Chapter 38 - Rhode Island Stone Throwers

 It was impossible for the heavy infantry to keep up with the lightly armed archers, let alone the faster cavalry. And a charge by heavily armed heavy infantry was not likely to last, and when they stopped to rest, the Persian bow strikes began again.

 The Greek heavy infantry hid their bodies under round shields, the chances of injury were greatly reduced, but it could not be said that there was none, first of all the arms and thighs were unprotected, and secondly the thick breastplate was made of linen, which prevented the penetration of bows and arrows, but could not avoid some flesh wounds.

 Unable to get close to the enemy they could not utilize the power of the heavy infantry and could only stand and take arrows. Criano didn't dare to send light infantry up because the range of javelins was not as far as bows and arrows and the protection was not as strong as that of heavy infantry, which would increase the casualties even more.

 At this time Timasone sent two hundred Cretan archers, who hastened to reinforce him.

 Criano, who had expectations of them, was quickly disappointed: the Cretan archers, known for their bows among the Greek city-states, did not have the range of the Persian archers, who militarily dominated the Mediterranean with their bows and arrows, but instead broke away from the protection of their heavy infantry in order to close the range, resulting in a dozen casualties ...

 ............... ...

 At this point, the entire mercenary team stops and the chiefs think of something to do.

 Davos likewise listened anxiously to the report of the messenger on the left flank. At that moment, Tormid rode up, "Chief Davos, Clerisopus wants you to send a force to attack the enemy by taking a long way around, avoiding their reconnaissance, and going around behind them."

 With a little thought, Davos realized what Hakritsopus was planning. He looked to Felicius beside him, who nodded at him.

 "Acistus, go quickly and inform Capheus to come here!" Davos ordered.

 "Yes!"

 Felicius had thought that Davos would consult with himself on who to send, but he hadn't expected him to make a decision straight away, and it was the most suitable candidate, it seemed that the advice he had sought from himself along the way hadn't just been a gesture, the young chieftain's ability to learn was really strong.

 ............... ...

 As Capps set off with a squadron of heavy infantry, Hieronymus also sent out a squadron of heavy infantry on the other side, both attempting to go around the back of the Persians and then, in conjunction with Criano on the front, to encircle and destroy them.

 However, the experienced Artaozus was prepared for this, and the flanks of the goose formation were flanked by Persian bow cavalry, spread out and also used as scouts, which soon detected the anomaly and quickly retreated, frustrating the mercenaries' attempts.

 As soon as the steady Capus saw that his plan had failed, he immediately retreated; and the leader on the side of Hieronymus was Xenophon, who had taken the initiative in seeking battle, and, unwillingly, continued his pursuit, with the result that, instead of wounding a single Persian in the pursuit, a dozen were wounded, and that, if the arrows of the army of Artaozus had not been exhausted, the loss of the squadron led by Xenophon would by no means have been greater than this. On his return, therefore, he was rebuked by Hieronymus.

 Without Artaozus to pester them, the Greek army accelerated and finally reached those villages the guide had mentioned before sunset. Although most of the villagers had fled, it still revitalized the tired soldiers, and Davos, no longer interested in stopping the soldiers from looting, simply suggested that Melchis try to capture some of the Persian slaves, promising them freedom in exchange for their genuine help, and then rushed to the commander's tent.

 Before we could enter the tent, we heard Criano's complaint, "These Persians are like flies, they can't be swatted or driven away, and we don't have enough cavalry to do anything with them!"

 Davos and Felicius walked into the tent, and all the people nodded to them, compared to yesterday's distancing, today they were much more proactive. Apparently Davos's performance had won the recognition of the crowd, but they just didn't have the heart to express their enthusiasm because they were worried about the attack of Artaozus.

 "If the Persians attack us tomorrow the same way they did today, what are we going to do?" Criano said worriedly, he was the one who lost the most men today.

