"The point of crossing the river is just upstream about eight miles from our camp, the river is about eighty-five meters wide, the deepest part of the river reaches the waist span, the bottom of the river is rocky sand, which is neither too slippery nor hard, the bank is flat on this side of the river, and rocky on the opposite side ..." Hakri Sopes succinctly The amount of the exploration will be described.
"It seems like a good place to cross the river! Let's gather the entire army at once and quickly cross the river!" Timasong said excitedly.
"However, we have to take into account that Ojontas' forces will intercept us on the other side of the river, and by forcing our way across the river, the casualties of our soldiers will increase!" Zantiparis said cautiously.
"The Persians will never expect us to wade across the river so easily! As long as we rush to the other side of the river as fast as we can, we can surely give them a sudden attack!" Timasong said confidently.
"Let's not forget that we have the Duchess behind us! What about our supply battalion? Besides, the Persians outnumber us, and they have the Kardans, so as long as they can hold off our onslaught at the riverbank for a while, we'll be in trouble, and who knows how long the sand in the river will hold the soldiers!" Zantiparis said with slight concern.
Timasong immediately asked back, "So what's your best idea?"
Zantiparis said, "So let's all have a good discussion about how we can get across the river without any problems and still minimize our losses?"
"I thought you had something good up your sleeve?" Timasone glanced at him.
"I have a suggestion." Xenophon interjected, "We can set aside a portion of our soldiers to protect the supply battalion. When the large force is ready to cross the river, this part of the soldiers will lead the supply battalion at the original pontoon bridge and pretend to cross the river, the Persians will surely think that we are going to cross the river again from here and attack them from the rear, and will divide their troops for defense, and wait until the large force defeats the enemy on the other side, and then this part of the soldiers are escorting the supply battalion back to the place where the large force is fighting to cross the river. This disperses the troops and protects the supply battalion, what do you think?" Xenophon said in a slightly self-satisfied manner.
It had to be said that Xenophon's plan was good, and the crowd fell into thought. After a while, Criano asked, ''The supply battalion's ranks are very large, how many soldiers are you going to set aside to protect them? If there are too many, it will affect the time we have to rout the Persians, and if you have the supply battalion and soldiers marching back and forth, not only will it be easy for them to get tired, but they will also be vulnerable to the Duchess's attacks, have you considered this aspect?"
"This ..." Xenophon was momentarily speechless as he squirmed, "There will inevitably be deaths and injuries in a war, as long as we can minimize the losses ... "
At that point, Davos said, "Inspired by Xenophon, I've come up with a solution as well."
As soon as he opened his mouth, everyone's eyes focused on him, for it had been proven many times that the youngest of the chiefs had always been a soft-spoken man, and his speeches always solved the problem.
"We will not cross the river for the time being during the day today." Davos swept a glance at the chieftains and saw that although they were slightly surprised, they were all continuing to listen quietly, "At night, when the Persians have all gone into camp and gone to bed, we can send a unit to cross the river first, find a place to hide, and wait until tomorrow, when our large force engages the Persians, then they will suddenly attack the back of the Persians' military formation, and will be able to disrupt the Persians' array, thus front and back Caught in the middle, not only can we crush the Persians, but we may even annihilate a part of them, thus weakening the power of the Persians and making it smoother for us to reach the sea of Yauk Singh after we enter Armenia ..."
The crowd's eyes lit up; Davos' suggestion was truly original and different. In fact, or the thinking of the chiefs trapped in the centuries-old Greek military tradition of frontal impact, while Davos's plan to cross the river was inspired by the great red army of the past generation to liberate Hainan, the strategy adopted by the "combination of a small group of troops smuggling and a large force frontal crossing".
"Davos, the soldiers don't have experience in crossing rivers in the dark. How many men will you send to cross the river first? In case they riot out of fear while crossing the river, it could easily lead to drowning and death, or even alert the Persians to the failure of our operation, thus letting the Persians know about the river crossing location that we have painstakingly scouted out!" Criano's tone was quite a bit better than before when he was speaking to Xenophon, and the problem he was worried about was also a major reason why the mercenaries didn't dare to cross at night.
"And how will the party hide when they come ashore? When will the attack on the Persian rear be launched? I'm afraid all of this has to be taken into account." Timasong reminded.
Without thinking, Davos said, "For having a troop, none of the problems you mentioned are problems!" After saying this he looked to Hakri Sopes.
Kerisopus nodded silently.
That night, seven hundred Spartan warriors were successfully smuggled across the Kentritt River.
............... ...
Early the next morning, the mercenaries began to draw up their camp and take up their positions.
The Persians saw it and also quickly assembled on the opposite bank.
The mercenaries slaughtered three lambs, which the chiefs sacrificed to Okeanos, the god of the rivers of the ocean, and the whole army sang pious hymns.
Foreseeing that the Greeks might want to cross the river, Ojontas ordered his army to make immediate preparations.
The worship over, the mercenaries began marching down the riverbank, and after a few miles, stopped and rested for a while. Then turned again and marched upwards ...
The Armenian governor, who was handsome and deeply favored by the king of Persia, did not understand where the Greeks were going, thinking that they did not dare to cross the river with a Persian army on the other bank, and was searching for a way out. When he saw them scurrying about like headless flies, he felt a pang of triumph in his heart.
The Persian army continued to follow the march on the opposite bank.
The mercenaries finally reached the spot marked by Kerisopus for the crossing of the river, immediately halted their advance, and then, according to a prior plan, with the end of the left flank as an axis, the whole party rapidly rotated toward the river bank ...
Before Ojontas could understand, the mercenaries were already in formation facing the river Kentritt, and the whole group was divided into three parts: the first part consisted of the seven thousand men who were preparing to cross the river and engage the Persian army, and were standing on the bank in narrow horizontal columns, and in thick vertical columns (for the stretch of the river that could be crossed without difficulty was not very long); the second was the battalion of supply-arms, which was close behind; and the third part consisted of the three thousand men who were situated in the rear of the battalion, with their backs towards the bank, to prevent an attack by the Ducoyans. rear of the battalion, with their backs toward the riverbank, to prevent an attack by the Duchess.
Just as the Persian army slowly adjusted its formation, the mercenaries blew the bugle for the attack, and without hesitation, 7,000 soldiers stepped into the Kentritt River ...
Ojontas turned pale; he finally realized: the Greeks were preparing to cross the river from here!
Not bothering to worry about the long-range strikes of the mercenary stone throwers, Ojontas eagerly shouted, "Hurry! Get the infantry to block it! Archers! Archers fire arrows!" As he yelled, he hoped that the waters of the Kenterite River would slow down the mercenaries' advance, and that the bow strikes would spark confusion among the Greeks, which would lead to their drowning in the water due to panic and crowding. After that moment of panic, Ojontas regained his composure; after all, he had tried the depth of this river himself.
Maybe this is my chance to make a big score! He thought excitedly in his heart.
Davos followed the soldiers in front of him in the rear of the troop's right flank, treading the harder river sand in stride.
The river water in early winter is already a little bit harsh, but at this moment the soldiers with high war spirit have no time to feel it at all, their minds have been filled with one thought: to rush to the opposite bank as fast as possible!
------------