Cheirisophus

"Yes, let's discuss it when Cheirisophus comes!" At the mention of Cheirisophus, everyone's expression became more relaxed, which made Davos curious, and asked Xenophon in a low voice, "Who is Cheirisophus?"

Xenophon said with a complicated expression, "I heard that Cyrus the Younger had an agreement with Sparta, and he had done his best to fund Sparta in building a navy, and when Cyrus the Younger fought, Sparta also needed to provide military assistance."

Davos immediately reacted and said in surprise, "You mean, Cheirisophus was sent by Sparta?!"

"He is the inspector of Sparta, and I heard that he had brought 700 heavily armored infantry to join the ranks of Cyrus the Younger… at that time, he didn't know that Cyrus the Younger was going to rebel, and by the time he found out, it was already too late, so he and his troops have been keeping a low profile in the mercenaries, but many high-ranking officers knew his identity…" Xenophon said with some schadenfreude.

Davos knew why Xenophon had such an expression because he is an Athenian. He had long heard Xenophon introduce the archon of Sparta, and unlike other Greek city-states with archon, the archon system of Sparta is unique, because it has a lot of power: The lower can supervise the citizens, judge the Periasisians, and punish the black laborers, and enjoy the highest civil trial and partial criminal trial rights. The upper can watch the king's every move with vigilant eyes and have the right to sue the king and to call him to be interrogated at any time. Moreover, the archon of Sparta can only be held by the commoners, and every autumn, the citizens over the age of 30 will draw lots to elect five archon, and when they enter the office, they will issue an order that requires each citizen to shave off their upper lip and abide by the laws of the country, which shows how much importance Sparta has to the archon. According to Xenophon, because the archon of Sparta does not have the authority of the other city-states.

There is such an important figure hidden in the team of Greek mercenaries. I am afraid that he is the only high-ranking officer with an official identity among the mercenaries, and he is also a Spartan. After defeating Athens, Sparta has become the hegemon of the Greek city-states. The Greeks didn't say that they all look at him as their leader, but at least they are in awe. The former Spartan, Clearchus, was a deserter and was sentenced to death by the Spartan government. The one who is coming is a genuine Spartan warrior, and he also brought 700 Spartan warriors.

He was about to see the ancient Spartan warriors that were popular all over the world in his previous life. Davos eagerly and maliciously thought, 'Will they wear red underpants?'

While waiting for the guest, Risophus, the temporary leaders of these camps were not idle. They invited the officers of each camp, all the way to the rank of captain, to participate in the discussion. There were nearly 200 of them, and the tent could not accommodate so many people, so they sat down in a large circle in the open space of the camp of Clearchus. After everyone arrived, Cheirisophus arrived not long after.

Early in the morning, Cheirisophus went to a nearby village to prepare food for his soldiers. This village is located in the south of the camp of the Greek mercenaries, so it wasn't intercepted by the Persian cavalry. When the herald found him, he was rushing back and had already understood what happened along the way. When he came to the venue, everyone consciously gave him a wide space, and he didn't hesitate to sit on the ground like everyone else and began to look around at the crowd, 'I didn't see the main mercenary leaders…' Thinking of the unknown life and death of Clearchus, he felt a bit sad. Clearchus and he were comrades, had made a lot of contributions in the war with Athens, and were strategos of Sparta. However, because they couldn't adapt to peace, they refused to obey the orders of Sparta and were sentenced to death, so Cheirisophus fled. When he saw Cheirisophus in the army of Cyrus the Younger, he didn't want to cooperate with his comrades. Firstly, he didn't want to destroy the friendship between them…

His gaze slowly swept across the faces and stopped when it fell on a person. This is a very young face, and among the officers whose average age is mostly above 30, this young man doesn't look to be more than 20 years old, and he is sitting at the front of the team, which is why he is very conspicuous. What is even more strange is that the attitude of several people around him is quite respectful to this young man, and he is looking at him with bright eyes, and even smiling and nodding at him… Cheirisophus was a bit confused and hurriedly asked his adjutant in a low voice, and the adjutant asked the others, and then came to tell him.

The "God's Favored" of Menon's camp? Has the "Oracle" that was repeatedly sent out been fulfilled? Cheirisophus frowned, the management of the mercenaries is indeed chaotic, allowing a young man with a childish face to occupy a high position!

Although the Spartans claim to be descendants of Hercules Heracles they don't have much respect for the gods, and they believe in their strength more. Conservatively, they also don't believe in the young and promising saying, otherwise, there wouldn't be a "Spartan can only leave their collective life after 30 years of age, be independent, marry and hold an important position…" Therefore, Cheirisophus' first impression of Davos was not good.

In the eyes of Davos, the image of Cheirisophus and the imaginary Spartan warrior were greatly different: He was not tall and had an ordinary appearance. If he didn't have a few scars on his face and a sharp gaze to remind others of his identity as a warrior, Davos might have thought that he was just an ordinary old Greek farmer.

After the surroundings became quiet, Cheirisophus began to speak, "I already know what happened. Do you have any suggestions?"

For a time, many people were whispering in the venue, but no one stood up to speak. After all, it not only requires courage to speak in the face of more than 200 experienced military officers but also a certain amount of speaking skills and knowledge, which is not easy for the poor Greek mercenaries.

Davos didn't come out to speak, not because he was afraid, but because in his previous contact with the officers in charge of the various camps, he found that he was young and just an ordinary soldier in this group and his overly flamboyant behavior was too easy to arouse disgust, so he decided to wait and see.

Finally, Xenophon stood up, "Dear officers, the Persians have violated their promise and killed or imprisoned our leaders and soldiers, and they also want us to surrender our weapons. Now, our war with the Persians is inevitable! As you can see, after the soldiers in the camp learned about this, most of them are confused, afraid, and even crying! If this situation doesn't change quickly, once the Persians attack and need them to fight, they won't be able to take out their courage and wave their spears at the enemy, and we will be in danger of being wiped out!

Everyone, you are the officers of the various camps, and your salary and status are usually higher than that of ordinary soldiers, and your ability is also stronger than theirs. Now, in the face of danger, the soldiers have placed their hopes on you, and you must show great courage and determination to fight the Persians to death to stabilize the mood of the soldiers and boost their confidence!

At the same time, we must immediately elect outstanding people to be the new strategos of the various camps, in place of Clearchus and the others, manage and restrain the soldiers of each camp, and formulate a good plan to command the whole army to defeat the Persians and lead us back to Greece! With the protection of Zeus, we will be able to leave Persia!!…."

Xenophon's words aroused a great response in the crowd, and some even applauded. Xenophon looked at Timasion, who had a cold expression, and then looked away.

This is the only choice of the Greek mercenaries who are currently in a dilemma. Cheirisophus immediately stood up and said in a decisive and firm tone, "Everyone, we don't have time to delay. Just like what Xenophon has said, please go back to your respective camps immediately and elect your new leader, and then let them come here for a military meeting to discuss a plan."

He looked around at the crowd and continued to say loudly, "In the afternoon, or here, we will hold another general assembly!" With that, he turned around and left before the officers could respond.

Sure enough! Davos clenched his fist and followed Antonios.

The officers rushed to their camp.