Chapter 54: Crossing the River (III)
Chapter 54: Crossing the River (III)
When they reached the middle of the river, the water depth was just like what Cheirisophus had said, only till their crotch, which completely relieved the soldiers who were slightly worried and made their pace even faster.
The Persian army was originally some distance away from the river bank, but due to their haste, their speed was affected by the rocks on the river bank. The slingers behind the mercenaries used their long range to disrupt the Persian army’s formation, so there are some confused Persian troops that had not yet arrived at the shore, while the archers hasn’t shot 2 rounds of arrows in all, when the mercenaries had rushed ashore.
Orontes, A persian nobleman who had spent most of his time drinking wine and playing with the dancer in his camp, never had a detailed search and understanding of the surrounding areas of the battlefired. He was completely in a panic faced with the fact that the mercenaries waded across the river so easily and quickly, and had approached him ferociously like hungry wolves.
Luckily, his adjutant was calm and had urged the infantry to quickly come to the front.
After the first several mercenaries rushed ashore, they had to slow down because of the rugged rocks on the shore, which gave the Persian army time to breathe. Finally, they surrounded them like a tide and gradually enclosed the mercenaries on the shore…
The mercenaries are never afraid of melee fights. The shields on their left hand protected their bodies and teammates, while the spear on their right hand was raised high above the shield and pierce the enemy in the opposite direction. Then the soldiers in the next several rows tried to extend their spears as far as they can, which will protect their teammates at the front by deterring the enemy. Although the soldiers behind the formation can’t participate in the fighting, but they didn’t stand by watching, they tried their best in pushing the soldiers in the front, hoping to push back the other side’s front with their strength, or even crush them…
The fierce Chaldaeans directly faced the fierce impact of the mercenaries, and they did not show any weakness and fought back with their spears. The more troops and the higher terrain of the Persians had offset some of the impact of the Greek hoplites. The archers and the mounted archers at the rear of the Persian army did not dare show any weakness, as they counterattack by shooting a round of arrows at the long-range attackers of the Greek, the slingers and archers.
The two sides fought a bloody battle on the north bank of the river Centrites. If the mercenaries win, they will set foot on the land of Armenia and ravage its land, which is what Orontes and his Armenian soldiers would not wish to see. And if the mercenaries fail, they will face their doom. Therefore, both sides are doing their best.
The mercenaries standing in the river faced their biggest dilemma: on one hand, the piercing cold river is gradually sapping their strength, on the other hand, most of the arrows of the Persians fell on them. They brought their round shields in order to protect themselves and at the same time, to prevent them from being washed away by the river.
Davos saw it with his own eyes when a soldier had slipped, and the soldiers around him stepped forward to save him. He got separated from the protection of the shield and was shot by an arrow, he then fell on the water. He was not seriously injured, but he was having a hard time getting up due to the heavy armor…
Why haven’t the Spartan warriors appeared? Davos anxiously await.
Orontes, who was standing on the top of a large rock, was reassured with the balance of the war. He saw the mercenaries struggling to not get washed downstream of the river Centrites from time to time, and started having hope. Of course, he can’t see nor will he go see his men falling down again and again…
Suddenly, there was a huge noise from the right wing of the formation.
“What is Artuchas doing?” Orontes looked to the right angrily, and saw an amazing scene: The light infantry and archers in the rear of the right wing were running away in panic, behind these defeated soldiers were hundreds of fully armed Greek soldiers forming a thin infantry line, driving the defeated soldiers to the center…
“Greek! It’s the Greek!! Fast! Fast!…” Orontes panicked once more, disorder shouting burst out from his mouth.
His adjutant hurried up together with the satrap’s personal guard to try stop the defeated troops, so that they can prevent them from rushing to the center of the formation. But who knew that those Greek soldiers were completely different from those ordinary Greek hoplites. They run fast and chased after the defeated soldiers who fell behind, a wave of their shield will make them faint, and stabbing them in one hit, they are an efficient killing machine. The Persians run like demon beast, the personal guards couldn’t stop them and within a moment, they were forced to flee to the left and the front, and the formation on the right wing and center of the Persian fell apart…
And the mercenaries who got blocked on the river bank easily broke trough the defense line of the frightened Chaldaeans and began their killing…
It must be mention that the Spartan warriors had been engaged in military training since their childhood, and they have a strong tactical literacy. According to the prior rough plan, they will start by deliberately driving the defeated soldiers to the river bank. Except for a few clear-headed Persians, most of the soldiers did not know the direction, but fled by following the flow of people. However, once they saw the wide river Centrites, they all cried desperately…
After the guards guarded Ortas to escape to a safe place, Orontes saw that the mighty 20,000-strong army now only has a few hundred people, and can’t help but cry. He knew that with his power he could not stop the Greek mercenaries from embarking on the territory of Armenia.
The mercenary leaders were excited. They made a quick decision in the face of a large number of surrendered soldiers, releasing the soldiers of Armenia of other ethnic groups, such as the Chaldaeans, and showed them the goodwill of the Greek mercenaries, while the Persians, the leaders, including Davos, chose to kill them!
The Greek hoplite lined up in a dense formation, and ignored the demands of thousands unarmed Persian soldiers, as they use their shield walls and spears to drove them towards the river Centrites, stabbing them, using stones and arrows to pushed them in the river in chaos. The people who fell in the water will pull the other people down for their own survival, just like crabs inside a pot pulling each other’s legs with no one able to escape…
Before long, Davos looked at the river covered with floating corpses. He sighed and looked away to the other side: he could not see a trace of the Carduchians, they were obviously got scared when they saw the unexpected great defeat of the army.
The supply camp and the mercenaries behind were able to cross the river Centrites easily. Afterwards, under the leadership of the leaders, the whole mercenary troops occupied the empty camp of Orontes, with the Persians leaving behind a lot of materials and supplies. The entire mercenary troops had once more made another sacrifice to Zeus and Oceanus, and began the victory celebration.
Because everyone knew that after the defeat of Orontes, no one in Armenia can stop them from moving forward, which made them more confident that they can return to Greece!
First volume end: (T/N: will just tl some part of it)
After completing the first volume, Davos adventure in Persia came to an end. In fact, this content that I wrote is only a small part of Xenophon’s 《Anabasis》. The mercenaries will also experienced a lot of difficulties and setbacks, but there is no need for me to waste ink on it, because that’s not the focus of the book.