Thus Cyrus and his men marched forward.
[C.4] Now there was a certain officer in the cavalry with Gadatas, a man of power and influence, who, when he saw that his master had revolted from Assyria, thought to himself, "If anything should happen to him, I myself could get from the king all that he possessed." Accordingly he sent forward a man he could trust, with instructions that, if he found the Assyrian army already in the territory of Gadatas, he was to tell the king that he could capture Gadatas and all who were with him, if he thought fit to make an ambuscade.

[2] And the messenger was also to say what force Gadatas had at his command and to announce that Cyrus was not with him.

Moreover, the officer stated the road by which Gadatas was coming.

Finally, to win the greater confidence, he sent word to his own dependents and bade them deliver up to the king of Assyria the castle which he himself commanded in the province, with all that it contained: he would come himself, he added, if possible, after he had slain Gadatas, and, even if he failed in that, he would always stand by the king.
[3] Now the emissary rode as hard as he could and came before the king and told his errand, and, hearing it, the king at once took over the castle and formed an ambuscade, with a large body of horse and many chariots, in a dense group of villages that lay upon the road.

[4] Gadatas, when he came near the spot, sent scouts ahead to explore, and the king, as soon as he sighted them, ordered two or three of his chariots and a handful of horsemen to dash away as though in flight, giving the impression that they were few in number and panic-stricken.
At this the scouting party swept after them, signalling to Gadatas, who also fell into the trap and gave himself up to the chase.
The Assyrians waited till the quarry was within their grasp and then sprang out from their ambuscade.