Chapter 1178
As a precaution, the First Cavalry Legion sent 500 cavalrymen to protect them.
Soon, they arrived at the vicinity of Tegea City. From afar, they could see tens of thousands of Sparta soldiers spreading out from the south to the southwest of Tegea City. The scene was noisy and chaotic, and the shouts and cries of "kill" could be heard coming from the top of Tegea City. Obviously, Sparta was still unwilling to give up on the siege, and they were still making their last effort.
Seeing that Cloto Catax and his cavalrymen were still approaching, Sparta's formation also sent out many cavalrymen, intending to drive them away.
To prevent any accidents, Printos had to order Cloto Catax to retreat immediately.
On the way back, Cloto Catax saw that Printos was frowning and deep in thought, so he couldn't help but ask, "Is there any problem with Sparta's formation?"
Printos came back to his senses and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, did you see those real Sparta warriors? They are actually lined up on the left side of the formation! "
After being reminded by Printos, Cloto Catax recalled the scene he had seen before. In the battle formation that stretched for several miles, thousands of Sparta warriors wearing traditional red cloaks were indeed lined up on the southernmost side.
Cloto Catax had spent some time in the Staff Office of the Ministry of Military Affairs, and he had participated in the study of previous battles that took place in the Mediterranean Sea. He knew that due to the small population, Sparta rarely fought independently in large-scale battles. Most of the battles were fought under the command of the allied forces, and Sparta's own warriors would often be concentrated on the right side, relying on Sparta's traditional left-turn tactic to determine the final outcome of the battle. But this time, Sparta's warriors were actually concentrated on the left side, which was indeed unexpected.
He thought for a moment and said, "Is it because of the defeat of Leuctra, uh, Sparta thought that their traditional tactics were no longer suitable, so they changed their formation? Or … they just casually arranged a formation and pretended to engage us in battle, just to delay our rescue of Tegea? "
Printos knew that with Sparta's current situation, the only person who could lead and command such a large army was their old king, Agesilaus. He knew about the old general's past battles. Agesilaus' style was cunning and unpredictable, which was very different from the traditional generals of Sparta. This change in the battle formation that was different from the past definitely caught his attention, but he could not guess the real intention of the other party. He temporarily suppressed his doubts and said, "Your Highness, you are right. We should save Tegea first!"
But when the Dionysian Army approached Tegea, the Sparta army had all stopped attacking the city and continued to line up on the east side of the Dionysian Army. It seemed that they were prepared to fight the Dionysian Army to the death here.
Cloto Catax immediately gathered all the commanders together and told them about the battle plan that he had discussed with Printos.
"Your Highness, our First Legion is the strongest, but you arranged us to the left wing and let Legio IV to the right wing to fight against the Sparta warriors. I think this is a little unreasonable!" Ctessus objected.
"I think it's reasonable! Legio IV is completely capable of defeating the Sparta army in the front and establishing victory for the entire battle! " Not only did Olivers refute loudly, but he also acted like a veteran. "Ctessus, I couldn't tell. You've just become a commander and you're already looking down on us."
"Sir Olivers, how would I dare?" Ctessus complained but did not back down. "I'm just saying the truth for the sake of victory."
Seeing this, Cloto Catax hurriedly stepped forward and advised, "Stop fighting, both of you! I believe that Legio IV's combat strength can completely resist and even defeat the Sparta army's attack, but the key to victory lies on our left wing!
Commander Ctessus, you must lead the First Legion to defeat the enemy in front of you as soon as possible, and then attack the enemy's flank in the middle, thereby winning the entire battle. I hope you can do it! "
Ctessus's spirit was lifted, and he immediately said confidently, "Your Highness, please rest assured that the First Legion has never disappointed the commander!"
The conflict seemed to have been resolved, but then the commander of the Seventh Legion, Tegtilos, said with dissatisfaction, "Your Highness, you're being too unfair to the Seventh Legion! The soldiers guarding Mersenia are the soldiers of the Seventh Legion! The soldiers guarding the new camp are the soldiers of the Seventh Legion! Now that the battle is about to begin, the reserves are the soldiers of the Seventh Legion! The Seventh Legion worked so hard to accompany you to the Peloponnesus Peninsula, but in the end, they didn't even win a single battle. How are they going to face their families when they go back!? "
The more he said, the more aggrieved Tegtilos felt. His voice became louder and louder, attracting the attention of the surrounding soldiers.
Compared to the Seventh Legion, the other legions had, after all, benefited. The commanders quickly lowered their heads and looked as if it had nothing to do with them.
