chapter 26 - grizopolis

 "Yes, let's discuss it when Grissops arrives!" At the mention of Clerisopus, the expressions of the crowd all obviously lightened up a bit, which made Davos feel curious and asked Xenophon in a low voice, "Who is Clerisopus?"

 Xenophon said with a complicated expression, "I heard that Cyrus the Younger once had an agreement with Sparta, that he fully financed Sparta's preparations for the navy, and that when Cyrus the Younger conquered, Sparta was required to provide military assistance."

 Davos immediately reacted with surprise, "You mean that Kerisopus was sent by Sparta?!"

 "He is the inspector of Sparta, I heard that he brought seven hundred heavily armored infantrymen and joined the ranks of Little Cyrus ... At that time, he didn't know that Little Cyrus was trying to rebel, and by the time he knew it, it was already too late, so he and his troop have been keeping a very low profile in the mercenary army, but a lot of the top officers know his identity ..." Xenophon said with some gloating.

 Davos knew why Xenophon had that look on his face, because he was an Athenian. He had heard Xenophon introduce the Spartan ombudsmen long ago, and unlike other Greek city-states that also had ombudsmen, the Spartan ombudsman system was unique because of its great power: downwardly it could supervise the citizens, judge the Pyrrhusians, sanction the Black Raus, and enjoy the supreme civil and part of the criminal trial; upwardly it could supervise the king's every move with a guarded eye all the time, and had the right to prosecute the king, and could summon him to stand trial at any time. could be summoned for trial at any time. And the Spartan ombudsman can only be civilians, every year in the fall when citizens over thirty years of age to draw lots to elect five ombudsmen, the entry into the office of the time will be issued an order requiring each citizen to shave off the upper lip of the beard, to comply with the laws of the country, can be seen in Sparta on the ombudsman's degree of importance. According to Xenophon, it was because of this system of ombudsmen in Sparta, where the commoners held the power, that it was not regarded as a usurper's state by other city-states.

 It was surprising that the Greek mercenaries were hiding such an important figure in their ranks, and he was feared to be the only general in the mercenaries with an official status, and a Spartan at that. After defeating Athens, Sparta was already the hegemon of all the Greek city-states, and the Greeks were not to say that they all looked up to it, but at least were in awe. The previous Spartan, Clilicus, was a deserter and was sentenced to death by the Spartan government, while the one who was coming was a real Spartan warrior, and he brought with him 700 Spartan warriors who were also real.

 About to see the ancient Spartan warriors that took the world by storm in his previous life, Davos wondered with eager anticipation and a touch of malice: would they be wearing red pants?

 While waiting for Clerisopus, the temporary heads of these camps were not idle, they invited the team officers of the camps up to the level of lieutenant captains to participate in the discussion, there were nearly two hundred in total, the tent could not accommodate so many people, so in the open space of the camp of Clericus sat in a large circle, and so on, when all arrived, it did not take long, Clerisopus also arrived.

 Early in the morning, Chrysopus went to a nearby village to prepare provisions for the soldiers under his command, a village that was located south of the Greek mercenary camp and therefore not intercepted by the Persian cavalry. When the heralds found him, he was hurrying back, having learned something of what had happened on the way. He came to the meeting place, and everyone consciously gave him a spacious vacant seat, he did not hesitate to join the crowd, and sat down directly on the dirt floor, and began to look around the crowd: indeed, he did not see the main mercenary leaders ... The thought of Clilcus alive or dead saddened him a little. Clilicus and he were comrades in arms, and in the war with Athens, had done much service, and were one of the Spartan primus, but had been condemned to death and fled because they could not adapt themselves to the peace, and refused to obey the orders of Sparta. Chrysippus did not see him in Cyrus the Younger's army and did not send his men to arrest him because he did not want to jeopardize his cooperation with Cyrus the Younger, and because he was in love with his comradeship. ...

 His eyes slowly swept through a face, fell to a person stopped: this is a very young face, in this large pile of the average age of most of the thirty years of age or more of the team officers, this young man should not look more than twenty years of age, and sitting in the forefront of the team, and therefore unusually conspicuous. What was even stranger was that several of the people around him were still treating this young man with quite a bit of respect; he gazed at himself with a glowing eye, and smiled and nodded his head in his direction.... Guest Risops was a little confused, and was busy whispering to his adjutant, who inquired about the others before coming over to tell him.

 The "God's Favorite" from Menon's barracks? The "oracles" that were repeatedly sent out, and all of them were fulfilled? Grissops frowned: the management of the mercenary army was indeed chaotic, allowing a young man with a childish face to occupy a high position!

 Although the Spartans claimed to be descended from Hercules, they had little respect for the gods and goddesses and believed in their own power. Conservative they also do not believe in young and talented, otherwise there would not have been "Spartans can only be separated from the collective life after thirty years of age, independence, marriage and important positions ... " rule. Therefore, the first impression of Cleethorpes on Davos was not good.

 And in Davos's eyes, Kerithopes fell short of the imagined image of a Spartan warrior: he was small and ordinary-looking, and without the few scars on his face and the sharp gaze that reminded onlookers of his warrior status, Davos might have assumed that he was just an ordinary old Greek farmer.

 After some quiet around the room, Kerisops began to speak, "I know what happened, what do you all suggest?"

 For a while there were many whisperers in the meeting room, but no one stood up to speak. After all, in the face of more than two hundred battle-experienced generals to express their opinions, not only need courage, but also need to have certain speaking skills and insight, which is not easy for poor Greek mercenaries.

 Davos did not come out to speak, not because of fear, but in his previous contact with the officers in charge of the battalions, he realized that in this group of people he was both young and just a common soldier, too much open behavior is too easy to cause resentment, so he decided to wait and see what happens.

 Finally, Xenophon stood up, "Squad officers, the Persians have broken their promises, killed or imprisoned our chieftains and soldiers, and are trying to get us all to hand over our weapons and surrender. Now, war between us and the Persians is inevitable! As you can all see, most of the soldiers in the camp are confused, in fear, and even crying when they learn this news! If this does not change quickly, once the Persians come to attack and they are needed to fight, they will not be able to muster their courage and swing their bayonets at the enemy, and we will be in danger of losing our entire army!

 Gentlemen, you are the team officers of the various barracks, and you usually outrank the ordinary soldiers in your pay and your status, and you are also more capable than them. Now in the face of danger, the soldiers are putting their hopes on you, you must show great courage and the determination to fight the Persians to the death in order to stabilize the soldiers' mood and inspire their confidence!

 At the same time, we must immediately elect people with outstanding abilities to be the new general officers of each military camp, replacing Clilicus and the others, managing and disciplining the soldiers of each camp, formulating a good plan, commanding the whole army to defeat the Persians, and leading us to return to Greece without any problems! With the shelter of Zeus, we will definitely be able to get out of Persia! ..."

 Xenophon's words provoked a great reaction in the crowd, and some even applauded. Xenophon cast a slightly self-satisfied gaze on Timazon, who had a cold expression, and then moved away.

 As a matter of fact, this was the only option for the Greek mercenaries who were in a difficult situation at the moment. Hakri Sophus immediately stood up and said in a decisive and firm tone, "Everyone, we don't have time to delay, just do as Xenophon said, please go back to your respective barracks at once, elect your new chiefs, and then have them come here to have a military meeting together to discuss and formulate a plan."

 He looked around the crowd and continued loudly, "In the afternoon, still here, we'll hold another general meeting of the entire army!" After saying this, before waiting for the team officers to react, he turned and left.

 Sure enough! Davos clenched his fists and followed Antonius as they stood up.

 Team officers rushed to their barracks.