Davos looked up at the three-tiered warship beside him and saw someone waving at him from the ship's side.
"Hey, Xenophon, I thought I wouldn't have a chance to say goodbye to you!"
"Davos, I accepted Anaxibius's request and hurried to Byzantium to gather our mercenaries again, preparing to rush to Asia Minor. I didn't expect you were already going to Magna Graecia! Stay and let us continue fighting side by side!" Xenophon sincerely requested Davos.
Davos secretly thought it was a close call, then shrugged and said seriously, "Unfortunately, I have already signed an agreement with Thurii and made an oath to Hades!"
"Then… that's too bad!" Xenophon, who respected the gods, showed a regretful expression: "We can't fight together anymore!…"
"It seems that Sparta is going to war with Persia. I can only wish you Zeus's protection in the upcoming battle!" Davos said this from the bottom of his heart.
"I wish you the same!" Xenophon said sincerely: "I originally wanted to invite you to Athens to meet my teacher Socrates, who would definitely be very interested in your novel ideas! And one of his students, my good friend Plato, has some similar views to yours, and you two would definitely become good friends! What a pity…"
"I will go to Athens one day! I believe that by then you will have finished writing the story of our battles in Persia, don't forget to send me a copy." Davos only knew that Xenophon later wrote "Anabasis", but he didn't remember Xenophon's life experience, after all, he was not a historian in his previous life.
"Don't worry, I'll have an extra copy made for you," Xenophon said with a smile.
Davos vaguely remembered: Socrates was convicted and poisoned to death by the Athenian authorities. He didn't know the exact time, but he remembered that Socrates could have chosen to be driven out of Athens, but he insisted on staying, wanting to awaken the numb Athenian citizens with his death. So Davos gave up the decision to remind Xenophon, and just waved and said, "Goodbye!"
"Goodbye!"
Who knew that this wave of the hand would be a lifetime apart, and good friends would become enemies. The world is unpredictable, making people sigh…
The fleet moved forward, and the Spartan warship gradually disappeared into the blue sky…
Bulkos saw that Davos was still standing at the stern of the ship, and couldn't help but walk over and say, "Still thinking about your Athenian friend?"
"Xenophon is a talented and capable person!" Davos said with a sense of loss. After all, Xenophon was the first historical figure to connect this world with his previous life.
"Athens relies on batches of talented people to create its glory!" Bulkos said with deep emotion: "Even we benefited from Athens, which is why Thurii had a prosperous scene as soon as it was established!"
"Oh, really?" Bulkos's words successfully aroused Davos's interest.
"At that time, the leaders responsible for forming Thurii were two very capable Athenians, Lambon and Xenocritus, and the famous Athenian scholar Protagoras formulated the laws for Thurii. Athens also invited the famous Greek engineer Hippodamus to design the city for Thurii and was responsible for construction… At the same time, there were also two Athenian dignitaries who moved to Thurii, one was the scholar Herodotus who wrote 'History', and the other was the famous rhetorician Tisias. There was even the Spartan Cleandridas commanding operations for Thurii. Therefore, Thurii was able to maintain peace with Croton to the south; to the north, it competed with Taras for the Sybaris Plain; to the west, it defended against the invasions of the Lucanians and Bruttians; to the east, it strengthened trade with Greece. Therefore, it became a powerful state in Magna Graecia!" Bulkos recalled the past, speaking with great enthusiasm.
Davos listened attentively.
Then, Bulkos's proud expression became dim: "Unfortunately, Athens lost to Sparta. Now Sparta is the overlord of Greece…"
"Is the impact on Thurii big?" Davos asked anxiously.
Bulkos didn't want to say more,
He only replied: "When you arrive in Thurii, you will slowly find out."
Davos smiled and comforted him: "You don't have to worry, Sparta's hegemonic position will definitely not last long."
Davos's astonishing words immediately attracted Bulkos's attention: "Why?"