 "What's even more worrying is that if we don't find a way to repel the Persians quickly, then the Persians will surely think that this method of attack is the most effective against us, and not only will they continue to use it, but next time they won't be coming with a few hundred men, but with thousands of bow cavalry and archers! I think that will be a disaster for us!" Xenophon said with a heavy heart, he had suffered a lot today.

 The other chieftains were equally grave, the previous battle with the Persian king's assembly had been an easy victory for them, and Tissaphernes' forbearance had reinforced their belief in their own might. But today, a small number of Persian army, all made up of a combination of archers and bow cavalry, made their proud heavy infantry suffer greatly, and they suddenly realized the shortcomings of their own army.

 "We must have the same range or a longer range than the Persians--" said Kerisops, in a single word.

 "Rhode Island stone throwers!!!" Xenophon suddenly exclaimed.

 Davos' double eyebrows jumped. He had heard Antonios say: the Rhodesians in the Greek city-states were good at stone throwing, and the stones they threw could reach up to four or five hundred meters, with a high degree of accuracy within a hundred meters, so the Mediterranean city-states loved to employ Rhodesian stone throwers as an important auxiliary force in their armies.

 Davos was familiar with the name Rhode Island not only because of the stone throwers, but also because one of the "Seven Wonders of Antiquity", the Colossus of the Sun in Rhode Island, was built on the island in a previous life, but it seems to have been built after Alexander the Great.

 Davos thought in his heart: in fact, militarily, the Greek city-states have quite a few unique and elite types of soldiers, such as the Cretan archers, the Thessalian cavalry, the Rhodes stone throwers, the Spartan heavy infantry, and the Athenian navy ... If Greece is united, and these types of soldiers are united together, they can surely dominate the Mediterranean Sea! Unfortunately, the cool and liberal Greeks have always been a scattered bunch, and the last Athens to try to make this effort has already been defeated, and the current Greek hegemon, Sparta, is unlikely to be able to do so without looking at the end of history, based on its extremely closed and conservative political system ...

 As Davos lamented in his mind, Timasone lamented, "Too bad we don't have Rhode Island stone throwers!"

 "But we have Rhodesians!" Xenophon said excitedly, "Gentlemen, stone-throwing is a skill that the Rhodesians have practiced since they were young, and they make a living out of it, just like the Cretans make a living out of bows and arrows! When we recruited mercenaries in Aeolian, quite a few Rhodesians joined, and it was only because of the generosity of Little Cyrus, who prepared a large amount of weaponry, that they abandoned their throwing ropes and took up the round shields and bayonets that they themselves had to spend a large sum of money to afford. Now the time has come for them to pick up their throwing cords again!"

 "Xenophon is right, we should gather them together immediately to form stone throwers to counter the Persian archers." Criano said immediately afterward.

 The crowd agreed.

 Crisopus nodded and said, "Then get on with it at once. We have quite a few sheep, slaughter some of them and use their intestines to make a throwing rope."

 "Also we need cavalry or we won't be able to catch up with the Persian when he retreats. I suggest that the battalions pool their extra pack horses and select soldiers who are good at riding to form cavalry units." Zantiparis interjected.

 "Agreed!"

 "Agreed!"

 ...

 When faced with a crisis, the chiefs are united and quickly come to an agreement.

 The entire army immediately sprang into action. Soon, more than three hundred Rhode Islanders who were good at throwing stones were organized, and more than fifty pack horses were gathered together, and most of the selected cavalry came from Davos' barracks, who made most of the soldiers in his barracks Cesarians.

 When Xenophon recommended Lucius the Athenian as the captain of this cavalry squad, Davos dissented, arguing: the Thessalian Ledus of his own barracks (a recommendation of Felicius) would be more suitable.

 Given that most of the cavalry were Thessalians, the chiefs eventually voiced their approval.

 The next day, instead of continuing the march, the mercenaries rested for a day to train the newly formed company of stone throwers and cavalry squads for raids.

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