Racing Against Time (Part 1)

“What’s wrong?” Davos sensed the peculiar look on her face.

“…When we get back to Greece… what do you want to do?” Cheiristoya asked softly.

“Oh… I haven’t thought about that yet…” Davos said. In truth, he had been thinking, just without a clear answer. “But one thing I’m sure of—wherever I go, I’ll take you with me!”

Cheiristoya pressed her face against Davos’s broad, sturdy shoulder, rubbing against his rough skin, and said with firm resolve, “Wherever you go, I’ll follow you!” After saying that, she seemed to remember something and emphasized, “Just… you’d best not go back to Asia Minor!”

“Why?” Davos was somewhat surprised.

“Because that place might become a battlefield.” Her words startled Davos. “I heard Cyrus the Younger say—”

Cheiristoya instinctively glanced again at Davos. Seeing no unusual expression on his face, she continued, “The rift between the Spartans and Tissaphernes runs deep, and the Spartans have already been drawn into this Persian rebellion. Now that Tissaphernes has returned to Asia Minor, he certainly won’t miss this chance to deal with Sparta. Since Sparta is now the hegemon of the Greek city-states, it is bound to replace Athens as the protector of the Greek cities in Asia Minor. But back then, to gain Persian support, Sparta reached an agreement that included a clause in which Sparta consented to hand over the Greek cities of Asia Minor to Persian rule. After the war with Athens ended, Sparta kept dragging its feet on fulfilling that agreement, and… for some reason, Cyrus the Younger didn’t press the Spartans either. So…”

“So now that the new king has ascended and Tissaphernes is back in Asia Minor, he will certainly force Sparta to honor that original agreement on behalf of the Persian King!” Davos hadn’t expected such a dark secret between Sparta and Persia. Though Sparta’s foot-dragging surprised him, he could understand it: if Sparta agreed, the mighty Greek hegemon would be handing over its own kinsmen’s lands to the Greeks’ enemy—that would be sheer betrayal and ‘selling out’! It would undoubtedly severely damage the prestige Sparta had built up after its victory in the Peloponnesian War. Some city-states might even rise up against its hegemony out of discontent. If Sparta refused, it would breach the agreement, and war would likely break out.

Davos cupped his chin, sinking into thought. Could it be that Cheirisophus spoke to me of his own accord just to win me over? As he pondered, a sudden question came to him: “Cheiristoya, if I don’t go to Asia Minor, will you still return to Miletus?”

“Didn’t I say I’d follow you always?” Cheiristoya said, her expression dimming slightly. “Besides, if I go back now, I’d only bring disaster upon my family.”

Davos immediately understood what she meant: as a concubine of Cyrus the Younger, she was considered an important member of a rebel’s household. Her return would undoubtedly draw the attention of the Persian authorities to her family in Miletus.

With that in mind, Davos comforted her, “Don’t worry. One day, I’ll make sure you return home in glory!”

Cheiristoya gazed at Davos, whose expression was utterly earnest, and the shadows on her face gradually faded. “I believe you.”

She draped her himation over her head and added, “Since you’ve put me in charge of the medical camp, I’ll start exercising my authority. I want to grant those female slaves their freedom—that way, they’ll care for the wounded even more diligently.”

“That’s your right. But I need to inform Mesis first.”

…

Three days later, they struck camp and resumed the march.

By afternoon, Tissaphernes’s army caught up.

After receiving word from the scouts, the leaders swiftly led their units to the nearest village and began setting up camp. At this point, many soldiers in the mercenary army were unfit for combat: first, the wounded; second, the men carrying the wounded; and third, those helping carry the wounded and their weapons. The drastic reduction in fighting men meant the mercenaries could no longer march and fight at the same time as before.

When Tissaphernes’s army reached the village, the mercenaries noticed that the banners representing Orontas and Sycosis were gone. The commanders speculated: perhaps Tissaphernes had been absent earlier because he was seeing those two royal nobles off. At the same time, they began to worry about the road ahead. The Persian King’s brother was no cause for concern, but Orontas was the satrap of Armenia. He might very well block the mercenaries’ path on the way to Armenia.

The Persian army advanced under the assault of the mercenaries’ slingers until they reached the front of the mercenaries’ camp. They too began launching arrows, and once again the two sides reenacted their daily ritual of long-range exchanges. In this kind of engagement, the Persian force was already at a disadvantage; now that the mercenaries had the protection of their camp, the advantage was even clearer. The leaders couldn’t understand why a shrewd man like Tissaphernes would be so reckless.

The fighting lasted only about ten minutes before Tissaphernes withdrew his army. Because the Persian force had many cavalrymen and feared chaos if attacked at night, their encampment was set more than ten li from the mercenaries’ camp.

After deliberation, the leaders decided to have the soldiers rest at dusk and march before dawn. If the Persian army pursued, they would set up camp. This plan ensured the troops’ safety without delaying the march.

In truth, the leaders’ arrangements seemed somewhat unnecessary. For three consecutive days, the Persian army did not appear. Only on the morning of the fourth day did scouts ahead report back: the road ahead was narrow, flanked by several peaks, and Persian traces had been spotted on one of the lower mountains. Past lessons made the leaders extremely cautious about this.

“Same as before—I’ll take a detachment around the right side of the peak and drive them off,” Xenophon said. Buoyed by his previous successes, his face radiated confidence.

Just then, a scout from the rear galloped in with a report: Tissaphernes’s main force had been sighted!

This news immediately put the leaders on edge. The mercenaries’ combat strength was now diminished; too many wounded made them reluctant to commit to full battle. Moreover, the entire army was currently in a hilly region with narrow terrain, unfavorable for deploying troops. With such density, casualties from ranged attacks would soar. Clearly, Tissaphernes had planned carefully this time, aiming to strike the mercenaries a heavy blow.

Time was critical! Cheirisophus, no longer waiting to consult the other leaders, said to Xenophon with a grave expression, “You must drive the Persians off that ridge as fast as possible, so we can pass through safely. Once you take the ridge, you can hold the mountain pass, and Tissaphernes won’t dare to pursue us anymore.”

“I need some light infantry!” Xenophon stated his demand immediately.

“I can’t spare archers or slingers—only they can counter Tissaphernes,” Cheirisophus declared in advance.

“I have five hundred peltasts under my command that I can send with you,” Davos said first. At this moment, he couldn’t hold back his strength; only full cooperation would get them through the crisis.

Xenophon was very grateful to Davos, who had repeatedly voiced support for him in public.

“I’ll give you eight hundred Thracian peltasts!” Timasion said after glancing at Davos, his voice loud. Timasion’s predecessor, Clearchus, had once used the money from Cyrus the Younger to recruit mercenaries in the Chersonese and campaigned against Thracian forces near the Hellespont for over a year, gathering many Thracians. His camp had the most peltasts among the Greek mercenaries.

Xenophon thanked them again, then took two hundred heavy infantry, totaling fifteen hundred men, and set off swiftly.

The leaders also ordered the entire army to increase vigilance while quickening their march toward the mountain pass.

When Xenophon’s force reached the foot of the mountain, they indeed found Persians occupying a ridge. He was about to order an attack when Epithenis, the first peltast company commander under Davos, offered his opinion. Pointing at the ridge, he said, “Xenophon, look at that peak next to the Persians. If we attack the Persians directly, they’ll probably retreat again to that higher peak… That will waste time and make our assault even harder. Why not first take that higher summit, then hurl javelins and stones down at the Persians? We can easily drive them off.”

The peltast company commanders all praised Epithenis’s plan. Xenophon, willing to accept good advice, ordered the troops to quickly seize the summit.