Now, Tissaphernes was in a dilemma. For the sake of this attack, he had specially prepared many large shields, but the light infantry under his command occupied too much of the troops, and they couldn't even protect half of them. And because there were too many soldiers, the formation was too dense, and almost every piece of rock and arrow of the mercenaries could achieve the killing effect. The soldiers could still barely maintain their morale under his high pressure, but the horses of the cavalry were injured, they screamed and jumped, running around and injuring some soldiers and disrupting their formation. By now, most of the cavalry had retreated to the rear.
Tissaphernes looked at the gradually thinning formation on his side and the moans that filled his ears, and then looked at the shield wall of the Greeks on the other side, which is not as tight as it was at the beginning. No matter how tight the protection of the Greek hoplites is, they can't completely avoid the arrows and killing at close range. Should it continue? He hesitated. He had paid a price, but he did not get any obvious results. Retreating like this will not only affect their morale, but will also attract the dissatisfaction and contempt of the other generals. But if they continue the archery battle, the casualties will increase, and before the Greeks collapse, I am afraid that his troops will be in chaos…
At this time, the herald came, "Lord Governor, Lord Sitias said that he has suffered too many casualties, so he proposed to attack immediately? Or retreat?"
Tissaphernes sighed and answered without hesitation, "Retreat!"
…
The Greek soldiers, who were struggling to hold on, could not believe their eyes when they saw the Persians retreating like the tide. After waiting for a while, the Persians did not appear again, so they began to cheer…
In this battle, there were more than 4,000 casualties in the navy and more than 900 casualties in the mercenaries. However, most of them were injured and most of them were injured by arrows.
After experiencing this battle, the soldiers were both physically and mentally exhausted. After cleaning up the battlefield in a hurry, the troops went north for a while, and before noon, they began camping and resting…
In the main tent, Davos had an urgent meeting with the officers to discuss how to treat the wounded. Because in this war, the troops under Davos had 19 casualties and 185 wounded, which was completely beyond the capacity of the medical camp, and so they had to mobilize the whole camp for treatment.
Amintas didn't think much of it and said, "There's no need to go through so much trouble. When we came out to fight in the army, we were already prepared to die in battle! Isn't it just an arrow wound? Just deal with it a few times, that's how we used to live."
Davos looked around at everyone and felt that Amintas was not the only one with such thoughts, so he said earnestly, "Everyone, we are far away from our family, away from our hometown, and going out to war. Are we only united in battle! In fact, we regard our companions as our family, and the camp is our home. Can we just watch our comrades get hurt and struggle without doing anything! If so, when we get injured, who will be willing to help us! Everyone -" Davos said firmly, "Please remember, it was before! Now, as long as it is the camp where I, Davos, am in, we must establish a belief that we will never let an enemy go, and we will never give up a comrade, and we will live and die together!"
"Well said!!" Philesius couldn't help but exclaim. The other officers also applauded enthusiastically.
Davos' words moved them, so the whole camp immediately took action.
First, a large open space was opened in the center of the camp as the location of the medical camp. Davos divided the wounded into three categories: minor injuries, medium injuries and serious injuries. Then he divided the soldiers who helped him into four groups: those who are hardworking and willing to do the medical camp's hygiene, and are responsible for cleaning up the blood and dirt at any time, and chasing away flies, mosquitoes and flying insects. Those who are strong are responsible for carrying and supporting the wounded. Those who are skillful in helping the doctors and nurses pull out the arrows, debride and bandage. Another group, those who have worked as carpenters in their hometown, are responsible for cutting down branches and making stretchers. The seriously injured are sent directly to Herpus, because he is the only one who can deal with them. After the light injuries have been removed, debrided and bandaged, most of the minor injuries can be returned to the company, while the other wounded will stay in the medical camp to observe and consider whether to suture and treat them further.
Under the command of Davos, the whole rescue operation was carried out in an orderly and efficient manner. In the afternoon, the wounded of Davos' camp were treated.
At this time, the words that Davos had said in the tent were pushed by Antonios and the others to the ears of the soldiers. At first, Davos had relied on the name of "God's Favored" to ascend the throne, which was the instinctive action of the soldiers to seek help from the gods in a situation where they were at a loss. After that, Davos killed Mithridates and Artaozus, and gradually won the recognition of the soldiers' ability to command with his courage and achievements. And this time, his touching words and actual actions finally conquered the hearts of the soldiers in the camp. Everyone gave him another nickname, "Merciful", and even began to affectionately call this young leader "our Davos."
This large-scale rescue operation had also alarmed the other camps. First, a single soldier supported the wounded and came here to ask for help. Davos agreed. But soon, the news spread and more wounded came, and the medical camp was obviously short of manpower, and if they wanted to help, they would have to squeeze the resources in their camp. The soldiers in Davos camp were dissatisfied and began to quarrel with outsiders.
At this time, Cleanor and Timasion came after receiving the news. After a quick visit to the medical camp, the two leaders (including Timasion, who had always been at odds with Davos) had more respect on their faces, because they also thought that such a unique and efficient clinic was obviously not something that ordinary people could do. Previously, they had scoffed at the rumor that Davos was "God's Favored".
Davos did not hesitate to agree to treat their wounded soldiers, but because there were too many wounded soldiers (as two rearguard troops, they suffered the greatest blow and more than 500 people were injured), they needed to send people to help, and at the same time, they needed more supplies, such as linen, earthenware pots, wood, tents, and so on, and even agreed to send doctors to study and help. Davos was so generous, so of course, he was selfish. He was confident that the medical knowledge he had learned in his previous life was enough to attract the doctors to stay and expand his medical camp.
Cleanor and Timasion left gratefully. After that, the other leaders came, and Davos made the same promise and the same request to them.
On the way back, Cheirisophus' adjutant praised Davos' ability and generosity, but Cheirisophus was thinking about something in silence.
This made the adjutant feel strange. Cheirisophus frankly said, "I admit that I was biased against him before, and Davos is indeed an excellent talent! Especially the… medical camp that he founded… medical camp is very helpful in combat, and Sparta needs it to deal with the upcoming war."
"War? What war?!" The adjutant asked in surprise.
"The war between Persia and Sparta." Cheirisophus had a grave expression, "Cyrus the Younger, who was friendly with us, died, and we were involved in the rebellion against the new king of Persia. The one in power in Asia Minor is now Tissaphernes, who has a conflict with Sparta. You should know that there are objections to Asia Minor in the agreement we signed with Persia, and the new king of Persia is likely to make things difficult for us… all kinds of indications are disadvantageous to us."
After hearing this, the adjutant fell silent. The war between Sparta and Athens lasted for more than 20 years, and in the end, Sparta won, but their losses were also huge. Now, they will face Persia, who is stronger than Athens, and even though he is a brave and fearless Spartan, he still feels great pressure.
Cheirisophus looked at him and changed the topic, "Do you think that Davos will join us?"
"Of course! We are the overlords of Sparta – Greece!" said the adjutant proudly.
"I hope so." Cheirisophus nodded.