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Chapter 52 - Ferrying the River (above)

 "All troops in formation!" The squad officers shouted.

 The soldiers in the river panicked and retreated back, and narrowly escaped being swept away by the current.

 "There are a lot of big, round rocks at the bottom of the river, and it's very slippery and hard to walk on!" The soldiers reported to the chiefs when they came ashore.

 "It seems that it will be difficult for us to cross the river from here with the Persians on the other side!" Timasong said helplessly, and the other chiefs agreed. They watched the opposite bank closely: the Persians had stopped advancing and were close to the riverbank, their formation was about a mile long and looked to be no less than 20,000 men.

 "It's Ojontas' troops!" Criano said with some surprise.

 Xenophon said with some regret, "Looks like he got ahead of us."

 Zantiparis pointed across the river in amazement and called out, "Look, he's also recruited quite a few Caldans!"

 A Kaldanian? Davos didn't know anything about that, and quizzically craned his head to look at Felicius.

 "The Kardans are a tribe living in Armenia, and I've heard that they are so brave and aggressive that the Persians like to recruit them as heavy infantry." As he explained, Felicius pointed his finger across the river, "Look, there it is!"

 Following the direction of his finger, Davos saw some Kardans in leather helmets and robes, one holding a long shield and the other a spear, standing at the forefront right in the middle of the Persian army formation.

 "Ojontas seems to be doing everything he can to try and stop us, but unfortunately the Caldans are no match for us!" Timasong said resignedly.

 "But with this river, it's all hard to say." Zantiparis said, slightly pessimistically.

 "Have the soldiers camp and rest for now, and send someone to scout this river for a better place to cross on foot." Hakri Sopes said with a calm demeanor.

 The order was conveyed, and the troops retreated to a point less than a mile from the Kent Ritter River and began to tree their camp.

 It wasn't long before Ledus brought back the news that there was no sign of the Persians on this side of the riverbank, but some Duchesses had been spotted peering at them in the mountains not far away. This made the chiefs frown.

 "Go get Izam." Kerisops said.

 Izam was the son of the man who had been sent as a guide by Commoro, the great chief of the Kesokont tribe. As a result, during the twenty days he spent with the Greeks, this energetic young man became intensely curious about distant Greece, and not wanting to return to his closed cottage, he wanted to go out and make his own way, and with Komoro's consent, the mercenaries took him on.

 When Izam got the news, he was stunned, and then swore that those Ducoyans could never have been sent out by the Ksokont tribe. And volunteered to go and explore.

 Having obtained the consent of the chiefs, Ledus led him on. Half an hour later he came back and reported that the men were from the same tribes that had joined together in the mountains to initiate the attack on the Greek mercenaries, and that he had seen a few of them before.

 When Izamu went out, Xenophon sighed in relief and said, "I told you, Commoro worked well with us before, how could he start hitting on us just as soon as we split up."

 Criano grunted, "Don't be too gullible about the words of this Duchess. How do you know that this son of Commollo isn't telling lies? We've all seen what kind of man Commollo is, every time we finish a battle, we have to argue with us for half a day over the ownership of the loot, not even a single tile jar. Such a greedy man, now that we are going to fight with the Persians again, how could he let go of the good opportunity to take advantage of it!"

 "Not to mention the fact that the covenant is now null and void and not binding on him!" Timasong interjected.

 "We have his son!" Xenophon reminded.

 "I heard that he has a dozen sons, so one death is no big deal. And who knows if Commollo had the idea of having him on the inside?!" Criano retorted.

 Sitting in the corner, Davos watched as the mood in the tent was a little off. Xenophon was originally a man with an active and energetic mind, and lately as he became more familiar with mercenary affairs, his performance became even more active. In the eyes of some of the chieftains it was felt that he was overly flamboyant, and from time to time he would look for an opportunity to knock him down. Davos had urged him to temper himself, and his reply was, "I have done nothing wrong; Hades did not send me here to curry favor with some one, but to contribute to the saving of the lives of these ten thousand Greek brethren!"

 In contrast, the much younger Davos was instead much more stable, and after becoming chief, apart from trying to perform when he should and earning himself respect and prestige, he was usually introverted, and mostly listened when deliberating on things, because he knew that these chiefs had been on the battlefield for many years, and had a lot of experience, and were worthy of his learning and thinking.

 "We all know that Commoro is a smart man with ambition, a smart man who knows when to do things. The most important thing that the Kesokont tribe should do now is to quickly annex and digest those four tribes, so that they can be integrated into his tribe in order to realistically become his power. That's why just after stepping out of the mountains, he rushed to part with us. I don't think he'd come to mess with us while he's still unstable internally, he's aware of how powerful our force is, especially since he's surrounded by quite a few enemies." Davos said in a warm voice, Xenophon was on good terms with him, and he had to relieve him in public and in private.

 "So the Dukia mountain people who came to spy on us are from the same tribes we defeated, as the boy said. Instead of going to attack the Kesokont tribe, they dare to come and mess with the mighty us." Kriano taunted.

 "Like you said before, they're here to see if there's a bargain to be had." Davos shot back smartly.

 Kerisops spoke, "Whether they are from the Ksokont tribe or not, we fear no one on the plains as long as we are on guard. The important thing now is - to find a way to cross the river, to break through Ojontas' block and enter Armenia. Otherwise the longer we delay, the greater will be the difficulty."

 The chiefs were silent.

 A day passed without any discovery.

 The next day there was still no good news, but quite a lot of bad news: the Dukkia hillmen in the nearby mountain ranges were increasing in number, with Ledders roughly estimating about a thousand of them. The number of Persian soldiers on the opposite side also seemed to be increasing, while the feeling of provisions was rapidly diminishing, and the soldiers who went out to collect firewood were occasionally attacked by the Dukia ...

 The dire situation not only makes the soldiers anxious, but even the chiefs are getting restless. As the chiefs deliberated, Seraphim suggested that Izham go back to his tribe and seek out his father, Commodus, to see if he could help the mercenaries drive out the Duchesses.

 It was laughed at by Timasone and there was even a fight between the two sides.

 ............... ......

 Early on the third morning, Xenophon entered the tent with two young warriors in tow. It turned out that the two warriors had found a spot where they could easily wade across the river.

 Upon hearing this news, the chiefs' previous conflicts disappeared and they all became excited.

 Just so as not to attract the attention of the Persians on the other side of the river, Chrysopus changed his costume to that of a common soldier and accompanied the soldiers on foot to the point where the river could be crossed ...

 It was hard to wait until he came back, and when they saw the relaxed expression on the face of Hakri Sopes, everyone knew that the river crossing was a done deal.

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