Chapter 1: The Death of Cyrus the Younger.
"The king's army is coming! The king's army is coming! ..." a scouting cavalryman winds up from the distance, repeatedly shouting in Persian and Greek.
The soldiers, who were about to stop and rest, stirred.
"Partikias, is it true what you say? Artaxerxes is really here?!" Seeing the cavalryman who had just jumped off his horse, little Cyrus couldn't wait to ask from his horse.
"Yes, Your Highness. Artaxerxes is here! Artaxerxes is here too! And that ... damn Tissaphernes is here too!!!" Partikias gasped and said in a hoarse voice.
"Very good, my friend! Very good! He has finally arrived!!!" The young Cyrus excitedly jumped off his horse, and while letting his servant put on his breastplate, he shouted to his adjutant Arielus, "Inform the entire army to prepare for battle!!!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" Arielus hurriedly called out to the messenger, "Inform the Greeks immediately to quickly form up on our right flank! Prepare for battle!"
The messenger sped off.
Arius called the Persian generals again. Cyrus the Younger told them to lead their soldiers and spread out on his left flank, while he himself was in the center with eight hundred cavalry.
The attentive Altapartes asked, "How many enemies are there?"
"About sixty ... or eighty ... thousand," Patikias recalled the sights he had seen, with more than a little awe on his face.
"So many people!!!" The attendants exclaimed, their faces fearful.
"Haha! Are you scared? My friend." Little Cyrus stepped forward and gave Partikias a strong hug, not minding his dusty and sweaty body in the least. Then, turning on his horse, he shouted to the surroundings, "Are you afraid, my friends?!"
The followers and retainers of Cyrus the Younger have certainly shown their bravery.
"Artaxerxes is still the same cowardly Artaxerxes even with all his soldiers! Don't forget, a beagle can scare the piss out of him!" The young Cyrus's vulgar words brought a roar of laughter from around the room.
"And I have you all! And my army! Together we have defeated mighty Athens! The Athens that had defeated our Persia time and time again!" With each sweep of young Cyrus' gaze, the man straightened his chest.
"We still have the brave Greeks! They fight side by side with us!" Cyrus the Younger looked out to his right - there, the Greek heavy infantry began to slowly form up. Seeing this, his heart was full of confidence, "We are irresistible! We are invincible!!!"
"Wansheng!" Altapartes shouted first, and then everyone scrambled to shout, "Wannabe!!!"
In the face of high morale, Cyrus Jr. raised his right hand, "Friends! Warriors! After this victory, I swear to the Supreme God Mazda that I will repay your friendship and dedication to the best of my ability!!!"
"Cyrus, thegreat!!!" I don't know who shouted. Then, like a flash flood, the shouts were like a tidal wave.
......
"Hey, Matonis. Got a situation?" Davos couldn't resist another tap on the shoulder of the warrior in front of him.
"How many times have you asked! NO! Nothing!" Martonius wiped his sweaty neck with his free left hand and shouted in annoyance, "Why hasn't the enemy come yet? The sun has reached the middle of the sky! If I wait any longer, I'll be scorched by its flames!"
"Matonis, I wouldn't want to smell your meat even if it was cooked. All this time, eating meat makes me want to vomit." A nearby warrior said greasily, causing the warriors to burst into laughter.
"Shut up! Oliverus, you horny bastard, if you want me to shove your hand in your mouth so you can taste the flesh on your own body, you keep talking!" Martonius waved his strong arm in a vicious threat.
"Gee, I'm scared!" Oliverus pretended to be scared, drawing another round of laughter from the crowd.
"Stand still, all of you! Menon is coming!" As soon as Xellos' words left his mouth, a shrill voice was heard, "Brats, what do you think this is! Your family's banquet table?"
A well-built warrior with a helmet adorned with a red cap tassel stood at the front of the square and pointed at them, cursing, "This is a battlefield! If you guys don't give it your all, then Hades will be happy to pay you a visit!"
"Rotten mouth Menon!" Someone shouted from the ranks.
"Who said that? Stand out for me!!!" The crowd stifled their laughter and gloated as they watched Meilong jumping and shouting furiously in front of them.
At that moment someone shouted in a stern voice, "Look, up ahead!!!"
The soldiers then eyed the front. Soon, the smiles on their faces were quickly replaced by horror.
At the end of the line of sight rose a roiling cloud of smoke and dust, enveloping the hills, trees, and houses in a gray haze.
In a little while more, a thin black line burrowed out of the smoke and began to stretch out to the sides, gradually thickening ...
A few moments later, when the soldiers could barely make out the outline of the enemy, countless lights began to dazzle the eyes of the crowd under the dazzling sunlight.
The cold light emanating from the armor, spears, and shields ... seemed like the boundless Milky Way in the night sky; the sound of footsteps, shouts, and horse neighs converged into a rolling wave of sound, and even the earth trembled, not to mention the legs of the people.
Just as Oliverus felt himself about to fall, he heard Xylos shout, "Prepare for battle!"
"Prepare for battle!!!"
"Prepare for battle!!!"
The Greek mercenary warriors put on their helmets, removed their round shields hanging from their left shoulders, and, armed with their bayonets, began to hammer on their shields.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! ..." The loud noise made Oliveros, the warriors, realize that they were in the midst of an equally powerful force, and their moods gradually calmed down.
......
The army of the King of Persia was still advancing slowly and orderly: the hobnailed wagons were at the forefront, followed by the unarmored bow troops, then the lightly armored cavalry, and at the very back were the infantry with long shields and the infantry with spears and rattan shields. And the heavily armored cavalry was divided into two parts, one ringing the King of Persia; the other deployed on the extreme left flank of the military formation ...
The vast Persian army was like thick clouds on the sky before a storm, slowly pressing in and suffocating.
......
At this moment, Cyrus the Younger, with a few attendants, sped along the military line, left and right, giving instructions to each Greek mercenary leader ...
With continued cheering, he had reached the far right end of the Greek formation and could even see the roaring Euphrates River not far away.
"Hail to you, your highness!" Krilkus gave a military salute.
Cyrus the Younger looked down at the Greek, whom he trusted the most, and pointing across the street to where the Persian king's center army was located, said, "When the battle begins, I want you to lead your men right into the center of the enemy. Defeat Artaxerxes, and victory in this battle will surely be ours!"
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