Chapter 18
Everyone could not help but exclaim, "This is amazing! Xenophon has come to Persia under Hades' instructions! Devers, you have never seen Xenophon, but you know about him through the oracle! This is Hades blessing us! "Everyone began to chant Pluto's hymn devoutly.
Although Devers was surprised, he thought it was just a coincidence. He pretended to follow everyone in chanting the hymn and then said, "Even with Pluto's blessing, we still need to work hard to pass the test and return to Greece safely."
"Devers are not very confident about returning home smoothly?" Xenophon looked at the Devers. Xenophon believed in prophecies, dreams, and prophecies. It was because he heard that the Devers were Hades' favorites that he had come to investigate. Because of Hades, he believed that there must be some mysterious connection between him and the Devers.
"I'm just an ordinary infantryman, like a frog in a well. I don't understand the situation at the top. So it's inevitable that I'm confused. " Devers said calmly, "You are a close friend of Proxinus and the most outstanding student of Socrates. I hope you can tell us what kind of situation we are facing now so that we can clear up our confusion. "
Olivers wanted to say something, but Devers stopped him with a look.
Xenophon did not pass on the responsibility and said, "I think our return to Greece should be smooth this time! Why? "Xenophon felt a sense of responsibility because he had come to Persia under the guidance of the 'gods'. In the face of this possible disaster, when everyone was panicking, he thought that this was the reason the gods had sent him. So he had been running back and forth in the camp these few days, helping Proxinus stabilize the morale of the army.
He looked at everyone and said patiently, "First, our Greek heavy infantry is strong while the Persia army is weak. Since the battle at Hot Spring Pass, we Greeks have always had the upper hand against the Persia. The previous battle with the Persia king is even more telling. Our fierce charge directly caused them to collapse. It can be seen that the Persia's fear of the Greek heavy infantry was deep in their blood. Although their cavalry is stronger than ours, what use is that? The cavalry can only investigate and harass, but they don't dare to fight head-on, which doesn't help their combat power increase. "
"That's right, the cavalry are all cowards!" Matonis exclaimed in agreement. Xenophon suddenly looked a little embarrassed.
"But the Persia cavalry's javelins and arrows have caused us a lot of trouble," Hilos reminded.
"But the cavalry is just like their infantry. They lack the skills and courage to fight us head-on. Bows and arrows alone won't be able to shake our courage. As long as we decide to retreat, they won't be able to stop us from leaving," Xenophon said confidently, based on his understanding of the cavalry.
"Secondly, I heard from the people of Persia that their new king, Artaxerxes, was a gentle and timid person since he was a child. This was also the reason why little Cyrus dared to rebel. It is said that in the region of Susa and Persia, the friends of Cyrus the Younger have responded. Though Artaxerxes was fortunate enough to kill Cyrus the Younger, he would never dare to risk his life to fight against us, who are stronger than him, while his rear has not yet been pacified.
Thirdly, our commander, Cleilkus, is a very capable man. Though I am from Athens and he is from Sparta, I have to admit that during the war between Athens and Sparta, he caused a lot of trouble for Athens. After that, he defeated the Thracians many times at Kelsounis. Proxinus, Menon, and the other leaders are also experienced commanders. Having dealt with the people of Persia all year round, they know the people of Persia very well. The commander of the Persians was King Artaxerxes of Persia, who had just ascended to the throne and had never commanded an army before. The general that he relied on, Tisafonis, was easily defeated by us. They weren't a match for these leaders at all! … "
Devers listened carefully to Xenophon's speech. Through Xenophon, he learned a lot of things that he did not know before. This time, he applauded sincerely, "What a wonderful speech! As expected of an outstanding disciple of Socrates! "
"Yes! As expected of someone instructed by Hades! Your words have given us confidence! "Hilos said sincerely.
In the face of everyone's praise, Xenophon's expression was calm. Convincing ordinary soldiers was a very common thing for him. His eyes fell on Devers, as if he wanted to see what was different about Hades's "Favored".
