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Chapter 1315

The Persia archers retreated a long distance before Arsinis gave the order to retreat.

The soldiers withdrew their shields and stood up to take a look. They were stunned: the flat ground around them was full of arrows, and the same was true for the shields, which caused the weight of the shields to suddenly increase.

In order not to affect the use of the shields, the soldiers immediately pulled out their short swords and cut off the shafts of the shields.

"Your Majesty, the Persia archers have retreated. Our casualties are not heavy!" After listening to the instant news from the messengers, Felicius reported to the king with a joyful expression.

The Devers nodded calmly.

"Thirty years ago, we used this method to successfully defend against the long-range attacks of the Persia archers. Now, the defensive ability of our soldiers is better than we were back then. The Persia still use the same old method to deal with us. It is impossible for them to gain any advantage!" Amyntas said disdainfully.

At the military conference before the war, it was because of the suggestion of the old generals that the Devers decided not to use the light infantry first, but to let the heavy infantry fight against the Persia archers who had the advantage in long-range attacks to achieve the goal of wearing down the enemy. Now it seemed that the plan had worked.

At this time, the Devers looked at the Persia archers opposite them who retreated like the tide and said calmly, "The appetizer has been eaten. Next, it is time for the main course."

The distance of a mile made it impossible for the king of Persia and Terebassus to see the casualties of the enemy. But from the words of the retreating generals, Terebassus learned that the result of the battle was not ideal. He was shocked. It was his suggestion to send the Persia archers to fight first. Based on his detailed understanding of the battle in Asia Minor, and by referring to some of the past battles of Diónia, he discovered that the Dionysian Army was different from the Greek Army. The Dionysian Army's light infantry was not weak, and they liked to take the lead in battle to disrupt the enemy's formation. Therefore, he made such a suggestion, hoping to use his powerful archers to cripple the enemy's light infantry. This way, he could gain more advantages, and at the same time, destroy the enemy's morale. However, he did not expect that the enemy's light infantry did not participate in the battle, and the long-range attacks against the heavy infantry of Diónia did not achieve much results …

When Terebassus approached Artaxerxes, there was no longer any worry on his face. Instead, there was joy on his face. "Your Majesty, the attack of the archers has caused the heavy infantry of Diónia to suffer heavy casualties. We should take advantage of this victory and attack. We cannot let the Dionysian Army rest!"

Artaxerxes was overjoyed and said without hesitation, "Then let's continue the attack!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Terebassus turned around and ordered, "Chariots and war elephants, attack!"

The cavalrymen galloped out. Some of them ran to the front of the formation in the middle, while the others ran to the left.

Soon, Artaxerxes heard the loud roar of the elephants coming from the front. He was invigorated. He slapped the chariots and said excitedly, "Crush all the Diónia soldiers!"

Under the command of the Elephantsmen, the fifty elephants began to move forward with their thick and sturdy limbs. Every step they took caused the ground to tremble. While they were still slowly accelerating, the war chariots with sickles on both sides were already advancing at full speed. The war horses were galloping, and the wheels were turning at high speed. They were rumbling and stirring up clouds of dust. Even though there were only two hundred chariots, they gave off the imposing aura of a magnificent army. They were like giant roaring beasts as they charged ferociously at the Dionysian army.

Even soldiers like Artaxerxes, who had received training on how to deal with chariots during their stay in Egypt, could not help but feel nervous at this moment.

At this moment, the sound of hurried footsteps rang out beside Artaxerxes. It turned out that the light infantrymen at the rear of the infantry formation had quickly passed through the passageways between the phalanxes and ran to the front of the formation.

In fact, after the Diónia light infantrymen learned about the position of the Persia chariots and war elephants, they had arranged their tactics in advance. So the 5,000 light infantrymen ran to the front and quickly formed a formation. The harpooneers faced the war elephants in the middle, while the archers faced the chariots on both sides.

Without the need for the commander to give the order, the archers immediately drew their bows and fired arrows at the front. Even though the chariots were still a hundred meters away, they chose to shoot straight instead of projecting arrows. This was because they had gone through actual combat training in Egypt and knew that projecting arrows was difficult to hit a speeding chariot. On the contrary, even if they shot straight, the chariots would take the initiative to hit the arrows as they approached.

As soon as the archers shot an arrow, they did not wait to see what the result would be. They immediately pulled out their arrows and shot again because they did not have much time left.

McGucquides, a native of Crete, had won the championship in archery at the first Diónia Games last year. Diónia's Ministry of Military Affairs had extended an invitation to him. After much consideration, he finally decided to join Diónia. With the special permission of the King of Devers, he only needed to serve in the army for three years before he could become a full-fledged citizen.

