Chapter 57: Davos Camp
Davos smiled, “My answer is to accept Thurii’s employment.”
Despite having some mental preparation, Burkes still couldn’t help but look surprised.
“Don’t be happy too early! This is just my personal opinion, and I still have to persuade my officers and soldiers. Many of them fought in Persia for more than a year, and are tired of the war and are eager to return to their hometown.” Davos poured cold water on him first, and then said, “However, I will try my best to persuade them, and of course, the higher the salary, the more you can impress them.”
“A soldier will get 2 daric gold coin a month!” Burkes said decisively.
Davos thought about it and asked, “How many people do you need?”
“Of course, the more the better!” Burkes said it without thinking.
“Oh, such a big tone! If I take 5,000 people, the monthly salary and supplies will be a huge number, can Thurii afford it?”
“Just like I had said, Thurii is one of the most prosperous city-states in Magna Graecia! Even if you bring 10,000 people, Thurii can easily support you for a year on her own!” Said Burker confidently.
“Well, I hope so.” Davos cautiously expressed his optimism and asked, “Furthermore, how are we going to Thurii? How many ships do you have?”
“I’ve talked with the shipowners of Byzantium. When the time comes, so long as I can pay, then no matter how many ships you want, how many ships there would be!”
“So, will the Spartans here agree to let us depart to Thurii?” At this time, Davos asked his most concerned question.
“I have been authorized by the Senate of Sparta. Meanwhile, the harmost of Byzantium, Cleander, is having a headache about your existence, and he will be happy to see you leave.” Said Burkes confidently.
Hence, Davos simply responded, “It looks like you’ve already arranged it. And so, tomorrow morning, I will tell you about the number of soldiers I will lead and discuss a more detailed employment agreement with you.”
“Alright, I’ll come back tomorrow morning. I hope to receive your good news!” Although there were some twists and turns at the start, but it was finally settles, and Burkes left happily.
“Dear, do you really intend to go to Turui?” Said Cheiristoya, who had been listening quietly.
“Yes!” Davos turned around and his eyes shine with excitement, “Cheiristoya, maybe this is a good opportunity! An opportunity for us to change from a fish in the water to a fisherman that will cast the net!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Matonis sat on the ground, excited and curious in his mind. You must know that he has never participated in any decision-making discussion in the camp since he served as a squad leader. This time, the herald, Asistes, urgently informed them that these squad leaders would attend the meeting. Will there be a huge decision?
He looked around and saw that not far away, Olivos was talking and laughing loudly with others. This kid is now also a squad leader, equal to his position, and he will be upset every time he see him, and so he shouted, “Olivos, here is a war council and not your tent, so be quiet!”
Olivos turned around and smiled, “It turned out to be the brave Matonis. Did you punish those 2 soldiers who violated the military rules and robbed the Byzantium citizens?”
Although Matonis was completely angry from hearing this, but he dare not shout again.
Since entering Armenia, Davos has been the leader of the mercenaries. His military abilities has not only been recognized by the officers and soldiers, but also conquered their hearts. Therefore, he began to gradually rectify and reform his troops.
At that time, during the journey in Armenia, the mercenaries had small conflicts with the aborigines, and there were not a few casualties, including the officers. What’s more, Armenia and the later area such as Phasian and Tubal were mostly mountainous areas, which made larger troops not easy to spread out. Therefore, according to the actual situation, Davos merged the troops of 1,400 men into 7 units of 200 men and a unit had 4 platoons of 50 men, this not only made commanding convenient, but also more flexible and varied in fighting in the mountains, because a unit has enough strength to repel a small group of enemies, while another has the ability to undertake independent combast tasks, and because it has 4 platoons. It can use 2 platoons to fight head-on and another platoon to detour and flank, and then have 1 platoon to be ready(reserve) and so on.
After this reorganizing, the combat effectiveness of his troops has greatly improved, and even some soldiers are proud to say this in private, “Our Davos is not only favored by Hades, but also enlightened by Athena!”
While some of the officers were killed and wounded, Davos had then promoted his capable trusted subordinates. For example, Hielos had been promoted into a captain, while Matonis, Olivos, Georgris, and others have become a squad leader, making him more firmly in control of his own troops.
He then began to carry out the second step of his reform plan, devising a 《Military Law》, and strictly retrain the soldiers. For the free and loose mercenaries, it is like killing them, but at that time, the situation was special. A considerable part of the conflict with the aborigines was caused by the soldier’s wanton plundering. Therefore, the best way to reduce the conflict was to regulate military discipline. However, Davos did not purge the military discipline, but also made some regulations in the military aspects such as marching, camping, and scouting. For example, Davos was previously surprised by the simplicity of the mercenaries in building their camps, and sometimes there is no protection at all, so he stipulated that when camping, the camps must need to dig trenches, lay an abatis(field fortification), and build earthen wall.
At first, the soldiers were not willing to carry it out, since they were very tired after marching and fighting, and now they need to do such hard work, even if they are tired or not! However, when the mountain people attack the camp twice at night, the other camp suffed a huge defeat and the soldiers had suffered casualties. Only Davos’ troops were safe under the protection of the trenches and walls. It was only then did the soldiers began to accept this rule from their hearts. Of course, Davos only made some simple regulations in various aspects and didn’t dare to be too strict. For example, in his previous life, running away in battle is considered a heavy offense worth beheading since ancient times, but if he did it, then the soldiers in his camp might revolt. Therefore, he only applied some lighter punishment like caning(not too much), fasting, and so on. for the Greeks who value honor, it’s a shame for them to be stripped of their pants and get spanked in front of their comrades. And so unless it’s a special case, they will try their best to abide by the rules.
Of course, there are many soldiers who couldn’t stand the restrain and ran to the other camps. In addition to the dead and wounded soldiers, the number of soldiers in Davos camp should have been greatly reduced. You must know that when the whole Greek mercenaries returned to Byzantium, they were reduced from the original 13,000(soldiers only) to 9000(half more than the number in history, in which Davos played a great role). However, the number of soldiers under his command is not much different from when he took over, and have about 1,4000 soldiers.
There are 4 reasons why the number of soldiers has not decreased. First, Davos managed his troops as fair and just as possible, no matter whether they are officers or ordinary soldiers, they were all treated equally and without making any exception. Every time they fought and plundered, the goods they got were distributed to the soldiers according to their merit by Marigi, with him getting nothing. Second, his troops have the strongest combat effectiveness and have the least casualties, specially after the military reform. For the soldiers who wanted to go home alive, they of course have a strong dependence on him. Third, the medical camp he built treated a lot of wounded soldiers, and half of them chose to stay, of which the intentional guidance of Cheiristoya played a great role. Fourth, the charisma of Davos. “Favored by God” and military genius made him quite mysterious, and he is kind to the soldiers and even use his horses to carry the wounded many times…the soldiers were happy to accept his command and affectionately call him “our Davos”.
Now, Davos had led his mercenary troops in many battles for half a year, and under this special environment, they have begun to adapt to the military law that seems relatively simple to Davos, but these military laws are already strict for these soldiers. Therefore, Matonis knew that his soldiers had violated the rule made by Davos before they came to Byzantium, and they are bound to be punished, but it is hard for him to accept this and so tried to shield this pair. But at this time, he had no time to think too much, because Davos had opened the tent, and stepped into the meeting place together with Marigi.
Author Note: The incident were more than 10,000 militia in Thurii were annihilated by the Lucanians is historicaly true, but about 10 years later (the exact time is unknown), the cause will be mentioned later.