The next day, as soon as it was dawn, the army was urged to hurry. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Menon said goodbye to Ariros and hurried back to lead his troops. As he rode towards the tail of the "long dragon" of the Greek mercenaries, he cursed Clearchus in his heart. He believed that he had his troops in the rearguard because of the persecution of the mercenary chiefs who hated him for his close relationship with the Persians.

At the same time, he noticed that the soldiers on the march had tired faces and complaining. It turned out that because of the march last night, the rest time was too short, and I had to guard against the sneak attack of the Persians, so I basically lay on the ground. Early in the morning, they had to hurry again, and the soldiers soon became tired and hungry. However, the baggage battalions were unable to produce more food, which demoralized the soldiers.

Menon thought to himself: The food situation in the other barracks is so bad, wouldn't it be even more miserable for the subordinates who have been oppressed because of their absence for the past two days! He was afraid that the soldiers would make trouble, so he urged his horse to hurry all the way, and only when he saw many familiar faces did he slow down his horse.

As a result, he was surprised to find that the soldiers were not in good spirits as he had imagined, and many of them were chewing on a string of black things hanging from their chests as they walked. So, curiously, he called an officer to ask.

"This is called bacon sausage, it can fill the stomach, and it won't go bad for a few days." The captain said, pointing to something on his chest.

Menon cut a small piece and tasted it, although it was a little dry, the taste was okay. Seeing that the soldiers in the other barracks were starving, but his own soldiers were able to eat, his mood became happy: "This...... Smoke...... Merses made the sausage? ”

"It's not. It's Davers - a 'god favorer'! ”

"Divine Favorite?" Menon inquired curiously about the situation, and his face began to darken as he heard the officer's words, and he immediately noticed that some of the soldiers did indeed have two more javelins.

"Where's this Davers?"

"His company has been sent to guard the baggage battalion." The officer obviously didn't look at him, and asked with a little excitement, "Are you going to see him?" ”

The officer's look reassured Menon of his mind: is it worth the fuss of a boy from the small village of Thessaly? Hurrying to meet a soldier was completely inconsistent with his identity, and now he was on the march, and there was time for him to meet him later.

………………………

From early morning to morning, and then to the afternoon, the troops were on the march without rest.

Davers felt like his legs were filled with lead, every step was difficult, his throat was on fire, and his shield, bayonet, and javelin were a burden. In the morning, he could still talk and laugh with his companions, but now he felt that opening his mouth was a waste of his little physical strength, but he gritted his teeth and persevered, because his companions around him were also marching in silence.

Finally, the troops stopped. The news from the front made them nervous again: the Persian cavalry had been spotted!

Soon the news came that it was not cavalry, but the pack beasts of the Persian army grazing.

The procession continued.

It was getting dark, and after walking for a short time, Davers saw dense smoke rising in the distance.

Shilos told him, "It must be the camp of the Persian army." ”

However, the team was still advancing, without the slightest hint of guarding or evading.

It was getting late and there was no moonlight. The soldiers relied on torches to advance, and the march became more difficult.

Finally, an order came from the front: camp on the spot and rest.

The terrain was flat, the trees were scarce, and it was impossible to command the construction of a camp in the dark. At the same time, because of the presence of Persian troops nearby, they feared being attacked. The soldiers shouted their friends' names to each other and gathered together to find a way to camp. The equally exhausted officers could not control the order, and the entire rearguard unit shouted in a mess, like a boiling cauldron, making a loud noise. Many of the pack beasts in the baggage camp were frightened and ran around in terror, injuring many people. The screams made the troops even more panicked, and they were in danger of collapsing at any moment.

At the critical moment, Clearcus sent the only cavalry squad of the Greek mercenaries, all armed with torches, to the rearguard, and loudly announced Clearcus's order, asking the soldiers to remain silent, and at the same time ordering the baggage battalion to watch over the cattle and punish anyone who let the pack beasts go. After capturing a few soldiers who had been disturbed by fear, the troops gradually returned to quiet.

