Chapter 291
The Pucchetti soldier screamed, leaned forward, lost his balance, and rolled down the hill.
Cespit quickly rolled to the left and dodged the spear that was thrusting at him.
This situation happened from time to time on the Pucchetti's line of defense, forcing them to retreat involuntarily. Naturally, the number of javelins thrown at the Diónia soldiers was greatly reduced.
"Seventh Brigade, good job!" Behind Leotychides, a soldier praised loudly.
"Hurry up! Climb up! " Taking advantage of this opportunity, Parmanius, the platoon leader in the center of his small phalanx, urged loudly.
The flag bearer waved the military flag forward continuously.
Leotychides and his teammates watched as the light shield soldiers showed off their power alone. How could they fall behind? So, they cooperated with each other and struggled to climb up. The 30-meter height was soon trampled under their feet. The light shield soldiers had retreated to both sides of the small phalanx, leaving only the enemy in front of them.
"Hades!!!" The soldiers shouted the name of the League's patron saint and raised their shields to meet the enemy …
… …
The army of Trifias and Tudepres rushed to the predetermined position on the right flank. Usually, it would take them a long time to regroup before they could launch an attack, but with the Dionysian Army already engaged, they were stimulated to speed up.
As there were no enemies in front, both Trifias and Tudepres mixed the light infantry into the phalanx to increase the thickness of the entire phalanx, and hurriedly began to climb the hill in a more scattered formation.
The gentle slope was more than 20 meters high, and it was easy to climb up. They would attack the enemy's flank to determine the outcome of this battle.
But when they stepped confidently and easily on the hillside, a large number of enemies suddenly appeared at the top of the hill.
The Mesapi cavalry! Trifias was shocked, but then he calmed down: although the Mesapi cavalry was powerful, this was not flat ground. There was not enough space for them to gallop. Would they dare to fight the heavy infantry head-on?!
The Heraclea – Metapontum coalition army continued up.
The cavalry at the top of the slope began to throw short javelins.
Just as the Greeks raised their shields to defend, many people began to exclaim, "Cavalry! The Mesapi Cavalry is behind us! "
The soldiers heard a roar behind them as a large group of Mesaphic cavalry circled the mountain pass in the distance and began to throw javelins at the rear of the Greek formation as they climbed the hill.
The combined army of Heraclea and Metapontum was thrown into confusion by this sudden attack.
In fact, there were not only the Mesapi Cavalry here, but also the Puchetti Cavalry, a total of 1,300. At this moment, the cavalrymen at the top of the mountain began to caress the heads of their mounts. They bent down and whispered something to their beloved mounts. Their eyes were filled with reluctance, but their expressions soon became determined.
"Lycaon!!!" Pucchetti's cavalry raised their hands and shouted.
"Lycaon!!!" The Mesapi Cavalrymen responded one after another. King Lycaon dared to make fun of the Greek God Zeus. Although he was turned into a wolf, most of his descendants thought of him as a hero. Before every battle, they would shout his name to boost morale. Due to the influence of Hellenism, the Mesapi had gradually abandoned this tradition, but now they picked it up again.
The cavalrymen at the top of the mountain hugged the necks of their horses with both hands and squeezed the bellies of their horses. Hundreds of War Horses began to run down the slope in a loose formation, faster and faster. From time to time, the cavalrymen and horses would roll to the ground, but it did not affect the speed and fighting spirit of the cavalry.
"Raise … raise your shields to defend …" Trifias saw this situation, and for a moment, his mind went blank.
In the eyes of the soldiers of Heraclea and Metapontum, this was like facing rows of boulders rolling down the mountain. Who dared to block the powerful momentum of the roaring! Just as they wanted to dodge in horror, the cavalry had already hit the phalanx head-on. Suddenly, horses neighed, people screamed, horses were broken, and people were sent flying. The Greek soldiers rolled to the ground, and almost no one stood …
The Greek phalanx collapsed in an instant.
… …
The Devers soon received a report from Tormid: a large number of enemy cavalry had suddenly appeared on the right flank.
He immediately felt a little uneasy and made a prompt decision, "Y 'zam, lead your brigade to reinforce the troops of Trifias and Tudap immediately. After repelling the enemy cavalry, continue to attack the enemy's flank!"
"Yes!" Y 'zam finally got the task he had been waiting for. He excitedly beat his right chest with his left fist. After saluting to the Devers, he ran down the hill and came to the passageway. He shouted to his men, "Brothers, follow me to kill the enemy!"
Amidst the cheers, the soldiers of the Reconnaissance Brigade held a small leather shield in their left hand and a short sword in their right hand. They rushed to the right flank briskly.
Umarcas did not understand why these Diónia people were so keen to participate in the battle, but he was still shocked by their high fighting spirit. He secretly made up his mind: Unless it was absolutely necessary, Tarantum would try not to have a conflict with the war-loving Diónia.
