Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

"But why can't you see a single Persian?"

"I heard that those Persians only know how to oppress the affiliated races, and they are all very lazy. I'm afraid they are sleeping in the camp, haha-"

"Hey, what are you doing?"

The soldiers, who were chatting and joking, saw their comrades resting on the grass and suddenly turned sideways, putting their ears to the ground.

Prompted by their teammates, the soldiers were surprised to find the dry clumps of mud trembling slightly beneath their feet.

After a while, the Dionysian soldiers began to faintly hear a rumbling sound far ahead, as if muffled thunder was rolling across the clouds in the sky, and the sound became clearer.

Then a brownish-yellow cloud appeared at the junction of the sky and the earth, slowly drifting toward the direction of the Dionysian army, and gradually turned from a small column of smoke to a rolling dust storm that covered the sky and the earth for more than ten miles.

Under the mapping of the dawn sun, countless rays of light shone in the dusty fog, cascading like stars in the sky. From the dusty fog, there were shouts of people, neighing horses, footsteps, clashing of armor and weapons, and even the roar of beasts ....... All kinds of sounds were woven together like thousands of drums, shaking the heavens and the earth, making people's hearts palpitate with restlessness .......

By the time the fog moved closer, the sharp-eyed Dionysian soldiers were able to peer through the flying dust and see what was going on from afar: a real sea of people! Tens of millions of soldiers in various colors of clothing, holding various weapons, speaking different languages, dense, boundless, like a vast sea, surging towards them, the pressure of the weight of a thousand pounds even choked them to the point that they could not breathe ......

Many of the Dionysian soldiers turned pale.

At that moment, the first army commander, Martonis, laughed loudly and said, "The Persian army is still the same, but they are too numerous to be useful. When we were helping Cyrus Minor, the Prince of Persia, to claim the throne, we fought a battle with the Persian army at Kounarissa, a few hundred miles ahead of us, and the commander of that Persian army was today's King of Persia, and the number of their soldiers was similar to that of today's, far exceeding the army of Cyrus Minor.

But at the beginning of the battle, our right wing, composed of heavy Greek infantry, routed the left wing of the Persian army with a single charge, and if Cyrus Jr. had not been killed for his reckless and risky charge, the throne of Persia would have changed hands.

Today, our soldiers far outnumber the army of Cyrus Minor, our army is better trained than the Greek mercenaries of that time, our soldiers are more complete, and our tactics are more advanced than those of the Greek mercenaries of that time ...... We can easily defeat the seemingly strong, but actually weak, army opposite us. of the Persian army!"

Martonius' words greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers of the First Corps.

At the same time, Troilus and other veteran generals of the army were making similar speeches to the soldiers under their command.

Seeing that the soldiers were back to normal, the army leaders gave orders one after another: "Assemble the troops and prepare for formation!"

When Davos arrived, there was also a cloud of dust on this side of the Dionysian army.

"Your Majesty!" Alexis, Martonius, Lizarus, Felixius, and the five Tormidians rode hastily to it.

Davos looked ahead at the legions still in marching column formation, returned the salute, and asked, "Have they not begun to form up yet?"

Alexis replied: "The Persian army is very large, but it is too disorganized, and it will take a long time for the Persians' formation to take shape. At this slow pace of the Persians, it is perfectly in time to wait until we determine where their center is before starting to form up."

Davos nodded slowly and was about to speak when Amintas behind him shouted, "Since the Persian army is large and confused, why not take this opportunity to launch an attack?"

I need a glorious and just victory that will make the Persians feel intimidated. Moreover, I need to hit the Persian main force hard in this battle, so that the Persians will be powerless against us afterwards, and if we attack early, we will only make the Persians retreat early, but we won't be able to achieve much!"

Amintas was speechless with embarrassment.

Not caring about how Amintas was feeling at the moment, Davos continued, "Come, let's go to the front!"

Alexis, Felicius, Martonius, Lizarus, and Tormid were too late to stop him, and had to follow. Amintas, Hieronymus, and the others could only stay where they were, as they had no more military duties to attend to.

Looking east, the Persian army was stationed a mile away, and although the dust was still flying, the flat and vast plain was unobstructed, so they could see the situation clearly and even hear the shouts of the Persian generals.

