Chapter 29
As they approached the Persia cavalry, Felicius told the Devers that the Persia in front of them were Alreus, Artauzus, and Mitradate. The three of them were the most trusted subordinates of Cyrus the Younger when he was alive. The other Persia man in the middle was someone the Devers recognized. It was the previous Persia emissary, Thistle.
The officers stopped when they were about 20 meters away from the Persia cavalry.
"Please come closer!" Alreus pointed to the front of his horse.
The officers did not move.
Thistle could not help but mock, "Are the Greeks all so cowardly?"
"Because the Persia have broken their promises time and time again, so we no longer dare to trust the Persia!" Xenophon retorted.
"Yes, the Persia are all shameless villains. They can even deceive the gods!" Creano cursed angrily. His words resonated with the other officers, and they began to curse.
"Please be quiet! Listen carefully to the king's orders! "Alreus shouted.
"That is your king, not ours. If you want to speak, then speak. If not, we will go back!" the Devers also shouted.
"We Greeks are free, unlike the Persia, who are all slaves to your king!" Timason roared, half proud and half mocking.
Alreus was so angry that his nose was crooked. He turned to look at Thistle, who nodded at him. Only then did he helplessly unfold the papyrus in his hand and read loudly, "Dear Greeks, I, Artaxerxes, the Lord of the Persia, the King of all races, declare that Krylkus has violated the oath and broken the truce, and the gods have punished him. Proxinus, Menon, Achilles, and Socrates, the four leaders are receiving the highest honors from my governor, Tisavonis, for exposing his plot! To prevent such terrible betrayals on the road, and for safety — "Alreus spoke loudly and solemnly," I request all Greek soldiers to hand over your weapons, because the money to buy these weapons came from the rebellious Cyrus the Younger, and his money came from the Persia's treasury, so it should have belonged to me! Hand over your weapons, and I swear to the Supreme God Mazda that you will reach Ionia smoothly! "
"Hahaha!! Devers laughed out loud. "The wolf tricked the deer into befriending them and then ate them. After tasting the benefits, the wolves wanted to trick all the deer into breaking their own horns so that the wolves could enjoy their meat without worry! Hahaha … How stupid would he have to be to fall for this again? Or is there something wrong with your king's head?!! "
"How dare you!" Alreus pointed angrily at the Devers. "Those who insult the King will be burned by fire!"
"Enough, Alreus, you shameless bastard! And you, the closest comrades-in-arms of little Cyrus, aren't you ashamed of yourselves before the gods? " Creano pointed at Alreus, Artauzus, and Mithradate and said angrily, "You once swore to the gods to become allies with us against the king of Persia, but now you have betrayed us and worked with that heartless scoundrel Tisafniss. Not only did you deceive Krylkus and the others, but you also tried to betray the rest of us! Even if little Cyrus is in hell, if he knows what you have done, he will definitely curse you! "
Alreus shrunk his neck unnaturally and subconsciously glanced at Thistle. Thistle looked as if he had nothing to do with it, so Alreus had no choice but to say, "His Majesty really wants to send you home safely, because the traitor, Little Cyrus, has received the most just punishment. You were just deceived by him! The King is merciful and does not want the land of Persia to suffer from unnecessary wars! However, according to Proxinus and the others, Krylkus has been conspiring against Lord Tisafniss and the Persia army for more than ten days. He has also spread rumors and tried to drive a wedge between the Greeks and the people of Persia. We have no choice but to take action against him! "
"Since you said that Proxinus and the others have been rewarded for exposing Krylkus, then please let them come here. That way, we will be able to dispel the suspicion between us. As their leaders, they will also be able to come up with better suggestions for us to reconcile!" Xenophon was still trying his best to save Proxinus.
"That's right, let our leaders come here, and we will believe you!" the officers shouted.
"Ugh … Proxinus and the others accepted Lord Tisafniss' invitation … and they are already drunk … so …" Alreus stammered. Cist was getting impatient. He shouted, "The King has ordered you to hand over your weapons immediately. Only then will you be able to return home safely. Otherwise, we will no longer provide you with any help!"
"Ares above, the Greek warriors will never give up their weapons and allow themselves to be trampled on!" Timason yelled as he knocked his spear on the bronze shield.
"We will fight anyone who dares to take away our weapons!" Kryano shouted angrily.
"Proxinus and the others can't come, not because they are drunk, but because they have been killed by you, right?" Xenophon said angrily. He had made it sound so serious to force Alreus and the others to tell the truth, but he did not expect to infuriate the officers.
"The Persia want to kill us all!"
"Avenge our leaders!"
…
The enraged officers surrounded Alreus and the others. Cist saw that the situation was not good, so he turned his horse around and ran away. Alreus and the others followed suit. After running for a while, Cist turned around and saw that they had distanced themselves from the Greeks. He was ashamed and angry when he remembered that he, a noble of Persia and a relative of the royal family, had been scared away by a bunch of Greek barbarians. He shouted, "Greeks, you have missed the best opportunity. You will regret it soon!"
"I don't know who will regret it when the time comes!" Xenophon replied firmly.
Seeing the Persia cavalry leave, everyone was worried. They were sure that the mercenary leaders would not have a good ending, and the Persia had already shed all pretense of cordiality. What should they do now?
Surrender to the Persia? Even the brother of the king of Persia, Cyrus the Younger, had been brutally beheaded and had his hands chopped off. Most of the officers did not think that they would have a good ending after surrendering! They would either be killed or become slaves. The officers could not accept this choice, and it was impossible for them to accept it.
Other than that, they could only choose to fight the Persia on this foreign land again! Now, they were led by the Persia on a route that they had never taken before. They were thousands of miles away from their hometown, and without the help of the Persia, they could only move forward by themselves. They did not know how many tribes and villages they would have to face, and they would have to guard against the attacks of the Persia army. The most distressing thing was that the Persia could not defeat them in a head-on battle, but they could not catch up with the Persia either. If they failed, they might be completely wiped out. Because of these difficulties, everyone was depressed and did not know what to do. When they left the camp, the soldiers were still in high spirits, but when they returned, they all sighed and looked worried.
When they returned to the camp, when the officers in charge of the various battalions gathered again, Devers naturally followed beside Felicius and participated in the discussion. Of course, as a newcomer, he did not speak much and spent most of his time observing these officers. In a heated argument, it was easier for them to reveal their personalities: the hot-tempered Timason, the shrewd Cleano, the cautious Zantiparis, and Agathia, who had a good relationship with the other officers …
Xenophon was much more proactive. Not only did he argue fiercely with the others many times, but he also said excitedly, "Everyone, Krylkus and the others have been captured by the Persia. We must immediately elect new leaders of each battalion to replace them, and then hold a meeting of the entire army to re-establish the soldiers' determination to fight against the Persia and the confidence that we must rely on ourselves to return home. Otherwise, if we allow this chaos to continue, we will all be finished before the Persia attack!"
Devers thought that Xenophon was right. Although he was still a beginner in military affairs, in his previous life, he had been a village official and a leader in charge of a high-tech development zone. The number of people he had managed far exceeded these 10,000 soldiers, so he knew the importance of unity of thought and inspiring confidence in a group.
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