Chapter 39: Respective Plans

On this day, the Persians were not idle.

After Artaozus succeeded in harassing the Greeks, he returned to the camp and proudly showed his achievements to Ariaeus, and proposed that Ariaeus should hand over all the archers and mounted archers to him, and he will defeat the Greeks in one fell swoop.

Ariaeus first cogratulated him, then began to find reasons to refuse Artaozus. After all, the army of Cyrus the Younger was defeated in the battle with the Persian king before, and there were only 7,000 people left after he had gathered them up. If he followed what Artaozus had said, then he would only have 3,000 people left under his command and as the nominal commander of this army, how can he order the whole army if his subordinates have more troops under their command than him. What’s more, a Persian army can’t be the Persian army without archers. Thus, the cautious and stingy Ariaeus disapproved of such gambling tactics.

Artaozus was furious when he saw that Ariaeus did not agree. He believed that Ariaeus was jealous of him and doesn’t want to see him succeed.

Therefore, in a fit of anger, he straight up ran to Tissaphernes camp.

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

“Can you defeat the Greeks as long as I give you enough archers and cavalry?!” Tissaphernes asked with some suspicion.

“Lord satrap, I have had many contacts with the Greek mercenaries due to Cyrus the Younger and I know the condition of their troops. Most of their soldiers are hoplites and as long as you don’t fight them at a close range, then they wouldn’t be able to exert even a bit of their strength, and they don’t even have enough archers. Therefore, they won’t be our opponent at all. I had only brought 400 mounted archers and archers in attacking them and without losing a soldier, it resulted in about 500 Greek casualties (which is obviously an exaggeration). If not for the arrows running out then the Greek would have even more casualties!” Artaozus said with a respectful attitude, “Therefore, I want to increase the number of archers and mounted archers, which will increase our long-range attacks on the Greeks, and in turn, will increase their casualties, and I hope to bring them down faster in order to solve these Greek barbarians for you lord and for the king as soon as possible!”

He then switch the conversation to some other subject, “But Ariaeus refused my proposal, so I can only come to you, lord Satrap!”

Tissaphernes did not answer directly, but said with a sad expression, “I am very sad and surprised that Mithridates died in battle!”

“At the same time, his death may have also returned the confidence to the Greeks that have lost their leader!” Tissaphernes turned grave, “I heard that the Spartan ephor, Cheirisophus, has become the new commander of the mercenary troops, correct?”

“Yes, lord Satrap. That’s what the Greek soldiers that have deserted said.” said Artaozus.

“We must absolutely not allow him to succeed in taking over this Greek troops and obtain prestige!” Tissaphernes said in a cold and firm tone, “We must constantly attack them, let them flee continuously, and make them cry for death and mourn for hunger! Artaozus, since your method is very useful then continue using it to fight against the Greeks! I’ll give you 2000 archers and 500 mounted archers. In addition, there’s Ariaeus -”

Tissaphernes turned to Siste, who was standing by and said, “I have to trouble you to go first, Since Ariaeus dared not fight the Greeks, I will give the soldiers to those who had the ability to command them! Otherwise, I don’t mind discussing with him what he did during the rebellion of Cyrus the Younger!”

Siste laughed disapprovingly, “Lord satrap, you don’t have to be so angry. I believe that Ariaeus is a sensible man.”

“He better be!” The gaze of Tissaphernes flashed a bit of chill.

“Thank you for your trust, lord Satrap, I will bring you the news of victory!” Artaozus was thrilled and said his thanks in a loud voice.

“When you win, you will become my adjutant.” Tissaphernes made a promise.

As Artaozus followed Siste out of the tent in high spirits, Orontes said with concern, “Can Artaozus succeed?”

“Since he had won a perfect victory, why can’t he have a second one? If we can get rid of the Greeks at once, then I am willing to bet!” Tissaphernes firmly said.

“I didn’t expect the Spartan ephor to be in this mercenary! It seems that the rebellion of Cyrus the Younger must have received the support of the Spartans!” Said Orontes in a hateful tone, as the son-in-law of king Artaxerxes, he is certainly wary of any party that may be friendly to Cyrus the Younger.

“The Greeks hated us for decades. This is the reason why I opposed funding Sparta against Athens, it was a pity that his majesty Darius was deceived by Cyrus the Younger, removing me from my post and replacing me with Cyrus the younger and supported Sparta!” Tissaphernes bitterly said, “What is the result! Sparta supported the rebellion of Cyrus the Younger, so that they can profit from it! It was in our best interest that Sparta and Athens should continue fighting instead of helping Sparta to win!”

“You are right, Tissaphernes! When the matter here is over, I’ll go and advise the king to reconsider the relationship with Sparta.”

“Yes, that is why we have to quickly solve these Greeks. Artaozus will definitely bring us good news!”

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

At dusk of that day, the leaders once more gathered at the military quarter.

“The slinger company already have slings in their hand, and after a day of training, they are already skillful in using it, and they can now go to battle and kill the enemy!” Cleanor had reported that his troops at the rearguard had lost the most in the battle yesterday. Therefore, at his strong request, the new company was temporarily under his command.

Then, Davos also made a report, “The cavalry unit has also no problem in going to battle and killing the enemy.” Because most of the cavalryman came from his camp and since he is once more in the flank, and so, the cavalry was temporarily place under his control.

Davos briefly spoke. After watching the cavalry’s day of training, he also got a general idea of the ways the cavalry attack in this era, horse collision, spear stab, javelin throw, archery. Because there are no stirrups, they dare not let the horse run as fast as it could, nor they dare not go all out, otherwise they would easily fall off the horse.

The newly built cavalry is equipped with only one weapon – the spear, so their best way of attack is to chase the fleeing enemy.

At this moment, Cheirisophus said, “Everyone, I had taken the guide out of the camp in order to explore the route that we will take tomorrow and their surrounding terrain -”

“That was too dangerous! Now the Persian scouts are roaming around our camp, if you had come across them then you would’ve been in trouble!” Timasion shouted.

“I was prepared for that, and with the blessing of Zeus, I didn’t meet the Persians.” Cheirisophus nodded to Timasion and expressed his gratitude for his concern, “Instead, I found an important discovery.”

“What important discovery?!” Cleanor asked urgently.

“I found that there are several mountains 4 miles ahead and there is only one valley that we could pass. Otherwise, we would have to take a longer path.” Cheirisophus said as he use the wooden stick on the grass, “This valley can only accommodate up to 20 people side by side.”

“What you meant is that… you fear the Persians will attack us as we pass through the valley!” Xanthicles asked worriedly.

“This is indeed a problem. However, this can be solved. We will depart through the valley before dawn, and the Persians will never be able to think about it.” Xenophon had thought about it and said.

“This is a good method! The Persians are afraid of the night, specially when their cavalry could not see the path under their feet in the dark. That is why when we were marching with Cyrus the Younger, they always waited until dawn before leaving the camp. And the day before yesterday, Mithridates had only caught up with us long after dawn. If it still the same tomorrow, then we would have already passed through the valley.” Cleanor agreed and the others also agreed, they then turned their attention to the final decision-maker, Cheirisophus.

Cheirisophus glanced at the crowd and said in a calm tone, “Everyone, I have a plan. Since the Persians are keeping up with us, then we can use this valley to our advantage and strike them hard!”