He followed the traditional policy of Oriental monarchs in the course which he took.

And his subjects had less reason to complain of his resolution than most others, since the many strongholds in Babylonia must have afforded them a ready refuge, and the great fortified district within which Babylon itself stood must have been capable of accommodating with ease the whole native population of the country.
If we may trust Herodotus, the invader, having made all his preparations and commenced his march, came to a sudden pause midway between Ecbatana and Babylon.

One of the sacred white horses, which drew the chariot of Ormazd, had been drowned in crossing a river; and Cyrus had thereupon desisted from his march, and, declaring that he would revenge himself on the insolent stream, had set his soldiers to disperse its waters into 360 channels.

This work employed him during the whole summer and autumn; nor was it till another spring had come that he resumed his expedition.
To the Babylonians such a pause must have appeared like irresolution.
They must have suspected that the invader had changed his mind and would not venture across the Tigris.

If the particulars of the story reached them, they probably laughed at the monarch who vented his rage on inanimate nature, while he let his enemies escape scot free.
Cyrus, however, had a motive for his proceedings which will appear in the sequel.