Chapter 23 - A Shocking Change
Two dozen strong men rushed out on either side and pinned Clilicus and the four chiefs to the ground, where they were instantly bound with ropes.
The squad officers and soldiers waiting outside the door were also surrounded by heavily armed Persians, armed with sharp blades, spears and large shields, who cut down the unarmed Greeks one by one.
"Congratulations Lord Governor, your ploy has succeeded!" Wreckless laughter resounded within the tent.
The candle was lit and the light was restored.
Krilcus saw Tissaphernes, Ottarjons, and Sistar in the center of the tent laughing maniacally in triumph, and was enraged with rage, "Tissaphernes, you despicable and shameless villain! You deceived us with lies, slaughtered my soldiers, and broke the promise you made to your High God Ahura Mazda when you signed the contract. Mazda! Are you not afraid of the wrath of the gods? You do not fear the shame of your king? Are you not afraid of the disaster that will befall your family? ..."
"Heh heh heh ...," Tissaphernes said with a smile on his face as he took a glass of wine from his attendant and sipped it, walking over to the mercenary leaders before saying slowly, "Let me tell you something, Clilicus. Our Great King had returned to Persepolis the day after Cyrus the Younger died. And of course, he never gave any instructions 'to make peace with you', that's all something I made up to fool you ... As for whether the gods will punish me, that's something you don't have to worry about, I don't think so!" He added with an aggravated tone, "Mazda, up there, will reward me instead when he sees that I have captured and killed a group of barbarians who have violated the Persian territory and massacred the Persian people! ... Oh, and I'll tell you something else, those rumors were circulated by someone I sent!"
Seeing the stunned look on Krilkus' face, he moodily drained his glass.
Proxenus spat violently at him, which he deftly dodged.
"Liar! Coward ..." broke in Proxenus.
Tissafonis was not offended, but instead said triumphantly, "Liar? Lying? No, no, no! I am more than happy to call it wisdom! Unlike you Greek barbarians who only know how to fight, we Persians prefer to use our brains to figure things out, and have a smaller price for a bigger victory! It's as if I began by making peace with you, paralyzing you. Of course I knew that you would still be vigilant, but once you got used to this state of peace and tranquility, you didn't want to go back to the old tensions and hostility, you wanted to work hard to keep the peace. Therefore, I deliberately sent soldiers to clash with the mercenaries, hurling insults, fighting ... and then spreading rumors, you will not suspect me instead, who will you suspect?"
Tissaphonis' gaze swept over the captured chieftains and said mockingly, "Let me guess, it's Menon, isn't it? You see, I know all about the nasty things that go on within your ranks! And I also know that you, Krilkus, are a very responsible chieftain, and the more the two armies clashed, the more worried you became, and instead, you would take the initiative to come to me for negotiations! See, not only did you take the initiative to come to my door, but you also gave me a great gift! ..."
"If you want to kill, kill, don't talk nonsense!" Krilkus reddened and roared.
"Lord Tissafonis, spare my life! Please spare my life! ... "Next to me, Menon struggled and begged, "Even if you let me become your slave, as long as you spare me! I will go for you to convince those stupid mercenaries to surrender to you! I can even go conquer Asia Minor for you! I'll do anything for you, just please spare my life! ..."
"Anything?" Tissafonis narrowed his eyes and seemed interested, "You start by learning a few barks."
"Woof woof woof! ..." Menon barked when he really sold out.
"Behold the savage Greeks!" The Persians in the tent were overjoyed.
"Menon, shut up! ..." Krilkus and the others cussed out Menon in shame.
Menon turned a deaf ear and simply fell to his knees, looking curtly at Tissaphernes.
"Very good! Very good! ..." Tissafonis brought a smile to his face and clapped his hands as he walked toward Meron.
Menon clipped his hands upside down and crouched on the ground, spitting out his tongue and screaming even more.
