Chapter 1316
Although Persia's Scythe War Chariots were terrifying weapons, the Dionysian Army's well-prepared tactics prevented them from being shot down by the Light Infantrymen or annihilated by the Legionnaires. The damage done to the Diónia army was minimal.
As the war chariots and war elephants kicked up a cloud of dust, Artaxerxes and Terebassus who were a few hundred meters away couldn't see the situation. Once the attack was launched, it had to be carried out according to the plan. Therefore, not long after the war chariots and war elephants moved out, the King of Persia sent out 3,000 armored cavalrymen from the middle lane, hoping that they could follow the chariots and war elephants and break through the Diónia army.
Persia's Undead Army didn't only consist of infantrymen, but also chariots and cavalrymen. The 3,000 armored cavalrymen were part of the Undead Army. They were elites selected from the massive Persia Cavalry and rode on the tallest and strongest War Horse. The War Horse was covered in armor while the cavalrymen wore full leather armor and wielded Persia's sabers. They were also equipped with double-edged axes and bows. According to the Undead Army's traditional tactics, the Cavalry would launch the second wave of attacks after the chariots. Most of the time, they would be able to defeat the enemy before the infantrymen could even set out. This time, the Undead Army hoped to repeat the same trick.
After the King of Persia gave the order, the Cavalry marched forward in three horizontal lines that spanned across the entire middle lane. (The reason why Terebassus didn't adopt a dense rhombus formation was because he thought that the impact of the war chariots and war elephants would definitely cause damage to the Diónia army and the Cavalry wouldn't face much resistance. Therefore, he wanted to increase the Cavalry's attack range and cause more damage to the Diónia army so that the infantrymen wouldn't be able to recover. This way, the infantrymen would be able to completely destroy the middle lane of the Diónia army.)
However, not long after the cavalry set off, they ran into some trouble. They ran head-on into the retreating war elephants. These huge animals, which had become sensitive and easily angered due to their injuries, saw the Persian cavalry charging towards them. They thought that it was disadvantageous to them, so they angrily swung their long trunks, trampled and collided with them, disrupting the cavalry's charging formation. Then, the red-eyed war elephants charged towards the Persian infantry formation in front of them with large strides. The bearers on the backs of the elephants had no choice but to endure the pain and drive long iron nails into the war elephants' brains, causing them to suddenly fall to the ground amidst mournful cries.
There were also a few war elephants that ran out of control and threw off the elephant drivers on their backs, crashing straight into the dense infantry formation and causing a commotion.
Artaxerxes felt a little uneasy when he saw this, "Terebassus, what's going on?!"
Terebassus didn't dare to answer directly. Instead, he hurriedly reminded Artaxerxes, "Your Majesty, the Undead Army has been mobilized. It's time to launch an all-out attack!"
"Now?" This was originally a plan that had been drawn up, but Artaxerxes was a little hesitant when it came to it.
Artaxerxes' hesitation did not displease Terebassus. On the contrary, he was glad that the King of Persia's attention had been diverted. Having led his troops many times, he knew that the biggest weakness of war elephants was that they were difficult to control. In the past, there had been incidents where war elephants collided with his own army, but it had never been as many as today's battle. At this moment, he had no time to think about the reason behind it. He could only urge loudly, "The chariots, war elephants, and cavalry have launched an attack on Diónia's army in the middle. We must seize this opportunity to launch an all-out attack and completely defeat the enemy!"
Terebassus' words temporarily dispelled the haze that rose in Artaxerxes' heart again. He pulled himself together and nodded.
Hearing the loud sound of the bugle and seeing the Persia messengers galloping past in front of him, Rémy took a deep breath. He knew that the important moment that would determine the survival of his tribe had finally arrived. Suddenly, his heavy heart was mixed with a bit of relief. He had been suffering for a period of time, and now, there was finally an outcome.
He looked back at the Persia commander who was constantly shouting to attack in the rear, and his face showed a trace of a contemptuous smile.
At the front of the right wing of the Persia army, Maldonios, who was waiting impatiently, received the order from the King of Persia. His anger immediately turned into joy. He waved the long saber in his hand impatiently, "Attack! Attack! Attack! "
The reason why he was so excited was not only because he was not only the descendant of Gobrias, but also the descendant of Maldonios, the commander of the Persia army who commanded the battle of Plataea. Maldonios died bravely on the battlefield, but because of his failure in the battle of Plataea, he was criticized by the nobles of Persia, which affected the reputation of the whole family. Maldonios had decided to make the first contribution in this battle and wash away the stain of his family.
… …
The formation of the Undead Cavalry was very long. The little chaos caused by the retreat of a dozen war elephants was not enough to affect the advance of the whole army. However, the rain of arrows shot by thousands of Diónia light infantry caused more trouble for the Persia cavalry.