Menon then found the leader of the cavalry, Tormid, known as the "Best Herald".

"How did Clearcus command the troops on the march! There was almost a camp roar! I wasn't there for a day, and things got so bad! He is not worthy of commanding the whole army at all! ...... "Menon took the opportunity to disparage Clearcus.

Tolmid was amused, not utter a word.

"Where is he now?"

Tolmid hesitated for a moment: "...... In the avant-garde. ”

Menon sensed his hesitation and immediately asked, "Is it the same as us, without a camp?" ”

Tolmid had to tell the truth: "The avant-garde lived in the villages...... Menon, it's a special time—"

Menon interrupted him with a sneer: "This is the so-called fair and just Clearcus?!" Ourselves in a warm house and let us sleep on cold and damp ground!! Menon also knew that it was not appropriate to provoke the soldiers at this moment, but he could not help but roar.

Fortunately, the surrounding soldiers were already exhausted after the previous toss, and after a few words of scolding, they all fell asleep on the ground.

"Menon! Menon! ......" At this time, someone shouted.

It's Mersis! Menon hurriedly led him over: "How are you there?" Are there any losses? "The baggage camp is where he cares most, because his belongings are all there, and when he has money, he has soldiers.

"Nope!" A smug smile appeared on Mersis's fat face: "We formed a large circle around the baggage cart, tied the pack beast to the cart, and everyone slept in it, it is safe!" ”

"Don't those animals kick and bark?" Tolmid asked curiously, most of the baggage camps he had seen before were in disarray.

"It was Davers who told me to blindfold these animals, and they turned out to be obedient!" Mersis said excitedly.

It's that Davers again! Menon frowned.

"Menon, this little guy is very smart! If you assign him to a baggage camp, then it will be much easier for me. Mersis requested.

"More on that later." Menon said lightly. The baggage camp was his foundation, and Mersis was related to him, and he was good at managing money and management, and he had no ambitions, so he dared to use it with confidence. Let a stranger enter the baggage camp, and he is also a clever stranger, what if his secret is discovered?

…………………

Early in the morning of the second day, the herald woke Menon and informed him that the king's messenger had come, and that the princes had asked him to come and counsel.

Menon mounted his horse and galloped towards the mercenary camp at the front, and there was no longer a shadow of the Persian camp in his sight. It turned out that the huge noise of the mercenaries last night had frightened the Persians, and they had retreated the camp ten miles overnight.

When he was approaching the tent, Menon saw four heavy infantry brigades in front of the camp, fully loaded and waiting in formation. Puzzled, he went into the tent and saw that Clearcus, Proxinus, Achilles, Socrates (not the Athenian philosopher), Sosis, and several other chieftains were already waiting in the tent, all of them all fully armed.

Seeing Clearcus, Menon snorted and sneered: "It seems that you all had a good time last night, but my soldiers are more pitiful, and they slept on the damp ground all night!" ”

As a Spartan, Clearcus was straightforward and stubborn, and he also despised Menon and did not want to talk to him much.

Achilles smiled, "Yo, when did Menon start caring about the soldiers too?!" ”

Proxinus hurriedly came out of the round: "Menon, listen to Tormid, there was no accident in your baggage camp last night. That's amazing! Teach us a little bit of experience, too. ”

"Don't stop the baggage camp! Menon's soldiers also made a ...... Something called bacon sausage. As a result, everyone was starving, and only his soldiers were filling their stomachs with this thing! Socrates said to the others. His troops were right ahead of Meron's team in the marching column, so he had a better understanding of the situation.

"Menon, tell us about your camp experience as well." The request of Sosis and several other leaders made Mellon a little fluttering, and he couldn't help but say, "No matter how difficult the environment is arranged for me, I can still come up with a solution." So the light is not a good leader! ”

"Alright...... Let in the messenger of the king of Persia. Let's listen to it, what new proposals does this king have? Clearcus interrupted Menon's show-off.

The leaders began to shake their spirits, and Menon reluctantly shut his mouth.