Tissaphernes stepped in front of him, smiled slyly at him, and quickly drew his sword, slashing down hard at Menon's neck.
Blood spurted out wildly as the crowd shrieked and rolled to the ground, Menon's head still frozen in disbelief.
"Fool! Do you think I don't know that you desperately attacked me in front of little Cyrus and took the initiative to lead an attack on my mansion!" Tissaphernes had his left foot on Menon's head, his face was splattered with blood, and he was as cold as a god of killing.
The four chieftains stared dumbfounded at the headless body on the ground, and even Krilkus, who had always had a grudge against Menon, had grief on his face, and a kind of grief of a rabbit's death enveloped them.
"Have this man's head nit made and escorted immediately to Persepolis, along with these four criminals, for His Majesty's personal judgment!" Tissaphernes ordered.
After the four chiefs were escorted out, Socrates lamented with regret, "If only I had listened to that young man on the road! ..."
Krylkus was expressionless, not saying a word.
...............
"My lord, Arrizos seeks an audience!"
"Let him in."
Arielus walked into the tent and slowed down when he saw the shocking streak of blood on the floor, and heard Tissaphernes say, "That's Menon's blood. I chopped off his head with my sword just now!"
"Rashnu on high (the god who judges good and evil in Persian mythology), this is the punishment he deserves!" Arius said in a panic, and looking at Tissaphernes with a playful smile, he was busy adding, "Lord Governor, I have followed your orders and sent my cavalry to rob and kill all the Greeks wandering outside the barracks."
"Very well, I will report your merits to His Majesty!" Tissaphernes understood that for the troops of Little Cyrus, he had to both deter and draw them in, after all, it was a force of nearly 10,000 men, and back in Asia Minor he would have to rely on these local Persian nobles.
"Now that several of the main Greek mercenary leaders have been taken down, I'm afraid that the foolish Greeks are now so panicked that they don't know what to do. You and Siesta go forward to the Greek military camp and try to find a way to make these Greeks surrender ..."
............... ......
Antonius wants the soldiers to escort Davos to the Menon barracks, because once there, no one will dare touch Davos again.
Davos refused, and he complied with the soldier's request to go to the Krilcus barracks, which was also located in the far north, near the Persians, for the first news, since that was the forward guard. He asked Xylos to go and call Xenophon to come while he told Antonios to go back to Menon's barracks and get ready for defense, then he thought of something else and pulled over Martonius and whispered something into his ear, Martonius looked at him in amazement and finally nodded.
Seeing Xilos and the others leave, Davos suppressed the nervousness in his heart and walked towards the Krilkus barracks, and the soldier escorting him couldn't help but ask, "Is Krilkus really in danger?"
Davos asked rhetorically, "Who is in charge of your barracks while Krilkus is away?"
"First Squadron Squadron Leader Timasong."
"Then you'd better go tell him to prepare his defense." As Davos was speaking, the guards of the barracks pointed ahead and exclaimed in shock, "Look, Persian cavalry!!!"
Davos and the soldiers looked back collectively, only to see countless Persian cavalry galloping back and forth a hundred meters in front of the barracks, stirring up sand and dust all over the sky, and from time to time, screams came out in the diffuse dust and fog.
"This is ..." The soldiers looked nervously at Davos.
Though his suspicions were fulfilled, Davos was not a little elated: the war was coming at last! He felt the same tension in his heart.
"Hurry! Hurry back to the camp!" He greeted the soldiers accompanying him to quickly enter the camp and close the camp gate.
At that moment, a soldier emerged from the dusty mist ahead, stumbling over with one hand over his bleeding abdomen.
The guards namely and Davos and the others were busy welcoming him, and gluttonizing him back to the camp.
"I ...We were on our way to the marketplace ...Persian cavalry ...suddenly rushed toward us... ...Many of our brothers are dead ... Achilles ... Go inform Achilles ... of the danger... ... "The wounded soldier said breathlessly.
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