"But you forgot to say one thing." Devers certainly could not let the other look down on him, especially in front of his teammates, "Although Persia has a large territory and a large population, it cannot be effectively governed. Most of the areas are still autonomous. They have their own culture and religion, and they only need to do two things to obey Persia's rule — pay taxes and serve in the military. The people of Persia only believe in themselves, so there are very few foreign officials in their army and court. Foreigners cannot integrate into Persia, so naturally, they will not work for them. I think this is one of the reasons why the Persia army collapsed as soon as they met us. "
Xenophon carefully listened to what Devers said and recalled what he had seen along the way. It was very consistent. He was stunned: he, who had received a strict education, did not know Persia as well as an illiterate 19-year-old youth. If this was not a "Favored", then what was he?! Xenophon could only comfort himself in this way, "You are right! This is the drawback of a king's dictatorship! On the contrary, it is the advantage of the Greek democratic system. We are fighting for ourselves! "
The advantage of a democratic system? Devers seemed to see the face of the country that claimed to be the "world's policeman" in his previous life. He curled his lips in disdain, but the attentive Xenophon saw it. "Devers, do you think I am wrong?"
"Xenophon, when do you think Athens has been the most stable and prosperous in the past century?" Devers decided to use the knowledge of his previous life to awe this historical figure in front of him and leave a deep impression on him, so that his name could be passed to the upper echelons of the mercenaries through him.
"The period when Pericles was in power," Xenophon answered without hesitation.
"You forgot to mention the period when Pisistratus was in power." Devers reminded him, "It was under his rule that Athens completely owned the region of Attica, flourished the port of Piraeus, and made Athens the other powerful city-state in Greece apart from Sparta!"
"But …" Xenophon did not expect Devers to mention Pisistratus. The people of Athens were proud of living in the most democratic Greek city-state, and almost no one was willing to talk about that dictator. He wanted to refute, but for a moment, he did not know how to start. After all, Xenophon, who had received higher education and had a wealth of knowledge, knew that what Devers said was the truth.
Devers seized the opportunity and continued, "You want to say, 'But Athens was stronger during Pericles's rule,' right? However, there was a problem with this sentence when Pericles was in power. How many years had Pericles been a general? Thirty years! He had never lost an election in thirty years, and he had been elected as the chief general many times! All the important laws and decisions of Athens, both internal and external, were proposed and formulated by him, which created the golden age of Athens! Wasn't this ironic to the democracy of Athens, which had an election every year, invented the law of banishment, and prevented dictatorship? Was Pisistratus a dictatorship? Pericles was democracy?! Pericles was just more subtle and gentler than Pisistratus's political methods.
How did the democratic system that you thought was superior exist without Pericles? Athens, which had more financial resources, a stronger navy, and more allies than Sparta, had internal strife and strife. The people of Athens were often unable to distinguish the truth from the lies, and were easily incited by the politicians. That was why, at the most critical moment of the expedition to Sicily, Athens' most talented general, Alcibide, was forced to leave. The generals who had just won a crucial naval battle on the Agnosese Island but failed to rescue the soldiers who fell into the water due to strong winds were easily judged and even executed by the people … These stupid actions of Athens were not uncommon in this long war with Sparta! Is this the perfect democratic system that the people of Athens believed to be?! It used up the power that it had accumulated for a hundred years in constant internal strife! "
The democratic system of ancient Athens was one of the key points that Devers studied in the Party School in his previous life, because it was the origin of the modern Western political system. Devers still remembered it vividly.
Note 1: The Western historians did not have a high evaluation of Xenophon, believing that he had only a superficial knowledge in the fields of history and philosophy. His research and understanding of history were not as deep as Thucydides and Herodotus, and his attainments in philosophy were not even comparable to his classmate Plato. Moreover, in his works, he believed in prophecies, dreams, and prophecies. He often chose historical materials and judged historical facts based on his personal political likes and dislikes. He was very exaggerated. I also realized this when I read his works. However, in any case, he left behind a lot of valuable first-hand information that allowed us modern people to have a clearer understanding of that era. Otherwise, there would not be this novel that I am writing today.
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