Soon, new investigation results came out.
There were actually over a million troops rushing from the west!
What they were flying was not the Macedonian flag, but the lingering Eubia flag!
However, since the Euboean army came from the flat plains, they were not very adapted to the mountain roads in this area.
Although it came with great force, it did not move very fast.
Achilles, there's still time to arrange.
"You never change your bad habits. You've suffered two crushing defeats, yet you still dare to come and die! This time, you come to bring military merit to us again! Haha!" Achilles sneered.
Achilles is a master of tactics, and of course he will not underestimate the enemy!
But knowing that the enemy's forces were two to three times larger than his own, he needed to first use his composure to stabilize the morale of the troops.
As expected, upon hearing the commander, known as the God of War, remain calm and composed, the soldiers all laughed along, sweeping away the tense atmosphere that had suddenly been filled with enemy intelligence.
Many followed the commander's lead, clamoring to earn three promotions by accumulating military merits by beating up those Eubians!
Seeing that everyone was no longer frightened, Achilles finally began his own arrangements.
He ordered the entire army to cross the turbulent boundary river first, and then use the mountains and hills here to hide.
Only less than 10,000 weak-looking men were left, armed with crude weapons, pretending to guard the east bank of the boundary river.
Soon, the Eubia army arrived at the west bank of the boundary river.
Hippias was greatly relieved when he noticed that there were not many defenders at Stobi.
Although the army had set out, he always felt that Seleucus and the Sirens were hiding something.
It's not too far into Stoby territory now.
If you find that something is wrong, there is still time to go back and implement the second plan.
With this in mind, Hippias did not adopt Hipparchus's suggestion to advance with a large army, but to split up and cut wood to cross the river. Hippias only sent 30,000 men to test the strength of Stobi's army.
"Old fox, you're quite cautious! However, no matter how cunning you are, if you meet a good hunter, you will be hooked sooner or later!"
Achilles, who was hiding on a hilltop and observing, cursed inwardly and told the messenger to give the order.
Soon, 30,000 Euboean soldiers pushed the logs into the water.
Then, everyone held a shield, formed a shield formation, and began to slowly kill towards the east coast.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
The enemy was still far away when the defenders of Stobi began to shoot arrows indiscriminately.
Most of the arrows never reached the raft and were swept away by the rapids.
The few shots that hit the target hit the shields in the hands of the Eubia soldiers and then bounced into the water.
After several rounds of arrow rain, almost no one in the Ubia assault legion was killed.
"They're just a bunch of rabble-rousers. Why are you still hesitating, my king? The army should hurry and cross the river, lest we delay any longer and delay the arrival of the main force of Stobi from the north!"
This situation made Hippax beside him unable to help but make a noise.
"Don't be impatient, take another look!"
Unmoved, Hippias replied calmly.
Because of his impulsiveness, Ubia had suffered too much at the hands of Stoby.
As the nominal consul and the de facto king, Hippias knew the importance of prudence.
Seeing that his illusion did not deceive the Euboeans, Achilles nodded silently.
It seems that unless there is some exaggeration, the Ubians, who have suffered two major losses, will not be fooled.
He immediately asked the messenger to issue a second order, and then continued to observe calmly.
Although the river is turbulent, this is a mountainous area and the river is not as wide as it is downstream.
Soon, a large number of Ubia's rafts approached the east coast.
At a command, the Eubian archers hiding behind their shields fired the first volley, attempting to suppress the sparse Stobi soldiers on the east bank.
"The enemy is coming ashore!"
"We can't hold it!"
"Everyone, run!"
…
The arrows had just been shot and had not yet arrived in large numbers when shouts of fear were heard from the Stobi army.
Then, the Stobi soldiers on the east coast scattered and fled.
It was clear that the Yubia army was still in the water and had not yet come ashore to engage in battle. On the beach on the east bank of the boundary river, no one was left!
"Great! The enemies are scared away! Let's quickly get the army across the river! If we delay any longer, it will be too late when the enemy comes to their senses!" Hipparchus said anxiously.
Seeing his own soldiers' tricks, they had already reached the other side and were exploring the hilltops on all sides. Hippias finally made up his mind.
"Okay. Let the army start cutting wood and building rafts to cross the river. At the same time, let the opposing legion set up a beachhead and send out servants to conduct further reconnaissance!" said Hippias.
Upon hearing this, Hipparchus was overjoyed and immediately rushed out to personally order the army to cross the river.
"The entire army remains in hiding, do not act rashly. Murmidon warriors, keep an eye on the enemy's scouts. I want you to eliminate them in an unnoticed area. Then, put on their uniforms and continue advancing to confuse the enemy!"
Seeing this change, Achilles, who was hiding on the hilltop, gave an order.
Immediately, thousands of Murmidon warriors quietly moved out, each staring at the other, each locking onto their own target.
The scouts sent out by the Youya army had just climbed up the mountains a short distance when they were eliminated one by one under the cover of the trees.
Then, the Murmidon warriors changed into their clothes and continued to march forward in a swagger.
Soon, they reached the highest peak on all four sides and performed the entire set of movements without incident.
This set of movements was learned from the surrendered Eubian soldiers after the Battle of Botaitia.
At that time, Achilles just thought it was interesting, so he planned to design a set of communication body movements for Stoby based on this.
Unexpectedly, it came in handy at this time.
"What's wrong with those scouts? How can they do such a thing in public? What if Stoby's scouts see them and learn what they're doing? What will happen then?"
Noticing the other side's signal that everything was fine, Hippias said with some annoyance.
"My king, you're worrying too much. As long as our army reaches the city of Trey as quickly as possible, Stobi will be completely thrown into chaos. By then, facing the overwhelming strength, no matter how much they learn, it will be useless!"
Hipparchus, who had returned with the message, offered words of comfort.
Upon hearing this, Hippias nodded, indicating that the army could begin crossing the river.
Like dumplings being dropped into the river, rows of rafts were pushed into the river, and the Eubia army began to rush across.
Because there were so many rafts, they were soon connected into floating bridges across the rapids.
The million-strong Eubia army, all experienced at sea, crossed the river in an endless stream along the pontoon bridge, their progress being quite smooth and impressive from afar.
By noon, over 40% of the Euboean army had crossed the river. Even General Hipparchus had stepped onto the pontoon bridge, ready to cross the river and lead the troops.
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