Before AD [Babylonian Favorites]

That night, Ptolemy was commissioned to help Alexander and Roxana hold a hasty local wedding.Both of them were wearing fiery red Indian costumes, watching the exotic Indian singing and dancing, they looked neither fish nor fowl.Alexander seemed too excited throughout the night, drank a lot of wine, his face was very red, and he held Roxana to talk to people everywhere, for fear that others would not know that Roxana was his bride.

When I saw Hephaistion at the banquet, he was sitting at the corner of the table, watching all this quietly by himself.The people next to him were clamoring for Alexander's bride to dance. Alexander was laughing, and the cheerful laughter came over, but it froze around Hephaistion.He looked up at me without moving, and poured himself another glass of wine with his head down.His long brown hair covered his eyebrows.

I was about to leave, but he stopped me.

"Bagos." He turned his head, with a faint smell of alcohol on his body.He glanced at me, and suddenly took a ring from his finger. The ruby ​​was shining brightly.He threw it into my hand.

"What you want is probably this."

I took the ring from my palm and looked at it carefully.Looking at it, the hands slowly trembled.

That's right, it's the ring that's right.Red as bright as blood, golden as bright as a thousand suns, the last time I saw it, I was in a museum.

Thinking back again, I feel like time has flown by, obviously only a few years, but it seems like a thousand years have passed.

"Is it of any use to you, to Alexander, to us now?" he asked me.

I looked at it, filled with emotions, want to cry and laugh.It turned out that until now, I had no choice.But what else to choose, I have already been involved in this magnificent historical drama, I have already become a part of it, and I have paid too much for it.

I closed my eyes, shook my head, and handed it back to him.

"It's yours, it's yours," I replied.

He stared at me for a while with those clear blue eyes before saying, "I thought you'd want to leave."

Pausing for a moment, his eyes flickered, and he turned his gaze away: "Alright, when I leave, you can take care of him for me."

I didn't speak.

The lively noise in the distance gradually faded away, the bride had already been sent away, only Alexander was still joking with others.

"Okay, since you don't want it, I'll give it away." Hephaestion stood up as if nothing had happened, and walked towards Alexander not far away.

As if having a premonition, Alexander suddenly turned his head.The people around were still laughing, talking, and looking at Alexander.However, as if there was a tacit understanding, Alexander also walked towards this side with a wine glass, smiled slightly, and looked at Hephaistion who was here.

The lively atmosphere, the aroma of wine, cheerful dance and music, and the joyous scene of the wedding infected every guest.I couldn't help having many illusions. For a while, I felt as if what I saw was actually the wedding scene of Alexander and Hephaistion. The two people who supported each other since childhood stood side by side at the pinnacle of the world, happy and happy.For a while, I felt as if I went back to a long, long time ago, in the leisurely afternoon of Persepolis Palace, the sun was warm and the sky was blue, Alexander walked towards me in a suit of armor, so the noise became silent, the heat became cool, The breeze was as gentle as a kiss, stroking the tall olive trees and boxwoods, and stroking his blond hair, each strand of which was shining brightly.

He finally stood in front of Hephaestion, the picture was frozen at this moment, and my vision gradually became blurred.

They didn't make any overstepping movements or touch, they just looked at each other, rational and gentle.

I always thought of you as the sun, Alexander.I pray that your dreams will reach everyone.

Alexander, many people love you, but no one can love so deeply and purely.

I whispered this monologue for Hephaistion in my mind.

The next day, the crowd started heading south, and this time, as expected, Roxana followed the army.

After worshiping the god of wine, the trip went very smoothly.Over the mountains, across the meadows, and along the Coffin River for some days, the weather became warmer and warmer.Before reaching the Indus, one or two local tribes surrendered without a fight.

