Chapter 1305
"… In July, the King of Persia ordered us to move west. Because the army was too large, it took us two months to reach Taposakus. At that time, Your Majesty had already led the army to conquer Syria, so the Persia ordered us to set up camp near Taposakus.
In order to make it easier for me to leave quietly and contact them in the future, the Kesokante army chose the northern outskirts of Taposakus as their base, which was not far from Mount Amanus. So one evening half a month ago, I secretly left the camp and went north into the mountains. I was not discovered along the way, and then I took a big detour before returning here … "
"Izzam, this time you risked your life to go deep into the heart of Persia and successfully contacted the Kesokante tribe. You persuaded them to support Diónia and made a great contribution to the kingdom. I thank you on behalf of the entire army!"
The Devers solemnly bowed to him. Izzam quickly stood up and waved his hands, not daring to accept the salute. "Your Majesty, as a citizen of Diónia and a senior member of the Senate, this is my duty! Even though I've already retired, as a former member of the Mountain Ridge Reconnaissance Team, this is my duty! I am not worthy of Your Majesty and the gratitude of the entire army! "
These words were very appropriate, and Marigi blinked. When Izzam first began to follow the Devers, he was a barbarian who did not understand the etiquette of seniority. After decades in Diónia, especially after his retirement, his temperament had completely changed.
"Well, since you still regard yourself as a Diónia soldier, then according to the military's reward and punishment system, I will give you a big contribution first, and reward you after the war is over." The Devers were satisfied with Izzam's performance and smiled. "You have been there for so long, do you know how many soldiers Persia has? What is the composition of their army? How is their combat strength? "
As the former leader of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade, Izam was the best at investigating the enemy. So he thought for a while and immediately replied, "Your Majesty, according to my observation, the Persians have about 350,000 soldiers stationed in Taposakus. Among them, there are about 200,000 soldiers. As for the rest … there are about 30000 soldiers in Dukeya's army, 10,000 soldiers in Taurkiya's army, 30,000 soldiers in Ameria's army, 10,000 soldiers in Arabia's army, 5,000 soldiers in Scythia's army, 10,000 soldiers in Kaldan's army, 10,000 soldiers in Hindustan's army … Oh, they also have about 20,000 Greek mercenaries.
Among so many troops, the 50,000 to 60,000 Persia troops guarding the king should be the most powerful. Among them, except for the Persia troops stationed in Babylon, the rest are from Susa and Persia in the east — "
"Artaxerxes personally led the army to battle?!" Daves interrupted him and asked in surprise.
Izzam quickly replied, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty! I forgot to mention that the king of Persia led the Undead Army to Taposakus at the end of last month. After arriving, he has been staying in the city and has not shown himself. "
"Hmm …" The Devers nodded. "Continue."
"In addition to the 50,000 to 60,000 Persia troops, the Persia army has an advantage over us. They have a huge cavalry force, about 30,000 soldiers including the cavalry in the affiliated areas. In addition, they have more than 50,000 archers. But they do not have powerful heavy infantry! This is the biggest weakness of the Persia army, but the Dukeya troops, the Kaldan troops, the Greek mercenaries … these troops have decent combat strength, and they are likely to be deployed by the Persia in the first line of battle against our legions.
In addition, there are some special units in the Persia army that we need to pay attention to. "One is the scythe chariot. It is said that the reason Artaxerxes arrived at Taposakus so late was to prepare these 200 chariots. I have seen this thing from afar. Its axle is equipped with a long and sharp double-sided blade. When the chariot is moving, the blade will rotate along with the wheels. It is very scary to use it to charge into enemy lines.
"In addition, there are more than 50 war elephants. They were brought by the Indians. Although I have seen elephants many times in the Turkistan Zoo, this is the first time I have seen someone use them in battle. The Indians put a small wooden tower on the back of the elephant. The tower can seat two people, one for the elephant driver, and the other for the archer. The elephant's body is huge, and using it to charge into enemy lines should be a threat to our infantry formation.
"The other one is the Arabian camel soldiers. The camels are big but slow. At first, the Arabian camp was very close to the Amerians, but the Amerian War Horse was restless because of the camels. The Persia made the Arabians stay away from the main army and built their own camp. But they do not have many camels, only about 500 …"
Yizam paused for a moment. Seeing that the Devers were silent, he said in a more serious tone, "Your Majesty, although the Persia army is huge, its origins are too complicated. Apart from the tens of thousands of main troops, I found that most of the other troops are lax in discipline, lack fighting spirit, and lack effective organization. There is even a language barrier between the troops, making it difficult for them to cooperate well.
