Chương 40: Hellish Annihilation Battle (I)
"You mean…" Xanticles asked thoughtfully, "After passing through the valley, they will immediately spread out their formation and fight the Persians that are chasing them."
"Moreover, the road in the valley is not wide, which will slow their retreat, which will make it easier for us to catch up with them. The more Persians that come to pursue them, the slower their retreat from the valley will be, and the more we kill them!" Timasion said excitedly.
"But the Persians are not fools. They saw that we were ready, so why would they risk passing through the valley?" Xenophon's question made everyone stunned.
Cheirisophus confidently said, "So we won't attack near the entrance of the valley. We will attack whenever the Persians catch up to us! We will lure them to chase us!"
"That's right! Anyway, the Persians won't dare to fight us head-on, and we also have the catapults and cavalry, which will surely give the Persians an unexpected surprise! At that time, the whole army will attack together and drive them to the entrance of the valley, and the narrow entrance of the valley will delay their retreat, so that we can catch up with them!…"
The crowd quickly perfected this plan.
At this time, someone suddenly said, "Why don't we ambush an army on this side of the valley? Once the enemy passes through, we will immediately block the valley."
Everyone was stunned and suddenly turned around. It was Davos, who had been sitting in the corner and listening to them.
"… You want to destroy them all?!" Cheirisophus looked at Davos and tried to suppress his surprise as he said slowly.
Davos stretched out the fingers of his left hand, then clenched it into a fist and waved it hard, "Of course! It's just to defeat them, and after they flee back to repair, they will still attack us. Only by surrounding and annihilating them can we give the Persians the greatest deterrence!"
The Greeks advocate strength and love a frontal assault, and because their army is mainly composed of hoplites, this characteristic is even more important. Even the Spartans who are best at fighting are the same. The Battle of Marathon, the Battle of Pradias… not to mention that these large-scale battles were won by the Greeks with their strength in the front, even the countless small battles are rarely roundabout, encircle, ambush, attack and annihilation… these are the military terms that even the most ordinary later generations are familiar with. They may seem simple, but in this era, the military history of the Greek city-states with the hoplites as the main combat force is almost blank. Of course, there are occasionally similar battles, but few people pay attention to it and summarize it. It wasn't until hundreds of years later that Hannibal, the commander of Carthage, wiped out half of the Roman men in the city with one battle after another, that they finally learned the classical tactics of the Roman hegemon.
Davos, whose soul came from the afterlife, was naturally not restricted by this era. Although his military experience is still very immature, his military thinking is 2,000 years ahead. At this moment, he was thinking about what the ancestors of the afterlife often said: 'It is better to break one finger than to injure ten fingers.'
Cheirisophus looked calmly at the young man with a tender face, but he was shocked by his boldness and ideas. He admitted that Davos' proposal was very tempting, and it is also feasible, so he still cautiously asked, "There are dense woods not far from the valley, but if you ambush too many soldiers, it will be easy for the Persian reconnaissance cavalry to find you. If there are too few soldiers, how can you stop their retreat if there are too many Persians? In addition, what if the Persians don't come tomorrow? You should know that they won't come today."
Davos had already thought about it and answered seriously, "There is no plan in the world that is perfect and there are risks in any military action, so we need to consider all kinds of possibilities. First of all, I want to ask you, Cheirisophus, how far is this forest from the entrance of the valley?"
"About three miles." Cheirisophus blurted out, as if the terrain was imprinted in his mind. This made Davos very impressed, 'Surveying the terrain is a necessary skill for a qualified commander, and he still needs to learn it well!'
At the same time, Cheirisophus' words relieved his greatest worry about this plan, and he confidently analyzed, "According to what was said before, the whole army will depart before dawn, so when the hidden troops arrive in the forest, the enemy's scout cavalry should still be sleeping. We only need to ambush 300 to 400 soldiers, and the possibility of them being found is very small. Secondly, in case there are a lot of Persians coming to pursue us, the troops in charge of the ambush need not wipe them out. We just need to open a gap in the intercepting area and let the Persians escape, and then intercept them. The Persians are focused on escaping, so it is impossible for them to organize resistance. In this way, although we can't wipe out the enemy, the results won't be too bad!"
The grandson of the military strategist who was the first to theoretically advance the ancient war to strategic heights should live in the same era! Davos felt a sense of pride in his heart, which made him more relaxed, "As for the Persians not coming, there is no need to worry. After noon, before the enemy appears, the troops in ambush can take the initiative to withdraw. They don't have any supplies, so their movements will be faster, and our main troops will be waiting at the entrance of the valley, so there won't be a big problem…"
Davos' careful thinking finally conquered the leaders present, and they all agreed with Davos'suggestion: add an ambush unit.
Cheirisophus, who had always disliked Davos because of his youth, couldn't help but cherish his talent, and the way the Spartans love their juniors is different, "Davos, are you willing to command this troops that went to ambush?"
Davos was taken aback. In the eyes of Cheirisophus, he saw trust and expectation. He carefully thought about it and ignored the obstruction of Philesius, and faced the complex gaze of everyone, and nodded heavily, "I can!"
…
The next day, before dawn, the Greeks got up at the urging of the military bugle, packed their bags, packed their equipment and set off in a sleepy state.
When they reached the entrance of the valley, there was a glimmer of light on the horizon.
Davos led three hoplite units and a light shield unit to separate from the main force. The leaders gave their blessings.
"Zeus will be with you!" These were the words of Cheirisophus.
"May Ares grant you strength!" These were the words of Timasion.
"May Athena give you luck!" These were the words of Xenophon.
…
In order to fight the Persians with all their strength, the whole army was united.
"Leader, take care! Come back safely!" said Philesius solemnly.
"Don't worry, Philesius, we will take good care of our leader!" Antonios interjected.
"You take care too!" said Davos, and gave Philesius a strong hug. Then, under the gaze of the soldiers and officers who were left behind, he led the troops along the foot of the mountain and rushed to the forest on the left…
…
In fact, Artaozus acted earlier than the day before, because his troops had become huge, with about 4,500 archers and 1,500 archers, which made him more confident and eager to defeat the Greek army as soon as possible in order to get the adjutant position promised by Tissaphernes.
The scout reported that the Greeks had already left their camp and crossed the valley, which is 20 miles away from the Persian army.
He took it for granted that the Greeks acted so quickly in order to avoid his attack. When he thought of the oath he had made at Tissaphernes, he couldn't help but be a bit anxious, 'We must not let them run far, we must defeat them today!'
Therefore, he urged the troops to speed up their march. When they passed through the valley, he did not stop, because the scout told him that the Greeks were five to six miles away from the exit of the valley.
…
"The Persians have entered the valley, Leader Davos!" Asistes slipped back into the forest and reported to Davos.
"How many people?" Antonios asked.
"Their team is very long, I am afraid that there are thousands of them!" said Asistes while panting.
"This is really a big fish!" Amintas whistled.
"Then immediately carry out the second plan that we discussed last night." Although Davos was nervous, he controlled his facial expression well.
"Brothers, start working hard!" Kapus shouted.
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