The area is called Nikaya and is governed by these local tribes.Several chieftains went to meet Alexander in person with gifts, and even sent 25 elephants.Because of the language barrier, Alexander had to temporarily find a few businessmen who could speak Persian and Indian in these towns. The words of the leader were translated into Persian, and then the Persian translator he brought from Babylon and I explained to them in Greek. he listens.In short, this conversation took a lot of effort, and everyone was sweating profusely.

The Indian named Texiris was wearing a turban, smiling all over his face: "Your Majesty Alexander, you don't know, this is India's most proud war elephant. It is obedient and powerful. They are so invincible that even the bravest warriors fear their trampling."

The soldiers all leaned over to watch and chat, and Alexander circled around these big men.

Ptolemy smiled and said, "What's the difference between the Indian elephant and the Persian elephant? Didn't Darius use this trick before? Thanks to Zeus, it seems that our future enemies are nothing more than this."

"Darius doesn't know how to fight, but it doesn't mean that war elephants can't." Seleucus touched his chin, his green eyes curled up, "At least with these big guys, our supplies will be much luckier."

Kassander said: "Just having war elephants is useless at all, and these animals don't listen to us, what about the elephant officer?"

After asking such a question, everyone felt that it made sense, so they looked at Texiris again.

Texiris looked puzzled, but when he heard the translation, he found it difficult: "Your Majesty, we are only a small place, and relying on the terrain, there are not many outsiders passing by. These war elephants are also sold by merchants in the city. It’s out, we haven’t fought wars for many years, we only have slaves to raise them, how can there be any elephant officers?”

Such a response aroused the dissatisfaction of the generals, and everyone began to rack their brains to think of ways to organize these war elephants into an army and stuff them into the Eastern Expeditionary Army, but they were all rejected by Alexander.Finally, Alexander waved his hand and said, "Without war elephants, wouldn't we still be here today? Wars are fast, accurate, and ruthless. Although elephant soldiers are strong in defense, they are cumbersome and difficult to command. Using these things that we are not good at, Instead, it will become a burden. Just take them on the road to transport supplies."

This idea had to be abandoned.

In order to speed up, here, Alexander proposed a bold strategy.He allocated three brigades of Hephaistion and another lieutenant, Podiccas, half of his own guards and all the mercenaries, and ordered them to go directly towards the Indus River into the relatively easier plain area— —Pasilautis region.In this way, Hephaistion and the others will march faster and reach the Indus River ahead of time, so they can inspect the river conditions and try to find a way to cross the river.As for himself, he chose to take the remaining generals into battle lightly, and captured these towns along the rugged mountain road.

Alexander's proposal met immediate and fierce opposition from almost everyone.

Even Luxin Marcus couldn't help but said: "Alexander, don't you want to live?"

However, Alexander was firm-willed and determined, and he quickly persuaded the generals.Of course, in addition to the internal reason that Alexander is very eloquent, one fact cannot be ruled out, that is, since Philotas, Byssus, Kassander and Krest were successively punished by him with various means, , no one dares to insist on his own views.Many people finally understood that the man in front of them was no longer the immature 19-year-old boy who got up from his father's corpse with tears on his face, but an emperor with perseverance and blood on his hands.

Unusually, Hephaestion, who had always been most concerned about Alexander's safety, didn't object much. On the contrary, he began to deploy as soon as he received the order.Hephaestion was an expert in engineering and construction, and it was obvious that Alexander pinned his hope of crossing the river on Hephaistion.

I think Alexander's decision is wise.India belongs to the tropics and has a monsoon climate. Spring is coming to an end. If we don’t hurry up and reach the other side of the Indus River before the rainy season, we are afraid that there will be frequent heavy rains, the water volume will increase, and the Indus River will also flood.At that time, it will only be more difficult to lead such a huge army across the river.And this climate will undoubtedly be an unexpected disaster for the Macedonians and Greeks who are accustomed to dryness.There is nothing so crucial in war as the right time and place, so even knowing it, I can do nothing about it.

I am waiting, and I know that soon, this seemingly never-ending road to the east will reach its end.