Читать книгу The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great - John Watson McCrindle - Страница 20

When they saw the Macedonians advancing against them they came down from the high ground which they had occupied into the plain below, confident in their numbers, and despising the Macedonians for the smallness of theirs. A sharp conflict followed, but Alexander without much trouble gained the victory. Ptolemy did not draw up his men in line upon the plain, but since the barbarians were posted on a small hill, he formed his battalions into column, and led them up the hill on the side where it was most assailable. He did not surround the entire circuit of the hill, but left an opening for the barbarians by which to escape if they meant flight. With these men also the conflict was sharp, not only from the difficult nature of the ground, but also because the Indians were of a different mettle from the other barbarians there, and were by far the stoutest warriors in that neighbourhood; but brave as they were they were driven from the hill by the Macedonians. The men of the third division under Leonnatos were equally successful, as they also routed those with whom they engaged. Ptolemy states that the men taken prisoners were in all above 40,000, and that there were also captured more than 230,000 oxen, from which Alexander chose out the best—those which he thought superior to the others both for beauty and size—with a view to send them to Macedonia to be employed in agriculture.

He marched thence to invade the country of the Assakenians, for they were reported to have under arms and ready for battle an army of 20,000 cavalry and more than 30,000 infantry, besides 30 elephants. Krateros had now completed the work of fortifying the city which he had been left to plant with colonists, and rejoined Alexander with the heavy armed troops and the engines which it might be necessary to employ in besieging towns. Alexander himself then proceeded to attack the Assakenians, taking with him the companion cavalry, the horse archers, the brigade of Koinos and Polysperchon, and the thousand Agrianians and the archers. He passed through the country of the Gouraians, where he had to cross the Gouraios,[45] the river named after that country. The passage was difficult on account of the depth and swiftness of the stream, and also because the stones at the bottom were so smooth and round that the men on stepping on them were apt to stumble. When the barbarians saw Alexander approaching they had not the courage to encounter him in the open field with their collective forces, but dispersed to their several cities, which they resolved to defend to the last extremity.