Chapter 398
Inside the city, Puamot was extremely anxious. However, he did not dare to send troops out of the city to stop them, because the city of Potentia was already surrounded. The number of Sammonean troops far exceeded the information he had received beforehand.
Some tribes in the southern part of the Potentian territory thought that the Sammonean people were still far away from them, so they were careless and did not evacuate in time. As a result, they were either annihilated or captured by the Sammonean people, or they desperately retreated further south into the territory of Grumentum in fear.
The panic brought about by these fleeing tribes of Potentia naturally spread to the tribes in the north of the Grumentum territory. Just as they began to clamor to evacuate to the south, Alexis, who had already received the news from the scouts, felt that the situation was urgent. She resolutely decided that she could no longer wait for the Senate's order. She immediately led more than 8,000 soldiers who had already returned to the barracks and marched north.
In the recent reform of the legions, not only did the Devers equip each legion with a hundred-man scout team, but they also considered that in the battle in Italy, the light infantry's arms would already be numb after completing long-range attacks. They also had to assist the heavy infantry in attacking the enemy's flanks and pursuing them. Their physical exhaustion was no less than that of the heavy infantry, but their combat efficiency would be reduced. Therefore, after a discussion with the generals, they added a light armor battalion to each legion. They wore leather helmets, cowhide breastplates, triangular leather shields, leather tights, and leather sandals. Their combat weapons were two-meter-long double-edged iron swords. They specifically selected young citizens who were good at running and climbing to join the battalion to assist the heavy infantry in combat.
At the same time, the Devers also reformed the original light infantry battalion. Because the excellent stone-throwers of Diónia mainly came from Rhodes (the other Balearic Islands that produced stone-throwers were under the control of Carthage), the scarcity of soldiers made it difficult for the legions to recruit more stone-throwers. Therefore, except for the First and Second Legions, which still had stone-throwers, the other light infantry battalions were half archers and half javelin throwers. In addition, the number of excellent Thracian light shieldbearers could no longer keep up with the speed of expansion of the Legion of Dionysia. Therefore, starting from Legio IV, the light shieldbearers were no longer part of the light infantry. Its function was mainly carried out by the javelin wielders and light armoured soldiers, thus simplifying and unifying the Legion of Dionysia.
In addition to the Engineering Camp, Armament Camp, Cavalry Squad, Medical Camp, and other auxiliary organizations, the Legion of Dionysia now had a total of nearly 8,700 people. It could be said to be a fully functional legion.
As Alexis headed north, she also sent people to inform Bagoule to prepare the defenses of the northern Grumentum.
Lucania Municipality was mainly mountainous, and Potentia was the highest in the area, with an average elevation of more than 500 meters. Fortunately, most of the soldiers of Legio III were Lucanians. They had lived here since young and had long adapted to the environment.
The Legio III marched in three columns through the lowlands and valleys between the mountains, like a long dragon winding its way through the mountains, stretching for five to six miles from the front to the back …
At this moment, on a small hill, Gherni, the son of Hilpini's leader, Vilani, was closely watching the movements below.
"Leader, look!" A soldier beside him suddenly shouted.
"Idiot, keep your voice down!" Gherni kicked him and scolded, "Don't scare the enemy away!"
There was a dot of golden light in the distance that was hidden by the trees. After a while, this dot of golden light turned into a large flag. On top of the flag was a brass statue of Hades holding a double-pronged fork. It was unusually dazzling under the sunlight. The person holding the flag was a tall man in military attire. He was also wearing a complete animal fur, so he looked particularly burly. (In fact, it was the fur of a large hound. Hounds were loyal and brave. The loyal hound of Hades was the three-headed dog, Cerberus. Besides, with the modern mentality of Devers, they would not allow their men to hunt animals for decoration purposes.)
"Hmph, it looks good." A Samoyed soldier pretended to be disdainful and whispered, "I just don't know if it can fight."
Gherni did not speak. He focused his attention on the Dionysian Army that was slowly approaching him. He knew very well that this time, the reason why his father had contacted the Pentene and Cautini tribes to attack Potentia was not only because of the strong support and encouragement from Syracuse, but also because of the oppression from the sudden rise of a powerful neighbor in the south.
At this moment, he wanted to open his eyes wide and see clearly what kind of strange and powerful enemy he was about to face.
