And on this day, the Persians were not idle.
When Artaozus had succeeded in his attack, he returned to his camp, and proudly showed Arrizos his exploits, and proposed that Arrizos should put all the bowed cavalry and archers under his command, and that he would crush the Greeks at one blow.
Arius first congratulated him, and then began to find reasons to perfume Artaozus. After all, the army of Cyrus the Younger had been defeated in the battle with the King of Persia, and after he had gathered them together, there were only about seven thousand men left, and if he did what Artaozus said, Arrius would have only about three thousand men left under his command. As the nominal commander-in-chief of this army, the strength of his troops was not as much as that of his subordinates, so how could he command the whole army? Moreover, a Persian army without archers would not be a Persian army. Therefore, the prudent and petty Arius was not in favor of such a gambling method of warfare.
Artaozus was furious when he saw that Arizos did not agree. He thought: this was Arizos being jealous of him and not wanting to see him succeed.
So, in a fit of pique, he ran straight to the camp of Tissaphernes.
...............
"Just give you enough bow riders and archers and you can crush the Greeks?!" Tissaphernes was asking with some skepticism.
"Lord Governor, because of Little Cyrus, I have had many encounters with the Greek mercenaries and understand the situation of their army. Most of their soldiers are heavy infantry and move clumsily, so as long as we don't fight them at close range, they can't exert a bit of power, while their archers are few and far between, and are no match for us at all. Therefore, I only brought four hundred cavalry and archers to attack them, and without losing a single soldier, I caused about five hundred casualties among the Greeks (which is obviously an exaggerated result of the battle), and if we hadn't run out of bows and arrows, the casualties among the Greeks would have been even greater!" Artaozus said in a respectful manner, "Therefore, I would like to increase the number of bow cavalry and archers, increase the long-range strikes against the Greeks, and increase their casualties, in the hope of defeating them early, and settling these Greek barbarians for your lordship and the great king at an early date!"
Then he turned the tables, "But Arielus refused my offer, and I had to come to the Viceroy!"
Instead of making a direct reply, Tissaphernes said with a somber expression, "I am saddened and surprised by the death of Mithradates in battle!"
"At the same time, his death may also give the Greeks, who have lost their leader, confidence as a result!" Tissaphernes' expression turned grave, "I have heard that the Spartan ombudsman, Chrysopus, has become the new leader of the army this time, hasn't he?"
"Yes, Lord Governor. That's what the Greek soldiers who fled over said." Artaozus said.
"He must not be allowed to successfully take over this Greek army and gain prestige!" Tissaphernes said in a cold and firm tone, "We must keep striking them, so that they keep fleeing, crying out for death and wailing for hunger! Artaozus, since your methods are working, give me the opportunity to continue striking the Greeks with this method of warfare! I'll give you two thousand bowmen and five hundred bow riders, and besides Arrizos there--"
Tissaphernes twisted his head and said to Cistercus, who was standing aside, "I'll also have to trouble you to go there first, and since Arrizos doesn't dare to fight against the Greeks, he'll leave the soldiers to be led by someone who's capable of doing so! Otherwise, I don't mind discussing with him what he did during the rebellion of Cyrus the Younger!"
Siesta smiled in disbelief, "There's no need to be so angry, Lord Governor. I'm sure Arielus is a man of understanding."
"He'd better!" A cold glint flashed in Tissaphernes' eyes.
"Thank you, Lord Governor, for your trust, I will bring you news of victory!" Artaozus excitedly exclaimed his thanks.
"When you are victorious, you will be my lieutenant." Tissafonis made a promise.
Watching Artaozus gleefully follow Siszt out of the tent, Ojontas said with some concern, "Can this Artaozus really succeed?"
"If he's had one perfect victory, why can't he have a second? I'm willing to bet on the Greeks if I can finish them off once and for all!" Tissafonis said firmly.
"I didn't realize that the Spartan Ombudsman was actually in this mercenary army! It seems that Cyrus Junior's rebellion must have been supported by the Spartans as well!" Ojontas said in a hateful voice, as the son-in-law of King Artaxerxes, he was of course wary of any possible accomplices of Cyrus the Younger.
"The Greeks hate us, and have done so for decades. Back then, I was against funding Sparta against Athens, but unfortunately, His Majesty Darius was blinded by Cyrus the Younger and removed me from my position, rehiring Cyrus the Younger in favor of Sparta!" Tissaphernes said in a nagging voice, "How did it turn out! Sparta supported Cyrus the Younger in his rebellion so that he could profit from it! It would have been in our Persian interest to let the war between Sparta and Athens continue, instead of helping Sparta win!"
"You are right, Tissaphernes! I will certainly suggest to the Great King that we reconsider our relationship with Sparta when things are over here."
"Yes, that is why I want to settle these Greeks quickly. Artaozus will bring us good news, he will!"
............... ...
At dusk on this day, the chiefs once again converged on the military council tent.
"The company of stone throwers has been manned with a stone thrower, and after a day of intensive training and skillful use, they are ready to go into battle and kill the enemy!" Criano reported to the group, due to the fact that his unit served as the rear guard and had the most losses in yesterday's battle. Therefore, at his strong request, this newly built company was temporarily under his command.
Then, Davos also made a report, "There is no problem with the cavalry going into battle to kill the enemy." Since most of the cavalry came from his barracks and he was on the flank, the cavalry was temporarily under his jurisdiction.
Davos spoke briefly. After watching the cavalry training for a day, he also roughly understood the attack methods of the cavalry in this era: horse bumping, gun poking, javelin throwing, and bow and arrow shooting. Due to the lack of stirrups, they didn't dare to run at full speed or make a full-force fight, or else they would easily fall off their horses.
The newly created cavalry was armed with only one weapon - the bayonet - so their best form of attack - was to chase down the fleeing enemy.
At this point, Crisopus said, "Gentlemen, today I took a guide and went out of camp to scout out the road and the terrain around where we will march tomorrow-"
"This is so dangerous! Now that the Persian scouts are roaming around our camp, it would be a disaster to run into them!" Timasong shouted.
"I was prepared for this, and also with the blessing of Zeus, I did not run into the Persians." Grissops nodded to Timasone, thanking him for his concern, "Instead, an important discovery was made."
"What important discovery?!" Criano asked sharply.
"I found several high mountains about four miles ahead, and there is only one canyon to pass through, or else it is a long way around." Grissops said as he gestured with a stick on the grass, "This canyon will hold about twenty men side by side."
"You mean ... afraid the Persians will attack us as we pass through the gorge!" Zantiparis asked worriedly.
"It is indeed a problem. However, it is entirely solvable. We'll set out through the gorge while it's still light and the Persians will never expect it." Xenophon had a bright idea and said.
"This is a good idea! The Persians are afraid of the darkness, and especially their cavalrymen who cannot see their way in the dark are apt to fall off their horses. That's why in the old days, when Cyrus the Younger was around, marching with the Persians, they always waited until it was fully light before they left camp, and the day before yesterday Mithradates didn't catch up with us until it was light for quite some time, so if it's the same way tomorrow, we'll have already passed through the gorge." Criano agreed, and the others followed, then turned their attention to Kerithopes, who had the final word.
Grissops swept a glance at the crowd and spoke in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, I have a plan. Since the Persians are hot on our heels, we can use this canyon to hit them hard!"
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