Chapter 318
"Everyone, Cosenza's army has entered the Bruti barracks two miles away. According to the scouts, the number of enemies may be more than 20,000." Dracos said to the crowd. Not only was he not nervous when he received the enemy's report, but he was relieved.
It turned out that two thousand Abyssinia warriors had voluntarily surrendered, and Dracos was having a headache on how to arrange them. Bagylipi suggested that Nicourou would soon lead Cosenza's army back for revenge. Other than a few wounded warriors who could return to Ciudad Abyssinia to recuperate, the others had to stay in the newly built fortress and assist the Diónia in defending against Nicourou's attack. To prevent Dracos from suspecting that he had too much military power, Bagylipi suggested that the warriors of each tribe should be led by the leaders of each tribe.
Dracos was very grateful for Bagylipi's understanding, but after all, the battle between Diónia and Abyssinia had just ended. Some of the families of Abyssinia warriors had also died in the hands of Diónia's soldiers. The hatred between the two tribes could not be eliminated so quickly. In the small fortress, conflicts between the soldiers of both sides were inevitable. Dracos and Bagylipi were very worried about this. Dracos, who was not good at dealing with such matters, could not wait to divert the attention of the soldiers to defending against the enemy's attack.
After Dracos finished speaking, Adepigis translated his words into Bruti's language. The captains were all eager to try.
Although Creelu was nervous, he knew that he had to assist the Diónia to block the attack of the Bruti coalition. Otherwise, if the enemy attacked, the first person Nicourou would kill would be him.
Bagylipi sat still, but his thoughts were similar to the young Creelu.
Only Brim covered his abdomen that was stabbed by a Diónia soldier with one hand and wrapped tightly with a cloth by the doctor. He waved his other hand and exclaimed in shock, "Twenty thousand Cosenza soldiers! Does Cosenza have so many warriors now?! "
"I think Pienlen should have also gathered the warriors of the Ambanians and other tribes," Bagylipi said.
Brim's shock subsided a little, but he still sighed. "Twenty thousand soldiers! This is the strongest army Bruti has ever had! "
"This is nothing! There are many city-state armies of more than 20,000 soldiers that have been defeated by Diónia. Crotone in the south! The Mesapi and Puchetti across the bay! … We're not afraid of having too many enemies, but we're afraid of having too few enemies! " Trotiras stood up and said passionately. This son-in-law of "One Arm" Antikoris was only a squad leader when he first arrived in Turií with the mercenaries. Now, he was the leader of a battalion that commanded a thousand people.
His words were met with unanimous agreement from the other battalion leaders.
Brim was unconvinced and wanted to say more, but Bagylipi held him down.
Seeing this, the first battalion leader, Adrianx, looked at Drax and realized that the legion leader did not seem to have any intention of saying anything. He knew his old friend's temperament well, so he came out to smooth things over. "Although Cosenza's troops are large, we also have tens of thousands of soldiers, and we have the fortress as a barrier. According to Sir Devers, 'If the attacking side does not have a force several times that of the defending side, it will be very difficult to take down the fortress.' Not to mention that the army led by Sir Devers will be arriving soon! "
Evidently, the fame of Sir Devers had made Brim lose the desire to refute.
At this moment, when the hall regained its silence, Dracos began to speak, "Cspit, how's the training of the two thousand newly arrived Diónia freedmen that I've assigned to you?"
Cspit said with satisfaction, "The freedmen sent by the Senate seem to have gone through strict selection. They've all gone through many military training sessions, and they're better at obeying orders. Archery and javelin throwing are their forte, and they can hold their ground for a while in close combat. I've already organized them into teams, and they're fully capable of playing a role in defending the city. "
"That's good." Although Dracos was satisfied, there was not a trace of a smile on his face. He continued with a solemn expression, "Given that the newly built wooden walkways are narrow and can't accommodate too many soldiers, we'll fight when the enemy attacks. You'll lead the Light Infantry Brigade and the two thousand freedmen on the wooden walls and launch continuous long-range attacks against the attacking enemy. When the enemy approaches the bottom of the wall, you'll immediately command them to retreat to the bottom of the wall. Let the archers continue to shoot and kill the enemy, disrupting their rhythm of attack. "
"Don't worry, Commander! Hades will protect my brigade. I'm afraid that before it's your turn to go into battle, the enemy will be repelled by my brothers! "Cspit said confidently.
Dracos was happy to see such fighting spirit in his subordinates, but he would not praise and encourage them like Sir Devers, or even joke around to liven up the atmosphere. He only nodded slightly and did not respond. He looked around at the other brigade leaders and continued to explain his battle plan, "After Cspit's troops retreat to the bottom of the wall, the First and Second Brigades and the Abyssinia warriors will quickly go up the wall! The First and Second Brigades will guard the southern wooden wall, while the Abyssinia warriors will guard the northern wall. Do not leave any gaps for the enemy to attack!