"Because the Spartans have begun to accept bribes." Davos said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "The unique system that Lycurgus formulated for Sparta was originally intended to cultivate all Spartan citizens into fierce warriors, so that they could suppress the Helots, who were far more numerous than the Spartans, and dominate Greece externally. For this reason, all Spartan citizens were required to maintain a simple and frugal life in order to ensure basic equality, otherwise some Spartan citizens would object, 'Why do you eat well and dress warmly, while I have to receive cruel training from a young age and can't leave the barracks' single life until I'm thirty?' Therefore, they closed the country's doors, banned commercial trade, banned the use of more portable currency, banned debates, banned dramas, banned poetry, banned writing and selling books other than military ones… Everyone says that Spartan warriors are terrible, because Spartans have no other fun, and fighting and killing are their only fun! Now it's good, Sparta has become the overlord of Greece, strategic locations need to be garrisoned, and their fleets need to patrol. Spartans go abroad and stay outside for half a year or a year, of course they will come into contact with things they haven't contacted before. It's not easy to cultivate a simple and frugal life, but it's too easy to destroy this kind of life! Once the fighting spirit that made the Spartans dominate Greece is worn away, how long can Sparta's hegemony last! !"
Bulkos had never heard anyone analyze Sparta's political system in such simple and vivid language, like a sharp dagger piercing the fragile core of the Spartan system, which sounded very reasonable. He looked at Davos in a daze. This young man made him feel a little awe. He suddenly remembered the rumors about Davos being a "God's Chosen One". He opened his mouth, found his throat a little dry, coughed a few times, and couldn't help but ask: "If… if that's the case, then who will be Sparta's opponent in Greece?"
Davos shrugged: "I'm not a god, how would I know." Saying that, he raised his head and looked up at the blue sky and the soaring seagulls. Thebes, Macedonia… A large string of city-state names flashed through his mind, and for some reason, a surge of pride rose in his heart…
… … … … … … … … … … …
After being intercepted by the Spartan warship, Bulkos was afraid of another accident and ordered the fleet to travel day and night.
After arriving at Euboea Island a few days later, they went ashore to replenish food and fresh water, and then sailed through the Cyclades Islands, bypassing the Attica Peninsula of Athens. Since there was no time to stay ashore, Davos could only regretfully look west from the ship at Athens, which was famous in his previous life but not in sight.
Then, the fleet passed Argos and carefully bypassed the Peloponnese Peninsula, until it reached Zakynthos Island before going ashore to rest for one night. The next day, they continued to sail north to Corfu Island, and then turned west and entered the Gulf of Taranto, named after the powerful state of Magna Graecia, Taras.
This is a peaceful harbor. The humid sea breeze cannot stir up a trace of waves. The azure sea is as quiet as a smooth and translucent blue silk. Countless ships are like constantly shuttling silver shuttles, weaving beautiful pictures on this huge blue silk.
The mercenaries, seeing this beautiful scene, suddenly became excited and began to laugh and joke loudly, their bodies and minds originally tired from the long sea voyage.
Bulkos's not-small fleet also attracted the attention of those who were interested. Several three-tiered warship with the "man riding a dolphin" pattern painted on their sails greeted them.
"It's okay, it's a Taras patrol boat." Bulkos was saying to Davos when the fleet's flagship had already greeted them.
"Have we entered the waters controlled by Taras?" Davos asked curiously.
"Not yet. This is just an agreement between several city-states in this bay to keep in touch with each other in case of emergencies," Bulkos explained.
Then they saw the Taras warship turn around and leave, and the fleet continued to move forward…
About an hour later, Bulkos pointed ahead and said, "Thurii is ahead."
Davos hurriedly held on to the ship's side and widened his eyes to look: About 500 meters ahead was a green coastline, with a white "ribbon" running from west to east, straight into the sea; at the end of the "ribbon", countless stars and dots of white sails gathered, and thousands of seagulls circled in the sky, but he did not see the shadow of the city…
Boolkos seemed to see Davos's doubts and explained, "Thurii City is about twenty miles from the mouth of the Crati River."
Davos said "Oh" and asked, "Thurii is at war with the Lucanians, how can there still be so many ships trading?"
"The Lucanians have no ships and cannot cut off Thurii's sea trade. The more war there is, the more supplies are needed, and these merchant ships are here to make money..." As the two were talking, the fleet had stopped moving forward.
