people under a leader was 7, there were 14 captains who attended the meeting today, but in a real war, would it not be very time-consuming and slow for the messengers to convey an order? If he could only re-integrate those units… Davos knew that he could only think about it now, after all, he had just became the leader and if he rushed to reform the military system, it might arouse the resentment of the officers. He suppressed his thoughts and turned to face Mersis, who was still in the tent and said, “They are now all gone, what do you want to discuss?”