The Third and Fourth Brigades will act as the reserve force and wait at the bottom of the wall. Once there's any danger, immediately go to support!
The Fifth and Sixth Brigades will stay behind to guard Ciudad Abyssinia! Everyone, do you understand your mission?! "
"Understood! Brutus above, we Abyssinia warriors will not let a single Cosenza man climb the wooden wall! " The young patriot Grim was the first to respond. He also represented Bagylipi and the silent Brim to make a promise to Dracos.
"Commander, this is not fair! The Fifth and Sixth Brigades also want to go to the fortress to kill the enemy! "The Sixth Brigade Leader, Trotiras, cried out.
Although the Fifth Brigade Leader did not say anything, the disappointed expression on his face said it all.
Dracos did not hesitate and said firmly, "This is an order!"
"But-" Trotiras wanted to refute but was interrupted by Adrianx, "Trotiras, you have to understand that Ciudad Abyssinia is very important to us! If the Cosenza people break through the fortress, the Ciudad Abyssinia that you guys are guarding will be the last line of defense to stop the enemy from sealing off the mountain area. It will also be the forward base to welcome the army led by Sir Devers! "
In order to remind him, Adrianx did not hesitate to "jinx". Trotiras was just impulsive. He was not a fool. He immediately understood the meaning behind Adrianx's words. If Ciudad Abyssinia did not have the Diónia soldiers as witnesses, in case of a reversal, Legio III's retreat route would be cut off. Not only would they be in great danger, but the attack plan formulated by Sir Devers would also completely fail!
"I … accept the order." Trotiras immediately replied.
… …
"Woo! Woo! The sound of the Bruti's horn came from afar.
Cspit held onto the opening of the wooden wall and looked out: he saw that the yellow-green grass in front of him was covered by a dense number of enemies, like a black tide rushing towards the wall …
It should be said that the Bruti's formation was relatively neat and compact, unlike the loose formation of the Lucanians. Two hundred meters away from the fortress, the Bruti's people stopped moving forward.
"Drive the slaves up and fill those traps for me!" Pienlen ordered expressionlessly.
Two thousand slaves, mainly Greeks, had been plundered by the Bruti tribes over the years. Under the threat of the spears of the warriors, they carried sacks filled with soil to the front of the battle formation and began to walk forward in a trembling manner …
"Captain, they have entered the trap area!" The soldier next to Cspit reminded him in a slightly anxious tone.
Cspit looked at him, smiled, and said, "You are a new recruit, right? Don't worry, let more enemies enter the shooting range."
A slave dropped the sack on his back, turned around, and ran away. Another slave then threw the sack at the gap next to him … One after another, the scene was tense and a little chaotic. Sometimes, a slave accidentally stepped into a trap and let out a shrill scream, prompting the slaves to throw the sacks even more nervously.
However, the supervising Bruti warriors didn't just lash the slaves with leather whips, they would stab the more serious ones to death with spears.
Faced with the threat of death, the slaves did not dare to be lazy. They obediently ran to the back of the formation, then carried the sacks and continued to pave the road.
"Archers, get ready!" Cspit felt that the time was right and raised his right arm.
More than five hundred archers of the seventh battalion and two thousand freedmen stood on the four-meter-high wooden wall, pulling their bows and arrows one after another.
Eighty meters, it was within the range of the arrows! After Cspit silently chanted the Hades Anthem, he waved his right hand down forcefully, "Release!"
"Woo! Woo! Woo! " … "With the continuous sound of bowstrings, more than two thousand sharp arrows soared into the sky, whistled down in an instant, and scattered evenly among the slaves. Suddenly, there was a splash of blood, and the screams continued …
Seeing this scene, Pienlen could not help but be moved. It was not because of the casualties of the slaves, but because he did not expect that the Diónia had so many archers, and judging from the landing point of the arrows, the archers' skills were not bad.
Could it be that the Dionysian Army here was not a patchwork, but a main force of the enemy?! After all, the people of Abyssinia who fled to Cosenza told him that there were not too many enemies attacking Ciudad Abyssinia, no more than a thousand people! In the narration of Nicourou who fled to Cosenza yesterday, the number of enemies increased by two thousand … This information gave him considerable confidence in "retaking Ciudad Abyssinia". However, when he came here, the initial scale of the fortress had already surprised him, and a round of arrows from the Diónia made him vigilant again.
"Great Leader, the enemy has a lot of archers!" Petaru was obviously aware of this, and said with some concern.
Pienlen maintained a calm expression, "Let these Greek slaves continue to exhaust the archers of the Diónia, even if they all die!"
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