Chapter 34
Even though the Devers were new to military affairs, they could tell that this formation was to prevent the Persia from ambushing them and to protect their supplies. With such a wide front, they would not be able to move fast. Under the pressure of the Persia, they had no choice but to do so.
The few of them gathered around to look at the crude map on the ground.
Timason pointed at the two squares at the front and said, "Kelisthorpes is from Sparta, and his soldiers are also from the Lasidic Dream. They are experienced in battle. I think everyone will be at ease if they are the vanguard and open the path for the rest of the army."
No one objected to this suggestion.
"Secondly …" Timason was thinking about which position his camp should be in charge of.
"Secondly, I'm the youngest. I'm willing to bring up the rear!" The Devers said passionately.
Felicius shuddered and thought, Oh no, the Devers forgot what we discussed and volunteered to be the rear guard. They are still young and inexperienced!
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Felicius did not dare to make any big movements, so he could only keep winking at Dyvers.
Timason said in shock, "You … you want to bring up the rear?! No! No! " He shook his head. "The rear guard is very important. He must be experienced in dealing with all kinds of complicated situations. If he does not handle it well, he will drag the whole army down. I think … our camp should be the rear guard."
As soon as Timason finished speaking, the Devers said, "Isn't there another rear guard? I'm willing to take up the position with you!"
"No!" Timason rejected without hesitation. "Creano, you will bring up the rear with me!" He immediately picked a comrade who would fight alongside him.
Creano had a good relationship with Timason, so he could only nod.
The rear guard was decided so quickly. Felicius did not understand that the Devers had purposely set up a trap to lure Timason. If he did, he would not be fit to be the adjutant.
The furrow between Cheristhorpes' brows deepened. He didn't appreciate the Devers' little tricks. Instead, he loathed them. However, he knew that Timason's choice was right, so he simply said to the Devers, "Your barracks will be responsible for protecting the left flank." Since the mercenaries marched north along the Tigris River, the left flank was close to the river bank most of the time and should have encountered the least danger.
Devers saw the undisguised contempt in Kellethorpes' eyes. He secretly clenched his fists and nodded in agreement.
Then, Kelley Thorpes suggested that Zantiparis be the striker with him.
Hieronymus was equally unwilling. Chalisthorpes and the others had also considered that the original adjutant of the Proxinus barracks was Agathia, and now the chosen leader was Hieronymus. Moreover, he was the last to arrive, which meant that there was a huge dispute among the soldiers of the barracks over who should be the leader. To be safe, they decided to let the barracks take the right flank.
After the leaders had finished their military meeting, it was time to hold a general assembly.
This was not only a public meeting for the new leader, but it was also a good opportunity to unify the soldiers' minds, so Kellethorpes reminded everyone to give more morale-boosting speeches.
When he made the request to the leaders, his eyes stayed more on the Devers. He was not at ease with this overly young leader. After all, it was a gathering of tens of thousands of people. Most people would probably be too nervous to speak in such a big scene. If the Devers messed up, this carefully arranged oath-taking ceremony would turn into a farce!
So, he suggested to the Devers that he could let his adjutant, Felicius, speak on his behalf.
However, the Devers insisted on doing it himself.
Kellethorpes' expression was very ugly, but he had to let the Devers attend because he was the new leader unanimously elected by the Menon Barracks. There were 1,400 soldiers under his command, about one-ninth of the entire army. Therefore, he arranged for the Devers to go on stage second. If the Devers performed badly, there was still the leader behind them to make up for it.
… …
It was the end of August, late summer, and the weather in the afternoon was no longer so hot.
A wooden stage was set up in the middle of the Timazon barracks (formerly the Krylkus barracks). The surrounding tents had been cleared away, leaving a large open space, which was occupied by soldiers from various mercenary barracks. They stood or sat, chatting and complaining to each other …
The entire venue was packed with people, and it was noisy …
Kellethorpes and the others, under the protection of heavily armed soldiers, squeezed through the dense crowd and came to the wooden stage.
Kellethorpes was the first to go on stage.
There was a commotion among the soldiers below the stage.
Because Kellethorpes had deliberately kept a low profile, most of the ordinary soldiers did not know who he was. They were surprised to see a stranger on stage first and asked each other for his name.
Around the wooden stage stood a dozen or so soldiers with loud voices. They were responsible for repeating the speaker's words so that the thousands of soldiers below the stage could hear them.
Kellethorpes opened his mouth and said, "Brothers from all over Greece, I am Kellethorpes, the censor of Sparta!"
After the soldiers on the wooden stage repeated the words, the soldiers below the stage were in an uproar. The shock in their hearts was even greater than when the Devers first heard the news. For hundreds of years, the warriors of Sparta, through battle after battle, had impressed the Greeks of other city-states with their bravery and strength. Now, Sparta had become the hegemon of the Greek world, dominating the Mediterranean Sea. How could they not be excited and inspired when the censor of Sparta was among the ordinary freedmen? The soldiers, who were originally in a panic because of the death of their leader, suddenly felt that they had someone to rely on. Their panicked faces began to regain some color, and they began to pay attention to things outside of their survival curiously. Why would the high-ranking censor of Sparta appear here?
So when Kellethorpes asked them to keep quiet, the soldiers actually stopped making noise.
"Brothers, we are in a terrible situation now! Not only have we lost our capable leader, some of our platoon leaders and soldiers who have been with you for a long time, but our former ally Alreus and his men have also betrayed us! However, the more critical the situation is, the more we must pull ourselves together as soon as possible and face the Persia who want to destroy us bravely. We must not give in. We must defeat the enemy with our Greek bravery and spears and fight our way back to Greece! Zeus will walk with the brave! " Sure enough, the people of Sparta liked to be concise. Kellethorpes had just reminded everyone to say more inspiring words, but he quickly ended his speech as soon as he got the soldiers excited.
When Kellethorpes passed by Devers after he got off the stage, he saw Devers smiling at him. He thought to himself, "Not bad, this young leader doesn't look nervous, but why did he bring a herald to the stage and ask him to carry a dozen thin wooden sticks?"
Asistes also did not understand why Devers asked him to carry the wooden sticks and follow him to the stage, but when he stood on the wooden stage, he immediately stopped thinking about it, because there were people moving in all directions below the stage, densely packed and stretching into the distance … At this moment, the noise in his ears was far noisier than that of the stage below, as if there was a raging sea below, and he and Devers were a lonely boat floating in the depths of the sea, in danger of capsizing at any time.
Asistes could not stop his legs from trembling. He even felt that he might collapse together with the wooden stage under his feet at any time …
"Oh! Oh! Look! Who is this?! "
"A little guy who hasn't even grown his hair! This is not a place you should be! Get off the stage, go home and drink your mother's milk! Hahaha … "
"Don't tell me he's a new leader elected by some military camp?! Are they crazy?! "
…
Mocking laughter and doubts filled the air.
Asistes turned pale with fright and took a few steps back, almost to the edge of the wooden stage. What impressed him was that Devers still stood firmly in the center of the wooden stage …
The leaders below the stage also felt a little sorry. No matter how dissatisfied they were with Devers, at this moment, in the face of thousands of soldiers, they were one.
Timason complained, "If I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have let him go up. This is simply hell!"
The others also agreed.
Xenophon quickly said, "Hurry up and let the next leader replace him."
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