"Sir Devers, no matter how powerful the Mesapi cavalry is, they can't defeat the Greek heavy infantry. Moreover, this is a mountainous area. There's no need for you to send reinforcements." Umarcas could not help but advise.
"How could the Mesapi, who are good at cavalry, not know what we know? But they still sent their cavalry. There's something wrong with this," said the Devers calmly.
Umarcas felt that what he said made sense, and he was a little more worried.
Previously, the messenger, Tormid, had already summarized the information sent back by the messengers waiting at the rear of the two legions and the various brigades. He reported to the Devers, "The brigade led by Amyntas has forced the Mesapi heavy infantry at the bottom of the central valley to retreat … The First and Second Legions on the left and right flank have also gained a slight advantage in the battle against the Puchetti who have occupied the terrain. Also, after the two light infantry battalions retreated from the frontline battle, they have begun to merge their troops in accordance with your instructions. They will then circle to the left (because the army of Heraclea and Metapontum is circling around the right) to attack the enemy's flank … "
In a situation where they had the upper hand on all fronts, the Devers had already realized that the enemy had fewer troops than themselves. This was the first time since he had led the army to fight in Greece that he had the upper hand in a battle. Therefore, he had the confidence to send reinforcements and nip any possible disadvantages in the bud.
… …
The King of the Puchetti, Klimoni, had never imagined that the current situation on the battlefield would be the complete opposite of what he had imagined. Not only were the Mesapi, who were heavily stationed in the lower parts of the valley, being forced to retreat, but even the Puchetti warriors, who he was proud of, who had an obvious geographical advantage, were unable to repel the enemy.
Although they were currently in a stalemate, judging from the situation of the battle, this stalemate would not last long. This was because Klimoni knew that his soldiers were poorly equipped and that he had fewer troops. Previously, he had almost transferred soldiers to assist the left flank in order to make his formation roughly equal in length to the enemy's formation to prevent the flank from being attacked. However, when the geographical advantage and the bravery of the soldiers were not enough to stop and repel the enemy, a stalemate would only benefit the enemy. Now, the only good news was that the cavalry had defeated the enemy on the left flank.
Klimoni hoped that after they quickly dispersed the defeated enemy, they could help the left flank to defeat the enemy in front of them, thus establishing the victory of the battle.
At this moment, Klimoni saw his scouts rushing down the mountain from afar. He dismounted and hurriedly ran up the mountain, feeling a little uneasy.
"Your Majesty, more than a thousand enemies have reinforced the left flank. Our cavalry has fallen into … fallen into a bitter battle!"
In fact, to say that it was a bitter battle was just putting it mildly. In fact, Mape's mixed cavalry had charged down from the top of the mountain and attacked from the front and back, defeating the allied forces of Heraclea and Metapontum. However, when they chased after the defeated soldiers, because the mountain path was narrow, there were some obstructions between the enemy and the cavalry. The cavalry's advantage in speed had been completely lost, but the Greek soldiers had lost their courage and only cared about running away instead of fighting back. However, when Y 'Zam's brigade went around the mountain path and surrounded them from both sides, the disaster for Mape's cavalry arrived.
Riding on horses without saddles and fighting on the spot, the cavalry could not use all their strength to fight against the Diónia, but it was almost impossible to immediately retreat from the crowded road. And the soldiers of the Mountain Scout Brigade, under the protection of leather shields, could not only stab people but also hurt horses with their short swords. The fleeing Greek soldiers gradually recovered their morale and began to fight again … Mape's cavalry had fallen into a dead end and was not far from defeat.
"What?! How can the Greeks still have troops that haven't joined the battle!! "Klimoni stared at the cavalry. In this era, city-states did not have the habit of keeping their reserve troops in battle. All their forces would be pressed together in a battle. That was why Klimoni dared to risk using his cavalry to attack in a terrain that was clearly unfavorable for cavalry. Now, his greatest hope of victory was extinguished just like that.
He took a few steps forward and looked at the top of the mountain opposite him. He could vaguely see the towering golden flag. He knew that the enemy's commander was there.
"The military genius who shocked the South …" Klimoni murmured in a low voice, feeling depressed.
"Your Majesty, what should we do now?" Seeing that Klimoni was in a trance, Pullo hurriedly asked.
What to do? Retreat? Now that the two armies were tangled together, how could it be easy to retreat? That would only increase the casualties of the Puchetti people. He had still underestimated the Diónia people! This army, which is said to be a new city-state alliance, is very strong. If I can avoid fighting them in the future, I'll try my best to … A trace of fear rose in Tremoni's heart, and he regretted choosing to ambush the people of Tarantum and handing the task of intercepting the Dionysian reinforcements to the Mesapi …
"… Wait." After a long time, Klimoni spat out a word.
Pullo was stunned, but he quickly understood that Klimoni meant to wait for the Mesapi people to finish off the Tarantum people, and then come as reinforcements as soon as possible. This was putting his hope on others, which was not Klimoni's usual practice at all!
Comments