Time: The second and third weeks of training
Location: The training ground of the Anshan camp
A week had passed since the day Arta's tribal pride had bowed before the new order of the Persian army.
During this time, the plain of Anshan had transformed into a workshop for forging men.
The ten-man groups, these "Iron Fists," trained day and night under the supervision of their Dehbods.
They had learned to breathe together, to step together, and to draw their swords together.
No one asked anymore, "From which tribe are you?"
Instead, they asked, "Are you holding your shield firm to protect the brother beside you?"
This transformation was taking root under the watchful eye and iron discipline of Arash.
Now, at the beginning of the second week, Arash once again stood on the command platform.
Thousands of soldiers in their ten-man units were lined up before him with an order that was unimaginable a week ago.
He looked at their faces; faces that were covered with a new layer of pride: the pride of belonging to a single army.
Arash raised his voice:
"You learned how ten men can become one body. You learned that your strength is in your unity."
"But one fist, no matter how iron, cannot stop a flood alone."
"Today, we will turn these fists into a steel wave!"
He signaled to his commanders.
They selected ten ten-man groups and gathered them before the platform.
A hundred men, from a hundred families and dozens of different tribes, now stood side by side.
Arash continued:
"From today, you are a hundred-man unit. A 'Sadbad'."
"Your commander is someone who has proven his worth not only in battle, but in leadership."
He walked into the crowd and stood before Bagpat, Kourosh's young and capable cousin.
"Bagpat! You have been chosen as the first Sadbad of the Persian army."
"Can you turn these hundred men into a single will?"
Bagpat stepped forward with a firm stride, beat his fist against his chest, and shouted:
"By your command, Commander! These hundred men will be one body from this day on!"
The training entered a new phase.
The focus now was on larger group tactics.
The soldiers had to learn to fight with their eyes and ears, not just with their swords.
In a corner of the field, the horn players and drummers practiced the sounds of war.
A long, drawn-out sound from the horn meant to form a line.
Two short, quick beats meant to prepare for an attack.
The rhythmic sound of the drums determined the pace of their march.
At the same time, the flag bearers with their colored banners indicated the direction of movement.
After a few days of intensive training, Arash decided to conduct the first test maneuver.
He turned to Bagpat and his hundred-man unit.
"Sadbad! Today you will show your worth to the entire army."
He pointed to a group of horsemen who were ready in the distance.
"Your task is to form the 'shield wall' formation. You must resist the charge of our cavalry."
"If even one of you is afraid and breaks the line, the entire wall will collapse."
A look of doubt was exchanged among the soldiers.
This seemed like a deadly test.
Bagpat looked at his men with confidence.
He roared, "Listen to me! Today we are not a hundred men, but a single rock!"
"Lock your shields together! Point your spears to the sky!"
"Let there be no gap between you!"
"Let them crash against this steel wall and be shattered!"
Then he turned to the musicians and shouted, "Sound the horn for the front line!"
With the drawn-out sound of the horn, a hundred men formed a straight, dense line.
With two short beats, they locked their shields together and angled their spears forward.
A deadly wall of steel had been formed.
In the distance, the commander of the horsemen raised his sword.
The ground trembled under the hooves of dozens of horses.
The riders charged towards this human wall at a frantic speed.
The infantry soldiers held their breath.
Instinct told them to run.
But Bagpat's powerful voice nailed them to their spots.
"Hold! For Pars! For the Prince! Hold!"
At the last moment, just before impact, he shouted:
"Spears down!"
A hundred spears were lowered forward simultaneously.
The collision was massive and deafening.
The sound of breaking wood, human screams, and the painful neighs of horses mingled together.
The first rank of horses was either impaled on the sharp tips of the spears or shied away in terror.
The wave of riders crashed into the shield wall with force, but the wall, though it trembled, did not break.
Arash, who was watching from the platform, clenched his fist upon seeing this scene.
"They held... By Ahura Mazda, they held!"
The cavalry, having given up on breaking the line, scattered and fled.
Immediately after, a shout of victory rose from a hundred throats.
A shout so powerful it seemed to shake the earth.
They were no longer a hundred lone warriors from different tribes.
They were one unit.
A steel wave.
A Sadbad.
The success of this exercise proved the efficiency of the new structure and Kourosh's communication system in the best possible way.