Chapter 1312
"But why can't I see a single Persia soldier?"
"I heard that the Persia soldiers only know how to bully their affiliated races. They're all lazy. I'm afraid they're sleeping in the camp. Hahaha —"
"Hey, what are you doing?"
The soldiers who were chatting and laughing saw their comrades resting on the grass suddenly turn around and put their ears to the ground. A moment later, they shouted, "The Persia soldiers are here!"
With the reminder from their comrades, the soldiers were surprised to find that the dry mud under their feet was trembling slightly.
After a while, the Diónia soldiers began to hear a faint rumble coming from afar. It sounded like muffled thunder rolling over the clouds in the sky, and the sound was getting clearer and clearer.
Then, a brownish-yellow cloud appeared at the intersection of the sky and the ground, drifting slowly in the direction of the Dionysian Army. From a small column of smoke at the beginning, it gradually turned into a rolling dust storm that covered the sky and covered more than a dozen miles.
Under the reflection of the rising sun, countless rays of light shone in the gray dust cloud, layer upon layer, like the stars in the sky. From the huge dust cloud that shrouded the wilderness, there were shouts of people, neighs of horses, footsteps, the clashing of armors and weapons, and even the roars of beasts … All sorts of sounds intertwined together, like thousands of drums beating at the same time, shaking the heavens and the earth, making one's heart palpitate …
When the dust cloud moved closer, the sharp-eyed Diónia soldiers could already see through the flying dust cloud and see what was going on inside. It was a real sea of people! Tens of millions of soldiers dressed in all kinds of clothes, holding all kinds of weapons, and speaking different languages, densely packed and boundless, like a vast sea, surging towards them. The heavy pressure even made them suffocate to the point that they couldn't breathe …
Many of the Diónia soldiers' expressions changed.
At this moment, the commander of the First Legion, Martonis, laughed loudly. "The Persia army is still the same. Don't be fooled by their numbers, they're actually useless! When we helped Persia's Prince Cyrus the Younger fight for the throne, we had a battle with the Persia army in Kunarissa, a few hundred miles away. At that time, the commander of the Persia army was today's King of Persia. The number of their soldiers was about the same as today's, far more than Cyrus the Younger's army.
But as soon as the battle began, the right wing, composed of our Greek heavy infantry, smashed the left wing of the Persian army in a single charge, and if Cyrus the Younger had not been so rash as to risk his life in the charge and be killed, the throne of Persia would have long since changed hands.
Today, the number of our soldiers far exceeds the army of Cyrus the Younger at that time. Our army is better trained than the Greek mercenaries at that time. Our army is more complete than the Greek mercenaries at that time. Our tactics are more advanced than the Greek mercenaries at that time. We can definitely defeat this seemingly strong but actually weak Persia army! "
Matonis' words greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers of the First Legion.
At the same time, Trodilus and the other old generals in the army were also giving similar speeches to the soldiers under their command.
Seeing that the soldiers had returned to normal, the commanders gave orders one after another, "Gather the troops and get into formation!"
When the Devers arrived, the Dionysian Army was also covered in dust.
"Your Majesty!" Alexis, Martonis, Lizaru, Felicius, and Tormid hurried over on horseback.
The Devers looked at the army in front of them, which was still in a marching formation. After returning the greeting, they asked, "Haven't started the formation yet?"
Alexis replied, "The Persia army is very large, but it is too disorganized. It will take a long time for the Persia army to take shape. So, after some discussion, we decided to let the soldiers rest first. Based on the slow speed of the Persia army, we can still make it in time to start the formation after we confirm the location of their central army. "
The Devers nodded slowly. Just as they were about to speak, Amyntas, who was behind them, shouted, "Since the Persia army is large and disorganized, why don't we take this opportunity to attack?"
The Devers coughed heavily and said in a deep voice, "This battle will be watched by the whole world. If we attack before they get into formation, even if we win, we will be laughed at by the people of other countries. I need a glorious victory to intimidate the Persia people! Also, I need to severely injure the main force of Persia in this battle so that the Persia people won't be able to fight us in the future. If we attack too early, it will only cause the Persia people to retreat. We won't be able to achieve much! "
Amyntas was so embarrassed that he couldn't say anything.
The Devers didn't care about Amyntas' feelings at the moment. He continued, "Come, let's go to the front and take a look!"
After that, he urged his horse forward. The palace guards immediately came forward and surrounded him in the center. Alexis, Felicius, Matonis, Lizaru, and Tormid couldn't stop him in time and could only follow. Amyntas, Hieronymus, and the others could only stay where they were because they didn't have any military duties to attend to.
