Chapter 1194
Between yesterday afternoon and dusk, under the cover of the 1st Flotilla's feint attack, nearly 400 infantrymen quietly boarded the eastern cape of the Gulf of Laconia. They hid in the mountains and planned to rest for the night before heading north the next morning to the beach where the main force of the infantrymen would land.
Unfortunately, they bumped into a shepherd who was herding sheep on the mountain. To prevent their whereabouts from being exposed, they detained him.
Unexpectedly, the shepherd came from the small town of Minoa (not the city of Minoa on the island of Sicily in the Kingdom of Diónia, but a small town on the edge of Sparta's territory, mainly populated by Pyriathi), which was not far from the mountain where the infantrymen were hiding. At the request of the family of the missing shepherd, the residents of Minoa went up the mountain to look for him the next morning. To prevent being discovered early, the infantrymen had to avoid the Minoan residents and take a detour. When they hurried to the battlefield, the battle between the two sides was in full swing.
Although the infantrymen of the fleet were anxious, the temporary commander of this surprise attack didn't blindly command his troops into battle. He stood high in the forest, carefully observed the situation on the battlefield, and quickly came up with an action plan. 50 soldiers with torches rushed to the campsite behind the battlefield, and he led more than 300 soldiers to attack the left flank of the Spartan army and attack the rear.
His move quickly produced results: the Helaoths, who were already struggling to hold on, were attacked from the rear and began to retreat. When the retreating Helaoths saw the fire in the camp behind them, they screamed in horror, and panic quickly spread among the Sparta army.
The Helaoths and Pyriathi fled in all directions, and only the Sparta warriors continued to fight.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Xenophon sighed and joined the fleeing ranks. He had to hurry back to Sparta, and maybe he could give some advice to the panicking Sparta elders.
When Sekerian boarded a boat to the coast, the battle on the coast was not completely over. More than 360 Sparta warriors (including some veteran warriors) formed a circular formation and continued to fight despite being surrounded by the infantrymen and the soldiers of the 7th Legion.
After Secolian understood the situation, he believed that the Sparta army was completely surrounded. Of course, they would resist stubbornly. Thus, he gave the order to open up a path to the north.
The order was quickly carried out. He had thought that Sparta would retreat quickly so that the soldiers could pursue them. However, Sparta was still fighting, and it didn't seem like they had any intention of retreating.
Sekerian thought for a moment and ordered his soldiers to retreat, distancing themselves from Sparta.
He was not worried that Sparta would take the opportunity to counterattack, because the Diónia soldiers not only had an absolute advantage in numbers, but also in physical strength. After all, the infantrymen of the fleet were light armored soldiers, and the soldiers of the Seventh Legion joined the battle later. The Sparta warriors, who had been fighting with all their might until now, did not have much stamina left. They were only relying on the compact circular defensive formation to support themselves. Once they switched from defense to offense, it would be difficult for them to maintain their formation.
The Diónia soldiers slowly retreated cautiously, while the experienced Sparta warriors remained where they were. They stood close to each other, shoulder to shoulder. The outermost row of warriors were all in a horse stance, with one hand holding a round shield and the other holding a spear. Half of their bodies were hidden behind the round shield, with only half of their heads sticking out from the top edge of the round shield. Their cold gazes pierced through the narrow eye holes of their helmets, looking out vigilantly.
Their comrades behind them not only used their shields to support them, but they also extended their spears above their right shoulders to help them fight against the enemy. The entire Spartan formation was like a hedgehog that had no choice but to huddle together in the face of danger.
However, when both sides left the battle and the sounds of fighting disappeared, they could clearly hear their rapid breathing. The bronze shields in their hands were trembling slightly due to the lack of strength. Around the circular formation were the corpses of the Sparta soldiers. There were also a few wounded soldiers who had been repeatedly trampled during the battle. They were so badly injured that they could not move at all. All they could do was let out a low, mournful cry.
Seeing this, Sekerian was even more confident. He walked out of the formation of the Diónia soldiers and proudly said, "I'm the commander of this Dionysian Army, Sekerian! Sparta people, you have failed! Surrender now, and I will spare your lives! "
The entire circular formation did not move. The Sparta warriors did not seem to hear Sekerian's words.
After a long while, Eudamidas, who was in the center of the formation, said loudly, "We … we can surrender … we can also allow you to occupy Port Ision and Port Hillers … but you must swear to God that you will not lead your army into the city of Sparta!"
