Davos knew that he had to speak with facts to get them to change their minds. So he called on Giorgis, went to the supply camp, picked up a cow's stomach, went to a stream beside the camp, painstakingly washed it, and then boiled hot water in a wattled pot, with which he blanched the stomach before drawing his saber and beginning to slice it.
At this point, the five men who had been half-convinced by Oliveros's remarks, and some curious soldiers surrounded Davos in several circles.
Unhurriedly, Davos ladled several ladles of soup from another tawa that was cooking beef and mutton, poured it into the new tawa, and when the soup boiled, poured in the chopped beef stomach. After a while, he lifted the tawa up, sprinkled it with salt, and a simple can of 'popped belly' was ready.
"Here, taste it."
Matonis hesitantly stabbed a piece with his saber, blew hard on it, and slowly put it in his mouth.
In the face of the bystanders inquiries, he did not answer, not moving, and tied another piece ... and then smashed another piece ... Everyone then reacted, ready to swarm, when Matonis ignored the hot hands, picked up the tiles and ran, everyone cursed and chased.
Davos was rather amused when he didn't realize that the big man, Matonis, had quite the heart.
"It seems the entrails of livestock are not only edible but flavorful." Xilos, who was not part of the chase, exclaimed.
Davos didn't say anything, livestock offal wasn't always so tasty, like liver for example, but it was good for the human body. There was no industrial pollution in this era, so there should be no danger of poisoning from eating it.
"But the meat distributed to us is already enough for one day. With this heat, by tomorrow these innards should be spoiled." Xilos said helplessly.
To this problem, Davos had already thought of a solution, he pointed to the sheep's intestines that had been thrown aside, and said, "We can make - smoked meat sausages! (In fact, in this era, some of the horse-herding races within Persia have already begun to use horse intestines to make meat sausages, it's just that they haven't been popularized yet)"
"Bacon sausage?"
............
When the crowd returned, they looked at Davos with a bit of awe in their eyes. After tasting the deliciousness of the 'explosive belly', they thought that Oliveros' words were right, if it wasn't the 'God's favorites', why was Davos the only one out of more than 10,000 Greeks who thought that these filths could be eaten and made so delicious! In the past, Davos hadn't been just like them, throwing these livestock entrails far away, and now that there was such a big change, it must have been Hades' favor.
Therefore, it became much easier for Davos to direct them to do their work. They were able to endure the stench of the goat's intestines and take them to the creek to be washed. Then, the guts and some of the remaining meat were chopped up and stuffed into the intestines. Stuff a small section. Then tie it with thread drawn from linen. Stuff another section and tie it again ...
Once it was finished, it was hung on a wooden pole that was set up and smoked all the way through the fire. This smoked sausage practice was something that Davos had learned from the villagers when he was a village official in his previous life. Now the conditions were limited and time was short, so the process could only be simplified, as long as it could be stored for a few more days and could be eaten.
Divers and their loud smoked sausage, naturally attracted many curious onlookers, and after Oliverus, Martonius and others bragged about it, then Divers became a rare thing, by the soldiers to look at it again and again. Soon, "Davos is a god's favorite" and "bacon sausage" two things began to spread in Menon's camp ...
...............
Toward noon news came that the king of Persia had sent messengers to beckon him to surrender, which the chiefs refused.
Toward the end of the afternoon the news came again. Arius's messengers turned back, bringing Arius's answer: he refused to advance against the Persian king's army, and wanted only to return to Asia Minor, and was willing to make the return journey with the Greek mercenaries.
Davos hit the nail on the head again, and everyone was no longer surprised.
Soon came word again that Krilcus was going to sacrifice animals to Zeus, leaving it up to the Lord God to decide whether they would fight or retreat next.
Davos was amused: it was an obvious tactic for mercenary leaders to shirk their responsibilities. But the extreme seriousness with which his companions looked forward to the results of the divination made Davos realize that he was being a little unreasonable in viewing the Ancients' practices from a modern point of view.
Apparently, the chieftains were not getting good results from their divinations. So the order finally came down from above: the mercenaries would go and join Arius' forces and return to Asia Minor together.
