Chapter 1318
The Devers narrowed their eyes, and their sharp gaze pierced through the soldiers fighting in front of them. They saw the Persia's flags fluttering in the wind gradually becoming bigger in their field of vision. They could not help but laugh.
When Artaxerxes ordered all the reserve troops to press forward, his carriage had no choice but to follow the main army and move forward slowly. If he still stayed where he was, there would only be the Royal Guards around him. There were only a few thousand of them, and they were too eye-catching, making him feel very unsafe.
The driver carefully drove the four "Nicea Horses" that carried the royal carriage. (These white horses were produced in the Nicea Plains, the most fertile land in the Zagroche Valley. They were regarded as the best and tallest horses by the Medes. They were once offered to Assyria as a tribute, and the Persia royal family even sanctified them. They claimed that the white horses of Nicea were sacred objects given to the Achaemenid royal family by the gods. Other than the Persia officials authorized by the king, no one else was allowed to own them.) They followed the reserve troops and advanced towards the battlefield where the fierce battle was taking place.
The slightly anxious Artaxerxes felt that the reserve troops were advancing too slowly. Just as he was about to order Terebasus to urge the troops in front to move faster, he saw the strategist suddenly stop the War Horse, put his hand on his forehead, and looked up at the sky. The Royal Guards beside him also did the same thing.
Artaxerxes subconsciously looked at the sky in front of him.
At this time, the sun was already leaning towards the west. Artaxerxes hurriedly looked up. Even with the dust blocking his view, he felt that the sun was particularly dazzling. He quickly closed his eyes. Just as he was about to open them again, he heard Terebasus shouting in panic, "Ballistae! It's the stones fired by the ballistae of Diónia! "
Artaxerxes was shocked. Ignoring the stinging pain in his eyes, he hurriedly opened his eyes. He saw more than a dozen round black shadows flying past his head at high speed, followed by a roar from behind.
Artaxerxes looked back. More than a dozen meters away from him, dust was flying everywhere. Dozens of round stones the size of coconuts had smashed a hole in the ground.
Artaxerxes immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
"Your Majesty, the people of Diónia are trying to attack you with ballistae! Quick! Retreat now! "Terebassus did not ask for the permission of the King of Persia and asked the carriage to turn around and retreat.
The King of Persia's luxurious carriage was pulled by four Nisea horses. Not only was it larger than ordinary carriages, but it was also much heavier. It was not easy to make a quick turn, let alone make a U-turn. Moreover, the carriage was surrounded by royal guards. It was difficult to clear enough space in a short time.
Meanwhile, at the rear of the Diónia's infantry formation, a simple three-meter-tall sentry tower had been erected at some point in time. Under the control of the workers from the Engineering Battalion, the experienced ballista soldiers were standing on top of the sentry tower, looking ahead. They were quickly correcting the firing data of the ballista based on the landing point of the first round of stone projectiles and the position of the Persia's carriage. At the same time, they reported to the ballista soldiers beside the sentry tower loudly.
The cannoneers quickly adjusted the angle of the cannons and the strength of the bowstring … Soon, the second round of stone bullets was shot out.
At this time, the carriage that Artaxerxes was in was still turning around when he saw dozens of stone bullets falling from the sky.
The first one landed beside the carriage, smashing a royal guard into pieces. His brain and blood even splattered on Artaxerxes' face.
In an instant, Artaxerxes' mind was blank. He stood there in a daze, not reacting to the panicked shouts of the guards.
Boom! Another stone bullet landed in front of the white horse of Nisea, splashing dust on their bodies. The white horse realized the danger and struggled to break free from the carriage's yoke. It did not listen to the driver's command at all.
The carriage shook violently, and the absent-minded Artaxerxes was thrown out.
"Your Majesty!!!" The royal guards panicked and rushed to the rescue. At this moment, a stone bullet hit the carriage. Instantly, wood splinters flew everywhere, and screams were heard.
… …
The senior generals of Persia all knew that the ballista was a siege weapon made by the Diónia. Siege weapons were rarely used in field battles between armies, so they fell into a dead end. They never thought that the Dionysian Army would use ballistas to attack them in a battle. Therefore, they were completely unprepared and entered the range of the ballistas.