The pilot ship went ahead alone and soon joined the white sails...
About an hour later, the pilot ship returned and docked next to Boolkos's boat, and then a person came up.
"Boolkos, you're finally back! I thought the Lucanians had scared you into moving to Greece." The man walked forward with a smile.
"Even the most timid of you didn't leave, how could I leave?" Boolkos joked, giving him a hug.
"Is everything going smoothly?"
"Is Thurii alright?"
The two asked at the same time, and then laughed at the same time.
"Seeing you looking so relaxed, Thurii City should still be safe."
"As you know, the barbaric Lucanians have no superb skills. They can't build siege equipment or ships. They only destroyed the villages and farms outside the city. Fortunately, the wheat had already been harvested in the autumn. In the winter, the Lucanians outside the city had an outbreak of plague and had to retreat to the northern mountains, leaving only a small number of soldiers in Amendolara—"
"Wait, are you talking about the plague?" Boolkos looked shocked.
"The Lucanians killed tens of thousands of Thurii citizens and piled their bodies outside the city. Zeus was furious and sent down punishment on the Lucanians, while our Thurii people were not harmed at all!" The man said with some anger and pride.
Boolkos hurriedly praised Zeus.
The man continued, "Now that the weather is warming up, they are starting to move south again. Fortunately, Tarentum sent reinforcements."
"As the initiator of the Greater Greece Defense Alliance, they should have sent reinforcements long ago!"
"It's not their fault, they just repelled the attack of the Messapians and sent 1,500 hoplites and 50 cavalry, and the leader is Archytas."
"Which Archytas?"
"Which Archytas else! Of course, it's the son of the former Tarentum magistrate Histiaeus, the genius in the mouths of the Tarentines!"
"Speaking of geniuses, I have one here too." Boolkos pulled Davos over and said to Poluxis, "Let me introduce you, the commander of the Greek mercenaries who expeditioned to Persia, Davos of Thessaly!" Boolkos said seriously. Then, he pointed to the person who came and said: "Davos, this is the general elected by Thurii this year, my good friend—Poluxis!"
"Greetings, General Poluxis!" Davos bowed slightly.
"Welcome." Poluxis nodded slightly, then turned to Boolkos: "What did you just say? Expedition to Persia?"
Boolkos saw Poluxis's perfunctoriness, so he greatly publicized the deeds of Davos and the others, and Poluxis's eyes on Davos immediately became enthusiastic: "It's unbelievable! Davos, you are so young and you have done such an amazing thing! In the heart of Persia, surrounded by tens of thousands of enemies, you led the soldiers back! It's really... Wow!"
Davos sincerely said: "This is the result of the joint efforts of the brothers, and many people died on the way home..."
"I invited Davos's troops to Thurii because I hope they will use their rich combat experience to help us defeat the Lucanians!" Boolkos took the opportunity to make a pre-explanation for his high-paying recruitment of Davos's team.
"You came at the right time,
We are discussing how to counterattack the Lucanians." Poluxis said to Boolkos: "I came here to tell you that the General Executive Committee agreed that your fleet will disembark at the simple pier at the mouth of the river, and let Davos lead the mercenaries to camp at the old city of Sybaris."
"What?! Let us camp at the old city of Sybaris!!!" Boolkos changed his face, he immediately pulled Poluxis aside and scolded in a low voice: "Are you crazy?! Don't forget that when Thurii was built, there was an agreement with Croton that the old site of Sybaris could not be touched! Otherwise, why didn't Thurii build the city on the site of Sybaris, which is obviously in a better location and has a better port!"
"Every Thurii person knows what you said. But this is the result of Cunogorata's insistence, and the other generals have also agreed! The soldiers you hired before have been camping in Sybaris for almost a month." Poluxis shrugged to show that this matter had nothing to do with him.
"It's Cunogorata again! He expelled the Athenians and now wants to anger Croton. Does he want Thurii to perish!" Boolkos said angrily.
