Book 3 · Chapter 3

The meeting was over, so they all got up and headed out. Then, they torched the wagons and tents. After sharing what they needed from their extra stuff, they threw the rest into the fire. Once that was done, they started making breakfast.

While they were eating, Mithridates showed up with about thirty horsemen, and called the generals over. He said, "People of Greece, I’m loyal to Cyrus, you know that, and I’m rooting for you today. Honestly, I’m living in constant fear. If I could see a way out, I’d join you with all my people."

"So, what’s your plan? Consider me your friend and supporter, just wanting to march with you."

The generals talked it over and decided to give him this answer, with Cheirisophus speaking for them: "We want to make our way through the country, causing as little trouble as possible, as long as we can get home freely."

"But if anyone tries to stop us, they’re going to have a fight on their hands, and we’ll bring everything we’ve got to win." Mithridates then tried to convince them that without the king’s permission, they had no chance of getting out.

It was clear what he was up to - he was a spy, and a relative of Tissaphernes was there to make sure he stayed loyal. After that, the generals decided to declare open war, no truce or messengers, while they were in enemy territory.

The enemy kept trying to turn their soldiers against them, and they even managed to get one officer - Nicarchus, from Arcadia - to desert with about twenty men. After breakfast, they crossed the Zapatas River, marching in order, with the animals and the rest of the army in the middle.

They hadn’t gone far when Mithridates showed up again, with about two hundred horsemen, and twice as many bowmen and slingers - seriously quick guys.

He approached the Greeks as if he was friendly, but as soon as they got close, some of his people, whether on horseback or on foot, suddenly started shooting arrows and slings, wounding them. The rear guard of the Greeks suffered for a while, unable to fight back.

The Cretan archers didn’t have a long range, and being lightly armed, they were stuck behind the heavy infantry. The javelin throwers also couldn’t reach the enemy’s slingers. Xenophon decided they had to charge, and they did, with some of the heavy and light infantry who were guarding the rear.

But they didn’t catch a single one of them. The lack of cavalry hurt the Greeks, and their infantry couldn’t keep up with the enemy’s infantry, given the head start they had, and considering how short the distance was - they couldn’t chase them far from the main army.

Meanwhile, the Asian cavalry, even as they ran, fired volleys of arrows behind them, wounding the pursuers. The Greeks had to fall back fighting every step of the way, so by the end of the day, they’d only gone about three miles. But in the late afternoon, they reached the villages.

The old feeling of being down came back. Cheirisophus and the top generals were on Xenophon’s case for leaving the main group to chase after someone and putting himself at risk, without even hurting the enemy a little bit. Xenophon admitted they were right.

"Seriously, I had to go after them," he said. "It was brutal watching our guys get hurt and not being able to fight back. But, yeah, when we charged, you’re totally right. We couldn't do anything to the enemy, and we had a rough time getting away ourselves."

Luckily, they weren’t a huge force, just a few guys. So, the damage wasn’t too bad. And it showed us what we needed. Right now, the enemy’s archers and slingers can hit us from way farther than we can. Our Cretan archers can't keep up, and our hand-throwers don't have the range.

Plus, we can’t chase them too far from the main group, and even then, no one’s fast enough to catch someone with a bow-shot lead. So, if we want to make sure they can’t mess with us while we’re moving, we need slingers and cavalry ASAP.

I heard there are some Rhodians in the army, and a bunch of them know how to sling. Their shots go twice as far as the Persian slings (which don’t go very far because they’re loaded with rocks the size of your fist, but the Rhodians are pros with leaden bullets).

So, let’s find out who has slings, and pay them for their slings. Let’s also pay someone to make more slings, and offer another person a special role as a slinger. I bet we’ll find people willing to help.

I know there are horses in the army - I have a few, Clearchus has some, and there are others we captured from the enemy, used for carrying stuff. Let’s pick the best ones and use regular baggage animals to replace them, and get the horses ready for cavalry.

I wouldn't be surprised if our cavalry gave those guys a hard time." They agreed with his ideas, and that night, two hundred slingers signed up. The next day, fifty horses and riders passed inspection and were officially qualified."

They got cool jackets and armor, and they appointed a cavalry leader - Lycius, son of Polystratus, an Athenian.