Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

The reason for this was simple: the Dionysian army had to keep the pontoon bridge over the Euphrates River firmly in hand to keep the transportation paths open.

When the army began to build their camp, the soldiers discovered a problem: the area was a rolling plain, covered with small, somewhat yellowish grasses, with occasional tufts of bushes and rushes, but not a single tree in sight.

Unable to make a wooden fence, the soldiers had to dig up more dirt to ram the earthen walls.

Of course, the soldiers were also pleased that the terrain was so open that the legions' camps could be spread out completely, unlike in Canaan and Syria, where they had to be grouped together with little room to maneuver due to the narrow terrain, and even less so in Phoenicia.

Another exciting thing for the soldiers was the number of animals that lived in the plains north of the city of Tapsacus. Wild asses, antelopes, bustards, and even ostriches roamed the wide plains in large flocks, foraging for food and not running away in fear at the sight of a stranger, for their running limbs or wings were good enough to hide them from humans.

Thousands of Numibian horsemen used tactics to round up wild asses and antelopes, shooting bustards and ostriches with bows and arrows in the chase, providing the soldiers with plenty of fresh meat in just two days.

In addition, the cooks in the supply supply house caught large sturgeon in nets in the Euphrates River.

The meat of donkeys and lambs was nourishing, the flesh of Bustard was tender, and the sturgeon was tasty, except for the coarse meat of ostrich. Ever since the Dionysian army left Egypt, they had been fighting, and their original reserves of dried meat had been exhausted, especially after they had gone inland, where their daily food was hot water and bread.

Two days later, the Numibian cavalry, who had killed all the animals near the camp, had to move eastward in search of new prey.

One of the groups of horsemen, while chasing wild asses, even entered Netherfonia's territory, and then they were astonished to see an endless thick fog of dust rolling toward them, and the whole sky was darkened.

The Persian army was coming! ...... Before they could run back to camp in panic to report the news, the scouts had already sent the message back to the king's tent in camp.

Davos ordered his legions to be on the alert, and on the other hand asked the scouts to keep an eye on the Persian army and report back at any time.

In the afternoon, Davos received word that the Persian army had stopped 20 miles away from the Dionysian camp, and had begun to camp and rest, and had sent an emissary party of less than 10 men to meet with the King of Dionysia.

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Trebassus was escorted by the Dionysian cavalry to the front of the Dionysian camp. He stopped and gazed into the distance: the Dionysian camp before him was very crude, with only a long ditch and a meter-high earthen fence, which could not be compared to the Syrian camp at all, but the defense of the camp took shape within two days.

The Dionysians were very good at building fortifications. Trebassus was glad that his army had arrived in time, and wondered how he would have taken the improvised camp if the Dionysians had not been able to defend it.

As he walked and thought, he soon came to the entrance of the camp.

It was called the camp gate, but it was actually just an opening in the earthen enclosure, and in the opening stood four heavily armed palace guards and the clerk, Hernipolis.

"Welcome, messenger of Persia," Instead of welcoming him, Henneberris' face appeared cold.

Trebassus' blank look made Hennepolis immediately realize that he did not understand Greek, and the court clerk, who was fluent in many languages, immediately said it all over again in Persian.

It was only then that Trebassus understood, and responded with his head held high, "I have come to meet your king on his command-"

"His Majesty knows your intentions and agrees to see you, come with me." Hennepolis interrupted him directly, waved his hand in a gesture to follow, turned and walked back.

Trebassus's cheek twitched a few times to suppress his displeasure, and entering the camp immediately after, he immediately restrained his mind and began to observe his surroundings with great care.

As far as he could see, the camp looked somewhat disordered: the tents were not only erected crookedly, but also arranged very untidily, causing the passages between the tents to curve; many soldiers in single clothes were wandering between the tents, and some were even lying bare-chested on their backs, sunbathing by the passages, and even when they saw them coming, they did not move their bodies, and only after being scolded by Henneberris did they reluctantly move away from .......

Terebassus could clearly hear them muttering and complaining, "I'm exhausted from the last few days of camp construction! It's not easy to lie down and rest for a while, but it's so annoying to have to come and bother you!"

"It's just a minor official who writes for His Majesty, and he dares to shout at me! Piss me off and slap him to the ground!"

