The task assigned to Davos was to pick up the spears, shields, and even carriages that were discarded by both sides on the battlefield and use them as wood for cooking meat. For this reason, they were also assigned an ox cart.
The battlefield is not far from the camp. Yesterday, the cavalry went out to investigate and found that the Persian king's army had left, so they dared to send soldiers to clean up the battlefield. However, they sent a lot of soldiers, mainly because they were afraid of being attacked by the Persian cavalry.
Before reaching the battlefield, Davos saw the sky in front of him from a distance, as if it was dark, and countless crows were circling, and the piercing cry made his heart palpitate!
When they got closer, there were layers of human corpses and horse corpses on the grass in a radius of a few miles. The corpses were densely packed with flies and insects, and there were even wild wolves and leopards eating the corpses. When they saw people, they did not avoid them, but just looked at them from afar with a cold gaze…
With every step that Davos took, a layer of flies would rise, buzzing and pouncing on his face, unable to disperse.
Davos was pale and felt his stomach churning.
"Davos, you have experienced this kind of situation many times, why do you still feel uncomfortable?!" There was a trace of joy in Matonis' concerned words because he felt that although Davos has changed, he still needs his care.
"I'm fine!… urgh…" Davos swallowed hard. Memory is memory, after all, this is the first time he, a modern man, has seen such a bloody battlefield. But he knew in his heart that in this chaotic world, such scenes will appear in front of him again, and he must adapt!
He let go of the hand that was covering his nose and forced himself to endure the pungent stench. He then picked up the body on the ground, took out the shield that was under him, quickly slapped the maggots on it, and threw it on the cart.
When they first arrived at the battlefield, the ox that was dragging the cart couldn't tolerate such a terrifying environment. It was always restless and almost hit Matonis. It was only when Davos came up with an idea and covered its eyes with linen that it became much quieter.
Everyone had been busy for a long time, and the ox cart was full, and each of them carried a bundle.
"Where is Davos?" Matonis found that there was one less person on the team.
"There!" Olivos pointed not far away. Davos was throwing a javelin at a vulture that was pecking at a corpse but was nimbly dodged by the seemingly clumsy vulture.
"It seems that he is going to participate in the javelin competition in Olympia!" said Olivos jokingly.
"Shut up!" Matonis glared at him and then walked towards Davos.
When Davos saw his arrival, he naturally picked up a javelin from the ground. Now, he has begun to adapt to this harsh environment.
"Matonis, how many archers do we have?" asked Davos as he stroked the sharp spearhead.
Matonis was not good at this problem at all. Fortunately, there was the attentive Giorgris, "Archers?… I remember that only Clearchus has nearly 300 Clete archers… if we include the light shield soldiers who can throw javelins… well, all of them… there might be… about 3,000."
"3,000 men. How many light shields do we have?" asked Davos.
"About 400 people…"
"Matonis, don't burn the javelins, it's a pity. Why don't we each equip one or two javelins, what do you think?" said Davos after thinking about it.
Before Matonis could answer, Olivos said, "We are the hoplites!"
"But when facing the Persian cavalry, our hoplites can't get close to them, and can only avoid their arrows and javelins!" The reason why Davos had this proposal was that this regret was kept in the memory of their body. When collecting this wooden weapon, he suddenly had this inspiration, because he knew that another world-famous Roman hoplite in history not only had amazing melee combat, but their javelin throwing was also terrifying, so he had this proposal.
"Ariaeus has enough cavalry," said Olivos.
Davos smiled, "It's better to rely on yourself than others."
"Is this the 'Oracle'that Hades gave you?" Giorgris asked anxiously.
Davos smiled without answering.
"I think this is a good idea, let's go back and talk to Hielos." Matonis took the javelin from Davos, turned around, and suddenly threw the javelin, and the vulture that was still pecking fell to the ground.
"However, Davos, you still need to learn your javelin skill!" said Matonis proudly.
It is only a matter of tradition and habit for the Greek hoplites to not use javelins, but the Greek's javelin skills are not bad, and they are even considered top in the Mediterranean region, because javelins are one of the five all-rounders of the Olympic Games, and the Greek boys have started training them in the arena since they were young.
"Great! We will not only have beef and mutton for lunch but also bird meat!"
"I heard that the meat of this bird cannot be eaten, because it comes from hell…"
…
In the camp, the livestock has been slaughtered, the meat has been cut and placed in a pot, filled with water, and placed on a temporary clay stove. Everything is ready.
Everyone pulled back their weapons, chopped them up, and boiled the meat.
Matonis told Hielos about Davos'thoughts.
Since it was the proposal of the "God's Favored", after careful consideration, Hielos felt that this idea was acceptable: The javelin is not heavy, and it is acceptable for a hoplite to carry two javelins. Therefore, he went to Antonios, hoping to get support.
Antonios called the other nine squad leaders under him over, wanting to hear their thoughts first. Some of the squad leaders agreed, while some objected. The opposition adhered to the tradition of the Greek hoplites and thought that Meno didn't have to let the hoplites carry their javelins since they already have 500 light shield soldiers under them. However, those in favor of it thought that although there are 500 light shield soldiers in the camp, they are all Thracians, and the cooperation between the two sides is not very tacit. The hoplites themselves have javelins, so they can at least force the Persian cavalry to not go too close to reduce their casualties. The two sides argued, and Antonios couldn't decide, so he could only say that as long as it doesn't affect the battle, the teams will decide whether to carry their javelins.
Hielos came back happily and was about to tell Davos, but he found that a group of people was staring at the meat in the pot with drool, except for Davos.
"What about Davos?"
"They said that they were going to see the internal organs of the animals that were thrown away… and they said that it was a waste…"
Just as everyone was puzzled, they saw Davos walking over with a spear holding a bloody sausage.
"Hey, take this stinky thing away! It will affect our appetite!" Everyone covered their noses and shouted.
Davos ignored him and said loudly, "I saw a large number of sheep's innards discarded at the supply camp, and let the birds and wild dogs take them away, it's too wasteful! Don't forget that two days ago, we were so hungry that we wanted to eat our own hands! In the next few days, whether it's fighting or marching, we may still be hungry, so we should pick up these things and store them in case such things happen again. We still have something to eat!"
"Can those things be eaten?" asked a strong soldier.
Davos remembered that his name was Martius, and he was a soldier who lived in another tent. His question was what everyone wanted to ask. The Greeks mainly eat grains and eat very little meat, but this time, when they went deep into Persia, they began to eat meat frequently due to the logistic supply. The internal organs of animals not only smell fishy but also have a strong fishy smell due to the lack of spices and cooking methods. Therefore, besides using it for divination, very few people will try to eat it, and even think that eating it will poison them.
"Of course, it can be eaten! These things are not only very well prepared… they can not only fill our stomachs but also improve our bodies. For example, they can make us see more clearly at night." Davos answered affirmatively.
"Really?! That's great!" said Matonis happily.
The five people in the other tent looked skeptical.
"Davos is a 'God's Favored'! Did you know? Before, he fell on the battlefield, and after he fell unconscious…" Olivos began to boast about the amazing changes that Davos had experienced in the past two days.