In fact, before the battle started, the Devers had ordered the deployment of 30 ballistas at the rear of the middle road. Although they wanted to use the tactic of decapitation, they did not have much hope for it to work. This was because, according to the Devers' knowledge, in previous battles, the king of Persia, Artaxerxes, rarely went to the frontline.
The focus of the ballista attack was not on the middle road, but on the right flank of Persia, the reserve troops behind Dukeya's troops. They wanted to prevent them from rescuing the front in time.
According to the military system of Diónia, a legion was equipped with 10 ballistas. Therefore, there were nearly 200 ballistas in the army led by the Devers, 170 of which were concentrated at the rear of the left flank of the Diónia army, facing Dukeya's troops. At the same time that the Xokant tribe feigned defeat, the ballista troops here also erected a sentry tower in time to closely observe the movements of the enemy's reserve troops.
Just as the ballistas in the middle road were aimed at the carriage of the king of Persia, some of the reserve troops on the right flank had already been bombarded by stone bullets. Because they were in a hurry to rescue, they had long entered the range of the ballistas.
A single ballista's stone projectile didn't actually cause much damage, but 170 ballista's concentrated firing not only had an astonishing momentum, but also a terrifying killing effect. As long as the projectile landed in the general vicinity, it could create a small bloody scene.
The frontline troops that Artaxerxes had arranged for this battle were either the elites of the Persia army or the fierce subordinate race troops. As for the reserve troops, most of them had average combat power. The troops of the Caspian states behind Dukeya's troops were not even willing to contribute to Persia. They came here just to deal with some errands, but in the end, they were asked by the people of Persia to rush forward to rescue them. After a few rounds of stone bullets, their low morale was completely gone, and many of them fled in panic …
… …
During the time when the messengers on the right flank of Persia went to ask for help from the king of Persia, the soldiers of the Legion of Dionysia, who were fully prepared in advance, poured into the gap in the Persia's defensive line. Together with the warriors of the Xoskant tribe, they launched a fierce attack on the archers of Persia who had rushed to seal the gap.
When the reserve troops of Persia were dispatched, the archers of Persia, who had suffered a large number of casualties, had been forced to retreat. Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the attack of the ballistas, countless soldiers of the Legion of Dionysia continuously rushed through the gap in the Persia's defensive line, and turned to attack the flanks and rear of Dukeya's troops on both sides of the gap.
The morale of the Dukeya warriors was already low, and they were attacked from both the front and rear, and they quickly collapsed. Some even responded to the warriors of the Xoskant tribe and joined the side of Diónia.
When the messengers reported the situation of the battle on the left flank to the command center, there was a burst of cheers and laughter. Whether it was the old generals or the young staff officers, they were all excited, because they knew that victory had been decided.
With a smile on his face, Devers asked, "How is the situation of the cavalry on both flanks?"
Felicius replied in a loud and clear voice, "Your Majesty, the Persia cavalry has begun to retreat. Our cavalry is reorganizing their formation and preparing to attack the flanks of the enemy's formation on both flanks."
"Very good! Very good! Very good! " Devers praised three times in a row, and the smile on his face became even wider. His heart was completely relaxed, and he turned around to look at his old comrades, who were also chatting and laughing in a relaxed manner. "The weather is very hot. Everyone must be thirsty, right? Herney, let everyone drink the water you brought. "
"Your Majesty, drinking water is too boring. We want to go to the Babylonian palace to drink good wine!" Amyntas joked loudly.
"Hahaha …" Everyone laughed.
… … …
Although the soldiers of the Legion of Dionysia continued to defeat the enemy on the left flank and widen the gap in the enemy's formation, and although the cavalry and light armor of Diónia turned to attack the enemy's flank after defeating the cavalry of Persia … the Dionysian Army had already grasped the key to victory, but for the huge battlefield that stretched for more than ten miles, complete victory would not come soon.
It was almost dusk when the Persia army completely collapsed. The last to fight were the Persia undead army and the Greek mercenaries in the middle, so they were surrounded and unable to escape.
