And Davers had a concern about how to get his army across the wide Euphrates River with the Persians heavily defended, but this concern no longer existed because of the retreat of the Persian army.

In the past few days, the engineering battalion has built three wooden bridges over the Orontis River in front of the camp, and 150,000 soldiers have crossed the Orontis River in Syria in an orderly manner, marching straight east.

Six days later, the vanguard had approached Taposacus.

The Euphrates River, which rushes out of the mountains of eastern Asia Minor, flows from north to south at the westernmost point of the Mesopotamian plain, and joins several rivers in succession, forming a series of wide lakes, and when it reaches the vicinity of Taposacus, it turns eastward, causing its surface to narrow abruptly, thus becoming the best river crossing in the upper reaches of the Euphrates, through which the royal road of the Persian court to Asia Minor passes, and thus leading to the prosperity of the city of Taposacus.

When the Dionian vanguard arrived on the west bank of the Euphrates, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the Persian army had not burned the pontoon bridge on the river when they retreated, and the pontoon bridge was very spacious, which could accommodate 10 soldiers side by side at the same time, saving the engineering battalion the trouble of building more pontoon bridges.

The next day Davers followed the Chinese army to the west bank of the Euphrates. He paused on the edge of the pontoon and watched the soldiers in single clothes and armed armor on their backs, with a certain longing on their faces, stepping firmly onto the pontoon bridge across the wide Euphrates River and onto the strange plains of Mesopotamia......

Davers, who was riding on the horse, straightened his upper body and pressed his right fist to his left chest with a solemn expression. The palace guards who followed him also saluted the soldiers.

The soldiers passing by the bridgehead were first surprised and then excited when they saw this scene, but the long dragon rolling forward did not allow anyone to stop advancing, and the heavy package on their shoulders made them unable to free their hands, so most of these young soldiers, who were born in Dionya and grew up under the influence of countless victories and glory, looked at the founder of the kingdom and the supreme military commander of the kingdom who had created many military miracles with great reverence, and excitedly shouted: "Your Majesty is victorious!" ”

"Your Majesty! …… Your Majesty Wansheng!! …… His Majesty Wansheng!! ......" at the beginning of the scattered shouts quickly converged into a single voice, echoing at the bridgehead, and quickly spread to the front and rear of the ranks, and the soldiers who learned the news were like stimulants, forgetting the fatigue of the long journey, and quickened the pace of advance......

Looking at this exciting scene, Epithenes couldn't help but sigh: "Thirty years ago, we were here, and like these little ones, we stepped on this pontoon bridge with hope and entered the rich Mesopotamian plains in front of us......

"Don't forget, Menon led us as the vanguard of the whole army, but we were the first to enter the plains of Mesopotamia!" Amintas, who was half-lying in the carriage, took over and said proudly.

He was paralyzed and unable to walk, and was originally asked to be carried by his servants in a sedan chair, but his speed was too slow to keep up with the large army, so Davers granted him permission to ride in a small open-top carriage. He had been in poor health since the arrival of the army in Egypt, but when the army returned to the route of Cyrus the Younger's march to Babylon, his spirits improved.

"Amyntas, you're embarrassed to say that!" Agacia, who used to belong to another mercenary team, said disdainfully: "At that time, Menon rushed to be the vanguard, saying that he wanted to explore the way for the army, but everyone understood that he just wanted to rush to the Mesopotamian plains to plunder first, so Cyrus the Younger agreed to his request, and then issued an order to the whole army to prohibit looting on the Mesopotamian plains, did you feel disappointed at that time?" ”

"What do I have to be disappointed in—" Amintas was about to retort, when he suddenly thought of something, and deliberately said loudly: "Hieronimus, did you just say 'we'!" Don't forget, His Majesty was one of 'us' back then! As he spoke, he gestured to Davers, who was standing solemnly in front of him.

