Krilcus looked at the obviously much thicker squares in the center of the enemy, and then at the enemy's left flank, which was a somewhat longer array than his own. Although he had fully supported Cyrus the Younger from the beginning, it did not mean that he would follow orders, and he bluntly retorted, "Your Highness, I think it would be more prudent to crush the enemy's left flank first, and flank the enemy's center."
"I know Artaxerxes, I know the Persian army, and I know your Greek squares! Believe me, my friend, your army will easily defeat Artaxerxes' center army! With Artaxerxes defeated, it is useless for him to have any more armies!" Cyrus the Younger persuaded.
Krilkus shook his head stubbornly, "I apologize, Your Highness! I will not expose the flanks of the square to the enemy hordes!"
The young Cyrus frowned and glared at Krilkus, but there was no more time for him to organize his words to convince the other. As for forcing orders, the other man was a mercenary, not one of his men.
"All right, as you say!" Little Cyrus turned his horse around. With a sharp tug on the reins, he galloped back toward the road.
......
When the two armies were about five hundred meters apart, the Greek soldiers began to chant the chant of Ares, the god of war, and marched forward.
By the time the carol was finished, they were less than two hundred meters apart.
"Ares!!!" The soldiers shouted in unison and began to jog, and faster and faster and faster ... tens of thousands of heavy Greek infantry converged into a "Boom! Boom! Boom! ..." footsteps were like rolling thunder gathering energy to cut through the darkness of the night with lightning!
The Persians on the opposite side seemed to be completely stunned by the mountainous torrent of steel in front of them. As the Greek army got closer and closer, except for a few hobnailed wagons that rushed straight into the ranks of the Greek army, accompanied by screams, strangled up limbs and arms, and finally disappeared into silence as well, the others, out of fear, forgot to release their arrows and put up their shields.
With the two armies still a dozen meters apart, the Persians collapsed and they turned and fled.
The Greeks did not expect the victory to come so quickly, and their energy, which had not yet been given vent, pursued the enemy with even greater vigor.
At first, junior captains such as Hillows repeatedly reminded their teammates, "Stay in formation, don't run too fast! Stay in formation ..."
By the end of the day, the group ran completely apart and all the Greeks were in a state of exuberance at the chase.
......
Little Cyrus in the center didn't expect the victory on the right flank to come so quickly, and for a moment he was still in a bit of a daze.
"Great King Cyrus, long live!!!" The retainers had begun waving their spears and chanting in victory.
"Your Highness, shall we follow in pursuit?" Artapatis asked him for guidance.
He shook his head and gazed straight ahead to his left.
He knew very well that only by taking out that person would he be able to obtain that supreme crown.
"Pass the word! Have Arrizos' left flank stop advancing and prepare for defense!" Cyrus Junior immediately gave the order. He knew very well in his heart that the strongest troops on his side were the Greek mercenaries, and since the Greeks had already repulsed the enemy's left flank, there was no need for him to rush the left flank, which had significantly fewer troops than the enemy, to go toe-to-toe with the enemy's right flank. In case there was also a rapid rout, this battle could be troublesome. It would be better to delay as much as possible and wait for the Greek mercenaries who were chasing the routed army to return, then the victory would be a sure thing.
However, while he patiently waited for the enemy to press on, the other side's center stopped moving forward.
Soon, his face changed.
For, the center of the enemy's road began to split into two parts, the leftward part of which turned back toward the left rear.
"Not good! They want to attack the Greeks!!!" Altapartes, who was next to him, cried out in disbelief.
The heavily armored Greek infantry, which was being dispersed in pursuit of the routed army, was likely to fall into disarray if attacked from the rear by the enemy, and the tide of the battle would be reversed.
"Artaxerxes, how dare you switch formations on the battlefield, do you really think that I have fewer cavalry and don't dare to take the initiative to attack!" Junior Cyrus sneered and made a quick decision in his mind. He raised his spear and pointed forward, "Order the right wing to accelerate! Cavalry attack with me!!!"
"Your Highness, please put on your helmet!" The squire was busy handing over his helmet, and the young Cyrus was already straddling his horse, and the squires on his right and left hurried to catch up, and soon escorted him in the center.
More than eight hundred cavalrymen formed a wedge-shaped formation and sped straight toward the Persian king's center army.
The commander of the middle road of the Persian army, Artaxerxes, did not expect that Little Cyrus would dare to attack at this moment, and hurriedly transferred his cavalry to meet the attack. However, at this moment, the team is changing formation, rotating in the vast array of infantry blocked the cavalry's advance, it is hard to squeeze out a thousand cavalry from the gap in the array, high-speed galloping small Cyrus cavalry has been forced to the front.
With a burst of people shouting and horses neighing, the Persian army's hastily put together cavalry defense was instantly torn apart.
Then the cavalry of Cyrus the Younger plunged hard like a sharp knife into the back of that portion of the King of Persia's center army which was turning backward.
Cyrus the Younger was so brave and formidable that he once hunted a black bear all by himself. As things come in groups, his attendant cavalrymen and followers were also warriors. Facing enemies with their backs turned towards them, they didn't even waste their spears (because there were no stirrups in those days, and a marching cavalryman who stabbed an enemy would have to let go of his hand at once or else he would be pushed off the horse by the reaction force), and they used the horsepower of the high-speed charge to break into the array and crush the enemy.
Already affected by the rout of the left flank and suddenly hit hard, the Persian infantry, who bore the brunt of the attack, began to flee, and Cyrus the Younger's cavalry took advantage of the situation to pursue them. However, Cyrus saw the carriage of the Persian king in the dust and fog. It turned out that the main force on the left side of the Persian center army had collapsed, forming a big gap, which naturally exposed the Persian king in the rear in front of the formation.
"To the left!!!" Little Cyrus was so excited that he swung his spear, bypassing the right flank of the rescuing Persian center army and slanting towards the Persian King's rear army. Dozens of cavalrymen followed close behind.
"Quickly form a formation! Protect the king!!!" The Persian King's personal army general Artaxerxes shouted on the one hand, and hurriedly led the dozens of forbidden cavalrymen around him to take the lead in meeting the attack.
Facing the swarming enemy riders, little Cyrus did not look afraid, he drew his Greek saber, his legs clamped on the horse's belly, and when he saw the right time, his right hand spear picked off the vicious spear stabbed by Artaxerxes, and his left hand saber stretched out, and without exerting any force, as the two horses crossed each other's paths, the neck of Artaxerxes was naturally sliced by the Greek saber with the power of its forward charge... ...
With great skill and horsemanship, young Cyrus killed several men in a row. Soon his cavalry came up and held off the rest of the enemy riders for him. Only the circle of royal guards around the carriage remained between him and Artaxerxes, King of Persia, and he could even clearly see his brother's horrified face.
When he thought of his imprisonment, and of his occupying the throne that should have been his own (which was only a figment of Cyrus the Younger's imagination; the old King of Persia had never contemplated passing it on to him in the first place), a fire of rage burned in his breast: "Artaxerxes!" He roared, and fought to throw the spear in his hand, which, amidst cries of alarm, struck the Persian king in the chest like lightning through the gap between the royal guards.
The King of Persia let out a cry of anguish and collapsed in a heap on his carriage.
Chaos reigned before his eyes as he saw the King of Persia fall. His anger finally vented, he laughed uncontrollably as if the Persian crown was already in his hands, but he did not hear the attendant cavalrymen behind him shouting just as eagerly, "Look out, Your Highness! Look out! ..."
The laughter came to an abrupt end. A javelin flew out of the chaos and pierced him right in the eye socket.
He tumbled off his horse instantly without a sound ...