"It's not as serious as you said. Decades have passed, and the Thurii people have always adhered to this agreement. The weeds in Sybaris are taller than people. Now, Thurii is suffering from war, it's just a temporary camp. Besides, Croton doesn't have time to pay attention to this, they are fighting fiercely with the Brutii. Otherwise, where can these mercenaries camp? The mercenaries who came last time and this time probably have four or five thousand people, right? The camp built must occupy a large area. Now, except for that wasteland, all the land around Thurii is farmland and villages..."
"Didn't you say that the farmland and villages outside the city were destroyed?" Boolkos asked.
"After the Lucanians retreated, everyone returned to their towns and began to rebuild, otherwise they would all gather in the city, and there would be problems sooner or later! As for those fields, the farmers have already sown the wheat seeds, otherwise there will be no harvest this year."
"What if the Lucanians come?" Boolkos asked worriedly.
"So we are discussing how to repel them."
Boolkos stared at Poluxis silently for a while, and finally said: "It seems that the generals are very united now, and they are brave enough! They have all forgotten how embarrassed they were last year!"
Poluxis looked embarrassed and couldn't speak.
… … … … … … … … … …
Because a channel had been cleared in advance, Boolkos's fleet entered the estuary smoothly, but it was a bit troublesome to disembark, because there was only a simple pier.
Boolkos, Davos, Philoxenus, Asistes, and the guards disembarked first, standing on the soft ground. They were still a little unaccustomed to the long time at sea.
Philoxenus bent down, reached out and grabbed a handful of soil, twisted it with his fingers, smelled it at the tip of his nose regardless of the fishy smell, looking intoxicated, as if what he was holding in his hand was not soil, but a delicacy. Then he stretched out his hand to Davos and said excitedly: "It's black!"
Davos certainly understood what he meant. Before Boolkos's eyes turned over, he exclaimed: "This is really a fertile land!"
Boolkos said smugly: "That's for sure! The Sybaris Plain has several rivers including the Crati River. Not only is there abundant water, fertile and flat land, but the area is also very large. It is the best land in this area, otherwise where would Sybaris get its luxurious life!"
The group walked away from the river bank and walked a short distance, and saw a broken wall in the weeds, which was the old site of Sybaris.
Davos came to a large rock and stopped. Although it was covered with moss and green clothes, the flat stone surface faintly revealed the exquisite texture and dark red color, proving that it was a good piece of marble. Looking around, there are still many such stones here, hidden under the weeds and half buried in the soil...
You should know that Greece and Italy mostly produce white marble, and only Africa is rich in red marble, which is naturally expensive. Although Davos didn't know the price, he had rarely seen such stones in the city-states he had passed through before, and it was obviously not easy to obtain: "What a good stone! Why didn't Thurii use it when building the city?" He asked Boolkos seemingly casually.
Boolkos hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell the truth. After all, it was an open secret, and he didn't want to jeopardize the trust that had been established between them because of it: "When Thurii was founded, Athens and Croton made an agreement: 'Croton and Thurii will maintain peace, and Thurii shall not build a city on the site of Sybaris, while keeping Sybaris as it is.'"
"Overbearing Croton! Is it trying to showcase Croton's power to everyone passing by with a dilapidated ruin?" Davers asked curiously.
"Perhaps. But it also constantly reminds the Thuriians to never repeat the mistakes of Sybaris!" Boolkos said, trying to sound firm.
"Thurii is quite tolerant," Davers said jokingly, seeing Boolkos's unpleasant expression, but some things had to be asked: "Now that we are camping here, aren't we violating the agreement?"
Boolkos said casually: "The situation is urgent now, I believe Croton will understand."
"Let's hope the Crotonians think so too," Davers replied.
Boolkos didn't say anything more. He had experienced Davers' shrewdness and believed that Davers had already seen the crux of the matter.
The group continued to move forward, the broken walls and stones gradually decreased, and the ground became more and more flat...
Pilis, who was at the front, stopped and turned around to say: "Chief, I think we should build the camp around here."
Davers stood on a large rock, looking around: to the north, about two hundred meters away, was the mercenary camp that had arrived earlier; to the south was the Krathis River; to the east was the sea; to the west were fields of farmland.
He jumped down and poked the ground with the toe of his right foot. Underneath a thin layer of soil was mostly hard stuff: it should be the stone bricks paved by the city of Sybaris back then. This should be the central area of the city of Sybaris.