After the news was deliberately publicized by the Turií City Hall, it caused a heated discussion among the people of various alliances. The athletes were even more eager and actively trained, preparing to achieve excellent results in the second Diónia Games in order to gain the favor of the King of Diónia. However, the Diónia Games, like other Greek games, were also held once every four years, which was a long time.

After McGucquides immigrated to Turií, he temporarily lived in the barracks. While receiving military training, he also assisted the military trainer in training and improving the archery skills of the new recruits.

The light infantry, especially the archers, relied more on their individual skills. In the traditional Greek army, the archers did not have any special tactics. Instead, they relied more on their individual skills. However, the Dionysian Army was different, and they had higher requirements for the archers' tactical ability. McGucquides had only been in the barracks for half a year, and he had just familiarized himself with the light infantry tactics when he encountered this war. The Turií barracks did not initially want to recruit him, but in order to make military contributions and become a full-fledged citizen as soon as possible, he repeatedly asked for it. Considering his amazing archery skills, the captain of the light infantry of the First Legion recruited him as an ordinary soldier.

At this moment, McGucquides ran to the front of the formation with his teammates. When he saw the chariots rushing through the dust and rushing toward them, the soldiers shot the arrows in their hands. Although it was the first time he had experienced such a grand scene, he was born with a big heart. Otherwise, he would not have defeated so many strong players in the first Diónia Games and won the archery competition. He did not immediately release the arrow. Instead, he quickly calmed his breath, looked at the chariots in front of him, and aimed for a while before releasing the bowstring.

As the main weapon of the Persia army, the Persia knew that the scythe chariots were too big a target and vulnerable to long-range attacks. So, not only did they cover the War Horse with armor, but the archers and crossbowmen on the chariots were also wearing armor. Although many of the arrows hit the War Horse, they were blocked by the armor and did not cause any fatal injuries. On the contrary, under the rapid whipping of the crossbowmen, the horse whined and accelerated forward.

At this moment, the arrow shot by McGucquides penetrated the War Horse's head, which was not covered by the armor. The War Horse suddenly fell, and the entire chariot turned upside down due to inertia. The crossbowmen and archers on the chariot were thrown into the air, screaming as they fell toward McGucquides.

McGucquides and his teammates hurriedly dodged.

"Watch out! Chariot! Chariot! " The soldiers behind him screamed in horror, and McGucquides turned his head in a hurry. He saw a chariot not far away, not running in a straight line, but horizontally rushing toward them.

The distance was very close, and McGucquides scrambled to avoid it. However, there were also soldiers who could not dodge in time. Unfortunately, one of their legs was grazed by a flash of white light on the axle of the chariot. They were immediately twisted into several pieces and fell to the ground, wailing.

The surrounding soldiers were shocked when they saw this tragic scene.

McGucquides then discovered that the driver and archers on the chariot had been shot and fell to the ground.

When he and his teammates aimed their bows and arrows at the War Horse, the two frightened War Horses seemed to sense danger and ran back in panic with the chariot on their back. With a loud bang, they collided head-on with one of their own chariots.

While the War Horse whined, McGucquides and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

Compared to their teammates who stood still and shot arrows, the javelin throwers of the light infantry did not stop after rushing out of the formation. Instead, they accelerated forward.

When they were only a few dozen meters away from the slowly running War Elephant, they risked being shot by the archers on the back of the War Elephant and threw the javelins in their hands.

The skin of the War Elephant was tough and thick, and it was difficult for arrows to penetrate it. Therefore, the Persia did not put armor on it. However, the Persia never thought that the Diónia people they despised were not afraid of this behemoth, but took the initiative to fight. Dozens or even hundreds of heavy javelins concentrated on a War Elephant was enough to threaten the life of the War Elephant.

For the Diónia light infantry, the War Elephant was large and slow, so it was easier to deal with than the galloping chariot.

One by one, the War Elephants were shot into hedgehogs.

Although these War Elephants had been specially trained, their gentle nature had not changed. When they felt the danger in front of them, they turned around and ran back, completely disobeying the commands of the Elephant Man. Only a few War Elephants went crazy because of the pain, accelerated forward, and then fell down after a round of throwing by the javelin throwers.

When the light infantry rushed forward, the soldiers of the legion did not relax their vigilance. As the platoon leader, Arsinis even ran to the front and stared nervously at the situation in front of him.

When he saw a chariot in front of him break through the blockade of the light infantry and rush straight to the phalanx, he hurriedly shouted: "Dodge! Dodge! "

Because the Diónia formation was a loose chessboard formation, there was enough space for the soldiers to dodge and move. The galloping Persia chariot could not turn due to inertia, so it could only move forward along the path quickly made by the Diónia soldiers. The Diónia soldiers took the opportunity to attack the chariot from both sides with their javelins, killing the horses and drivers.