"Reporting, the Persians have left the valley and have caught up!"
"Very good. How many people are there?"
"There are about 6,000 to 7,000 people, and they seem to be archers and cavalry!"
"Damn Persians! They must be thinking of using arrows to defeat us all!"
"Great! The more they come, the more we kill!"
"Can Davos block it?"
"Therefore, our attack must be fast and fierce!" Cheirisophus firmly said, "Everyone, please return to your commanding position and immediately spread out your formation, and we will force our way forward!"
"Roar!!!…" The leaders rubbed their fists and began to move.
…
When Artaozus came out of the valley, he couldn't wait to set up the battle formation. Just like the day before yesterday, the archers were in the middle and the cavalry were on both sides.
Just 2 miles out of the valley, the scout came back and reported, "The Greeks are coming towards us!"
Although Artaozus was in a state of excitement, after all, he has a lot of combat experience. This kind of harassment tactics requires space to spin, and he doesn't want to be confined to the mouth of the valley. Therefore, he immediately ordered the whole team to move to the left.
The archers are considered to be highly mobile soldiers, but it will take time for the 7,000-man troops to change their formation when they have already set up the battle formation, and the Greeks did not give them the time.
Not long after Artaozus gave the order, the figure of the Greeks appeared in his sight. He suddenly became nervous, because he knew that it would be suicidal to change the formation when the enemy is advancing.
He once again ordered the restoration of the battle formation, and quickly calculated in his mind, 'In a while, after shooting two rounds of arrows and disrupting the enemy's advance, they will immediately move quickly to the left, break away from the contact with the Greeks and find another opportunity.'
However, his expression soon changed, because the Greek on the other side had a very long line, which far exceeded his own wings, and in the process of marching, it was constantly extending to both wings.
Artaozus understood the traditional Greek phalanx formation. They often pile up the formation very thick, usually more than seven or eight rows, and use the strong impact to crush the other side. But now, the other side's formation is so thin that it is probably only two or three rows, so why do they dare to do this? Artaozus then understood that because his side is full of light cavalry and archers, the Greeks can still win without relying on their numbers.
The Greeks wanted to surround him! They were too careless! Artaozus was a bit flustered, and his expression changed. He wanted to retreat immediately, but he felt that the formation was already set up and he could only go back like this. Not only was his morale affected, but the main thing was that it was delayed.
' I have made a promise that I will shoot at least one round of arrows.' He thought to himself, '7,000 arrows can disrupt their formation, and might even cause them to be confused, even if there is no time to retreat.'
At the thought of this, Artaozus decided to take a risk. He quickly called his officers and told them to remember the order of retreat…
After everything was arranged, he felt much more relieved. Looking at the approaching Greeks, he decided to order the arrows to be released when the distance between the two sides is about 100 meters.
' Come on, Greek barbarian, come and die!' He smiled maliciously. However, when they were about 200 meters away, there was the sound of a bronze horn on the opposite side, and the Greeks had actually stopped advancing! He was so anxious that he didn't want his troops to be forced forward. It is easy to turn from an attack to a retreat, and Artaozus only wanted to retreat smoothly and continue to wait for the Greeks to attack. He now feels that having more troops has the disadvantages of not being able to command well.
Then, he was surprised to see countless arms extending from the back of the Greek hoplite opposite him and began to circle around his head.
A catapult!! Artaozus was shocked. He remembered that there were no catapults among the Greek mercenaries, so why did they suddenly have one?!
At this time, there was no time for him to think about it. Countless fist-sized stones fell on them like hailstones. In the middle of the Persian army, these Persian archers were drawing their bows and were ready to shoot, but they were instantly hit. Without the protection of their armor, they were smashed and some were even knocked unconscious…
The Persian army was in chaos.
The rate at which the catapults were launched was very fast, and in an instant, the enemy formation threw out another flying rock, which covered the sky…
Artaozus was so anxious that his eyes turned red and shouted at the top of his voice, "Retreat! Retreat!!…"
Just as the trumpeter was about to blow the horn, a loud brass horn sounded from the opposite side, and the Greek hoplite that was originally standing still roared, "Ares!!!" and began to stride towards the Persians, and the whole Greek frontline was like a surging tide, without fear of the reefs and shallows in front of them, and swore to swallow the land. It was a powerful momentum that was indomitable, enough to destroy the already weak morale of the Persians, and even cracked a passage in the front of the Greek army, and dozens of cavalry rushed out and charged at the enemy Persians.
