“Lord satrap, are we really letting these Greeks go like this?” The adjustant on his side asked unwillingly.
“Letting them go?!” Tissaphernes ruthlessly glanced at him, “This is the king’s order, I have succeeded in driving the Greek savages into Corduene according to his will! Do you believe that they will have an easy time?!”
Tissaphernes fiercely said, while pointing to the mountains, “Steep and narrow mountain paths, snake and insect infested forest, and the fierce Carduchians will devour their courage! Even if they manage to get past the Carduchians, there is still the army of Orontes waiting for them! Even if Orontes could not stop them, they would meet the Chalybian, Chaldaean, Macrones…and let these savages fight against each other! Let see how many Greek savages that can go back to Greece in the end?!”
He sneered and said, “We don’t need to spend all our time and energy here, since we still have important things to do in Asia Minor. Troops, withdraw! Let’s return!” He simply called out, then turned his horse around and didn’t notice the expressionless face of Ariaeus not far away, with a slight daze while subconciously once more looking back at the rolling mountain: It was a great feat in capturing the Greek mercenary leaders, with everything going well, but due to Mithridates and Artaozus getting killed, and more than 10,000 soldiers were killed, it had led to his achievement getting reduced. Next, he hope that the Greeks, as they hope, will completely annihilate themselves in the mountains so that it will solve the hatred on his heart!
But, can it really be done?
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The mercenaries arrived at the edge of Corduene mountain on the second day and began camping. The next move will depend on the success of Marigi’s mission to the Carduchian tribe.
Davos and the other leaders sent Marigi to the mountain pass, accompanied by dozens of soldiers led by Hielos. They drove several wagons full of armor, shields, and spears from the dead Persian soldiers, which are the equipment that the Carduchians are lacking. In addition, there are a dozen Carduchians, mainly the slaves that Mersis intercepted from the Persian village under the order of Davos.
“Marigi, it’s all up to you!” Davos gave him a big hug and whispered in his ear, “If things don’t work out, then leave as soon as possible and Hielos will help you escape. It doesn’t matter if the negotiation isn’t successful, since we could just forcefully enter, while your safety is the most important thing.”
Marigi was stunned, then looked at the other leaders behind Davos, and immediately said, “Don’t worry, with these weapons, our negotiation with those Carduchians is already half successful! I have many dealings with the leader of this tribe, Kangmoro, and I still know him better. He has always been very ambitious, and tried his best to make his tribe stronger by monopolizing the trade channel between the mountains of Armenia, Corduene, and Medea. Therefore, he fought with the surrounding tribes and I believe our proposal will make him interested!”
“I hope so.” Timasion came forward, then said with a blunt tone, “You’d better hurry up, don’t forget, we can only wait for you here for a day!”
Marigi glanced at him and didn’t continue speaking.
Davos ignored Timasion and went to give Hielos a more powerful hug. For Hielos, who strongly urged him to move forward and repeatedly persuade him a lot of times, knew that Davos choice is right. Only this most powerful confidant can make Marigi fully believe that in any case, Davos will not give them up easily. 𝚍ｏ𝚟𝚕.ｏｒｇ
Davos felt thankful in his heart and said to Hilos, “Come back safe, brother!”
Hielos took a step back and performed a solemn salute.
Davos watched as they walk into the forest until the dense trees completely covered them…
“It feels weird that we were driven here by the Persians, yet we still have to rely on a Persian to help us out of danger.” Said Cleanor in a strange tone.
“Don’t think too much, Cleanor. Aren’t we all looking forward to the Persian being successful?” Said Xanthicles lightly.
“Perhaps this is the arrangement of the gods, they are pleased with this kind of marvelous collision of fate.” Xenophon’s gaze is full of expectations, “And now we have to wait patiently.”
“In addition to waiting, get ready to fight.” Cheirisophus reminded everyone. With that, he turned around and went back to the camp.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
On this day, the mercenary leaders banned all the soldiers from going out, in order to prevent these idle mercenaries from plundering and clashing with the Carduchians, which will affect their plans, and at the same time, raising the defense against the attacks from the Carduchians or Persians.
But nothing happened on that day. There are occasionally only few Carduchians with fur jackets and red stripes on their faces that wandered around the camp with hatchets and bows.
The soldiers watched and tried to find fault.
Compared with the relaxed and comfortable soldiers, the leaders were worried about whether their plan can be accepted by the Carduchians, specially Davos, who didn’t manage to sleep well all night.
Until the early morning of the next day, Asistes entered his quarter and woke him up, “Marigi is back!”
Davos was so excited that his drowsiness disappeared.
“Leader Kangmoro, the leader of the Carduchian tribe, has listened to my suggestion and is willing to form an alliance with us!” Marigi’s excited voice sounded behind Asistes.
“Great!” Davos jumped up and put his hands on the shoulders of Marigi and happily said, “You saved the entire mercenary, and all Greek soldiers would like to thank you!”
There was a smile on the face of Marigi, and he looked embarassed, “Hielos and the others didn’t return because Kangmoro was going to entertain them.”
Davos was stunned, he heard the unusual tone of Marigi, and asked with his complexion turned unsightly, “Hostage?”
Marigi immediately explained, “Yes, in order to be safe, because Kangmoro wants to discuss the alliance with the leaders in person!”
Davos’ face softened a little and asked, “When? Where?”
“He originally wanted to negotiate with you in a fortified mountain village, but I refused. Finally, after repeated arguments, the place was set at the foot of the mountain ahead this afternoon.” Marigi stressed the difficulty of his negotiations.
“This afternoon…at the foot of the mountain ahead…” Davos pondered and raised his eyebrows and said, “It seems that this Kangmoro is eager to form an alliance with us!”
“Yes, leader!”
“What are you waiting for! Come with me and go to Cheirisophus and the others!” After that, they strode out.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
In the afternoon, Cheirisophus, Cleanor, Davos, and 50 Spartan warriors was led by Marigi to the foot of the mountain. In order to avoid repeating the same mistake that Clearchus and the other leaders being captured all at once, the other mercenary leaders led their troops to the mountain pass 500 meters away from the foot of the mountain.
“Right over there.” In front of Marigi’s finger, there is a stump on the grass not far away and was bigger than the round shield of the Greek soldiers. The section is polished smooth and flat, it was half a man tall and have several wooden blocks around it. Besides the stump, there is a curved path extending up to the depth of the mountain…
“This Carduchian leader is a man with high aspiration.” As the one advocating this plan, Davos had to show his confidence, so he was the first to walk over and removed the dust and leaves from the stump and sat down.
Cheirisophus also calmly sat down.
Cleanor looked around, then sat down slowly.
Marigi was standing beside Davos.
At this time, it is already late autumn. It was warm when they march in the Tigris river before. In the Corduene mountain, the weather turned cold and the grass began to wither, the leaves continued to fall as the mountain wind blow, and the ground was covered with a think layer of leaves.
Cheirisophus looked up at the branches that started to get bare and worriedly said , “We must pass through this mountain area as soon as possible, otherwise it will become colder once winter comes, and the soldiers doesn’t have thick clothes to keep them warm…”
What Cheirisophus said reminded Davos of the thing that he never really thought about.
When the 3 people began to discuss how to cope with the arrival of winter, the Carduchians came, dozen of sturdy young men, as well as an old man dressed strangely.