Time: The eighth week of training
Location: The plains around Anshan
Two months after the training began, the time had come.
It was time for Kourosh to display the true power of the thousand-man units, or "Hezarbods."
This was no longer a simple exercise to show discipline.
It was a complex, large-scale maneuver that was meant to erase the last particles of doubt from the hearts of the tribal chiefs.
On a high hill overlooking the vast training plain, a large platform had been erected.
Kourosh, along with his father Cambyses and all the elders and chieftains of the Persian tribes, were watching this display of power from there.
Below, on the expanse of the plain, two thousand soldiers in two thousand-man units stood with flawless order.
They were no longer those scattered tribal warriors.
They were two single, steel bodies, each like the wing of a great eagle, ready to take flight.
Kourosh calmly said to his father and to Gashtasb, who stood beside him with a grim face:
"Elders, you have seen the power of the Iron Fists (the Dehbods) and the Steel Waves (the Sadbods)."
"Today you will see how these waves transform into wings for the Persian eagle to descend upon the enemy."
As the horn sounded, the maneuver began.
One Hezarbod, under the direct command of Arash, with a red flag, took its position in the center of the plain.
With astonishing speed, they formed the defensive "tortoise" formation.
An impenetrable wall of interlocked shields and outward-facing spears, like an iron hedgehog, ready to face any attack.
This unit played the role of the "anvil" in this mock battle.
A steadfast rock that was meant to absorb the enemy's first blow and pin him in place.
At the same time, the other Hezarbod, commanded by Bagpat, with a blue flag, began the more complex mission.
Instead of advancing directly, they began to outflank the hypothetical enemy with a wide and rapid flanking maneuver.
This move, inspired by Chinese war strategies, required unparalleled coordination and understanding of the communication signals.
The sound of the drums determined the pace of their steps.
The movement of the flags, the direction of their turns and formation changes.
They were like a giant serpent, slithering around their prey.
Gashtasb watched this complex move in disbelief.
"What is this? They are separating themselves from the center of the army! If this were a real enemy, it could crush them now!"
Kourosh replied with a calm smile:
"Master, they are not separating. They are building a trap."
"Listen to the flags and the drums. Every sound and every color is a message that thousands of soldiers understand and execute in an instant."
"These are the very arteries of command that allow us to fight on multiple fronts simultaneously."
Cambyses watched this scene with pride.
He saw how the communication system his son had designed worked in practice.
He saw how thousands of men, without needing a single word, executed the most complex maneuvers like the limbs of a single body.
This was no longer an army.
It was a precise and calculated war machine.
The climax of the maneuver arrived.
Just as Bagpat's Hezarbod had completely outflanked the hypothetical enemy and was positioned behind it, the sound of the horns changed.
Arash's Hezarbod, which had been in a defensive posture until that moment, suddenly changed its formation into an offensive arrowhead and charged forward.
At the same time, Bagpat's Hezarbod also attacked from the rear.
The hypothetical enemy was now trapped between the two steel arms of this eagle.
The maneuver ended with complete success.
The tribal elders who stood on the platform were sunk in a silence full of astonishment and admiration.
They had witnessed an order, a speed, and a coordination that they had never seen in their entire lives.
Gashtasb, that elderly and skeptical chieftain, slowly turned towards Kourosh.
For the first time, he bowed his head before him with deep respect.
"Prince, I have spent my entire life on the battlefields."
"But today, I saw a kind of war I never knew."
"Our swords and our lives are in the service of your wisdom."
These words erased the last particles of doubt from the hearts of the elders.
They now believed in this young commander and his new army with their entire being.