The General Assembly of the Army

Although Davos had only a rudimentary understanding of military matters, he could see that this formation was mainly intended to prevent Persian surprise attacks and protect the baggage train. Marching on such a wide front would certainly not be fast, but under pressure from the Persians, it was a necessary compromise.

Several men gathered around to look at the crude sketch on the ground.

Timasion pointed to the two squares at the very front and said, "Cheirisophus is a Spartan, and his soldiers are all Lacedaemonians, rich in combat experience. Having them serve as the vanguard to open the way for the whole army—I think we can all rest easy."

No one objected to this proposal.

"Next..." Timasion was thinking about which position his own camp should take.

"Next, I am the youngest and am willing to take the rearguard for the whole army!" Davos spoke up first, his voice impassioned.

Philistos gave a start, thinking: *It's over. Davos forgot what we agreed on beforehand and even volunteered for the rearguard—he's still young and inexperienced after all!*

Under the eyes of everyone, Philistos dared not make any obvious gesture, so he could only keep darting meaningful glances at Davos.

But Timasion said in surprise, "You... you want to take the rearguard?! No! No!" He shook his head repeatedly. "The rearguard is crucial. It requires rich experience to handle all kinds of complex situations. If it's mishandled, it will drag down the entire army. I think... let my camp take the rearguard."

As soon as Timasion finished, Davos cut in: "Isn't there also a second rearguard? I'm willing to join you in it!"

"No!!" Timasion refused loudly without a second thought. "Cleanor, you take the rearguard with me!" He directly designated his battle companion.

Cleanor had a good relationship with Timasion, so he could only nod.

The choice of rearguard was decided so quickly. If Philistos still didn't understand by now that Davos had deliberately set a trap to lure Timasion in, he wouldn't deserve to be an adjutant.

The furrow between Cheirisophus's brows deepened. He did not appreciate Davos's little trick; rather, it repulsed him. But he knew Timasion's choice was correct, so he simply said to Davos, "Your camp will be responsible for protecting the left flank." Since the mercenaries were marching north along the Tigris River, the left flank was mostly adjacent to the riverbank and should encounter the least danger.

Davos saw the undisguised contempt in Cheirisophus's eyes. He clenched his fist secretly and nodded in agreement.

Then Cheirisophus proposed that Xanthippus join him in the vanguard.

Also feeling disgruntled was Hieronymus. Cheirisophus and the others had considered that Agasias had been the former adjutant of Proxenus's camp, but now the elected leader had been replaced by the company commander Hieronymus, and he had been the last to arrive. This indicated that the soldiers of that camp had considerable disagreement over who should be their leader. To be safe, they assigned that camp to the right flank.

After the leaders finished the military council, the next step was to hold a full army assembly.

This was not only a gathering for the new leaders to make their public debut, but also a good opportunity to unify the soldiers' thoughts. So Cheirisophus reminded everyone to speak uplifting words.

When making his request to the leaders, his gaze lingered more on Davos. He was uneasy about this overly young leader. After all, this was an assembly of ten thousand men. Most people under such circumstances would be too nervous even to speak properly. If Davos messed up, it would turn this carefully arranged oath-taking rally into a farce!

So he suggested to Davos that his adjutant Philistos could give the speech in his stead.

But Davos insisted on going up himself.

Cheirisophus's expression darkened, but he couldn't prevent Davos from appearing, because he was the unanimously elected new leader of Menon's camp, commanding about fourteen to fifteen hundred soldiers—roughly one-ninth of the entire army. So he arranged for Davos to speak second. If Davos performed poorly, the later leaders could make up for it.

...

It was now the end of August, late summer. The afternoon heat was no longer so oppressive.

In the center of Timasion's camp (formerly Clearchus's camp), a wooden platform had been erected. The surrounding tents had been cleared away, opening up a large space filled with soldiers from various mercenary camps. They stood or sat, chatting and complaining to one another...

The entire assembly was a sea of heads, the noise cacophonous...

Cheirisophus and his party, escorted by fully armed soldiers, squeezed a path through the dense crowd and arrived at the foot of the wooden platform.

Cheirisophus went up first.

The soldiers below stirred restlessly.

Because Cheirisophus had deliberately kept a low profile before, most ordinary soldiers didn't know who he was. Seeing a stranger step up first, they were all startled and asked each other his name.

Around the platform stood a dozen soldiers with loud voices, tasked with repeating the speaker's words so that the thousands of soldiers below could hear.

Cheirisophus began: "Brothers from all over Greece, I am Cheirisophus, the ephor of Sparta!"

After the soldiers on the platform repeated this, the soldiers below burst into an uproar. Their shock was even greater than when Davos had first heard the news: Spartan warriors, through battle after battle over a century, had made Greeks from other city-states acknowledge their bravery and strength. Now Sparta had become the overlord of the Greek world, dominating the Mediterranean. A Spartan ephor was actually among them, ordinary freemen—how could this not excite and inspire them? The soldiers, who had been panicked by the murder of their leaders, suddenly felt they had a support. Their frightened faces began to regain color, and they had some curiosity to look beyond mere survival: why would such a high-ranking Spartan ephor be here?

So when Cheirisophus asked them to keep quiet, the soldiers actually stopped their clamor.

"Brothers, our situation is very bad! We have not only lost your capable leaders, company commanders, and soldiers whom you served with for a long time, but also our former ally Ariaeus and his men have betrayed us! Yet, the more critical the situation, the sooner we must pull ourselves together, face the Persians who want to destroy us with courage, never yield, and use our Greek bravery, shields, and spears to defeat the enemy, carving a living path back to Greece for ourselves! Zeus stands with the brave!" True to Spartan form, Cheirisophus was a man of few words. Even though he had just reminded everyone to speak inspiring words, he himself ended his speech quickly after getting the soldiers excited.

As Cheirisophus came down the platform and passed Davos, he saw Davos smile and nod at him. He thought: *Not bad, this young leader doesn't seem nervous. But why is he bringing a herald on stage with him, and having him carry a bunch of thin wooden sticks?*

Asiates also didn't understand why Davos wanted him to carry the sticks and follow him on stage. But as soon as he stood on the platform, he could no longer think about it. All around, below, and as far as the eye could see, were dense, shifting heads... And the noise in his ears was far louder than it had been below, as if a great stormy sea were crashing beneath him, while he and Davos were a lonely little boat floating on the deep ocean, in constant danger of capsizing.

Asiates couldn't stop his legs from trembling violently. He even felt that he might collapse along with the equally trembling wooden platform beneath his feet at any moment...

"Oh! Oh! Look! Who's this?!"

"A little brat whose down hasn't even grown in! This isn't the place for you! Get down and go home drink your mother's milk! Hahaha..."

"Is this the new leader elected by some camp?! Are they crazy?!"

Mocking and questioning voices came like an overwhelming tide.

Asiates was terrified. He stepped back several paces, nearly reaching the edge of the platform. To his admiration, Davos remained standing steadily at the center of the platform...

The leaders below also felt a pang of pity. No matter how dissatisfied they were with Davos, facing the thousands of soldiers, they were united.

Timasion complained, "I knew it. We shouldn't have let him go up. This is pure hell!"

The others agreed.

Xenophon quickly said, "We should get the next leader up to replace him."

Cheirisophus was already regretting his earlier decision and nodded in agreement.