After hearing this, Sekerian laughed and said mockingly, "Sparta people, you are still dreaming! Now is not the time for you to dominate Greece and show off your power! We, Diónia, have conquered Messenia and will soon conquer Sparta. Perhaps it will not be long before your families become slaves, and the Helaohs who were once slaves will become their masters!
I just see that you are all brave warriors, and I can't bear to see you die in the wilderness and become food for the wild wolves and seabirds. That's why I pity you and allow you to surrender. Of course, I can understand why you choose to die, because after you die, you will no longer have to face the reality that Sparta no longer exists — "
While Sekerian was talking, he suddenly saw a Sparta soldier in front of him roaring and throwing his spear at him.
Sekerian was taken aback and hurriedly stepped back. He was about 40 meters away from the circular formation of Sparta, and the opponents were all heavy infantry. He thought that this distance would be safer, but he did not expect the opponent to suddenly make such a move.
The soldiers on both sides quickly rushed forward and used their leather shields to protect him.
Logically speaking, the well-trained Sparta soldiers could throw javelins more than 40 meters away, and the leather shields used by the fleet's infantrymen were not good enough to defend against the javelins. However, the Sparta soldiers did not have enough stamina after fighting for so long. The javelins could not penetrate the leather shields and were easily blocked. It was just a false alarm.
But Sekerian was enraged. He retreated from the formation with a gloomy face, but he did not give the order to attack.
The two sides were in a strange stalemate.
After a while, the Sparta soldiers saw the Diónia soldiers retreating again, and they even made a big gap in the direction of the sea.
Then, less than 100 meters away, they saw six wooden shelves placed side by side, and some Diónia soldiers were operating something behind them. Although the Sparta soldiers had not seen the details of the ballista with their own eyes, they felt uneasy.
"Fire!" The ballista commander released the bowstring, and the spring arm suddenly contracted. Stone bullets whizzed out and accurately smashed into the circular formation of the Sparta soldiers in a small arc.
Shields flew, blood splashed, limbs were broken, chests were smashed, and heads were smashed … The originally perfect defensive formation was instantly turned into a horrible and bloody scene. The extremely dense formation of the Sparta soldiers allowed the ballista to fully unleash its power.
The commander of the Sparta army, Eudamidas, did not even have the time to scream before he fell into a pool of blood.
The surviving Sparta soldiers immediately realized that they would only be sitting ducks if they continued to stand their ground. "Fight to the death with the Diónia!!"
They roared and swarmed toward the ballista soldiers.
The Dionysian Army, who had been waiting for the Sparta soldiers to do this, quickly closed in …
… …
At the end of the battle, none of the Sparta soldiers surrendered. All of them were dead.
The landing battle of the 1st Flotilla was the final victory, but Sekerian was not too excited, because he saw many bodies of the fleet infantrymen when he came ashore.
"Hurry up and cremate the bodies of the soldiers, but keep their belongings and urns safe. Hand them over to their families in one piece in the future … Use the boats to bring the medics ashore and treat the wounded soldiers as soon as possible," said Sekerian in a low voice.
He looked up at the sky and then back at the tide. "The tide is going to ebb soon. Order all the crew to remove the wooden stakes in the sea and open up a channel for our rations to be transported in and unloaded at Hillers Port. Otherwise, the infantrymen of the fleet will not have anything to eat tonight, and we will have to rob the Spartans."
"Understood, sir! I'll do it immediately. "The subordinate took the order and left.
Only then did Sekerian look forward and shouted in high spirits, "Follow me to Sparta!"
During the landing battle of Sparta on the coast, the Dionysian Army suffered more than 1,500 casualties, most of which were injured. The casualties were mainly caused by the attacks of the Sparta soldiers on the left wing and the long-range shooting of the archers on the coast. The Sparta army suffered about 2,000 casualties, of which all the Sparta soldiers were wiped out. Most of the old Sparta soldiers also died in battle, resulting in the loss of the main combat force in Sparta's territory.
Due to the stubborn resistance of the Sparta soldiers, Sekerian was delayed on the coast for a long time. He led 300 soldiers of the 7th Legion and 1,200 infantrymen north. Along the way, he did not see his own troops, nor did he see any fleeing enemy soldiers. He only saw corpses being pecked by crows from time to time, and defeated soldiers lying on the ground, wounded and howling …
After traveling for almost three hours, the outline of densely packed houses in the distance could be seen in the distance. Sekerian also saw the large fleet of infantrymen resting in a wheat field, and soon saw its commander, Sephidorus.
Seeing that Sephidorus' right arm was wrapped in bandages and stained with blood, Sekerian asked with concern, "You're injured, is it serious?"
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