Now the soldiers in each camp are to begin at once to pack and load their provisions on the pack wagons. When it is dark and the brass horn is blown, the battalions will be ready to depart in order.
At once, a tense atmosphere filled the camp, but everyone's face was more or less relaxed: after all, it had been eight or nine months since the departure from Asia Minor, and it was finally time to go home, and no one was willing to stay long in a hostile land.
"Is this sausage ready to be removed?" Xellos asked.
Davos looked up at the dozen or so skewers of meat sausage that were being smoked, then shook his head, "Wait until dark and pick them up before we leave." He knew that half a day would not be enough to reach the standard of smoked meat sausages, but if he could grill them a little longer, he could store them for a while longer.
Everyone began to dismantle their tents and pack their bags with great skill. Davos, though he had such a memory, had yet to convert that memory into a habit. He watched and learned very carefully.
When everyone arrived at the supply camp carrying tents and baggage, Davos saw the fat man yelling and directing his men to load the items. Despite the number of soldiers that had come to the supply camp, he was able to keep order and work in an organized manner well.
"Who's that?" Davos asked, pointing at him.
"Melsis, Menon's logistics officer. This fat pig is so bad, the last time I came here looking for a woman, he even asked me for two silver coins!" Oliverus said indignantly.
Davos looked thoughtfully at the pack animals that were hissing loudly and asked, "Have we ever marched at night before?"
"Very little. If there is no moonlight, you can't see anything at all. Even if there is, it's difficult to walk at night. The big guys are even more of a problem; don't think they're docile now, but at night they're easily frightened, and there have been a couple of run-ins in the past. That's why the supply train is walking separately from us." Xylos said.
Davos thought for a moment, placing his bags in Xellos' hands and stepping out of the group.
"Hey! Get back here quick! Melsius is not to be messed with!" Oliverus called out.
Afraid that Davos will suffer, Matonis rushes over as well.
"Stand still!" The guard pointed his bayonet at Davos, "It's not your turn yet, get in line!"
Davos signaled that he was empty-handed and said, "I'm looking for Melsius for something."
The guard subconsciously glanced back before shaking his head, "If I were you, I wouldn't bother the fat man while he's busy."
"Okay." Davos smiled wryly and shouted, "Melsis, I can help you with your livestock's tendency to spook at night!"
His shout brought the soldiers' eyes together:
"If it isn't Davos! Even this problem has been solved, worthy of being a 'God's Favorite'!"
"What 'God is favored'?"
"Don't you know? Davos is a 'God's Favorite', that's what Oliverus told ..."
Davos listened to the crowd's murmurings and realized that he had accomplished half of his purpose.
"You can fix the livestock?!" Melsius asked skeptically as he walked over and sized up Davos.
"Of course! He's Davers!" Matonis was fast becoming a fan of his.
"You're Davros?! The Davos who made the bacon sausage?!" Melsius asked with a look of surprise as he changed color.
Davos nodded.
"Come on over here and help me see if there's anything wrong with the sausage I made?" With that, Melsius pulled Davos inside.
When Davos saw the smoked meat sausage he made and pointed out the deficiencies, Melsius said with some grumbling, "You should have been the first to tell me about the meat sausage, instead of telling those soldiers who only fight and kill. You should know that they are nothing but profligate and wasteful! Unfortunately, by the time I heard about it, all that meat and guts were almost taken, so it's a good thing I reacted quickly! ... "Said Melsius, suddenly remembering the purpose of Davos' visit, "Oops! I almost forgot. You said you can solve the problem of pack animals being easily frightened at night?"
"It's simple. Blindfold them. Cattle and horses are gentle and timid by nature, and when they can't see, they don't dare take a single step, and will only blindly obey the instructions given to them by those who are pulling them." Davos said seriously. This was still talked about in his previous life when the old farmer in the village gave him a chat.
"Oh! So that's how it is! I'll go try!" Melsius turned and ran, then suddenly stopped again, "Davos, I hope you come to my place often! If you want to play with women, I won't charge you!"
Davos laughed: this was a serious fat guy.
Note: At that time, nomads in West Asia were already making meat sausages from horse intestines.