The Devers rode through the gaps between the armies and came to the front of the army. Looking to the east, the Persia army stopped a mile away. Although there was still dust flying everywhere, the flat and vast plains were unobstructed. They could already see the situation inside more clearly. They could even hear the shouts of the Persia generals.
The Persia army stretched for more than ten miles from north to south. In order to have a more comprehensive understanding of the Persia army's formation, the Devers rode from the south to the north at the front of the Dionysian Army, observing the enemy's situation as they went.
However, when the Diónia soldiers saw their beloved king passing by, they were all extremely excited and shouted, "Victory to Your Majesty!!! Victory to Your Majesty!!! … "
The news quickly spread throughout the army, and the sound of cheering increased even more. It was like the rumbling of winter thunder, completely overshadowing the noise coming from the opposite side. This caused the Devers to have no choice but to turn an investigation of the enemy's situation into a pre-battle inspection. This also aroused the curiosity of the Persia people.
"What's happening?" King Artaxerxes of Persia, who was at the back of the army, heard the thunderous roar and couldn't help but ask the Commander of the Undead Army in front of him.
Soon, the scouts reported back, "Your Majesty, the King of Diónia is inspecting the army."
"The outcome of a battle is not decided by the loudness of the voices," Artaxerxes said in a strange tone. Artaxerxes said sarcastically. In fact, he knew very well that if he was the one inspecting the Persian army, it would be very difficult for him to receive such continuous cheers. Not only because of the subsidiary armies, but also because of his lack of prestige among the Persian soldiers. It was precisely because of this jealousy that he impatiently said to Tribassus who was standing beside him, "Urge all the troops to get into formation as soon as possible. The sooner the enemy is defeated, the sooner the noise is over!"
The Persia army stretched for more than ten miles from north to south. Although the Dionysian Army didn't spread out, the legions were almost evenly distributed in the area. In order to save horsepower, the Devers had to smile and wave at the soldiers while controlling the horses to move slowly.
After more than half an hour, he began to return from the north to the south.
"Your Majesty, look! That should be Artaxerxes! "Alexis suddenly pointed to the east and shouted.
In the opposite Persia army, there was a luxurious carriage pulled by four pure white horses. There was a person standing on the carriage. He was wearing luxurious clothing, reflecting the sunlight, and looked very dazzling.
The Devers reined in the War Horse. He was a little curious about the appearance of the so-called King of Kings.
Artaxerxes was also staring at the King of Diónia who was wearing a crown in front of him.
The two sides were separated by more than a mile. After looking at each other for a while, the Devers shifted his gaze to the front of the King of Persia. Dense formation, thick round shields, helmet that completely covered the face … It was the Greek heavy infantry!
The Devers was not too surprised. From Leotychides's report on the Asia Minor battle, he knew that there were a lot of Greek mercenaries in the Persia army.
He also carefully observed the spears in front of the King of Persia's carriage. It was like a dense forest. It could be seen that the infantry column was quite thick, and behind those erected spears, there were even longer spears. Through the gaps between the swaying Greek heavy infantry, he saw long bearded soldiers wearing long robes, covered with golden armor, and holding spears and shields. Compared to the information he knew, he understood: Persia's undead army.
He immediately pointed to the King of Persia's carriage and said with certainty, "The center of the Persia army is over there!"
In fact, there was no need for the Devers to say more. Alexis had already made the same judgment. So when the Devers returned to the back of the army, the entire Dionysian Army began to arrange their soldiers.
The staff officer of the First Legion rushed to the front of the First Legion and said to the flag bearer, "Lead the troops and follow me to the position of the First Legion."
The flag bearer heard this and waved the flag. The soldiers of the First Legion who were resting immediately stood up and quickly lined up.
Under the leadership of the staff officer, the 6,000 heavy infantry soldiers of the First Legion bypassed a few other troops and came to the position facing the King of Persia's carriage.
"Spread out into formation!" As soon as the staff officer at the front shouted, the six heavy infantry platoons commanded their respective platoons to spread out in a formation of three horizontally and two vertically. They also widened the distance between each platoon. Then, the platoon leaders commanded their soldiers to quickly line up into a square formation. Then, the platoon leaders split the formation into four smaller square formations and arranged them in a criss-cross formation.
In less than 10 minutes, the soldiers of the First Legion had completed their formation. The reason why Martonis did not personally command them was because in this battle, he was not only the commander of the First Legion, but also the commander of the middle path by the Devers. He still had to give orders to the other legions.
With the First Legion as the center of the formation, the rest of the legions began to move. Unlike the Persia, the generals and officers did not command the soldiers by shouting. Instead, they used flag signals to guide the soldiers. The soldiers also strictly obeyed the order and did not casually joke around during the formation process. In the stirring dust, there was only the 'hua hua hua' sound of footsteps and the clashing of armors and weapons. There was almost no noise of people.
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