Alexander's army marched southeast along the Euphrates River essentially all the way. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info Because the army has neither a map nor any road map in the heath area of the higher elevations to the south, it is safest and ideal to walk along the Euphrates River, which can provide the army with the water they need in an unlimited amount. The officers gathered a number of guides to lead the way for the troops, and with some pre-prepared drawing tools and portable cartography tables, as the troops advanced little by little, they drew the most accurate map of the area with one stroke at a time.

After leaving Raqqa, Alexander passed a long stretch of moor, through a barren and almost barren land, and often saw herds of wild asses and wild antelopes, foraging for food among the thorns and bushes. On the third night, two lion roars could be heard, and in the open field, the roars were like thunder.

The horses suddenly became restless, neighed, and kicked their hooves incessantly, trying to break free of their horses' chews for relief. Pelitas sprang to his feet, barking furiously, trying to run to the dangerous place, from which a strong smell came.

Alexander soothed his dog and said, "All right, Pelitas, we don't have time to hunt now, so go to sleep, we have to go on our way to-morrow." His hand rubbed against Pelitas, and scratched its ear, and after a while the hound ceased to be agitated, and lay on the ground, curled up in a ball.

The next day, after they had seen ostriches, they found some ostriches and their burrows where they laid their eggs. The cook looked closely into the sunlight and knew that the eggs had just been laid. They collected and stored some eggs for dinner. Alexander had a pair of best-preserved eggshells kept, and he wanted to bring them to Theophrastus, knowing that his teacher was very fond of such collections.

Ares did not want to give up any more opportunity to eat fresh meat, and he, together with Konas, Cretos, and Seris, led more than thirty Macedonian and barbarian soldiers armed with bows, arrows, and spears to capture ostriches. But they soon learned the methods of the ostrich, and catching the ostrich is by no means a matter of hand. The world's largest birds, though unable to fly, can run incredibly fast, spreading their wings like sails, running with the power of the wind so fast that no horse can catch up.

In the end, the people who went out to hunt came back empty-handed, and none of them were caught, but most of their physical strength was consumed, and they were all hungry and ashamed. Alexander watched them laugh heartily.

"Your Majesty, you are still laughing, if you go to catch it, it is estimated that you will be chased by the ostrich upside down, the ostrich's mouth can be hard, and it will be miserable to be pecked." Ares said unconvinced.

"It's terrible to be uneducated, so let's read more books. If you have read Xenophon's Expedition, you will know how to catch an ostrich, he is a great hunter. ”

"How did he get it?" Cretos asked curiously.

"Like a relay race, divide into several groups of people, lay ambushes in various places in advance, and then one group of people will first chase the ostriches, drive them to the predetermined place, and then the second group will continue to catch them, and so on, constantly consuming the physical strength of the ostriches, and when they are exhausted, they will slow down, and then they will only be captured."

"Hehe, I see! Then we have to make a good calculation and cooperate well! "Conus looked very happy when he learned about the situation.

"That's right, hunting is like warfare, you can't do it without a good plan or plan. With a good strategy, you can get twice the result with half the effort, otherwise you will get twice the result with half the effort or even fail. Even if you know how to catch it, you have to do your best, otherwise you may not be able to catch the ostrich. ”…,

"What your majesty said is really incisive! We'll try it tomorrow. Seris actually slapped his ass.

"But the eggs are enough to comfort me, as far as I know, this ostrich egg is a delicacy in the world, and it is a beautiful dish when cooked." Alexander was imagining the delicacy of ostrich eggs, which he had never eaten before, but had only heard of them before.

"And the feathers, it's amazing to stick on my head, look here, how beautiful." Contrary to everyone's expectations, the secretary actually has a soft spot for ostrich feathers.

"Well, there are some numbers of ostriches scattered in the desert, and it should be mating season now." Arisdas Derros walked over and said.

Early the next morning, a few playful people ran to catch ostriches. This time, the poor ostriches were hunted and slaughtered under the careful arrangement of the hunters. Their feathers were plucked off at the suggestion of Ptolemy the Younger and given to all the cavalry and some of the infantry, thanks to the inspiration he had seen Epicurus put on the feathers. Of course, the Secretary-General also collected a lot of feathers of different colors. In addition, the other sergeants also caught a lot of game, some of which were divided among the scene, and some of which were pickled by the cooks.

The army marched 27 days in Palasanga, and after six days, after crossing the Helgan River in Syria, the land seemed to be gradually becoming fertile, with a dense network of waters, and scattered villages. On the eighth day, he encountered a caravan selling incense from Arabia, and Arisdros begged Alexander to buy some incense at great expense, arguing that the gods should be honored at an important time before arriving in Babylon.

After another three days, Alexander came to the small city of Mali, probably near Abu Qaymal in present-day Iraq, where the scouts found oil springs again, and Alexander knew that the oil reserves here were extremely rich, so Alexander cut some timber from the local area and made it into barrels, and filled thousands of barrels.

After passing Mali, there was no sign of sight, no fireworks rising, no wind, only a few lazy herons skimming the riverbank, looking for fry and frogs. Alexander asked Pelitas and Pegasus to drink in turn, and he pulled Pegasus's head from time to time to keep it from getting too swollen. He picked up some water in his hands and sprinkled it along the horse's belly and legs, keeping Pegasus cool as well. After a while, all the cavalry dismounted, and each soldier led his horse and let them drink in the turbulence.

Little Ptolemy took off his helmet, poured some water on his head with it, and suddenly felt extremely refreshed, and could not help but exclaim: "Oh, what a comfort! ”

"Hey, if you like it, there's a lot more." Cretos teased as he filled his helmet with water and was about to pour it on Ptolemy, but stopped again.

"Wait, Epicurus is here, wait and see what I look at!" Konas said with a sinister smile.

"Alexander! Alexander ......"

Before he could finish speaking, Konas shouted at the top of his voice: "Attack! Raid! As soon as the words fell, everyone poured their helmets full of water on Epicurus, and Epicurus was drenched.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Secretary, they're so naughty that I can't stop them. Don't be offended, it's just a joke. Alexander said awkwardly.

"What a joke!" Epicurus grunted, his whole body soaking wet, and the feathers on his head were pitiful to look at, and he looked down dejectedly at how many of his feathers remained.

"A bunch of uncultured guys!" Epicurus scolded angrily, but only through his mouth, and did not act in a way that was unworthy of his philosophership because of the other party's rudeness.

Alexander looked funny and comforted: "You better forgive them, they are just a bunch of ignorant bad boys, they love to play more than me, you have elegant sentiments and noble personality, you don't have to be like them, hehe!" ”

"Are you comforting me or hurting me! I think you're a raccoon dog! Epicurus angrily shook his ass and turned away.

"Hey, did you just call me something?"

"Nothing, a man of noble sentiments disdains to discuss learning with naughty children."

Alexander listened to the embarrassment.

Concentrate:

Parasanga: The Persian mileage unit, 1 parasanga is about 30 stadias, which is equivalent to 5.55 kilometers today.