1 The Death of Cyrus the Younger
"The king's army is coming! The king's army is coming!!…" A scout cavalry galloped from afar and repeatedly shouted in Persian and Greek.
The soldiers who were about to stop and rest became restless.
"Patikias, is what you said true? Artaxerxes is really here?!" Seeing the cavalry who had just jumped down, Cyrus the Younger couldn't wait to ask.
"Yes, Your Highness. Artaxerxes is here! Artaxerxes is also here! And that… damn Tissaphernes is also here!!" Parthikias gasped and said in a hoarse voice.
"Very good, my friend! Very good! He is finally here!!" Cyrus the Younger jumped off the horse excitedly, and while letting his servant put on his breastplate, he shouted to his adjutant, Ariaeus, "Inform the whole army to prepare for battle!!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" Ariaeus hurriedly called for the herald, "Inform the Greeks to quickly line up on our right wing! Prepare for battle!"
The herald flew away.
Ariaeus then called the Persian generals. Cyrus the Younger asked them to lead the soldiers on his left wing, while he led the 800 cavalry in the center.
The attentive Artapates asked, "How many enemies?"
"About 60,000… or 80,000…" Patikias recalled what he had seen, and there was a bit of fear on his face.
"So many people!!" The attendants exclaimed with fear.
"Haha! Are you afraid, my friend?" Cyrus the Younger came forward and gave a strong hug to Patikias, and didn't mind his body that was full of dust and sweat. Then, he turned around and got on his horse, and shouted to his surroundings, "Friends, are you afraid?!"
The followers and guards of Cyrus the Younger naturally expressed their bravery.
"No matter how many soldiers Artaxerxes has, he is still the timid Artaxerxes! Don't forget, even a small hound can scare him to pee!" Cyrus the Younger's vulgar words made everyone laugh.
"And I have you! And my army! Together, we defeated the powerful Athens! The Athens that had defeated us Persia many times!" Cyrus the Younger's gaze swept over each person, and the man straightened his chest.
"We still have the brave Greeks! They fought side by side with us!" Cyrus the Younger looked to the right, where the Greek hoplites began to slowly line up. Seeing this, he was full of confidence, "We are unstoppable! We are invincible!!"
"Victory!" Artapates shouted first, and then everyone rushed to shout, "Victory!!"
In the face of high morale, Cyrus the Younger raised his right hand, "Friends! Warriors! After this victory, I swear to the supreme God Mazda that I will do my best to repay your friendship and effort!!"
"Cyrus, THE GREAT!!" Someone shouted, and then, like a flash flood, the shouting was like a tide.
…
"Hey, Matonis. Is there a situation?" Davos couldn't help but pat the shoulder of the warrior in front of him.
"How many times have you asked! No! No!" Matonis wiped his sweaty neck with his free left hand and shouted irritably, "Why isn't the enemy here yet? The sun is already in the middle of the sky! If we wait any longer, I will be scorched by its flames!"
"Matonis, even if your meat is roasted, I don't want to smell it. During this period of time, I want to vomit from eating meat." A warrior next to him said glibly, which made the warriors laugh.
"Shut up! Olivos, you lecherous guy, if you want me to put your hand in your mouth and let you taste your own flesh, then continue!" Matonis waved his strong arm and threatened fiercely.
"Oh, I am so scared!" Olivos pretended to be afraid, which made everyone laugh again.
"Stand up, stop fooling around! Meno is here!" As soon as Hielos finished speaking, he heard a sharp voice, "Little brats, where do you think this is! Is this your family's banquet?"
A well-proportioned warrior with a red tassel on his helmet stood in front of the phalanx formation and pointed at them and scolded, "This is a battlefield! If you don't go all out, then Hades will be happy to visit you!"
"Meno with a rotten mouth!" Someone shouted in the group.
"Who said that?! Stand out!!!" Everyone held back their laughter and gloated at the sight of Melon jumping in front of them and shouting angrily.
At this time, someone shouted, "Look, in front!!!"
The soldiers then looked ahead, and soon, the smile on their faces was quickly replaced by fear.
Smoke and dust rose from the end of his sight, covering the hills, trees and houses, and it was grey.
After a while, a thin black line drilled out of the smoke and dust and began to stretch to both sides, gradually becoming thicker…
A moment later, when the soldiers could barely see the outline of the enemy, countless lights began to shine in the dazzling sunlight.
Armor, spear, shield… the cold light emitted is like the endless Milky Way in the night sky. The sound of footsteps, shouting and the neighing of horses converged into a rolling sound wave, and even the ground trembled, let alone the legs of a human.
Just as Olivos felt that he was about to fall, he heard Hielos shout, "Prepare for battle!"
"Prepare for battle!!"
"Prepare for battle!!!"
The Greek mercenaries put on their helmets, took off the round shield on their left shoulder, held their spears and began to beat the shield.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!…" The loud noise made the warriors of Olivos realize that they were also in a powerful force, and their mood gradually calmed down.
…
The Persian king's army is still advancing slowly and orderly, with the rolling carriage at the front, followed by the unarmed archers, followed by the light cavalry, and lastly, the infantry with long shields and spears and vines and shields. And the heavy cavalry is divided into two parts, one part to guard the Persian king, and the other part to the leftmost wing of the formation…
The mighty Persian army was like a thick cloud in the sky before a storm, slowly pressing down and suffocating.
…
At this moment, Cyrus the Younger, with a few followers, galloped left and right along the formation, and gave instructions to every Greek mercenary leader…
Accompanied by continuous cheers, he had reached the far right end of the Greek formation, and could even see the roaring Euphrates river not far away.
"Your Highness!" Clearchus saluted.
Cyrus the Younger looked down at the Greek whom he trusted the most, and pointed at the center of the Persian king and said, "When the battle begins, I hope that you will lead your men straight to the center of the enemy. Defeat Artaxerxes, and the victory of this battle will be ours!"
