Chapter 213
The freedmen of Diónia were different. They came from all over the world and worked hard to make a living, so they had developed a habit of self-interest. Even before becoming a probationary citizen of Diónia, most of them had never received heavy infantry training, nor had they been on the battlefield. More than half a year of intensive training could not completely eliminate the habits that they had developed over a long period of time. When the enemy's stinger stabbed at the right side of his chest, he should have asked his teammate to defend while he fought back with his stinger to force the enemy to defend and reduce the pressure on his own side. However, out of instinct, he retracted his shield and blocked the stinger. As a result, half of his teammate's body was exposed to the enemy's stinger. Such a vicious cycle caused everyone to have to fend for themselves, so the line of defense was no longer tight. Not only could they not advance effectively, but the Crotone people also squeezed in through the gaps and used their individual abilities to further disrupt Diónia's line of defense.
The First Legion of Diónia was originally the legion with the most veterans and the strongest combat force. It originally had four battalions of veterans, but a large number of veterans were transferred to serve as team officers of the three legions. Moreover, the Devers had transferred another 300 veterans as reserves, so they had to replenish a large number of recruits, resulting in a sharp decline in combat effectiveness. Occupying a favorable terrain and having the upper hand at the beginning of the battle, not only did no one take the opportunity to drive all the enemies on the opposite side into the river, but after a long stalemate, they began to slowly retreat under the crazy counterattack of the Crotone people.
Arsinis's squad was in the second row of the line. Several of the soldiers in the front had fallen. He shouted loudly and commanded his men to work together to drive the enemy out and fill the gap. The long battle made his arms sore and swollen, and commanding these ignorant recruits made him even more mentally and physically exhausted. However, the ferocious gazes shot out from the enemy's helmets constantly reminded him: Fight! Fight! Otherwise, only failure and death awaited him!
"Lead your soldiers to fight bravely and win. It is the responsibility of a captain!" This was the advice given to him by his former squad leader, Septimus, who was now a platoon leader, when he congratulated him on becoming a squad leader. He had always kept it in mind. He shouted the names of each soldier loudly, using his brave but flexible fighting style to remind and teach his men how to apply the skills learned in the training ground to life and death battles.
During the most difficult moments of the battle, these low-ranking officers of Diónia played an important role as the mainstay.
In the battle between the heavy infantry, Diónia was at a disadvantage; in the battle between the light infantry, Diónia had the upper hand. Not only did the number of light infantrymen increase by a thousand, but more than half of them were veterans from Asia Minor. The three light infantrymen, stone-throwers, archers, and light shieldmen were all from the famous light infantrymen of the Mediterranean Sea: Rhodes, Crete, and Thrace. How could Crotone, who did not value the use of light infantrymen, be able to resist them? Even with the heavy infantries of both sides in between, Crotone's light infantries were still injured by the arrows and stones that were accurately thrown at them. They were forced to retreat.
Once the light infantry's protection was weakened, the rear of Crotone's heavy infantry would be attacked by Diónia's light infantry. Logically speaking, these soldiers at the back of the phalanx had not participated in the battle, so they should be full of energy. On the contrary, most of them had been soaking in the river for a long time. The chilly water of early spring had taken away most of the heat from their bodies, leaving them hungry and exhausted. Therefore, in the face of the enemy's long-range attacks, their reactions had become sluggish. If not for the protection of the heavy infantrymen, they would have suffered heavy casualties.
Because both sides had their own difficulties and advantages, they were in a stalemate and fell into a bitter battle.
Myron was not anxious in the face of this situation. He had achieved his goal by being able to hold on. The key to Crotone's victory came from the 7,000 soldiers who were circling around the lower reaches of the Trevinto River. He firmly believed that the final victory would belong to Crotone.
Deves, the Consul of Diónia, had the same thought. However, he had already received news from Ledes' cavalry: Crotone's troops at the lower reaches of the Trevinto River had either been annihilated or had surrendered. They no longer existed. After a short rest, Ledes and Epitenis would cross the Trevinto River and attack Crotone's army from behind.
Devers was completely relieved. Looking at Matoris scratching his head in frustration, he could not help but joke, "Matoris, is your scalp itching?"