Although Cloto Catax was contradicted like this, he was not angry. Instead, he advised apologetically, "Commander Tegtilos, the commander of the Sparta army is King Agesilaus. He has always been good at using troops, and I'm afraid it won't be easy to win this battle. So, by using the Seventh Legion as the reserves, I hope that you can influence the entire battle at the critical moment and win for us! Even if we defeat Sparta, our war in Greece will not end here. In future military operations, I promise you that the Seventh Legion will be the first to be considered!
After hearing these words, Tegtilos' expression became slightly better, and he immediately said, "The Seventh Legion will perform the duties of the reserves well."
Tegtilos looked burly, but he was actually very thoughtful. Before leaving Turií, the Devers specifically talked to him, and he felt the high expectations the King of Devers had for Cloto Catax. How could he risk offending the King by not carrying out the order? He was just taking the opportunity to make a scene to attract the Prince's attention and earn more benefits for the Seventh Legion. After all, compared to the First, Fourth, and Legio VI, the Seventh Legion did not have much of an advantage.
"Time is of the essence. All commanders, please return to your legions immediately after receiving your mission."
Watching the commanders leave on their horses, Printos, who had been silent all this while, finally praised sincerely, "Well done, Your Highness!"
Mukelu, who was at the side, understood why Printos said that. As the commander of the Dionysian Army, when faced with the doubts of his subordinates, he could resolve it with just one sentence. This was an order! After all, according to the "Military Law of Diónia", once an order was given, the lower-ranking officers must strictly carry it out. However, Cloto Catax still patiently persuaded these officers at this time. It could be seen that the saying that "His Highness is humble" was indeed not empty words.
Under the orders of the commanders and the command of the various commanders, all the soldiers of the Dionysian Army moved quickly.
Although the Dionysian Army started to get into formation later than the Sparta Army, after half an hour, the Dionysian Army's formation was basically complete: the First Legion on the left, Legio VI in the middle, and Legio IV on the right. The formation was 15 rows thick and about 4 miles long. The First Cavalry Legion was divided into 1000 cavalrymen each, positioned at the two ends of the formation.
Agesilaus, who was standing in front of the formation and observing the formation of the Dionysian Army, frowned when he saw that the opponent was moving quickly and stopped making noise. He looked back at the messy formation behind him and could not help but say, "Hurry up and urge the commanders to speed up the formation!"
"Father." Archidamus was a little hesitant. "Didn't you ask them to deliberately slow down the formation?"
"I think even if they don't deliberately slow down, the Diónia Army should be in formation first," Agesilaus said helplessly. Agesilaus said helplessly, "Hurry up and inform them. If the Dionians suddenly attack, how can we fight when our formation is still in such a mess!"
"Yes, father!" Archidamus quickly ran back to the formation.
Agesilaus looked at Dionia's army formation again, but all he could see was darkness. After looking at it for a while, he still couldn't tell where the advantage of the Dionia army was. Instead, he felt his eyes turning sour. He had no choice but to give up observing the enemy's formation. He held his cane and slowly walked back to the back of the army formation under the protection of the guards.
The sun had begun to move towards the west, and the warm sunlight shone on the Tegea Plains. On the east side was the dazzling Sparta Army's formation that was four miles long, while on the west side was the pitch-black Diónia Army's formation that was also four miles long. The two armies were separated by three miles, and both were surrounded by green wheat fields. They looked like two yellow and black parallel lines drawn on a green cloth, and the northern midpoint of these two parallel lines was Tegea City.
"Father, the formation is ready. Why aren't you attacking yet?!" Archidamus hurried over and asked.
"Don't rush, wait a while more," Agesilaus glanced at him and said calmly.
"What are you waiting for? The soldiers have been waiting for half an hour. The sun will set if we wait any longer!" Archidamus urged anxiously.
Agesilaus' face immediately darkened, and he said sternly, "You should stay with your soldiers, not come here to mess around. Hurry up and go back!"
Agesilaus looked at Archidamus' back and subconsciously rubbed his face with his hands. In fact, he was not waiting, but he was afraid.
A veteran who had been on the battlefield for decades was actually afraid?
But that was the truth. Although Agesilaus had experienced countless wars, it was his first time commanding a battle that could decide Sparta's life and death. Furthermore, the opponent was the powerful Diónia. He had just witnessed how well-trained the enemy soldiers were. Although he had made meticulous arrangements for this battle, he felt inexplicably guilty when the battle was about to start. The life and death of Sparta depended on his command, and he found it difficult to open his mouth.
Comments