McGucides watched with satisfaction as the Persia cavalry in the distance rolled on the ground with their horses. When he was about to pull out the second arrow, he heard the shouts of the officers. But the battlefield was too noisy, and he could not hear them clearly. He did not respond, but his teammates next to him pulled him and shouted anxiously, "Retreat! Retreat now! "
McGucides was dragged back by his teammates. He shouted unwillingly, "There's still time, we can shoot one more arrow!"
"Bullshit!" His teammates scolded. "The heavy infantry still needs time to get into formation!"
McGucides was speechless. In traditional Greek battles, the light infantry was the support, and the attack and retreat were completely up to them. But in the Dionysian Army, all the units needed to cooperate closely. As a new recruit, he had not fully adapted to it yet.
McGucides and his teammates quickly ran back into the infantry formation, while Arsinis and the other officers looked nervously ahead. The Persia cavalry was fast, and they were very close to the infantry formation.
"Javelins!" Arsinis roared, and the well-prepared soldiers threw the javelins in their hands.
This was a more terrible wave of death than the previous rain of arrows. The armors of the Persia cavalry and War Horse were easily pierced by the heavy javelins, and they fell in droves amidst screams and wails. At the same time, it also hindered the advance of the cavalry behind.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the rear phalanx quickly rushed forward after throwing the javelins and joined the front phalanx. At the same time, some of the light infantry who had not retreated to the rear in time were blocked outside the formation.
The Undead Cavalrymen who were fortunate enough to dodge the long-range attacks never expected that the Dionysian army formation could remain intact after the impact of the chariots and war elephants. Even though they were astonished, as the most elite and most ferocious soldiers of Persia, they continued to charge forward without the slightest hesitation in the face of the heavily guarded shield formation and spear wall.
Although the dense javelins hit the War Horse, they could not stop the huge kinetic energy contained in the galloping of the War Horse, which weighed nearly a thousand pounds. Boom! Boom! Boom! The tremors continued, accompanied by cries of alarm. The soldiers in front of them were sent flying, and a small gap instantly appeared in the formation of the army in the middle.
Unfortunately, the Persia cavalry only had three horizontal rows, and they had been weakened by the arrows and javelins. After this round of collision, they could no longer maintain their formation. The infantry of Persia was still halfway forward, so the soldiers of the Legion of Dionysia quickly eliminated the Undead Cavalry who had fallen into the formation.
"Your Majesty, it seems that our infantry phalanx has blocked the attack of the Persia cavalry, and there are not too many casualties … We don't need to use the reserves for the time being. Let's replace them," Felicius, who had been paying close attention to the battle in the middle, said happily.
When Amyntas, Epthenis, and the other veteran generals heard this, they all breathed a sigh of relief. They had been in the army all their lives and had rich experience in war, but they had never encountered such a thrilling scene as today's battle, where chariots, war elephants, and armored cavalry took turns to attack the formation. Although they had planned it carefully in advance, they were still nervous.
Dyvers' expression was calm as he stared straight ahead. Countless silhouettes could be vaguely seen on the dust-filled battlefield.
"The infantry of Persia is coming up, and their cavalry on the flanks should have started attacking too …" The Devers said calmly. He paused for a moment and asked, "Have our stone throwers started attacking?"
The all-out attack of Persia had just begun. The Bali stone throwers were on the flanks of the army, and they were eight to nine miles away from the command center in the middle. No matter how fast the messengers ran, they could not reach the Devers in an instant.
Felicius was speechless, but Tormid, who was next to him, responded quickly, "Your Majesty, please rest assured! Although the citizens of the Bali Ali Empire were rarely recruited after the Bali Ali Empire was incorporated into the Kingdom, they have participated in the training of the Iberian military camp all year round, and there is no problem in their coordination with the other troops. I believe that they will complete the task that Your Majesty has given them! "
The Devers nodded and said leisurely, "As long as we can defeat the cavalry of Persia, I have nothing to worry about in this war."
… …
Go! Go! Yo! Yo! Amidst the continuous shouts of various tones, more than 30,000 cavalry on both flanks began to advance one after another, like a flood overflowing a dam. Their momentum was far more terrifying than the attack of the infantry in the middle.
Looking at the wall of dust rolling in the distance, Kucius, the commander of the First Cavalry Legion, did not look nervous at all. He even looked back leisurely.
"450 meters! 450 meters! 450 meters! " The observers at the forefront of the two ends of the Diónia army reported the distance between the Persia cavalry and the army to the Bali stone throwers at the rear of the army. These soldiers had no other protection except for a catapult and a few lead bags. After the cavalry on the opposite side moved, they had already begun to swing the catapult under the command of the team officer.
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