Chapter 53: Crossing the River (II)

Chapter 53: Crossing the River (II)

“The place to cross the river is 4 km upstream from our camp. The width of the river is about 85 meters, and the deepest part reaches till the waist. The bottom of the river is sand and gravel, which is neither too slippery nor hard. This side of the river bank is flat, while the other side has many rocks…” Cheirisophus gave a brief summary of the exploration he carried out.

“This is most probably the best place to cross the river! Let’s gather the whole troops at once and cross the river quickly!” Said Timasion excitedly.

“However, we should also consider that Orontes troops will stop us on the other side of the river. If we cross the river forcibly, then the casualties of our soldiers will increase!” Xanthicles said cautiously.

“The Persians would never imagine that we would wade across the river so easily! And as long as we rush to the other side of the river at the fastest speed, we will definitely be able to give them a sneak attack!” Said Timasion confidently.

“Don’t forget, there are Carduchians on our rear! What about our supply camp? Moreover, the Persians have a lot more troops than us, and they also have the Chaldaeans. As long as they can withstand our impact for a while on the river back, then we will be in trouble. And who knows how long the sand in the river can support the soldiers!” Said Xanthicles with a slight concern.

Timasion ask straight away, “Do you have a better method?”

Xanthicles said, “Aren’t we all here to discuss how to cross the river smoothly and minimize our losses?”

“I thought you came up with something?” Timasion looked at him.

“I have a suggestion.” Xenophon interjected, “We can split some of the soldiers to protect the supply camp. When the main troops is ready to cross the river, these soldiers will lead the supply camp to pretend to cross the river at the former pontoon bridge. The Persians will surely think that we will gonna cross the river again from there, we will then attack them from the rear and we will split our troops to defend, once the main troops defeat the enemy on the opposite side, then these soldiers protecting the supply camp will go back to the place where the troops fought and cross the river. In this way, the troops are scatted and the supply camp is protected. What do you think?” Said Xenophon while being slightly proud.

They have to admit that Xenophon’s plan is good, and everyone lost in thoughts. After a while, Cleanor asked, “The supply camp is very large, how many soldiers do we need to assign to protect it? If it is too many, then it will affect the time in defeating the Persians. Moreover, the supply camp and the soldiers will march back and forth and not only will they get easily exhausted, but they will also be easily attacked by the Carduchians. Have you considered this?”

“This…” Xenophon hesitatingly said, “It is inevitable that there will be casualties in war, but as long as we can minimize our loss…”

At this point, Davos said, “Xenophon’s words inspired me, and allowed me to think of a solution.”

Everyone focused on him as soon as he started talking, because it was proven a lot of times that this youngest leader had never spoke casually, and his suggestion has always solved the problems.

“We won’t cross the river during the day.” Davos looked at the leaders and saw that they were slightly astonished as they continued to listen quietly, “In the evening, we will send troops across the river to find a place to hide after the Persians have all gone to sleep in their camp. When our main troops are fighting the Persians tomorrow, those troops will sneak attack the rear of the Persian formation, which will end up disrupting their formation and it will not only let us defeat the Persians, but also possibly wipe out some of them, thus weakening the Persians. And therefore, once we enter Armenia, we will be able to reach the Black Sea more smoothly…”

Everyone’s eyes brighten. Davos’ suggestion is trully ingenious and out of the ordinary. But in fact, the thinking of the leaders are just trapped in the military tradition of clashing head-on that the Greeks had admired for centuries, while Davos’ plan to cross the river was inspired by the strategy adopted by the Great Red Army in his previous life when they liberated Hainan by “combining the smuggling of small troops and the large troop forcefully crossed the river at the front.”

“Davos, the soldiers doesn’t have any experience in crossing the river at night. How many soldiers will you dispatch to cross the river first? In case of any disturbance caused by their fear when crossing the river, it will easily lead to drowning and death, and will even alarm the Persians and have our efforts go for naught. And it will also make the Persians know about the location of the river crossing that we have worked hard to find!” The way Cleanor speak is a lot more polite than when he spoke with Xenophon, and his concern was also an important reason why the mercenaries dare not cross at night.

“And how will you hide the troops after you go ashore? When will they start attacking the rear of the Persians? I’m afraid that all of these needs to be taken into consideration.” Reminded Timasion.

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Daves said without any hesitation, “The problem you had said is not a problem for that troops!” Then he looked at Cheirisophus.

Cheirisophus nodded in agreement.

That night, 700 Spartans successfully sneaked across the river Centrites.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Early morning of the next day, the mercenaries began to march out.

The Persians saw it and quickly gathered on the other side.

The mercenaries slaughtered 3 lambs, and the leaders offered them to the god of the ocean and river, Oceanos, and the entire mercenary troops sang a song of praise.

Orontes had a premonition that the Greeks might cross the river, and so he ordered his army to be ready at once.

After the prayer, the mercenaries began marching downstream along the river bank. After a few miles, they stopped and rested for a while. They then head upstream…

The handsome satrap of Armenia, who was deeply favored by the Persian king, did not understand where the Greeks were going. He thought that they won’t dare cross the river when there are Persian troops on the other side and was instead trying to find a way out. He felt pleased as he watched them scurrying around like headless flies.

The Persian army continued to follow the marching on the other side.

Finally, the mercenaries arrived at the crossing place that was marked by Cheirisophus, and immediately stopped. Then according to the prior plan, with the end of the left wing as the axis, the whole troops whirled towards the river bank…

Before Orontes could understand it, the mercenaries had formed a formation facing the river Centrites. The whole troops was split into 3 sections, the first one has about 7,000 soldiers who are prepared to cross the river and fight the Persian army. They are standing on the river bank in a narrow, thin and vertical formation (because the reach of the river is not long). The second one is the supply camp, they are closely followed by, the third one, which has about 3,000 soldiers and they are at the rear of the supply camp, and have their back turned towards the river bank in order to prevent the Carduchians from making a surprise attack.

Just as the Persian army slowly adjust their formation, the mercenaries blow the bugle to start the attack and the 7,000 soldiers stepped into the river Centrites without any hesitation…

Orontes complexion changed. He finally understood that the Greeks were ready to cross the river from here!

Without worrying about the long-range attack of the mercenaries and slingers, Orontes urgently shouted, “Fast! Have the infantry block them! Archers! Archers, quickly shoot your arrows!” As he screamed, he hoped that the river Centrites would slow down the progress of the mercenaries, while their archers would cause chaos on the Greeks, which would lead to the Greeks drowning due to panic and crowding. After that moment of panic, Orontes, regained his composure. After all, he himself tried the depth of the river.

Perhaps this is his chance to earn great contribution! He thought excitedly.

Davos followed behind the soldiers of the right wing at the front, treading on the hard river sand and made great stride.

In the early winter, the river water was already piercing cold, but at that moment, the morale of the soldiers were high and made them have no time to feel it. Their hearts were only filled with one thought: To rush to the opposite river bank as fast as possible!

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