On the next day's march, Davos was riding on his horse, and his mind was filled with the pleasure he had with Cheiristoya last night. Cheiristoya was not only beautiful, but her figure was also as sexy as her appearance. Her snow-white and smooth skin, and the undulating curves made him love her. In addition, her flexible body made him wallow in it, and he tried his best to vent the lust that his young and strong body had accumulated for 19 years, which lasted until late at night. If it wasn't for Olivos covering it up for him outside, he would have been exposed. Therefore, he let go of the "crime" of Olivos eavesdropping outside.
After the passion, when Cheiristoya lay in the crook of his arm and shyly expressed her willingness to be with him, Davos felt that the barrier between himself and this world seemed to be much smaller. With this concern, he had an additional thought about his future. Davos came from a modern society and was an adult, so he knew that passion can't last long. Cheiristoya was born a noble, had been a concubine of Cyrus the Younger, and enjoyed a luxurious life. But now, he is just a mercenary, an ordinary civilian in Greek society, and not even a citizen. He doesn't have a fixed place to stay, and he can drift around for a short time, but it's hard to guarantee that Cheiristoya won't abandon him for a long time… Of course, this thought was buried in his heart, and now is not the time to think about it, because the most important thing now is to return to Greece alive and safe.
The appearance of the Persians had ruined his good mood.
This time, Tissaphernes changed his strategy and no longer attacked, but instead attacked. The Persians followed the mercenaries closely and maintained a safe distance. From time to time, another group of archers would rush up and shoot an arrow and immediately flee. The damage to the mercenaries was not great, but it made their nerves always tense, which affected their marching speed and morale.
In this regard, the leaders had no choice. The only thing they could do was to mix the catapults, archers and the hoplites, so that when facing the fast Persian archers, they would not dare to be too arrogant.
At the same time, the Greek mercenaries encountered other difficulties. As they got closer to the mountains of Duchya, the plain gradually became hills and the terrain became rugged. The huge square formation of the Greek army could not be kept intact, especially when crossing the river and trekking through the narrow mountain path, the whole formation was completely broken. The Persian cavalry took advantage of the situation and used their bows and arrows to cause more chaos to the mercenaries.
After a discussion, the leaders had to pull out the small mercenary troops that had joined Cheirisophus from the vanguard (because so far, the attack of the Persians mainly came from the rear and the flanks) and form four or five companies, each with about 200 men, which are placed on the flanks and the rearguard. Once there is a large crack in the formation, or when the terrain is narrow and compressed, they will rush out and form a new rearguard to block the charge of the Persian cavalry and provide a barrier for the archers and catapults that arrived later.
In this way, the mercenaries thought of various ways to deal with the Persian cavalry as they marched. This situation lasted for four to five days, and when the continuous mountains appeared in front of them, the whole army was relieved, because they all knew that the cavalry could not go up the mountain.
Panting, they trekked through the rugged mountain path, crossed the first mountain ridge and came to the foot of the second mountain ridge. The team stopped to rest due to fatigue.
Most of the soldiers took off their armor, wiped their sweat, and sat down to rest. While the guards of the supply camp were resting, they also had to check the injuries of the pack animals and the vehicles. The hedgehog of the whole army was gathered in a narrow area between the two mountains, ready to rest for a while and continue marching after recovering their strength.
The attack came suddenly, and countless arrows and flying stones came, which caught the mercenaries unprepared. The soldiers screamed, the women screamed, and the animals ran around, and the whole team was in a mess.
The first to react were Cheirisophus and his 800 Spartan warriors, because these Spartan warriors did not throw away their weapons and armor like the other soldiers after they went down the mountain, and their stamina was still abundant due to their frequent strict training. When Cheirisophus found that the attack came from the second mountain, he decisively ordered, "Sparta, move forward!"
The Spartan warriors immediately followed him, raising their shields and rushing to the top of the mountain.
The speed of the Persian light infantry was very fast, and wave after wave of arrows slanted down the mountain.
After experiencing the initial chaos, the mercenaries reacted quickly. After all, they are all veterans who have been through war. They quickly grabbed the round shield beside them and hid themselves under the shield. Only the personnel of the supply camp, except for the guards, are mostly slaves or women who have plundered, and have no combat experience. Driven by fear, most of them are not running away, but running around. Therefore, under the dense rain of arrows, they are injured.
At this time, Davos was anxious. For the past few days, he had not gone to look for Cheiristoya in order to take into account the impact of the camp. Now that the situation is urgent, he doesn't know if she is safe.
"Asistes, inform the officers to form a shield wall and move closer to the supply camp and medical camp!" He shouted.
"Yes, leader!"
In fact, without his order, Philesius, Kapus and Antonios had already led their troops to raise their round shields above their heads and form a shield formation to move to the center.
Olivos and Matonis immediately raised their shields and rushed forward to protect Davos.
Davos shouted, "Mariji! Mariji, are you okay?!"
"I'm fine!" Mariji shouted behind him.
"Protect him quickly, don't let him get hurt!" Davos ordered.
Although Matonis looked down on this Persian, he always carried out Davos' orders meticulously.
At this time, he was already the acting captain of the guards. Under his order, Giorgris and several others rushed up to protect Mariji.
Mariji stared at Davos' back without saying a word, his eyes filled with gratitude.
Davos had no time to look at Mariji. He half-knelt and tried to look at the direction of the supply camp from under his shield, which was in chaos.
He anxiously rushed to the center, and when he saw that the medical camp had also erected a shield formation, he was slightly relieved. In order to avoid suspicion, he first shouted, "Herpus! Herpus!"
"I am here!" Herpus' voice came from under the shield formation, "We are all fine!"
Hearing this, Davos finally relaxed. At this time, Hielos came over and briefly explained the situation to him: The reason why the doctors and female slaves of the medical camp were safe was also related to Cheiristoya. When the first wave of arrows fell, she immediately called them to hide under the cart, and Hielos then commanded the more than a hundred wounded soldiers to form a shield formation to protect most people.
Hielos greatly appreciated Cheiristoya's quick and calm response in the face of danger, which gave Davos another layer of understanding of this woman. Perhaps this is why she was the only one among the concubines of Cyrus the Younger to escape from the plunder of the Persians.
The supply camp was much more miserable. Mersis was not injured under the protection of the guards, and many of the slaves and women were shot, and several animals died. Faced with Mersis'sad face, Davos, who was used to life and death, did not send anyone to protect the non-combatants who had scattered. Fortunately, the Persian attack did not last long, because the troops led by Cheirisophus were about to reach the top of the mountain.
The Persians certainly won't fight the mercenaries head-on, and they quickly retreated.
Cheirisophus left the Spartan warriors at the top of the mountain as a precaution.
After going down the mountain, Cheirisophus gathered the leaders to discuss how to deal with it, and said, "The Persians are all light infantry, and we can't catch up with them. Although they have retreated, it is likely that they will continue to attack us with arrows in the third and fourth mountains. Our troops are too large, and it is difficult to avoid them."
In fact, he had already thought of a countermeasure on his way back from the mountain, "I have just looked carefully at the top of the mountain. These mountains are not high and they don't occupy a lot of land. We can send a unit to go around the right side of the next mountain to the back, and then I will lead my warriors to be the vanguard. If the Persians want to occupy a higher place and continue attacking us, we will cut off their retreat."
Cheirisophus poked the sketch on the ground with his branch, "Then surround and kill them."