It is impossible for heavy infantry to catch up with lightly armed archers, let alone faster cavalry. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 It was impossible for the heavily armed heavy infantry to charge for long, and when they stopped to rest, the Persian bows and arrows began again.

The Greek heavy infantry hid their bodies under round shields, and the chance of being wounded was greatly reduced, but it could not be said that there were none, first of all, the arms and thighs were unprotected, and secondly, the thick cuirass was made of linen, which could prevent the bow and arrow from penetrating, but could not avoid some flesh wounds.

If you can't get close to the enemy, you can't exert the power of the heavy infantry, so you can only stand and be arrowed. Cleano did not dare to send light infantry up, because the javelin's range was not as long as that of bows and arrows, and the protection was not as strong as that of heavy infantry, which would increase casualties.

At this time, Timason sent two hundred Cretan archers and hurried to reinforce them.

Cyriano, who had high expectations for them, was soon disappointed: the range of the Cretan archers, who were known for their bows and arrows in the Greek city-states, was not as long as the Persian archers, who dominated the Mediterranean Sea militarily, but instead broke away from the protection of the heavy infantry in order to shorten the range, causing more than a dozen casualties......

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At this time, the entire mercenary contingent stopped, and the leaders were trying to figure out a way.

Davers was also on the left flank anxiously listening to the heralds' debriefings. At this time, Tormid arrived on horseback: "Chief Davers, Chrythops wants you to send a force to make a long detour, avoid the enemy's detection, go around behind the enemy, and attack them. ”

With a little thought, Davers understood Clethorpes' plan. He looked at Phellisius beside him, who nodded at him.

"Assies, go tell Cappus to come over!" Davers ordered.

"Yes!"

Phellisius originally thought that Davers would discuss with him who to send, but he didn't expect him to make a decision directly, and he was the most suitable person, it seems that asking for advice from himself along the way is not just a gesture, this young leader is really capable of learning.

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When Kaps led the heavy infantry squadron to set off, Hieronymus also sent a heavy infantry squadron on the other side, all trying to go around the back of the Persians, and then cooperate with the Cleano in front to encircle them.

However, the experienced Artauzus had already been prepared, and the two flanks of the geese formation were Persian archers, which were spread out and also used as scouts, and soon discovered the anomaly, so he quickly retreated, allowing the mercenary attempts to fail.

As soon as the steady Cappus saw that the plan had failed, he immediately retreated; And the leader of Hieronymus's side was Xenophon, who took the initiative to fight, he was not reconciled, and continued to pursue, but in the pursuit and stopping, not only did not hurt a single Persian, but caused more than a dozen wounds, if it were not for the exhaustion of arrows by the army of Artauzus, the loss of Xenophon's squadron would not have been more than this. So when he returned, he was rebuked by Hieronymus.

Without the entanglement of Artauzus, the Greek army hastened and finally reached the villages mentioned by the guide just before sunset. Although most of the villagers had fled, the weary soldiers were refreshed, and Davers had no intention of stopping the soldiers' looting, but advised Merses to capture as many Persian slaves as he could, promise them freedom in exchange for their sincere help, and then rush to the commander's tent.

Before he could enter the account, he heard Cleano's complaint: "These Persians are like flies, they cannot be beaten or driven away, we do not have enough cavalry, and there is nothing we can do with them!" ”

Davers and Phellisius walked into the tent, and everyone nodded to them, compared to yesterday's estrangement, they were much more proactive. It was clear that Davers's performance had won the approval of the crowd, but he had not bothered to express his enthusiasm because he was worried about Artauzus' attack.

"What should we do if tomorrow the Persians attack us the way they do today?" Cleano said worriedly that he had suffered the heaviest casualties today.

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

The other chieftains were equally solemn, having won the previous battle against the Persian king, and Tisaponis's forbearance made them believe in their own strength. But today, a small Persian army, composed entirely of archers and cavalry archers, has afflicted their proud heavy infantry, who suddenly realize the shortcomings of their army.

"We must have the same range or longer than the Persians," said Chrysops, word for word.

"Rhode Island Slinger!!" Xenophon suddenly shouted.

Davers frowned. He heard Antonios say: The Rhodes in the Greek city-states are good at throwing stones, and the stones they throw can reach up to four or five hundred meters, and the accuracy within 100 meters is extremely high, so the Mediterranean city-states love to hire Rhodes slingers as an important auxiliary force for the army.

Davers was familiar with the name Rhodes not only because of the slinger, but also because of the "Seven Wonders of Antiquity", the Colossus of Rhodes, the sun god of Rhodes, which was widely known in his previous life, was built on this island, but it seems to have been built after Alexander the Great.

Davos thought to himself: in fact, in military terms, the Greek city-states had many unique and elite troops, such as Cretan archers, Thessalian cavalry, Rhodesan slingers, Spartan hoplites, and Athenian navy...... If Greece were to unite these arms, it would surely dominate the Mediterranean! Unfortunately, the freedom-loving Greeks have always been scattered, and the last Athens that wanted to make this effort has been defeated, and the current Greek hegemon Sparta, without looking at the outcome of history, is impossible to ......

When Davers sighed in his heart, Timasong said regretfully: "It's a pity we don't have Rhode Island slingers!" ”

"But we have Rhode Islanders!" Xenophon said excitedly: "Ladies and gentlemen, stone-throwing is a skill that the Rhodes have practiced since childhood, and they make a living from it, just like the Cretans make a living with bows and arrows!" When we recruited mercenaries in Aeolia, many Rhodes joined us, and it was only because of the generosity of Cyrus the Younger, who had prepared a large amount of weaponry, that they abandoned the slings and took up the round shields and bayonets that they themselves could afford at great expense. Now it's time for them to pick up the slings again! ”

"Xenophon is right, we should immediately gather them together and form slingers against the archers of the Persians." Criano then said.

Everyone agreed.

Chrysops nodded and said, "Then go ahead and do it at once." We have a lot of sheep, and we slaughter some of them, and use their intestines to make slings. ”

"And we need cavalry, otherwise we won't be able to catch up with the Persians when they retreat. I suggested that the battalions gather the surplus pack horses and select soldiers who were good at riding horses to form cavalry teams. Zanti Paris said.

"Agreed!"

"Agreed!"

……

In times of crisis, the chiefs all band together and quickly agreed.

The whole army sprang into action at once. Soon, more than 300 Rhodesians, who were skilled in throwing stones, were organized, and more than fifty pack horses were also gathered, and most of the selected cavalry were from the Davers barracks, and the soldiers who made him camp were mostly Thessalians.

When Xenophon recommended the Athenian Lycius as the captain of this cavalry squad, Davers disagreed, believing that Rydes the Thessalian (Philicus' recommendation) in his own camp would be more suitable.

Given that the cavalry was mostly Thessalian, the chiefs eventually agreed.

The next day, instead of continuing the march, the mercenaries took a day off to conduct assault training on the newly formed company of slingers and cavalry squads.