"The place to cross the river is eight miles upstream from our camp. The river is about 85 meters wide. The deepest part of the river reaches the waist span. The bottom of the river is stone sand, which is neither too slippery nor hard. The bank is flat on the other side, and there are more rocks on the other side..." Kelithops briefly explained the exploration situation.

"It seems that this is a good place to cross the river! We will gather the entire army immediately and cross the river quickly!" Timasong said excitedly.

"But we have to consider that Aojontas's troops will intercept us on the other side of the river and forcefully cross the river, the casualties of our soldiers will increase!" Zantiparis said cautiously.

"The Persians would never have thought that we would wading across the river so easily! As long as we rushed to the other side of the river as quickly as possible, we would definitely give them a sudden attack!" Timasong said confidently.

"Don't forget, there are the Dukeya people behind us! What should we do with our baggage battalion? Moreover, the Persians have more troops than us, and they also have the Kardans. As long as they can withstand our impact on the river bank for a period of time, we will be in trouble. Who knows how long the sand in the river can last for the soldiers!" Zantipalis said with a little concern.

Timasong immediately asked, "Then what are you good plans?"

Zantiparis said: "So everyone should discuss how to cross the river smoothly and minimize our losses?"

"I thought you had any good idea?" Timasong glanced at him.

"I have a suggestion." Xenophon interjected: "We can divide some soldiers to protect the baggage. When the large army is preparing to cross the river, these soldiers lead the baggage to pretend to cross the river at the original floating bridge. The Persians will definitely think that we are going to cross the river from here again. At the rear, we will divide our troops to defend. When the large army defeats the enemy on the other side, these soldiers are protecting the baggage and returning to the place where the large army fights. This not only disperses the troops, but also protects the baggage. What do you think?" Xenophon said with a little complacent.

I have to say that Xenophon's plan is good, and everyone fell into thinking. After a while, Kriano asked: "The team of the baggage battalion is very large. How many soldiers do you have to distribute to protect it? If there are too many, it will affect the time when we defeat the Persians. If you let the baggage battalion and soldiers march back and forth, it will not only easily cause them to be exhausted, but also easily attacked by the Dukeya people. Have you considered this?"

"This..." Xenophon was speechless for a moment, and he said in a squirming manner: "There will inevitably be casualties in wars, as long as the losses can be minimized..."

At this time, Davers said: "Inspired by Xenophon, I also came up with a solution."

As soon as he spoke, everyone focused their attention, because the facts have proved many times that this youngest leader has always spoken lightly, and his speech can always solve the problem.

"We are not far from the river during the day today." Davers glanced at the leaders, and saw that although they were a little surprised, they were continuing to listen quietly: "After the Persians enter the camp and go to bed at night, they can send a force to cross the river and find a place to hide it. When our large troops fight with the Persians tomorrow, they will suddenly attack the rear of the Persian army, and then disrupt the Persian array, thereby attacking forward and backward. Not only can they defeat the Persians, but they may even annihilate part of them, thereby weakening the Persians' strength, so that we can reach the Eukxing Sea more smoothly after entering Armenia..."

Everyone's eyes lit up. Davers's suggestion was indeed unique and unique. In fact, the leaders' thinking was trapped by the military tradition of frontal impact advocated by the Greeks for hundreds of years. Davers's plan to cross the river was inspired by the strategy adopted by the great red army in his previous life when liberating Hainan, "the combination of smuggling of small troops and the frontal force of large troops."

"Davs, the soldiers do not have the experience of crossing the river in the dark. How many people do you want to send to cross the river first? If there is a riot caused by fear when crossing the river, it will easily lead to drowning and death, and may even alarm the Persians, causing our actions to fail, so that the Persians know the place where we have been to cross the river!" Criano's tone was much better than when he was about Xenophon before, and the problem he was worried about was an important reason why mercenaries dared not cross the river at night.

"And how to hide the team after they get ashore? When will the attack on the Persians be launched? I'm afraid all these must be taken into account." Timasong reminded.

Davers said without hesitation: "For a unit, the problems you mentioned are not problems!" After that, he looked at Kerithops.

Kelithops nodded tacitly.

That night, seven hundred Spartan warriors successfully smuggled across the Kentrit River.

………………………………

The next morning, the mercenaries began to draw up camps and line up.

When the Persians saw it, they quickly gathered on the other side.

The mercenaries slaughtered three lambs, and the leaders offered sacrifices to Okeanos, the god of the ocean rivers, and the entire army sang hymns devoutly.

Aojuntas had a premonition that the Greeks might have to cross the river, so he ordered the army to prepare immediately.

After the worship ended, the mercenaries began to march downstream along the river bank. After walking for a few miles, they stopped and rested for a while. Then they turned upstream...

The handsome Armenian governor, who was deeply favored by the Persian king, did not understand where the Greeks were going, and believed that they did not dare to cross the river with Persian troops on the other side and were finding a way out. Seeing them running around like headless flies, I couldn't help but feel proud.

The Persian army continued to follow the marches on the other side.

The mercenaries finally arrived at the river crossing site marked by Kelithops, and immediately stopped moving forward. Then, according to the previous plan, with the end of the left wing as the axis, the entire team quickly rotated towards the river bank...

Before Aojuntas understood, the mercenaries had already developed a formation facing the Kentrit River. The entire team was divided into three parts: the first part was the seven thousand soldiers who were preparing to cross the river to fight the Persian army, standing on the shore in narrow and thick rows (because the section that can cross the river smoothly is not long); the second part was the baggage battalion, which was closely behind; the third part was the three thousand soldiers, who were located behind the baggage battalion, facing the river bank, to prevent attacks from the Dukeya people.

Just as the Persian army slowly adjusted its formation, the mercenaries blew the horn of attack, and seven thousand soldiers stepped into the Kentrit River without hesitation...

Ojontas changed his face, and he finally understood: The Greeks were preparing to cross the river from here!

Neither worried about the long-range strikes of the mercenary throwing soldiers, Ojontas shouted anxiously: "Hurry! Let the infantry block it! Archers! Archers shoot arrows!" He yelled while hoping that the water of the Kentrit River could slow the speed of the mercenaries' advance, and the attack of the bow and arrow could cause chaos among the Greeks, which led to the Greeks drowning due to panic and crowding. After that moment of panic, Ojontas returned to calmness. After all, he had tried the depth of the river himself.

Maybe this is my chance to make great contributions! He thought excitedly.

Davers followed the soldiers in front of the troops behind the right wing of the troops, stepping on the harder river sand and stride forward.
Chapter completed!