Davers had a clear idea and nodded: "Okay."
Pilis turned around and walked back to inform the soldiers who were still disembarking at the pier.
At this moment, dozens of people came out of the mercenary camp opposite and ran towards this side.
"Hey, where are you from?" The man in the lead shouted loudly.
Boolkos recognized the person and stepped forward to say: "Dracos, this is Chief Davers of Thessaly, invited by Thurii. Like you, their mercenaries will also fight against the Lucanians."
"Oh?" Dracos found Davers so young, inevitably feeling strange and contemptuous. Seeing Asistes leading the guards to make marks and measurements on the ground, his expression changed slightly: "What are they doing?"
"We will camp here, and we will be neighbors with your army from now on!" Davers said with a smile.
"You plan to camp here?!" Dracos widened his eyes and his voice became louder.
"Camping here is more convenient, and we can support each other," Davers noticed the change in his expression, but didn't care.
"Who wants to support you! Don't drag us down! You can't camp here, you have to retreat at least three hundred meters south before you can camp!" Dracos ordered in a tough tone.
"Three hundred meters south, then our camp would be by the river!" Davers reminded him.
"I don't care! You figure it out yourself, anyway, you must leave here immediately!" Dracos had a tough attitude.
"Dracos, this is the land of Thurii, you have no right to make such a decision!" Boolkos scolded him loudly.
"But you Thuriians have designated this ruin of Sybaris as our mercenary camp, then I have the right, who told us we were here first!" Dracos said arrogantly.
Boolkos wanted to say something more, but Davers stopped him.
"I understand, it seems that who is in charge here depends on strength," Davers sneered.
"Heh, kid, you're quite perceptive. What's wrong, want to fight?!" Dracos laughed disdainfully.
Davers called Asistes over and whispered: "Go and call the troops, tell them, there is a good opportunity to stretch their muscles here."
"Understood!" Asistes ran back excitedly.
"Martius, what are you waiting for, follow me!" Davers said, then darted over.
Martius was once a warrior as famous as Matonis in the Xilos squad. After becoming the captain of the guard, he restrained his aggressive thoughts a lot. It was rare to encounter a good opportunity, and he had been itching for a fight. He led thirty guards like tigers pouncing on their prey, and followed him up.
Dracos saw Davers rushing over, facing a punch, slamming down.
Davers was prepared. As he lowered his body, his speed did not decrease, getting close to Dracos's right side.
Dracos's right fist, which he had thrown out, had not yet been retracted, and he was about to turn sideways.
Davers's left fist struck his waist and ribs like lightning, causing him to bend over subconsciously. Davers's subsequent right hook hit his chin hard, knocking his strong body upwards, and then he fell backwards.
Boolkos saw from behind that in the blink of an eye, Dracos had fallen to the ground, and his back was breaking out in cold sweat. Usually, Davers talked and laughed with him, looking like a refined scholar, making Boolkos think that this young man had conquered this mercenary soldier with his wisdom, but he did not expect his lethality to be so amazing. Looking at the other guards, led by Martius, they were like fierce tigers pouncing on their prey, striking fiercely and accurately, and they cooperated tacitly, defending each other, and attacking in coordination. Although the opponents outnumbered them by ten, they were scattered sand, always caught in a two- or three-person encirclement, and were quickly knocked down, while Martius's side had basically no losses.
Boolkos wanted to say something, but he heard the rumbling of footsteps behind him.
"Davers, we're here!" Matonis was running at the front.
Davers saw that many people were also rushing out of the opposite camp, but their speed was obviously not as fast as his own. So he said: "However many people the other side sends, we will send the same number of people. Everyone takes turns, until we knock them all down, but don't kill them!"
"Roar!" The soldiers howled excitedly, eager to wait for the other side to come up.
A big melee of hundreds of people started quickly, and the victory was quickly decided. The ending was obvious. The soldiers in the opposite camp saw their teammates falling to the ground, constantly groaning, and were so frightened that they dared not come over again.