This major battle caused the elite troops of Persia to suffer heavy losses. The senior Persia generals such as Maldonios, Halpergos, and Pesittidayi were either captured or killed in battle. The only regret was that Artaxerxes escaped from the battlefield.
Therefore, the victorious Devers issued an order: the cavalry continued to pursue the defeated army, and the legions were to shorten the rest time and speed up the march to Babylon.
The fastest pursuing force was, of course, the Numibian light cavalry. They did not have much of an advantage in the battle against the light cavalry of Persia such as the Scythian cavalry. However, because the main force of the Persia cavalry was defeated, the opponents lost the will to fight and fled, so the Numibian cavalry began to rest in the second half of the battle. Therefore, they had more physical strength than the other forces.
The rapid advance of the Numibian cavalry left the city of Niseponia, which was not far from the battlefield, unprepared. When it was taking in the defeated soldiers, it broke into the city and had no choice but to surrender.
Before entering the city to rest, the Devers sent messengers to the west to tell Leotychides, who was rushing over, that the Dionysian Army had completely defeated the Persia army, and that he did not need to lead the army to join up with them. Instead, he should return to Asia Minor and conquer the area completely.
Early the next morning, the Diónia cavalry continued their pursuit eastward and caught up with Artaxerxes and the royal guards beside a tributary on the north bank of the Euphrates River.
At this time, the King of Persia was completely different from the high-spirited appearance he had when he led the mighty army out of Babylon. After the army was defeated, the soldiers fled in all directions, and the prestige of the king was gone. Even many of his most trusted royal guards fled during the night, and there were less than 500 guards around him.
After being attacked by the ballista and falling off the carriage, he fell into a coma at the age of more than 60. He had not woken up yet, which also slowed down their escape.
After being caught up by the Diónia cavalry, Trebassus, who was still following the King of Persia, led the remaining guards and simply chose to surrender. At the same time, he asked for the courtesy that Artaxerxes deserved as a king.
The Devers who arrived later readily agreed and sent the best medical personnel in the army to treat him.
With the King of Persia in hand, the Dionysian Army's attack eastward became smoother. Corsoti, Talmand, and other important towns on the Euphrates River opened their gates and surrendered.
At the beginning of December, the Dionysian Army entered the Babylonian region.
When the Devers' army passed through a small village, the old generals in the army became excited, because the name of the village was Kunasak.
"Back then, we camped here! I still remember that the tent I lived in seemed to be in this position! "
"Over there! That's the battlefield! We defeated the left wing of the King of Persia with a single charge. It's a pity that little Cyrus was too reckless. Otherwise, we would have won that battle … "
"What's there to feel pity about! Fortunately, he failed. That's why His Majesty stood out and led us to establish Diónia. That's why we can return here today as conquerors! "
"That's right, we all have to thank His Majesty! Long live His Majesty! "
"Long live His Majesty!"
When the old generals were touched by the scene and sincerely cheered for the Devers to express their gratitude, the King of Diónia, the new overlord of the entire Mediterranean Devers, sat motionless on his War Horse like a clay sculpture. He stared at the empty space where Giogris stood in front of him, and his heart was filled with emotion. It was there that he was reborn from a 21st-century China citizen to a lowly mercenary in ancient Greece. From the very beginning, he struggled to survive, to the hard work of establishing Diónia, and struggled hard in this strange world for more than 30 years …
At this moment, scenes of the past flashed quickly in his mind, like a dream.
"Report! Your Majesty, Babylon has opened its gates and surrendered. Commander Cuccius has led the vanguard into the city! " The shout of the herald woke up the dazed Devers. He looked around at the cheering soldiers around him, and a smile slowly bloomed on his face. No, this is not a dream! This is the turbulent ancient Mediterranean world! And I, Hades Devers, am now the most powerful man in the world!
He waved his right hand vigorously. "Let's go! Let's go to Babylon! "
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The crowd responded in unison. Thousands of soldiers excitedly surrounded the great king, galloping toward the eastern city that had opened its arms to them …
(End of the book)
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