In order to have a more complete understanding of the Persian army's formation, Devers rode from south to north in front of the Dionysian army, observing the enemy's condition as he went.

However, the Dionysian soldiers were thrilled to see their beloved king passing in front of them, shouting, "Hail, Your Majesty! All hail Your Majesty!!!! ......"

The news quickly spread throughout the army and the noise increased even more, like a burst of winter thunder, completely overpowering the noise coming from across the street, causing Davos to turn an enemy scouting trip into a pre-war army parade and arousing the curiosity of the Persians.

"What has happened?" When King Artaxerxes of Persia, who was in the rear of the army, heard the thunderous roar, he couldn't help but ask Persephone, the commander of the immortal army, who was in front of him.

Soon the scout horses returned with the news: "Report, my lord, it is the king of Dionysia who is reviewing the troops."

"The battle is not won or lost by the strength of the voice." Artaxerxes said in a gloomy voice, knowing very well that if he were to review the Persian army, it would be difficult for him to receive such a long-lasting cheer, not only because of the subsidiary armies, but also because of his lack of prestige among the Persian soldiers. Form up, defeat the enemy early, and end this noise early!"

The Persian army was more than a dozen miles long north and south, and although the Dionysian army was not spread out, the legions were almost evenly distributed over a dozen miles, and in order to save horsepower, Devers had to smile and wave to the soldiers while controlling his horse and moving slowly.

It was more than half an hour later that he started back from north to south.

"Sire, look! There should be Alta Xerxes!" Suddenly Alexis pointed to the east and said aloud, "There is a magnificent carriage among the Persian army.

Across the street from the Persian army was a magnificent carriage, drawn by four pure white horses, and on top of it stood a man dressed in a magnificent costume that shone brightly in the sunlight.

Davos reined in his horse, a little curious to get a closer look at what his rival, the so-called King of Kings, looked like.

Artaxerxes, too, was gazing ahead at the crowned king of Deionia.

After a few moments of looking at each other from a distance of more than a mile, Davos shifted his gaze to the front of the Persian king: the dense array, the thick round shields, the helmets that completely covered his cheeks ...... turned out to be Greek heavy infantry!

Devers was not too surprised, for he had learned from Leontiades' report of the Battle of Asia Minor that there were a considerable number of Greek mercenaries in the Persian army.

He also carefully observed that the spears in front of the Persian king's carriage were erected like a dense forest, and the infantry columns were quite thick, and behind the erected spears there were longer spears, and through the gap between the shaking Greek heavy infantry, he saw a long-bearded soldier wearing a long robe, covered with golden armor, and holding a long spear and shield.

He immediately pointed to the Persian king's carriage and said with certainty, "The middle army of the Persian army is over there!"

There was no need for Davos to say much, Alexis himself had already made the same judgment, and so when Davos returned to the rear of the line, the entire Dionysian army was in formation.

The First Corps staff officer rushed to the front of the First Corps line and said to the legionary flag-bearer, "Lead the troops to follow me to the position where the First Corps is arrayed."

On hearing this, the standard bearer waved his banner, and the resting soldiers of the First Corps immediately stood up and quickly formed up.

The 6,000 First Corps heavy infantry, led by the staff officer, bypassed several sister units and arrived at a position directly in front of the Persian king's carriage.

"Platoon scattered array!" As soon as the front staff officer finished shouting, the six heavy infantry captains commanded their brigades to spread out in a formation of three horizontal brigades, two vertical brigades, and to spread out at greater intervals. The company captains then commanded the soldiers under their command to quickly form a square, which was then split into four small squads that were arranged front to back and crossed over .......

In less than 10 minutes, the soldiers of the First Legion were arrayed, and Martonius did not take command himself because, during the battle, he was not only the First Corps commander, but he was also appointed by Devers to be the commander of the middle, and he had to give orders to the other legions.

With the First Corps as the base for the entire array, all the corps began to move, and the generals and captains did not direct the soldiers by shouting as the Persians did, but by using banners to guide them. The soldiers followed the orders to the letter and did not joke around during the formation. The only sounds that could be heard in the stirring dust and mist were the clattering of footsteps and the clashing of armor and weapons, but hardly any human voices.