Behind the bearer of the flag was a flag-bearer. The tall black flag was embroidered with the golden letters "Diónia Legio III", fluttering in the wind in mid-air. Originally, it was red. That was because the Devers were influenced by Rome. However, as he became more and more integrated into this era, and the faith of Hades had penetrated deep into the hearts of the people of Diónia, he took into account that Hades was the Lord of Darkness and worshipped the color of black, so he changed the color of the military flag.
Behind the flag-bearer of the legion was the flag-bearer of the First Battalion, who was holding a statue of Death that was one size smaller than the statue of Pluto. Then came the drummers and buglers of the legion …
Gherni rubbed his tired eyes. The army of Diónia looked majestic, but there were too many fancy things.
He cursed in his heart. The soldiers of the Legion of Dionysia who appeared next made his eyes widen. The black bronze helmet was not like the Corinth -style helmet worn by the Greek soldiers in Campania, which covered the entire head with only two eye holes. Instead, it was like an upside-down bowl, with the whole face exposed. There was a cheek guard blocking the side of the face. The style was very similar to the helmet of the Samonese soldiers, except that there were no decorative feathers or colorful ponytails on the crown. Black linen breastplate, black greaves, a spear in the right hand, and a shield in the left …
The shield … Gherni was shocked to find that the shields held by the soldiers of Diónia were very similar to the shields of the Samonese soldiers. The shields were half the height of a person, rectangular, with a protruding center and concave sides. The surface of the shields was curved. The only difference was that the shields of the soldiers of Diónia were painted black instead of red …
Isn't Diónia a city-state of the Greeks? Why don't they use the traditional round copper shields and Corinth helmets of the Greeks? Why do they look so similar to the Samonese?!
The shocked Gherni certainly did not know that in recent years, the Archon and Devers of Diónia had finally completed the upgrade of the Legion's weapons and equipment, abandoning the cumbersome Collins helmets and round shields in favor of new helmets and long arc-shaped shields. Of course, such large shields were not made of copper. They were made of wood with a layer of cowhide on the outside, which reduced the weight of the soldiers by at least ten pounds and enhanced their mobility. At the same time, it also brought about some new tactical changes.
Except for the red, white, and purple helmets worn by the soldiers of the Dionysian Army, which should be the officers and generals of the team, the rest of the soldiers were all black, making the whole army look like a black serpent from hell, filled with the aura of death and coldness.
Gherni unconsciously took two deep breaths, put on the helmet with a row of colorful ponytails, pulled down the cheek guard, and ordered in a low voice, "Inform Abbrini on the opposite hill to get ready. When the enemy's vanguard passes, we will launch an attack and teach these deceiving enemies a lesson."
"Yes, Chief!" The rider waved the red flag painted with a wolf's head on the top of the hill. The soldiers of Diónia at the foot of the hill could not see it, and the Samonese on the opposite hill also waved their flag in response.
The Samonese warriors held their breath, holding javelins and stones, and crouched on the hill, waiting for the Diónia to pass through the foot of the hill.
But at this moment, the Diónia stopped advancing, and a general on horseback rushed to the front of the team, seemingly saying something to the soldiers.
After a while, the team began to move forward again, but just after a few steps, they stopped again, and the general said something to the soldiers again.
Three times in a row, they walked and stopped. The Diónia almost walked into the ambush, but they dilly-dallied in this short distance and wasted too much time.
Gherni felt that his patience was about to run out. He rubbed his numb body with his hands, secretly cursing the Diónia for being so slow.
At this moment, there was a sudden commotion on the top of the hill.
"The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming! " … "The soldiers shouted loudly.
"What's going on?!" Gherni didn't care about the ambush at this moment, and hurriedly asked the people around him.
"Chief, the Diónia … The Diónia are coming from the back of the hill, and they want to surround us!" The guard who ran to check the situation hurriedly reported.
In fact, there was no need for him to say more, Gherni had already overlooked the flashing black shadows in the forest on the hillside behind them.
We were tricked! The cunning Diónia already knew that we were ambushing here, and deliberately attracted my attention in front, but they wanted to surround and annihilate us! Such a thought flashed through Gherni's mind, but he did not panic, and immediately ordered, "Blow the horn! Since the Diónia dared to come up the hill, then let them have a taste of the power of the Samonese! "
The low and long sound of the horn reached the foot of the hill, and Alexis, the commander of Legio III, who was riding at the front of the team, immediately looked up.
"It seems that the Samonese have discovered our detour," Lizaru, the commander of the first brigade, said in fluent Greek. Ever since he was humiliated in the Isthmian Tournament, he had spent a lot of time practicing his Greek, and his Greek had improved significantly.
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