It was January 400 BC. The Myrians had already completed nine months of marches and battles. They had started in March 401 BC. from Sardis and was now many thousands of kilometers away from the welcoming Ionian shores. But they had to continue through the countries of the Chalivians and the Taochians and reach the shores of the Black Sea.
When they entered the country of the Taos, a mountainous and difficult country, they again had to pass through a narrow pass. But the enemies held the peaks and from there they rolled huge stones against anyone who attempted to cross the narrow mountain road, which at that point was 15 meters wide. Then the Greeks applied another trick, in order to force the enemies to exhaust their "ammunition".
Some men entered a pine forest, which was right next to the passage, and pretended to cross it. Then the enemies were constantly throwing stones. The Greeks, however, were returning into the forest and hiding behind the large pines. So at some point the enemies ran out of stones and the Greeks rushed in and occupied the enemy's positions.
But the Taohis did not intend to be captured. All together, women, men and children fell from the top and killed themselves. Aeneas Stymphalius was killed with them, who tried to hold back an enemy, but was carried away and fell with him. In the end, few Taoists were captured alive. However, many oxen, sheep and heifers fell into the hands of the Greeks.
After their victory, the Greeks continued their march through the country of the Steel. They lived in fortified cities and did not let the Greeks plunder food. Fortunately there were the animals that had been seized from the Taohis and so there was no problem of feeding the army. From the country of the Chalivians, the army marched to the country of the Scythians, on the borders of today's Turkey with Georgia, after crossing the Arpas river (present-day Arpa-Tsai).
"Thalatta - Thalatta"
The Scythians appeared friendly to the Greeks and supplied them with food and guides. And the archon in the city of Gimniada (probably today's Erzerum) sent them a guide who promised that after five days' march he would lead them to a place from where they could see the sea. Otherwise, he told them, he would lose his head. Indeed the driver kept his word.
And yes, he led the Greeks through a country hostile to the Scythians, telling them to burn and plunder - that's why the Scythians were willing to help them, to punish their enemies with the "use" of the Greeks - but on the fifth day of the march the men of the vanguard, from the top of Mount Tychis (Chinion, according to Diodorus the Sicilian), faced the sea. And the men were crying and hugging and shouting the famous "Thalatta, Thalatta" .
And the men of the rear guard, not knowing what was happening and hearing the cries, hastened to climb the mountain fearing an enemy ambush, because the enemies of the Scythians were already harassing the Greek phalanx and there had already been small skirmishes with them. But when the rearguards climbed to the top and saw the sea, they and the generals and captains hugged each other. And then they decided to form a hill of stones, as a monument of the march and of their battles and victories up to that point.
They even richly rewarded the driver and gave him 10 gold coins, a fine horse and clothes and a silver flask and many rings. And he, before leaving and returning to his country, pointed out to them a town where they could settle and gave them information about the road they should follow in order to reach the country of the Macrones, south of the Greek city of Trebizond.
In the land of the Macrones and the Colchians
So after marching and covering another 55 km, the Greeks invaded the land of the Makrons. There again they had to contend with difficult terrain. To the right of them the mountains spread out in theory and to the left of them a – unknown to us – river.
There was no forest in front of them, with trees not big, but dense. Mandatorily, the Greeks began to cut down the trees to make way. But the Makrones were waiting for them at the exit of the forest, lined up. Some of the barbarians even threw stones at the Greeks, but they were far away and did not reach them.
At that moment a soldier, a freed slave, appeared before Xenophon, who claimed to know the language of the Macrones. Immediately Xenophon, together with the soldier, approached the Macrones and they asked them why they were preparing to attack them. The Macrones replied that they were ready to fight for their country, which the Greeks had invaded.
Xenophon then retorted, through the soldier interpreter, that the Greeks only wanted to pass through their country. They had no ill will against them. They had fought against Artaxerxes, he told them, and now they too were trying to return home. After these explanations, the Macrones and the Greeks concluded a treaty.
And based on the treaty, the Macrones helped the Greeks to open a road through the forest and provided them with food to buy. After three days the work was completed and the Greeks marched towards the land of the Colchis. There on the border with the country of the Macrones, they saw the Colchis arrayed against them, ready to attack them as soon as they set foot in their country.
The Colchis were lined up on the slope of a great mountain, controlling the passes from above. At the sight of the Colchis the Greeks deployed for battle against them. At the suggestion of Xenophon, the Greek army lined up with the companies of hoplites lined up in great depth, but with empty spaces between them. In this way, the extreme Greek companies outflanked the enemy formation and the central companies had the necessary cohesion, due to their depth, to withstand any enemy attack.
Neither would the enemies dare to enter the spaces between the co-aligned companies, because if they did, they would be attacked by at least two Greek companies at the same time and would be annihilated. And the light units of the Greek army were divided into three units, each of 600 men, and were placed on the extreme left, in the center and on the extreme right.
Thus the phalanx was covered - the central part - and the wings were guarded from any enemy horn and with the horn they threatened the enemy's horns. The arrayed Greek army had, according to Xenophon, a total strength of 9,800 fighting men. So the losses of the Greeks until then were close to 3,000 men. Losses suffered by the army in a period of about 10 months. So the daily casualty rate was in the order of 10 men, relatively low, considering the magnitude of the achievement.
Finally the Greeks, after praying, sang the paean and marched against the enemies. The Colchis , seeing that they were in danger of being outflanked by both wings, attempted to extend the front of their line. But they maneuvered so badly that a big vacuum was created in the center of their faction.
Of course, the Greeks did not leave such an opportunity unexploited. The center light infantry division, led by Aeschines Acarnana, rushed into the gap and dismembered the entire enemy front. As the companies of hoplites began to arrive, the Colchis could not stand it, broke their yokes and fled in disorder.
After all, how could the disorderly barbarians face a truly professional army, the most perfect military machine in the world, the Greek?
After the new victory, the Greeks marched into the country of the Colchis and reached a region where there were many villages and abundant food, but also very strong honey. Those of the soldiers who ate of it became ill. Finally, after traveling another 40 kilometers they finally arrived at Trebizond, a Greek city-colony of the Sinopeans, who in turn were colonists of the Milesians.