"Either march or build a camp, endlessly! We've already got enough wealth, so why go east and retreat?"

......

Yes, Trebassus understood Greek, but he pretended not to, in order to find out more about the facts of the Dionysian camp, and he saw that the Dionysian officer who led the way became more and more ugly, but had to be patient, and finally stopped ordering the casual soldiers to make way, which slowed down the progress of their party.

Trebassus remained silent, but with a deliberate look of impatience on his face.

With some difficulty, we passed through a camp, and there was a ruckus ahead: dozens of soldiers were gathered, first hurling insults, then actually starting to fight. Soon a heavily armed patrol arrived, wielding clubs and sticks to disperse them.

"What's going on?" Trebassus asked curiously.

Hennepolis hid the embarrassment on his face and said perfunctorily, "Nothing, nothing, uh ...... a group of soldiers were energetic and had a private wrestling match, and it got too ......."

Trebassus did not ask any further questions, but he heard them clearly: two groups of soldiers were fighting over their captured prey.

When he finally came to the tent of the Dionysian army, Trebassus heard a quarrel in the tent and listened carefully: it was as if they were arguing about whether or not to continue marching east.

"Your Majesty, the Persian ambassador is here!" Silence quickly returned to the tent with a loud shout from Hernipolis, and a strong, heavy voice was heard: "Bring him in!"

When Trebassus entered the tent, he was greeted by twenty or thirty Dionysian generals in armor and helmets with brightly colored tassels, who turned their heads toward the tent with hostile eyes.

Trebassus took two steps forward and, with a slight yawn, said in a loud voice with his head held high: "Master of Bosnia, Mesopotamia, Armenia, Asia Minor, Egypt, Arabia, India ......, King of Kings, Ahura, son of Mazda, the great king of the world, is the son of the great king of the world. The great King Artaxerxes, son of Mazda, sent me to you, the honorable King of Dionysia, with a personal letter from him, and expects a reply from you!"

After Trebassus finished speaking, Hennebulis translated it into Greek.

He should have known that he was no longer the master of Egypt, and that Canaan, Phoenicia, Syria, and the greater part of Asia Minor no longer belonged to Persia."

Trebassus, after listening to Hennebulis' translation, responded calmly: "The war has just begun, and it is uncertain who will win and who will lose, but in the end King Artaxerxes may become the master of Dionysia!

After hearing the translation, Davos' face changed slightly.

Before he could say anything, a general stood up beside him and cursed, "Damn Persians, you dare to come here and talk nonsense, and you are not afraid that I will cut off your head and kick it as a ball.

Devers waved his hand, "Sit down, Martonis! It is a tradition for the two armies to fight without harming the messengers, so do not let the Persians laugh at us Dionysians for our lack of manners."

Martonius did not listen, still glaring at Trebassus.

"Sit down!" Davos looked a little ugly and shouted several times before Martonius sat down with resentment.

This scene was watched by Trebassus.

After a few moments, Davos, who had calmed down, said, "Yes, the war has just begun, and the outcome is not yet decided. --Where is the letter that Artaxerxes wrote to me?"

Trebassus immediately pulled out the letter from his bosom.

Davos looked around, and then smiled disdainfully and said, "I won't read the letter, but why don't you read it aloud, so we can all hear what the Persian king, who has often defeated battles, would say in the face of our mighty and elite army?"

The generals burst into laughter.

In order to avoid any trouble, he unfolded his letterhead as if he had not heard it, and read aloud with a serious expression: "To the King of Dionysia of the Western Mediterranean, Lord of the Eastern Mediterranean and King of Kings, Dionysia was only a small state in the Velvet Sea a few decades ago, but it has never stopped invading other countries, growing itself by plunder and annexation, and threatening and enticing other states to take control of them, making the neighboring city-states all vulnerable.

Persia had always been responsible for maintaining order in the Mediterranean, and had long been intent on teaching Dionysia a lesson and restoring peace to the Mediterranean. The people were terrified and the gods were furious! Today, I lead an army of one million vengeful men to set up a battlefield east of the territory of Tapsacus to fight you, Dionysia, and settle the feud between the two countries once and for all - will you come?

Trebassus added emphasis and finished the last sentence word for word.