Hearing this, Agacia, who has always been inconspicuous among these veterans, was a little panicked at this time, and eagerly defended: "Don't talk nonsense, I'm ...... I-"

"Actually, the reason why we joined the mercenary army back then and served Cyrus Jr. was also to survive." Hieronimus, who used to be the leader of another mercenary army, spoke in time to resolve Agacia's embarrassment: "In fact, even Cyrus the Younger, in order to solve the tension of military spending, once allowed us to plunder Asia Minor many times, and the reason why we were not allowed to loot Mesopotamia may be that he thought that after he took the throne, Mesopotamia would be the core area under his rule, so he could not let the people here resent him." ”

Alexis sighed: "Asia Minor is a part of the Persian land, but neither Cyrus the Younger nor Artaxerxes cherish that vast land, but regard the people there as aliens and give what they want, how can the people of Asia Minor not rebel!" How could the people of the rest of Persia be truly loyal to Persia! ”

"We owe it to the Persians for doing so, because they do not consider other races as their own, that we have the opportunity to conquer this vast land and finally defeat this formidable enemy!" Matonis pointed to the soldiers of the First Legion who were crossing the river, and said proudly: "These little ones are luckier than us, we were just tools in the hands of the Persians, and we died in this strange land for the power and profit of the Persian royal family, and although they repeated our march route back then, they are fighting for themselves and for the kingdom, and they will create an unprecedented great victory!" ”

"That's awesome, Mattonis." Amintas leaned back on the seat of the carriage and said with a slight mockery in his emotion: "Although you were not in my command back then, I had heard of you then, a strong and brave recruit with a rough temper that gave the officers a lot of headaches...... No one would have thought that decades later, you would become a general commanding tens of thousands of soldiers, and you would still speak so methodically......"

"Master Amyntas, I heard of you back then." Mattonis sneered unceremoniously: "Do you know why I didn't want to go to the hundred-man team you commanded back then?" Because everyone calls you a mad dog under Menon, although you often lead the team to the front, there is no tactic to speak of, and every casualty is not small...... But I'm afraid that the mercenaries who died here with you would never have imagined that a few decades later you would become a powerful prince and a famous general praised by the people. ”

Mattonis's caustic words touched Amyntas's heartstrings, and he did not refute, but was silent for a moment with a painful expression, and then said in a deep voice: "We came to Persia this time, not only to avenge the king of Persia and wash away the shame of the year, but more importantly, to find the bones of our comrades-in-arms and bring them home......"

As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent, and the atmosphere became a little solemn.

Hennepolis, who had been listening to the records and collecting information for the future biography to be written, couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, you have just said so much, can you ...... Briefly talk about His Majesty at that time? He must have been a young recruit, right? ”

Alexis, Felicius, Tolmid, and the others began to talk to each other as if no one else had heard Hennipolis.

Even Amintas and Epitenis, who usually speak without taboos, are afraid of being entangled by the annoying Henipolis at this moment, so they simply close their eyes and pretend to sleep.

Mattonis, who was in the same squad with Davers and was very familiar with him, pulled Giogris and left the crowd on the pretext of "urging the soldiers to speed up the march".

It is not because they have lost their memory of King Davers's performance here with age, but they remember it clearly: when the mercenaries came to the banks of the Euphrates, the young Davers was so shocked by the unusually wide river that his legs went weak when he stepped on the pontoon bridge, and he was carried by Mattonis to the other side almost the whole time......

If they truthfully tell these things about Davers back then, how much impact will it have on the people of the Kingdom today?! What's more, 30 years later, they revisited the old place, looking back on the past, and they sighed in their hearts: compared to those companions who died here, how lucky they were! Not only escaped from the Persian army, but also was able to re-kill in his lifetime, trampling the once invincible enemy under his feet and washing away the shame! All this is because of the person standing in front of him, it is under his leadership that the impossible has become possible and created an unprecedented miracle!

At this moment, they were filled with gratitude and reverence for Davers.

I don't know how long later, Davers turned around and said in high spirits: "Brothers, it's time for us to cross the river!" ”

Everyone responded loudly in unison: "Yes, Your Majesty!" ”

………………………………………………………………

When Davos crossed the Euphrates, he found that the situation was exactly as the scouts had said: the golden fields had been burned black, and villages were in ruins, the largest of which was the city of Taposacus, which burned down not only the dwellings but also the walls, which made the legionnaires, who had wanted to save the camp from having to build it, angry and scolded the Persians for being cowardly.

Despite the harsh surroundings, Davers gave the order to build a camp near the city of Taposacus.