"Commander!" Matoris complained loudly, "When we took Neutum the last time, we didn't get to fight and missed the victory! This time, I've been caught by you to be the reserve captain. We're about to win, but I'm still idling here, this is too unfair! "
Devers smiled, "Don't worry, it's your turn soon."
As he spoke, he gave an order, "Blow the signal to change the formation. Have the frontline soldiers fall back and the second-line soldiers take the lead!"
"Commander, we're about to win. Why do we have to change the formation again? Most of them are new soldiers. If something goes wrong, the entire formation will — "Matoris was eager to fight, but he did not want to see the alliance fail.
"We've trained this formation for so long, but we've never used it in a real battle. Now that we're about to win, if we don't accumulate experience now, when will we?" Devers said seriously, "Moreover, if we retreat, we'll lure the enemy to the riverbank. It'll be even harder for them to escape. Matoris, you've been an instructor for new soldiers. You must have confidence in the results of your soldiers' training and in your command! "
"You're the commander, you call the shots! Isn't it our turn to fight now? "Matoris did not dwell on the problem and volunteered to fight.
"Bring your men to the right flank of the formation. It's where the second legion and the three reserve brigades meet. If the enemy's sudden advance confuses them, you'll need to rush up in time to block the enemy's attack and buy time for the soldiers to regroup! "
"Understood, I'll go now! Brothers! " Matoris roused himself and began to shout loudly.
… …
The soldiers led by Arsinis were still fighting the enemy.
At this time, the bugle sounded from the rear, making him perk up. When it sounded for the second time, he recognized it. It was the bugle for "change of formation".
"Brothers, hang in there! We'll be able to rest soon! "Like Arsinis, the frontline officers reminded the soldiers loudly.
At this time, the second line of the formation quickly divided the company into units. If one company did not move, the neighboring companies would have to retreat … After a while, the entire square formation changed from the originally dense long snake formation to a "checkerboard" formation (or fish scale formation) formed by the small square formations of the companies. Without the support of the soldiers in the rear, under the pressure of the enemy and the command of the company drums and military flags, some of the soldiers in the front line began to retreat … Finally, they quickly retreated through the gaps in the "checkerboard" formation at the rear.
Before the drums of Arsines' company sounded, he knew that his company wasn't very lucky. The company behind them didn't retreat first, so they couldn't retreat for the time being.
At this time, Captain Curtis shouted, "Brothers, protect our flank!"
As the neighboring companies retreated, the enemy took advantage of the situation and rushed in. As the front line of the Diónia formation did not retreat as a whole, Crotone's offensive formation became uneven, and the lines of the two sides formed a crisscross. Arsinis's company was under the pressure of being surrounded on three sides, but the enemy who rushed in through the gap was also in the same situation. However, the Diónia troops retreated prepared. Every small square that fought the enemy was under the strong control of the company commander. On the contrary, Crotone was unprepared and disorderly. As a result, although Diónia was retreating, Crotone did not seize this opportunity to cause more casualties and chaos to Diónia.
At this time, the company drums sounded, and the 20x10 square formation formed by the four teams began to retreat slowly as the central military flag began to wave rhythmically to the rear … Arsinis and his company defended against the enemy's attack with shields and spears while following the retreat of the companies in the rear, their companies also began to retreat in an orderly manner. When the companies in the rear stopped moving, Arsinis and his company were able to withdraw from the gaps between the scattered companies' phalanxes … After several rounds of retreating, the soldiers in the front line had successfully retreated to the rear, while the soldiers in the second line rearranged themselves into a dense formation and became the forefront of the entire phalanx.
The reason why the change of formation was so smooth and there was no major chaos, which prevented the Devers' worries from becoming a reality, was that Crotone had never seen an army dare to make such a bold and strange change of formation in a fierce battle, so they failed to take effective countermeasures in time. Secondly, when fighting in a dense formation, the Crotone army was stronger than the Diónia army which had more recruits. However, once the formation was changed, the dense formation of both sides was split into small squares, and the targeted training that Diónia had carried out for a long time with detachments and companies as tactical units came into play. Their command was more efficient and their actions more flexible. On the other hand, Crotone's combat and training mainly focused on large phalanxes. The command system was rough to begin with. After the soldiers rushed into the gaps, they lost effective command and fell into chaos. They could only fight for themselves and were at a disadvantage.
… …
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