Seeing this situation, Boolkos, while rejoicing that his decision to hire Davers's army was correct, said worriedly: "Aren't you going too far by doing this? How will you fight with Dracos and them in the future?!"
Davers rubbed his knuckles and comforted him: "You don't understand the affairs between mercenaries. After this fight, I believe that not only will there be no more friction in the future, but it will also make them understand who has the right to be in charge here!"
These words made Boolkos have a deeper understanding of Davers...
......................
"Matonis, if it weren't for two daric gold coins a month, I really wouldn't want to come to your army!..." Ktepus, a mercenary who joined Davers's camp in Byzantium, complained to squad leader Matonis while digging a trench: "After taking a boat for more than ten days, it was not easy to get to Thurii, and you didn't let us rest well, but immediately asked us to dig trenches and build camps..."
Matonis glared: "If you don't want to do it, you don't have to!"
"I don't want to be spanked!" Ktepus thought of something and said with increasing fear: "No wonder people used to say that your military camp is strictly managed, it's true! You get spanked at every turn, it's unbearable! We are mercenaries, not Spartan soldiers..."
Matonis missed the soldiers he had led before. After all, after half a year of running in, they were all very familiar with each other. The things stipulated in the military law promulgated by Davers, what to do when, he didn't need to urge them, the brothers could take the initiative to complete it well. But since half of the veterans were taken away and new soldiers from Byzantium were stuffed in, small incidents of various maladjustments have occurred frequently along the way, making Matonis anxious and angry, such as the talkative guy in front of him. Matonis didn't want to pay attention to him, but he had to remind him: "Boy, you're digging too shallow! The chief requires a "U"-shaped trench that is three meters wide and three meters deep. Look at what you've dug, it's not enough at all, you definitely won't pass the inspection later!"
Cretips looked left and right, wanting to say something more, but seeing Matonis's expression, he immediately wisely shut his mouth. He knew that if he angered Matonis, the squad leader, he would really get punched hard. Of course, his protectiveness was also famous throughout the army. Cretips resentfully raised his tool and dug fiercely into the ground...
Matonis didn't bother to pay him any more attention. He picked up the wooden basket full of soil with one hand, stepped on the wooden ladder, went up to the ground, and poured the soil onto the earthen base to be built in the trench. He observed the progress of his squad and found it to be quite good, but when he looked at the situation of Oliver's squad next to him, he immediately became a little anxious. He stood at the edge of the trench and shouted loudly, "Brothers, work harder! Let's strive to be the first to complete this time and get the reward promised by the chief! If anyone doesn't work hard and drags us down, I will never let him go, understand?!"
"Roar!" the veterans howled, while most of the new recruits responded weakly...
...
"Chief, this time when we build the camp, we not only have to dig trenches, build earthen walls, and build watchtowers, but also build wooden fences on the earthen walls, build walkways behind the wooden fences, and dig pitfalls in front of the trenches, burying pointed wooden stakes... This camp requirement is too complicated! And the amount of labor is much greater than before, the soldiers are complaining. Is this necessary?!" Asistes asked, puzzled.
Davos watched the progress of the camp construction while answering affirmatively: "Of course, this is necessary! Bulkos said that last year the Lucanian people attacked Thurii with at least 10,000 soldiers! We are not like Thurii, which has tall and thick city walls to protect it. If we don't build a solid defensive camp, can we resist the Lucanian attack?! When we are besieged by the Lucanians, will the Thurii people come to rescue us mercenaries?! "
Asistes shook his head.
"So, building such a complex camp is a little tiring, but with it, the soldiers will feel very at ease when they rest and sleep inside, and the enemy will have no way to deal with us! Moreover, this camp is not for them to build in one day, it can be completed in a few days." Davos saw Asistes showing a clear expression, and then said: "Before, I asked you to gather the soldiers in the team who had worked as carpenters and form an engineering camp. Let them lead the soldiers to explore and build the wooden fences, watchtowers, and walkways. With this experience, we can do the same when building camps in the future."
Asistes said sincerely: "Chief, you have considered everything so thoughtfully!"
Davos smiled. This was just an effective method that the Roman army had summarized through hundreds of years of war. He directly borrowed it and strongly promoted it. He hoped that the military tradition of the Roman legions, 'Wherever you go, first build a solid camp,' could also become a habit of his army.