"When I followed the Dukeya tribe's army from Opis to Taposakus, I deeply felt this. The troops followed the marching route set by the Persia and lost control in less than an hour. They were mixed together and scattered all over the plains … So every afternoon, the entire Persia army had to stop advancing and regroup. This took at least two hours, including the Dukeya tribe's army. They often clashed with other troops because of this …
A Persia army with no fighting spirit, no discipline, and no unity is unable to fight against our army, even if we are at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. However, the Persians were also aware of this. When the majority of the troops arrived at Taposakus, they began to reorganize their troops. "
"How did the Persia reorganize?" The Devers asked seriously.
"For some of the smaller troops, such as the Kaldans and the Arabs, they merged them into the Persia army. As for the larger troops, such as the Dukeya and the Armenians, they stationed some Persia generals in their army. On one hand, they were responsible for conveying the orders of the King of Persia, on the other hand, they were responsible for supervising the execution of the orders. At the same time, these generals were also responsible for training the troops to cooperate with the Persia army … So these days, the Persia army has been training on the plains near Taposakus. Before I left, I felt that the condition of the Persia army was better than when they first arrived at Taposakus.
Your Majesty, if we allow the Persians to continue like this, even if we can win in the end, we will have to pay a heavy price. So … "Izam solemnly requested," Your Majesty, we should take advantage of the fact that this Persian army is still relatively loose and has not gathered together to launch an attack as soon as possible! "
The Devers pondered and did not immediately express their opinion.
Seeing this situation, Marigi immediately changed the topic, "Yizam, you have been in the plains of Mesopotamia for so long, what do you think of the attitude of the people there towards the Persia army?"
"Of course it is not good!" Yizam replied with a look of disdain, "The Persia army is not our Dionysian army, we have strict military rules. Their affiliated forces come from different regions and different races. Not only are their military discipline lax, some of them even have grudges with the Persia. For example, the Dukeya tribe came to such a rich place like Mesopotamia and looted, destroyed, raped, and even killed people every day. The Persia even formed a large military team to deal with these violations and even had a few minor conflicts with their affiliated forces.
But even the Persia soldiers themselves are doing these disgusting things, so when the towns along the way hear of the arrival of the army, they will close their gates and refuse to let the soldiers in, even to the Persia army … I heard some rumors that some Mesopotamian nobles have intercepted the carriage of the Persia King several times on the way and complained about the Persia army, but the Persia King did not seem to punish them … "
Hearing this, the Devers asked Marigi with interest, "The residents of the plains of Mesopotamia seem to be dissatisfied with the rule of the Persia?"
"Your Majesty!" Marigi replied with slight excitement, "Although Persia has ruled the plains of Mesopotamia for more than a hundred years and has been operating it as a core area, Persia residents still do not make up the majority in the plains of Mesopotamia. The main ethnic groups in the plains are still Babylonians and Medes, but they have always been submissive to the Persia, and the Persia also treats them as equals. Outsiders also see them as part of the real Persia.
But in fact, there is still a difference between the two! Especially the Babylonians, because they have been ruled by many foreign races for hundreds of years, they are used to being indifferent to the war between countries. As long as it does not infringe on their interests, they can accept whoever rules the plains of Mesopotamia. Therefore, when Little Cyrus led the army from Asia Minor into the plains of Mesopotamia, he was almost close to Babylon and did not encounter any obstacles along the way. This may be an important reason.
I do not know if Artaxerxes was angry about this, but the information obtained from Mazayas shows that he trusted the Persia nobles of Susa and Persia Persia who gave him a lot of support during that turbulent period. Later on, he gave them more power and preferential treatment, and even rewarded them with some land in the plains of Mesopotamia. These Persia nobles wantonly expanded their territory in Mesopotamia, causing tension between the nobles and the residents of Mesopotamia and the Persia. Although Artaxerxes later realized this problem and mediated, the dissatisfaction of the Mesopotamians towards the Persia will not disappear.
Your Majesty, as long as our army does not offend the Mesopotamian people after defeating the Persia army and also promises them some benefits, they will definitely see us as the masters of this land and open their gates to welcome us! … … "
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