The Persians had completely collapsed! They did not listen to the orders of the strategos at all, and even took them and ran back fiercely. The order of retreat that was arranged in advance could not be carried out at all. The cavalry, archers, right wing, left wing and center swarmed towards the mouth of the valley like a swarm of bees, and they only have one thought in their mind: Stay away from those terrible Greeks!
Defeated! Defeated! Defeated without even shooting an arrow!! Artaozus had participated in the battle of Kunasak before, and as a teammate, he was happy that the Greeks easily defeated the Persian king's army. But now, when he personally faced the charge of the Greeks, he felt the horror of the Greek hoplites. At this moment, his mind was blank, and he just held his horse's neck tightly with both hands and was surrounded by the attendants as he rushed to the mouth of the valley. Because he was in the rear of the center at that time and was the closest to the entrance of the valley, he and the cavalry were almost at the front of the Persian army.
Ahead is the entrance of the valley, and the vast space suddenly narrowed here, and the steep and continuous mountain peaks made the air only flow in the mouth of the valley, which made Artaozus, who had just entered the valley, almost unable to open his eyes due to the fierce mountain wind.
"Go!" He squeezed the horse's belly and knew very well that the faster they rush through the valley, the less troops they will lose!
The road of the valley is not a straight line, but a curved "S" shape. For the Persian cavalry who have ridden the battlefield all year round, this is not a problem. They are very good at controlling their horses, and even if there is a turn ahead, they did not slow down their horses.
Just as they were about to turn around the foot of the mountain, a wall half the height of a man appeared in front of them, made of stones and wood. Artaozus and his cavalry couldn't stop their horses in time, and so they directly collided with it. Immediately, the people shouted and the horses neighed, and the screams continued…
Artaozus was thrown out, and the last thing he saw was the rapidly enlarging mountain wall…
The defeated soldiers of Persia entered the valley like a torrent, filling the valley and pushing forward…
When the remaining cavalry at the front stopped moving in horror, the soldiers at the rear were still running forward…
And so, an even more tragic scene happened: The soldiers in front were squeezed down, and before they could get up, they were trampled by the soldiers that rushed in from behind, and the struggling soldiers tripped the advancing soldiers, and the defeated soldiers in the rear were still pouring in crazily in order to escape the slaughter of the Greeks…
In the valley, people kept falling, getting trampled, falling and trampling… Behind the stone wall, the Persians piled up layer by layer, all the way to the entrance of the valley. Some of the soldiers have been trampled into minced meat, while some are still struggling and wailing in the stream formed by blood… it is simply hell on earth!
"Shield wall!"
"Javelin ready!"
Seeing the Persian soldiers crowded in front of the stone wall, although Davos was a bit nervous, he still issued orders in a clear voice!
The Persians who struggled to climb over the stone wall were first shot by the light shield soldiers led by Epiphanes, and then the Greek hoplites formed a shield wall in a dense formation to block their way. The soldiers in the first four rows had their chest close to their back and gave the first row of soldiers strength support. Their spears could also reach to the front of the first row of soldiers, and together, they formed a spear wall that blocked the passage and easily stabbed the fleeing and disorganized Persians.
Davos asked the soldiers to carry stones and wood and simply build this stone wall in order to prevent the impact of the Persian cavalry, because once the horses start running, the hoplites may not be able to stop them no matter how many rows they line up, and they will suffer heavy losses, so they used roadblocks to slow down the Persian cavalry. Unexpectedly, the effect of the stone wall was far beyond their imagination. It blocked the valley with the mountains of corpses, which made the strength of the defeated soldiers unable to gather and attack the defensive line of Davos.
The battle did not last long. In the harsh situation of the Persian defeated soldiers being pursued from behind, with no way forward and hell in the middle, they completely collapsed mentally and surrendered one after another…