"Chief, Felicius is back." Asistes saw Felicius rushing over from the north.
Davos hurried to meet him and asked, "What's the situation?"
"Bulkos was right. There is a small river about a dozen miles to the north, and there are mountains and forests on the other side of the river."
"Is it easy to cross the river?"
"The river is very shallow, but we found Lucanian scouts. According to the guide, they may be from Amendolara."
This news made Davos ponder for a while. He said decisively: "Bulkos said that this Lucanian army, the only one still remaining north of Thurii, is not very large. I will give you 500 soldiers and 100 strong slaves. You lead them to the mountains and forests, let some of them cut down trees, and the other part is responsible for guarding. If possible, explore further north to see the situation around Amendolara."
"Okay."
...
"On a large rock 100 meters away from Davos's camp, Drakos and two other leaders were standing and watching."
"What are these guys trying to do? A camp, does it need to be so complicated?! This is not building a camp, this is clearly building a city! Do the Thurii people allow them to do this?!" One leader said sarcastically.
"Adrianks, you must admit that if such a complex camp is built, it will be very difficult for the Lucanians to attack! On the contrary, look at our camp, it looks much simpler in comparison! The Thurii people said that the Lucanians are gathering troops in Laos. Once they go south in a big way, we will probably be the first to suffer! Should we consider reinforcing our camp?" Another leader suggested.
"Sesta, you don't know the virtues of our soldiers. They are active when asking you for money, but once you let them work, they all try to be lazy!" Adrianks said helplessly.
"Yes, that's what I find strange. They—" Sesta pointed to the soldiers in the distance who were working enthusiastically and said curiously: "They don't look like mercenaries at all, even some city-state citizen soldiers don't do as well as them. It's a bit like Sparta's style! But just now, listening to their accents, Thessaly, Rhodes, Thrace, Crete, Chersonese, Chios... They all have accents from various places, just like us! But why is there such a big difference?! "
"Don't think too much about it. Although we had a fight with them, they have no malice towards us. They also took the initiative to help us treat the wounded. Let's just not provoke them in the future. Besides, it's a good thing that they are strong. We feel at ease with them by our side!" Adrianks said with emotion, then jumped off the stone: "Let's go, don't stand here for too long, lest they think we have some other intentions!"
Adrianks felt the horror of this mercenary army and couldn't help but want to stay away from them.
"I think we should still try to get the soldiers to reinforce the defense of the camp again!" Sesta also jumped down.
"Okay, I'll go back and discuss it with the soldiers." Adrianks shrugged helplessly, took a few steps, remembered something, and shouted back: "Drakos, let's go!"
Drakos grinned, his swollen chin ached with every movement. He took a deep look at Davos's camp and followed the two men away.
Not long after returning to the camp, the treated wounded also returned. From their mouths, these mercenaries, mainly from Ionia and Asia Minor (because Bulkos recruited them in Miletus at that time), learned that the people who fought with them turned out to be Greek mercenaries who had followed Cyrus the Younger on his expedition to Persia! You should know that after Davos and the others arrived in the Euxine Sea, when merchant ships from the cities of the Euxine Sea went to mainland Greece and Asia Minor and Ionia for trade, merchants and sailors exaggerated and embellished the experiences of the Greek mercenaries fighting in Persia in tavern inns and spread them, so that when Davos and the others were still marching along the coast of the Euxine Sea, their reputation had already spread throughout Ionia. Many mercenaries understood their predicament, but envied their experience and regarded them as heroes. After all, no Greek army had ever reached so far into the Persian hinterland.
Now that they learned that the group of people who beat them up were part of the Persian Expeditionary Force, the mercenaries' resentment not only disappeared, but they also sincerely sighed: No wonder they were so good at fighting, it turned out that they were Greek mercenaries who had returned from the Persian Expedition, and they are now by our side!
Unable to suppress their surprise, the soldiers ignored the leaders' obstruction and rushed out of the camp gate, running towards Davos's camp, wanting to hear their heroes personally recount their experiences in Persia...