Keeping the main body of his army in the background, he brought to the front his numerous companies of light infantry, and commanded them to make use of their slings and bows. But the Hellenes, unawed by the overpowering numbers of the enemy, quickly brought forward their little band of Rhodians, whose leaden bullets carried farther than the heavy shot of the Persian slingers, and before the enemy was near enough to do them any harm, they had opened fire upon their close-packed ranks where every shot was certain to tell. The archers too discharged their arrows with equal effect, and so deadly was the assault, that Tissaphernes was obliged to withdraw his men out of range, and for the rest of that day, contented himself with following the Hellenes at a safe distance. Before retiring from the ground where the skirmish had taken place, the Hellenes were careful to collect all the bows and arrows that had belonged to the dead Persians. These bows, which were much stronger than their own, were likely to be of great service to them, and in the evening, when they reached the villages in which they were to spend the night, they took great pains to practise using them with effect. They were so fortunate moreover as to find in these same villages a store of excellent bow-strings, and a quantity of lead, which they at once set to work to make into bullets. After resting for one whole day, they continued their march, and now the road lay through a flat plain. Tissaphernes followed at a distance, always on the lookout for any opportunity of attacking them at a disadvantage, and so overwhelming was his superiority in point of numbers that he was often able to inflict considerable loss, even upon the brave Hellenes. Sometimes for instance the road would narrow considerably, or a bridge would have to be crossed, and then it was found that the plan of marching in the form of a square had many drawbacks for a retreating army with the enemy in pursuit. Confusion was sure to arise, both in breaking up the square on arriving at the narrow part of the road, and in re-forming it on coming out again into the open country, and by this confusion Tissaphernes did not fail to profit. The generals agreed that some new plan must be devised to meet the difficulty, and they decided to form six small companies, each consisting of a hundred men, and subdivided into half and quarter companies, each with its own officer. When the square had to be compressed for passing over a bridge or narrow road, these companies fell out of their places in the wings, and wheeled round to the back of the rear, returning again to the wings when the square widened out again. By this means disorder was prevented, and for the next four days the Hellenes continued their way with very little loss.